This and That

A few interesting tid bits I saw in the latest edition of Fast Company:

Online applications like "OurStory" (www.ourstory.com) offer families, businesses and organizations the ability to create narratives about their lives or the timelines of the business complete with personal stories, images and the like. While it initially sounds like a fancy scrapbooking application, companies are actually using it to build institutional histories - utilizing the perspectives of their employees and clients.

If you want to look at a bunch of up-and-coming Web 2.0 sites you've never heard of, check out the magazine's "Citizen Media: The High School Years" layout, with references to odeo.com, socialroots.com, fireant.tv, rapleaf.com and other sites that harnass all the power of engaging users.

FInally, it's been really interesting to see how advertisers have hopped on to the engagism bandwagon. In New York's Times Square, there are multiple billboards oriented toward getting the consumer directly involved in the advertising campaign. For example, the "Life Comes at you Fast" board from Nationwide highlights photos submitted by users to its website while the Secret deodorant "Share Your Secret" campaign allows anyone to share their secret.

All of these efforts have understood the need to engage real people in their efforts -- and are utilizing technology as the best means of doing so. Sounds like they've figured out the "engagism" secret.