Groupon, FreshGuide, LivingSocial, HomeRun, TownHog… The list of group-buying coupon sites seems to expand almost daily with catchy, new URL’s offering huge savings on everything from Thai restaurants to fire-dancing classes. The proliferation of deals being offered is dizzying enough to make one nauseous, and that’s not just from the massively discounted food one can consume!
I love the variety and diversity of deals. In fact, I’m of the opinion that as long as all these startups continue rushing into the space to compete with each other, we as consumers should never pay full price for a meal. But the fact that there are SO many different sites, each offering their own unique deals daily means that potential customers miss out on most discounts not because they’re not interested or too slow to seize the deal before it expires, but because they simply don’t even KNOW they’re being offered. There’s just no way to keep track of them all, so I realize two days too late that my favorite restaurant was offering $60 worth of food and drinks for $30 (talk about a cheap date!). And there’s nothing I hate more than missing out on an opportunity to save money on my food and booze, or whatever your vice may be (no judgment here!).
Most of the videographers we bring on to our team aspire to be the next big filmmaker ala Speilberg or Cameron, we love their motivation as we try to align ourselves with people who strive to be the best at their craft. Over the last year and half, we’ve also realized that when it comes to our candidate pool, there are two distinct mindsets, the videographer’s and filmmaker’s. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, our seasoned videographers understand the difference and so are able to tailor how they work the type of gig.
Based on our past video shoots, it seems filmmakers tend to have more ambitious expectations than their videographer counterpart. For example, at a restaurant shoot, the filmmaker would most likely bring along a truckload of equipment (lighting, camera equipment, camera tracks), turning a tiny restaurant into a movie set.
Chad Hurley and Steve Chen recognized a need and capitalized on it by creating Youtube. At the time, the revolutionary platform enabled people to store large video files and to also disseminate this content using a simple embed code. This turned out to be genius as every embedded video also served to market Youtube. Fast forward to 2010 and you start to ask yourself if Youtube is in danger of losing market share unless the quality of their product is drastically improved.
The responsibilities of any young Internet startup hoping to make a name for itself by default and definition MUST include networking in the circle within which your enterprise plans to operate. Another major obligation of any organization, whether it be a bootstrapped startup, a fortune 500 company or a youth basketball team, SHOULD include philanthropic efforts in some way, shape or form - not every organization can finance a Gates Foundation, but any group can volunteer at the local homeless shelter.
As such, the upcoming Twestival event, San Francisco edition, provides the perfect opportunity to accomplish both objectives with one metaphorical stone - which in this case happens to be simply the act of purchasing a ticket to the event (albeit said "stone" would have been 50% cheaper if one had been an earlier bird). With that said, the Jippidy crew has purchased their tickets and will be in attendance for our first Twestival, taking care of two birds (no, not the Twitter icon) - shaking hands with the Twitter community and contributing to Concern Worldwide. We'll see you there - look for us, we'll be the ones with the big smiles drinking a little too much;-)
You always hear that the restaurant business is a tough business. Low average receipts vs. other businesses, low margins and high fixed cost (labor). While we’re not experts on the restaurant industry nor statisticians, we’ve made a lot of restaurant videos in the last year. Here’s are the videos for the establishments we shot in 2009 that are no longer solvent.
My favorite part of our Jippidy happy hours? Meeting and interacting with new guests learning about our brand for the very first time. A fun happy hour event in a cool venue is a great first impression, and no venue is more conducive to a rocking/happening happy hour introduction than Mas Sake! And what happy hour is really complete without awesome drink specials to get you tipsy without a bailout plan for your weekly drinking budget?! And that's where our sponsor - Devotion Vodka - came in and took the party to another level!
And now, a word from our sponsor...
This Thursday, February 4 at Jippidy's Mas Happy Hour in the Marina, we will be pouring vodka cocktails from a fellow SF-based startup - our sponsor, Devotion Vodka, the world's first protein-infused gourmet vodka! With its recent launch party at Harlot & its sponsorship of the 6th Annual Pre-Grammy Brunch during the 2010 Grammy Weekend in Beverly Hills, Devotion is making a name for itself amongst the cool kids on the West Coast.
The unique/cool thing about Devotion Vodka, besides the smooth taste, is the addition of Casein, the main protein found in milk and cheese. Which means that theoretically, you can hit the gym right before you head to happy hour, order a Devotion Vodka & soda, and feel good about yourself - low carb, zero calories, AND an infusion of protein! ;-)
As their website states:
De-vo-tion Pronunciation [di-voh-shuhn] noun: Commitment Dedication and Determination.
Building the Jippidy buzz. Treating our early adopters to a good time. Supporting local businesses for whom we've created online videos. These are some of the reasons Jippidy hosts regular happy hour events.
To that end, for our first event of 2010, Jippidy is inviting everyone to join us at a San Francisco favorite - Mas Sake in the Marina District on Thursday, February 4, from 6-8PM! We've been filming in the Marina for the last two months & now it's time to show off our new Marina videos! Sushi, sake bombs, silent auction, specials at the bar, and a DJ will make for a rockin' Thursday night event! To make things easy on your wallet, we're offering $2.50 Beers, $4 Devotion Vodka cocktails, $4 sake bombs, 1/2 off appetizers at the bar!
Limited hosted cocktails by our sponsor, SF-based Devotion Vodka, the world's first protein-infused gourmet vodka, courtesy of Jippidy!!
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