WebInno 15: Take a vacation, drink some cool lemonade

In 2005, I worked on a marvelous web-based nightlife start-up called BarFrog.com—a company that introduced me to many new people, places, and experiences, including Web Innovators Group (WebInno) events. The first one that I attended took place in a smallish conference room and about 40 people showed up. Seemed like a good turnout to me. But now, a year and a half later, WebInno packs large ballrooms. At least 150 people came to last night’s event, including a few friends of mine (Stephanie and Jon, who also happen to be tremendously fun Boston-based bloggers).

The three main dishes: iiProperty, Lemonade, FlipKey. I was very impressed with Lemonade and FlipKey. Though iiProperty seemed like a great idea—a tool for landlords to track their properties—the site is way too busy. It’s utterly confusing. But maybe that’s just because I’m not a landlord? Landlords, please test this out and report back.

FlipKey: If you love searching for vacation rentals, then FlipKey is the site for you! Users can post and search for rentals, as well as rate and comments on rentals they have visited. Though I haven’t had a chance to play with the site (it doesn’t officially launch until December), I imagine that the rentals with the highest ratings float to the top of the listings. The element of credibility is key here (hehe, FlipKey, key… I’m a nerd). Though many people search and utilize the Craigslist vacation rental listings, there is no way to assess credibility. I’ve had positive experiences with the Craigslist service, but I’ve heard that many of the postings are scams.  FlipKey’s comment and rating components will definitely weed out the con artists. I’m excited for the launch!

Lemonade: Create a virtual lemonade stand and sell your favorite stuff! Embed your lemonade stand widget on your blog (though it’s not set up for Typepad yet, booo)! But it works on Facebook (yayayay)!  And then make money!

Looks like the best way to utilize Lemonade is to create several stands based on specific categories. That way, people perusing your stand won’t get confused and/or bored looking through all the random knick-knacks that you think are cool. I made one for movies. Here’s my lemonade stand and description:

I have this strange quirk: I ALWAYS rummage through the 50% off DVD bin at any movie store. Because I do it so often, I'm good at spotting good deals on great movies. Here are my picks! Enjoy.

I posted the best deals I could find (The Cell for $4.99?! Amazing!). You can scan my stand here, on my Facebook profile, or on the Lemonade site. Then go ahead and buy some movies so I can make money and find an awesome vacation rental on FlipKey... ahh, the fruits of the virtual world!

Comments

[Kate]

Thanks for the note and that is too funny - great minds think alike! To embed your stand in TypePad, just copy the Blogger code and paste into the "HTML view" of your TypePad post. I had to resize mine for the right nav area - hence why it’s kinda squished. I think it’s a pretty cool widget!