2010 July : Collective Detective Archives

Archive for July, 2010

Collectivus: Six Months Ago…

Hey gang!

Villanova Thingie Six months ago we launched the prototype release of Collectivus. In that time, we’ve released hundreds of Thingies into the wild. Some have travelled as far away as Turkey and Australia, many have journeyed all over the country, some have been hijacked by children, two confirmed cases of being eaten by dogs, some appearances at Philadelphia Union soccer matches, and a lot of them wound up playing in the snow. Most of them seem to be photogenic judging by all the pictures that get posted.

We introduced people to Collectivus through care packages sent all over, handed them out to hundreds of people on the streets of Austin at SXSW, and spoke about them in front of the Executive MBA class at Villanova.

It’s been a wild half-year!

As someone who has spent literally years thinking about this project: thank you! Thank you for reading this post. Thank you for posting your Thingie encounters. Thank you for the feedback and most importantly the support.

So if version 1 was a "prototype of a beta," what next? Well, version 2 is in the works and hopes to be a "beta of a beta." We’ve taken your feedback and the data we’ve collected and went back to the drawing board on certain features. We’re also working on features we’ve had planned all along. We’ve more than doubled the team that worked on the fist version and we have a ton of ideas we can’t wait to get to.

Speaking of feedback. We finally figured out how to send a newsletter. Please check your email for a link to a survey. We could really use your two-cents to help us improve the next version.

We think we’ve got a formula to make the next version of Collectivus even more fun, more interesting, and more interactive. Soon, we’ll find out.

We know things have been quiet on the blog, but that’s because we’ve been working on what’s next. Keep an eye out for information on the new Collectivus and meet more of the crew working on the project in “Team Spotlights.” You can also get updates by following Collectivus on Twitter and liking the Collectivus Facebook page. We also now have a Collectivus Photo Pool on Flickr.

Thanks again!

byline:: Josh Babetski; July 26th, 2010
categories:: Collectivus

Team Profile: Josh Babetski

Our team of dedicated volunteers each has a unique and interesting story of how they came to find themselves on the Collectivus team. Periodically, we will turn the spotlight on a member of the team to uncover a little about them, their story and possibly, some rather odd facts about them too. To kick things off, we interview the Founder & Creator of Collectivus: Josh Babetski.

Name: Josh Babetski
Hometown: I move around a lot, so I’ll go with Earth.
Title: Founder of Collective Detective, but I’m not big on titles, so I usually use "Chief Confusion Officer."
Background: I started freelance developing web applications in 1998 under the TaxiCafe banner, then started doing more product design and development, and then product marketing and a bunch of other skills I hope will come in handy someday.
Interesting facts about Josh: I’m library of useless pop culture trivia information and stats, mostly music, TV, and movies. No idea why.; I’ve been an extra in a movie; I modeled clothes for a Department Store as a kid; My girlfriend had me interviewed for a television segment on “getting your man to marry you” (she’s now my fiancé, so I guess it worked); We’ve also jumped off the bridge where bungee jumping was invented; I find monkeys funny; I have two cats named "Pink" and "Floyd;" they’re brother and sister
Most embarrassing song or artist on your iPod right now: The Linus and Lucy Theme Song
Favorite Sport & Team: Right now: The Philadelphia Union MLS team. I’m going to 5 games this season, so already they’ll close the year being the team I’ve seen the most games in-person. After that, the Texas Longhorns Football Team. Hook ‘Em Horns!
Biggest Celeb Crush: There’s a list of 5 I’m allowed to have. Consistently on it is Isla Fisher; I’m a sucker for cute redheads. At the top of the list however is my fiancé Traci. I’m her biggest fan and still have the biggest crush on her. Did I answer that right?
Beer or Liquor: Yes please. Usually a Yuengling Lager or a Captain and Coke are my drinks of choice

You can find out more about Josh on his personal site: Quixotic Bravado and find him on most online communities as "quixado."

byline:: Jonathan Herr; July 25th, 2010
categories:: Collectivus

Thingie Watch: Summer 2010!

The summer season is upon us once again! The kids are out of school, there’s beautiful weather, weekend cookouts & Jimmy Buffet is on heavy rotation on iPods across America! With the summer comes awesome Summer Fun, and for Collectivus users: a great chance to give some Thingies a little well-earned fun in the sun! Let’s take a look at some interesting locations our Thingies have seen so far this summer!