One of the big projects that I’ve been working on here at Clearspring is this open sharing protocol, OExchange. It goes a long way to get people who share stuff (like us) and places where you want to share (social networks) talking the same language. This will make it easier for you to share anywhere you want to share online.
Oh and we did an overview video and guess who did the voiceover. Check it out…
As we all know, sharing is at the center of how we discover new and interesting things. Our friends say “Hey, you need to check this out.” Because you trust that person, you check it out.
Here at Clearspring, we’re always looking at new ways that we can help to speed up the process of sharing, viral spread, and discovery of new content. This includes finding ways to incentivize sharing.
Well, one way this had worked really well is through contests. Because Clearspring has a really rad analytics platform, we can track when and how a widget gets shared around the Web. If you can bind a widget installation to a person, you can tell which users are driving the most shares.
Then… just give a prize to whomever drives the most shares of a widget and you’ve got a recipe for something that has the potential to go crazy viral.
This is exactly what was done for the widget for Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction’s NIN|JA tour widget. Register on the widget, share it with your friends, and you could win tickets to see them along with a bunch of other prizes.
Over the last year of being at Clearspring, I’ve gotten to know and experience all kinds of fun company traditions. Today, I get to experience another one… the hackathon.
From noon today till noon tomorrow, our engineering and product teams will be working hard on all kinds of different, fun, and innovative projects that are related to what we do but not on the main product roadmap.
It’s definitely a big bonding time for the company. It’s something that everyone gets SUPER psyched about. I’m excited to see what people hack up. I’ll be here to report to you, the world, about how things go as the night goes on. Yep, I’ll be here all night. 
BTW – Check out the blog post our CEO Hooman Radfar wrote about today’s Hackathon.
Just created a page for AddThis on Facebook. If you have a minute, check it out. We’d love it if you’d be our “fan.” It’s a great way to stay connected on Facebook.
As you know, I’m a big time fan and user of the WordPress blogging software.
So… I’m excited that this week we released an updated and MUCH improved version of the AddThis WordPress plug-in. It’s much more robust and customizable.
Can you do me a favor and check it out? I’d love to hear some feedback – justin@addthis.com
Our Creative Director at Clearspring is a rockstar. He just released this AddThis Promo video that we’ve been working. It’s AWESOME and that’s not just because it’s got my soothing and sexy voice (just kidding 
) as the voice over. Check it out:
Note: I’d used AddThis on this blog in a heart beat but WordPress.com doesn’t afford me that capability. I can’t edit the template to paste in the button or load up the plug-in.
Think you guys might dig this. After an Ad Age article on widgets, my very rad friend and Viget Labs Digital Strategist Ryan Moede, asked if I’d do a blog interview with him on “Getting Started with Widgets.” I think it’s pretty cool. Check it out and drop a comment on his blog.
So… did you guys see the big AddThis update today? We launched a Web site redesign, new support forum, improved analytics, big time code optimization, and localization for a bunch of languages.
At Clearspring, we’re working to make AddThis as good as possible so that you have the best set of sharing tools available.
Do you use AddThis? If so, what do you think? If not, why?
Can I ask you all a favor? Would you please take 5 minutes and nominate Clearspring and AddThis for Mashable’s Open Web Awards? You can do it through the widgets below. All you have to do is put in your e-mail address in the widgets below and click on the link in the confirmation e-mail when you get it. It’d help us a TON!
One of our engineers at Clearspring took the NY Times Election Tracker and widgetized it. You can now grab it and put it wherever you want. Enjoy!!!
