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

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

image from Mashable.com

This is Part 2 of a two part series focusing on Facebook’s API and using it to create Facebook applications for brands.

With Invoke’s latest application, we were able to develop a highly customized application that maintained the client’s branding and integrated nicely into Facebook’s framework.  The client Invoke was working with already had a Facebook Fan page with a large number of fans but they needed to give their campaign a boost and make the fan page more dynamic and engaging for their loyal fan base.  Invoke saw this challenge and suggested the solution – add an completely customized app seamlessly through a new tab on the fan page.

How did we do it?  By utilizing FBML (Facebook Markup Language), our team created a user experience that made it apparent this application reflected the clients brand within Facebook.  A major challenge was determining what data was available from the API.  For example, we created an interactive Flash Map that allows users to post events on a map that feed into the Facebook database.  On paper it was a simple task, but the solution proved to be much more complex as the format of the API data was not as expected.  Other aspects of development went smoother than expected.  The application uses Flash to load videos and display a counter for donations.  Because Facebook’s API provides strong support for Flash, these flash pieces were easily reusable as “widgets” that could be posted onto Walls and News Streams.

All of these small details enhanced the user experience for both primary users of the application, and passive users who see the news stream postings.  It’s these “small details” that can lead to big results for the client as passive users “like” a posting, visit the page, become “fans”, and hopefully become primary users.  These metrics are used when determining a marketers ROI.  Within a few days of launching, the application we developed experienced this Facebook effect as the application received more than 1000 signups in just a few days.

In the end, our primary focus with Facebook development is agile development, which requires many iterations with wireframing, design, API research, and programming.  Put all of these together, and it’s a fine balance to launch an application that uses the latest offerings from the API and can be maintained for future revisions down the road.   A well conceived and executed Facebook application is a fun and engaging way to deliver a marketing message or organizational facts. The interactive factor (which is demonstrably important for Facebook users) mobilizes existing fans and turns them into active promoters of your message, which in turn builds the fanbase.  These brand ambassadors will then share and interact via the application and the messaging spreads.

Nashville Flood photos via Mashable

From a very captivating video of the Tennessee flood, Federal regulations on privacy, class action lawsuits against virtual worlds, to re-shaping the models of marketing, here is a list of what we’re reading right now.

Tennessee Flooding Inspires Stunning YouTube Video
via Mashable:
“While most on-the-ground videos covering disasters and other world events are hurried and low-quality, this one is beautiful and professional-looking; it was made by a photographer named Michael Deppisch, who used a Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera. “You don’t see YouTube videos like this very often, and as one commenter put it: “This video so captured the heart of this story… if it doesn’t move someone, they should check their pulse.” ”

Facebook Stirs up Trouble for Silicon Valley
via AdAge:
“Days after Facebook launched its “Open Graph Platform” that extends the social net’s web across third-party sites, the Palo Alto-based social network got a surprise rebuke from New York Sen. Charles Schumer, who wrote a letter asking the Federal Trade Commission to develop guidelines for how Facebookers’ information can be used.  The flap couldn’t come at a worse time for online advertising, facing the very real prospect that it will be regulated in the form of privacy legislation that would require publishers, networks or marketers to receive specific consent to use consumer data for a variety of purposes on the web.”

How Effective are Corporate Social Media Policies?
via eMarketer:
“According to a survey by security solutions provider nCircle, about three-fifths of US security and IT professionals say their company has a social media policy, and two-fifths ban all usage of social media on the job.  Those bans may stem from legitimate concerns, but researchers have warned that security and productivity problems can be combated while allowing employees to harness social media in ways beneficial to their business.”

Gives and takes from #AdtechSF
via Marketing With Meaning:
“Yesterday I returned from the first Ad:Tech event of the year in San Francisco. Here in this post I will share what I shared, as well as some of the highlights from the Tuesday sessions. Including: A New World of Word of Mouth: Using Influence to Re-invent the Impression and Jamie Cohen Szulc—CMO of the Levi’s Brand.” Slideshow by Bob Gilbreath

Second Life Users File Class Action Lawsuit Over Virtual Land
via: Mashable
“A group of Second Life users is suing Second Life’s creator over a virtual land dispute. They say their contractual property ownership rights have been changed and that this alteration of the terms of service constitutes fraud and violates California consumer protection laws.  Second Life’s parent company, Linden Labs, was recently valued at $383 million.”