Post Thanks Air New Zealand for talking up StreetSpark
Air New Zealand covered StreetSpark in their in-flight magazine this month, saying that it is one of the best ways to meet people when you travel to a new destination and want a few tips about what to do when you arrive.
And with Auckland hosting the Rugby World Cup at the moment, there are a lot of rugby fans who have travelled from around the world to be there. Which means lots of chances to meet new people that have the same interests and passions as you do.
Kia Ora fellow travellers and look forward to seeing you on StreetSpark.
Post You voted - Top 10 places to meet new people
We’ve just tallied the results for our latest StreetSpark streeter poll.
We asked, ‘Where are the best places to meet new people in the city?’
These were your answers.
1 – Nearest park. Whether you are lounging with your book, dog, or bike, there’s a lot of activity around you, it’s a very social place.
2 - Concerts, festivals, and outdoor markets. A Couple of our current favorites:
http://www.brooklynflea.com/ and http://dekalbmarket.com/
2 – The gym and the swimming pool.
3– Apartment Building – in the elevator, on the roof, or in the gym. Great places to strike up conversations about the surrounding neighborhood and what to do on a Friday night.
4 – Sporting events. We’ve found that Stub hub is good for finding out when the Yankees next play. http://www.stubhub.com/. And let’s face it, with beer and hot dog in hand, it’s hard not to get into the spirit.
5 – Travelling. You can meet some pretty interesting people on the road. Especially whilst in transit – at train stations, airports, and bus stations. For inspiration, just think about what happened in the movie Before Sunrise. That will get the juices flowing!
6 – Believe it or not, the answer that came up, time and again, was the hardware store. We’re not sure about the subliminal undertones of ‘let’s build a life together,’ but for some reason, it’s really easy to strike up a conversation about the right sort of nails to buy.
7 – Seminars, classes, courses. No matter what you want to learn, there’s a course out there to teach you. Hundreds of new Meet-ups are sprouting up daily, so there really isn’t an excuse. http://www.meetup.com/
8 – Shared work places. Collaborate, take some time out, meet some new people.
Our favorites:
For tech start-ups in NYC – The General Assembly http://www.generalassemb.ly/
For Writers in NYC Writer Junction http://www.writersjunction.com/ and Paragraph http://www.paragraphny.com/
And in London: http://www.techhub.com/, http://sohodeskspace.co.uk/, http://skillsmatter.com/
9 – Dinner parties. ‘Building friendships over food’. It’s simple. Pick where you want to eat, reserve a place and show up. Great food, and because the numbers are limited, it’s easy to strike up a good conversation. http://www.grubwithus.com/new-york
10 – Cafes. cafes. Cafes. Some of our favorites are Nude Espresso in London (they have a café in Spitalfields and a new one on Soho Square http://www.nudeespresso.com) and in NYC, Blue Bottle Coffee in Brooklyn. (http://bit.ly/oQXfYL)
Thanks for your answers, and remember, meeting someone new can happen anytime, anyplace. All it takes is the right mind-set and a little strategy.
Hardware Store - one of the best places to meet someone new.
Post Quote of the week about Serendipity by Paul Auster
At StreetSpark we are on a mission to prove how important Serendipity is, and what a big part it plays in peoples’ everyday lives.
Therefore we will be highlighting a Serendipity cultural reference once a week, for the month of August.
We start this series with a quote from Paul Auster, in his book The Brooklyn Follies.
‘If we hadn’t made that decision to get off the highway at Brattleboro and follow our noses to Route 30, many of the events of this book never would have taken place. I am thinking especially of Tom when I say that. Both Lucy and I profited from the decision as well, but for Tom, the long-suffering hero of these Brooklyn Follies, it was probably the most important decision of his life. At the time, he had no inkling of the consequences, no knowledge of the whirlwind he had set in motion. Like Kafka’s doll, he thought he was simply looking for a change of scenery, but because he left one road and took another, Fortune unexpectedly reached out her arms to him and carried our boy into a different world.’
Paul Auster
Please let us know if Fortune has unexpectedly reached out her arms to you lately, or if there are references to serendipity in your favorite film, song, or book. You tell us, we’ll post it.
Thanks, and enjoy the rest of the week!
Post August is Serendipity month - you up for the experiment?
New York in August. The city slows down, just to survive the heat. People relax, they may even go on holiday. Warm balmy nights, being outside, a summertime mentality - these combined factors create the ideal backdrop for more random encounters between people.
So we want to use this downtime to test the following hypothesis:
Can StreetSpark uncover more serendipitous encounters using mobile technology?
This is what we already know.
People will:
• take risks if they feel there is potential of finding something ‘special’.
• jump at the excuse to be spontaneous.
• see true serendipitous encounters as romantic.
What you will get from us.
We’ve developed a way to tap into these ‘meaningful encounters’ via technology and help you be open to this potential occurrence. We’ve designed StreetSpark to show you enough overlaps to get you spontaneously talking to new people. We show you when you are in the right place at the right time to meet someone serendipitously. We give you a bit of a push in the right direction!
What we need from you.
When you registered, you decided you’d give Serendipity a helping hand. She thanks you for that.
You opened yourself up to the possibility that if you added a little structure to your serendipity search, you could heighten your chance of discovery and widen your potential for chance encounters.
So in all honesty, you’re pretty much halfway there!
All we ask is that you use StreetSpark and give it a chance. Let yourself go a bit. And tell us about any evidence that supports our experiment. Drop us a line at contact@streetspark.com. Or comment here.
What you will get from the world.
Serendipity is a little bit like Lady Luck. She can smile on you, if you give her a chance to do so. Once you start to have more and more true serendipitous encounters we think you will start to view your life and the world as a much better place for them. But like life, what you put in is what you get out of it.
Here’s your chance to be a part of something BIG.
Post Seeking cool french dude
We found this serendipitously online and thought it was great - cool french dude - please tell us the story behind this story!
Post You’re more connected than you think.
Weak Links, Strong Links and what this has to do with StreetSpark.
You’ve probably already heard of ‘the Dunbar number’- the size of the social network that an individual of any given species can develop and sustain. Apparently us humans can manage to have stable networks of about 148 people. Anything over that, and we’re just showing off.
These are termed as your ‘strong links/connections.’ Although it doesn’t mean that we talk to all of these people, all of the time. Those numbers are still in the high-tens to low-twenties. Unless, again, you’re just showing off.
And then there are your loose links or connections – those people who are friends of friends, the casual contacts and acquaintances that we collect like baseball cards on our social networks and that are actually more helpful to us than we think.
For one, the most valuable networking contacts in a job search are not from the ranks of close relationships, but rather from casual acquaintances and those known only indirectly through others.
These weaker links helps us gather knowledge about other worlds and experiences outside of our own. When they pop up on our Facebook walls we are curious about the lives they lead and what we might be missing. They introduce us to new events that neither we nor our friends will ever have within the comfortingly predictable confines of our own group.
We need both strong and weak links to survive. One gives us strength and reassures us about what we know, the other gives us opportunity to go beyond what we are familiar with, to something a little different. But still safely within reach.
StreetSpark is about taking those loose connections, exposing them, and seeing if we can’t turn them into something more. Not only because you have friends of friends of friends in common, but because you live and work in the same city. You like the same music and the same comedians and charities. Because you work in complementary industries and therefore have a lot to squabble about.
And most importantly, because it is time to meet someone new - to go beyond what you are already familiar with, to something a little different. But still safely within reach.
The inspiration and some of the material for this post was derived from this article by Rick Bookstaber. http://bit.ly/oonHC9. Thanks Rick.
You’re more connected than you think.
Post Birds of a Feather, must we always hang together??
Cities are themselves a communication and technology hub with huge opportunities to look at how people come together and the invisible overlaps they create.
Because everybody lives in such close quarters, cities are built to facilitate new encounters.
The patterns we trace in cities reflect that similar ‘types’ of people hang out in the same places. They shop at the same stores, eat at the same restaurants, and play in the same parks.
Our paths intersect daily with ‘Familiar Strangers’ as they commute to and from work and play. They already share many of our interests, but sadly we will never meet them.
For all the potential of genuinely new encounters, we talk to the same people, and follow the same routine.
So whilst Serendipity is happening in the background, urban dwellers find it difficult to cut through the noise and the routine of our lives to pay attention to it.
StreetSpark wants to change that.
It starts simply. By altering the set patterns of where we go and what we do everyday. Chopping up the routine by going a different way to work, or venturing to an area of the city that you’ve never been.
Any new experience can open up the possibility of a chance encounter.
There is one more factor. We’re very interested in the idea that one can prepare themselves for serendipity. They have to live with eyes wide open, exploring the world as if it is a new place.
So the question is - Do you want to know who is new and around you? Use StreetSpark to find out.
Post 10 reasons you need StreetSpark
10 reasons you need StreetSpark.
1. Because you’re already familiar strangers, you just don’t know it.
2. What else are you going to do in Ibiza?
3. You can’t stop staring at the girl in the coffee shop and you need a knock-her-dead icebreaker.
4. Our online world is catching up with our offline one, and we want to switch it back again.
5. There is randomness and then there is serendipity. Serendipity is not an accident.
6. People have formed into groups for thousands of years – they’ve built strong and weak relationships, formed allegiances and allies, spread rumor and gossip and married their cousins. Isn’t it time to meet someone new?
7. It’s so great that moments happen all the time. Now if only we were omniscient.
8. Running alone just isn’t that motivating.
9. Because he likes all the obscure music you do. Plus he can cook.
10. Just because you have a smartphone doesn’t mean you don’t still crave romance, mystery, and the unexpected.
So please don’t just sit on a park bench, waiting for something to happen.
Use StreetSpark and help us put some intrigue back into this city.
Post StreetSpark CEO Ant Erwin talks with IdeaMensch about what inspires him
Today StreetSpark CEO Ant Erwin was profiled by IdeaMensch - a community of people with good ideas who say their ‘impossible mission is to help anyone who wants to bring their idea to life, do it.’
Anthony was asked:
What does your typical day look like?
Every day is different. I spend a lot of time meeting and talking with people.
I meet with potential companies and individuals who are interested in forming partnerships.
I tap into my friends, advisors and new people to get their views and test my ideas and see how we can collaborate to come up with more uses for StreetSpark’s matching technology.
I’m in constant communication with my chief architect, designers, and development team to think about how we can streamline the product and make it even better, add in extra features and hooks to keep users interested and excited so they share their experiences with friends.
What I like so much about working in NYC is that people are really willing to help each other out, or to pass on intro’s where they can. I try to meet with everyone that has been intro’d to me and do my best to help other people get their idea off the ground.
3 trends that excite you?
1 - The next stage of social networking – meeting new people.
2 - Location based mobile technology.
3 - Bringing the online offline – being able to connect people for a real purpose in the real world using technology.
How do you bring ideas to life?
With a lot of thinking through the potential and the opportunities and then if it’s good enough - testing, reworking, revising, testing again and then putting it into play…so in a nutshell, with a lot of hard work!
I believe we’re in a new renaissance period in technology where ideas are flying around ever faster with a shorter incubation period so it pays to pay attention, to be tapped into what other people are doing, to collaborate, to help act as a conduit so that ideas can progress at an even faster rate.
What inspires you?
People who are true entrepreneurs – are true risk takers. Products that actually solve problems, that make me think – ‘hey, why didn’t I ever think of that?’.
Also great thinkers who were ahead of their time, who everyone thought were nuts, but in the end, they didn’t need to prove themselves – their products did.
To read the full article click through here. http://bit.ly/oLrdSQ
Post StreetSpark and Groups - Bring on the Summer Festivals!
Time to pull out the tent and if so inclined, the fancy dress, and hit up at least one of the kick ass festivals taking place this summer. What better place to start a new friendship or romance. But why leave it up to fate? StreetSpark is here to make sure you meet people you’ll really connect with, even before the DJ plays the first set. From Sonar in Barcelona (this weekend), to the Burning Man in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, festival-goers are using StreetSpark to meet people that share the same festival tastes as they do, no matter how unique or obscure those tastes may be. In addition to matching on your Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter activity, StreetSpark allows you to select the film, music, art, camping, and ‘just having a great time’ festivals that say a lot about you. It then gives you a head start by introducing you to people going to the same festivals. So you can start the party early and make sure it lasts long after they take down the last tent. Want a piece of the action? All you have to do is click on ‘Groups’ in the app and select the festivals that define you. We will use this criteria to match you with other people that also like the same festivals. You can also select charities, sporting and cultural events and universities/colleges and be matched against these too. There are no onerous profiles to fill in - we take what you already do and match against your current social graph. This also means that it stays up to date, and matches against your current real interests. Don’t see your favorite festival on the list? Tell us. And let StreetSpark help you find the people that you don’t want to miss, even in a sea full of faces.
StreetSpark makes it easy to go from this….
To this….
