David Harper’s Different Things

Lance Weiler who has been terrifying people for years with films such as the creepy-crawly 1998 DIY cult hit “The Last Broadcast” and more recently “Head Trauma” is now looking to bring people together (rather then scare them away) with Fest Mob.

FEST MOB A NEW SOCIAL MOBILE EXPERIMENT TARGETS THE SLOPES OF PARK CITY TO CAPTURE THE FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE IN REAL-TIME.

The “fest mob” http://workbookproject.com/mob is a social mobile experiment that makes use of a “mashup” of freely available websites and web 2.0 services. The goal of the experiment is to capture the festival environment from various perspectives in real time. Participants will be using mobile phones to text, photograph, and record their daily activities.

“Since I won’t be able to make the annual pilgrimage to Park City this year, I started thinking about how I might be able to experience it first hand. The fest mob is a way for people who can not make it to the festival, to interact with those who can, in a sense creating a social network around the experience.” Says founder Lance Weiler

Festival goers use mobile phones to document what they are watching, attending, eating, drinking and seeing. Those who cannot attend the festival are able to contribute questions, comments and news that they are reading about the festival online.

The results can be viewed in real-time at http://workbookproject.com/mob via a mobile site http://winksite.com/workbook/mob or on a mobile phone by texting FOLLOW FESTMOB to 40404.

Joining the “fest mob” is a simple process for more information visit http://workbookproject.com/mob

The “fest mob” is an experiment by the Workbook Project, a “social open source project” for content creators that attempts to bridge the gap between technology and filmmaking. The Workbook Project was founded by digital pioneer Lance Weiler who is the writer / director of THE LAST BROADCAST and HEAD TRAUMA.

The “fest mob” mashup was made with the following sites and services:

Twitter
Winksite
Flickr
Ning
Musicplayer at sourceforge.net
WordPress

Today I presented at Under The Radar Mobility. What follows is a transcript of the presentation I made.

Bullet points on the screen.

• Winksite makes it easy to publish mobile Internet sites and build simple mobile connections via mobile phones.
• If it doesn’t work on at least a billion phones we don’t touch it.
• It’s dirt cheap and works well.
• We deliver today what people use.
• Take it for a spin.

Verbal presentation.

Winksite makes it easy to publish mobile Internet sites and build simple mobile connections via mobile phones.

It works like this…

Take a few minutes to register (it’s free), set up a profile, and create your site by entering content directly on our set-up screens or by connecting a RSS feed.

You can then choose to activate mobile-tuned community features like chat, forums and surveys.

We provide you with a URL for that mobile site (i.e. http://winksite.com/[username]/[userdefined directory name].

When visiting that URL from a PC you’re taken to your site’s “Mobile Site Profile” page at Winksite that includes basic information about your site, a simulated version of your mobile site where desktop users can engage the mobile users, and a toolbar that allows your audience to easily share, subscribe, send URL to phone, scan the QR code, and subscribe to your mobile site.

From a mobile phone the URL takes you directly to your mobile site where Winksite delivers a consistent, anticipatable experience with all the navigation/menus, pagination, and actionable items built in for you.

No downloading or installing an app. All the action takes place on the browser that ships standard on your phone.

Winksites work on the best and worst phones of carriers.

Winksite currently serves:

• 20K publishers
• 250K monthly mobile uniques (people)
• 25 plus million mobile screen views (May 2006)

We traverse 150 countries with no carrier deals.

Bloggers like BoingBoing, blog networks like Metroblogging, and entertainment companies like Warner Bros. Records use us to build mobile sites, syndicate content & events, and recruit communities.

Individuals from Mumbai and Manilla, London, Toronto, and San Francisco use us to connect with friends, make new ones, or simply organize their feeds and favorites for easy access on their mobile phones. For others, it’s all about claiming their own piece of the mobile Internet.

Note: On the screen we had our “People” page running that shows a Real-time View of People Entering Winksite Mobile Communities.

November 16, 2006
Microsoft Campus, Mountain View, CA

Mobility! It’s not a choice, it’s a requirement. Even in the U.S., where usage rates have trailed our neighbors for years, innovation is finally taking off. Applications, content, and business models must be customized to fit the needs of the ultramobile lifestyle.

IBDNetwork will host its sixth one-day Under the Radar event, which will feature 32 emerging startups in the mobile sector.

WINKsite is a presenting company at this event.

More information.