Wayin is a new start-up founded by Sun Microsystems founder
Scott McNealy that aims to connect users through user-generated, interactive
games that can be played while watching live television or big events. I spoke
with Wayin’s content manager Bryan Douglass to get more insight into what this
new website actually is.
1.
How is Wayin different from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn?
- Different... I'd say we're
different in many ways, but I'd also suggest we're trying to swim in a
different lane.
The truth is this: many in
the world dedicate vast amounts of time to those services and have no true way
of justifying that expense to their time and the sacrifice made in diverting
attention from other efforts. Maybe you covet followers, perhaps you are
working more than others in tracking analytics for your site and suggest a rise
in traffic is due to time spent on one of those services (or you note decline
if you don't)... in general, if you ask the person using Twitter or FB every
day why they do so, it's because they feel they need and/or want to.
If you do so by choice in
search of personal gratification, or if you do so because you’re professional
desires supposedly demand it... wouldn't it be nice to know the true value of
that decision, and wouldn't it be optimal if you that decision didn't demand
such a significant portion of your day?
At Wayin, we don't want or
need huge chunks of your day and we'll provide you with tools and applications
to prove your time was well spent. We fit right in to a moment, and for that
moment, we give you the power to connect, promote, consider, follow,
whatever... and we give you the ability to squeeze that moment for all you
might want from it.
I'd suggest that's the most
potent difference, but I could go on for a few pages if you want others!
2. How do you guys plan on
preventing Wayin from suffering the so-called "MySpace Effect" of
worrying about advertising and profit before perfecting the product?
- For starters, I'm not
asking Justin Timberlake to buy the while thing to be involved. Seriously... if
he would just join in and throw me a follow, we'll be content.
Let's start with this. Feel
free to jump on Wayin any time and let me know when you find an ad. Not to
suggest there won't be advertising in the future, but the business is not built
for the desire of chasing advertising dollars and it will never be a company
relying on advertising funds to survive or thrive. If/when the day comes to
introduce advertising, it will be to supplement rewards... and not for Wayin,
but for Wayin users (like you). It's not of interest to us. That's old school,
J... we aren't old school.
Two things. First, we have
amazing people on this staff, and none of us are ever happy. We all think this
system should be doing more. We all strive to keep it that way, and I sincerely
doubt we'll ever change. We already have things in place that are changing the
way people conduct their business and we have more coming that will continue to
change the way innovative people do business (or pleasure) via social media.
Second, we're going to let
Wayin do what it's designed to do: give you a voice. We have our ideas, hopes
and desires... we want the same from you. Everything we do is built around
listening, in one form or another. We want to evolve that process, we are going
to evolve with it, and we'd like to invite the world to join us.
3. How do you plan on
integrating live events, games and videos to the site?
- Already done. Next
question.
Kidding... though we are
already doing this. We have a team of contributors who are hosting Wayin Live
Events focused on a variety of events today (sports and otherwise). We have
just started to put those features on display... they've evolved significantly
in that short period of time and they will continue to do so moving forward
(and we have some big announcements coming that will reveal more).
Here's the thing, I would
answer that question with one of my own.
What do you want from a live
experience?
Just so you know, there's no
wrong answer. Whatever comes out of your mouth or fingers in response, we can
help and would love to do so.
And if you don't want our
help, that's not a problem either... jump on in and have at it yourself. You'll
find you can do whatever you want with Wayin Live Events as well. Whatever your
goals may be for participating in or hosting a live event, online or in reality
(or both), Wayin can help you reach 'em... and we'll make it fun and teach you
and your audience a few things along the way.
4. Do you believe Wayin has
the potential to surpass Google+ or Twitter or even Facebook?
- Surpass is a tough metric
to quantify. Most in our organization would tell you we want your Wayin widget
and portals to reside right next to the big three on any site you visit.
I couldn't agree more... I just
hope you want to hit The W first, because The W is giving you something in
return.
5. Recently Google+ scored a
record for being the fastest growing website ever, what can Wayin learn from
their strategy to become more successful?
- I love Google and don't
want to diminish their work, at all (as a loyal patron, I'd hate to lose
them)... but I don't know that we learned as much as we were reminded of
lessons we all should have learned long ago.
Recognizing opportunity is a
gift. Ignoring it is a crime.
6. During a live event such
as the Super Bowl or the 2012 election, what is your vision of how Wayin will
make an impact on society?
- Wayin is going to help you
know the teams (and the players, and the managers, and the leagues... and
everyone in between). We're going to help the teams and all of those people
associated with it know you. We're going to help you all take advantage of that
opportunity.
Wayin is going to help you
understand the candidates. We're going to help the candidates understand you.
And if we have our way, we'll help you take part in the journey and tenure that
follows.
We're going to help you all
understand the world, and with a little luck, we'll help the world
understand all of you. I believe Wayin is an idea that has the power to
influence every one of us, and even better, it has the ability to give every
one of us influence over power.
You just have to grab it and
decide how.
7. How should President
Obama, his Republican opponent or even members of Congress use the site to develop
a national conversation about the issues that matter to us such as jobs or the
economy?
- This would be a great
question for our analytics staff... I am not qualified to give that portion of
our menu proper context or praise. Yet.
Here... I loved "The
West Wing". Probably dating myself a bit, but I love political drama
(actually, I love Allison Janney... another story for another time). In that
show they used to have theses scenes of the pollsters, these huge groups hidden
in a basement who employ a bunch of people to spend hours making random calls
to hundreds of voters, gauging reaction to various events and speeches,
measuring approval ratings and emotion of the American public.
At it's most basic level...
Wayin will take that room and all of those pollsters and put 'em in an iPad or
smart phone. We'll take that crop of several hundred polled, we'll push those
same questions around the world and turn it into several hundred thousand.
We'll take the data provided by all of those calls, we'll improve it,
grow it, integrate it and cross reference it and turn it into a fountain of knowledge never
achieved by the original system. Best of all, we'll take the hundreds of hours
dedicated to that effort and shrink it into minutes, and we'll take the hours
spent tabulating those results and give you new, improved results in real time.
Then, we'll tell you how to
do it, where to do it, when to do it and who you should be doing it with the
next time around to insure you are achieving your ultimate desires.
8. Why did Wayin decide to be
headquartered in Denver rather than a tech capital such as Silicon
Valley?
- I live in Denver, and J...
I rock.
Actually, CEO Tom Jessiman is
from this area. This is his baby and his partners, coming from all over the
world, are behind him in making Denver our home. It's a wonderful city my
friend, and those of us here understand the lack of desire to leave.
Besides, we've already moved
in next door to our industrial neighbors. We're just doing so where it matters.
Online.
9. Is there enough room
for Wayin in the social media world which is growing so rapidly and will soon
be congested?
- We fit in perfectly. You
can be as active or not as desired. The benefits are still there and fruitful,
and to be honest... congested or not, if we give people what they like and want
and we can show them new things they will like and want, we'll make our own
way.
We aren't followers, as
individuals or a team. We couldn't care less about the roads already paved. We
want to make our own, and we think you should, too.
10. What needs to be done to
create more opportunities for innovators and trendsetters in this new
technology era that we live in and how will Wayin play a part in creating those
opportunities?
- Simple... we need people to
realize THEY are the innovators. You create your own opportunities. At the very
least, you identify what you believe to be an opportunity and you either give
it a go or you don't. No one is going to create anything for you, J. There
wasn't anyone out there screaming for a better search engine... the folks now
known as Google believed there was opportunity there and they went for it.
That's been their business model since: if they believe there is opportunity to
do something new, innovative, or better, they have people who can envision that
with them and who want to make the best of it.
Wayin will definitely play a
role in that. We're all about helping people and organizations seek and
identify opportunity, and I would bet we can help in suggesting how you might
attack those opportunities. If anything, we'll be there to provide clarity...
wherever you may be looking and in many place you might not.
11. I know it's available to
use now but when will WayIn be fully operational?
- Fully operational now, but
understand... we will NEVER be complete. The Wayin you see today is a
significantly evolved from the Wayin we released several weeks ago. The Wayin
you'll experience tomorrow will be different than the Wayin you experience
today.
I hope we are never
"fully" operational. If I ever reach a point where I don't feel
frustration about something we are NOT doing, I should quit.
12. And finally, what should
have been my first question: What is WayIn?
- For me... Wayin is a new
way to be heard, a new way of hearing others, and a new way to accept,
entertain and incorporate it all into every aspect of your life. I have no
doubts it will mean different things to different people... that's what Wayin
means to me.
Visit WayIn now at http://www.wayin.com
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