Fans come first in the new Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest website

We are Bluesfest fans too

We built Viewtube to serve YOU. We really did … we are fans too and are trying to bend over backwards to help other fans have a great experience at the festival. We hope it will help you connect with more music and friends than ever before.

If you have ANY questions, concerns, ideas, bug reports … anything at all … please shoot an email to info@favequest.com or leave a comment on this post.

If you’re into marketing, social media and so on, we hope there are some ideas for you here. They are all yours to build on, tweak or whatever.

There’s more to our new festival platform than meets the eye, and more cool stuff on the way so read on.

Video Everywhere

People don’t like to read that much on the web, especially when it comes to live music so we put video everywhere. The home page slideshow, the lineup listing and the performer pages. Wherever there is thumbnail, there’s probably video. Our goal is to serve over 1 Million videos this year so go crazy.

My Calendar

Add your favourite performers to your calendar to make sure you don’t miss anything. To make sure your calendar doesn’t get lost, we recommend that you login … we made as easy as possible allowing you to simply login using your facebook id, twitter id, google account , or yahoo account. If you log in, you’ll get reminders as the festival approaches and you can even share you calendar with others to let them know what great taste you have.

Viewtube: on your terms (this is a big deal)

Rather than expect you to come to the bluesfest website, we exported the core lineup widget with video to other sites you might be hanging out at:

• Facebook: you can share your calendar with friends and see who is going to see specific shows (more on the way)
  • check it out and share it with friends
• Partner Websites: some radio stations and newspaper sites (announcements coming soon)
• Mobile: Mobile version of site and iPhone app coming soon

For the social media marketing types … this is critical and high value for everyone: fans get the data they need on their terms, the partner websites get something engaging and viral (more traffic), bluesfest gets more people exploring their shows … and finally, bands get more attention and hopefully more people at their shows. This is the future and the type of feature we build into our platform to hopefully make everyone happy.

Friends that do Good

Do you ever want to help but are not sure how? Do you wonder how doing good can connect back to your business (not primary reason but still good to know). If so read on.

One of the best ways to get involved in doing good is to find people who are actively doing their part. Let me tell you a story with a couple of examples.

TEDx Ottawa

Last spring, I attended #140conf … a great conference put on by Jeff Pulver about The State of Now (next one is in NYC April 20/21 … highly recommended). I met incredible change makers including Leigh Ferreira from TED. When I went back to a #140conf meetup to present a special project , a follow up meeting with Leigh convinced me to apply for a TEDx license. I knew I would get the support of the community and I was right. A small core group of volunteers … a bunch of do gooders … jumped in immediately. Not only was the conference life changing for many …. but we raised over $2,000 for low income entrepreneurs throughout the world through our Kiva TEDxOttawa team and that number continues to grow.

One small meeting that led to so many good things by connecting with the right people and the community. The relationships we made through this event are leading to crucial deals and relationships for FaveQuest.

Ottawa Tonite and the House Concert

When my friend and musician, Lindsay Ferguson, sent me a note asking me if I knew of any potential gigs for her, I knew instantly what to do. I called Cheryl Gain, the founder of  Ottawa Tonite, knowing she would help. She is super active in the arts community and is actually putting together a compilation CD to raise money for Haiti. We decided to put together a house concert at my house which is happening Friday April 9th, 2010 at 7pm. Tickets are $20 and you can bring your own drinks and snacks so it will be pretty cost effective + all money goes to the musicians. Kids get in for free.

Not surprisingly, Susan Murphy jumped in to help and also suggested we support 12for12k,This month’s charity is Boundless. Adrian Meissner from Boundless will be on hand to talk to the audience about the great work they do, and Susan will be there too to share the message about 12for12k. Bring some $ to donate if you wish.

Note that Susan was the co-organizer of TEDx Ottawa and Cheryl was a volunteer handling the main video camera at the event. One thing leads to another.

If you’ve been sitting on the fence about coming the concert, I hope this helps you decide that you should join us. You’ll have a great time, discover two amazing musicians you’ll fall in love with, meet some fantastic people that are changing the world and possibly even change your world.

Doing good doesn’t have to be a sacrifice. Connect with the right people and it can be a fun, worthy and ultimately life changing experience for you and the world wide community around you.

Join us

The Power of your Social Network

Let me tell you a story with five examples. I hope it helps you realize the power of your network:

1. Leaving My Job

In spring 2006, a litle after the acquisition of the startup I had poured my heart and soul into was acquired, I decided to resign from a high paying job in the pursuit of a dream. I hadn’t quite made enough to just coast and with a mortgage a self employed wife and three girls, there was certainly fear. Before I quit, three people threw me a rope … two for great consulting gigs and another offered me a role as an Entrepreneur In Residence at a VC … to pursue some startup ideas.  I took the plunge.

What would it take for you to quit your job in the next six months to pursue your dream?

2. Launching a startup

You have to be crazy to do it … and you can’t do it alone. Which means you have to find other crazy people that share the dream. Through the VC and my personal network, we were able to bring a great team together, including advisors who opened doors we had no access to. We even got a well know law firm to take us on and set up the company, stock plan and everything ….. for no money. The team has morphed over time but each and every contributor along the way was crucial.

People will do a tremendous amount of work for no pay. Believe in common passion and dream, issue some stock and dole it out carefully, keep the team tight and you will move the yardsticks farther than you think.

Do you have the guts? The desire? The "I have no choice but to do it or I’ll be miserable forever" attitude? If so, you should do it but don’t do it alone!

3. The First Customer

Ok, well the first customer screwed us over. The bigger they are, the harder they screw you. The second customer was magic. A friend brought me to the launch of a new radio station and the whose who of the business community was going to be there. He knew I would appreciate it and possibly capitalize on it. After chatting with Richard Branson at the event (yes I can prove it) he introduced me to the head of a major festival and I pitched him on the spot. Three weeks later, we had a deal and we redirected the entire company into a new space …. which turns out to be very fertile and fun.

Do you have fiends that would do that for you? You probably do … don’t be afraid to ask.

Could you create such an opportunity for someone else? I bet you can.

4. Another Customer

I remembered a chanced discussion over beers at Podcamp Montreal last year and followed up with the individual about a year later. It turns out she was connected with a key person and she stuck her neck out to introduce me. It turns out the individual was incredible, very well connected and he actually pitched us to the board of directors of a major company (he’s on the board). Can you believe that? The led to a major deal for us and possibly more. Talk about luck! Or was it?

I hope you’re starting to get the picture. As you debate your marketing plan and list of features, business model and the other such things many of us do, don’t forget that business is ultimately about people, relationships and trust. Ask for help and give help freely. That is what is going to lead to success.

I’ve left # 5 for you to fill in (I have plenty more). Do you have an example to share where RELATIONSHIPS made a substantial impact on your busines?