What the Macy’s gift guide model also shows is that more consumers are drawn towards online shopping due to its focus on curation. Online stores are increasingly focusing on selling and packaging a particular lifestyle, making it easier for consumers to navigate their way to that perfect gift at just the right price. In a conversation with Kevin Ryan, CEO and founder of Gilt Groupe, he attests that a mix of content and curation goes a long way in informing a consumer’s purchasing decision.

To make your Valentine’s Day gift buying an easy, and perhaps even an entertaining endeavour, this year we’ve put together our own collection of sites that deliver an expertly curated selection of products.

For the uber nerd: Thinkgeek.com

Her Princess Leah hairpiece is not restricted to Halloween; he quotes Star Trek at the dinner table. Do these people sound familiar to you? If you’ve got a nerdy type to buy a gift for then thinkgeek.com is your one stop shop for all things geek. From toys, to apparel to gadgets, this site offers a plethora of paraphernalia that will potentially make your special geek pass out in glee.

For the foodie: Gilttaste.com

This person’s library is filled with cookbooks and food-related nonfiction — they spend more on kitchen gadgets than they do anything else and you’ve repeatedly heard them riff on the new culinary trend that they’re just dying to explore in their tricked out kitchen. If this is someone you know, Gilttaste.com offers the best online catalogue of curated specialty food items, be it meat, sweets, produce, or equipment. Don’t feel like rummaging through the site to pick out the perfect something? Then take a look at Gilt Taste’s Gifts section for perfectly packaged gifts that are sure to satisfy the tastes of your favourite foodie.

For the design fiend: Fab.com

There’s nothing more this person would rather do than refurbish an ottoman, upcycle a chair or spend a day scouring the city for their next design idea or future apartment instalment. Fab.com is the place to go to get that super unique gift for the design aficionado in your life. Granted, you have to request an invitation to join the site, but once you’re accepted, Fab will surely become a perennial go-to for all your special gift-buying. In fact, they even posted a terrific blog post on how to make your Valentine’s Day sans cliché.

For the manly man: uncrate.com

From T-shirts to high tech to, yes, even luxury vehicles, Uncrate offers the most stylish gift selection for the manliest man in your life. Whether your budget is $6 (How about a set of plaid playing cards?) or sky high (Does the 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo tickle your wallet? ) or somewhere in between (We recommend the Bond 50 golden anniversary collection box set) you’ll find the perfect gift for the burliest, stylin’ man in your life.

For the fashion forward: asos.com

UK-based online fashion retailer, Asos, encourages you to discover fashion online for men and women. With a considerable collection of brands, including the Asos brand, there’s bound to be something for every style of person in your life. There’s a section of the site that acts almost as a online consignment shop where you can sell and purchase new, pre-owned and vintage fashion. If you’re struggling to figure out what the vintage-junkie/ happy preppy/ couture-coveting person would want, you can scope out Asos’ fashion finder and get inspired by the looks they’ve compiled. Best of all, they offer worldwide shipping.

Within 15 mins I had made up my mind to buy something at Coach and not something small — something of significance — for the person I love the most in my life. I’d never purchased anything at Coach before. I didn’t even know where the nearest store was, but my decision was made and it took less time than most gift buying decisions I’ve made.

This is an incredible story for any brand, nonetheless a brand I wasn’t familiar with, had no affinity for, and generally associated with high school. For the Christmas 2011 I used Pinterest in a way that helped to make my life unbelievably easy and my girlfriend unbelievably happy simply by shopping for her directly from her Pinterest account.

Pinterest is hot — seriously hot.

From VentureBeat “The still-invite-only, one year-old digital pin-board site attracted nearly 11 million visitors in the week ending Dec. 17, according to data intelligence company Hitwise. Hitwise counts Pinterest as one of the top 10 websites in the social networking and forums category.”

Top 10 is actually being disingenuous. Pinterest actually falls in as the #7 social networking website, ahead of the likes of Google+ and Tumblr. That along with $37 mil in the coffers means that investors get it and so do a large number of interneters.

But like most new platforms, brands have been slow to get involved. And this is surprising because Pinterest is ripe for brands — it’s a collection of beautiful/interesting/desired things that get captured, collected, shared and ultimately bought. It’s a crowd-sourced consumer magazine at its best. Pinterest’s pages look just like those of major catalogues, something I’m sure Pinterest re-purposed on, well, purpose. Pinterest was created for the ADD mind of the Internet, for the scrollers of blogs and for those that always called themselves visual learners when we we’re growing up.

But Pinterest is more than just a social website — it’s a place to discover the wants of an individual. Facebook gives you their life story, Twitter tells you what they are doing right now but Pinterest tells you what they want their house to look like, where they want to go for vacation and even what recipe they want to make for dinner. Once brands figure this out and create strategy to tap into this huge trove of knowledge, it’s game on.

Brands everywhere are going to quickly begin to take notice to Pinterest, but those that figure out why people love the platform will be the ones that succeed the quickest. Happy pinning!

Charity Swear Box
Do you curse a lot? Do you curse a lot on Twitter? Just like if you had a swear jar at home, Charity Swear box will donate a dollar for each swear word your tweet. This creative social media tool for good was created by James Dow and Jay Gelardi, and is a easy, low involvement way to raise funds for charity. Creating something fun, that users already do, results in an easy to use, exciting campaign for good, for the world. If you know someone or seen someone who swears all the time, show them the Charity Swear box and tell them to put their bad words to good use. Watch the lovely explanatory video here, and sign up now as our friends at Fuck Cancer are the featured charity!

Snoball
Today’s savvy digital audience prefers information tailored to them, based on their preferences. News articles, friends reommendations, local events etc., combine for a more personalized experience online. Snoball sees this and is a way for users to donate to charity in an way that’s easy, social and fun. Based on a users preferred activities, and tied to everyday interests, the user is in control of their giving. Create an event, invite your friends to join, when your friends join, the snowball grows through customizable micro-donations or one-time gifts. The concepts behind snowball, and its personalized features, make fundraising results happen easily. The tool is useful because it is automated, fun and group based around events, all to create a “snoball” effect. Still not sure? Watch their video.

TousDonateurs
A recent comScore report notes television ads work substantially less effectively on Millennials than on older generations. However, the presence of key creative elements in advertising were shown to relate strong to successful advertising. TousDonateurs is French site where the advertisers donate to charity if users watch their ads. Users go to the site and select a charity that means something to them. They then watch several 30-second long ads, answer a quick question (to confirm the ad was watched), and the advertiser donates a euro on behalf of the viewer. We already watch 4 billion online videos each day — why not watch with purpose.

WeTopia
WeTopia is an online social game where players can contribute to real world problems. The Facebook game is all about players having fun while raising money for children’s charities. The game is free to play, and users create villages and help the community. When a player purchases a virtual good, that action results in a donation to a real world cause. With so many people playing social games, WeTopia is a way for players to contribute to a cause in a social way. WeTopia has many partners including Save the Children, Children’s Health Fund and others. Brand partners include Clorox, Mattel and Dippin’ Dots. It’s also great to note that in the past Zynga has donated millions of dollars to causes via Zynga.org group.

For even more creative social for good projects,  check out the 50/50 make or break initiative. The inititave is based around a challenge: to launch 50 projects in 50 days then raise 1million pounds for famine relief in East Africa. Looking for inspiring projects or want to get involved? Click here: 50/50 make or break initiative

Here at Invoke we’re always looking for great people to join the team and we’re going to help you blow us out of the water by letting you in on some insider tips. After many years and thousands of resumes, we’ve compiled a list of things we think all candidates should do when applying for a job here.

1. Spend time doing your homework and researching the company. Know what we do and who we work with. You should be able to tell us at least one interesting idea for the company that makes us want to hire you on the spot. Invoke needs people who kick butt, so if you’re awesome, we’re not going to let you leave.

2. Have an online presence and contribute. Make sure your Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media accounts are up to date and convey the message you want to present to us. We will Google you. We’ll probably look for you on Facebook — it’s what we do. It is imperative you understand the digital space, so consider blogging about something you’re an expert in to show us you know what you’re talking about.

3. Show us how you sell. If you were a Brewmaster, it goes without saying that you know how to make beer (so please apply now). Instead of listing skills on your resume, tell us how you used them in a way that could be beneficial to us. Maybe you won a regional customer service award or showed initiative by implementing a new recycling program. Prove that you standout.

4. Write a cover letter to fill in the blanks. Yes, we know you’re a web development ninja from your experience, but tell us something we don’t know. Did you get your degree in Bug Psychology (yes, this actually exists) or take a year off to travel the world on a unicycle? This information is just as important to us since life skills can speak volumes.

5. Be passionate about what you do. Working with Invoke means sometimes working long hours but we love what we do, we make it fun, and we surround ourselves with others who do too. Let us know why you would fit in.

6. Get a foot in the door. If you want to work for our company or industry, but you’re not yet experienced enough, just get some practice behind you. If you’re interested, apply for an internship and don’t focus on compensation or the short term. If you prove you are a rock star, we will take care of you; great talent is hard to find.

7. Last but not least, be unique. We work in a creative environment, so if you can show us something we haven’t seen before you’ll catch our attention. Here are some ideas from creative thinkers who have taken at stab at innovative job seeking methods.

Check out this video of a guy who made a QR Code Resume, as well as resumes with an interesting twist pictured below.

I really enjoyed Computer Electronics Show 2012, and would highly recommend the conference. Here are some quick tips for anyone considering CES 2013.

Book Hotels ASAP — With 150k people in attendance, hotel rooms book up fast. Rates also quadruple during the week long event. Even if you’re not 100  per cent on the show, find a hotel with a cancellation policy.
Book a nearby hotel — Vegas maps are deceiving. One block is not just one block. Book a hotel close to the sands and convention center.
Plan your day(s) — With huge shuttle/taxi lines and 10s of thousands of feet to cover, it’s imperative. The website and booth listings are daunting to say the least, but you’ll be glad you did.
Good shoes — Nice kicks are nice, but nice isn’t going to make your feet happy after your first day at CES. Invest in good shoes with insoles. Chance are, your feet will still hurt — but not as bad.

Here are some photos from Day 3