Twitter's Impact on the NetSquared Contest - $5 Well Spent

I believe that Twitter played a significant role in my success in NetSquared's mashup contest. For the uninitiated, Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that allows you to send out short messages to whoever wants to hear them. People the follow Metro Mapper on Twitter get updates on what I am doing on a professional and personal level, and have access to links and ideas that don't make it into this blog.

One way I got the word out about the contest was by using Twitter to post lots of announcements about the voting. And people who followed me on Twitter posted about the contest, which got their own group of users on the case.

NetSquared has not released the voting numbers, but based on the difficulty of the voting process, I wouldn't be surprised if I won with less than 200 votes total. Twitter is likely a large percentage of that number.

But the tipping point might have been Jason Fall's 2000th tweet about voting for Metro Mapper in the contest. He jokingly proposed pimping out his 2000th tweet for $5, and I took him up on the experiment!

Here's a list of all the ways I got the word out about the contest. Each method got some number of eyes on the contest, and each propagated the word, somewhat virally, to people outside of the initial contact method.

Email, Phone, or In Person:

• Friends
• Family
• Colleagues

Fully Digital Announcements:

• Metro Mapper site banners and contest page
• Metro Mapper blog posts
• Consuming Louisville post
• Forge Louisville posts
• Louisville History and Issues posts
• Traditional Press Release to local media
• Courier-Journal blurb
• Louisville.com page
  
• Facebook wall and status updates
  
• Metro Mapper Twitter followers

And, the only paid form of getting the word out, $5 to Jason Falls for his 2000th Tweet:

• Jason Fall's Twitter followers

Since Jason had about 700 followers, even if a only a small percentage voted, it would have made a big difference. He posted a detailed blog entry about the process, and sparked a great debate on the monetization of Twitter and the potential for paid advertising and sponsorship.

Thanks to the Twitter community for helping out Metro Mapper.

If you followed Jason or I on Twitter, and voted, please leave a short comment here so I can track and thank you. Jason's post generated a number of great comments.

I've also posted this same article on my NetSquared Project Blog so other projects can see the impact of Twitter and other ways I got the word out.

UPDATE: You Did It - Your Mapper is a N2Y3 Featured Project

To the people that use Metro Mapper and those who voted for the Your Mapper project in the NetSquared mashup contest:

You Did It - Thank You!

Thanks to your votes we were in the top 21 projects out of the 122 that were submitted.

NetSquared announced the winners today at noon EST in their N2Y3 contest, although the number of votes that each project received has not been revealed. This means that the expansion of Metro Mapper is going to happen.

Alphabetical List of Top Projects

We'll keep you posted on further developments. We'll be heading to San Jose for the conference May 27-28 to present our ideas in more detail. That's when funding and resources will be determined. From the site's FAQ:

Q: What kind of support will I get for my Project?
A: The NetSquared Team is busy recruiting Business Analysts, Product Managers, Business Mentors and Engineers to help Mashup Projects build a team that is capable of bringing your Mashup vision/concept/specification to life.

Thanks again to everyone cared enough and took the time to vote. We owe you a drink.

Post a comment below if you voted for us, with a link to your site or blog. We want to make sure you get some credit!

UPDATE: They just updated their blog with some more information:

The Featured Projects will be invited to attend this year’s NetSquared Conference (N2Y3) on May 27 and 28 (just after Memorial Day). The Conference will be held at Cisco Systems' Vineyard Conference Center in San Jose, California. Cisco Systems has been our generous host for the previous two NetSquared Conferences.

At the Conference, Project Teams will have an opportunity to display and discuss their mashups, and attendees will vote to select the top three. All 21 Projects at the conference will receive a share of $100,000 in prize money. The share will be determined by voting at the Conference.

NetSquared Voting Extended Three Days

NetSquared has extended the voting deadline for all projects by three days, which means you can vote today, Friday March 21 through Monday March 24!

We can't do it without you, and we think the community can help us out and spread the word. It should take you about 5 minutes to help us out.

More Information:
www.metromapper.org/n2y3mashup.php

Our 'Your Mapper' Project Page:
www.netsquared.org/2008/conference/projects/your-mapper

Four Things You Can Do

1. Cast your own Vote!

2. Send out an email to your friends and family with a link to our more information page.

3. Mention the the contest on your own site or blog

4. Promote the contest on your site or blog with one of our badges

Vote for Metro Mapper in Final Round of NetSquared Competition

Metro Mapper made it to the final round of voting this week thanks to you! Last week, we ranked fifth out of 122 projects in "star" votes. If we can rank in the top 20 in votes this week, we are guaranteed a trip to San Jose to present our idea, and some human and financial resources.

We Need Your Help!

Visit the site, add us to your ballot, and cast your vote. We can't do it without you, and we think the community can help us out and spread the word.

More Information:
www.metromapper.org/n2y3mashup.php

Our 'Your Mapper' Project Page:
www.netsquared.org/2008/conference/projects/your-mapper

Four Things You Can Do

1. Cast your own Vote!

2. Send out an email to your friends and family with a link to our more information page.

3. Mention the the contest on your own site or blog

4. Promote the contest with one of our badges

Metro Mapper is looking to the community of Louisville and Kentucky, and to users of the site, to vote in this final round. Ranking in the contest would help Metro Mapper expand its services and launch a new, improved project called Your Mapper, which would allow community contributions and national coverage. Thanks a lot!