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The Web Summit is a global gathering of the world’s leading thinkers and doers in technology. It hosts over tens of thousands of the brightest minds every year and allows people to network, meet with journalists and connect with potential investors. The Summit is without a doubt the most awaited event of the year by entrepreneurs and anyone with a great tech idea or business will benefit from attending in many ways.

Among the 10,000 other attendees arriving from the four corners of the world, the Arab world – despite all the political tensions reigning the region – was still represented by several startups coming from the Gulf, Middle East, and North Africa. From Lebanon, six startups attended the event of which three had a stand in the exhibition area.

Sociatag, eTobb, and Lebtivity, three Lebanon-based startups, who launched between 2011 and 2013, were selected among thousands of worldwide applicants to exhibit as part of the Summit’s Alpha program. This program identified and invited a limited number of incredible early stage startups to exhibit for free! These three companies, along with et3arraf, Maze Solutions and Seeqnce who independently attended the conference, all packed their bags for Dublin this October 2013 to showcase their products and meet some of today’s most renowned tech companies such as Evernote, Google, Facebook, Box & many more.

All had different expectations, but for the most part, this was new ground. Thus, the main goal was to explore.

The Summit was divided into many sections, stages, and workshops which included the following:

  • Main stage
  • Digital Marketing stage
  • Developers’ stage
  • The Cloud stage
  • The Library stage
  • The Pitching stages
  • Roundtables
  • Exhibitor areas
  • Numerous workshops
  • Speed networking sessions between entrepreneurs & investors
  • Media Events

 

Many side activities were organized around the Web Summit to allow for specific groups of people to get together and discuss their projects and ideas in a more informal fashion. Some of these events included the Leaders’ Lunch for female entrepreneurs, The Food Summit, and the Night Summit.

Benefits of the Web Summit for all startups

  • Networking
  • Exposure
  • Media and investor relations
  • Partnerships
  • Exploring a new city
  • Discuss challenges of other startups in different countries

 

The Web Summit opened new doors for these startups and placed them under an international radar. The benefits of such a gathering are numerous! “We encourage all entrepreneurs to go next year because there is no way they won’t get something out of it” said CEO of Sociatag, Wassim Hakim.

In Lebanon, the opportunities for startups are still limited. Although this is slowly changing with new funds being created to help grow these businesses, the motivation and culture of starting your own tech business is not widely grasped and supported by our society and government. “Entrepreneurs must get out there and seize every opportunity that presents itself in order to represent Lebanon and learn from other countries in order to make Lebanon a better place”, stated co-founder of Lebtivity, Randa Farah. Paul Saber, CEO of eTobb added “Our testimonial today of the Web Summit is the exact message we are trying to deliver to the Lebanese people; and that message is: Get moving, do something! Don’t wait for things to come to you because they won’t”.

Brief description of each of the three startups:

Sociatag

Sociatag is a platform that allows people to connect with the online community and social platforms via smart tags that can be swiped over sociatag boxes. The platform includes various features such as loyalty programs, detailed insights/statistics and a user friendly promotion management tool.

Lebtivity

Lebtivity is Lebanon’s Social Calendar for Events. It is a crowd-sourced platform that offers event organizers the opportunity to promote their events to the Lebanese online community for free. The website covers all events ranging from sports & outdoors, cultural, artistic, musical, and culinary events to conferences, exhibitions and activities for everyone including families and youth. Check out more on www.lebtivity.com

eTobb

eTobb is an online medical Q&A platform that connects patients and doctors around the world. Our mission is to improve access to healthcare and empower people with medical know-how to help them make more informed decisions. People can read health Q&As and browse health topics, such as pregnancy and men’s health.

Lebanese Mix of Entrepreneurs

Lebanese Entrepreneurs in the Web Summit

Lebtivity

Lebtivity Team stand in the Web Summit

Sociatag 2

Sociatag

Sociatag Team stand in the Web Summit

Etobb

eTobb Team in a business networking event during

General stage 1

General stage 3

Panel 1

The Web Summit 2013 – Dublin, Ireland -  Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/websummit/sets/

For more information please contact:

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Sociatag is proudly taking part of the Web Summit 2013 in Dublin. The Web Summit is the biggest tech conference in the world. It is definitely the most exciting tech event of the 2013 calendar. What started back in 2010 as a one day conference with 500 attendants has now grown enormously to become one of the largest conferences worldwide. It is expected to attract more than 10,000 people this October. The key to its success has been the ability of the organizers to attract first-rate US entrepreneurs to speak and hang out at the Summit and the accompanying Founders conference.  Speakers from Google, Facebook, PayPal, Yahoo, and LinkedIn are also expected. The main Summit itself will take place on 30-31 October 2013. Founder Paddy Cosgrave announced that this year’s event will hold workshops, pitching sessions and keynotes.

The Web Summit has selected the best 500 startups from all over the world to exhibit their startups at the Summit. It is the place where exciting startups mingle with investors, large companies learn from industry leaders, and where disruptive businesses exhibit their latest innovations.

The hardest working startup:

Building a startup is hard. It’s a roller coaster of highs and lows. But without the passion and dedication of incredible teams pursuing dreams and building products around the world, innovation would stop. “So here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. We’re looking for the World’s Hardest Working Startup. We’re not looking for the world’s best product. We’re looking for a team so crazy, so dedicated, so passionate that you feel they deserve to be treated like kings at the Summit in Dublin.

Web Summit Dublin has also organized a competition called “World’s Hardest Working Startup” and is looking for the hardest working, dedicated and passionate Startup team.  It’s about the team that keeps the startup rolling through the path of success.  Sociatag is competing with the world’s most successful startups in order to become one of the top 50 startups in the world.  The top 50 ALPHA Startups with the most votes will be judged by a panel, which will determine their Top 5 Hardest Working Startups and pick the overall winner.

To vote for sociatag please go to this link and hit like that appears on the pop-up:

http://www.websummit.net/competitions/hardest-working-startup/#6-1711

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Sociatag Photobooth

Do you have a very quiet and simple sales point? Would you like your customers spend more time in your shop? Are you looking to improve your points of sales and your relation with your customers? Are you also looking to add some extra spice to your shop? Sociatag photobooth is the answer.

The photobooth makes spaces more fun and engaging, increases interaction between attendees as they gather to take photos and socialize, and improves your interaction and communication with your clientele. Whether you are a clothing shop, a restaurant, a supermarket, a gaming space or even an optician, Sociatag photobooth is the answer. It will add up a lot of fun, excitement and will enhance your communication with your customers both inside and outside your store.

Every customer will take photos with your shop appearing in the background and your brand logo upfront, which will make each and every one of them your brand ambassador both online and offline. Your customers will be willingly advertising your business and you will be guaranteeing greater awareness and exposure with no effort at all.

Below are some photos of the sociatag photobooth:

Makhzoumi Foundation – Souk Ramadaniyat Beirutiya 2013: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.596250990425694.1073741829.251375111579952&type=1

NBA All Stars Event: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.446529622121632.1073741829.334797336628195&type=1

STC at Gitex Dubai 2012: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.460979450619516.129051.251375111579952&type=3

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Coworking +961 is an open coworking space for freelancers and entrepreneurs, providing them with the ideal interactive platform to work efficiently and productively on their projects.

On July 2, new space Co-Working 961 was launched in Beirut alongside the LBA Pitching Event, which brought together the Lebanese Angel investors community alongside guest Angels from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai to attend between 7-9 startup pitches. The event was organized by the Bader Young Entrepreneurs Program and MIT Enterprise Forum – Pan Arab Region.

Guests swiped their cards over Sociatag boxes and enjoyed taking pictures with other attendees, while checking in and liking the latest Coworking 961 page posts.

For more information check Coworking 961 page

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Want to know more about Sociatag products?

We will bring you the complete list of our products as a final stage of the whole Sociatag process discussed in earlier posts.

Sociatag links daily real-life experiences with the digital world. Sociatag will spice up your events, shops, and restaurants. It will make your place more entertaining, fun, attractive and appealing to customers. To be able to do so Sociatag uses a number of tools:

The Sociatag box is a device that allows users to directly connect with the online community by a simple tap. It can be utilized as a:

  • Facebook, Foursquare or Twitter check-in box
  • Like a Facebook page status, a Foursquare venue or a LinkedIn company box
  • Follow or Tweet box
  • Rating box
  • Photobooth unit (takes live pictures of you and uploads them automatically to your Facebook profile or Fan page).

and many other more..

The Sociatag Readers are devices that allow users to directly connect to the online community by a simple tap. Customers are given the opportunity to personalize and share their experiences with friends and family by registering their own tag, and by signing up to their sociatag account using Facebook, Twitter or their own email address. Users later have the opportunity to participate in different activities.

The Sociatag tags are QR codes that users scan using Sociatag mobile application to connect to the online community. They can be used as an identification card in big events and conferences. Based on your choice our tags come as either fully branded, semi-branded, or not branded. We have 3 different types of tags: Wristbands, Key chains and PVC cards.

The Sociatag cookies are NFC based tags that users link to their Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn or any other social media profile. (For more info check our NFC post). All what a user have to do is to choose his cookie, then directly link it to his profile. His friends then just have to tap their phones to the cookie and they’ve found his profile at ease.

Want to be part of the next big thing? Are you interested in having our products at your next event or at your store? Then please visit https://www.sociatag.com/store.

Let’s dig deeper in the Sociatag products. What are they? And how do they perform?

Have you read our previous post about RFID? The Sociatag boxes and tags both have the RFID technology installed. That’s how the card information is read by the box. When users log in to their Sociatag account, and activate a tag which holds a specific code, that code is then registered with their account. Hence, when swiping the tag on the box, they will perform an action of either check-in, like, or tweet. The below bullet points explain the process in a more simple way:

  1. Login using Facebook or Twitter
  2. Allow the Sociatag application to access your account
  3. Add a Tag (Sociatag card)
  4. Swipe the Sociatag card and it will directly perform the defined social action


Note:
the Sociatag boxes are not only limited to liking a Facebook page, checking in at a venue, tweeting, or taking a photo at the photo booth. It can be linked to any other social media platform or customized to your needs.

What about the mobile application?

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We have recently released our mobile applications for Android and iOS systems. And below you can find the features of the apps.

  • Register and login using a valid email or your Facebook account
  • Connect to social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and LinkedIn
  • Sync your friends list from the social networks
  • Add and manage tags
  • Control Account Settings
  • Scan NFC enabled readers using NFC enabled phones
  • Check your activity and what your friends are up to

 

Sociatag and loyalty programs:

Loyalty programs offered by Sociatag cover all cases and possibilities. It is up to the business owners to configure the loyalty program that fits their needs.

  1. It could be about collecting points to win instant prizes or enter a draw.
  2. It could be a multiple level campaign with rewards for each level. Users can be defined to participate once or multiple times.

…and so on.

You’ve met us at several events, you’ve heard about us from here or there, you’ve read an article mentioning us, or most probably you’ve visited our website. In all cases, here’s a small introduction about who we are, what we do and how we do it.

In simple words, Sociatag brings the offline world online. Our main aim is to add value to offline events by connecting them with their online community, and allowing them to engage the users and attendees outside of the physical venue, thereby creating a viral buzz. So at events, conferences, concerts, malls, restaurants, hotels, etc. people will be able to like the targeted Facebook page, check-in, tweet, or even take a photo. All the above mentioned tasks happen with a simple click. Users can use the Sociatag app on their mobile phones; or by swiping their PVC cards, key chains, wrist bands or stickers. Every activity then is brought online, as the following screenshots shows.

promotion

 

The Website:

Users will have to register and connect their social networks. All events will have a page on the Sociatag website, where all activities concerning the event will show up. Moreover, the website also has the “store” page where businesses would choose their preferred products.

The app:

Via the app, especially if the handset has NFC built in, users can perform the desired tasks at any Sociatag box.

Meet us at our next blog post for more details about our products.

 

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We’ve already covered the loyalty programs subject. The history of these programs dates back to 1793 in USA, where a merchant gave out copper tokens to be collected by customers and exchanged for items in the store. And so this marketing plan moved on from generation to another, from business field to another.

Let’s examine a modern day loyalty program. How about we dig into the “Rd LOVER” program launched by Roadster Diner, Lebanon? What is it about? When you join the program, and buy from Roadster, every 1000LL earns you a star. After collecting the stars, draws will take place to select the winners. Why would people join such a program?
1- If more than 72,000 people like their Facebook page, it means one thing: people love Roadster.
2- Let’s put it this way: you love this restaurant, you always visit it and order delivery, you’re being rewarded for such behavior. Would you not register for the Rd LOVER card and claim your stars to get a reward?

Let’s discuss another local example, Spinneys supermarket. When you register for their program, you collect points upon every purchase from their stores. The prizes are a list of items from their store, each item has target points to collect.

Rewarding their loyal customers is what they aim for. The only difference between the above mentioned examples is that at Spinneys there’s no draw, once you collect your points you get your reward, or if your points are not enough you can pay the difference.

Loyalty programs are very popular, and one great marketing tool. And today’s expanding technology is making it easier and more fun to participate in. We are certain that all of our loyal readers, have benefited at least once from a loyalty program. Would you not enjoy signing up for a program that can be that is rewarding, easy and fun? If you had a business, would you not choose a program for your loyal customers, a program that is easily installed and managed by you?

With sociatag, you can do all the above and more. Now everyone can benefit from your loyalty programs and share their experience with their social networks at the same time.

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Super heroes’ fans gathered at the launch of Geek Express’s Marvel Exhibition. With more than 400 official, original and rare items (collectibles, posters, comics) of your favorite characters: Hulk, Spiderman, Ironman… The first 50 visitors won tickets to the Iron-Man 3 movie.

Sociatag was present with three boxes: Like, Check-in and Photo booth. The photo booth was customized. After swiping the card at the box, users choose which super hero they want to take a photo with. The fifteen super heroes list showed on the screen, and via a joystick users made their choice and pressed a button to confirm their choice. And the pictures are awesome!

The exhibition is running for two weeks, and Sociatag’s boxes will be there. You can check more information on Geek Express page.

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The first edition of The Social Media Awards, Beirut, was held on April 29, 2013. The ceremony was a huge success, awarding the Lebanese bloggers, tweeps and companies.

Sociatag released an application for both Android and IOS users. Attendees were able to register and connect their social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare); then swipe their tag to check-in at the event, like and follow the Social Media Awards page, and take a picture that was directly uploaded on the page. Want some numbers? A total of 65 registrations at the event; 56 photos taken and uploaded; and 125 social activities on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. You can find the ceremony’s activity in details here.

Congratulation to all the winner from Sociatag. Here’s the list:

Blog of the year: BlogBaladi

Best News Blog: Beirut Spring

Best Business Blog: Wamda

Best Lifestyle Blog: Mich Café

Best Food Blog: No Garlic No Onions

Best Fashion Blog: PlushBeirut

Best Technology Blog: Microsoftoholic

Best Personal Blog: Gino’s Blog

Best Media Personality on Social Media: Zaven 

Best Non-Arabic Vocal Artist on Social Media: Anthony Touma

Best Band on Social Media: Mashrou3 Leila

Most Creative Instagram Account: LiveLoveBeirut

Best Facebook Campaign/Page: Lebanese Memes

Best Integrated Campaign: Cheyef 7alak

Most Engaging Youtube Channel: Cheyef 7alak

Most Engaging Youtube Video: Beirut Duty Free Flash Mob

Most Engaging Person on Twitter: Anis Tabet

Most Engaging Celebrity on Twitter: Haifa Wehbe

Most Engaging Media Personality on Twitter: Neshan

Most Engaging Politician/Diplomat on Twitter: Ziad Baroud

Best Business on Twitter: Roadster Diner

Best NGO/Organization on Twitter: Donner Sang Compter

Best Pub/Bar on Social Media: Feb30

Best Restaurant: Roadster Diner

Best Hotel on Social Media: Phoenicia

Best Fashion Brand on Social Media: Vero Moda ME

Best Food & Beverage Brand on Social Media: Almaza

Best Commercial District on Social Media: ABC

Best NGO/Community on Social Media: Lebanese Memes

Best Start-up on Social Media: Tickle My Brain

Best Design for a Social Media Campaign: Almaza

Best Facebook Application: Novo

And the Best SMA Social Campaigning Magnet: L’Armoire De Lana

Looking forward to next year’s Social Media Awards, which will be of more success. Thank you Online Collaborative for such a great event. And a huge thank you for Phoenicia for hosting the event. Everyone who participated in organizing this event, also deserves a thank you note.