New Social Media Application Supports Olympic Aspirations of American Youth
Tanagram, Geneca introduce groundbreaking real-time social network for teens
Oakbrook Terrace/Chicago, IL. December 18, 2008 -- Interactive design firm, Tanagram, and custom software developer, Geneca, teamed up at the The PhizzPop Design Challenge 2008-2009 to break new ground in the use of social networks. The contest, sponsored by Microsoft, pitted leading local agencies against one another in an intense three-day development effort.
The challenge was to develop a solution that would engage teens between the ages of 13 to 18 and generate excitement about the 2016 Olympic bid. The solution was required to utilize Silverlight, Microsoft’s revolutionary technology to build rich interactive experiences on the Web.
The Tanagram/Geneca solution, called “Big Shoulders,” is unique in its use of real-time connectivity experiences within the social networking domain.
“The design and strategy behind Big Shoulders represents a big step forward for social media,” said Tanagram CEO, Joseph Juhnke. “We’ve created a real-time social network for teens with some very important goals: Encouraging kids to achieve athletic excellence and changing American attitudes about exercise.”
Big Shoulders Highlights
Big Shoulders supports the rapid growth of a social network by targeting and converting athletically inclined youth and providing them with the tools to recruit new members. Typically, these teens have an interest in the Olympics, are participating in athletic programs, and have a strong network of friends, family, and fans in place that serve as potential recruits. Once converted, Big Shoulders becomes a key component in the athlete’s daily training process by providing a platform to:
• Record and digitally publish athletic achievements.
• Build a community and voice opinions.
• Capture and monitor training progress and share it with supporters.
• Participate in real-time, multiple interactions via a mobile component. For example, recruited fans receive message updates from the athlete (i.e. new best time) and can respond with messages of encouragement.
• Benchmark training progress against peers and Olympians.
• Recruit a support network by adding fans to a training blog distribution list.
• Connect to athletes at various training levels. For example, novice athletes can connect with Olympians for guidance and professionals can connect to share best practices.
In order to make these activities tie to the Olympics, Big Shoulders includes a digital petition showing support for the 2016 bid. Athletes can also flag themselves as Olympic potentials and gain ranking and benchmarking capabilities.
“In business, we’ve seen collaboration in informal employee networks become more critical to an organization’s ability to innovate and succeed,” states Eric Daugherty, Geneca VP of Delivery. “Big Shoulders gives teens the same kind of community power to achieve their dreams.”
Enabled by Microsoft’s Silverlight Streaming cloud service
Big Shoulders’ rich media blogging platform provides easy addition and presentation of text, audio, photos, and video streams. Powered by Microsoft’s Silverlight Streaming cloud service, the system allows simple upload, conversion, and hosting of video files (up to 10GB for free).
The system is designed to be fully enabled through Short Message Service (SMS/ text messaging) for bi-directional communication between cell phone groups of athletes and fans. The system also enables text messaging for group members who do not have a text feature in their phones. This is particularly important for the teens with lower tech phones.
About Tanagram Partners
Tanagram designs human-computer interactions with products you use at home, at the office, or on-the-go. This includes web and software applications ranging from interfaces for a single interaction to complex product ecologies. Visit Tanagram at www.tanagram.com.
For more information on Big Shoulders, contact jessica.chipkin@geneca.com or joseph.juhnke@tanagram.com.