What DoStuff's Doing: E5 ending! So much happening!

Product Improvements

1. The date range for ad reporting has been fixed so that year designation works.

2. Ad reports will no longer distinguish between ECP and site stats so that traffic is shown holistically.

3. New registrations via new ECPs will now only receive 1 confirmation email

4. The registration email for new ECPs is now customizable

5. We fixed a bug that was causing ongoing events set in the future to show under "Today" on ECPs

6. The "View More" option for search results has been fixed to actually show more results!

7. Venue info, such as phone number and hours, now displays on venue pages. Now your users can get all the info they need about a venue (an image, a list of shows, an address with a map view, a number, etc.) on your site!

8. Featured Event ad upload now became easier because we enlarged the file size accepted

9. The bug preventing Featured Venue widgets from showing more than 10 events has been fixed, they once again display ALL events listed at the displayed venue

10. We relocated the middle brand ad to below the 4th event for each page load to increase its value to your partners

12. Users set to autovote will no longer display in your RSVP lists and the Giveaways winner selection modal so that they don't clutter your RSVP and opt-ins list

13. Cache busting has been implemented for additional changes made to RSVPs/Giveaways via the modal. One more thing you'll no longer need to bust a cache for!

14. We fixed a bug so that the event page meta text (what displays in the browser bar or tab) correctly displays the full event title

1. A prompt to share an event via FB after adding it to personal calendar, RSVPing, or entering a Giveaway

2. The ability to "unvote" on an event in Admin

3. Improvement to the quality of brand ad appearance

4. An automated process for new ECP requests!

Thank you all for your continual contributions to the DSD que, from making us aware of bugs to making needed feature requests and hearting them up!

New Lenseeees

Not just new ECPs. On deck, we have the first implementation of targeted event listings via lenses. One of the first will be rainbow.do312.com - the gay/LGBTQ/PC-way-of-saying-contrary-to-heteronormativity that we have cited as a prime example whenever discussing the value of lenses for appealing to different audiences. This is going to be a game-changer for your editorial voice and list building. Much like with the new ECPs, we're working closely with several of you to build out the first few lenses. This way we can knock out kinks and fine tune the process as best we can. Once that's complete, we'll roll out to everyone.

Programs

The Lolla Flyaway is running and you all have expressed happiness with the positive impact it's having. Tastemakers are being organized in a few cities for another minor program with Nokia. Do512 ran a successful event for Macallan earlier this month.

LearnStuff Hours and Articles

This past week, we held a kickoff call for goal setting and tracking with you all in two groups. Thanks for your participation! Success is not possible without defining it in the first place, which is why goals are so important (Hint: If you haven't done yours yet, DO!) We'll continue with a monthly call in smaller groups of 2-3 cities and quarterly larger group calls. Woot!

We're building out all kinds of guidance for our new LearnStuff platform, set to be debuted soon! We've made progress on sales and pricing guidance as well as Tastemaker program guidance. Check you all out:

New Metros and Brands

San Antonio - Do210 - is signed! Third time's a charm. We had a kickoff call with them the other day to get them set on the search for the perfect team. Know anyone in San Antonio? Feel free to share their job postings.

Active new metro discussions include: Las Vegas and Louisville! Vancouver and Miami! Cleveland and Charlottesville... So much diversity and so much coming!

Big brand discussions continue with lots of liquor brands: Jack Daniels and Jim Beam, to name a few.

Network News & Wins

Do415's team is getting a change-up! Dawson will be taking over as their Managing Partner, and they will be hiring a new GM. To set the foundation for their team, they may attend our next Bootcamp in May! Always an option for current cities to attend Bootcamp when there is room for a refresher or reboot.

HazDF is killing it with ECP traffic! The week that their LifeBoxSet calendar launched, it received 10,000 views - dectupling (x10?) their traffic. WHOA. Part of the success was their collaborative effort with LBS to launch the ECP by spreading la palabra. A review of this to come in new LearnStuff.

Do416 celebrated 4/16 today in a newsletter filled with special offers to their fans! A great idea for all our sites (minus the numberless ones). Check it out:

PARTAY with PABST! Do214 has planned an awesome launch party on 4/27, sponsored by Pabst.

Do312 is promoting Record Store Day via a customized list, as many of you are, and a link to a page that showcases the official list of all releases.

More RECORD STORE DAY promotions here!

Do317 also promoted Record Store Day in their most recent newsletter. Check out the awesome template that we built with them! It's taken some work to get right, but we will be customizing new templates for everyone in order to a) give everyone something awesome and b) streamline the process of ad input in newsletters.

Festivals! Do206 helped launch Capitol Hill Block Party. doNYC launched the Hudson Project lineup. Spring Awakening launched their lineup in partnership with Do312. Do415 launched the lineup for Outside Lands.

Finally, maybe our network didn't get to share an interview Arcade Fire. BUT doNYC did get an interview with Scott Stapp. And yes, they're serious.

DoStuff Stuff

As we close out our E5, we are working to streamline out internal communication and are now holding regular Friday afternoon meetings that include beer and bocce (of course). We're also thinking of starting a band because we already have the album art:

Photography courtesy of Justin and Google Hangout

We celebrated 2 birthdays last week: Kirk, Dev Master of the Do-niverse, and Justin, the Legend of DoStuff, both completed another circle around the sun!

Because who doesn't love a fiery unicorn birthday gif?

Hope everyone is enjoying spring! (Sorry Chicago...) Look for our E5 recap/E6 preview next update.

Comments of suggestions, please send our way!

Wednesday, April 16, 2014