Western University graduates Josh Stern and Russell Citron are inspiring Gen Y to pay it forward and people are listening. Their charitable initiative #FeedTheDeed discourages people from playing an online drinking game and encourages random acts of kindness.
#FeedTheDeed has sparked a huge conversation about the power of social media. Instead of producing videos of themselves chugging beer, #FeedTheDeed participants are donating blood, clothes and toys.
How It Is Promoted
In the last 2 weeks, my Facebook news feed has been filled with photos and videos of friends distributing popcorn, coffee and TTC tokens. To extend the reach of #FeedTheDeed, participants are nominating friends, family and celebrities around the world. For example, Josh Stern nominated Canadian singer-songwriter Nikki Yanofsky and then she handed out candy in Montreal on Valentine’s Day.
What I Did
I love Twitter. I like Starbucks.
When my friend Sam Pollack nominated me to #FeedTheDeed, this is what I did to support a few charities I care about:
I used Twitter to send Starbucks gift cards to Anaphylaxis Canada, Heart and Stroke Foundation and Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Non-profit employees deserve to be rewarded for their hard work and I hope they will encourage more people to continue the chain.
Jimmy Fallon has officially replaced Jay Leno as The Tonight Show’s new host. His first episode was a star-studded success, which included surprise appearances from Joan Rivers, Kim Kardashian, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lindsay Lohan and Stephen Colbert. U2 performed outside of the G.E. building and Will Smith joined Jimmy onstage for a dance routine about the evolution of hip hop.
Denny’s engaged with night owls on Twitter through real-time marketing
Famous Night Owls
It was a big event in television history and famous people were watching too. Check out this Storify to see supportive tweets from celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres and Michael Moore.
Favourite Songza playlist: That varies based on my context – where I am, what I’m doing, what I’m feeling. A playlist that I discovered recently and played on my way to work is called Sensitive Men of the ’90s.
Professional role model(s): We have a lot of mentors and advisors that are really close to the Songza family. My dad has been a very hard worker and has a very entrepreneurial creative spirit. He’s responsible for my love of music. He’s been incredibly supportive as a father and as a mentor my whole life.
What excites you about working at Songza?
We’re a very small tight-knit team here. Everyone’s got their own quirky personality and is very excited to be working on this product. It’s a real pleasure and honour to work with the Songza team, who are in many cases smarter than me [laughs]. I’m privileged to learn a lot from [them].
What is the culture like at Songza’s headquarters in New York?
We’re a quirky and weird bunch. Our office space is bare bones. We’re not one of those start-up companies that buy lots of expensive furniture or goes into the cool, hip area of town where all the other start-ups are. We’re in our own little place, away from the action, so we can keep our heads down and stay focused.
Why should music lovers download and listen to Songza?
Songza—more than any other service by a mile—is effortless to use. Without you having to give us any information, we’re able to accurately predict what you are doing and feeling and recommend expertly curated content that’s going to make that moment better. No other service is able to deliver that experience for free nor do they have the personality.
How would you describe Songza’s personality?
Songza feels like your much cooler friend who always knows the right thing for every moment.
You’ve previously described Songza as a “lifestyle enhancer.” How has your lifestyle changed since Songza launched?
My life has changed immensely since launching the Songza business because everyone that I know now uses something I’ve created in their daily lives. In addition, I’ve been able to garner the attention and respect of a lot more people in the music and technology industry, as well as celebrities who now use Songza on a regular basis.
In terms of how Songza as an application has enhanced my life, I listen to a lot more music than I ever could have imagined. New moments in my life have been identified as moments that could use a soundtrack.
If Songza could partner with any brand(s), which brand(s) would you pick?
We would be most excited about working with Nike and Lululemon. Both are really great brands that started as athletic wear brands and have established themselves as lifestyle brands. People think of Lululemon and Nike as brands that are great at curating for their life, not just yoga and running. Their clothing and apparel is for athletics and fashion. I think both companies do a really great job at listening to their consumers and serving them with things that will make their life better. That’s very much in line with what we’re trying to do at Songza. Working with brands like that would add value to the user experience on our service.
As Hot On The Street approaches its 4th anniversary, it’s time to ramp up the blog’s social media presence. I am proud to announce the launch of Hot On The Street’s new Facebook page!
Having a Facebook page means it’ll be easier to share timely, funny and intriguing content faster than I could if I wrote a blog post about each topic. So in addition to sharing links to Hot On The Street interviews, reviews and event recaps, I’ll share more article links from Wired, Fast Company, Entertainment Weekly and the like. This also means that I can follow brands’ Facebook pages through my blog’s Facebook account, rather than my own. I suspect this will be a positive way to curate my Facebook experience because my friends’ content will appear higher in my News Feed if I start following fewer brands through my personal account.
Trending Topics on Facebook
No matter how much Twitter and Facebook copy each other to attract and retain active users, I think one of the smartest features Facebook adopted is the new list of trending topics. If nothing else, MIT emphasized how easy it is for social media to be an echo chamber. In other words, even though news articles are so accessible, it’s easy to have a limited perspective on current events and remain oblivious about local or world news. Therefore, even though the trending topics list offers only a brief synopsis about why a person or event is trending, at least it can prompt users to research it more. It’s the thought that counts and every small step counts.
Please show your support for Hot On The Street and “Like” the new Facebook page to ensure you’re in the loop about trending topics that Facebook doesn’t highlight.
Familiar Strangers (Ryan Peters, Josh Gladstone and Daniel Draper) put on a great show Sunday night at Drums N Flats. Their set list included original songs like Bar in Seattle, as well as covers of Avicii’s Wake Me Up, Barenaked Ladies’ Pinch Me and The Lumineers’ Ho Hey.
Which band do you want to reunite this year?
Ryan: Groove Street
Josh: On The Rocks
Daniel: Dispatch
Who would you like to see win big at the Grammys?
Ryan: Taylor Swift
Josh: Mumford and Sons
Daniel: Daft Punk or Robin Thicke
Do you think music videos are still important?
Ryan: Videos are a good way to get to know the band’s personality. OK Go have a really cool music video with them walking on a treadmill, which showed off their quirkiness. I think [music videos] are still important.
Josh: I think we’re in an age of visual people because of YouTube etc., so if people want to get famous, they have to go down that route, or else they won’t have a presence. But in my opinion, music should always be primary.
Daniel: I don’t think they help artists sell music, but they’re good for artists that want to make a statement. I like Lupe Fiasco and Macklemore because they recently came out with some interesting videos. What Beyoncé did by putting out a video for each song was incredibly unique and made a statement. They’re not just dancing videos; they’re telling stories.
