Sometime during the middle of the night (while I was sleeping?) I came up with some improvements for the blackjack app from yesterday. The code isn’t on my computer though (it's only on Brad's) so I didn’t get a chance to implement them.

Before class, I spent the morning mapping out some ideas for iOS apps I’d like to build. I have a couple that I think would be fun pet projects. The first would be a running app with 3 cool features (at least I think they're cool): 1. Allow users to choose the sort of workout they want to do and create a playlist for them that changes tempo appropriately. 2. Allow users to set a maximum time for any song to play. The playlist generator might choose longer songs than the maximum but would then slice them.  I want this feature because when I'm running every song change feels like a mini accomplishment. 3. Allow other users (friends, family, everyone) to post snippets of audio encouragement that’ll be inserted into the playlist at opportune times.  Other apps have words of encouragement during workouts, but none of them have words of encouragement from people you know.  My other app idea isn’t as fleshed out but it’s a sort of multiplayer geo location game.

We started class with the same pairs as yesterday. We worked our way through two basic apps before a midday lecture. Both apps utilized Parse which is a pretty awesome site that takes care of backend data management for you.  It's so amazingly easy to use and they give you 1 million free api requests/month.  Of course the tradeoff is that you can't perform server side logic and you might run into security/privacy concerns.  Before the App Academy ends, we'll be creating our own backends in Rails, but for now, Parse is a great way to bridge the gap. The first app we built was a simple quiz app.  The second was a message app where users could send messages to one another.

The midday lecture had Ned going over delegation, protocols, callbacks in general, and restkit. Protocols remind me of modules in Ruby, with the biggest difference being that if your object conforms to a protocol, it HAS to implement the required methods of that protocol.   Restkit is an objective c framework equivalent to restclient in ruby on rails.  Both are for consuming and modeling restful web resources.  Before the lecture ended, Ned also showed us how to set up an object so that it can have delegates. 

The rest of the day was spent with new pairs and a new project. Laura and I were partnered up and the project assigned was to create a yelp clone. It's a day and a half project so we'll be continuing with it tomorrow. It's a pretty awesome assignement because it'll allow us to play around with and get some experience with core location, mapkit, restkit, and delegation protocols.

Right before class officially ended, we had two guest speakers, Terry Li and Derrik Or, from Bre.ad. Bread is a social media advertising agency of sorts. What they do is work with clients (a lot of celebrities) and insert "digital billboards" that users see in between clicking on a link posted by the clients and reaching their destination. They are one of the companies that will be interviewing some of us at the end of this adventure.

You see them glaring from every street corner. They're peering through those dusty windows at your local market. When you're in the car, they're standing on the side of the road -- staring down oncoming traffic. You'll find them in metropolitan cities and even in the most rural of towns. We see a few of 'em right now -- they're practically omnipresent.

And no, we're not talking about some super-secret underground mafia that's stalking you. Unless, of course, that's something you've been worried about for a while. In which case, make sure to keep your ear to the grindstone and don't stay in one place for too long. 

We're talking about advertising. Advertising is absolutely everywhere and, for the most part, unavoidable. You didn't need AMC's hit show, Mad Men, to tell you that, though. While the ad world has changed considerably since the day of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (the Internet has a little something to do with that, we think) a few things still remain the same. 

As the online market continues to be saturated with popups and banner ads, the best creative will win out. 

Take this scene from the first episode of Mad Men's second season:

Peggy Olson, trying to convince Don her idea is worthwhile, says, "Sex sells."

And Don, with his trademarked Don Draper smugness, replies, "Says who?"

"Just so you know, the people who talk that way think that monkeys can do this."

Today, it's no different.

It's easy to add a flashing, "click here to win an iPad," in the corner of your favorite website. It makes the browsing experience a little less enjoyable, though, don't you think? When you're flipping through this week's Esquire or watching a big event on television, you'll find there's a certain level of creativity present in those advertisements. Occasionally, they even add to the experience. When your team isn't in the championship game, the commercials can be the best part of the show (unless you've bet the farm on the underdog). 

Until recently, the Internet's been left out of the space of aesthetically appealing advertisements. The online universe is cluttered with ads that are there just because. There's an opportunity to get in front of millions of eyeballs, and everybody wants a piece of the action. 

But what if the Internet could be more like print, where advertisements are more for brand recognition than a quick cash grab?

A more beautiful web with a better advertising experience

There's a movement (which Bread's proudly a part of) to make online advertising less intrusive and a better experience for the viewer. Like Mr. Draper says, there's more to good advertising than putting a pretty lady on a piece of paper. 

A recent study from Comscore touches on the evolution of the online ad space. Now, online ads are being considered a branding opportunity rather than something advertisers cross their fingers and hope you click on -- which means we're all in line for prettier ads.

Just a few streets away from our office in San Francisco, Say Media is fighting for a similar cause. Their "Clean" campaign video clearly demonstrates that. 

Last week, TechCrunch reported on a company called 955 Dreams that's hoping to spruce up the mobile ad experience, building "glossy, full-screen interstitials." That's something we're focused on, too. 

We're repeatedly hearing new initiatives to make the mobile browsing experience better. Online radio giant, Pandora, touches on this in a recent white paper about mobile. 

They're streaming for a highly passionate audience (music tends to do that to people) with a broad reach. On Pandora's applications, there's "only a 10 percent overlap of people using online and mobile." They're making mobile ads more interesting and interactive for users. And they have to, mobile ads account for at least 50 percent of their quarterly ad revenue. 

Clearly, creative matters.

Making sure there are high-quality advertising platforms for that creative is just as important. That's what we're aiming to do at Bread. We want to make browsing the 'net more like flipping through your favorite magazine and less like walking out of a music festival -- shoulder to shoulder with people you don't know, talking about things you've never heard of. 

So maybe we're a bit behind the times, but we recently found a study from Exact Target and CoTweet that further cements our commitment to the idea of Bread. The paper's called "The Social Break-Up," and dissects how consumers interact with brands. 

The social world is changing relationships. People aren't wearing just one letterman jacket anymore, they've got love affairs with brands, bands and even Pringles cans. These arrangements are often fleeting, though. Break-ups don't happen after hours of agonizing phone conversations -- fans and followers can dump your brand with the click of a button. 

The study starts with a number of salient points about email marketing, but what got us fired up was the discussion about Facebook break-ups. 44 percent of those surveyed said that they "unliked" a brand because they posted too frequently. Just below that number, at 43 percent, was "my wall was becoming too crowded with marketing posts and I needed to get rid of some of them." Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed were just simply bored of the shared content. 

Cue the theme music, because that's where Bread comes in! You don't want to fracture your fan base by asking people to buy things. And asking fans for likes on posts about products seems a little desperate. Instead, companies should share compelling content that engages their users. Unless you're Don Draper, there shouldn't be any place for marketing jargon on social media (we could listen to Don talk all day). Be real, be accessible. 

Leave the advertising up to us and create meaningful conversations with your followers. Bread links don't disturb your voice on social media, and they don't alter the content your sharing. We just let you show those big, beautiful billboards off.

The weather's been nice in San Francisco lately, but it never gets that warm outside. It's just April, but we miss that paralyzing, unbearable heat you get in places that are actually susceptible to the seasons. You know that, I'd-go-swimming-if-the-pool-didn't-feel-like-a-bathtub type of weather?  We rarely see that here in the Bay, so we thought a couple of our employees could use some warming up.

We selected two very, very lucky Bread workers to go on an all-expenses paid trip to Cancun! White sand, clear water and margaritas -- here's to Spring Break 2012! 

Just kidding.

You think that's in the budget? Instead, we thought parading them around the ad:tech conference wearing massive, foam-covered, blue outfits was the best way to raise their body temperatures.

Welcome back, Bread Men! We hadn't seen these little, err, big guys since SXSW, so it was time to bring them back, anyway.

At the Moscone center, we cozied up with the guys from Yousendit, met some new people in the advertising world and brought a few babies to tears. Apparently, big, blue things that aren't the cookie monster horrify children. Who would've thought?

After the crowds died down, we moseyed over to the Westfield mall for lunch. There was  a street performer on the way who laid down a nice Bread-themed song -- we'd adapt it as our official theme song, if we weren't so committed to this MegaUpload track. 

Security wasn't too pleased with us at the mall. We pranced up and down the staircase a few times before a nice woman kindly directed us to the nearest exit. She took a Bread sticker, though, so we expect to see her shortening her links with Bre.ad very, very soon. 

Following our foray into the mall, we went back to Bread Labs and let our mascots peel those toasty suits off. People here in the office wear many hats. And sometimes those hats come in the form of humongous, fuzzy Bread suits. 

Later, the Bread team met up with the good people of ReTargeter at Vessel for their ad:tech party. We're partnering with them, and couldn't be more excited about it.

Sorry, R. Kelly, there wasn't an after, after party for us. No hotel lobby, either. We had work to do, after all. 

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more adventures in Breadworld,

Team Bread

For I am so very French, I like baguette. I like bread. For breakfast. Toasted, with butter and marmelade. However, I do not like all kinds of bread. The last bread that caught my eye was described by David Teicher.

Bre.ad is a social recommendations platform that allows you to attach a 5-second personalized billboard to any link you create using the Bre.ad URL shortener. 

Two-step flow

Crazy, I know. If the service is toastally free (worst pun ever), David Teicher already sees it like a new way to advertise. However, it seems that a celebrity is needed: "Think about the millions of Twitter and Facebook users who click on every link their favorite celebrity posts." And this is what makes the whole experience very social; it is not the usual top-down approach, but uses the two step flow actually (and I like nothing more than influence strategies).

TV series vs. Product placement

I did not expected this at all. All I could read these past days was about sponsored tweets by companies. Nothing really innovative. However, I am a bit perplex about the ROI. Ted Hong gives this example:

For example, you can imagine CBS asking Ashton Kutcher to use Bre.ad to promote tune in for 'Two and a Half Men' in front of his Twitter posts. [It's a] unique opportunity for celebrities to show advocacy for a cause or project via social media

Bre.ad is a URL shortening service sponsored by Lady Gaga, 50 Cent, and Pepsi. Honestly all this video did was make me hungry with its talk about bread and slices.

Speaking of business deals, we're still waiting on that online community backed by Lady Gaga and Eric Schmidt to be released...

Bre.ad è un nuovo strumento che aggiunge alla classica funzione di url shotener la possibilità di condividere e promuovere i propri interessi prima che venga caricata la pagina di destinazione del link.

Esempio: http://bre.ad/04h080

Un'inframezzo di 5 secondi che non ha uno scopo pubblicitario , come dichiarano esplicitamente gli ideatori di Bre.ad, ma quello di permettere ad ognuno di poter condividere i propri intesessi o ciò che in quel momento ha a cuore.

Una specie di "raccomandazione", che prende il nome di toast, per una pagina rappresentante un brand, un personaggio pubblico o una causa.

"Il gioco dei following e dei like"  ossia seguire un utente oppure dare il proprio "toast" ad una pagina (creata da noi oppure da altri), rende la piattaforma un vero e proprio social network.

Da segnalare la semplicità con cui si può abbreviare un url: basta aggiungere davanti all'url nella barra del indirizzo il prefisso "bre.ad/" e fare invio per aprire la pagina di condivisione del link.

Il servizio si intergra con Twitter e Facebook per condividere il link con un tweet o un commento.

La piattaforma è ancora in beta e verrà resa pubblica nelle prossime settimane.