Eventbrite - YouWe Media presents Maname Movie Trailer Launch Event - Saturday, 1 June 2024 at AAA Cinemas, Hyderabad, TS. Find event and ticket information.

Maname Movie Trailer Launch Event Tickets, Sat Jun 1, 2024 at 10:00 AM | Eventbrite

Eventbrite - Manhattan Vintage Enterprises , LLC presents The Manhattan Vintage Show May 31-June 2, 2024 - at Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY. Find event and ticket information.

The Manhattan Vintage Show May 31-June 2, 2024 Tickets, New York | Eventbrite

Eventbrite - Comune di Verona presents Apertura straordinaria area Forte Santa Caterina - Saturday, June 1, 2024 at Forte Santa Caterina, Verona, Veneto. Find event and ticket information.

Apertura straordinaria area Forte Santa Caterina Tickets, Sat, Jun 1, 2024 at 10:00 AM | Eventbrite

Eventbrite - Thrive City presents Official 49ers Watch Party - Sunday, February 11, 2024 at Thrive City, San Francisco, CA. Find event and ticket information.

Official 49ers Watch Party Tickets, Sun, Feb 11, 2024 at 2:00 PM | Eventbrite

Cardboard is crucial for sheet mulching to kill a lawn, but critics say there's no science proving it works. All you really need, they say, is lots of wood chips.

What’s the fastest way to kill your lawn? Science says forget the cardboard

Mo., spoke to OutKick after sending a letter to Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz over the platform's recent decision to pull a Gaines' speaking event from its website.

Sen. Eric Schmitt takes aim at Eventbrite following hypocrisy involving Riley Gaines

Eventbrite is presenting Q3 earnings.Analysts expect Eventbrite will report losses per share of $0.100.Go here to track Eventbrite

Here's what Wall Street expects from Eventbrite's earnings

5. If you sign up via Eventbrite, please send your name & contact number to Adelynn 96669389 through whatsapp. 6. If you couldn't make it on that day, you may transfer the ticket to a friend.

Forest Sound Bath @ Botanic Gardens

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) announced Tuesday that he has issued Executive Directive Six, intended to combat antisemitism in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.

Youngkin issues executive directive to combat antisemitism in Virginia

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears joined 'FOX & Friends First' to discuss Youngkin's decision and the upcoming elections in the Virginia state House and Senate. Why is there a huge lake in Death Valley right now? Kelly Johnson, who is married to House ...

Winsome Sears touts Youngkin for firing Eventbrite after it blocked Riley Gaines: 'Wholeheartedly agree'

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As Eventbrite neared the release of their rewritten platform in React.js, they knew observability on the frontend was a problem they needed to solve. If they were going to release a dynamic, JavaScript application, they would need visibility into their product. Their homegrown solution sent errors to Splunk, but there was no clarity around which errors were problematic. CHALLENGE: Eventbrite has now implemented Bugsnag in their development and release process which has given them peace of mind. They know any bugs will be detected before they impact their entire user base. Eventbrite has also become more agile since they can release features to a subset of users, monitor incoming errors, and decide when to rollout platform wide, knowing they will be alerted swiftly of issues. RESULTS: Growth Goals and an Innovating Product Highlighted the Need for Visibility into Errors Eventbrite is an online events platform that helps organizers build, manage, and grow their events. Their software provides end-to-end online event logistics, and enables organizers to get up and running smoothly and quickly, whether they are hosting intimate gatherings or complex, large scale events. As Eventbrite solidified its platform for event organizers, they sought to grow their user base of attendees to become the destination for finding things to do. They also decided to move away from being a monolithic platform and break up their product functionality. This would allow them to offer certain services to event organizers who may not need their entire platform. These growth goals would require thinking about quality in a new way, but Eventbrite’s Frontend Platform team knew their previous system would not support their growth. “Before Bugsnag, all of our JavaScript errors were put into Splunk, and it was just a pile of errors. It was very difficult to sort through or even get any visibility into. There was no grouping or ability to see what was actually impactful, and it was mixed in with all other error messages and logs as well,” says Senna Bala who manages the Eventbrite QA team. “I would spend time trying to force people to look at errors because no one would do it proactively on their own when it’s just so difficult to do.” Since they are responsible for helping engineering produce high quality software through testing and release support, this caused a lot of problems for her team. At the time, the most common way to discover bugs was when they were reported by customers experiencing difficulty with their platform. It’s important to remember that for each user who complains about a bug, there are countless others who also experienced it and abandoned a product. Ben Ilegbodu, Principal Frontend Engineer, explains that their team was even suspicious of errors negatively impacting some of their business metrics, like conversion, but there was no way to know with certainty because of the lack of visibility into errors. Gaining Peace of Mind Enables More Agile Development at Eventbrite In the end, Eventbrite chose Bugsnag to monitor all frontend applications because of its superior user experience, like the ease with which they are able to find specific errors using custom filters. Senna and Ben agree the best thing they have gained from using Bugsnag is the tremendous peace of mind it brings their teams. “Now I can be confident that everything is going into Bugsnag, and we can actually see the number of users that are hitting a bug, the number of different events. We get such granular data that I know I can go in there and find errors that are impactful.” - Senna Bala, QA Enginerring Manager The ability to know about errors before they negatively impact customers has helped them speed up their release process. “In a sense it’s kind of like a safety net. If there’s a problem, we know we’re going to catch it. We are trying to move in a more agile way, where we can just decide to put something out to 5% of users and see how it goes. We can slowly release it out and check Bugsnag to see if there are any issues users are experiencing. This helps us move quicker since we don’t need to make sure everything is perfect before showing it to anyone, and we can get feedback early in terms of user experience and errors,” says Ben. When issues do arise, they are fixing them much faster. According to Ben, having Bugsnag “is the difference between fixing bugs and not fixing them. It’s infinitely faster.” Improved Pre-production Testing and Smoother Releases Using Bugsnag has empowered the QA team to improve their processes and facilitate smoother releases. Running test flights have been significantly sped up, and when they do find errors, they are able to easily reproduce them using Bugsnag’s automatic breadcrumbs. “It is incredibly helpful for QA to be able to provide steps to reproduce because it means there’s a 90% chance it’ll get fixed. Without steps to reproduce, it’s more like a 5% chance because it requires so much work from the developer to dig into and find out why or how it’s happening," says Senna. “JavaScript errors in particular are so edge-casey and hard to reproduce, and we’ve really appreciated having breadcrumbs that actually lay out step by step what a user did to get into this weird state that caused an error.” -Senna Bala, QA Engineering Manager Eventbrite now uses custom filters to monitor releases which has made shipping new features a much smoother process. During a release, new code is only deployed to one server which lets them monitor and fix issues while they are isolated. Eventbrite configured a custom filter in Bugsnag to filter errors by server so they can focus on the release and remove other noise from their view. When a release goes out, the engineers use this filter and monitor incoming errors on the server. This has helped them improve their releases and prevent rollbacks. “We’ve been able to catch a few errors that we wouldn’t have found in our QA process otherwise and been able to resolve those quickly rather than waiting for a customer to report them after a release.” DOWNLOAD CUSTOMER STORY PDF Also published . here

Bugsnag's Diagnostics Tools Benefits Eventbrite

Following Traditional Advice Isn’t Enough to Switch From QA to Developer, So What to Do Instead?

User Experience design methodologies are known for their effectiveness in improving the usability, accessibility, and satisfaction of digital products and services. However, their principles can also be applied to solving everyday tasks that we face in various aspects of our lives and can be applied to relocation. They include understanding user needs, prioritizing simplicity and effectiveness, and fostering innovation through ideation and prototyping. Moving to another country can be a challenging process that can be overcome and made easier by learning about people and their experiences, using your previous positive experiences in a new environment, and UX design principles to better adapt. Moving doesn’t have to be a cold and bureaucratic process; it can be an unforgettable adventure full of exciting discoveries and opportunities. The most effective strategy is to be able to adapt your style to the current situation, which means being positive, flexible, and resilient. By applying UX design strategies to the moving process, you can improve your transition experience and turn potential obstacles into manageable steps, making the process smoother and more enjoyable. 1. User Research is Key Moving to a new country and integrating into a different cultural environment can be daunting. Be prepared to adapt your styles and strategies to fit in and succeed. Just as UX design begins with understanding the user, a successful move begins with comprehensive research. Moving to a new country means immersing yourself in a different cultural and social environment. Use your previous experience and past successful strategies in new contexts to ensure a smoother transition. Start by understanding local norms, cultural expectations, and workplace behavior in your new environment. Research the neighborhood, transportation, and cultural nuances thoroughly to ensure a smooth transition. Even finding familiar products in the supermarket can be challenging, so take the time to learn about your new environment. Use the Discovery phase to focus on field research and observation, seeking insights, understanding key personas, and learning how people like you are coping with the same issues you are currently facing. There are many local communities, Facebook groups, and Telegram chats that can be helpful in this regard. 2. Onboarding Rituals Onboarding is an umbrella term for a wide range of formal and informal activities and processes that require meaningful management. Incorporating onboarding rituals into your life is like giving yourself a cheat code for the city—making yourself feel like a new home has been on your radar for years. It’s a great way to turn your move into a journey of joy and connection. Create a list of things you want to see and explore. A list is a way to organize your routine, and exploring iconic landmarks, trying out a variety of cuisines, and participating in local traditions can become rituals that make you feel more connected to the city. This can create a sense of belonging and help you connect with your new environment. “A sense of belonging – the subjective feeling of deep connection with social groups, physical places, and individual and collective experiences – is a fundamental human need that predicts numerous mental, physical, social, economic, and behavioural outcomes”. K.-A. Allen, M. L. Kern, C. S. Rozek, D. M. McInerney, and G. M. Slavich. 3. Wireframe Your Routine A wireframe is a low-fidelity visualization of your future design that can help you find the right balance between accuracy and speed. You don’t have to go into too much detail, but if you want to create a solid representation of your life in the new place without missing any important details, consider the wireframe as the basis for your planning. A daily routine that includes work, exercise, rest, and exploration will help create it. This structured approach will make the adaptation process easier. In addition to helping you focus and lowering tension and anxiety, visualization can also be a tactic for boosting resilience and positivity. Wireframes are quick to create and don't require a lot of detail, but you may not be familiar with the details because you've just moved into your new place. Over time, you can refine the final picture. “Creative visualisation not only helps visualise a favourable resolution to a stressful situation, but can also serve as a “mental rehearsal” for success in any activity”. E. Makarova, E. Degtyareva, and O. Kholina. 4. Social Circle UX Testing Creating a social circle in a new place often involves building it from scratch, as well as experimenting multiple times with different meet-ups and events to find like-minded people. Just like with UX design, UX testing your social circles helps you find the right mix of connections that add value to the relocation experience. Local communities, volunteer sessions, apps like Eventbrite, Locals, Meetup, LinkedIn, Bumble for friends, and many more can help you practice and make new friends. Find the right approach for you or try something new, who knows what will work best in a new place. Don’t be afraid to start communicating, even if it’s not clear how or what to do, because the more practice you have, the better you will be at making new connections. 5. Iterate Based on Feedback After testing your new social circle, you can write down and analyze your findings, as well as seek advice from local residents, get feedback on various aspects of city life, and adjust your approach accordingly. An iterative approach helps in refining the onboarding process by focusing on improvements to meet your needs and expand the accessibility of the new environment, thus illustrating a continuous movement towards a more you-centric approach. Including and integrating feedback from a variety of people provides a more holistic view of what's happening to you in the new environment, and different perspectives lead to improvement and enrichment. At the heart of UX design is optimization: an iteratively improved solution to a general problem. Here is a recipe for solving the problems of moving to a new place using an iterative approach: if you fail, try again, just like in the iterative approach in UX design. You can improve your techniques. No one is perfect. Try, get feedback, improve, test again, execute and win! The main thing is to try and never stop! Conclusion Hope these ideas inspire you to embrace a design mindset, ease your transition into a new environment, and turn everyday challenges into opportunities. Ultimately, developing a UX design mindset requires dedication but promises invaluable benefits in enhancing the quality of everyday experiences. User Experience design methodologies are known for their effectiveness in improving the usability, accessibility, and satisfaction of digital products and services. However, their principles can also be applied to solving everyday tasks that we face in various aspects of our lives and can be applied to relocation. They include understanding user needs, prioritizing simplicity and effectiveness, and fostering innovation through ideation and prototyping. Moving to another country can be a challenging process that can be overcome and made easier by learning about people and their experiences, using your previous positive experiences in a new environment, and UX design principles to better adapt. Moving doesn’t have to be a cold and bureaucratic process; it can be an unforgettable adventure full of exciting discoveries and opportunities. The most effective strategy is to be able to adapt your style to the current situation, which means being positive, flexible, and resilient. By applying UX design strategies to the moving process, you can improve your transition experience and turn potential obstacles into manageable steps, making the process smoother and more enjoyable. 1. User Research is Key 1. User Research is Key Moving to a new country and integrating into a different cultural environment can be daunting. Be prepared to adapt your styles and strategies to fit in and succeed. Just as UX design begins with understanding the user, a successful move begins with comprehensive research. Moving to a new country means immersing yourself in a different cultural and social environment. Use your previous experience and past successful strategies in new contexts to ensure a smoother transition. Start by understanding local norms, cultural expectations, and workplace behavior in your new environment. Research the neighborhood, transportation, and cultural nuances thoroughly to ensure a smooth transition. Even finding familiar products in the supermarket can be challenging, so take the time to learn about your new environment. Use the Discovery phase to focus on field research and observation, seeking insights, understanding key personas, and learning how people like you are coping with the same issues you are currently facing. There are many local communities, Facebook groups, and Telegram chats that can be helpful in this regard. 2. Onboarding Rituals Onboarding Rituals Onboarding is an umbrella term for a wide range of formal and informal activities and processes that require meaningful management. Incorporating onboarding rituals into your life is like giving yourself a cheat code for the city—making yourself feel like a new home has been on your radar for years. It’s a great way to turn your move into a journey of joy and connection. Create a list of things you want to see and explore. A list is a way to organize your routine, and exploring iconic landmarks, trying out a variety of cuisines, and participating in local traditions can become rituals that make you feel more connected to the city. This can create a sense of belonging and help you connect with your new environment. “A sense of belonging – the subjective feeling of deep connection with social groups, physical places, and individual and collective experiences – is a fundamental human need that predicts numerous mental, physical, social, economic, and behavioural outcomes”. K.-A. Allen, M. L. Kern, C. S. Rozek, D. M. McInerney, and G. M. Slavich. “A sense of belonging – the subjective feeling of deep connection with social groups, physical places, and individual and collective experiences – is a fundamental human need that predicts numerous mental, physical, social, economic, and behavioural outcomes”. K.-A. Allen, M. L. Kern, C. S. Rozek, D. M. McInerney, and G. M. Slavich. “A sense of belonging – the subjective feeling of deep connection with social groups, physical places, and individual and collective experiences – is a fundamental human need that predicts numerous mental, physical, social, economic, and behavioural outcomes”. 3. Wireframe Your Routine 3. Wireframe Your Routine A wireframe is a low-fidelity visualization of your future design that can help you find the right balance between accuracy and speed. You don’t have to go into too much detail, but if you want to create a solid representation of your life in the new place without missing any important details, consider the wireframe as the basis for your planning. A daily routine that includes work, exercise, rest, and exploration will help create it. This structured approach will make the adaptation process easier. In addition to helping you focus and lowering tension and anxiety, visualization can also be a tactic for boosting resilience and positivity. Wireframes are quick to create and don't require a lot of detail, but you may not be familiar with the details because you've just moved into your new place. Over time, you can refine the final picture. “Creative visualisation not only helps visualise a favourable resolution to a stressful situation, but can also serve as a “mental rehearsal” for success in any activity”. E. Makarova, E. Degtyareva, and O. Kholina. “Creative visualisation not only helps visualise a favourable resolution to a stressful situation, but can also serve as a “mental rehearsal” for success in any activity”. E. Makarova, E. Degtyareva, and O. Kholina. “Creative visualisation not only helps visualise a favourable resolution to a stressful situation, but can also serve as a “mental rehearsal” for success in any activity”. 4. Social Circle UX Testing 4. Social Circle UX Testing Creating a social circle in a new place often involves building it from scratch, as well as experimenting multiple times with different meet-ups and events to find like-minded people. Just like with UX design, UX testing your social circles helps you find the right mix of connections that add value to the relocation experience. Local communities, volunteer sessions, apps like Eventbrite, Locals, Meetup, LinkedIn, Bumble for friends, and many more can help you practice and make new friends. Find the right approach for you or try something new, who knows what will work best in a new place. Don’t be afraid to start communicating, even if it’s not clear how or what to do, because the more practice you have, the better you will be at making new connections. 5. Iterate Based on Feedback 5. Iterate Based on Feedback After testing your new social circle, you can write down and analyze your findings, as well as seek advice from local residents, get feedback on various aspects of city life, and adjust your approach accordingly. An iterative approach helps in refining the onboarding process by focusing on improvements to meet your needs and expand the accessibility of the new environment, thus illustrating a continuous movement towards a more you-centric approach. Including and integrating feedback from a variety of people provides a more holistic view of what's happening to you in the new environment, and different perspectives lead to improvement and enrichment. At the heart of UX design is optimization: an iteratively improved solution to a general problem. Here is a recipe for solving the problems of moving to a new place using an iterative approach: if you fail, try again, just like in the iterative approach in UX design. You can improve your techniques. No one is perfect. Try, get feedback, improve, test again, execute and win! The main thing is to try and never stop! Conclusion Hope these ideas inspire you to embrace a design mindset, ease your transition into a new environment, and turn everyday challenges into opportunities. Ultimately, developing a UX design mindset requires dedication but promises invaluable benefits in enhancing the quality of everyday experiences.

Beyond Digital: Applying UX Principles to Relocation

Social media has become an essential marketing initiative for businesses looking to enhance their online presence and drive sales. One of the most effective strategies that comes out of this trend is social commerce, which integrates shopping experiences directly into social media platforms. This approach simplifies the buying process and offers a seamless experience for customers, leading to higher engagement and increased sales. What is Social Commerce? Social commerce refers to the practice of selling products directly through social media platforms. This method allows users to browse, share, and purchase items without leaving the app they are using. Features such as in-app checkout, shoppable posts, and direct links make the buying process more straightforward and convenient. The Growth and Impact of Social Commerce Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest offer immersive experiences that lead to impulse buys and reduced friction in the customer journey. According to Slickdeals, the average person spends $314 each month on impulse purchases. By embedding commerce into social media, brands can provide a smooth shopping experience, minimizing the steps from product discovery to purchase. In 2023, social commerce generated an estimated $517 billion in revenue worldwide. With an expected annual growth rate of 13.7% from 2023 to 2028, revenues are forecasted to exceed one trillion dollars by 2028. Social Commerce Platform Overview Instagram Instagram is one of the most effective channels for social commerce, with one-third of its 2.35 billion monthly active users engaging in social shopping. Imagine scrolling through Instagram, spotting the perfect pair of shoes, adding them to your cart, and purchasing them without leaving the app. Instagram Features for Social Commerce Shoppable Posts and Stories: Use product tags in images and videos across feeds, reels, and stories, allowing users to tap on tags and learn more.
Instagram Live Shopping: Engage with customers and sell products in real-time during live broadcasts, tagging products for purchase directly from the video.
In-App Checkout: Offer a seamless purchase process, enabling customers to select products and complete transactions without leaving Instagram. Facebook In 2022, 63.5 million people engaged in social shopping on Facebook, with this figure expected to reach 67.8 million by the end of 2024. Facebook Features for Social Commerce Facebook Shops: Create customizable online stores accessible on both Facebook and Instagram, offering a seamless mobile-first shopping experience.
Facebook Marketplace: Buy and sell items directly without setting up a dedicated store.
Facebook Live Shopping: Similar to Instagram Live Shopping, allowing real-time engagement and purchases during live broadcasts. TikTok TikTok is rapidly becoming a significant player in social commerce, with 35 million US users engaging in it. This number is expected to reach 40 million by 2026. TikTok Features for Social Commerce Video Shopping Ads: Highlight products in in-feed video ads displayed on the ForYou page.
Catalog Listing Ads: Use static images pulled directly from your product catalog.
Live Shopping Ads: Allow users to watch live videos and buy products directly from e-commerce platforms. Pinterest Pinterest is uniquely suited for social commerce, with one-third of its users having an annual income of over $100k. Pinterest Features for Social Commerce Shopping Ads: Show details like pricing, product availability, and reviews.
Collection Ads: Use slideshows and video-like content to help people shop for similar products.
Live Shopping: Pinterest TV features live, shoppable videos focused on various topics like food, fashion, and beauty. Best Practices for Maximizing Sales Using Social Commerce and Automation Connect Your Store to Social Platforms Synchronize your product catalog with social platforms like Facebook and Instagram using built-in features or third-party apps like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. For platforms without direct integrations, consider using custom integrations. Optimize Your Social Commerce Use high-quality visuals and videos to showcase your products. Write compelling product descriptions that highlight benefits and use strong calls-to-action (CTAs) like "Shop Now," "Learn More," or "Get Yours Today." Keep Your Branding Consistent Across Channels Maintain consistent branding across all social commerce platforms. This includes logos, colors, typography, messaging, and tone. Create a brand identity guide for your team to reference when creating content. Tap Into Customer Reviews and User-Generated Content (UGC) Encourage customers to share their experiences and photos of your products. Highlight positive feedback on your social media profiles and product listings to show real-life examples. Use Contests, Giveaways, and Interactive Content Run contests and giveaways to drive engagement. Encourage your audience to like, comment, share, or tag others in your posts. Offer discounts or freebies to boost participation. Host Live Shopping Events Host live shopping events across social channels to encourage real-time interactions. These events can increase average order value by up to 30% compared to other e-commerce channels. Tips for Success: Plan your content with engaging product demos, Q&A sessions, and special offers.
Promote your event through social media, email, and other channels.
Collaborate with influencers to reach a wider audience.
Optimize for mobile to ensure accessibility and visual appeal.
Track and analyze key metrics to measure success and identify areas for improvement. Engage with Your Customers Actively engage with your customers by commenting on posts, replying to comments on your own posts and ads, and answering direct messages. Address negative reviews privately to improve and recover customer relationships. Invest in Paid Ads and Retargeting Create paid ads to drive traffic to your online store, expand product visibility, and boost conversions. Use an e-commerce marketing platform to retarget potential customers who have abandoned their carts or exclude those who have already purchased. Create AI Chatbots Use AI chatbots to display product recommendations and enhance customer service. These chatbots boost sales by engaging customers, offering personalized recommendations, and recovering abandoned carts. Utilize a Social Publishing Tool Automate your social media posting across all channels using a social publishing and scheduling platform. Integration with Canva allows you to create various graphics and schedule them ahead of time. Partner with Influencers Identify influencers who align with your brand values and target audience. Encourage them to create relatable content showcasing your products. Use tracking links, discount codes, or affiliate programs to attribute sales to specific influencers. Set KPIs like click-through rates, conversions, and sales to evaluate the effectiveness of influencer campaigns. Brands Excelling in Social Commerce Sephora Sephora uses shoppable posts and stories with product tags and descriptions, partners with influencers, and offers a chatbot for personalized recommendations and purchases within Facebook Messenger. Nike Nike showcases products through Facebook and Instagram Shops, allowing users to browse and purchase items directly within the apps. Milk Bar Milk Bar combines visual appeal with e-commerce functionality, sharing engaging photos on Instagram and enabling direct purchases through the platform's storefront. Eventbrite Eventbrite promotes events and sells tickets directly through Facebook, offering a seamless ticket-purchasing experience. Booking.com Uses a chatbot on Facebook Messenger to assist users in finding and booking accommodations, providing a personalized experience. Charlotte Tilbury Created a digital storefront using VR, offering a "Shop with Friends" feature and hosting live shopping events on TikTok. Conclusion Social commerce is changing the way brands interact with customers and drive sales. By tapping into the unique features of social media platforms, optimizing content, and engaging with customers, businesses can create a seamless and engaging shopping experience. Implementing these best practices and learning from successful brands can help you maximize your sales and stay ahead in the competitive landscape of social commerce. Social media has become an essential marketing initiative for businesses looking to enhance their online presence and drive sales. One of the most effective strategies that comes out of this trend is social commerce, which integrates shopping experiences directly into social media platforms. This approach simplifies the buying process and offers a seamless experience for customers, leading to higher engagement and increased sales. What is Social Commerce? Social commerce refers to the practice of selling products directly through social media platforms. This method allows users to browse, share, and purchase items without leaving the app they are using. Features such as in-app checkout, shoppable posts, and direct links make the buying process more straightforward and convenient. The Growth and Impact of Social Commerce Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest offer immersive experiences that lead to impulse buys and reduced friction in the customer journey. According to Slickdeals , the average person spends $314 each month on impulse purchases. By embedding commerce into social media, brands can provide a smooth shopping experience, minimizing the steps from product discovery to purchase. Slickdeals Slickdeals In 2023, social commerce generated an estimated $517 billion in revenue worldwide. With an expected annual growth rate of 13.7% from 2023 to 2028, revenues are forecasted to exceed one trillion dollars by 2028. Social Commerce Platform Overview Instagram Instagram is one of the most effective channels for social commerce, with one-third of its 2.35 billion monthly active users engaging in social shopping. Imagine scrolling through Instagram, spotting the perfect pair of shoes, adding them to your cart, and purchasing them without leaving the app. one-third one-third Instagram Features for Social Commerce Shoppable Posts and Stories: Use product tags in images and videos across feeds, reels, and stories, allowing users to tap on tags and learn more. Instagram Live Shopping: Engage with customers and sell products in real-time during live broadcasts, tagging products for purchase directly from the video. In-App Checkout: Offer a seamless purchase process, enabling customers to select products and complete transactions without leaving Instagram. Shoppable Posts and Stories: Use product tags in images and videos across feeds, reels, and stories, allowing users to tap on tags and learn more. Instagram Live Shopping: Engage with customers and sell products in real-time during live broadcasts, tagging products for purchase directly from the video. In-App Checkout: Offer a seamless purchase process, enabling customers to select products and complete transactions without leaving Instagram. Facebook In 2022, 63.5 million people engaged in social shopping on Facebook, with this figure expected to reach 67.8 million by the end of 2024. 63.5 million 63.5 million Facebook Features for Social Commerce Facebook Shops: Create customizable online stores accessible on both Facebook and Instagram, offering a seamless mobile-first shopping experience. Facebook Marketplace: Buy and sell items directly without setting up a dedicated store. Facebook Live Shopping: Similar to Instagram Live Shopping, allowing real-time engagement and purchases during live broadcasts. Facebook Shops: Create customizable online stores accessible on both Facebook and Instagram, offering a seamless mobile-first shopping experience. Facebook Marketplace: Buy and sell items directly without setting up a dedicated store. Facebook Live Shopping: Similar to Instagram Live Shopping, allowing real-time engagement and purchases during live broadcasts. TikTok TikTok is rapidly becoming a significant player in social commerce, with 35 million US users engaging in it. This number is expected to reach 40 million by 2026. 35 million 35 million TikTok Features for Social Commerce Video Shopping Ads: Highlight products in in-feed video ads displayed on the ForYou page. Catalog Listing Ads: Use static images pulled directly from your product catalog. Live Shopping Ads: Allow users to watch live videos and buy products directly from e-commerce platforms. Video Shopping Ads: Highlight products in in-feed video ads displayed on the ForYou page. Catalog Listing Ads: Use static images pulled directly from your product catalog. Live Shopping Ads: Allow users to watch live videos and buy products directly from e-commerce platforms. Pinterest Pinterest is uniquely suited for social commerce, with one-third of its users having an annual income of over $100k. Pinterest Features for Social Commerce Shopping Ads: Show details like pricing, product availability, and reviews. Collection Ads: Use slideshows and video-like content to help people shop for similar products. Live Shopping: Pinterest TV features live, shoppable videos focused on various topics like food, fashion, and beauty. Shopping Ads: Show details like pricing, product availability, and reviews. Collection Ads: Use slideshows and video-like content to help people shop for similar products. Live Shopping: Pinterest TV features live, shoppable videos focused on various topics like food, fashion, and beauty. Best Practices for Maximizing Sales Using Social Commerce and Automation Connect Your Store to Social Platforms Synchronize your product catalog with social platforms like Facebook and Instagram using built-in features or third-party apps like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. For platforms without direct integrations, consider using custom integrations. Optimize Your Social Commerce Use high-quality visuals and videos to showcase your products. Write compelling product descriptions that highlight benefits and use strong calls-to-action (CTAs) like "Shop Now," "Learn More," or "Get Yours Today." Keep Your Branding Consistent Across Channels Maintain consistent branding across all social commerce platforms. This includes logos, colors, typography, messaging, and tone. Create a brand identity guide for your team to reference when creating content. Tap Into Customer Reviews and User-Generated Content (UGC) Encourage customers to share their experiences and photos of your products. Highlight positive feedback on your social media profiles and product listings to show real-life examples. Use Contests, Giveaways, and Interactive Content Run contests and giveaways to drive engagement. Encourage your audience to like, comment, share, or tag others in your posts. Offer discounts or freebies to boost participation. Host Live Shopping Events Host live shopping events across social channels to encourage real-time interactions. These events can increase average order value by up to 30% compared to other e-commerce channels. up to 30% up to 30% Tips for Success : Tips for Success Plan your content with engaging product demos, Q&A sessions, and special offers. Promote your event through social media, email, and other channels. Collaborate with influencers to reach a wider audience. Optimize for mobile to ensure accessibility and visual appeal. Track and analyze key metrics to measure success and identify areas for improvement. Plan your content with engaging product demos, Q&A sessions, and special offers. Promote your event through social media, email, and other channels. Collaborate with influencers to reach a wider audience. Optimize for mobile to ensure accessibility and visual appeal. Track and analyze key metrics to measure success and identify areas for improvement. key metrics Engage with Your Customers Actively engage with your customers by commenting on posts, replying to comments on your own posts and ads, and answering direct messages. Address negative reviews privately to improve and recover customer relationships. Invest in Paid Ads and Retargeting Create paid ads to drive traffic to your online store, expand product visibility, and boost conversions. Use an e-commerce marketing platform to retarget potential customers who have abandoned their carts or exclude those who have already purchased. Create AI Chatbots Use AI chatbots to display product recommendations and enhance customer service. These chatbots boost sales by engaging customers, offering personalized recommendations, and recovering abandoned carts. Utilize a Social Publishing Tool Automate your social media posting across all channels using a social publishing and scheduling platform. Integration with Canva allows you to create various graphics and schedule them ahead of time. Partner with Influencers Identify influencers who align with your brand values and target audience. Encourage them to create relatable content showcasing your products. Use tracking links, discount codes, or affiliate programs to attribute sales to specific influencers. Set KPIs like click-through rates, conversions, and sales to evaluate the effectiveness of influencer campaigns. Brands Excelling in Social Commerce Sephora Sephora uses shoppable posts and stories with product tags and descriptions, partners with influencers, and offers a chatbot for personalized recommendations and purchases within Facebook Messenger. Nike Nike showcases products through Facebook and Instagram Shops, allowing users to browse and purchase items directly within the apps. Milk Bar Milk Bar combines visual appeal with e-commerce functionality, sharing engaging photos on Instagram and enabling direct purchases through the platform's storefront. Eventbrite Eventbrite promotes events and sells tickets directly through Facebook, offering a seamless ticket-purchasing experience. Booking.com Uses a chatbot on Facebook Messenger to assist users in finding and booking accommodations, providing a personalized experience. Charlotte Tilbury Created a digital storefront using VR, offering a "Shop with Friends" feature and hosting live shopping events on TikTok. Conclusion Conclusion Social commerce is changing the way brands interact with customers and drive sales. By tapping into the unique features of social media platforms, optimizing content, and engaging with customers, businesses can create a seamless and engaging shopping experience. Implementing these best practices and learning from successful brands can help you maximize your sales and stay ahead in the competitive landscape of social commerce.

11 Simple Ways to Boost Your Sales Using Social Commerce 

সামাজিক বাণিজ্য ব্যবহার করে আপনার বিক্রয় বৃদ্ধির 11টি সহজ উপায় 

11 einfache Möglichkeiten, Ihren Umsatz durch Social Commerce zu steigern

11 formas sencillas de impulsar sus ventas mediante el comercio social 

11 façons simples d'augmenter vos ventes grâce au commerce social 

सोशल कॉमर्स का उपयोग करके अपनी बिक्री बढ़ाने के 11 सरल तरीके

ソーシャルコマースを活用して売上を伸ばす11の簡単な方法

소셜 커머스를 사용하여 매출을 늘리는 11가지 간단한 방법 

11 maneiras simples de aumentar suas vendas usando o comércio social 

11 простых способов увеличить продажи с помощью социальной коммерции 

Sosyal Ticareti Kullanarak Satışlarınızı Artırmanın 11 Basit Yolu 

11 cách đơn giản để tăng doanh số bán hàng của bạn bằng thương mại xã hội 

利用社交商务提高销量的 11 种简单方法

In the vast app development world, encountering hurdles is par for the course. Two big players make the rules, and it’s easy to fall into their traps. After my first encounter with Google written on “Exposing myself live and DMCA takedowns”, there was another assault. Google Second Assault Picture this: it’s 2019, and I’m building Tintodo, an events App with scrapped events from Facebook and Eventbrite. But just as I launch the app into the wild, fate intervenes in the form of COVID-19. I innocuously reference the pandemic in Tintodo’s description just to give a warning about the situation. COVID-19 Apps with misinformation appear in the App Store and Google decided to remove all Apps referencing COVID-19. Et voilà! Another App removed from the Google Play Store. I decided to post what happened to Hacker News, to see if shouting about Google's bad decisions led to suspension removal. While I can’t say for certain if it was my outcry that spurred action, a few days later, Tintodo was republished. Thankfully, I didn’t lose this assault. Google Knockout Fast forward to the present day, and Bonetflix finds itself thrust into the eye of the storm. I lost access to my Google Play Console. This means the Bonetflix Android App is no longer available on the Google Play Store. Google's stringent policies have become increasingly unforgiving, particularly for developers who fail to engage with their accounts regularly. Despite receiving email warnings (to an unused email), the absence of any recent activity left me vulnerable to account deletion. I don’t even remember the last time I accessed my developer account. Play Store's New Deletion Policy This policy was introduced on 5th April 2023 in Giving Users More Transparency and Control Over Account Data where they claim that developers will need to provide an option to initiate account and data deletion from within the app and online. It’s funny that my account is marked as inactive, and I can’t access it or delete my information. I don’t have a background in legal, but I have read GDPR rights, and we, EU citizens have the right to access and erase our data. I tried to complain to DPOs before complaining to the European Data Protection Supervisor but didn’t receive help. SEO Impact Bonetflix Android App barely had users, but it had backlinks to Bonetflix's website. Even though the linking text was not relevant, the rankings suffered a lot. The average Google Ranking position increased by approximately three positions. When I first published Bonetflix App, there were no significant changes in SEO statistics but this fact means they have a relevant impact on its rankings. If I ever publish an App again, I will publish it on several App stores to maximize backlinks and minimize Google dependency. Future Steps This incident allowed me to forget about an App that was getting a spot in my mind and didn’t generate much revenue. Although I hadn’t updated the App in more than a year, I was updating the Bonetflix database. I will try other small bets with this database and see how things work. In the vast app development world, encountering hurdles is par for the course. Two big players make the rules, and it’s easy to fall into their traps. After my first encounter with Google written on “Exposing myself live and DMCA takedowns” , there was another assault. “Exposing myself live and DMCA takedowns” Google Second Assault Picture this: it’s 2019, and I’m building Tintodo , an events App with scrapped events from Facebook and Eventbrite. But just as I launch the app into the wild, fate intervenes in the form of COVID-19. I innocuously reference the pandemic in Tintodo’s description just to give a warning about the situation. COVID-19 Apps with misinformation appear in the App Store and Google decided to remove all Apps referencing COVID-19. Et voilà! Another App removed from the Google Play Store. Tintodo I decided to post what happened to Hacker News, to see if shouting about Google's bad decisions led to suspension removal. post While I can’t say for certain if it was my outcry that spurred action, a few days later, Tintodo was republished. Thankfully, I didn’t lose this assault. Google Knockout Fast forward to the present day, and Bonetflix finds itself thrust into the eye of the storm. I lost access to my Google Play Console. This means the Bonetflix Android App is no longer available on the Google Play Store. Bonetflix Google's stringent policies have become increasingly unforgiving, particularly for developers who fail to engage with their accounts regularly. Despite receiving email warnings (to an unused email), the absence of any recent activity left me vulnerable to account deletion. I don’t even remember the last time I accessed my developer account. Play Store's New Deletion Policy This policy was introduced on 5th April 2023 in Giving Users More Transparency and Control Over Account Data where they claim that developers will need to provide an option to initiate account and data deletion from within the app and online. Giving Users More Transparency and Control Over Account Data It’s funny that my account is marked as inactive, and I can’t access it or delete my information. I don’t have a background in legal, but I have read GDPR rights, and we, EU citizens have the right to access and erase our data. I tried to complain to DPOs before complaining to the European Data Protection Supervisor but didn’t receive help. DPOs European Data Protection Supervisor SEO Impact Bonetflix Android App barely had users, but it had backlinks to Bonetflix's website. Even though the linking text was not relevant, the rankings suffered a lot. The average Google Ranking position increased by approximately three positions. When I first published Bonetflix App, there were no significant changes in SEO statistics but this fact means they have a relevant impact on its rankings. If I ever publish an App again, I will publish it on several App stores to maximize backlinks and minimize Google dependency. Future Steps This incident allowed me to forget about an App that was getting a spot in my mind and didn’t generate much revenue. Although I hadn’t updated the App in more than a year, I was updating the Bonetflix database. I will try other small bets with this database and see how things work.

How I Navigated Google's Developer Jungle

93 Stories To Learn About Networking

Communities are hard. They are hard to build, hard to maintain, and hard to grow. But, building communities has been one of the most rewarding things in my career, because I met so many amazing people and was forced to learn and do things out of my comfort zone. I remember over 10 years ago I attended my first small tech conference - CouchConf in Berlin. Luckily there was a BerlinJS Meetup happening around the same time and I was blown away by the community and the people. They have a GitHub repository set up for the website and talks are submitted as GitHub Issues. I was amazed by the simplicity and transparency of the process, so I forked the repo and founded BarcelonaJS a few weeks later. This was the start of my own organizers' journey. A little anecdote of a regular and very frustrating experience: You spent hours preparing, communicating, finding and inviting speakers, finding and securing a date & venue, talking to sponsors for food and drinks all to put together a great event. And when the time comes you're sitting there alone or with a fraction of the people you thought would come, because Meetup says "150 people RSVPed YES". And in one rare occasion that was just bad luck with the weather, but more often when I talked to people afterward I heard this: This is amazing, I wish I'd been there, but I did not know! This phrase was the motivation for me to start exploring GitHub as a community tool because GitHub is one of the most amazing platforms for automation and that's what you need to do as an organizer: automate the crap out of everything to publish the event on Eventbrite, Meetup, Twitter, Facebook, Telegram Groups, WhatsApp, Email, Calendar, etc. etc. etc. and do that 2 weeks before, 1 week before, 3 days before, 1 day before, 1 hour before the event so nobody can say afterward: "I did not know about this". Because in the end, you're not doing this for yourself but for the community. During my travels, I came across Node.js and JavaScript communities on Meetup with thousands of members, but not a single upcoming or recent event. This can happen for many reasons, but it's often because the organizers do not have time or have moved on to other things, and it's hard to find a successor to keep things running. Meetup and other platforms are great for the discovery of communities and events, but they make it hard for members to reach out to the community in case an organizer is no longer active and to take over / revive the community. As a developer, I spend a lot of time on GitHub and am familiar with the tools and workflows, so I started exploring on how to use GitHub as a community platform. Benefits of using GitHub for Community Building Open Source & Open Community The first and most obvious benefit is that public repositories on GitHub are Open Source. This means all the content, issues, and discussions are public and can be forked, copied, and reused by anyone. This is great for communities because it means that if the community is abandoned, anyone can fork it and continue the work. It also means that if you want to start a new community, you can fork an existing one and adapt it to your needs. GitHub has user/team/organization management built in, so you don't need to build anything yourself. It's easy to invite someone into the organization or to add teams with different permissions of the organization. Most of us know how to use GitHub and visit the site on a daily basis, so there's no need to bookmark additional sites for database administration, content management or other tools. With GitHub Actions, we can run automated tasks on a schedule or on demand, and with GitHub Pages we can host our community website for free. Building in Public & Transparency For me, one of the most important benefits of building a community on GitHub is full transparency and open communication. Everything[1] is public, so there's no need to worry about who has access to what. This means that anyone can contribute to the community, and anyone can see what's going on. This is great for building trust and for building a community that is inclusive and welcoming to everyone. My aim with communities like BarcelonaJS, CDC etc. was/is to create free and open spaces for developers to share and connect. And "free" is where transparency comes in. In the past, I always kept my hands off financial contributions. If a company wanted to sponsor, they could order food or drinks directly to the venue, but I wouldn't facilitate. Thanks to the , this has become much easier and we're now able to accept financial contributions and make them transparent to the community. These are used for example to pay for the domain(s), to get food and drinks, run ad campaigns etc. Open Collective [1] of course, you can also create a private repo for internal organizers discussions etc. Drawbacks & Caveats GitHub is not a Community/Event Platform like Meetup, so there are some caveats. I've grown used to treating Issues as "Events" or "Talk Proposals" and GitHub Issue Forms to structure submissions. But it's not ideal and takes time for newcomers to understand "Create an issue to submit a talk". There are no "comfort features" to pick a date, location on a map, etc. and trigger a simple email notification to hundreds of people. The Open (Developer) Community This entire concept is primarily focusing on developers and engineers, as it evolves around GitHub and IssueOps. To give an idea of my previous experience, here are a few communities and conferences I've helped build: , 2012 - 2018 BarcelonaJS Hackers & Founders Barcelona, 2012 - 2015 Node.js Barcelona Meetup Group, 2012 - 2018 Couchbase Barcelona Meetup, 2012 - 2015 NodeConf Barcelona, 2015, 2016, 2017 MediterráneaJS, 2015 2018 - 2021 CyprusJS 2020 - present Cyprus Developer Community While building these, I've continuously worked on a set of tools, workflows and automation to make the lives of organizers easier, because it's such a tough and often thankless job. So here's my of how I construct a public community on GitHub. Open Community Concept Labels & Structure The first step is to set up a GitHub organization and create two repositories: events talks The names are obvious: in the events repository are , and in the talks repository are templates for submitting . Talks can be linked to events to build up an agenda and, if you manage to get engagement from the community (remember: it's hard!), comments and reactions such as 👍 or ❤️ can be used to vote on talks. templates for creating new events talk proposals You can also use a to manage the event lifecycle through the proposal, scheduling and announcement phases: GitHub Project In Cyprus, we added labels for the different regions on the island, but most importantly an "Approved" label is needed. All new issues are created with the "Event" label, but only someone with "triage" permission (organizers team) can "approve" the event. This is important to avoid spam and to make sure the event is relevant. Now that there's an organization, some repos with issues and some structure in place, it's time to automate. GitEvents / goes and started with the name as a collaboration "hack weekend" between the London Node User Group (LNUG) and the Barccelona Node.js Group. Back then, GitHub Actions didn't exist and we tried to use Webhooks for issues to build up structured data for GitHub Hosted websites based on Meetup.com data. The setup was cumbersome and the project was abandoned for a while. GitEvents GitEvents on GitHub way back (2014) gitup Today, is a simple set of GitHub Actions to automate issue workflows. "Git Ops" for meetups and events. All that's needed is a GitHub Organization and a GitHub App. Some of the features are: GitEvents : Any interaction with GitHub repositories, issues or discussions triggers a workflow to invite the user to the GitHub organization and adds them to the "Community Members" team. The permissions are the same as for the public, but a little "growth & engagement hack" is that you can @-mention all community members in issues. This is great for announcements, but shouldn't be abused, otherwise you quickly lose members. Inclusive Org : I put together a set of simple templates for events, talks, code of conduct replies etc. to quickly get started with GitEvents. Issue Templates : are re-usable GitHub Workflows to automate marketing and common tasks such as emailing/tweeting/blueskying members, creating/updating events on Discord, EventBrite, Meetup etc. Broadcast : is a GitHub Action to generate iCal files for events. is a standard for calendar events. People can just add this as a subscription to their calendar to keep up to date with community events. We created a redirect to the github file, so people can subscribe to the calendar with a simple link: . ICS iCal https://calendar.cdc.cy Everything is "plug and play" so you can pick the Actions you like and it's relatively easy to compose them into a workflow. For examples, check out the . Cyprus Developer Community Workflows If you'd like to get started with GitEvents and need some help, please reach out on our GitEvents is a work in progress and there's always especially with integrations to other platforms etc. If you want to help, please get in touch. Discord Server a lot to do GitHub Issue Forms Issue Forms are still a relatively little-known feature on GitHub. Instead of a regular Markdown templates, a with a form configuration. YAML file can be provided This is pretty cool to get structured input, but once saved as "Issue", the data is semantically useless because it's just Markdown. I've experimented with Milestones, Markdown headers, Labels etc. to add semantic information like dates, locations etc. to an issue, but nothing worked well. So I started building . This helps to parse an issue that was created through a form to extract dates, links, images, lists etc. and convert them into structured JSON data. This can directly be passed on to other platforms like Discord, EventBrite, Meetup, etc. or used in mailings, tweets etc. GitHub Issue Forms Body Parser The as a library to parse any Markdown text. Only recently I realized entire files can be parsed for structuring data for a website: Issue Forms Body Parser is also available on npm README.md query ($organization: String!, $repository: String!) {
  repository(owner: $organization, name: $repository) {
    id
    name
    object(expression: "main:README.md") {
      ... on Blob {
        text
      }
    }
  }
} This is the query to retrieve file content from the branch of a repository, and you can pass that into the "body parser": main const structuredData = await bodyParser(readmeFile()?.repository.object.text) Instead of keeping yet another copy of your community description, you can now fetch the section from the file and use it on your website. About README.md GraphQL API With the latest website I wanted to explore and push the boundaries of what's possible with Issues, files and structured JSON data and I'm fairly pleased with the result: https://cdc.cy README.md most of the website content is fetched from or files on GitHub; everyone can edit, no CMS or account etc. required README.md .json upcoming and past events are based on GitHub issues (approved & event-labelled issues on the repo) events organizers are fetched from GitHub Team Members Events can be annotated/enhanced with proper location data from a "common locations" file Speaker profiles are entirely based on GitHub User Profiles, we can fetch avatars, bio (readme), location, etc. and build pretty speaker profile pages We can display some stats such as "number of members of the organization", "number of past/upcoming events" etc. All of these features were possible through the and by parsing the Markdown files with the body parser. GraphQL API Summary & Outlook I've been working on this concept for a while and it's still changing shape every once in a while. But the basic ideas I've adopted from BerlinJS haven't changed: : everything is public and transparent, and everyone is welcome (as long as they follow the Code of Conduct) Open Community Events and Talks/Proposals are issues in a repository Labels help with structure and automation Building all of this has taken a lot of time and energy and there are still lots of things missing I don't have time for: proper email integration with schedules, reminders, etc. finalize EventBrite integration add Meetup integration add WhatsApp/Telegram/Slack integration improve issue handling, and automatic comments (ie. Code of Conduct reminder, follow-up reminder etc.) If you think this can help you and your community and want to get involved in piecing the puzzle together, please reach out on the , on or directly on one of the . gitevents Discord Server GitHub Discussions GitHub Issues If you're in or , please join and support the local developer groups. Cyprus Barcelona Random Organizers Thoughts, Tips & Tricks from personal experience Venues: picking a company office as a venue is easy, but has lots of drawbacks. It's easy to manipulate people once you have them in the office (look at our cool place, we even have a cocktail bar!). Remember the company has different motives than you (recruiting, marketing, etc.). Sometimes there may even be conflicts, that people aren't allowed to visit the competitors' office. If possible, I prefer "neutral" co-working and event spaces and thanks to Open Collective you can get sponsorships to pay for the venue with fair (recruiting/marketing/etc) rules for everyone. Reminders: we're all busy and it's easy to forget things. Not everyone is as engaged, motivated & psyched about the event as you are, so regular reminders keep people engaged and help to build a habit. Find a good cadence for reminders, and do not overdo it and spam people. Different media work for different people, so I try to cover as many as possible. Scarcity "I've noticed that announcing the event just one week before it's happening and having a limited amount of seats works better then releasing month in advance with 100+ capacity" – Dmitry Zaets, BarcelonaJs Perks: "Giveaways are fun, and giving away tickets to conferences and other stuff can be nice perks for attending" – Dmitry Zaets, BarcelonaJs Consistency: "Establish a realistic schedule from the outset. Whether it's a monthly meetup or a quarterly conference, consistency is key. Create a roadmap, allocate responsibilities, and stick to the plan. This not only keeps your audience engaged but also helps in building a reliable community." – Federico Rampazzo, CDC.cy Finding Speakers: "Don't be afraid to approach experts who might be willing to share their insights. A lot of your members are likely to have interesting stories worth sharing! It can be an enriching experience for them as much as for the community. Taking photos, videos, audio recording of the events is valuable and help the speakers in their speaking career, as well as increasing the reach of the event." – Federico Rampazzo, CDC.cy

GitHub and the Art of Building Open Communities

গিটহাব এবং আর্ট অফ বিল্ডিং ওপেন কমিউনিটি

GitHub und die Kunst, offene Communities aufzubauen

GitHub y el arte de construir comunidades abiertas

GitHub et l'art de créer des communautés ouvertes

GitHub और खुले समुदायों के निर्माण की कला

GitHub とオープン コミュニティを構築する技術

GitHub와 개방형 커뮤니티 구축 기술

GitHub e a arte de construir comunidades abertas

GitHub и искусство создания открытых сообществ

GitHub ve Açık Topluluklar Oluşturma Sanatı

GitHub và nghệ thuật xây dựng cộng đồng mở

GitHub 和构建开放社区的艺术

178 Stories To Learn About Entrepreneurship

In our latest segment of "Behind the Startup," we chat with Maxwell Mayhew, co-founder of UTIX, to uncover the magic behind the revolutionary concept of NFT ticketing and its promise to bring transparency, security, and control back to event organizers and attendees alike. UTIX's Pioneering Approach to E-Ticketing with Blockchain Ishan Pandey: Hi Maxwell, welcome to our series “Behind the Startup.” Please tell us about yourself and the story behind UTIX? Hey! I am one of the co-founders of , an online e-ticketing platform powered by the blockchain. Our story started a number of years ago; having worked in the e-ticketing industry previously, and then working at the time on blockchain validation methods, I was asked by the founder of a large music festival in Miami if there were any options available to help their ticket scalping and fraud problems. Having worked extensively with smart contracts, I recognised there were options that could be implemented with both the use of IoT for ticket tracking and verification, alongside implementing smart contract functionality to enable controls for event organizers that weren’t available with conventional e-ticketing softwares. Maxwell Mayhew: UTIX Ishan Pandey: Please tell us a little bit about the UTIX platform and what advantages does UTIX offer event organizers over its competitors like Ticketmaster and Eventbrite. The UTIX e-ticketing platform works as any other e-ticketing solution would, with the caveat that we have embedded web3 solutions to persistent issues that have plagued the market for decades. Our aim has always been to provide the benefits of the blockchain, without the complexities most users face. Our customer journey has been designed specifically with event organizer and consumer functionality at the forefront, and we’ve done all we can to not overburden the solution with blockchain features, but implement them where they intuitively make sense. Maxwell Mayhew: Whilst Ticketmaster and Eventbrite offer standardized solutions to the needs of EO’s and consumers, UTIX goes above and beyond, providing controls users typically don’t have, including a secondary market control (through the use of smart contracts), ticket fraud prevention methods (checking tx hash of tickets sent and their corresponding NFT codes to ensure they are in fact, legitimate tickets etc.) and loyalty incentives. Our aim is to ensure the negative externalities that are present within the industry are eroded entirely. Ishan Pandey: Can you explain the concept of the UTIX Loyalty Token and how it benefits users and event organizers? More and more businesses are turning to loyalty reward systems to foster continuous engagement with consumers, cultivate long-lasting relationships, and stimulate more usage of their platform. Broadly, loyalty reward programs can be split into two categories. Maxwell Mayhew: The first type seeks to keep consumer spending within the business's purview by offering discounts on their products through the accumulation of loyalty points. This form is commonly adopted by airlines and retailers. In this category, UTIX intends to peg the discount of its Loyalty Token to its own profit margin. The cost of these discounts will be covered by UTIX. The value of the discount will be periodically reassessed and adjusted based on what UTIX can reasonably afford to provide. The second category centers on establishing partnerships with different brands, expanding reward benefits beyond a single company. UTIX's loyalty program development will initially concentrate on this single-brand system, prompting users to use their points on items found on the UTIX Platform. However, as our product and market grow, we plan to form collaborations with merchandising and entertainment firms to enhance our reward offerings. Ishan Pandey: How does UTIX use blockchain technology to improve the e-ticketing process? What are the key advantages of using blockchain in this context? At UTIX, we aspire to eradicate the market inefficiencies that currently saturate the ticketing industry. Blockchain technology is a remarkably innovative solution that offers unprecedented monitoring, tracking, and control capabilities. Our goal is to merge traditional Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) infrastructure with distinct blockchain attributes. We aim to rival the leading oligopolistic e-ticketing competitors by offering a secure, transparent platform to event organizers and customers. Our platform ensures a bot-free environment, guards against secondary market price inflation, and provides a fair platform for ticket resale. Maxwell Mayhew: A significant advantage of adopting the Ethereum blockchain lies in the use of smart contracts. These can help manage aspects of the e-ticketing infrastructure that have previously posed problems, thereby enabling better control. One such issue has been the secondary market. Now, event organizers can set a maximum resale value, enabling users to sell their tickets exclusively through the platform, and only at a price determined by the event organizer. We emphasize that this is a choice controlled by the organizer. If they prefer to allow tickets to be sold freely at any price, that option is available. To handle these additional factors, we're employing smart contracts that permit the Ticket NFT to be redistributed only at a price set by the organizer when creating their event. Tickets are transferrable solely through the application or website. While we acknowledge that no system is entirely foolproof and there may be attempts to exploit loopholes for fan extortion, our objective is to make such actions as challenging as physically possible. Ishan Pandey: What role does smart contract technology play in the ticketing process, and how does it prevent ticket scalping and fraud? Users and event organizers have the opportunity to purchase or sell tickets through immutable cryptographic signatures stored on a blockchain. This eliminates the need for centralized servers, reduces dependence on expensive third parties, and mitigates the adverse effects often associated with an unregulated free market. By committing ticket purchases and their associated NFT tickets to the blockchain, it allows us to assign wallets automatically to users so a UTIX purchaser can feel confident the ticket in their wallet is legitimate. By combining front-end functionality and web3 dev, users will be able to check if any ticket in their account is a legitimate ticket. Our aim is to ensure all ticket sales stay ‘on the platform’, we are bringing the fight to scalpers and fraudsters. Additionally, due to the purchase of tickets being an agreement on the blockchain between an EO and a customer, the EO can ensure they collect a royalty on any secondary market sales and control the pricing of on-platform sales on the secondary market. Maxwell Mayhew: Ishan Pandey: How can platforms handle scalability and transaction processing on the blockchain, especially during peak event ticket sales periods? Alongside committing transactions to the blockchain, we run a conventional database that will store the information the way any traditional e-ticketing provider would; so if gas fees are exceptionally high or the network is congested, we can run a call function to obtain the required information when necessary. We commit transactions to the blockchain during periods of low cost and congestion. The blockchain is the primary information source, but by running a conventional DB alongside, it ensures a low latency customer experience. Maxwell Mayhew: Ishan Pandey: How can the implementation of Two-Factor Authentication and Timed Entry address the persistent challenges faced by event tickets, offering potential solutions to prevent issues such as fraudulent ticket sales and skyrocketing secondary market prices? The UTIX app will have a tab highlighting the tickets each user has available. Upon entry to the event, a QR code ticket will become available. This code only allows access to the second QR code that will facilitate entry, the first is simply a verification procedure to show that the individual on the app is the true owner of the ticket. This can stop the practice of users taking a screenshot of their QR-coded ticket, sending it to the secondary buyer and then charging a discretionary, at times excessive, fee for the ticket. Our development versions of iOS/Android scanners have been extremely fast, and we feel strongly that the need to scan two QR codes will not add any substantial time to the event entry process. Statistics show that ninety-one percent (91%) of people in the world own a mobile telephone of some kind, and eighty-three percent (83%) of people own smartphones. We, therefore, feel as though the application itself will be a primary means of access. Maxwell Mayhew: A second method we have tested and will offer as an option to event organizers is the choice to have the QR code withheld until a certain amount of time before the event itself. The purpose of this is to deter ticket touts from waiting outside events, printing QR codes and selling the tickets in an unregulated manner for prices that far exceed the original face value. Combined with QR code 2FA, we feel this could be extremely powerful in minimizing the risks associated with the secondary market to consumers. However, this remains a choice for event organizers; should they wish to allow secondary pricing and the free market mechanism to operate entirely, they have that option. The event organizer will have the choice to only allow the QR code to be viewed 20/30/45/60 minutes before the event itself, giving the secondary market only a very small window in which to operate. Although it still provides a very small window for touts to operate, it largely acts as a deterrent. Touts could ultimately end up losing money on tickets they have purchased but are unable to sell. For us, it is all about ensuring there are sufficient deterrents in place. Ishan Pandey: What challenges did UTIX face in convincing event organizers to adopt blockchain-based ticketing, and how did they overcome these challenges? I think the adoption of any new technology has challenges; individuals typically adopt a legacy culture thought process, there are costs associated with training staff to use new tech, and typically large EO’s have a tremendous amount of red tape to navigate. For us, it was about ensuring the migration was flawless, they saw systems in place they were used to and the customer journey was designed in line with their requirements. Maxwell Mayhew: Ishan Pandey: In what ways can e-ticketing platforms ensure the security and authenticity of tickets? Are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) an ideal solution to combat fraudulent event ticket sales? Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) present an intriguing potential solution to battle counterfeit event ticket sales, due to several unique characteristics: Maxwell Mayhew: Uniqueness and Verification: Each NFT is inherently unique and impossible to duplicate. This characteristic can correspond to a particular ticket, facilitating easy confirmation of the ticket's legitimacy. Traceability of Ownership: Built on blockchain technology, NFTs allow for a public ledger documenting every transaction. This provides a comprehensive history of a ticket, from its inception to its latest owner, making it exceedingly difficult for counterfeiters to infiltrate the market with fake tickets. Customizability: NFTs can incorporate smart contracts, enabling event organizers to implement specific rules, such as capping the maximum resale price of a ticket to combat ticket scalping. Interoperability: NFTs can be traded, purchased, and sold on any platform compatible with the ERC-721 standard (for Ethereum), providing a broad marketplace for tickets. Ishan Pandey: Lastly, can you provide insights into UTIX's long-term vision for the future of e-ticketing and its impact on the live event industry as a whole? Our goal at UTIX has always been to create an events ecosystem. A place where an EO can manage every single detail of their event, down to analytics, marketing, emails. A CRM, HR system and ERP all rolled into one. We’re a way away from it, but that’s our ‘north star’, as it were. I may be lambasted for saying this but, I don’t feel as though the world is yet ready to move to an entirely web3-based solution; I have hope, but it is important to focus on the present and immediate solutions we can offer. Maxwell Mayhew: For too long events systems have been designed to benefit themselves, and the event organizers, with very little focus on the consumer. Whilst I understand without events, you have no customers, I feel it imperative to support the underserved consumer and do what we can to enhance their event buying experience. Ultimately, by creating a wide audience of consumers who have benefited from using UTIX and supporting us, we know the event organizers will follow. Don’t forget to like and share the story! : This author is an independent contributor publishing via our . Be it through direct compensation, media partnerships, or networking, the author has a vested interest in the company/ies mentioned in this story. HackerNoon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims herein belong to the author. #DYOR Vested Interest Disclosure brand-as-author program

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