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Although video games and laser tag are a popular choice for kids’ parties, getting the kids to venues can be more hassle than it’s worth. Back in January, Texas-based Games2u stepped in to solve this problem with its mobile video game theatres—self-powered, climate controlled trailers that house X-Box 360, Wii and PS3 systems, enabling up to 24 players to compete head-to-head. For parents who’d rather see their children running around outdoors, the company’s Sprinter trailers contain a range of inflatable bunkers and laser guns to turn yards and fields into laser tag battlegrounds in an instant. Thanks to its installation of multiple 50-inch flatscreen HDTV displays and surround sound, the trailer provides customers with a much more immersive gaming experience than they could create in their own homes. Each mobile theatre is accompanied by a trained Game Coach who oversees the event and keep players engaged, allowing parents to sit back and relax. Parties start at USD 199 for one hour, USD 299 for two hours and USD 99 for every additional hour. Games2u is offering franchise opportunities in the US. Entrepreneurs in other game-hungry countries: how about setting up something similar? (Related trend: Insperiences, which describes consumers' desire to bring top-level experiences into their domestic domain.) Website: www.g2u.com Spotted by: Susanna Haynie
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Theyworkforyou.com, the site that helps the British public keep tabs on their politicians, has just made the government’s goings-on even more transparent and accessible. Its full archive of video clips of debates in the House of Commons can now be searched, thanks to a new initiative to link parliament transcripts with video footage. The website created a timestamping application in June 2008 to match up each clip—recorded from BBC Parliament, the British equivalent of C-SPAN—to the correct transcript. Even though all of the timestamping needed to be done manually without a budget, two months after launch all 42,018 video clips were fully searchable. The non-profit site managed this by involving the general public, creating a small incentive by naming its top taggers, one of whom is responsible for over 8,000 entries. It also encouraged participation by making it incredibly easy for anyone to pitch in: all users need to do to get started is to click the ‘Give me a random speech that needs timestamping’ link. They’re then shown a video, and just need to press the ‘now’ button when they hear the words displayed below the player. The Houses of Parliament are currently in their Summer Recess, but when they get back to work in October, Theyworkforyou.com will be able to match up videos and transcripts as soon as they become available. By relying on the simple system of text search, finding important parts of debates in seemingly endless sequences of video suddenly becomes much less daunting. The project’s aim is to make it easy for citizens to watch relevant footage, and to remind politicians of the promises they’ve made. While Google and other tech behemoths work on making video searchable, the fact that this low-tech project was completed so quickly demonstrates the power of harnessing the crowds, and how ready and willing those crowds are to help create a greater degree of transparency. Politicians, beware: there's no place to hide ;-) Website: www.theyworkforyou.com/video Spotted by: Simon Blair
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In Good Company offers women who are launching and growing their own businesses a place to work, meet and learn. Located in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, the company's loft-style office provides members with everything they need to impress a client or just get work done. Featuring wood floors and exposed brick walls adorned by rotating artist installations, the space includes a large conference room that seats 25, meeting rooms that seat four, open work stations with privacy desk dividers, and a lounge with comfy sofas, reading materials and live plants. Wifi, basic printing and faxing, water and endless coffee are all free, while storage space, reception services and package delivery are available as well. Business-building seminars, workshops and lunches can expand members' expertise, while cocktail minglers and salon forums provide opportunities for networking and fun. Basic membership begins at USD 300 per year, with a-la-carte pricing on meeting and desk space. Upgrade options range from USD 125 to USD 375 per month. Women own some 10 million businesses in the US, according to the Center for Women's Business Research, and you can bet not all of them have cushy offices with meeting rooms and reception. One to bring to female entrepreneurs in the rest of the country—and the world? (Related: More work spaces for parents — Members' clubs for moms — Being spaces for parents and writers.) Website: www.ingoodcompanyworkplaces.com Spotted by: LiRon K. Anderson-Bell
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It's one thing to offer luxury portable toilets for hire at private events, the way Igloo does. For a company like Visa to sponsor similar upscale conveniences as a privilege for its customer members, however, is quite another matter. Yet that's just what Visa did this summer at San Francisco's Outside Lands music and arts festival, where it set up a VIP Signature Lounge reserved exclusively for the use of its cardholders. Those in possession of a Visa Signature card could gain access to private luxury restrooms a far cry above the porta-potties provided for the masses, along with a private bar and a free blanket gift for visiting the lounge. For entry, cardholders had simply to present their Visa Signature card, their ID and any valid festival ticket. In addition to sympvertising—infusing one's advertising with a dash of sympathy for consumers' current plight—Visa's effort provides a nice illustration of what our sister site trendwatching.com would call a brand butler offering, giving consumers some free but relevant assistance (branded, of course) to make their lives easier. Whether it's a luxury loo or laundry service at a festival, consumers today are more likely to accept help from your brand than they are to listen to your ads. So put your money where your customers are, in their real-world lives, and give them a hand! They might just repay your kindness sometime. ;-) Website: www.visa.com/signature
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In even the best of relationships, disagreements are bound to arise from time to time. For those with no clear resolution, a new site offers a way for each member of a couple to tell their side of the story anonymously and let the crowds decide who's to blame. Launched earlier this month, Pittsburgh-based SideTaker begins the dispute-resolution process when one member of a couple submits their side of the argument on the site. A link is then e-mailed to that person's significant other, inviting them to add their own side. Only when that happens does the story go live on SideTaker for the perusal and ruling of the visiting crowds. In one of the most popular stories currently on the site, for example, a woman describes a husband whose self-proclaimed frugality prevents him from flushing the toilet regularly; in another, a man describes a girlfriend who's gaining weight but refuses to exercise. Users of the site can vote on which side they agree with or leave comments to express their opinions. Using the ad-supported site is currently free, and visitors can search stories by recency, popularity and number of comments, as well as a variety of tags. Stories remain up on the site for two months, or until both sides indicate that the conflict has been resolved. Coming soon on SideTaker is a section for relationship help, featuring expert advice, and ultimately the company hopes to expand its concept into other areas as well, according to its site. We've already covered checkyourimage.com, which facilitates personal image appraisals—where else could consumers benefit from the wisdom of the crowds in their personal and social lives....? Website: www.sidetaker.com Spotted by: Judy Ko
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Buying tickets for concerts, sports events and theatre is typically a matter of paying the set price for a given seat and show. Aiming to put some control back in consumers' hands, however, a new site just launched last week that makes ticket prices negotiable. Los Angeles-based Zigabid allows ticket buyers and sellers to interact directly with each other to determine a ticket's price. Working on the premise that tickets are commodities—and should be traded as such—the site's process mirrors a Wall Street-style transaction with a system of offers and counter-offers. Both individual sellers and ticket distributors and brokers can list tickets on the site at no charge. Asking prices, however, are not indicated. Rather, users are given a wealth of real-time data showing fluctuations in a ticket's current trading price, which can then be used to make an offer. Buyers and sellers can go through a back-and-forth process of multiple offers and counter-offers before arriving at a selling price; once that happens, tickets are shipped to buyers overnight, backed by Zigabid's own guarantee. Sellers pay Zigabid a 15 percent connection fee, while buyers pay an additional 10 percent. Zigabid also sets itself apart by directing a portion of each transaction back to the entertainers. Specifically, when a buyer uses Zigabid to purchase tickets that have been issued by another vendor, 10 percent of the buyer's connection fee goes directly back to the artists or athletes in question—or to the charity of their choice. A community section, meanwhile, lets users post event photos, reviews and comments, while the Z-Rewards incentive program rewards them for participation with points redeemable for discounts towards future purchases. "Zigabid is the first service to address the inefficiencies of tickets sold in both the primary and secondary market," explains Dan Rubendall, Zigabid's founder. "Our system allows ticket distributors and resellers to strive for fair-market value for their tickets and gives buyers the opportunity to make offers based only on what they believe is the right price at any given time." That's pricing transparency, and it's triumphing once again. Still in beta, Zigabid covers events only in the United States. One to bring to the ticketing market near you? (Related: Ticketing, fair and simple.) Website: www.zigabid.com
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Taking a casual approach to learning, Hamburg-based Language Lounge combines English lessons with a coffee shop. For a monthly fee, members can drop by from Monday to Thursday between 5 pm and 9 pm for conversation classes. The company compares its setup to a gym membership: there's no need to sign up for a fixed day or time—members can just join in whenever it's convenient. Light membership is priced at EUR 59/month and allows members to attend one class per week. The school's premium membership gives access to as many classes per month as a member wants to attend, and is priced at EUR 99/month. Language Lounge's informal group classes are led by native English speakers with at least two years of teaching experience, and the lounge is also open to customers who'd rather stick to speaking German. It sounds like a relatively easy way for language teachers to set up their own language 'gyms'—find an existing being space that could use some extra customers four or five evenings a week, and partner with a few fellow teachers once word gets out. Website: www.language-lounge.com Spotted by: Susanna Haynie
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Introducing a new business model to the world of magazine selling, Time Inc just launched Maghound, a mix and match service for periodicals. Maghound members don't subscribe to a fixed set of magazines. Instead, they pick the number of magazines they'd like to receive every month, and can then change the selection of titles as often as they like. One month they might select Food & Wine, Forbes and Women's Health, before switching to People, New York Magazine and Smithsonian. (While the current selection of 200 titles isn't as substantial as many magazine lovers would like, it does obviously include magazines that aren't owned by Time Inc.) Freedom of choice extends to membership terms, too—customers don't have to commit to an annual contract and can cancel at any time. And pricing is tiered: USD 4.95 for three titles a month, USD 7.95 for five, USD 9.95 for seven titles, and USD 1 per title for eight or more titles. To keep track of their mix of magazines, members can view expected delivery dates in their online account. The service, which is currently in beta, aims to offer consumers flexibility, choice and control. By letting members sample titles as they please, while enjoying the convenience of home delivery, Maghound should appeal to trysumers—those fickle and transient consumers who enjoy trying new things, empowered by an abundance of choice and the relatively low cost of potential disappointment. (Other business concepts for trysumers that we've covered include fractional super car ownership and a taste lab restaurant.) One to bring to your local magazine market? Website: www.maghound.com Spotted by: Jasmine Leblanc
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