We spent some time cleaning up and improving profile pages. We felt some of the content was getting buried and wanted to make it more accessible for everyone.
We are delighted and honored to be a finalist for the SXSW Web Awards in the Experimental category.
Experimental
These are cutting-edge and trend-setting destinations that are pushing the envelope and challenging our perceptions of the web.
I just read Allen Stern's CenterNetworks post "My Votes In the Crunchies Awards Contest". (I am still catching up on some old blog reading from the holidays.) He mentions that he voted for UpNext for Best Bootstrapped because he likes what we are doing and because we are NYC based. Thanks Allen.
On that note, below is a list of the other NYC companies up for awards. If you want to vote local, here are the Silicon Alley companies.
Viewdle - Best Technology/Innovation Achievement
Based in NYC with a couple European offices. Viewdle is a media platform for doing everything with video.
Etsy - Best Design
Etsy is an online marketplace for buying and selling all things handmade. Based in Brooklyn, NY. I thought they should have also been nominated for Best Consumer startup.
Iminlikewithyou - Best Use of Viral Marketing
Assuming this is based in NYC. Saw them present at the NY Tech Meetup. Thought they were a shoo in for Best Time Sink Site, as that appears to be the mission statement.
College Humor - Best Time Sink Site
Still going strong. Part of IAC or, I guess now, part of 1/5th of IAC. They have the most billowy offices in Manhattan.
DonorsChoose - Most likely to make the world a better place
While it is hard to vote against any of the nominees in this category, DonorsChoose.org has been doing some remarkable things to help public school. Not only are they NYC based, but the company was started by teachers at a Bronx public high school.
Tumblr - Best new start-up of 2007
Great tumblelog site for quick and easy sharing of yourself. David Karp and his team have done a remarkable job and the growth they have achieved is fantastic.
UpNext - Best bootstrapped start-up
3D map of Manhattan. Can't get more NYC than that.
Best of luck to all these companies. If I have left anyone out, please make a note in the comments and I will update the list.
(Click here to vote)
We were pleasantly surprised to see that we were nominated for The Crunchies under the category "Best Bootstrapped Start Up". Click on the badge below to vote for us!
We are up against some very cool companies who have done some impressive work with limited resources. Best of luck to all the nominees.
We would like to thank Techcrunch, GigaOm, VentureBeat and Read/WriteWeb for nominating us and for hosting the awards.
The movie Gone Baby Gone begins with a voice over by Casey Affleck where he talks about community; the block you grow up on, the people who live there and the community it builds. It is an ideal that oftentimes gets lost in the towering urban cities we see today.
A new startup in New York, LifeAt, is working to change that. We are always looking at new startups that are approaching local in different innovative ways. At UpNext, we focus on cities. Other sites focus on neighborhoods. LifeAt starts at the building level. By creating individual secure websites for apartment buildings, LifeAt is trying to bring community to neighbors. In NYC, your building is oftentimes your "neighborhood" and knowing those around you builds that community.
In their words...LifeAt creates private, password protected websites for exclusive use by members of residential communities. Residents use LifeAt sites to communicate with neighbors; post classifieds; and rate and review local retailers, restaurants, & delivery services. Property managers and building developers use the sites to post news and updates for residents and to attract potential buyers and renters. The success of each site is fueled by the active participation of its membership.
It is a novel twist on an age old idea. It looks like they are growing rapidly and I look forward to having them in my building. Perhaps down the road, UpNext and LifeAt can work together to bring building communities together with local neighborhood businesses.
We went into silent mode back there for a while. Usually, the blogging dies down when we are iterating on features and working on make the user experience better. But a lot has been happened in the last couple weeks, we had to give an update.
1) UpNextNYC (FB App)
We officially launched the UpNext Facebook Application. Still waiting to get listed in the directory but just click on the link above and it should take you directly to the FB App.
Enjoy all the same functionality of UpNext.com within Facebook. The only difference is the size. Add the application, invite your friends to join you and share and discover the city together.
2) UpNext: Wicked 3D Maps of NYC on Facebook
We got a nice write up in TechCrunch last week, just before the Thanksgiving holiday. I think that is the first time we got "wicked" 3D map but we will take it.
Thanks Erick for taking the time to meet with us. Good stuff.
3) Interactive Local Media 2007 (ILM:07)
I will be speaking at ILM:07 on a panel on mapping. The official topic is "Maps: They're Not Just for Driving Any More". Ian White of Urban Mapping is on the panel with me. I heard him speak at the Where 2.0 conference and he definitely has some great ideas about maps. Looking forward to hearing what he has to say and hopefully making my own contribution to the discussion.
Feel free to introduce yourself at the conference. I will be there all day on Wednesday and Thursday. Would love to meet more people in this space.
Over the last couple weeks you may have noticed a Facebook login on our home page. This login allows you to access your Facebook network through the UpNext main site. Let me give you a little insight into why we do this.
Here is how we see user progression on UpNext.
1) Kicking the tires - Users enter without registering
We are a new website and people need to get to know us. So we let users just see what UpNext is all about before setting up a profile.
Just "Enter Now" and have fun flying around New York and exploring the city. There is enough value in the site for these non-registered users to bring them back for more.
2) Taking the test drive - Registered Users
Users now want to access the full capabilities of UpNext. Creating a profile allows users to share their city by writing reviews, rating businesses, adding favorites and marking places they have been. The information is now easily accessible in a user's profile.
On the flip side, other UpNext users can now see user contributions in a contextual basis. The profile description, favorite quote, even profile picture, provide contextual information around content, making it more valuable to others.
3) Buying the car - Building a social network
Since a big part of discovery comes from your friends and extended network, we make it easy for users to make this happen.
Users can import contacts from any of the popular email applications. Or simply type in a friend's email address and ask them to join UpNext.
This allows users to share their city within a network. More importantly, it allows users to see reviews and favorites from people they know and trust.
But people spend a lot of time setting up and managing social networks on other sites. Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and the list goes on and on. So rather than force users to redo all their previous work, we simply leverage the existing social connection of the user.
Facebook API and Open Social are both tools that we can use to make life simpler for users. We don't believe our users actually care about the intricacies of either; they just want it to happened. So we will continue to make it easy for users to leverage these networks.
4) Avoid being a lemon - Keep users happy
At this point, users have "bought" UpNext and have driven it around for a while. The focus here is to keep users happy and add value through every use. We continue to add new features and improve existing features to keep users happy.
We solicit and encourage user feedback through direct emails, blogging and by reach out to the community. Having bought a car in the past, I know the worst feeling is sitting in that car 5 months down the road and realizing you bought a lemon. So we focus on not being a lemon.
