Thank you to all who joined our fantastic Holiday Twitter Party! On December 16th EXPO hosted an online discussion where EXPO members, bloggers, shoppers, and friends chatted about different topics regarding holiday shopping. There was an excellent turn out of over 400 people who all were entered for the chance to win one of our Amazon gift cards ranging up to $100. EXPO wanted to extend a big thank-you to @selfishmom and @bigcitymoms for leading our discussion and bringing some great insight. During the hour, we heard some great tips and hilarious stories:
In response to: What are some of the top gifts to give family members this year?
@moo77hb@SelfishMom I love my kitchenaid-but I like the hand mixer to make frosting:) #expoholiday
In response to: What are the best couponing methods to get the best deals for the holidays?
@jersharocks BJ’s does that too, accepts store and manufacturers coupons at the same time! #EXPOholiday
In response to: What are the best websites or stores to go to for holiday shopping?
@Lerwin1324 We don’t have WalMart here, so it’s Target all the way. #Brooklyn#EXPOholiday
In response to: What’s the funniest holiday shopping experience you have had?
@jsg1818 @SelfishMom @EXPOTV Q4. An embarrassing/funny moment was when my 2 yr old peed on Santas lap. Line was soo long 4 a pic #expoholiday
It was great to connect with our members and others online. There were a few participants who were a big part of this conversation which you can see in the graph below. EXPO loves to hear what you have to say and appreciates your fantastic participation! You’ll see in the image, the amount of times that each of these participants mentioned #expoholiday which was the hashtag for the discussion.
EXPO had so much fun at this party that we will be planning some other ones coming up. Don’t miss out on the chance to be part of our fun conversations and being entered to win some prizes. In the mean time if you are looking for ways to win, check out some of our current programs where you can receive some exclusive products before they hit store shelves for free: http://www.expotv.com/tryology.
~The EXPO Team
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January 5th, 2012
Teresa
The holiday season has arrived and along with that can come quite a bit of stress – making sure you get the best gifts, creating the perfect meal and wrapping the presents just perfectly. As always, EXPO members jumped at the chance to help other consumers conquer the stress this holiday season. Great videos were created giving step-by-step wrapping instructions, tips for creating a great holiday display and even some worst gift examples.
So in the spirit of the holiday season, our team wanted to share some tips to creating the perfect holiday. Here are the top 20 tips and tricks that our staff pulled together to help you:
- Take time for yourself – My girlfriends and I go for manicures together every year on December 23rd. It’s a fun way to get together and take a few minutes to de-stress prior to the big day. – Danielle S.
- When it comes to Chanukkah gifts, wrap all 8 and let your kids choose which one they’d like to open each night. Adds to the excitement around the holiday – and don’t forget to eat lots of food cooked in oil to remember the miracle! – Rebecca G.
- Build a budget for your gifts and track how much you’ve spent. Whatever is left over should go to some extra treats for the whole family! – Teresa C.
- A good place to hide presents: inside your luggage. – Daphne K.
- It’s helpful to have some extra giftables on hand for relatives or family friends that you don’t often see but might drop in or encounter during the holidays. Having something to give them avoids the awkwardness of getting a gift without having something in return. If you don’t use them this year, they are good for birthdays or next Christmas. – Fred J.
- Save money by buying off-season gifts – for example, you can get good deals on bicycles, pool toys, golf clubs, patio dining sets, etc. this time of year. – Adam P.
- Keep a Holiday Notebook – It’s impossible to retain every little Holiday detail in my brain, so I have a Holiday notebook to keep track of it all. This is a great way to stay organized, note guest preferences and tastes, centralize Holiday recipes, and write down things you want to remember for next year. – Danielle S.
- Fill the bottom of stockings with clementines for heft and weight! - Daphne K.
- Keep a list of your “set-up” activities from year to year, including tips about the mistakes you’ve made in the past. Save the list in a place you can’t lose it…on the top of the decorations box or even as a calendar item for the next December. Saves tons of time – Bill H.
- Put a long piece of string high up against a wall and use it to hang all your holiday cards – it makes a festive and easy decoration! – Thi L.
- Use a butter knife to safely unwrap (for easy rewrapping) gifts to sneak a peek to see if you got what you were asking for this holiday season. – Jessica T.
- Hide some presents in the tree – Daphne K.
- Don’t just buy potato latkes from any store. If you’re not planning on making them yourself, be sure to find a good Jewish deli because it makes a difference! – Emily R.
- Perfect adult egg nog: 1 oz southern comfort, 1 oz butterscotch schnapps, 4 or more oz of egg nog - Bill H
- Use shrinky dinks (or fake shrink dinks) to make gift tags that can double as a keepsake ornament. Alexandra A.
- Always bake more than you actually need. Wrap up the extras and bring them to holiday festivities. They make great personal gifts. – Teresa C.
- Separate special wrapping paper only for Santa’s gifts. - Daphne K.
- When doubting a gift selection, cash or a nice bottle of wine is always a great back up. – Brian R.
- Make sure to find the perfect flat surface for spinning the dreidel. Get situated in a sitting position so that you won’t be in the way in case the dreidel has a mind of it’s own. - Emily R.
- Be sure to surround yourself with the people that matter the most! - Teresa C.
What are your tips for creating the perfect holiday?
Wish you all a happy holiday and healthy holiday season!
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December 21st, 2011
Teresa
Hey Holiday Shoppers!
Tis’ the season to spend money on friends and family and hopefully sip on some holiday drinks! EXPO wanted to join the celebration and hopefully make it a little easier and exciting for you all this year. We are hosting a Twitter Party with some very influential mom bloggers including @bigcitymoms and @selfishmom leading the discussion. The main topic will be about Holiday Shopping Tips and each speaker will focus on their expertise including couponing and gift ideas.
Don’t worry, there’s more exciting news…PRIZES! Throughout the twitter party, gift cards will be given away just in time for the holidays! See below for rules to be eligible to win prizes!
We know that a lot of you are avid twitter users and chat about exciting tips and activities daily. We also know there are plenty of you out there that want to join these conversations but may not be in the twittersphere. We want to hear from all of you no matter how advanced you are in the social networking world! Just sign up here for our twitter party and either create a twitter name to join the discussion or just read along.
Rules:
1. Sign up for our Twitter Party here
2. Mention @expotv at least once during the twitter party using the hashtag #expoholiday
3. Must be at least 18 years of age and live in the US
Please see official rules here.
We hope that you’ll join us and feel free to invite your friends! Don’t forget to sign up so you can be entered to win one of our gift cards!
Thanks!
The EXPO Team
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December 12th, 2011
Teresa
With the holiday season right around the corner, it’s important to prepare early and get organized before the shopping lists get out of control and the lines become overwhelming. As you get your shopping list ready, we wanted to take some time to share tips about organizing a staple holiday item – coupons! Whether you are eligible to be on TLC’s show, Extreme Couponing, or you rarely ever use coupons, you should always make sure to stay organized for the holidays and save some money.
There are many different ways you can organize your coupons but before before jumping in spend some time figuring out what will be effective for yourself. Think about where you are trying to save money, where you will be shopping, and the easiest way to keep track of it all. Once you have that thought process set up, it’s time to get started.
After doing some research, we have found that a lot of people organize their coupons in a photo album binder with multiple clear photo sleeves. This is a simple solution that will allow you to browse through your coupons without taking them out. Once you have your binder setup just follow these steps:
1. Create sections using a blank piece of paper to divide and label each section into categories such as: Baby, Electronics, Sporting goods, etc.
2. In each category, put the coupons in according to the expired date. Make sure to throw out any coupons that expire!
3. If you frequently go to stores that have their own coupons such as Target and K-Mart, keep them in their own sections at the end.
If you think this is too time consuming and you don’t want to buy an organizer, you can always reuse supplies at home like shoe boxes. Be sure to use something that is large enough to fit folders so you can still label different categories.
Extra Tip!
You do want to be careful when giving a gift that is a coupon such as a Groupon or Living Social deal. You wouldn’t want loved ones to know that you spent anything less than what they are really worth. So, if you end up purchasing a gift through one of those sites, just create your own card explaining the gift rather than clicking the “send as a gift” button.
Great coupon sites!
Hautelook
Groupon
Retailemont
Cellfire
Zulily
Plumdistrict
What are some of your holiday couponing tips? Hope you all enjoy saving for the holidays!
photo credit
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November 11th, 2011
Teresa
At EXPO we love getting videos on all consumer experiences including 
product reviews, recipes, tips, and even holiday stories. This October EXPO really got into the spirit of Halloween. We suited up in our favorite costume and listened to what you had to say about everything from pumpkin carving to costume selection. Members jumped at the chance to share their thoughts in spirited videos that really got us thinking – is Halloween just for the kids?
Starting right at the beginning of October, members began uploading videos of their Halloween costumes. These videos were fantastic and let me tell you, they shared it all! We saw old costumes, new costumes, creative ideas, and even some tips on how to save on your favorite Halloween look. When watching all of the videos, we started to see a trend. Most people dressing up were only getting into it because their kids. A lot of them didn’t dress up at all and only showed the children’s costumes. Wondering what I am talking about, check out this great example of an awesome costume inspired by the whole family:
EXPO didn’t stop there though. Members also shared how they carve their Halloween pumpkins into a festive jack-o-latern. These how-to videos really dug into the creativity behind the perfect glowing pumpkin. But again, we saw a lot of parents carving pumpkins for the kids and with the whole family. The videos were creative and most importantly fun, but again it got me to wondering, would they enjoy getting into the Halloween spirit without the kids?
Having kids always makes things more fun and exciting, but is the spirit of Halloween just for the little ones? What do you think? Is Halloween only for the kids or would you enjoy dressing up and carve your favorite ghost into a pumpkin without the whole family?
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October 28th, 2011
Teresa
We know that our members love sharing their opinion on EXPO, so this summer our team worked hard to launch some new features that give everyone the chance to share programs, videos, rewards and more on Facebook and Twitter. With one-click members can now connect their social networks, tell their story and share the enthusiasm they share on EXPO everyday.
Many of our members have already connected their EXPO accounts with Facebook and know how easy it can be to login to the community and invite friends to join. We didn’t stop there! With the new EXPO sharing tools, members can link their Twitter account to EXPO too.
These features were built to make it easy for you to share your videos, sampling opportunities and even tell your friends about the free products you got through Tryology.
Here’s how it works
When members complete any action that we think their friends may find interesting, a modal window will appear. There they will be able to connect their Twitter and Facebook accounts and customize the story shared on their designated social networks. A full preview of what is being posted on Facebook and Twitter will be shown and the story can easily be customized right there.
Members can also connect their Facebook and Twitter accounts through the Connection preferences within Profile Settings. Here we gave everyone the ability to manage how frequently they are contacted and which actions they would like to share. We built an “always ask,” “share all the time,” and “never share” system for to customize the experience and story.
We have also installed easy-to-use Twitter, Facebook and email buttons throughout the site. With over 300,000 videos and tons of programs, there is a lot of helpful information that can be shared through EXPO. Check out the new video product pages and start sharing today.
What are you going to start sharing on EXPO? Videos, Tryology Programs, or all of rewards you scored for sharing your opinion?
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September 22nd, 2011
Teresa
At least when it comes to watching videos online. Lately, sites are starting to play the videos you upload bigger than they used to—and EXPO is no exception. Later this summer we’ll be unveiling a new player that lets you watch your videos in higher quality and a larger size.
That means you can start making your reviews in higher quality. We’ve upped your maximum upload size from 100mb to 250mb—that’s more than double what you used to be able to upload!
How to keep your reviews looking great
Want to take advantage of the changes we’re making? Of course you do! And here’s some easy steps that’ll make sure your reviews continue to shine.
Use your camera’s highest settings
Check the settings on your video camera to see if you can increase the quality—you can even use HD, if your device supports it. Check to make sure you’re recording at least at 640×480, since anything smaller will look stretched after you upload it.
A Special note to camera-phone users: TURN YOUR CAMERA SIDEWAYS!
When you record your video upright, it ends up being tall and skinny.Sometimes, this confuses our software and your video ends up looking like this:
Other times, if you edit the file to flip it yourself, it can add black strips to the sides of the video (called “letterboxing”), which comes out a little bit better, but still looks pretty odd (see left).
Holding the camera sideways when you record (so that it’s longer than it is tall), makes your videos come out beautifully, so we can hear your opinion and not be distracted by the unusual orientation:
Compress your file
Using software like Microsoft Movie Maker or iMovie will let you use less space to save the same video. It may sound silly to record larger videos just to make them smaller again, but it makes a huge difference in quality. Just look at these examples below. In this first video, I used my camera’s “for email” settings (160×120) to get an 8 MB file for my 1 minute long videopinion. It’s plenty small enough to upload, but doesn’t look too great:
In this version of the video, I used my camera’s highest settings (640×480) and started with a 118 MB file for the same 1 minute long videopinion. With our update, I could just upload it, since that’s still under 250MB, but I don’t have a very fast internet connection at home, so I like to compress my files for the fastest upload times. I compressed it using Windows Movie Maker, and simply saving using the “for computer” standards and ended up with a 44MB file—37% of the original size!
Windows Movie Maker and iMovie are becoming standard on most Windows or Mac computers or are free for download as long as you meet the system requirements. If you don’t want to use one of those programs, you can also try one of these or many others available online:
Once you import your video into one of these programs, saving it with a standard option should compress while saving automatically. You may need to try a few different options to find the one that works best for your videos, so I recommend saving the edits as a new video, rather than saving over the original.
Now grab your camera, up your settings, and share your opinions!
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July 18th, 2011
Teresa
This week, EXPO headed out West to beautiful San Diego to exhibit for the first time at the Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition! Not only has it been great to learn from retailers directly how they are looking to enhance their customers’ experience in online shopping, but also we’ve learned a ton from other vendors about how we can all play together in the space to add the value retailers and shoppers are seeking.
Here are a few highlights:
- EXPO featured YOUR faces at our booth this week! Folks flocked over because of the engaging anecdotes and opinions you’ve shared with us in video. Thank you!
- Arianna Huffington gave the keynote address, had the room in stitches and drove home the point that TRUST is key in commerce. We must be able to search for and get the answers to our questions immediately. Otherwise, we’ll walk away.
- In EVERY panel we attended and with each conversation we held, it was clear how much consumer opinions in video are both intriguing and insightful; adding unique value to the shopping experience. Whether on a brand site, a mobile device, in social media or on retail product pages, when there’s a video available featuring ‘someone like me’ an additional level of trust in the brand and the product results.
Overall, we’re having a great time, making new connections and most importantly learning how we can continue to enhance the eCommerce experience with video!
To learn more about this conference, go to www.irce.com.To see photos of EXPO at IRCE, visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/LifewithEXPO
Signing off from SD,
Bill and Rebecca
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June 16th, 2011
Teresa
Bill and I (Daphne Kwon) recently had the opportunity to talk with some of the great folks at Engauge, an innovative agency that does work for Home Depot, Chik Fil A, Food Lion. We’ll be attending their upcoming annual DIG Day on May 5, where they bring social & new media companies together with their clients to learn, listen, and hopefully inspire. DIG stands for their Digital Innovation Group, run by Engauge Chief Digital Officer, Jeff Hilimire. EXPO will be participating in their opening panel entitled, “Rethinking Engagement: Could TV be the Future of Marketing?”
The podcast is for their DIG blog, which they use as a platform to surface ideas from people and companies with whom they partner. Bill and I participated in a session that talks about the founding and development of EXPO, and how the company has evolved to the leadership position in consumer video we’re now lucky to occupy. We’re a bit long winded (2 of us together was probably not the smartest of my suggestions), but was a fun thing for us to do. Thanks so much Engauge, and we look forward to doing work with you!
Check out the Podcast here.
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April 26th, 2011
Teresa
The EXPO community isn’t just about reviewing the shampoo you own or earning rewards – although that is fun and easy. It’s a place where members share their real stories and thoughts about products with consumers and brands alike. In an effort to help create a unique community experience for each and every EXPO member we will be asking for a bit more information.
Starting late tonight (Wednesday, April 20th), EXPO will be making a few site enhancements that will optimize the site experience for all of our members! Here’s a quick preview of what’s to come:
- Updating Our Records: It’s been a while since we’ve asked members to update some information to help us better customize the site experience
- Facebook Updates: Introducing some new features to make it easier for members to register, login and invite friends to join
What new information is being collected?
Through the years EXPO has asked a variety of different questions to get to know you a bit better. You know, the basics – where do you live, do you have kids, what’s your marital status. With this update we will be simply confirming some of the information you have already provided and filling in any missing pieces. This information will remain private and will help connect you with the invitations you want, the consumers that are just like you and the brands that care.
In an effort to not ask you the same questions over and over again and to increase your chances of being selected for future programs, we’re trying to update our records to store some basic demographic and lifestyle information about you in our database. Each of the questions will then be used to develop an experience that is tailored to your individual interests and put you in a position to earn even more rewards.
Facebook Updates
We are also updating the way the EXPO site connects with Facebook. Facebook is constantly updating their systems to better serve you so as a result we need to update things on our end so you can more easily log into EXPO using your Facebook credentials. If you’ve previously connected your EXPO and Facebook accounts we’ll need you to re-grant us permissions. If you’ve never connected, be sure to hook up. This connection will allow you to easily login, update information and much more! There are lots of fun community enhancements coming up so connect today and be on the look-out.
If you have any questions about this new process or connecting with Facebook, be sure to comment below.
The community team loves hearing from you and will be looking for your feedback. As always, thank you for sharing your story and we look forward to getting to know you better.
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April 20th, 2011
Teresa
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