The Curator News Feed: April 12, 2013

It was an exciting week here at the Curator offices with two major projects launching on Monday: the Vayama Go Somewhere Tour, a 12-market U.S. campaign inspiring international travel, and a re-designed website, livelifelocal.com, for Safeco Insurance. See what else we were buzzing about in this week’s link roundup.

I’m going to have to go with www.livelifelocal.com as my link of the week this week. Inspiration for your engine! Just launched this bad boy for Safeco Insurance. If you have a car, motorcycle, RV or boat that spends too much time in the driveway and not enough time on the road (or water), then this site is for you. – Dan

I can’t help but share the newest rendition of LiveLifeLocal.com as my link of the week, too. This is a completely redesigned site we helped launch this week for our client, Safeco Insurance, and to say I’m excited about it is an understatement. The site features some amazing visuals and activity suggestions across the country for folks interested in motorcycles, road trips, RVs and boats. The way it drills down into these specific lifestyles is something completely unique and something I haven’t seen done yet, especially coming from an insurance company. I feel very fortunate to be a part of this project and I’m looking forward to seeing how the site takes off from here! – Annie

Coachella 2013, YouTube. In light of my weekend away at Coachella, I wanted to share the live webcast that will be streaming some of the 190 featured bands and artists performing on six stages, over the course of the three days. I encourage everyone to keep an eye out for blog posts, Instagrams, Tweets and Facebook posts about the festival, and check back next week for my blog post about the social media aspects of this year’s festival. – Chelsey

7 Tips for Building a Better Hashtag Strategy, Mediabistro.com. Hashtags can say just as much about your brand as the content that accompanies them. In an attempt to create clever phrases or attract attention, some brands go a wee bit overboard. In this quick read, Patrick Coffee offers some simple tips to consider when creating tags, such as less is more, and that capital letters are your friend. Case in point: #thisisfrustratingtoread. – Noelle

twtrland. I randomly came across this free web app this week while doing some research for a client, and it's one of the most insightful Twitter apps I've ever come across. Here are some of the things it tracks: @ replies per 100 tweets; RT's per 100 tweets; tweet distribution (links, @ replies, plain text, etc.); follower demographics — and more. The link there will take you to my profile, just so you can see an example, but type in your own Twitter username, and you'll undoubtedly be more impressed. – Paul

Opening the doors to innovation, Fast Company. You can’t yet call it a trend, but GE’s announcement that they will release thousands of their patents on the heels of Google’s similar (though smaller) release is at least a pattern. And it’s a good one. To use a simple analogy, in the same way Pinterest has helped people turn old pallets into new outdoor furniture, innovators will have a chance to (legally) repurpose old ideas in completely new ways. As other companies follow suit, we will see a wave of re-innovation.  – Matthew

What Google's Cafeterias Can Teach Us About School Lunches, FastCompany Design. Silicon Valley companies are known for luxurious employee perks but Google's free lunches seem to have a bigger initiative. Brings up the question: is counter-productive to work through your lunch hour? – Brooke

Street Fighter 2 - Guile Theme Acapella, YouTube. If you grew up in the 90's then chances are you spent a lot of time mastering the super combos – this is a wonderful tribute to Guile. In acapella… – Shawn

Writers Share Career Advice on Their Own Hands, PSFK. When asked what it takes to be great at PR and Social Media, I always emphasize the importance of writing. Whether we’re crafting a 140-character Tweet, announcing client news in a press release, or sharing strategy in a lengthy plan, we spend a lot of our day writing (and rewriting). I loved this collection of photos, with advice from writers written directly on their own hands. – Ann Marie

Mariners Fan Catches Foul Ball in Beer, Chugs Beer, Deadspin. There are no words. – Ann Marie

10 Social Networking Personalities: Which One Are You? Bit Rebels. This is fun to look at to analyze personal or friends' social accounts, but something to keep in mind when honing in on a brand's voice on social media, too. Understanding the language of each could make the difference in a brand's ability to connect with that person. Moral of the story: Know your audience and understand how that's translated in the social-sphere. – Maria

German Insurance Brand Inserts Ad Into Crowd Footage At Game, Creativity Online. I attended a Mariner’s “game” this last week (it sadly wasn’t so much of a game as it was batting practice for Houston, yes Houston) and noticed that absolutely everyone in the stadium watches the big screen when it’s time for the fan-cam. Well, DEVK, an German insurance company, must have noticed the same thing and decided to capitalize on it. They hijacked the big screen during a football game with an ad of a half-naked sumo wrestler who climbed down the benches, grabbed a fan and ripped off his shirt. The question -  "How do you explain that to your insurance company?" I love this creative way they captured their audience’s attention and the fan’s reactions are hilarious! – Megan

The Spice is Right, NY Times. Last summer we created a partnership , on behalf of one of our clients, with the team that hosts the "access house" at the Aspen Food & Wine Festival.  Access House is the exclusive after-party location for the celebrity chefs who demo at the festival. You literally need a wood carved special card to gain entry. Our client was debuting a new vodka and two celebrity mixologist were using the vodka in a number of specialty drinks they created specifically for the product to be served in the house to the chefs. When we got to the house the day before the festival to check-in we were brought out to the garage where the mixologists kept their spices and herbs used for the drinks. It looked like the lab for a group of mad botanical scientist.  And it smelled wonderful. The drink were beyond phenomenal and since that day my wife and I have been experimenting, unsuccessfully, to mimic what we tasted. Spices are, indeed, transcendent. – Scott