freshcoats, the wetpaint blog

Golden Paint Can Voting Ends July 8th!

Posted by Devin on July 2nd, 2009 No Comments

Wow. We’ve had over 25,000 votes so far and are pulling in tons more everyday. This year’s Golden Paint Can Awards are shaping up to be an amazing display of communities coming together and there’s only 6 days left to cast your vote for your favorite site in each category!

The winners will be announced on Friday, July 10th live on the Wetpaint Nation podcast.

Make sure to get your votes in before time runs out! Here’s a glimpse into what the voting looks like so far for each cagetory - if your favorite site isn’t on top, you better act quick!

Anime - Mobile Suit Gundam Wiki & NarutoFan1010 are neck and neck!

Civic Superstars - The Big Cool Down & Day of Decision are leading the pack but Stop the Outrage isn’t far behind…

Education 2.0 - WikiRadiography has a lead for sure, but Ms. Genta’s Science Website is within striking range!

Fans Gone Wild - This is so close! Deadliest Catch Wiki, Mark Harmon Fan Wiki, and Luke & Noah Wiki are all in the running for this prize!

Gaming Gurus - Last Chaos Guides & Info has a pretty big lead in this category, it’ll be pretty exciting to see if someone can come back into this race!

Hobby Hounds - Pet Lover’s Virtual World also has a good lead on this group, but several of these other sites do have pretty enthusiastic communities, c’mon guys!

Mating, Dating & Relating - This one is down to three - Battlestar Galactica Wiki: Frak Map, Luke & Noah Wiki, & The L Word Wiki.

Role Play - Harry Potter: Hogwarts Role Play has a commanding lead on the rest of the nominees in this group and isn’t showing signs of letting up!

TV: Drama - True Blood Wiki is the frontrunner here, not suprising, but House Wiki fans have the ability to make this interesting if they want!

TV: Forensics - NCIS isn’t just doing well in the Fandex! CSI Wiki fans and Bones Wiki fans both have some work to do to get back in this race!

TV: Sci-Fi/Fantasy - Wow. The Terminator: Sarah Chronicles community is ferocious! Impressive stuff, guys!

Sports - The rabid fans of the Celtic Futbol Club are dominating the sports category, but a valiant effort so far from the NY Giants Wiki as well!

Supernatural - Two groups are battling this one out; Zombie Survival & Defense Wiki and the Ghost Hunters Wiki look like they’l take this one down to the wire!

Warrior Cats - Who doesn’t love these guys! Warriors Fansite, Warrior Cat Clans 2, and Lunastar’s Quest are all in the running for this special category!

Keyword Tags: Employees, Events, Fun, Golden Paint Can Awards, Sarah Connor, User Generated Content, Web 2.0, Wetpaint, Wikis

Wetpaint Visits NECC & Washington D.C.

Posted by Devin on July 1st, 2009 2 Comments

It’s easy for me to forget how much I enjoy talking to new people (in person) about Wetpaint and all that we offer. After a rather quick cross-country flight and 2 stop train ride, I was happily (and persperatorily) at my room in downtown D.C. (about 80 degrees at 8pm), which surprisingly housed a comfy, modern, and plasma filled room (the cheapest available, believe it or not) all about a mile from the White House, etc. With my 3-4 hours before I should be asleep, I marched rather aimlessly (as those of you who monitor my Facebook status know) around the nation’s capital snapping photos of some memorable buildings and updating the world of my quest to find the best beer joint in town (it’s been about 15 years since I was last in D.C., and needless to say, I was unable to walk into a bar). I finally found one with the help of a few east coast friends, man, can I just stop and say how cool it is that I can post a question from my phone on Facebook about where to find a good bar in D.C., and have 4-5 replies in minutes from friends all over the country? This whole internet/technology/Web 2.0 thing is really going places, I’m telling you.

Oh, and I almost forgot, in the midst of all my wandering, I stumbled upon the set of a movie, which by chance happened to have Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd starring; they were about 50 feet away from me! No, I know what you’re thinking; they didn’t ask me to be in the movie right then and there, not even as an extra. I was pretty offended, I mean, if my black polo, jeans, and gray sweater didn’t stand out to them, I’m really not sure what would have. I think it goes without saying they’re scouting team could use a bit of an eye sharpening, but that’s just my opinion. Anyways, onto the conference.

NECC is by far and away the largest educator conference in the US on an annual basis, attracting about 15,000 teachers/administrators from all over the US and all over the world. In the “Wonders of Wikis” course that Jeff Utecht and I put on there were 28 total attendees (the max was supposed to be 25) ranging from a D.C. native who literally walked from her home that morning, to as far as CA and even further from Eastern Europe. The group was certainly diverse, all with their own agendas and goals for the program. Of the 28 I’d say about 5-6 had never worked with or knew much about wikis, or Wetpaint for that matter, before, around 14-15 were familiar with wikis but hadn’t used them before and the remaining 8 or so had made wikis, and most on Wetpaint. Goals ranged from understanding what a wiki was to learning more uses of the technology and how to master the art of the wiki (a la Welker’s Wikinomics) with advanced table arrangements, etc. Levels of education also varied. There was a mix of principals, teachers, and peer educators that were specifically learning how to use wikis in order to go back to their districts to teach other teachers how to use the technology, almost ambassadors in their own right. From an equipment standpoint, about 60-65% of the crowd did have Macs, and thankfully all those that did either had Firefox already installed or installed it on site to avoid Safari problems.

The first 30 minutes or so was more introductory with people really getting used to the platform, registering themselves, and so on. Most caught on quickly and it was nice to see them so enthusiastic about learning new technology. What was great in the earlier stages of the program was that everyone was on board from a conceptual level quicker than I’d imagined they would be. The group saw benefits and awesome use cases almost immediately, and they became even more excited when they got to see some in action from the Wikis in Education site. On the whole the education crowd was amazingly appreciative from the get go and praising of the product with all that we’ve done so far with regards to removing ads and increasing storage for them. We’re more than happy to help out this group of awesome users of our platform and couldn’t be more excited that we’re providing a product that really facilitates education!

Everyone became a member to the Wikis in Education site, and many exchanged contact information with the upfront goal of having their classes collaborate on projects together, a really exciting thing for me to hear because my little heart dreams of cross country and cross continent collaboration between young students! I’ll keep up on these and any other progressions from the session and pass along cool stories to all you guys as they happen!

Hope you all have a great 4th of July weekend!

Keyword Tags: Education, Employees, Events, Fun, General, Wetpaint, Wikis

Sharing Made Easy on Wetpaint

Posted by Devin on June 25th, 2009 No Comments

Just a quick note for everyone that sharing your favorite content from Wetpaint sites is even easier now. As of last night we’ve installed a social bookmarking box on each page allowing you to distribute your and your fellow members’ work across all your social networks from Facebook (which you’ve been able to do already through Facebook Connect), MySpace, Twitter, Google, StumbleUpon, etc.).

Make sure to use this tool and get more fans to your site!

Keyword Tags: Employees, General, New Features, User Experience, Web 2.0, Wetpaint, maintenance

Wetpaint Announces TV Fandex 100

Posted by Devin on June 22nd, 2009 comments 1 Comment

Just in case you haven’t seen it already, make your way over to our homepage (www.wetpaint.com) and you’ll see the completely upgraded look with a focus on the top performing TV and general sites on the Wetpaint network. I, for one, love the new look, but sure; I’ll accept that I’m a bit biased

The new homepage design happens to go hand in hand with our announcement today of the Wetpaint TV Fandex 100, a weekly ranking system of the most popular TV shows in the online space. The new tool pulls statistics from the most relevant and buzzing sources of fan discussion and activity including Twitter, Facebook, Google, IMDb, and of course, Wetpaint fansites, among others. We’ve been realizing a new truth in the TV industry, which is that viewership is continuously evolving. New technologies like TiVo and DVR allowed people to watch their favorite programs when they wanted to, not be relegated to the TV networks’ timeslot decision. Moving forward, advancements from YouTube, Hulu, and iTunes, are allowing for people to not only watch programming when they want to, but where they want to as well, whether it’s on their computers, iPods, or mobile phones. All this considered, it’s no longer accurate to rate television content based on its viewership alone, the online activity of programs is also a strong indicator of the level of success a show can have in the short and long runs.

With that the TV Fandex 100 will update weekly, not only with the most recent showings of what’s hot and what’s not, but also an analysis of the Top 10 and big Movers and Shakers on the list. If you love TV and want to keep up on what’s happening, without having to remember to check every week, and have the biggest news summarized for you then go ahead to the Fandex page now – www.fandex.com – and sign up for our weekly newsletter. I’m pasting this week’s quick update below to give you an idea of what kind of information you can expect:

“The Wetpaint TV Fandex 100 has certainly started off with a bang and a fascinatingly diverse Top 10. Premium networks like Showtime and HBO are represented well with HBO’s True Blood taking hold of the #1 spot while Showtime’s Weeds and The Tudors landed in the #4 and #9 spots respectively. True Blood, with the premiere not that far behind us and the interest in anything vampire has rocketed to the top, and some shows which recently ended with interesting plot twists (House) or fan activity and organization to try to get a show extended (The Sarah Connor Chronicles) are still in the top 10. Outside of the top 10 - shows like Nurse Jackie, Burn Notice and The Closer are moving quickly up the charts.”

For more details on the Fandex you can find the official press release here: Wetpaint TV Fandex First to Measure “Engagement” Rather than Just Viewership of Popular TV Programming

Find the TV Fandex on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tvfandex

Keyword Tags: Employees, Events, General, New Features, New Media, User Experience, Web 2.0, Wetpaint

Wetpaint - The Sugar to Your Lemonade Stand

Posted by Devin on June 19th, 2009 No Comments

As I often do, I came across a blog post recently that involved a Wetpaint site being used for another cool purpose and wanted to share it with everyone.

I found this post by Mark Mader of Smartsheet; Smart Forms and the Entrepreneurial Spirit spotlighting a young entrepreneur doing his best to promote his business on the web with new and innovative tools, of course, including Smartsheet and Wetpaint.

Tim Creason is CEO, Founder, and workforce for Tim’s Dog Walking, a local enterprise consisting of one employee and dozens of canine clients. Tim is using the web to power his sales process, from lead generation to follow up and eventual deal closing. Tim’s Wetpaint site not only allows him to describe himself, his business practices, and his passion for walking dogs, but also does a little (as every Wetpaint site does) with SEO (I know, kind of a stretch, but still…)

Tim’s added some photos of some adorable pups that I can only assume are part of his client list, I just can’t stop smiling at this guy:

In Mark’s words, Tim “graduated from managing a corner lemonade stand to the lucrative dog-walking business.” Great job, Tim, and best of luck with the mutts!

Keyword Tags: Fun, Web 2.0, Wetpaint, Wikis

Summer TV is Here!

Posted by Devin on June 8th, 2009 No Comments

Finally. Summertime is here and we have all the time in the world to watch the sizzlin’ hot shows that are starting up in the next few weeks. Remember when Summer used to be a waste of TV, when the only things on were reruns, baseball games, and talk shows? Thankfully those days are behind us and networks have began using the Summertime to put out some new and exciting shows.

So, with all that extra time you have on your hands now, here are some links to the official fansites for some of this Summer’s hottest programs where you can hook up with everyone else who’s just as excited you and I are for popsicles, popcorn, and pop culture!

Weeds Premier: Monday June 8th, 10p.m. on Showtime

This Golden Globe-winning series couldn’t start soon enough for me. Mary-Louise Parker is sensational as drug dealer Nancy Botwin and if you watch one show this Summer (that doesn’t have vampires in it), it’s gotta be this one!

The Closer Premier: Monday June 8th, 9p.m. on TNT

Kyra Sedgwick will be receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the same night as the Season 5 premier, which, coincedentally, is tonight! Season 5 promises to be exciting after the new marraige between Branda and Fritz!

True Blood Premier: Sunday June 14th, 9p.m. on HBO

We’re wiggling on our seats here at Wetpaint for True Blood to start up next week. We’re all a little vampire crazy considering the whole Twilight saga, which, by the way, won’t continue on screen until November, so, until then we’lll be getting our weekly fix of vampire lovin’ with Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer.

Leverage Premier: Monday June 15th, 9p.m. on TNT

I haven’t watched this show too much yet, but who can ever get enough of good guys taking down bad guys?

Merlin Premier: Sunday June 21st, 8p.m. on NBC

Colin Morgan (Merlin) and Bradley James (Arthur) are sure to keep the screen steamy from back in Camelot as the two famous figures cause trouble together in their younger days, before they were big shots!

Keyword Tags: Fun, Social Networking, User Generated Content, Web 2.0, Wetpaint, Wikis

The 2nd Annual Wetpaint Golden Paint Can Awards!

Posted by Devin on May 28th, 2009 No Comments

So many of you have been waiting and, yes, the time has finally come to start collecting nominations for the 2009 Wetpaint Golden Paint Can Awards! We’re all so excited for the next installment of what turned out to be one of the coolest events we’ve ever had with you all since we started this whole thing back in 2006. Nominations are open from today until June 12th, so get going!

There are some changes from the 2008 GPC Awards, most notably that we’re letting you, the community, nominate any site on the Wetpaint network that you think deserves to be up for one of these prestigious awards. All sites that get nominated by Wetpaint users will be reviewed by a panel of Wetpaint staff members and the final nominees will be officially announced on the Golden Paint Can Awards Website during the week of June 15th, when voting for the winners will begin. Just like last year, voting will be open for two weeks and the winners will be announced the week of June 29th.

Be sure to nominate your favorite sites under the appropriate category from this list, look for the NEW categories as well:

If you want an idea of who has a shot to win, visit these winning sites from last year.

There are also some awards given out to outstanding performers, both individuals and sites alike. Here are a few of the categories:

Most Active User
Most Active Site
Most Site Members
User With Most Friends
Most Active Sites Created By A Single User
See the rest here!

Good luck to everyone and remember, over 20,000 votes were cast last year so the best way to see your favorite sites recognized is to nominate and vote!

Keyword Tags: Employees, Events, General, Golden Paint Can Awards, User Experience, User Generated Content, Web 2.0, Wetpaint, Wikis

Wetpaint Witnesses Flash Activism Organization At Its Finest

Posted by Devin on May 27th, 2009 No Comments

Regardless of where you stand on the issue of same-sex marraige there was one thing that was certainly impressive regarding the CA Supreme Court decision yesterday. The volume and coordination amongst the anti-Prop 8 advocates was pretty unbelieveable and we were proud to see how effectively people were using our platform to realize their visions and help get their voices heard in unison. Tens of thousands of people were inspired by the passions of others and joined arms together, in over 100 cities across North America.

Members of the organization called Day of Decision used a Wetpaint site, http://dayofdecision.wetpaint.com, as a clearinghouse of information for anyone who was interested in taking part in the rallies they had planned in the months leading up to yesterday’s decision. It was easy for anyone who wanted to start and lead a rally in their city to apply via the site’s moderator, and begin filling out a page full of information about where to begin the demonstration, when to be there, and what to bring. In just minutes each city had pages full of instructions, like this one for San Francisco:

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen activism with this kind of magnitude on our network before, if you recall a group back in November who was also opposing Prop 8 called Join the Impact. Join the Impact also used a Wetpaint site, http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com, to coordinate a worldwide protest of over 250,000 people in 300 cities around the world. Amy Balliett, the founder of Join the Impact was used for this pretty creative video to give you an idea of just how big the movement was: Join the Impact Video

We do our best every day to make Wetpaint a tool that allows people to have their voices heard and work with others who share their interests, and seeing results like this just makes our little hearts soar.

Keyword Tags: Collaboration, Events, General, Life Style, Social Networking, Web 2.0, Wetpaint, Wikis

Fans Raise Their Voices for Dollhouse Online

Posted by Devin on May 15th, 2009 No Comments

As rumors continue to circulate about which shows from this TV season are going to be renewed, are getting cancelled or are on the chopping block, fans of the hit FOX show Dollhouse are rallying to make sure their favotite show gets the green light. Dedicated fans have hit the Dollhouse Fansite and been adding their most compelling reasons why Joss Whedon’s creation should be continuted for season 2.

If you’re a fan of the show be sure to stop by and share your passion for the show, and here are a few reasons from the site, and if you were wondering, my reason is ‘Who can get enough of Eliza Dushku, I mean, really?’

User ‘thewhitewilsmith’ says: “Brilliant concept. Rich narrative and character development. Joss effing Whedon. ‘Nuff said.

User ‘Jaz4tscc’ says: “I want to know the purpose of the Dollhouse, more about Alpha, and lets be honest the idea of a dollhouse is just awesome. I don’t want it to end.”

User ‘Arieanne’ says: “Because this show is hands down one of the best shows I’ve watched in a long time (and I’m talking better than Heroes and Gossip Girls). The plot is intriguing and the characters keep you coming back for more. Beyond Buffy, I had never seen any Joss Whedon shows, but I definitely have to say he did an incredible job with this one!! Keep bringing Dollhouse back!!!”

So far almost 150 fans have voiced their opinions, share yours!

***UPDATE*** Dollhouse has been renewed! Great work to everyone who supported and participated in the campaign to get the show back on the air for another season!

Keyword Tags: Collaboration, Events, User Experience, User Generated Content, Web 2.0, Wetpaint, Wikis

Embed Hulu Videos to Take Your Fansite to a New Level

Posted by Devin on May 12th, 2009 No Comments

Have you ever been perusing a fansite, perhaps your own site, and just wished that you could be watching the exact episode of the TV show you’re gushing about? If you have, you’ll love this, and if you haven’t, you likely haven’t thought of watching your favorite shows online, in which case, you’ll love this too.

We’ve made it super-easy to embed Hulu videos on fansites with just a few clicks of your mouse. Fans across the network are thrilled to be able to bring their favorite shows right to their own websites where they can do what they’ve always done; build out episode guides, aggregate photos of favorite characters, and discuss plot twists and juicy romances. Adding episodes of favorite shows rounds out the most complete package of fansite building tools available on the web, especially since it’s so darn easy!

To embed a Hulu video on your site, it literlly takes just four clicks. Click’Easy Edit’ to open up your editing toolbox, then, click ‘Widget.’ At this point you’ll see Hulu as an option to embed onto your webpage, as is shown here:

After clicking ‘Select’ under Hulu, you’ll see the following window that will allow you to paste the embed code of the video you’ve selected from Hulu and by clicking ‘Add Hulu Video,’ you’ve just installed your favorite episode of your favorite show right on your site!

We’re dedicated to bringing you the best fansite experience you can possibly have and we’re proud to offer easy-to-install Hulu videos to our network. Leave your feedback as always, etiher here, find us on Twitter, or on Wetpaint Central.

Keyword Tags: Employees, New Features, User Experience, Wetpaint