Rhizome | Announce: ici Accepting Entries from Cultural Groups to Win Custom Mobile App

ici Accepting Entries from Cultural Groups to Win Custom Mobile App

POSTED BY: Joan | Wed Jul 28th, 2010 6:04 p.m.

icihere.com, developer of the ici mobile app for nonprofit arts and culture, announces the first of a series of regional competitions. The ici Mobile App Award is the first and only award that directly supports arts and culture by providing the winning organization with a custom iPhone app. The custom ici app and one year of support will enable the winning cultural organization to offer a free iPhone mobile app with location-aware navigational features, branded with the organization's name and graphic identity. Being rolled out in regional stages, the first award will be to an organization in the Mid-Atlantic region (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, and PA), with entries being accepted between July 22 and October 31, 2010. Note that 501(c)(3) status is not necessary; artist cooperatives, performance groups, and community cultural groups are encouraged to enter! Winning will be determined by anonymous online public vote -- registration is NOT required to vote. Complete details and FAQ are at www.icihere.com, or contact award@icihere.com for more information.

Link:

http://www.icihere.com/award/award.php

Jay Critchley | Wed Jul 28th, 2010 11:45 p.m.

This is just another gimmick to promote yet another technology in hopes that everyone will buy it. Only one "winner" from each region? How about a little more "generosity"? - like cash payments to organizations that put the time in to apply? Jay


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Joan | Fri Jul 30th, 2010 1:13 a.m.

I'm sorry you get that impression. Actually there is a lot of generosity already, and trust me, it's not a gimmick. Since last fall, ici has provided dedicated "channel" based mobile guides within its own app platform for nonprofit cultural organizations and this is -- and will continue to be -- at absolutely no charge. Any organization that applies but does not win will be eligible for this option (examples of this recently are Philagrafika 2010 and POST/Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, among others), which in itself is an amazing tool. As to the idea of more than one winning custom app from each region: as a small start-up focusing all of our energy on supporting arts organizations, we have limited resources (i.e. limited to in-kind services), but want to deliver genuine value and an exceptional custom app for the winner; to have more than one winning the stand-alone custom app would dilute the quality and time we can spend to make it the best it can be.

There are tons of scams and quasi-scams out there surrounding mobile technology so I can understand your cynicism. Just so you know, the backstory here is that I'm a long time artist and nonprofit professional who specializes in alternative & dispersive art projects; my partner is a successful technology entrepreneur turned angel-investor after doing exceeding well (1st company was sold to Microsoft...), and this is his way of keeping engaged in the work he loves while giving back to a community (arts and culture) that is desperate for technological resources. I encourage you to check out the web site & previous projects before passing judgement... I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised.


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Rhizome | Wed Aug 4th, 2010 5:59 a.m.

and instead we live in the ideal and fantasy of what Summer becomes. We anticipate this time of year with a child like earnestness and we willfully throw ourselves into a haze, from which we slowly find our way back into reality.


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