Come say Hi to Us At #E3, #CallCenterWeek, and #IRCE
ModSquadJune 10, 2014
It’s a wonderful time to travel, and this fine week we have several team members attending various fun events across the western portion of the United States. If you happen to be at one of the events mentioned below, please look for us!
E3 Expo Gamers rejoice! It’s a week of title and console launches, announcements, and celebrating game-geekery. Whether you’re a console gamer, or a computer gamer, E3 is the place to be! And if you cannot be there? Never fear, Metaverse Mod Squad to the rescue! We currently have two gents on the ground, roaming the floor, and meeting as many people as they possibly can (in a relatively small industry like ours, it isn’t just networking, it’s building friendships). Also, we’re LIVE-COVERING the event on our super stealth Tumblr page. Should you happen to see Matt Hostler or Scott Rusnak during your E3 adventures, make sure to say hi! And, if you mention reading this post to Scott, you may request a solo dance from him (the Irish Jig is particularly fun). Oh, and tell him Izzy said you’d do it. 🙂
Call Center Week It’s Call Center Week in Las Vegas, NV! This is the #1 event for customer support call centers, with 4 days of panels, roundtables, case studies, and a vibrant expo floor. It’s a very popular event, with over 1,500 people estimated for attendance this week, and over 350 companies represented. This is a great chance for us to talk about the benefits of our services, particularly the value of true human to human communication, and the value of context and understanding in customer support. We’ll be in there force with Mike Pinkerton, Joi Podgorny, Scott Rusnak (once he finishes up with E3… busy guy), and Ryan Cundiff. Just look for us at Booth #2, say hi, make some new connections, and play with one of our cool old school View Finder toys (who doesn’t love a little does of nostalgia?). If you mention this blog post, you might even get to take one home (your kids will love the swag).
IRCE Finishing off the week, you can find us roaming the amazing conference floor at 2014’s Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition in good ole Chicago, Il. Our VP of Business Development, Mary Lex, will be available for connections, networking, and helping to spread the good word about Metaverse Mod Squad services (and how we can help YOU find success is your customer-facing outlets).
If you’re interested in learning more about Metaverse Mod Squad, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Also, we’ll be sharing our insights, activities, and experiences via our Twitter account (@Metav3rse) for all three events. Follow and tweet to us! We’d love to get to know you.
Wait… is it April 1st? With some of the news coming out lately, I’ve found myself checking the calendar a few times more than normal. If you’re not exactly sure what news I’m referencing, let me share with you some of the hot news items out lately.
The Flappy Bird Saga
Now here’s a fascinating tale! Let me sum it up as quickly as I can. A Vietnamese indie game developer made an addictive, simple, tap-happy iOS game based on art from Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros, etc. He launched it in the Spring of 2013, and without a single drop of marketing funds spent, the game became a number one hit by December 2013. The creator, Dong Nguyen, has been accused of stealing art, game-creation and marketing/ranking fraud, and creating a terrible addiction for society. Subsequently, he has been threatened and trolled by the masses (which seems to be more and more of a growing trend). Despite making an estimated $50,000 per day on the wee lil game, he shook his fist at the gods and removed it permanently from app stores.
I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore.
Now smart phones (still carrying the popular game) have been appearing on the market for resale for those who missed the chance to download, and multiple game clones (both legit and dangerous hacker-versions) have been popping up in app stores. Flappy Bird: one moment popular yet hated and the next glorified & lamented!
Here’s the endearing kicker: Forbes had quoted Mr Nguyen as saying, “Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed. But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.”
Well… imagine that! Morals & Social Media Bullying > Massive Income & Game Rankings.
Reddit creators (and trolls) should have a new meme soon: “Disappointing Good Guy Nguyen, Creates fun & engaging games, removes game when he sees it’s become a problem for society.” You can credit me for that, should any of you start that thread and get Reddit Gold.
Dumb Starbucks
No, I’m not insulting that franchise. Dumb Starbucks is a legitimate thing (or was until a few days ago). Described as a “Parody Art Project,” this silly cafe in Los Angeles has left people head-scratching with a smirk. I have to say, it really does shine a light on intellectual properties (IP’s), what’s legal, not legal, a gag, and legit business. Dumb Starbucks is like a tongue-in-cheek homage to something that soaks up most corner stores in all popular downtown areas across the nation. Needless to say, the Health Inspectors have already closed the location, citing issues with a valid health department permit [wonder who tipped them off to that, hmm?]. It’ll be interesting to see if any legal repercussions come from this (as Starbucks shared with USA Today in an email, “We are evaluating next steps and while we appreciate the humor, they cannot use our name, which is a protected trademark.” Whomp, whomp.).
Let me preface this with: I’ve stayed away from the “digital coin” news for months, as it seems a little too close to what is in Hasbro’s Monopoly boxesfor me. Don’t get me wrong! I love social and digital innovation. Truly, it’s so very interesting to me. But when Bitcoin gained popularity and traction in the news, I listened to logic from the brilliant people around me about the art of farming and where the value lends itself. I didn’t get it then, and I still don’t (perhaps, that’s where I fail). I had a long conversation with a beloved friend of mine who has relatively NO digital footprint whatsoever, and often rants about how the apocalypse is coming, and how he will survive NBC’s Revolutionstyle when the Internet collapses and everything “tech” is lost. Having heard about Bitcoin on his radio, this friend called me up and asked, “If this is a real thing, what is going to stop others from randomly creating currency?” To which I replied, “I’m not sure.”
Last week we published a fascinating post by our very own Matt Hostler about Dogecoin. Yes, it’s a digital currency related to Doge, the dog meme competitor to the infamous Cat/IHasCheesburger meme. As the current Blog Master of Metaverse Mod Squad (yes, you can complain to me about editorial/grammatical errors – I’m sorry!), I happily must read all posts prior to publishing on our glorious blog. The subject of Matt’s post made me want to cackle like a crazed loon. What has the world come to?! There are MULTIPLE digital coins that carry recognized value, beyond Bitcoin? Yes. They’re called “altcoins” and fall under the category of cryptocurrency.
I have to say, if 2014 carries on like this — we’re in for quite a ride folks. Here’s to the shenanigans yet to come, folks! And please share any additional news stories you’ve come across in 2014 that seem a little unbelievable, or chuckle-worthy.