Calling all present and future paradigm shifters, change-agents and lemonade-makers.

Some years ago I lost a sister to a brain tumor – but that’s not why I’m writing today.  I’m writing today to talk about people who take tragedy and use it to create something good.  My parents could have let the loss of a child paralyze them; instead, they created a foundation funded by celebrity-sponsored events to buy new diagnostic equipment for the hospital where my sister had received treatment.  This new technology enabled early detection of similar conditions.  And it saved lives.

I have always been inspired by the example they set and the example of others who have acted courageously in the face of adversity.  At tXtBlaster, we see our technology as an opportunity to support and further such efforts.  One such organization is Students Against Violence Everywhere.

The seeds of SAVE were sown on a Friday night in North Carolina some twenty years ago.  A young high-school student by the name of Alex Orange was killed while trying to break up a fight.  The following Monday, in the cafeteria of West Charlotte High School, SAVE was born, and its message lives on at high-schools and colleges through its now over 1,800 chapters and 200,000 members.

As a result, for the month of September, tXtBlaster is donating SMS ad space to SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere), in preparation for its October summit in Charlotte, NC.

If you are interested in creating a collegiate chapter for your school, go to www.nationalsave.org, or call on 1-866-343-SAVE to receive a college chapter manual, and let’s make some lemonade.

Post your story of how you turned a tragedy into a victory to tXtBlaster blog and we’ll give $100 for the one we like most.

Time was when recruiting Generation Y’s 18-24 year-olds involved cocktail-filled recruitment raves and predictable ad copy about stepping out into the world, and building a future.  Reaction Search International (RSI), one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s fastest growing recruitment companies honed in on an innovative use of mobile group messaging to hit Generation Y in their own communication sweet spot.  RSI’s goal was to attract and impress top talent to meet its need for a high quality team of recruiters.

Graduates of Saint Mary’s College were faced with a bewildering choice of firms during their end of year recruitment fair.  RSI differentiated themselves by offering an opportunity for applicants to track their individual progress in the recruiting process though TXT updates powered by tXtBlaster.

Said Taryn Hodges, a project coordinator with RSI:

“As a competitor of other companies looking to recruit the most qualified college graduates, standing out amongst our competitors was our main priority as we aimed to attract the up and coming millennia generation.”

Applicants were encouraged to TXT via tXtBlaster’s service in order to stay in contact and informed with RSI.  “Wow! This is high tech,” was the general response to the tXtBlaster solution.

Some 43% of applicants used the service with a few texting in as many as 20 times.

Each interview’s conclusion explained how the student should follow up after the interview and that RSI would be reviewing resumes over the following two weeks, but if they were curious to know where in the review process they were at, they could send a text to SMC and be instantly updated on the application status.  On Sunday at 2am, a student could text in to learn that RSI was reviewing second round interviews and would be sending out emails the following Monday.

“We met our overall goal of obtaining the number of new hires we wanted, which tXtBlaster helped us to do by promoting a progressive but fun atmosphere.  We are now thinking about how to integrate tXtBlaster further into our day-to-day operations,” continued Taryn.

RSI Team Putting tXtBlaster to Use

If you were a candidate, what would you think about a recruitment company that kept you abreast of progress through a text service?  And if you are a company looking to hire top candidates, what are you doing to differentiate yourself from the competition?

This month’s tXtBlaster Group of the month is the Hispanic Business Student Association at Texas State University – San Marcos, who has been using tXtBlaster since January 2008. HBSA sent the most txt messages OF any tXtBlaster group in the month of May! Go HBSA!

Below is a quote from Vanessa Villa, HBSA’s Secretary on how tXtBlaster has helped to advance and improve their group communication – check it out!

Hispanic Business Student Association at Texas State University - San Marcos

“Being Secretary of the Hispanic Business Student Association at Texas State University- San Marcos, I am in charge of keeping members informed with everything we do. Using tXtBlaster has been weight lifted off my shoulders. It is easy to use, and extremely useful. If any last minute changes happen during an event or a reminder needs to be sent out tXtBlaster is the fastest and most efficient way to communicate. HBSA at Texas State University- San Marcos is a large chapter, and sometimes emails are not enough. Members text more than checking their emails, so signing up with tXtBlaster has helped advance the Hispanic Business Student Association at Texas State-San Marcos.” – Vanessa Villa, Secretary of HBSA at Texas State University – San Marcos

Hot Wheels Skate Center - Daphne, AL

Since tXtBlaster opened its service to all group-types, I’ve been observing how businesses in particular are engaging their customers and clients – it’s really quite fascinating!

The company I’d like to feature this week is Hot Wheels Skate Center in Daphne, Alabama. Hot Wheels is an indoor family roller skating rink, which provides fun skating sessions, party packages, ladies fitness sessions and more!

Hot Wheels engages young customers through their tXtBlaster VIP list. Kids sign up through their cell phones to receive updates about upcoming deals and special events they wouldn’t know about otherwise. “Working with [tXtBlaster] has been so easy and stress free,” says Terry Eady, Owner of Hot Wheels. “It has helped me reach my target age faster then ever and also it is super easy to maintain and update. I have recommended this to everyone that I know. It is such a great service and best of all its FREE!”

You can find out more information about Hot Wheels at: http://hotwheelsdaphne.com.

A few other fun roller rinks using tXtBlaster:

-Skate Champions – Spring, TX http://www.skatechampions.com/

-Skate World – Tampa, FL http://www.skateworldtampa.com/

-Skate Factory – Vero Beach, FL http://www.skatefactory.us/

I found this blog today, which has a fun and interesting spin on the txting industry and just had to share!

Texts From Last Night is a blog that posts interesting text messages people receive late the night before.

People go to the website and post text messages they received late at night along with their area code. Messages can be posted directly to the blog, or they can be emailed to text@textsfromlastnight.com. Check it out HERE!

Some of my favorite postings:

• (217): I’m trashed wearing your mom’s snuggie. She says hello.

• (647): hey babe. i’ll pick you up in my mom’s car. with my mom. she has nothing to do tonight.

Brought to our attention by @kelliedavis on Twitter. Follow her, she’s awesome!

I found this cartoon the other day and thought I’d share this with all of you:

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair to me.”I mean what’s your cell phone number?!”

Original Cartoon published in Wall Street Journal (July 2008)

created by Mike Lynch: Blogspot

I put together a help-sheet for new Blasters, who may need a little help getting started with tXtBlaster.

We’re adding new tools throughout the end of spring and summer months, which will help this process greatly.  Please stay tuned to our blog and social websites to learn more!

Please contact us anytime with questions at support@txtblaster.com

tXtBlaster’s website and txt messaging system will be temporarily out of service due to maintenance tomorrow morning, March 12, 2009 from 5am to 6am Pacific Standard Time.

Due to tXtBlaster’s recent increase in both website and message traffic, we are improving our system to handle the tremendous growth.  Thank you members for blasting so many txt messages & spreading the word about tXtBlaster!

We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact us anytime with questions or concerns.

Did you know you can pass along your group to someone else without deleting the group and starting over?  You can do this by using the “Permissions” links located next to your group members’ names.

When you create a tXtBlaster group you are by default the Group Administrator, the only one who can manage and send messages to group members.  If you would like someone else to be an Administrator, or you would like to pass your group along to someone else, just click on “Permissions” next to the member’s name and check “Administrator”. 

You can also give a member Publishing Permissions without making them an Administrator. You assign members as Publishers by following the same process as above and checking the box next to “Publish to entire group”.  Publishers can publish txt messages to the entire or just to subgroups, whichever you prefer.

If you have any questions about tXtBlaster Group Permissions or anything else, contact us anytime!

I’m pleased to announce the launch of our new, and improved, tXtBlaster website design!

Our new design makes it easy to register for an online account and to view, create, and join groups!  I’ve been receiving extremely valuable feedback about our new design, as well as ideas for new features & improvements – keep it coming!

With the launch of our improved online interface, we have an exciting year ahead of us!  We have new features coming out soon, which will make adding members, sending txt messages, and organizing your groups much easier.  I’ll be announcing these features soon. 

If you have any questions or comments about our new website or tXtBlaster in general, contact us & we’ll chat!