We discussed some strategies for pitching your online community idea then worked together to understand some key mobile technologies and concepts.

1. Web 2.0 & Online Communities, Summer School 2011
Day 15: Your pitch / the mobile web

2. This week (Week 5!)
Tuesday (day 13):
– Virtual worlds (with Melanie)
– Some of my favourite services
Wednesday (day 14):
– SecondLife community investigation
Thursday (day 15):
– Your pitch
– The mobile web
Miscellany:
– Blog assignment 3 marks out
– We have our judges (dragons)
– Project: Pretty much finished!
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3. Assessing your performance
Assessment Weighting Total
Blog assignments 3 x 5% 15%
Group project: 40%
• Report 15%
• Prototype 15%
• Presentation 10%
Final Examination 45%
Total 100%
3 components: report, Facebook page,
presentation
Presentations to expert panel (df. Dragon’s Den)
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4. The Facebook page (15%)
1. Purpose should be clear and aimed at a target
audience.
2. Should be apparent how you wish the
community to act.
3. Representative content present.
4. Clear, consistent design reflecting strong
identity.
5. Facebook page augmented by external apps.
6. Have social media content integration and
automation.
7. Evidence of active community engagement.
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5. The report (15%)
Executive summary: Report summary (300 words)
Market research: Need, competition, niche, user
benefits
Promotion strategy: User recruitment, retention &
motivation
Content strategy: Proposed content types and use
Action Plan: Sequence of future actions to grow site
Design plan: Design choices behind branding
Issues: Possible ethical and/or legal issues
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6. The presentation (10%)
Held during final Wednesday class
Modified elevator pitch
The presentation process:
– One team member has 55 seconds to articulate
the ideas behind the Facebook page (no slides)
– The remaining team members will then have 2
minutes to demonstrate the different features of
the Facebook page
– The whole team will be available to answer
questions from the judging panel
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7. Some other considerations ...
How and where will you put up your terms of service
(TOS) information?
How will you get at least 25 fans of your page in time?
Do you have external services feeding into/out of your
page?
Have you thought about issues such as copyright
takedowns, privacy, etc.?
Who is giving the elevator pitch?
Who is responsible for making sure everything is
submitted on time (on the wiki)?
Will you make it?
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8. Part 1: Your pitch
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9. What is an elevator pitch?
55 second presentation of your idea
Approx. 150‐225 words
Answer questions:
– Who are you?
– What are you offering?
– Who is your user base?
– Who is the competition?
– What is your competitive advantage?
– How will you grow your community?
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10. What is an elevator pitch?
Do this Don’t do this
Deliver a “hook” to excite Avoid autobiography
judges Avoid technical jargon
Script it, time it, then Don’t giggle, swear, etc.
practice it (repeatedly)
Stay on message
Stay on time
Be passionate
Be believable & sincere
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11. The demo
Demos are notorious for things not working on
the day!
Test your features repeatedly
Make sure that content & users are in the right
state
Show features, content or activity that link to
pitch
Show novel uses of apps, tabs, etc.
Explain how design has been implemented
Be open about missing features
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12. Question time
Answer succinctly and stay on point
Do not get defensive
Talk with the judges courteously even if you
disagree
You can go back to the demo to illustrate
something
Try to avoid the “we were going to do that ...”
cycle of despair
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13. Play pitch
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14. Part 2: The mobile
web
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15. The plan (redux)
1. I will put you in different groups
2. Pick a random number from the box
3. Choose your question to work on
4. Spend 30 minutes researching concept &
making at most a 2 slide presentation
5. Upload presentation to class page on wiki
6. One person (or more) from each group
presents slide to class (in selection order)
7. Top presentation gets a prize!
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16. Your presentation
Should explain (simply) the underlying
technology or concepts (context)
Provide current state of play
Give supported predictions of where your area
is heading
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17. Questions
1. Which mobile operating system is dominating
the market? [A]
2. How does the iPhone app store work for
developers and consumers? [E]
3. Explain the various methods that a mobile
device can connect to the internet. [C]
4. What drawbacks if any exist for mobile devices?
[B]
5. How do location‐aware mobile devices work?
[D]
6. Compare and contrast the location‐sharing apps
Foursquare and Gowalla. [F]
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18. Bonus: What drawbacks if any exist for mobile
devices?
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19. Hold everything!
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20. The plan (redux – revised)
Now drop what you’re doing!
Switch questions and your work with another
group:
– A B
– C D
– E F
Finish off presentation (you have 15 minutes)
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21. The End
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