brand new

A more thoughtful network

I've just started playing with Path,  a new network developed by some Facebook alums, Shawn Fanning and others and backed by some pretty amazing VCs.

At first glance it feels a lot like instagram, with easy sharing of photos that can tagged with people, places and things.  But what makes it interesting is the in built ceiling of 50 friends - it means it becomes a personal network for real friends where you can share much more meaningful stuff.  And it means as the user, you'll be a lot more choosy about who you want to be your friend.  Be interesting to see how the content and behavior adapts as a result.  

 

Release your inner Salvador

I don't normally blog about stuff we've been doing at GSP or I've been working on but I'm going to make an exception for a project that we've just launched as it's for a great museum and it's something we're really proud of, not least as it shows the fruits of a partnership between a brand, ad agency and technology partner.

A few months ago, we were asked by the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida to help them find a way to create interest in their new building that opens 1.11.11 (Jeff Goodby is a member of their board).  Unsurprisingly, they don’t have large budgets so we wanted to develop something that didn’t rely on the need for media investment.

We landed on the idea of helping people release their inner Salvador through a photo App that could create surrealist overlays, a modern day ode to the brilliance that is Dali. We decided to partner with someone to give us critical mass of users and distribution, so we reached out to Hipstamatic. They liked the idea so much that they have worked with us to create a lens and film pak for the app (the Dali Museum Goodpak), waved their fee and pledged to donate any income from sales of the pack (it costs 99c) to the museum. There’s a contest where the winner, judged by John Waters, will be flown to the new opening on 1.1.11, and 9 other finalists artwork will be featured in an exhibit.  And we’ll also be projecting images taken with the pak on to the museum’s new building on it’s opening night.

This effort will not only hopefully raise interest, but it will also raise money for the museum. All for zero dollars in production or media.

The Pak launched yesterday in the update of their app.  You can find out more here.  Here's a shot I took last night:

If you’re a hipstamatic user please think about buying the pak.  If you have an iPhone and have yet to discover the joys of hipstamatic maybe now is the time.

A lot of people worked really hard to make this happen but I want to say a huge thank you to Lucas and Ryan, the people behind Hipstamatic, for their smarts, collaboration and incredible generosity,