Fur, Studs, and…Bar Codes: Fashion Week Ditches Clipboard Culture for 2010 Technology

Fashion Week has not only outgrown its famous tents for its Spring 2011 shows, but it has adopted a new GPS system for seating that is making some skeptical about its ability to handle the mob of 100,000 that attends shows from September 9th to the 16th. The new system aims to admit guests faster and in a more orderly fashion than PR assistants have done in the past with their infamous clipboard strategy!

According to New York Magazine’s The Cut, roughly 80% of the designers showing at Lincoln Center next week are participating in the new system. Guests will receive e-mailed invitations and respond electronically via e-mail or a website. Designers linked into the system will be notified of responses and will then send electronic confirmations with bar codes. IMG, the driving force in the global fashion business and bread and butter of Fashion Week, is hoping this new format will eliminate gatecrashers, among other things.

The new system was implemented by technology consulting firm Control Group and Fashion GPS, a digital marketing and event firm. It recently conducted test runs on the technology that it says went well. An IMG spokeswoman also stated:

We will, of course, make a number of adjustments after this first season of using the technology, and have erred on the side of caution when deciding the number of terminals to have on site.

The new kiosk pictured below will debut at New York Fashion Week Spring 2011:

Paper invitations have long held an iconic significance at fashion shows…how will this new technology fare? Get ready, fashion industry! Where will technology lead us next?

- Jen

Exclusive Access Has a Whole New Look

The stars of the recent Travel + Leisure “World’s Best” party at the Andaz 5th Avenue weren’t the leggy models manning the bars, the high-powered editorial and publishing executives working the room or the to-die-for lobster ravioli station that had guests leaving their modesty at the door.

The iPad took center stage at this exclusive event, where the traditional hard-copy door lists and laptop check-in stations were nowhere to be seen. Instead, a couple of finger taps on the sleek device confirmed whether guests’ names were on the list. Once inside, more iPads decorated the space as the centerpieces of several display stations, where they featured vivid shots of the destinations and hotels that made the cut on the 2010 World’s Best List. 

Looks like while we’ve been busy buzzing about the iPad’s use as an e-reader and laptop replacement, event planners have been using the device as a way to intrigue a population of partygoers who have seen it all, while combining functionality with style. 

-Andréa S. 

Return to NYTM

Last night, I attended my first NY Tech Meetup since February — I can’t believe it’s been that long, but things have been crazy. I brought along our new FWD member, Rob, who had never been to NYTM before! This was the first one I’d been to at NYU’s Skirball Center, which brought back college flashbacks for me, even though I don’t think I’d been in there since freshman orientation, when I watched a very entertaining hypnotist turn people into chickens.

This month’s shindig was hosted by Dina Kaplan, who did a great job of engaging the audience and keeping things running smoothly. I was also pleasantly surprised by all the girl power on stage tonight. I was especially excited that the event featured a brief keynote by Clay Shirky (who wore his Three Wolf Moon T-shirt again!), because I really enjoyed the interview with him in the June issue of Wired and I’m looking forward to reading his new book. It was a great presentation and I only wish it could have been a bit longer!

In terms of the app demos, I was most intrigued by Foodspotting, which is sort of like FourSquare, but allows you to share photos of the food at the restaurants. I love the idea, since my family always makes fun of me for taking pictures of my food, but I don’t have an iPhone, so I hope they develop a BlackBerry app, too. I also wonder how they’ll deal with chefs who prohibit photography in their restaurants.

I feel like this month’s demos were less exciting than usual, probably because I had heard of most of them before — Jetsetter, HowAboutWe and Hot Potato have already been around for a while and gotten a ton of buzz. The audience seemed most blown away by ComiXology, where you can download online versions of comic books. They even have Archies!

—Alyssa

Fashion Goes Digital?

Last Tuesday, I hopped a cab from work down to Thor bar at the Hotel Rivington on the Lower East Side. I was headed down there to attend a panel about Fashion “going digital,” as part of the events of Social Media Week here in New York City.

Panelists hailed from Ideeli.com and MyItThings, among others, and sat down in close quarters to talk about their take on the role of social media in the fashion industry and vice versa.

In light of Fashion Week beginning this week, I will briefly discuss a topic that arose regarding the streaming of runway shows. Will designers start streaming their runway shows instead of showing live? Marc Jacobs is already livestreaming his show this year in conjunction with the live event.

Perhaps they will, but I do not see this having the potential to debunk Fashion Week. There is a thrill that passes through the air during a live runway show that cannot be experienced digitally. To hear the music live, see the clothes parade before you as the physical manifestation of each designer’s vision is a visceral experience.

However, let’s not forget that Fashion Week is in fact a trade event. This is for members of the industry, despite the consumer, social and celebrity interest it garners. For most worshippers, respectful admirers and even students of fashion, a ticket to the tents at Bryant Park is unattainable – but with an accompanying live, streaming video, the shows can receive a greater audience. As someone who religiously follows the fashion industry, I have to say I would love to see the shows streamed live. It is not the authentic experience of course, but I do think that should be left to the actual industry professionals.

Another interesting subject that becomes an issue when these shows pop up on the internet live, is the instant and rapid spread of trends. The trends reach mainstream audiences so quickly that shoppers want to get these looks before they’ve even hit the storeroom floors. Trends have been viewed 80 plus times, passed between the hands of countless blogs and feel old and tired before they’ve even been unveiled. I wonder how the fashion industry will tackle this issue.

All in all, it was an interesting forum and the fashion industry certainly stands at an interesting crossroads, as it cannot seem to avoid the influence of social media, whether it likes it or not. Sentiments seemed mixed, and I myself am, I confess, ambivalent.

-Kristin

Digital Divas Get Social

Talk about a lady that knows how to throw a par-tay! Peg Samuel, Social Diva and author extraordinaire, and her gaggle of digital divas hosted a very sassy, very social shindig at the Hotel on Rivington on Tuesday night in celebration of Social Media Week NY.

While sipping on my ”Retweet” (one of the complimentary signature cocktails of the evening), I met Katie HellmuthMartin, founder of Collective-E (@collectivee), a unique, forward-thinking company that provides female entrepreneurs and small-business owners with the marketing resources and connections they need to build their brands. Here we are, stunned by the flash of one very ”enthusiastic” photographer (think Rico Suave).

A special shout-out also goes out to Khary Barnes, a social-media savvy investor from American Express’ Corporate Development and M&A group and probably the only other person in the room who enjoyed the DJ’s reggae selection as much as I did, given our Caribbean backgrounds (yes, put me in a room of hundreds of people and I can spot the fellow Caribbean folk from a mile away). In the midst of chatting it up, we had to pause to give mad props to Digital Diva Emily Gannett, co-founder of Klickable TV, for her fabulous Twitter necklace.

All in all, the event delivered a truly social experience by bringing together a group of amazing people who share a mutual love of all things digital and all things par-tay. Check out the full photo gallery on Guest of a Guest.

On @Dr_Drea’s agenda for the rest of the week - Whole Foods’ New York Food Media Panel and Harlem Blogging 2.0. Stay tuned…

-Andréa S.

Social Media Week Continues

Social Media Week is in full swing and I’ve had the chance to attend two events – “The New Age of Social Media” panel on Monday night and “Keys to Success in Social Media Campaigns,” hosted by Gotham Media Ventures on Tuesday night.  Both provided some pretty interesting insights on trends and the future of social media, including:

• Geolocation tracking and augmented reality are the next big things in social media (I may just break down and join FourSquare today)
• Only 0.02% of people click though on ads on social media sites
• Consumers that have a positive online experience with a product are likely to purchase a product within 24 days
• Social media will continue to become more niche with the development of sites for people with specific interests, characteristics and needs

Both panels took a look at how brands can capture and then continue to engage and audience and everyone seemed to have different view when it comes to whether it is more important to have 1 million inactive followers/friends or a smaller group of very active and engaged followers/friends. It really boiled down to the fact that there isn’t one game plan when it comes to social media.

The highlight of both events was probably when I found out that “Keys to Success in Social Media Campaigns” panelist Katy Kelley from Carrot Creative is a fellow Iowan, which provided her with instant credibility in my book.

-Jenny

A Very Special NYTM

In honor of Social Media Week, February’s NY Tech Meetup was extra special…and extra long. It was $20 this time and all the proceeds ($14,000) went to Partners in Health for Haiti relief, which was nice. Although most of the presentations focused on the somewhat vague theme the “future of tech” rather than app demos, I thought it was a nice change of pace. Some of my favorite presentations included:

• SeeClickFix, a site that allows people to report local issues in their communities — basically, like 311, but online (and better)
• Our old friend Tony Bacigalupo (remember our interview with him?), who talked about the future of coworking
• Clay Shirky, who looked exactly like Tom Hanks with a shaved head and a Three Wolf Moon shirt, and talked about the power of social networks
• Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of the Acumen Fund, who briefly discussed entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty
• Dr. Jay Parkinson, who wants to change the health care industry through his organization The Future Well (you may have previously heard about his very intriguing work with Hello Health)

Oh, and then Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping showed up to do a gospel performance and confuse the heck out of everyone (see photo above). True story.

—Alyssa

The First NYTM of 2010

Last night, I went to the first New York Tech Meetup of the decade, and it looks like all my favorite NYC geeks survived the holidays. Here are some highlights:

• SpeakerText was the clear standout of the night, judging by the spontaneous applause and number of audience questions. The site aims to provide searchable text transcripts of online videos, and even allows you to link to a specific point in the video with a “quotelink.” Wouldn’t this sort of magic make all of our lives so much easier? Yes, yes it would.
• I was pretty excited about PressLift, since it’s designed for communications professionals. It’s basically like drop.io for PR folks, allowing you to create an online pressroom with analytics. I definitely need to sign up and check out the beta site when I get a second…which will probably be around March, at this rate.
• I was also really excited that WNYC came out to present. Even though they didn’t have a cool new app to offer, they wanted to appeal to the New York tech community for help in marrying journalism and technology, two of my favorite things! It warmed the cockles.
• Taxi Hack is an app that allows people to review and provide information about various taxi drivers and companies. I really liked this idea when I first heard about it a while ago, but then I realized that if a taxi pulled up and the driver got a bad review on Taxi Hack, I would probably still jump in. Beggars, choosers, you know the deal.
• I was excited to finally see a lady presenter for Yogoer, since girls are usually the ones moving the mouse onstage at NYTM…or not on stage at all. And we can all use a little more girl power in our technology-filled lives.
• Lastly, I wanted to let all you New Yorkers know about NYClothingDrive.org. In order to give back to the community, TechiesGiveBack and some other charitable souls will come pick up your unwanted clothing on February 6 and deliver it to charity. They only ask that you make a small donation, which all goes to New York Cares.

—Alyssa

2010 - The Year of Profile Burnout?

I recently attended Jaunted’s “Travel Gets Social: The New World of Travel Media” event at the 92Y Tribeca. If you didn’t hear about it (*cough* then get out from under your rock *cough*) the panel line-up included The New York Times‘ Matt Gross (a.k.a. the Frugal Traveler), Virgin America’s Manager of Online and Digital Marketing Bowen Payson, New Media Director for Roger Smith Hotel Adam Wallace and Jaunted/HotelChatter/VegasChatter founder Mark G. Johnson.

Jaunted already did us the favor of recapping the evening’s topics of discussion (as you’ll see, the panelists provided commentary on their social media experiences past and present (from Friendster to Facebook) and raved about the greatness of up-and-comer Foursquare). Many people in the room seemed to already know about Foursquare but had never taken the time to sign up and explore it thoroughly (frankly, because free time is scarce for everyone these days). Which brings me to my point. Jaunted somehow neglected to note an important question that arose that night:

Are we approaching “profile burnout”? Will 2010 be the year that people streamline their social media presences? (FYI - I vote yes.)

In this, the first decade of the new millennium, we have been forced to “evolve or die,” that is, subscribe to every social media network deemed “on trend” or risk sinking into the world of the unknown. The allure of these outlets are powerful (anyone else need a Twitter exorcism? Because I sure do!), yet managing them all effectively is terribly time-consuming. Too often, user accounts become neglected (think of all those who have Twitter accounts with 0 followers and 2 tweets, but are highly active on Facebook). There is simply not enough time for the average person, company or brand to effectively establish a presence across more than a couple of social media outlets within a given time-frame.

One panelist at Jaunted’s event suggested that 2010 might be the year that we begin to streamline our social media presence. That is, identify those outlets that are most relevant for our personal or business/brand message and do away with the others. Personally, I can’t remember my MySpace login details and don’t intend to try to. With all the advances Facebook has made over the last few years, particularly video-sharing and fan pages, I find MySpace to be quite pointless (anyone who wants to argue otherwise is welcome to do so). I’d like to give this Foursquare thing a try though, if my twaddiction will allow.

So, what do you think, reader? Do you plan to edit your collection of social media profiles in 2010? What are your social media resolutions for the New Year?

Discuss…

-Andréa S.

Someecards Launches Invites

These days, if you’re throwing a party, you probably just create a Facebook event to let all your friends know about it. But sometimes, if it’s a secret event that you don’t want the uninvited to know about, you might venture over to that old relic Evite and send out a stealth invitation, complete with hokey theme and annoying login requirements. However, now you have a better alternative, since the best e-card site in the world, Someecards, just launched an Invites section.

Within the next few weeks, the new tool will allow you to turn any Someecard into an invitation and send it to friends, who will be able to comment on the “Party Wall” and respond to the invitations with Someecards of their own. This would also be a great opportunity for brands who want to get in front of Someecard’s young, hip target demographic to advertise via sponsored e-cards/Invites, like Jose Cuervo and Puma have previously done. Eventually, the site plans to add Facebook Connect to integrate the invites with Facebook as well.  Now you only have to hope that the party itself is as cool as the invitation.

—Alyssa