Whether you’re flipping channels on TV or walking around town on the weekend, it’s clear to see there’s a movement happening. Commercials, websites, Facebook applications and people – everywhere – are in pink in support of people affected by breast cancer.

Many of us have been touched by the stories of people affected by cancer. With the advent of social media and social technology, connecting with survivors, discovering a community for support and fundraising online has never been easier.

A perfect example? The Tic Tac: Shake, Share & Care app on Facebook.

The app has two main functions, the first is to share how you’ve helped or cared for someone affected by cancer. Upon submission, your act of sharing will automatically donate $5 to CancerCares, care of Tic Tac.

Secondly, you’re invited to play a game of memory. The game encourages players to challenge their friends. That one action also invites people to share their own stories, thereby increasing Tic Tac’s donation tally – smart!

With this application, Tic Tac is offering a great example of how social technology can be used by brands as a vehicle for social good. We recommend visiting their application now, and sharing your own story. It’s hard to believe that one simple action can amount to so much.

Go on – inspire people who have been affected by cancer. Make a difference.

If you have two minutes instead of just one, please donate your extra minute to vote for both of Invoke’s SXSW panels, which address topics relevant to the subject at hand.

1. Creating Corporate Campaigns on Facebook – WTF?
2. Discovering Lady Kind in the Social Web

Thanks!

First and foremost, a huge congratulations to our HootSuite boys and girls for a fantastic and much anticipated launch of their freemium model. The entire team deserves a boat-load of credit after the time and work they invested in making HootSuite the best Twitter client. Period.

As HootSuite’s parent company, we’re happy to humbly state that there are some pretty exciting things happening with Invoke as well. A few of our fine ladies and gents are gunning to get their panel applicaitons accepted for SXSW 2011, so they can represent some of the amazing things getting done within our four walls.

… But we need your help!

If you are so inclined, our loyal blog reader, please take 30 seconds to follow the following three steps.

1. Create a panel picker account at: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/users/register?return=/

2. Vote for each panel:

a) Creating Corporate Campaigns in Facebook – WTF? with Sian Pairaudeau and Andre Liem

b) Das Stiletto: Discovering Ladykind in the Social Web with Grace Carter and Nadia Nascimento

3. Vote every morning until August 27th, 2010

If you’d like a reminder, please feel free to subscribe to this Google Calendar, which is set to remind you at 9:45 every morning.

Thank you to everyone for your support!

Happy Friday! To wrap up the week, here is a quick list of our favourite finds on Twitter this past week.

Follow Invoke for top news stories involving: social media marketing, agency, tech, mobile, widgets, design, and more:

GigaOm:  Open Thread: Is Social Networking Making Your Life Better? http://dlvr.it/2KTrB
jbillingsley: RT @invoke: How To Use Photos To Sell More Online – Smashing Magazine http://ow.ly/27fUi
webappstorm: 10 Reasons I’m Switching from TweetDeck to HootSuite – http://j.mp/d8t3rV
Lovesocial: Via @CNN, today’s “Intriguing Person” is #GASLAND creator Josh Fox. (You’re intriguing everyday, Josh.) http://ow.ly/28WxY @gaslandmovie

Follow memelabs for the latest in video advertising, video contests, UGC, viral videos:

NewTeeVee:  YouTube’s Big Bet for Connected Devices: Leanback http://dlvr.it/2Pmjz
Current: Viral Video Film School Pop Quiz: What is this man doing with two machine guns? http://su.pr/2baZYO
memelabs: Enjoying watching the Trevor Project #bethechange videos? Go check them out!! http://ow.ly/25lkz Mashable: Double Rainbow Meme Takes Web by Storm [Randomly Viral] – http://ow.ly/28Kzn

Follow Vidrollr for insight into social TV, interactive TV, branded advertising, audience commenting, and participatory media:

nickbilton: Don’t Look for a TV in Television’s Future via @nickbilton for @NYTimes http://ow.ly/28MVP Perfect profile on how social TV is a reality
Engadget: Netflix adds Relativity Media to its Instant queue, takes on HBO and Showtime http://bit.ly/dvRsPt
Mediapost: MTVN Gets Game With Social Express: MTV Networks has acquired Social Express, a social gaming development company. http://bit.ly/cPVbgY
mashable: Is Apple Planning to Offer Streaming TV Episodes? – http://ow.ly/29hnM

Last week, Agency Record interviewed Invoke partner Dario Meli for the series On The Record.  The open format interview touches on Dario’s role at Invoke, HootSuite, Vidrollr as well as the future of Twitter and social media.

AR: Introduce us to yourself, your roll and your company.

Dario: My name is Dario Meli and I, along with David Tedman, run Invoke Media. My responsibilities are on the strategy and revenue generation side. Translation: I run sales and marketing.

AR: In one sentence, sum up your job.

Dario: When not working with my team to create best-in-class web-apps I form strategic partnerships with ad agencies and brands and make sure they are impeccably serviced*.

*Servicing clients isnt talk or nice dinners. It’s accomplishing business objectives and having a hell of a lot of fun doing it!

AR: You are a multi-venture man, so lets start at the core – tell us about starting Novare Res and the 2006 merger with Invoke Media.

Dario: This was very simple. Novare was more design oriented and focused on working with socially responsible organizations. Invoke was more technical but with the same core values. Complimentary skill-sets made working together obvious. It only took one afternoon coffee on a patio for Ryan and I to see it made sense. The rest was just paperwork.

AR: On to Hootsuite then, I know you are closely involved with the platform – take us from its beginnings through to its current success.

Dario: HootSuite, like all Invoke applications, was born out of a need to efficiently execute campaigns for our clients. It started with scheduling tweets and we quickly saw the opportunity to create a central dashboard suitable for a marketing team to really understand what was happening around brands from a social perspective. Monitoring, participation, and measurement have always been at the core. Check out the latest release. It’s just excellent.

AR: Vidrollr is a social video platform you are involved with, how does the platform leverage social aspects and how does it measure social ROI?

Dario: Vidrollr is a unique animal in that it fits into a few different holes. We’re combining it with traditional social media streams to create a social TV tool we call a Social Viewing Companion. It’s slightly under wraps right now but if anybody wants to see an excellent 2-screen approach to engaging and increasing television viewers they should contact me. ROI is measured using a few engagement metrics.

AR: What challenges have you overcome while both helping run a company and launch multiple platforms, what has been you most enduring lesson learned?

Dario: Running a small company with multiple products and services is certainly interesting but the biggest challenge is focus. Once HootSuite was allowed to completely focus on itself and no longer be distracted by some of the other Invoke products it simply rocketed forward. You can expect to see that exact same scenario at least twice this year with two different products. It is about to get very exciting especially for Memelabs, our contesting platform that is about to re-launch in a major way.

AR: How do you stay on top of emerging trends and keep your team informed and motivated?

Dario: Identifying emerging trends for the most part is pretty easy. Anybody can talk about whats going to be hot. Invoke excels in the execution within the context of the trends. We create excellent tools that address the needs of marketers who want to capitalize on the emerging trends, thereby getting a jump on competition, looking cool, and actually accomplishing business goals.

Keeping the team motivated and excited comes from the drive to make the best products available. They all have a voice and a say in the matter and each person contributes their absolute best. I couldn’t be more proud of the people I work with.

AR: Being a true twitterati, with such a unique view on the platform – where do you see it going next?

Dario: Twitter is wrapping things up and taking more control of their platform. Good for them! Tighter restrictions allow for more innovation, not less. Long gone are the days of simply producing another means of tweeting. There is no value in that. So what is next? It’s clear that Twitter has serious ambitions in the geo space, that’s no mystery, but I am as excited as anybody to see if they can take it to a new level and not merely replicate/integrate existing check-in style functionality. That would be boring.

AR: Will Twitter see rivals in the future?

Dario: Even back in the day when they were down as much as up nobody could unseat them. I would say that anybody posing a serious threat to Twitter will have to come from a completely different place.

…

AR: Leave us with a little inspiration or word of wisdom for our readers:

Dario: Ha, I’m going straight-up corny on this one but it’s legit: be genuine, be excellent. There is no more room in this world for half-assed attitudes or products. Have an opinion, don’t be afraid to offend but don’t be afraid to sway either. Fluidity reigns supreme but there is a fine line between being fluid and being irrelevant.

Saving some of the best questions for last, Agency Record seeks out Dario’s views on the future of Twitter and social media.  Be sure to check out the full article here and feel free to leave Dario your questions & comments below.

Want more information regarding Invoke’s Social Viewing Companion, Vidrollr, memelabs or our social media services? Contact us here.

Ariba – It’s Friday! To wrap up the week, here is a quick list of our favourite finds on Twitter this past week.

Follow Invoke for top news stories involving: social media marketing, agency, tech, mobile, widgets, design, and more:

Invoke: How To: Use Social Media to Increase Relief Efforts, Gulf of Mexico http://ow.ly/17S8zA
Mashable: HootSuite Adds New Features and Fresh Interface with HTML5 http://ow.ly/22MIc
Pauldon123: HootSuite 5’s new interface is better than Bieber’s bangs! http://hootsuite.com/hoot5
Gennefer: Very cool ARG experience idea — $10k is buried in NYC, drawing players into a modern day Treasure Hunt: http://ow.ly/1qCKuM

Follow memelabs for the latest in video advertising, video contests, UGC, viral videos:

memelabs: Amazing submissions so far @TrevorProject! Enter and vote on the “Be The Change” video contest & support a great cause http://ow.ly/23oiH
hp_pc: #HP @YouTube and @Guggenheim are in search of the world’s most creative video. Is it yours? http://ow.ly/21PTk
STR_ViralVideos @jpramey: The shamwow hooker guy in prison did a viral video for Eminem’s new album: http://ow.ly/21Qo3

Follow Vidrollr for insight into social TV, interactive TV, branded advertising, audience commenting, and participatory media:

brett: France’s World Cup Collapse Re-Enacted By Babies in 1 Minute http://t.co/cRN4Vo0
Vidrollr: Smashing the Passive TV: New Check-in Apps Make Entertainment Social Again http://ow.ly/23mtD
SEWatch 3 Marketing Myths On TV Vs Online Video Usage [U.S. Study] http://ow.ly/21PwS
Vidrollr: Bewkes Upbeat: TV Everywhere On Pace, VOD Growing http://ow.ly/21hGd What will influence what we watch? #Video#conversation #tools