“Doing what you love is freedom. Loving what you do is happiness.”

I’m thankful to have the freedom and happiness to lead a team of exceptional talent at NFi Studios. That being said, I have not had the time to keep up a blog on sterlingraphael.com… However, I have been blogging at NFiStudios.com/news. Take a look!

Hunch in Beta

Hunch.com is a new startup from Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake.  At present, Hunch is in early beta and not publicly available.  “Hunch is a decision-making site, customized for you. Which means Hunch gets to know you, then asks you 10 questions about a topic (sometimes fewer!), and provides a result.  Basically, it gives you results it wouldn’t give other people.

In her blog, Caterina writes,  “Maybe Hunch will become the ultimate tool for making product purchasing decisions. Or maybe it will be the way users figure out if they should see a doctor about a problem. Or maybe both..”   (seems risky to me) Take a question often asked by tech-clueless family and friends: Should I switch to a Mac? If you ask someone who knows a lot about computers she’ll start by asking you additional questions, like “What do you plan to use the computer for?” or “How much money are you willing to spend?”. Then she’ll give you an informed suggestion. http://www.caterina.net/archive/001169.html

If you’re an indecisive person, Hunch may very well be the solution for you! And for  those who need insight and information to help them with their decision, this might be an innovative way to start.  But I have a hunch, (excuse the pun), that this site would not be my route for smart, sophisticated decision making.

We had some fun @nfistudios coming up with our trade-show themes for @Tech09 and @TSAE events. So here it is..

Social Professional Networking Rocks!

I’m sure you see where we’re going with this… We are hoping to communicate the implications of using social networking for your association for the purposes of just being “social” is not very beneficial. However,  if you use similar tools to create a Professional Networking and Collaboration Community… then you can truly create member value, increase retention & expand recruitment.

… and for the graphic that we came up with…

You can also see we have a new header on both NFiStudios.com & MemberFuse.com. We’ve also redone the backgrounds for our Twitter accounts, both @nfistudios and @memberfuse.

This is going to be an exciting next few weeks! We look forward to seeing everyone at our shows!

Email/Tweet/Call us if you want to meet up or Tweet up!!

2008 was quite a year for me and the team @ NFi Studios. I can’t believe how much we were able to accomplish, and how much we’ve grown.

1. We had two very successful conferences with ASAE, a great event with NTEN, and several other marketing events promoting MemberFuse.
2. I’m also proud to welcome some new clients (strategic partners) to our already stellar client list. Associations SEMA and IBAT, as well as the PICO National Network are among our newest MemberFuse clients. We also have made wonderful traction on our project with SportsNation360.
3. Additionally, we’ve added some wonderful additions to our already super-star production team! Including Daniel Smith, Imre Mehesz, Eddie Velez, Ryan Moore, and Rene Esteves, and others who are
4. And to close 2008 off with another wonderful addition, we recently brought on Fred Stones to our team as VP of Business Development. Fred’s experience on business development, and strategic relationships are exactly what we were looking for to take our company (and our clients) to a whole new dimension of success.
5. I also became a partner/owner in RedCarpetMonday, thanks to friend and business partner Ryan Totka. Ryan and I closed out 2008 in Las Vegas for New Years Eve, as we talked about franchising opportunities for RCM, as well as business development for his other company Athlete Promotions.
7. And yes, I had my challenges in 2008 as well. All of which my team and I persevered through, and only making us stronger! We embrace challenge and change, as our team is setup to be powerful yet nimble these interesting and exciting times.

New Years Resolution? Well, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be working any less, so I might as well attach my personal resolution to my NFi’s 2009 objective. My resolution is to 1) Empower my team and make strategic partners, toward creating a market-leading position for NFi Studios and MemberFuse as a premiere technology provider in the Association Industry, and 2) To continue supporting Central Florida’s creative, tech, and general business community. With organizations such as CoLab, doterati, RedCarpetMonday, City Arts Factory, and more… we are committed to giving back to our community whenever possible. And though people say 2009 is going to be a rough year for business, I embrace the challenge and uncertainty as we have the team, partners, and support we need to thrive in tough times.

Yes, the founders are brilliant and extremely cool. Yes, it is an awesome name for a company. And yes, that little fish in their logo is destined to be in some addicting online game…

…but those aren’t the only reasons I’m a fan of SocialFIsh….

The tools are available now to allow associations to make groundbreaking changes for their causes and industries. The tools are there! We see it all over the world as people connect and make differences through Social Media. But the organizations that have been the hub and source for connecting people for these common causes are seemingly the ones most technologically behind. Why? Well there’s a gap between the technology that’s available and it’s implementation…

… so why am I excited about SocialFish?

Started by A-List Blogger’s and new-media marketers Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer, SocialFish helps organizations bridge the gab between technology and implementation, making the most of Social Media. Essentially, they take the anxiety and urgency out of Web 2.0 and Social Networking for Associations and simplify it for organizations.

Their organization helps strategize and execute marketing campaigns around both association maintained communities and other social media outposts, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and more! And their methods speak for them selves. They start by LISTENING! That’s right! So many self-proclaimed social media experts TELL you how to implement these shiny new tools. Maddie and Lindy listen to what the organization objectives, opportunities, and challenges are before recommending any strategy. They know too well, there’s so many communication options and avenues in the world today, and there’s no single “home run” approach for every organization.

Oh, and they also help train organization staff (both in mindset and procedures) on how to continue leveraging social media in the future.

Ok… so you see why I <3 SocialFish? Great name, brilliant founders… now about that addicting online fish game… any ideas???

Well the concept so many in the community have been looking for, is close to a reality. CoLab Orlando has it’s open house tonight! CoLab Orlando is shared co-working space located on the 6th floor of the Angelbilt Building (corner of Wall St & Orange Ave), downtown, Orlando. For a background, take a look at Etan Horowtiz’s article announcing CoLab…

John Hussey, owner of the Angelbilt, understands that in order for this venture to be successful it must be community driven. Central Florida tech-community leaders out there such as Ryan Price, Gregg Pollack and David Rogers are helping to advise and direct. The NFi team and I are also helping with marketing/website along with Hydra Studio. The more feedback the better! At the openhouse tonight, there will be many discussions on what could make CoLab better, more valuable, and more sustainable as an organization.

One last note. The food & beverages for tonight are provided by Finn Henry’s, also located in the Angelbilt. Finn’s (as we call it) is hosting the open house after gathering around 8ish or so.

I look forward to seeing everyone tonight!

Impressive… Enlightening… Inspiring…

These are the words that start convey my experience in San Diego at ASAE’s 2008 Annual Meeting. A few days ago I posted prelim on my hopes and expectations for the event. Every expectation I had was exceeded…

Here’s a recap…

Day 1….

Saturday after Elizabeth and I set up our booth we headed over to the Hardrock’s exclusive lounge called Sweetwater. It was here we caught up with Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer who together recently launched their new venture, SocialFish. And yes, I’m a fan of SocialFish!! …

…To our delight we were also able to to meet Jamie Notter, Jeff De Cagna, Ben Martin & Matt Baehr. Let me just say these people absolutely rock! The hilarious-witty personalities combined with insightful (and almost prophetic) insight to the new world of associations, made Elizabeth and I proud to mingle in such company.

Day 2….

Mary from IBAT visits the NFi / MemberFuse booth

The conference begins! Unfortunately we missed the opening session, but we wanted to make sure we were all setup when the exhibit doors opened. And when it did, it was everything we expected and more! We were delighted to speak with dozens of associations about our solutions at NFi Studios, specifically MemberFuse. And it was a honor that Chris Williston, Ursula, and Mary from our client IBAT were able to come by and see us (though we missed Kerry)! Later that night I went to the CalSAE (California’s ASAE) to meet up with the SEMA crew! We look forward to our future endeavors with their highly regarded organization.

About now I start realizing there’s some special things transpiring at this event. With two days left at the conference most of our goals had already come to fruition. But wait… There’s more!

Tom Morrison, Elizabeth Baranik, and Sterling

Day 3….

Our exhibit continued to prosper wonderful opportunities for NFi, not to mention a few long-term friends! The fun kicked off later that evening starting with a reception with Avectra. The team at Avectra were very kind and welcoming (thanks guys!). But the night at this point had just started. Elizabeth and I were decked out in 80’s gear (me looking like Don Johnson), and we proceeded to the much anticipated YAP 80s/90s party. What a blast we had!!! Maddie, Lindy, Ben, Jamie, Jeff, Renato Sogueco, Tom Morrison, and more… joined us in a sensational time. The night was very “Fogdirog.”

Day 4….

Frank Fortin, Sandra Giarde, Maddie Grant, Jamie Notter, Elizabeth Baranik, Ben Martin, Matt Baehr, Sterling Raphael

And just when we thought things couldn’t get any better, our final day was a slam dunk. We continued the party at our booth! Some people from the YAP team joined us at the NFi Studios / MemberFuse booth as we rocked out to more 80’s/90’s music (graciously provided by Maddie Grant). In addition to Maddie… Ben Martin, Matt Baehr, Jamie Notter & Lindy Dreyer all stopped by to spend some time with us.

After that I took a quick cab to meet about another project. Coincidently our friends at Kludge were in town working with TheLift on an active NFi project for Dakim. It was great to stop by and meet with everyone!

ASAE Takes over GasLamp in San Diego

And then there was the reception….

ASAE took over Gaslamp in San Diego. Sensational! The city was ours! The leaders in the association industry took the streets and enjoyed great food and excellent music. After some great entertainment and conversations… we got the YAP crew back together for a bit more dancing! It was a wonderful night to cap off an unbelievable and successful trip.

The ASAE staff did a sensational job running this event. The venue, the planning, the execution, and the education… everything about it was wonderful.

Overall (and to summarize), the conference was a definite success. Great success, even! I’m are proud to be working for the association industry and are truly inspired by the individuals I met at this event. At NFi Studios, we want to make a difference. And as daunting as a statement as it seems, after this event we know we can help change the world, one association (industry) at a time.

Thank you to our awesome team at NFi to make this all possible. We look forward to joining the others who we now call friends in continuing to make an impact in our world!

Ahh… beautiful San Diego. We just arrived here at the 2008 ASAE Annual Meeting. The weather is great, and Elizabeth Baranik and I are poised and excited to be at our first Annual Meeting.

It was just earlier this year that we launched our professional networking solution, MemberFuse at the 2008 Technology Conference. Since then we’ve been on the fast track delivering MemberFuse to organizations, expanding the team at NFi, and building strategic partnerships in the association industry.

And after a slight scare of FedEx stating they could not locate our booth & shipment, we’re heading to get our booth setup at the exhibit hall. The conference officially kicks off on Saturday (8/15) with an opening reception event, and we’ll be exhibiting at booth #3243 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday. Come visit!

One of our goals here is to gain even more exposure for NFi and MemberFuse. We are also looking forward to catching up with several of our new clients.

But one of the highlights is sure to be the YAP 80/90’s party! I’ve got my 80’s gear ready, and I’m already expecting there to be a Flickr feast with all the photos!

Overall I’m ecstatic to be here to share what we’ve been working on at NFi. Our team is brilliant, hardworking and have created some of the most engaging and powerful applications I’ve ever seen. Thanks to everyone who’s worked so hard. It’s going to be fun showing off what we’ve got!

I hope to write an analysis & summary after the event!!

And here goes…

The Future of Web Apps event in Miami was a great experience for me personally and the entire team at NFi Studios. Being founded as a more service driven company, in the past few years NFi Studios has shifted to a Web Application team, offering clients powerful online solutions. So when we found out about FOWA, we knew we had to be there.

The FOWA event was both overwhelming, reassuring, and invigorating all at the same time! I say overwhelming because I realize that the Future of Web Apps involve some radical and fast-paced changes with which we must constantly stay in tune. I say reassuring because our company’s direction and focus is very close to what the “experts” advise. Why invigorating? Well, it is just exciting to be leading an exceptional team into an uncertain yet opportunistic market where we can truly make a positive difference to those we reach.

Not knowing too much what to expect, it was good that BarCamp Miami was the first event, as we were involved in the first BarCamp Orlando. This was a great start for the event, as it gave everyone a chance to get settled in; discovering who was in attendance, the topics being discussed, and have an idea of what information we would all take away. As I posted in my previous blog (Social Graph at BarCamp Miami), my first session had to do with social graphing and the power of understanding the connections between the people online. As I realized later, this topic was more of an overall theme to the event.

Later at BarCamp I had the pleasure of meeting Kevin Marks of Google. Kevin is brilliant person who is incredibly personable and down to earth. He spoke at both BarCamp and FOWA regarding Google’s Social Graph and Open Social API’s. Both of these technologies create technological standards for web developers to produce applications that work across multiple online communities.

Matt Mullenweg was very insightful. His experience in overcoming what may seem to be a daunting amount of growth, both from technological and business perspectives. Derek Gallo and I soaked up all of the valuable success factors Matt described, as our product MemberFuse is approaching a much larger user base. We are confident our technical and operations game plan will make our product’s expansion a successful one.

I was absolutely captivated with the presentation by Cal Henderson of Flickr. He spoke in detail on just about every operational procedure that makes Flickr flick! The content of his speech was very technical in nature,and incredibly engaging in its delivery. As Derek and I also watched this session, it really confirmed that our development procedures at NFi Studios is pretty solid. And although we will always make room for improvement, we are definitely on the right track!

After a very loud and entertaining delivery by Gary Vaynerchuck on maintaining passion for your customers and community, we went to celebrate a great event at Miami’s famous Nikki Beach.

With a great time in Miami now in the past, I’m now hopping on a flight to San Diego to do it all again! I’m fortunate to be heading to the GSP West 08 (Graphing Social Patterns) in San Diego. This is a two day event going into even more detail on Social Graphing. Kevin Marks will again be speaking on behalf of Google. I’m sure we’ll be chatting again, as he had some great insight on our MemberFuse product and its implications for Associations and non-profits.

Will have more after GSP West 08!

Brian Breslin, co-organizer of BarCamp Miami, spoke a bit on Social Graphing, the ability to abstract, understand and leverage the relationships between people throughout the web. With Google’s Social Graph API, website users and developers can discover the connection they have with other people through links between social media sites including Twitter, MySpace, Blogs, and more.

The concept of Social Graphing has some interesting implications for association technology. With each of our association clients wanting to maintain their own community as well as compete against the mass-market social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, we see Social Graphing and OpenSocial as an opportunity for associations to maintain their online community, but also connecting to other communities. MemberFuse which is social networking for associations, will be leveraging these latest technologies.

Imagine the association member who is a also a member of 3 other associations, and LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube’s video community. That type of scenario is why Google’s Social Graphing and OpenSocial API’s are now becoming THE hot topic among web developers.

I’ll be posting another blog soon, as we wrap up the Future of Web Apps 08 event and approach the Graphing Social Patterns West conference in San Diego. Also, see NFi’s blog for any company updates.