Andrew Z in the Morning

Last Friday Andrew Z asked me to come back into the Star 105 studio to take part in a Phototwine event.  We created an event in the app and gave out the code on the morning show and asked the listeners to send in their photos.  We also took photos in the studio for all of the listeners to view.  We then told them that we would pick our favorites, post them on our Facebook page, and whoever received the most likes would win a Burger Bar 419 gift card.  The response was overwhelming!  Here were the finalists!  We received 155 photos to the gallery and liked these 5 the most.Then something happened that was unexpected.  Our Facebook page suddenly reached over 5000 people.  That was crazy.  We also had almost 300 likes on the photos.  But the one that received the most likes was the top left with over 200!  Congrats!

 

   

With that kind of reach we really put Burger Bar 419 in front of a lot of people.  I am not totally sure but I think we also received over 50 likes during the small contest.  Then half way through the contest I found out Facebook has crazy strict contest rules and I was not actually able to un the contest on my page.  Well needless to say I wont be doing that again.  But it was a fun experiment and I truly saw the power of Facebook and how something goes viral.  Enjoy the rest of the photos!

  

Start Up Toledo

I went to Toledo Start Up weekend for what I thought was going to be a very productive weekend.  However I found out quickly that was not going to be the case.   The event was held at the University of Toledo and was for the development of a start up business.  There were no guarantees of what was to come out of the weekend other than a great experience and networking of who's in the Toledo Tech Industry.  Well that part was true.  I met great people with great organizations.  Many thanks goes out to Sally NG of Clarity, all of the guys @ Givt, and the dudes from Seed.  What a great group of people I met.

Ok, now for the not so fun stuff.  Like I said above, I was looking forward to being very productive and was crazy excited for the weekend.  How I saw it was you were to pitch an idea, get people behind it that want to work on it, and away you go.  Great speakers, pizza (duh, winning), and a quick pitch session to get everybody excited.  I'm pumped, here we go, the rules of the pitch.  Rule #1.  You can not pitch anything you have previously worked on...............What the fuck am I doing here!  I have been working on Phototwine for almost a year but need to make it better, move it to other platforms, and try to optimize it for the iPad.  I need help!  I was looking for smart people to join me.  Thankfully, a friend of mine that was there told me to stick around for the experience.  I quickly thought of another problem that needed to be solved but did not care to solve it but pitched it anyway just for the experience.  Go figure, I came in second out of 25.  Great, now I feel obligated to stay now.

The next day I dragged myself back in at 2:30 pm.  The coordinators asked me how it went, so I told them. For those who do not know me, I do not mix my words.  However they were great and asked me what my idea was going to be.  Unbelievably, the whole group of professionals sat down with me and hammered out some great ideas for hours.  I did not feel worthy.  Ended up being a great experience even though I was disqualified from the competition.  The people I met in Toledo Start up weekend were wonderful and would not trade it for the world.  There is something to be said about not quitting!  And thankfully I did not.  And before I forget, Congrats to everyone who participated and a big shout out to Fueled, this years winners.

Olloclip

Olloclip has been a go to for my iphoneography.  On our recent trip to New York the olloclip received the most comments.  Even more than why the whole family was all wearing the same shirts.  However we did get a lot of funny looks from a city that has great fashion.  It is not like Cedar Point where every other family is wearing the same shirt.  We also took loads of great photos with the olloclip.  The olloclip is a handy accessory for your iPhone that easily clips over the camera.  One lens is a fish eye, another is a wide angle, and the the third is when you screw off the wide angle lens for a cool macro lens.  Check out the cool photo we took at the High Line Park of a grasshopper.                                                                                      
During our visit to New York we also visited the 9/11 memorial and were able to capture lots of cool photos with the olloclip.  While your iPhones camera is very good there are limitations that the olloclip can over come.  We never would have captured the whole footprint of the Twin Towers with the iPhones camera on its own.  We definitely recommend the olloclip and think you should be able to pick up the 3 in one lens from the Apple store, Best Buy, or Amazon.com for about $60.00.  to find out more check out the olloclip website.  http://www.olloclip.com/#.

Cant make the event on time.....Phototwine!

My sister was recently married but we were not fortunate enough to make the trip to Glendale Az.  We were really bummed we could not make it.  However we were still in the testing phase for the app when their wedding took place. During that time we found another use for Phototwine that we were not expecting.  Even though we could not make the trip we were able to enjoy the wedding from over 2000 miles away.  in addition to viewing, we were also able to participate.   As you can see from the photo to the left we made signs to show our love.  We watched as the photos came into Phototwine and were able to view the live feed from the their wonderful day.  As we were testing we found this fun way Phototwine could be used just by accident.  When we were brainstorming we never once thought about this functionality.  We added several photos to there feed that my family was able to enjoy and will forever be a part of their wedding day.  This could also work for class or family reunions in the same way.  You get to see your old classmates or family you have not seen in years.  Check out the rest of the photos from one of their galleries they created on their wedding day.

GreatApps.com

Greatapps.com just picked up phototwine!  We are currently on there home page and will be displayed on their website for a year with banner ads and as a spotlight app.  Pick up Phototwine today by clicking on the link, finding Phototwine, and download it for free!

Jimmy Buffet Party!

We had a lot of fun at Brandywine Country Club's Jimmy Buffet Party.  Thanks so much to Dawn Ulrey for promoting Phototwine!  We were able to get 13 users participating in this event which made it very successful.  What a beautiful night with the great band Suburban Legend!  Click on the links to like them on Facebook!

  

Pinterest

Pinterest is a great curating site to keep all of your ideas in one location.  One area that has thrived on Pinterest is the curating of Wedding ideas.  The site is overflowing with women planning their wedding.  We joined quite some time ago to gather all of our finding on iPhoneograhy.  Not even quite sure if that is a word or even subject one writes on.  But we have seen the word floating around and kinda like it.  Since we joined we have amassed quite an eclectic collection of information, cool gadgets, and fun photography stuff.  We have just started to incorporate our Phototwine info.  We just wanted to highlight our Phototwine board because we thought it was pretty cool and thought you would think so too.  So if you are ever strolling around pinterest and are planning a wedding drop by and repin our Phototwine app and let everyone know that you are going to have the coolest wedding ever!  

Instagram

It is no question that Instagram is cool and everyone that uses it loves it.  If there was any doubt it was answered when Facebook bought them for a cool Billion dollars after only being in existence for about two years.  Do any of you Instagrammers print out your Instagrams?  If you ever want to, Phototwine can do that.  We offer several ways to post your Instagrams to our service and then give you the opportunity to print them affordably.  The first way is to add them to The Twine and share them with the Phototwine community.  Another way to upload your Instagrams is by creating a free one hour event, invite your friends, and upload all of your Instagrams.  Finally, have a party, create an event, invite all of your friends to join, take your Instagrams and upload to your event.  Make sure to make your event public so you can search for your event with the event code.  Once you upload, just go to www.phototwine.com, find your photo, and use the buy button on the on the page as seen below.

You can either buy the photo you selected or choose more than one by choosing "Photos in this Gallery".  There are three options for the 5X5 in square format that Instagram has been so popular for.  The difference is the finish.  The first is Lustre, the second is Matte, and the third is Glossy.  Whichever is your favorite you will not pay anymore than $1.39 for your cool Instagram print.  We believe that this is a very competitive price.  Happy Instagramming!  And don't forget to show off your Instagram photos on Phototwine.  Everyone will think you are the coolest one at the party!

New York City and the Today Show.

We are on our way to New York City!  In honor of our tour we made T-shirts at Big Daddy Graphics.  Thanks to Rex we created an eye catching T-shirt to show off at The Today Show.  It will be an exciting week for the Today Show.  We are going to be in town for the Nicki Minaj, Carrie Underwood, and Lionel Ritchie shows.  Not to mention all of the Olympic Athletes coming back from London.  We have added the image of the shirts to the bottom of this Post.  Tell us What you think?  We think the shirts are going to be a real eye catcher at the shows! Phototwine is going to be perfect for the shows in Rockefeller Center.  We plan on getting there around 5 am to get into the shows.  During our wait leading up to the show we will give out the event code for the day to everyone with an iPhone.  After the event we will be sharing all of the photos on our blog and Facebook page.  We hope to get hundreds of people participating in our Today Show events.  Stay tuned!


Keep your eyes peeled to The Today Show next week and see if you can spot us!

Toubleshooting

We have noticed a few issues with Phototwine since launch.  Most of them we thought we fixed but are still showing up from time to time.  The first one we thought we fixed was photos being uploaded from your camera roll are not orientating in the right direction, leaving photos sideways.  We should have that fixed in the first update.  Another issue that we have had is the app freezing or "problem uploading".  We believe that is caused when you are on the fringe of wifi coverage, just a bad or slow cell signal, or your phone is trying to connect to an available network but is having trouble.  When that happens the server times out and your photo does not load.  We think Apple is going to have a fix for that with the release of iOS 6.  Above is a photo pulled from the Cult of Mac website.  This was a screenshot taken from a Beta release of iOS 6.  It will allow users to choose both wifi and cellular when using apps. We believe that this will help in the process when your phone is fighting itself on how to upload photos.  Phototwine uploads photos to a gallery for all to view when created as a public gallery.  Then the app pulls all of the photos from the gallery to everyone's phone that is joined to your event.    You may then view, share, or print the photos you want. The last issue we have seen is a camera error.  This is caused by tapping the screen after you take the photo and the app is transitioning to the apply filter screen.  The fix was to add a twirl wheel to prevent the screen from being active.  However, we have noticed that some users are not getting the wheel.  Finally, in the event that one of these problems arise or the app freezes for some reason please take the following steps to force quit the app.  First, hold down the home button and the sleep wake button simultaneously until the shut down screen appears.  Next, release the buttons and press and hold the home button for approximately 8 seconds until the app quits.  Relaunch the app and continue.  We are sorry for any inconvenience and will have a fix shortly.  

2012 Cruise by the River Classic Car Show

Featured Event

We are off and running! Just over a week and we have over 300 downloads. This is from just word of mouth advertising. We have yet to pay for any advertising. We plan to start our marketing push after our first update. Our first update is going to add twitter integration, the ability to identify who submitted a photo, and the ability to make comments on photos.

We are going to try something new on the blog starting this week.  As events start to make there way to our community we are going to highlight one new event per week.  This weeks event from a concert one of our users went to.  On the photo to the right they used the LAX filter to make this awesome photo ever awesomer!  In addition to highlighting one of our favorites from the event, you will also be able to enjoy all of the photos from the event in the slideshow on the right hand side of the blog.  We hope you enjoy them!  A concert is another great event to Intertwine your photos.  Remember, create the event, share the code, take as many photos as you want, and enjoy!

Phototwine Video

Today we sent out a press release through prmac.  View the press release here.  You know, creating an app was not easy, but neither is my day job of being a fireman.  However, I am having a feeling that marketing an app and being successful is going to be a whole other set of hurdles I am going to have an even more trouble getting over.  Being a Fireman is a rewarding and wonderful career but it really does not prepare you for marketing an app.  When I started this process I had to hustle to find a developer because I had no coding experience.  Living in a small city in Ohio made it fairly difficult to find one that was local and could work with.  I finally found a great couple of guys from Vivid Bamboo.  They are a local company that worked with me every step of the way!  It was crazy but we got through it.  If any one has any suggestions for marketing I am all ears!  Below is the video prmac whipped up for the press release.  The only question I have is for anyone who sees this video......do you understand what phototwine does?

Phototwine is Live!

Phototwine is Live!  Please click here to download the free app today!

Create Event Screen

As the release date fast approaches I thought I would start going over some of the screenshots of the app.   I wanted to start off by reviewing the create event screen.  This is the screen that you will use to create your event.  The screen should default to the current date and time.  You just need to enter the name of the event and specify when you want your event to start.  There is also a private toggle to decide if you want your gallery to be searched by your users online.  If privacy is on you or anyone else can not search for your gallery on phototwine.  The website allows you to share and view your gallery in numerous ways in addition to order prints and photo gifts.  However if you want it private and still want a link to the online gallery just email info@phototwine.com and request your link with your event code and we will send you your private link. You can then share it with whoever you choose.  

After you decide when to create your event and hit the submit button the in app purchase screen pops up which allows you to choose how long your event will be.  This will obviously depend on what type of event you are having.  For instance if you are having a wedding you may want to create a 24 hour event in order to capture the whole day.  You may want to start early in the morning to capture everyone getting ready to the early morning hours of the reception.  Or start in the afternoon which will give everyone a little extra time the next day to add photos.  Phototwine does not limit users that join or the photos that are uploaded.  It is truly unlimited.  Or you may choose the free one hour event to capture all of the photos taken at your child's birthday party from everyone taking photos.  It is truly affordable.  Other apps provide this service for upwards of $249.00! 

Finally, once you select the length of time you want for your event your access codes will will be displayed.  There will be two codes.  The event code is yours to give out to a special someone to monitor your events.  You are the admin by default which gives you the ability to delete photos you may not want everyone to see.  Unfortunately there are people that may submit inappropriate photos.  If you feel you may be to busy, you can share the admin code to give them the Jedi force to make those decisions on your behalf.  There are many ways you can easily share your codes.  You may copy and paste to add it to a message, or share your code on facebook, or email it to anyone you want to join.  Once they enter the code in the join field the event will start when you specify.  Remember that even if your event does not start for another 2 weeks the event will still be added to everyones event screen.  There is nothing else to do than to wait until the party starts!  

QR Code

I just created a QR code with a link to Phototwine on the app store.  I used Kaywa!  Check it out.  Phototwine is out on the app store currently but the press release is not set to be released until Sunday.  Keep checking back for more on Phototwine!

SmugMug

Camera Awesome 

Phototwine is powered by SmugMug and its awesome api!  So it is only natural that I give a big shout out to their very cool iOS app called Camera Awesome.  It is my go to camera app and would love to intertwine all of its great functionality into phototwine someday.  A cool feature would be if apple would let me use whatever camera app I choose to default to from the locked home screen.  My choice would most definitely be Camera Awesome   Phototwine was submitted on July 6th.  Apple has been averaging about 9 days for their review process to go through in the last month or so.  So if their are not any hiccups we may see phototwine on the app store early next week.  In the meantime download Camera Awesome if you have not already and give it a try.  You will love to upload the great photos you take to Phototwine when it is released.  Just follow the link below!  

The Twine

We recently submitted our phototwine app to apple for review!  This blog will be used to update everyone on the progress up until launch date.  After that we will be covering the highlights and feature of phototwine.  In addition we will be discussing the world of photography and iphoneography!  Until next time, enjoy the slideshow of some of the photos submitted during Beta testing.