My prediction is that there is much more to come for this type of “ionospheric” implementation of the Twitter platform. Ideally Twitter will become the de-facto standard for sending a “personal” note to anyone, anywhere. Users can easily and actively vet incoming communications in a separate space from their traditional, and practically sacred, inboxes.

@anywhere will push relevant users to the forefront and allow Twitter accounts to become a more mainstream tool for interpersonal communication. Judging by the early screenshots, I’d say the Twitter team is still catering to power-users and not doing enough to make the service accessible to the masses. Case-in-point—to re-tweet, reply, or view a users profile page they seem to only use icons. While this is accepted iconography within the Twitter community, it will not open up the platform to casual observers—an absolute must if they continue to organically grow their user-base.

The bigger-picture implications of @anywhere come in the simple fact that the future of communication will come not from impersonal phone numbers, but from personalized “usernames” that will make exchanging quick messages with friends seem like a world away from the numerical strings that made up the majority of email addresses until the launch of the mainstream version of AOL in the early ‘90s. Instead of limiting ourselves to simple text transactions, I can see the Twitter ecosystem opening up to include a wide-swath of communications options—voice and long-form messaging, along with the short bursts of text we’re currently using it for.

It could become a switchboard for the modern era, nicely sidestepping and/or complementing everything Google has rolled out over the past six months.

As soon as we get our hands on the platform we’ll be able to post a more robust commentary on whether the future value of this tool is in the sheer number of sites its placed within (a potential advertising platform), or whether it serves as a launchpad for future structural changes for the service (communications switchboard).

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Full details can be found here including a form to register for a specific time to come down to the park and donate. Members of the Carrot Crew will be there along with reps from the other companies sponsoring. Snacks will also be provided and if needed, I’m sure one of the Carrot Crew members will gladly hold your hand if you’re nervous about needles.

Spread the word and see you there!

If you have any questions, please contact: Dorothy McGivney (646) 402-5943 – contact@jauntsetter.org

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Photo Credit: Kelly Samardak, Just an Online Minute

Last night was the 4th Digital DUMBO Drinks hosted by our good friends at HUGE. An extremely successful and SOLD OUT event at the DUMBO Arts Center, we’re already excited for the next one. The lofty space hosted over 150 of the DUMBO digital elite gathering around the keg filled with the finest beer around-Brooklyn “We Go Hard” Lager  or filling up a glass with the delicious punch. Kegs and punch? Now THAT is how you throw a party.

After some mingling and networking,  HUGE Partner, Creative Director David Skokna addressed the crowd with “Blood, Sweat and Fear: Doing Business in DUMBO” presentation.  Main themes from his speech:

• DUMBO is awesome.
• If you don’t like what you’re doing at your job, quit.
• If you do like what you’re doing, figure out what that is and hold on to it.
• There is a guy that sunbathes in a Speedo out in DUMBO when it gets warm out. Lucky us.

The speech went well with the nature of Digital DUMBO and it’s growing spirit. Only 4 months in, we’ve had an overwhelming response of interest for the event, companies eager to present and show off their talented work and a community willing to participate and learn about what their neighbors are up to. It’s really exciting.

Keep an eye out for the invite to the May edition if you  haven’t been to a Digital DUMBO yet. It’s sure to blow you away.There’s a Twitter account to follow too.

Check out a great recap of the event on MediaPost’s Just An Online Minute, photos from Nick McGlynn’s Random Night Out and an official post from the sponsors themselves, HUGE.

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Photo courtesy of Nick McGlynn

Carrot Creative co-hosted the first Digital DUMBO Drinks event here last night at ReBar where the digital elite of our quaint little neighborhood mixed and mingled under the bridge, talked Java scripting and new media strategies in addition to enjoying some cocktails and Outside.in cupcakes.

I’ve been saying this for awhile that this is the “Digital District” in DUMBO. So many digital companies are here with talent but we never get together. We’ll walk by someone in Peas & Pickles (the local food joint) and they could be the next Flash Developer we need to help with a new project or someone we want to chat tech over coffee. We knew there was a need to change the lack of interaction and bring this community together. Digital DUMBO once a month is perfect for that and we were happy to help kick it off.

Companies in attendance included reps from HUGE, Animation Collective, Gothamist, Objective Subject, drop.io and Special Ops Media in addition to our co-hosts Outside.in and The Jar Group. We even had some of our our friendly DUMBO supporters from Manhattan crash the party as well including Path 101 CEO Charlie O’Donnell, Gillian Reagan from The New York Observer and the New York Yelp office (Brooklyn Community Manager Peter DeNat we look forward to seeing you around here more often!) came to show support for the community. And of course we can’t leave out Nick McGlynn who was present to take some great photos.

For those who missed it, Digital DUMBO will be a monthly event on the last Thursday of every month with some new twists added to keep the community connected. There is already a Facebook page and Twitter account created to keep everyone up to speed on the next happenings. (Come on you had to expect this from this group!)

Some fun “Overheard at Digital DUMBO” chats include:
-”Why haven’t we done one of these before?”
-”Is there really a dog here? COOL.”
-”Awesome companies are here. Who knew they worked in DUMBO?”
-”I just went to the bathroom and people started asking where I worked. So I came in!”

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Yes, there were birds of prey about. Ok, they were chained to posts by the ankle, but still very much alive and awesome! A raptor exhibit-bus was near the park for an informational show about Hawks, Owls and even a Bald Eagle… there were a bunch of school children trying to crowd us, so we did the right thing and left before any school yard brawls could ensue, but not before snapping a few pics. The grand-daddy above brings the iconic song America, F*ck Yeah! to mind…

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