The Gifts Project

eBay Inc. Acquires The Gifts Project

2011-09-08T16:30:00.000+03:00

Dear Gifters,

We have very exciting news to share with you today - The Gifts Project has been acquired by eBay and is ready to take this partnership to the next level.

This has been a remarkable year for The Gifts Project, and we believe this is a big win. Not just for the team and our amazing investors, but also for the state of Israel.

Going forward, eBay plans to transition the Gifts Project into eBay’s Israel Social Center and focus on building social shopping platforms and product features for eBay Marketplaces. We’ll be recruiting additional ninja developers with rock-star capabilities and keep operating from our Tel-Aviv hideout to maintain the same culture of innovation and challenge.

Not only will eBay’s immense network of buyers and sellers allow us to offer the benefits of social commerce to millions of people worldwide, but it will also help us achieve our mission of getting people the gifts they really deserve, allowing friends and family to chip-in for each other’s gifts. Our goal remains as it always was: to make you happy on your special occasion.

With eBay Group Gifts, eBay was the first partner to adopt our Group Gifting Platform and our expertise in social commerce (with the visionary Senior Director Amit Menipaz as the project’s lead). Joining eBay gives us the opportunity to expose our platforms to even more people and focus on cracking the social commerce secret sauce once and for all. The way we see it, most of e-commerce will soon become Social Commerce, and we will strive to reach our full potential of combined efforts to produce outstanding social experiences for larger audiences and create things that will blow your mind.

With all the excitement, we want to take a moment and thank you, beloved group-gifters. We offer our most sincere thanks to everyone that purchased Group Gifts through our platform, sent us feedback, or even just looked at us knowingly. You're the absolute best, you are the reason we do what we do and we thank you for all the time and insights you’ve contributed. It is because of you we all got bigger, better gifts.

Finally, we’d like to thank all of our investors and advisers, especially Dr. Yossi Vardi (a.k.a the lead machine) for believing in us, Gemini’s Yossi Sela & Gil Dibner for being supportive and helpful all along, Index’s Saul Klein for his ongoing priceless advice and Eyal Gura who has always been our very first mentor and hero.

If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to say hi@giftsproject.com or check eBay’s announcement from earlier today.

Rock on,
Ron, Erez, Matan, Maya and The Gifts Project Team

The Gifts Project on TheMarker TV

2011-08-15T12:31:00.000+03:00

The evolution of our lunch time

2011-08-11T15:55:00.001+03:00

There is no surprise in saying that the company's culture is changing when the start-up grows. But it is amazing to see those changes in action even in the most simple basic activities during the day, like lunch time.

When we first started the company, back in the home-office, lunch time was something we wanted to remove from our way to keep working. We ate a pita bread with hummus or a tuna sandwich made on spot and it was fast and simple.

As time passed, we decided tuna was overrated and you can't eat hummus every day if you wish to code after that. So we decided to invest a little more into our lunch and went grocery shopping once a week to buy "healthier" ingredients like pasta, chicken, vegis and rice. We took turns and whoever had any practical cooking skills, cooked for the team. It really worked great. Not bad. But it took plenty of time and it didn't last for long. Takeouts and deliveries worked well for a while too especially when it became too much to cook for a bunch of people.

The next phase came after 1 year when we moved to our new office. At that time, we were already 6 team members and we decided to use the lunch time to freshen up and go out. Altogether. Back then, it was still possible to get a table for 6-8 people on Rothschild's Ave in Tel-Aviv during lunch peak hours.

The problem started when we grew a little bit more. Not only it became more and more difficult to get a table for all of us in one place, but also we had a dog with us - Marti. In any case, we reached the next phase: 10bis. For those of you who don't live in Israel and don't work for high-tech: 10bis is a card fueled with real money that is offered to the employee as a benefit. With 10bis, the company can subsidize the cost of meals during work time.

You would think this is the end, I mean how low can you go? Is this a corporate or what?! But not. The next thing was that some people decided to become healthier and didn't want to grab whatever, and some became vegetarian or carnivore. At this point we couldn't decide where and what to eat at lunch time. So we created Lunch Time, an application that solved our daily ‘where to eat dilemma’ in an efficient and democratic way.

Lunch Time gave each one of us the opportunity to democratically vote for the restaurant we want to eat lunch at, and made it shorter and easier to decide where to go. “Lunch Time” enjoyed success and popularity among the employees of The Gifts Project for a distinguished period in the company’s history. We developed this app using open source code and now we are ready to hand the code for further development. Feel free to say hi@giftsproject.com.

Our first growing pain

2011-07-07T17:22:00.000+03:00

This week has started with the sound of a wall breaking. Literally.
The main reason for breaking the wall between us and the wine cellar, which was an awesome neighbor, is the fact that we are hiring more code geeks. It means we need more space. Again. So now, we own the whole floor, with many new white tables and monitors.
Before:

After:

My new Macbook Air and I are moving to the geek room, or should i say ballroom, where everything happens, and i am going to be seated next to our CT, what is very inspiring. My ex-room, or as we call it - the Spot, will turn into a round table for videoconferencing, so we could see our handsome and less handsome clients. Rachel is supervising the orchestra of all workers (electricians, painters, dogs they bring, AC people, designers, to be honest its the same person) who helped ruin the old place and are now perfecting the new one.

At the same time, we are overloaded with work, after getting back from IRCE 2011, and have to juggle between the existing customers, new customers and soon to be customers. In order to cope with this stress, we are hiring a non-salesy sales guy and an account executive who can make everyone happy. ahhahahahahhhh
The last, but not least, every morning nowadays starts with a calendar invitation. I checkout my iphone in the morning and the whole screen is covered with a huge invitation. Every single day. This means we have a lot of meetings and this is new too, although we try to keep it brief, concise, and focused.

So besides new customers, new team players, new office space and new meetings everything is the same.

Our first day at IRCE 2011

2011-06-16T10:09:00.000+03:00

This is it. It has been the most incredible fantastic day for the Gifters in San Diego. The Internet Retailer Conference turns out to be a huge success, not only because we can't talk or walk anymore, but also because we've talked with so many interesting companies, retailers (check out Cowbell.com!!!), stores, and marketplaces that couldn't let the day pass without having our Group Gifts Plugin.

Right after finishing the installation of our gigantic gift, people started pouring in the hall, and we could hardly have a word with each other between the demos.
The next challenge was to get rid of all the tiny gift boxes we brought with us.

Those boxes with a branded chocolate coin in it were all hand made by all team players who decided to sacrifice their time, and make perfect little gifts.

The last thing we did today was to sit around a table and split between us all the business cards and customer forms so each one of us could finish up his share of follow ups tonight. Tomorrow should be a long day, and i should probably hit the road and start answering some customer inquiries...

I don't know how was your day today, but mine was definitely one of the best, if not THE....
See you tomorrow. Come and visit us at #137. You can't miss it. It's huge and it's yellow.

New Video - Check out our new Group Gifts plugin

2011-06-05T14:06:00.000+03:00

Looks like our Group Gifts plugin release is getting closer. We work harder and the customers get more and more excited (and tight). The upcoming grand release is planned to IRCE 2011 in San Diego, and you are welcome to stop by and have a demo at our major Gift booth #137. In the meanwhile, check out our new Epipheo video, and feel free to share it with your friends:

The Gifts Project just joined the Facebook's Preferred Developer Consultant Program

2011-05-29T15:08:00.001+03:00

We are proud to announce that despite the highly selective application process, we just joined the Facebook's Preferred Developer Consultant Program!

Working with Facebook's platform team has been amazing in the last year. Those guys not only know what they do, but are always willing to help and go the extra mile for you. Pure awesomeness.

Happy to be in the Facebooksphere!

Pessach is over

2011-04-26T17:31:00.000+03:00

Back to work?! In fact, we never left.

I must say that this Passover was crazier than ever. We managed to sign up a new major client (still confidential), we moved our servers to a cloned environment in the west coast, launched a new core flow on eBay, and it was all Kosher.

But we are not alone, Facebook launched a new Send button, and Amazon managed to crush the Cloud...

What did you do on your vacation?

Retroid

2011-04-10T11:53:00.012+03:00

Last weekend The Gift's Project's R&D team stayed at the office, not to fix bugs, but to have an awesome hackathon.

Introducing Retroid.

Retroid is a retro alarm clock that hooks up to your Android phone and replaces the boring alarm clock sounds with real life bells and whistles. Oh and it has LEDs - 12 of them.

We were given a prototype board named IOIO from some cool guys at Google.

The board itself is based on the powerful PIC24F chip from Microchip. It's a 16 bit MCU that exposes around 40 I/O pins. The cool thing about this board is that it comes with the software to communicate with any Android-powered device!

Working with the IOIO is as simple as:

DigitalOutput led = ioio.openDigitalOutput(Constants.LED_PIN,true);

PwmOutput engine = ioio.openPwmOutput(engine_pin, 100);

boolean ledStatus= false;

led.write(ledStatus);
ledStatus ^= true;
engine.setDutyCycle(0.8f);

We started working on Friday morning. The first thing we did was to disassemble the alarm clock and separate the inner components. We needed to hook up the ringer's motor directly to the IOIO in order to control the sound. Meanwhile, we set up an Android application which handled the basic communication between the device and the IOIO.

After the initial communication test with the IOIO, we started installing the 12 LEDs in the alarm clock's frame. While we were drilling, we also wrote the software that controlled the LEDs and made them blink. We ran into a stupid bug because initially we only checked if it blinks and we weren't sure which values power the LEDs on and which turned them off.

We had lots of tinfoil for an experiment in capacitive touch (which didn't make it to the final version), so we decided to take the opportunity to protect the dog from alien mind-control devices and wrapped berry's office.

Next we wrote the software that was notified when the phone rang or received a message and sent LED animations and sound back to the alarm clock.

After that, we started wrapping everything inside, soldering the wires and drilling space for the USB cable. We also added some Floyd decals to the face of the clock (which was harder than it looks).

The finished product looks very neat; there are no cables showing and the lights are perfectly aligned J.

In the end we settled on 5 functions for the clock:

1. Alarm clock - when the phone's alarm clock rings, the Retroid rings with it with a spinning LEDs animation and increasing ringer volume.

To snooze, just violently shake your phone.

2. Text message - the Retroid rings quietly and blinks for about 2 seconds.

3. Phone call - when receiving a phone call, it imitates the ringing of an old school phone.

4. Awesome mode - when you click the "Start LED" button in the Retroid app,

the LEDs show a magnificent animation the likes of which had never been seen.

5. Display hour - It displays the current hour when it's not in use by lighting the matching LED.

Links to Media:

Promotional Video #1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEYIihnS088

Promotional Video #2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sAvXCfEj3s

A photo album of our work - https://picasaweb.google.com/LightHawky/Retroid?authkey=Gv1sRgCJiaqfj2pNSI1gE&feat=directlink#

The Gifts Project R&D Team- Asaf, Danni, Erez and Yon

Happiness and your social network

2011-03-27T11:30:00.000+02:00

A "Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network” study written by James H. Fowler and Nicholas A. Christakis in 2008, has found that happiness tends to be correlated in social networks. When a person is happy, nearby friends have a 25 percent higher chance of being happy themselves. Furthermore, people at the center of a social network tend to become happier in the future than those at the periphery. Clusters of happy and unhappy people were discerned within the studied networks, with a reach of three degrees of separation: a person's happiness was associated with the level of happiness of their friends' friends' friends.

The Gifts Project's Ron Gura is conquering eTail in the Palm Desert, CA

2011-02-23T11:21:00.000+02:00

The cat is out of the sack, and Ron has finally made it to eTail West which is taking place this year in Palm Desert, California. After many sleepless hours and a very long flight, he can sense the desert in the air.

Ron is scheduled to meet with leading brands and gift oriented retailers who are intrigued by the opportunities in the Social ecommerce, but also curious to learn about the panelists, the exhibitors, the sessions and the buzz of the ecommerce industry.

Exciting as it can be, eTail is only one of the many stops we plan on taking this year. Last week you all could find Ron as a panelist on the amazing SeedCamp, led by Saul Klein of Index Ventures.

Our next stop is probably The Next Web Conference 2011 in Amsterdam, in April, followed by speaking at High Tech Industry Association Annual Conference 2011 in Jerusalem, on June 1st.

The biggest event of the year, at least for us, is the huge Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition in San Diego on June 14-17 . On this special event, the Gifters come to California to teach people how to really give gifts.

Right after, Gura is flying to Germany to the International Gift Card Summit, Wiesbaden, Germany, on June 21st, where he will tell you more about the trends in the Social ecommerce and the opportunity this niche is opening for you. On his way back, Ron will make a stop in London for the Etail Europe on June 22nd and meet some folks for a tea.

So far, sounds busy to you? This tentative plan covers hardly the following 6 months, not including Shop.org and eTail East in Boston at the end of the summer.
Follow our blog and we will keep you posted with more news and events where you could meet us this year.

An excerpt from The Office Manager Diaries.

2011-02-03T09:40:00.004+02:00

Imagine this. It is a Sunday morning and pouring rain on Rothchild Blvd. The CEO of The Gifts Project is minding his own business as he rides his bike to work. Just as he is about to cross a crosswalk on green, a car comes out of nowhere and practically runs him over. In Israel, while the right of way is technically for pedestrians and cyclists, the rule of the land for drivers is survival of the fittest. In a brave attempt to save his life, the CEO swerves to the right and then to the left and then finds himself flat on the ground, using his left arm to break the fall. The arm certainly did a good job, because the fall isn’t the only thing it broke.

It is no secret that when men are sick or hurt themselves, they do not ask for help. They prefer to suffer in silence, making faces that convey their excruciating pain, yet communicate that they don’t need your help. So for the first few hours of the day, after he fell off his bike, our brave CEO continued his day, business as usual, making faces that convey his excruciating pain, yet sat in silence.

That same evening we were scheduled for a company movie night. We had no intention of changing our plans, as hey, it was just a broken arm and yes, he went to the doctor and took care of it. The night started out well with us drinking a shot of Jameson to health and supersizing the small popcorn that we received for free with our tickets. In addition, we had great seats thanks to my new favorite website Cinema Sitter.

For all intents and purposes it look like it was going to be a great evening- the perfect seats, whisky to warm us up before going into the cold movie theater and enough popcorn to get us at least half way through the movie. Unfortunately the movie, Season of the Witch was by far the worst movie I have ever seen in my life. While I did have help picking out the movie, I will take full responsibility on this one. Wow- no words to describe how bad it was. Just DON’T go see this movie!

Looks like we will have to go to the movies in the next few weeks to make up for our bad experience.

So I leave you with three closing thoughts/questions.

Please be in touch with us if you have any information regarding the reckless driver that tried to kill Ron. The police have several leads that it may have been perpetrated by a rival company and we need help confirming this.
Where can I find a site that gives accurate movie reviews, so I don’t end up taking the company to another terrible movie?
What does a broken arm and a bad movie have in common?

The Word Is Out

2011-01-25T11:52:00.016+02:00

After keeping our activities under wraps for the past few months, we are finally able to reveal our partnership with eBay Group Gifts.

It has been hard not to share what we have been up to over the past few months, but thanks to Roi Carthy and TechCrunch, The Gifts Project Unwraps- eBay & Index Ventures Inside.

We are still blushing from all the coverage. For the Hebrew speakers among you, check out the following links. And for the brave non-Hebrew speakers, you can always translate these articles on Google Translate.**

http://it.themarker.com/tmit/article/13863

http://www.calcalist.co.il/internet/articles/0,7340,L-34 90043,00.html

http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000617239

In addition, check out our press release which got overwhelming attention.

And our personal favorite- The Gifts Project in 140 characters or less!

Wondering why the lights are still on in our office until the wee hours of the morning? We have more surprises in store. Check out a recent status update by our CTO.

If he is this excited on a Friday night about the latest creation, you know something special is in the works.

Stay tuned for more!

**Disclaimer- We do not take responsibility for the quality of the translation. Google translate sure gives some creative interpretations when translating from Hebrew to English, but you’ll get the main idea.

More craziness to the office

2011-01-17T14:45:00.002+02:00

This week I am thrilled to welcome Ziv Meltzer (check out his portfolio) to our humble team. Our excitement about him joining us is completely out of proportion. We have worked with Ziv for a long time and finally after a long engagement we decided to marry each other.

First, you have to understand that Ziv is like a godfather to Floyd (Mottes the illustrator is the real father) and the creative persona behind many cool things we do.

Second, it is quite a challenge for us to accommodate someone like Ziv here at TGP. Therefore, we started getting ready for his arrival a week ago.

We had to arrange a creative working spot for our King of GUI to keep his mojo growing.

Third, Mottes, our passionate illustrator, had to work really hard to create a new munchkin for Ziv which reflects his genius and the modesty. Well done Mottes!

Ziv, we wish you good luck!

The Gifts Project Team.

Hackathon in Pig land

2011-01-13T15:04:00.001+02:00

Hackathon in Pig land

This week we had a hackathon in the office. After a brief brainstorming session which produced some very practical ideas for apps, our smart guys came up with "Cinema Sitter", an app which helps you find the best available seats at the movies.

The way this ideal app works is:
1. You are presented with suggestions for movies that have good seats available at your local movie theater.
2. You can preview the movie trailers and pick the right genre for you.
3. You can connect to the cinema's site directly from the app and order your tickets.

That's it. Straight forward, simple and ready! Check it out.

My typical day at work

2011-01-05T10:31:00.000+02:00

Happy New Year everybody!

Today our superwoman Office manager decided to share with you how her working day looks like at The Gifts Project. Her name is Rachel Adelman and her day is definitely a very full and fulfilling day. Have a peek:

"Somehow over the years I have picked up the reputation for the person that can just get things done. When my little brother needed help finding his first job, I took him to the mall and helped him get hired at a music store. As a placement coordinator for an internship program in my last job, whenever the impossible needed to get done (like dealing with bureaucracy or finding an internship in a new unique field), it was an unspoken understanding that I was the person my colleagues turned to. This ability to make things happen has also been very beneficial here at The Gifts Project, where each day is a new adventure.

My not so typical day:

7:15- Alarm goes off and I hit the snooze button.

7:20-7:45- This happens about 3-4 more times, but I eventually drag myself out of bed.

7:45-8:00- Never sure where the time goes. I’m definitely awake at this time, but usually I end up organizing my apartment (dishes from the day before, laundry, etc…) or am in front of my computer scanning all the headlines. This is a habit that I can’t seem to break. I am a total news junkie. It is a byproduct of being a student of Political Science. There is nothing worse than getting to class and not knowing about some huge crisis that is going on in the world. After a while it becomes addictive to read the news and to always be ‘plugged in’. So you keep doing it, even when you haven’t been on call to start a political debate at any given moment of your day for over a year and half.

8:00- Realize that I have 15 minutes before I have to leave the house and jump in the shower and try to get ready as quickly as possible.

8:26- Leave the house

8:31- Watch the bus pass by me and then start running down the street in heals hoping that I catch it.

8:33- Get on bus number 5 and start my journey from the old north neighborhood of Tel Aviv, down Dizengof to Rothchild Blvd where the Gifts Project is located. The passengers on bus number 5 represent a microcosm of Tel Aviv. It is a true Margate Mead experience and you can really feel the essence of this city on this particular bus line. For those of you who take or have taken that bus, you know exactly what I am talking about. There are the kids dressed in gothic clothing, businessmen in a full suit, high-tech employees in jeans and a t-shirt listening to their iPods, tourists, foreign workers, elderly, school children, soldiers on their way to the central bus station and here and there you have people coming home from being out the night before (or that is at least the assumption I make after looking at what they are wearing). I love people watching, so despite the fact that the bus takes the longest route possible from my house to Rothchild Blvd., there is always something to keep me entertained. And when there isn’t I always can connect to Internet via 3G and read more news and emails.

9:00-9:13- Arrive at work and thank G-d every time I enter the elevator and see that the floor we work on is still locked, meaning that I am the first one there, since I’m late and don’t want anyone to know. The truth is that I love coming to work. I just hate getting up in the morning, so I find myself running late most days, no matter what time I set my alarm.

9:15-10:00- Drink coffee, read emails, make a list of things I need to do that day, scan the headlines of the tech news, and most importantly greet all the gifters as they walk through the door. I know they work really long hours, so I try as hard as possible to be a beacon of energy and always smile. I know it may sound cheesy, but I definitely feel like it makes a difference. Usually Ron arrives first, after that Yon, then Erez (Erez is actually a tricky one- he either arrives before me or after Yon- I sometimes wonder if Ron sends him early to check me from time to time J) Maya, Danni and Marti, Berry and then Gartner all the way from Hod HaSharon.

10:00- The real beginning of my day at work. Like I said, I love my job. Perhaps it is because I work in a startup, but every day is really filled with a new adventure. I don’t really do anything that is typically secretarial. I don’t make coffee and most people who call, call Ron, Erez, Maya and Berry directly. I also don’t schedule meetings because they like to do that for themselves. What I do do, is make sure that it is fun to work at the gifts project. I feel like I am learning how to be a good Jewish mother. I make sure the boys always have yummy snacks and food in the refrigerator and plan all sorts of cool surprises.

Aside from fun, I take care of all the details. When I first started working here Ron gave me a list of 53 things that needed to get done around the office, but he just didn’t have time for. I am proud to announce that yesterday I finished the list, when Avi the guy that custom makes our chairs came to fix an arm that broke and gave us a complementary lesson regarding the proper way to sit which will cause less back problems and also allow us to strengthen our stomach muscles while we are in front of the computer. If that isn’t added value, then I don’t know what is!

While I won’t go into detail regarding every item on this list, the following is an example so you can get a better idea of what I have been up to:

1. Buy new desks (this went through various stages- shopping at IKEA and on Herzl Street to find the perfect desks for our Cyber Ninjas)
4. Set up ethernet connection so we can stop connecting via wireless
10. Copy Elevator Keys (there are only 2 people in all of Tel Aviv that know how to copy the keys to our elevator since the lock is probably as old as Israel itself- Rothchild and the whole preservation project of Bauhaus architecture apparently also is relevant for elevators and not just the exterior)

13. TGP Anniversary Party – I found someone in Israel that was able to make a cake with sugar figurines of the munchkins and Floyd (you can see pictures on our facebook page).
22. Get a copy of the key to a storage room on the same floor as our office, which happens to be home to our communications hub. This was no simple task since the owners of that storage room were not keen on this idea at all. I think giving them a Floyd sticker and bribing them with expense chocolates was what really helped me finalize the deal.

45. Build a Barcony. Building a barcony is a must for every company with a balcony. We have this amazing balcony with a view of Rothchild Blvd (which I will tell you more about soon), yet we had no real way of enjoying this important feature in our office. We built a bar on the railing and I bought bar chairs from IKEA and now we can have really cool coffee and lunch breaks outside. I think that this is by far the best thing I have done up until now. It has improved quality of life for all of our employees. I know that for me personally, the balcony has increased my moments of joy each day by at least 20%. If you are ever on Rothchild, you are welcome to come have coffee on the barcony and experience this for yourself.

11:00- I leave to do errands. What is great about my job is that I am never just in the office all day. There is always somewhere that I need to go- bank, post office, IKEA, computer store, office depot, pharmacy (we can’t have sick gifters) and more. Most errands are so I can be one step ahead of everyone else- making sure that the office is stocked with all necessary supplies, bills are paid and that no one ever says, “I wish we had …” without it appearing in the office the same day. Sometimes I even read people’s minds and appear with what they wished before they said it out loud. Since for all intents and purposes, it is still summer in Israel, I am more than happy to stroll up and down Rothchild Blvd from place to place. Rothchild is my favorite place in all of Tel Aviv. Architecturally, historically and culturally it is one of the city’s gems. Before I worked here, I always came to the Blvd on days off to drink coffee and soak in the atmosphere. So you can imagine how glad I am to be able to do this every day. There is just one thing that I have to admit that is still a huge mystery to me. No matter what time of the day I get to the office, leave for errands or lunch, or go home, the coffee shops are always filled. Can someone please tell me what these people do for a living that they can sit in coffee shops all day?

The coolest errand I ever ran was going to our amazing graphic designer’s house to drop off a birthday present. Since we are in the business of gifting, there is nothing more important to us than making sure that all of those around us not only get the full experience of giving gifts, but also experience the moments of joy associated with receiving the perfect gift. My favorite part of gifting is surprising the recipient. I left the gift with a neighbor, so I didn’t get to see the look on his face when he opened it, but I know from the email we received afterwards that our mission was accomplished. We added a moment of happiness to the recipient’s day and he really appreciated our gesture. This in turn gave us a moment of joy. If you are wondering, yes the gift was a group gift :) What can I say – being in the business of gifting is actually being in the business of increasing people’s overall moments of joy in life.

12:00- The Lunch Ceremony. I get back to the office and then we start the “where are we going for lunch?” discussion. Despite the fact that we are a relatively small company (for now), it is the most challenging moment of the day to come to a decision regarding where to eat. There are several things that complicate the issue- actually two specific people who I will not mention their names. Let’s call them David and Adam (their names have been changed to protect their identities). David is a hard core vegetarian and Adam only eats meat. Eventually we come to a compromise, but it is not without a full on battle. It can get even more complicated when we decide to split via department or gender. Luckily I have a degree in Government, Diplomacy and Strategy and can use my conflict resolution skills to make peace. Once we have decided where we are going to go, another tricky issue arises. Between the declaration of intent to eat to the time where people actually act on this urge, it can take up to a half an hour. Everyone says that they are hungry and ready to go out, but somehow everyone still sits at their computer typing away, waiting for someone else to get up first. Then a few people get up, stand at the door and wait, yet others continue to work, so the originally people that took the brave move of leaving their desks, end up back on their computers.

13:30- The whole lunch ceremony is over and then I have 1.5 hours to finish up my work for the day. I usually dedicate the afternoon to projects- content writing, market research (yes I’m a nerd and love to research) and community management for our facebook pages and twitter handles (which gives me a legitimate excuse to be online all day long).

15:30- I realize that I was supposed to leave a half hour ago—sometimes they kick me out of the office since I’m here past when I am supposed to be and sometimes they are just so busy working, they don’t notice.

16:00- I get on the bus and head towards one of what I like to call my “after school” activities- volunteering with African Refugees or other organizations I volunteer for, alumni association meetings, and attending lectures. Otherwise known as my “second shift”. One of the reasons why I took this job, was so that I could continue to be socially active. I feel like I have the best of both worlds. I get to be a part of the startup nation by day- living and breathing the world of entrepreneurship and innovation and then by night I work hard to make Israel a society that I can be proud to live in. While this country has some of the most creative minds in the business sector, running world class companies, the public sector doesn’t have the same bragging rights. Far from it even. It feels sometimes like civil society is crumbling under our feet and we don’t realize how bad it is, because the history of our country is to go from one crisis to the next, putting out fires, rather than focusing on social policy that will help make a long term change.

There are countless non-profits in Israel, working on countless social causes. I have volunteered with many including an after school program for gifted children from low socio-economic neighborhoods, an organization that works with the elderly, national service program for post-high school students, a school for autistic children, and the list goes on. I chose to dedicate my time most recently to the plight of African asylum seekers and refugees in South Tel Aviv. Unfortunately this population is the weakest in our society today as they have no status and no voice. The Israeli government has kept a policy of no policy and does not check asylum requests. Over the years, the number of asylum seekers has increased with now close to 1000 crossing the border from Sinai each month. There is an estimated 30,000 African asylum seekers and refugees living in Israel today, mostly from Eritrea, Sudan and Darfur. Recently thing have become more difficult, as the Ministry of Interior began explicitly printing on their temporary visas that they are not allowed to work, therefore have no legal way to support themselves. At the same time the government has also said that they will not enforce this policy, however it still leaves asylum seekers at the mercy of employers who are willing to hire them. Asylum seekers do not have the right to national health care, therefore only when they get sick enough to be hospitalized can they receive medical care, as hospitals are not allowed to turn them away, even if they cannot pay the bill. The organization I volunteer for, ASSAF, provides social and psychological services for asylum seekers and refugees. I am involved with giving orientation lectures and tours, helping new comers understand their surroundings and Israeli culture. In addition I am part of the PR team, giving lectures and tours to Israelis and foreigners interested in this issue, and community management for our facebook page.

Most recently, I also helped organization a demonstration, in which over 1500 asylum seekers and Israelis participating in, calling to stop the building of a detention center for refugees in the Negev Desert.

I continue to be active with this team of volunteers to advocate together with the asylum seeker community for their rights and to help Israelis better understand who they are, as the Israeli government has worked very hard at branding them as infiltrators and work migrants. In addition, we are working together to create policy suggestions which will provide pragmatic solutions for this problem.

21:00- Get home from my ‘evening shift’ and get ready to go out with friends. I like to work hard, but the most important thing in life is finding a balance between work and play. I make sure to take advantage of Tel Aviv’s fabulous night life as often as possible.

00:15- Realize that my alarm on my phone is going to wake me in 7 hours and counting and start to walk home

01:00- Go to bed and dream about gifts, making the world a better place and the next day that awaits me."

The Gifts Project Ties A Bow On A $1 Million Round For Social Group Gifting

2010-12-23T14:41:00.000+02:00

Today we have announced a $1 million financing round led by Gemini Israel Funds. This follows a seed investment back in 2009 by Dr. Yossi Vardi, and countless support by Eyal Gura, our dear shareholder and adviser.

We just launched a new website and soon will release its first white label integration client. According to Ron Gura: “the partnership with Gemini and the proceeds will help the company in executing its vision to facilitate Group Gifting on any leading ecommerce brand and to change the way people buy gifts.”

I'd like to thank Roi Carthy for featuring us on Techcrunch:

These are very exciting times for us, but the major announcements are still on their way. Stay tuned till January, and enjoy the holidays as much as you can because from now on Gifting will never be the same.

ps - Rachel and Floyd were having a thanksgiving dinner with their family while this picture was taken. We should consider photoshopping them in.

Hanukkah at TGP

2010-12-09T15:21:00.001+02:00

Now that Hanukkah is officially over, I find it hard to part from having donuts every day at work. I know it's not the healthiest choice, but it's just yummy.

For those of you who don't know, during the 8 days of Hanukkah, we light a candle every night.

In addition to the fatty foods and the candles lighting, the main part of Hanukkah is to have fun with your family and friends.

Thanks to Rachel for organizing everything!

The Gifts Project is out of the office

2010-12-05T15:12:00.000+02:00

This Friday, thanks to our gorgeous office manager, Rachel -

we decided to leave the big city and avoid the traffic in Tel-Aviv by replacing it with more serene and wild traffic:

Some of the main traffic holders are taken on this picture, but you will have to guess who was it:

After a quick, yet powerful wildness examination, we had a coffee break in the desert -

and while poor Marti tried to chase us, she was surprised to find out that we went so far, all the way to Abu-Gosh, to get some hummus:

More fun days are coming up soon. Stay tuned.

The Rotschild's Start Up Scene

2010-11-29T10:57:00.000+02:00

Find us on the map:

Amazon Patents Bad Gift Protection

2010-11-11T11:08:00.000+02:00

Maybe it's not the best timing to glorify Amazon following the recent pedophilia scandal, but thanks to Slashdot Idle Story and to the inventors at Amazon.com, you needn't fear Aunt Martha any longer. On Tuesday, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos received a patent for a bad gift defense system that intercepts gifts you don't want and instead sends you something that you actually do want. For example, Amazon explains that its 'System and Method for Converting Gifts' would allow you to set up a rule like 'Convert all gifts from Aunt Mildred,' which would automatically convert any online gift orders from your well-meaning-but-tasteless Auntie into a gift certificate. Other examples of how the system might be used: You could convert bad gifts to something off your wish list; block specific products ('Not another XYZ comic strip calendar'); or ensure that any clothing gifts match your exact size ('Check clothes sizes first')."

Now, regarding the pedophilia scandal, if you think about it, cooperating with Amazon, FBI could use this "best seller" to locate the people who read it....and carefully check their background.

Why Add Group Gifts to Your Ecommerce Site?

2010-10-30T16:51:00.000+02:00

Why to incorporate Group Gifts into your business, and what's in it for you?

Group Gifts: The Social way of Gifting

The basic idea behind Group Gifting allows friends and family to join forces and get a real nice gift for someone special efficiently and effortless. Sounds like fun if you make it easy and seem-less, like we do.

But there is much more to this nearly divine experience if your business is retailing, even if you don't have hundreds of product categories. When you look on the benefits to the online retailer or any e-commerce website, you get to see the big picture behind a social Group Gifting Platform combined with Facebook Connect. Let's review together what comes out of it:

Sell more pricey goodies
First, when a single person shops for a graduation gift, he is likely to spend a limited amount of $ on a gift (say about $30-50), however, group gifting immediately transforms this amount to a much bigger significant gift (about $150-200), an up-sale of at least 300%!

Bring users’ social graph into shopping
Second, how rare is that: a consumer shops on your site, and then using Facebook Connect, he fetches his social graph and brings it directly to your site in order to pitch in her friend's Birthday gift. Just think how much value is that...

Pump up engagement on your site
Third, those friends who come together on your site and meet for a Group Gifting occasion, they play around with it, and chat, send emails, invitations, tweets, newsfeeds, likes, and all of this about your merchandise. If you were thinking how to boost the engagement on your site... here's how.

Boost up-to-date targeted traffic
Fourth, if you feel your audience is getting older, or less "in", this is your chance to pump up your new targeted audience. They come younger, more involved, and want to shop, socially!

Personalized Gift Suggestions
Five, at times when people are eager to buy gifts, especially during holidays season, they come to your website and look through your gifting suggestions, your wizards, your gifts store, and if there is nothing unique to offer, they leave. Sad.

Working with large online retailers and marketplaces in the world, The Gifts Project analyzes millions of products. Today, you can leverage your shoppers' buying experience based on their personal likes, interests and hobbies using their permissions. This information is available to you, just come and get it.

Make your Brand more Social
Last but not least, when you incorporate Group Gifting into your website, you weave together your brand experience with social buying. Your brand becomes irresistible in its uniqueness, coolness, and appeal. You redefine communication through your customers' social buying experience.

Synergy
When combining Group Gifts with Holidays, Gifts and Events sites, adding wishlists, registries and wedding services, the social experience of shopping on your site becomes irresistible.

We work with retailers to redefine social commerce through innovation and help them leverage their shoppers’ group gifting experience. It may sound easy at first, but once you get to know this business, you learn to overcome many challenges including scaling, connectivity, security, and yet remain user friendly, simple and fun. That's what we do.

Find us and say hi@giftsproject.com. We do it for you.

Meet our new hires

2010-10-24T10:04:00.000+02:00

I am glad to welcome four new team members to our winning team:

First and second, meet Marti, who came together with Danni Friedland, our new Ruby Master. While Danni is responsible for taking Marti out AND coding, Marti takes care of our basic need: she reminds us that there's life outside the office, and pee out of the box.

Third, I am welcoming Jonathan Bergman, our new Senior Ninja who absolutely loves pizza and knows everything you don't.

And last, but not least, after a grueling interview process for the perfect new admin, we finally came across Rachel Adelman. Originally from Harrisburg, PA (we are also wondering where that is), Rachel found her way to Israel in 2000 for what was suppose to be a one year gap program. One year turned into two and then three and now ten years later she is still here. She has always dreamed of making a difference in the world, so we are going to help her realize that dream one gift at a time.

They all joined us right in the middle of bugzilla.
Until the next hire, madness and good luck!

Hiring an admin

2010-10-11T09:59:00.000+02:00

This is a nightmare!!!

I've been through this couple of times in my life, but i keep forgetting how painful growth of a start up can be. We are hiring three new people and the interviews are taking half of my day. I am looking for an admin and web developers.

Now, this process is completely different for each position.
With web developers, the routine is to use our connections, post on Linked in, and use specialized HR firms to hire high end sharks. Their CVs come in reasonable amounts like 5-6 a day, and i can definitely sort them by relevancy and invite candidates to meet our legendary CTO - @erezdickman, that will crucify him with his super technical test.

However, when it comes to the noisy commonplace of finding a decent open minded admin, things go wild. Obviously, we use our connections to spread the word, and so far it works best, but posting this job all around was a big big mistake and i am inundated with resumes of nice ladies who are sick with being an admin, but yet somehow keep coming back to it.

Anyways, I'll keep you posted how it goes, and will appreciate your references.

How to cut expenses when traveling to Silicon Valley?

2010-10-03T13:43:00.000+02:00

We all know how exhausting and at times frustrating the trip to the West Coast can be. Traveling this route for the last 6 years, and living in California for the last four years, I'd like to share with you some ideas how to cut your expenses on this trip, and yet make it as enjoyable as you can.

Before we get started, once you know the dates of your trip, book your travel insurance. You never know what might happen to your luggage or to you on the way. This is a must.

The other thing to keep in mind - the weather in San Francisco is very tricky. Although California is sunny, San Fran is freezing most times a year. Well, not freezing, but cold (12-14c) and foggy. Bring your jacket with you.

Flights - For those of you who fly coach:

1. Don't be tempted to pick the lowest price on the flight - it usually involves having two layovers in each direction, and your time's worth money too.
2. US Airways, a star alliance member, are aggressive and competitive with their international fares. They started flying to Israel on July 2, 2009.
3. If you need to stop in NY, Continental has a connection in Newark, NJ.
4. Last and not least - If you're sensitive to long flights, you might want to consider having one 14 hour length flight to LA and then take another 1 hour short leg to your final destination.

Flight reservations:

1. If you are working with an agent - don't forget to mention your frequent flyer and if you don't have one - make one!
2. Make sure to book your seats with your reservation, otherwise you might be left out to the worse seats.
3. Obviously, make sure your passport is valid and you have your visa ready.
4. Domestic flights - I suggest signing up to Virgin America's newsletters, where they send once a month their promotional rates and these are ridiculously low. I must worn you though, VA is not cheap when booked spontaneously.

Accommodations:

1. When traveling for over 3 weeks, I recommend checking Craigslist Sublease section where you can find luxurious apartments for executives including many amenities, wifi, free parking, and great location - the price range can be around $1500.
2. You can always find a nice and modest hotel around the airports or next to your destination in a range of $70-90 a night, including breakfast.
3. Consider booking your hotel with the chain that respects your frequent flyer to earn more free miles.

Car rental:

1. Needless to mention that you always should book the lowest group from Israel. Normally, the rental offices don't have the car you booked, and they upgrade you to the next level.
2. Insurance - Always add damage waiver to your reservation. It's worth it. However, other insurances are debatable in CA.
3. If possible, pick up your rental not from the airport leasing office because they charge you an extra fee for that.
4. Always check your car's gas before leaving the office - as it might be not full and it should be.
5. Always return your car filled with gas, otherwise they will charge you excessive amount for fueling the car.

Alternative to the rental:

If you plan to stay in San Francisco, i suggest signing up upfront to a Zipcar Service. This green community share car service is the cheapest option if you don't need the car for full days. The pricing is rated per hour (about $8) and includes insurance and gas. The cars are located all over the city and can save you parking fees for your rental. In the city, it's easier to commute on foot, or Muni (public transportation) or by taking a cab, but for daily convenient transportation to offsite meetings, Zipcar is great and easy.

To be eligible, you must:
* Be at least 21 years old
* Have a valid driver's license (from any country) and have been licensed for at least one year
* Not have repetitive moving violations in the last few years

If you decide to use a Zipcar - get a Zipcar app for your iPhone to easily find the car next to you.

Phone services:

1. The cheapest option is to buy "Pay As You Go" phone at RadioShack in less than $30.

2. If you are becoming a frequent flyer, you should consider joining AT&T or other vendor's basic plan and get a local simcard with your own number for your next trips.
3. If you use an iPhone, please remember to turn off your international roaming. Once you are out of the country, when the phone fetches the data from the server and downloads your emails, you are paying for every bit of it.

So now you arrived safely, you have a place to stay, and you are mobile. How about few fun suggestions for meeting spots:
1. The W San Francisco Hotel never disappoints. It is conveniently located, has great bar seating, nice restaurant and a lot of space for private chatting.
2. Brunch at Neiman Marcus on the top floor. The best view of the Union Square in the city. Stylish and exclusive.
3. Americano Bar and Restaurant at Vitale's Hotel. Very close to the water, great vivid ambiance.
4. A little offsite, but yet in the city, on the ocean side located the Beach Chalet Brewery. For those who never been there, i do recommend to check it out.
5. For tea lovers and healthy eaters, I recommend trying the Samovar Tea Lounge in Yerba Buena Gardens right in the middle of the city next to Moscone Center.
6. Crossroads Cafe, bookstore and Art gallery - the best coffee shop in town. No wifi, but great food and awesome productive environment.

After having your important meetings (I am assuming they were important since you came all the way to the Bay Area), don't forget to send a thanking follow up note within the following 24-48 hours after the meeting.

Now, I am not giving you ideas for fun, since this is a business trip, and we are trying to be efficient here, but i will give you an idea how to work in fun with new friends, the way they do in San Francisco. Have you heard about CoWorking?

There are a bunch of very cool CoWorking spaces in the city, where people come together and share ideas in a supportive entrepreneurial environment. My favorites are Dogpatch Labs and CitizenSpace that was formed by Tara Hunt the author of The Whuffie Factor. Make sure to thank the space on twitter when you leave out for hosting you (yes, it's free for guests in most of the places).

Before you head back home, remember to show your gratitude to those who waited for your return and bring cute swags for your employees. Here are few gift ideas to alternate the Toblerone version:

1. Personalized M&Ms - you can print any text, pick your color, and add pictures/logo to the candy. Order upfront, and have it shipped to your hotel. It will save you time and effort.
2. Some gift stores sell personalized California license plates with names.
3. Moleskins. For those who don't know the legendary notebook - it was used for the past two centuries by great artists and inspiring thinkers.
4. Starbucks travel mugs.

Have a nice trip back home, and don't forget that while waiting at the gate on the way back - many people speak your language, so don't say too much loudly.

Maya Gura
Chief Gifting Officer
The Gifts Project
@giftsproject

The Money Tree

2010-09-24T15:07:00.000+02:00

What is easier for you to imagine:

1. People in Chicago walk by a tree filled with free money without even noticing?

OR

2. People look at The Money Tree, but somehow don't really see it?

A Gifts Project in a Shoe Box

2010-09-20T12:21:00.000+02:00

This week, my daily automatic Google search for "The Gifts Project" brought to me two non-profit results in holidays spirit, and i wanted to share those gifting ideas with our readers.

The first is Shoebox gifts project for Haiti:

Organizers of the annual charity campaign Operation Christmas Child are calling on Mayo people to help them realize a goal of sending 15,000 gift-filled shoeboxes to the children in Haiti affected by last January's earthquake. Operation Christmas Child is accepting shoeboxes up until November 18. After October 2nd, people packing shoeboxes can visit the Samaritan's Purse website, www.samaritanspurse.ie, to find their nearest drop-off point. The website also gives details of recommended items to put in a shoebox.

Second, the SimpleGifts project:

The Simple Gifts Project helps raise money for non-profit organizations by selling gifts of food, shelter, and health to be donated to children in need. They make it easy to give money by making each dollar people donate 100% tax-deductible. Pretty simple.

Happy upcoming holidays to us all.

Happy Birthday to Berry

2010-09-16T15:06:00.000+02:00

Today, our dearest Chief Product has his 26th birthday! Although he is far far away in California, we still tried to take part in his celebration with the truthful help of www.ediblearrangements.com:

As well as Berry's coolest dad Dan and family that are very proud of him, and organized the best group gift on earth:

Berry, Happy and Yammy Birthday to you! We miss you and send you hugs, kisses and hummus, well, fruits instead.

Come back soon.
Truly yours, Floyd, muchkins and us

Floyd and muchkins starring on iLikeCharacters.com

2010-09-13T14:03:00.000+02:00

Check out Floyd and muchkins starring on iLikeCharacters.com:

A new hit directed by Ron Gura

2010-09-03T12:01:00.000+03:00

Check out the very first movie directed by Ron Gura, our talented CEO who took the freedom to use our characters in his movie.

Watch the trailer and have fun, yes, it's about us...

http://www.lost-in-val-sinestra.com/047544c75ff663a413

Looking for another crocodile or a shark

2010-08-31T12:11:00.000+03:00

We are looking for a talented web developer to join our growing team.
Here is some details on the perfect candidate.

Job Description:

Senior Ruby on Rails Web Developer
* Fluent in one or more OO or scripting languages like Java, PHP, Python, Perl (big plus for Ruby on Rails)
* Experience with MVC
* Experience with jQuery and other JavaScript frameworks
* Familiarity with MySQL or similar relational database
* XHTML & CSS skills with full understanding of web standards
* Experience using common API's and web services (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon) to extend website functionality
* Experience with version control systems: SVN\GIT
* A strong interest in social networks, with some exposure to the technology/concepts behind them
* Some systems administration ability in a Linux/Unix environment
* Excellent communication skills, attention to detail and be able to work in a fast-paced, team-work driven environment.

Berry we miss you

2010-08-29T10:59:00.000+03:00

Our dearest Chief Product is traveling for an endless period of time (a month!!!) for work in California. Nothing is the same without him here. No one eats humus anymore, no one is sitting in the spot. We feel very lonely without you Berry, come back soon!

Muchkins and Floyd

Humus in a tube

2010-08-18T14:16:00.000+03:00

Really? In a tube?

It's kind of like cheese in a can, or butter in a bottle. Hummus has to be one of the most perfect snack foods of all time. We love it spread on bread or pitas any time a day, you can have it as a dip, or as the main dish, you can have it cold or warm, plain or flavored. Kids like it, dogs lick it, BBQing with humus makes any event smooth and yummy.

You can even have it in a bottle:

I think that the tube is very practical, innovative and easy to use, as well as the bottle in the video, however what's really important about humus is not its shape or package, but if it really tastes good?!?

I like my humus fresh and natural. I'd like to have humus on the day its beans were mashed, with garlic, and a bit of lemon, tahini, olive oil, salt and some spice, with no preservatives, served to me on a plate with few pitas on the side, and some green pepper next to it with pickles. That's how i prefer my humus.

Why You Shouldn’t Add Your Teachers As Friends

2010-08-12T13:07:00.000+03:00

One of my old friends just liked a new Facebook page: Why You Shouldn’t Add Your Teachers As Friends. Apparently, this is a big issue for group gifting since you need to add your teacher to your friends if you want to organize a group gift for your teacher/coach/professor in case of appreciation gift.

Seems that this subject is controversial in many aspects since within days 2,486 people Liked this page. Unfortunately, this page on Facebook leads to a MUST take survey. This is another 'trick' or opportunity for scam. If you read the fine print - in order to get a response from your results - YOU HAVE TO GIVE THEM YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER and along with that you are charged $9.99 (per month). It's definitely SCAM.

However, regardless of this page, I do think that the subject is interesting enough to discuss.

I took the freedom to collect few of the responds and here's what i got:
1."Because teachers can look up everything you're doing! & honestly they can ruin your entire school career because of 1 thing on Facebook that wasn't even their business!" - posted by Corryn.

2. "The Singer" thinks otherwise: "First of all, I see no harm in the Facebook relationship that students can have with teachers however, I do believe that a teacher should use common sense and integrity in this regard. I have students who I made my friends but they are limited to what they can see. Personally, I put them in a group and most of my messages to them involve reminders about class assignments, tests, etc. I have automatically signed up to remember their birthdays, and I might comment on things they write about in a positive manner. There is no way to get around the methods that are available for communication these days. People have to learn to get over it. One just has to be careful about what they say and how they say it."

3. Elizabet said: "a girl at our school got expelled for cursing, like once at somebody on Facebook,and they were all joking and stuff, because the teachers saw it as an update. also, since one of my friends added a teacher as a friend, every time she says she's going to do somethin', like watch a movie, the teacher gives extra homework."

I guess teachers can be tricky these days....and we definitely need to limit their access to our personal information, but we also need to consider the circumstances, the personality of the teacher, and your personal relationship with the teacher.

Holiday gifts

2010-08-01T14:46:00.000+03:00

Holidays are coming up. Some might say there are a few months, but let's be honest - one holiday or another is always coming your way - before you even notice.

While I was thinking about a good gift for the holidays, bored of the regular stuff one can get for his loved ones, a friend of mine told me about this little Israeli company, which prints detailed high quality photo albums, using a very simple album editing software.

Since I have recently returned from South America where i took way too many photos if you need to go over and filter them (a bit over 3K), I figured I should incentivize myself to do it. Anyone who returns home with so many pictures always wants to share his photos and show them around, but other than a few Facebook uploads - which usually occur during the trip - no one ever gets the time to actually do so!

So I decided to start spending an hour here and there, arranging, cataloging and designing all the photos into a neat album I could show my family and friends once I'm done (if I actually manage to pull off this that only few succeeded in doing) - and who knows - maybe I will be done by the holidays and have an album someone would actually like looking at, without falling asleep!

For now - have a sneak preview of some photos from my future album, hopefully in a month or two, I will show you my complete work!

And don't forget to check out Lupa on www.lupa.co.il - you might find a good idea for your next gift :)

What the hell is a code freeze?

2010-07-26T09:53:00.000+03:00

Apparently, when large-scale changes are made to an application, it is recommended that no other changes be made at the same time. This is often called a CODE FREEZE, as the code is frozen, or unable to be changed, until the major changes have been made.
All regular bug fixes have to be done before the code freeze date. However, as we all know, some of the best patches always happen at the last minute....

Code freeze usually also means all currently known bugs will not be fixed and it goes without saying - no new features are added. However, a true "code freeze" where nothing could be changed would be pointless - what if you found a major bug? You couldn't just ignore it, could you?

Some people call it a code "slush". The main difference between an actual code freeze, and a code "slush" is apparently that code "slush" is when you want to make sure that only critical fixes are actually worked on, however in most cases the critical issues seem to number about two thirds of the total outstanding defects...mmmmm.

I am starting to think that nobody actually freezes their codebase on the day they say they are going to.

And how the hell the code can freeze in this crazy heat?

Why Group Gifting is not only for ladies?

2010-07-18T03:05:00.000+03:00

What incentives guys to participate in Group Gifts?

Based on a survey we conducted in March, 2010 and our user behavior since, it seems that ladies outnumber guys in Social Group Gifting, namely initiation of the gifts, and we want to know WHY. Our numbers show that 70% of Group Gifts organizers are ladies in their 21-37.

As far as my personal experience goes, guys are lazy. Sorry guys, but you are (maybe not all of you). They avoid engaging in any activity that takes more effort than what they will get back. In this case, assuming that a female friend starts a Group Gift, they will jump on the opportunity to participate because it can benefit them in few ways:
1. He will be seen as a gifter of value, guys don't like to be perceived as cheap.
2. He doesn't have to think about the gift, and can be as passive as he desires.
3. It will save him money.
4. It will save him time.
5. If the receiver is a nice lady, it will contribute him some points...

In other scenarios, participating in a Group Gift can benefit the guy in much more evident ways. If his boss is getting married, and people in the office decide to pitch in together, the guy will never want to be the organizer, because it makes bad impression on his peers, however participating in a gift of value, can buy him some points with the boss, and remove the awkwardness from personal gifting in this case, (or his ridiculous attempts to be creative).

Also, if the poor guy is invited to his cousin's wedding, but he hates to attend boring weddings, he can definitely compensate the sensitive bridezilla by pitching in her new silverware.

My good friend, Marianne Hythonen, was kind enough to share with me her thoughts about men gift gifting behavior: "I would assume that it’s not guys natural role to pick gifts, especially if they are in a relationship. Guys are not into group gifting unless there is a woman who had initiated a group gift OR the gift receiver is a desirable lady. I would argue that social status plays a big role too: guys usually want to get “rewarded”, in this case it would be a social reward (praise, approval, generosity) for their “effort” and with that heighten their status among the people they value (can be a friend, or a spouse). So as long as the gift initiator is a woman, guys motivation to participate in a Group Gift will be to get recognition for their effort, and efficiency (saving time and money)."

Do you have enough clean healthy air in your office?

2010-07-13T10:08:00.000+03:00

After two weeks in our new and the coolest ever office, it was time to make it greener. Our ambitious engineer, Gartner, was kind enough to educate us on the last year's Ted talk regarding plants in the office space.

Kamal Meattle, a researcher and a longtime activist for cleaning up India's air has presented at Ted Talk, 2009 how with three basic green plants you can grow all the air we need in the office space. The building they have tested the plants at, became the healthiest building in New Delhi, India. Those seemingly magical plants, but actually very common ones are:

1. Areca Palm - a living room plant, which removes CO2 and converts it into oxygen.
2. Mother-in-law's tongue - a bedroom plant, because it convert CO2 into oxygen at night.
3. Money plant - which removes volatile chemicals.

Find out how many plants you need to stimulate enough fresh air per person at work from these plants on this video:

Summer Time - Colors Everywhere

2010-07-05T10:46:00.000+03:00

Things have changed. Colors rule our lives everywhere. No more black and white dancing together, but we see colors all around us on the walls (offices and homes), on our electric devices, appliances, cars, bikes, everything. Is it only the summer or a new colorful world is ahead?

While appliances with cool and fun colors have been in European homes for years, it took a while for the rest to accept it. Instead, people continued to buy that white, almond, bisque, or black washer or refrigerator. After all, a refrigerator or washer in those colors is comfortable, what our parents had, and frankly, it's all that's been available. Until now.

Now more than ever, appliance companies have made it easier for you to have a colorful laundry room or kitchen with colorful appliances. For example, at Sears, you can get a Kenmore Elite HE4t front-loading washer and dryer, in pacific blue, spice rum, or almond cream colors and many others, for $1,499 for the washer and $999 for the dryer. Better Homes and Gardens offer you a trend review of colorful appliances this summer.

So why not add a little splash of color? Cuisinart have created a full dedicated homepage showing appliances in summery colorful collection.

Besides appliances, you can download free colorful skins for your IE, your iPhone, your Wii, and you can get a new skin for your MySpace layouts. More than that, you can personalize Your HP Gadgets With Colorful Skins sice HP and SkinIt had teamed up to offer "skinned" products. You can "dress up" a variety of gadgets with a ton of unique designs. For instance, once you find a skin you like, choose the device you want to customize. From cameras to phones, you are able to go creative crazy. You can even create your own skin with the Photo uploader! - thanks geeksugar for the tips.

The question is whether this is an attempt to paint our lives in more lively bright colors, or we are seeking for ways to differentiate ourselves from others in order to feel special and unique? My guess is a little bit of both. Maybe this dilemma popped out for me because i just moved, and i need to redesign my whole life from scratch, but i like colors, especially lime green, and we can all take advantage of living greener life.

Enjoy your summer.
Maya

Floyd Goes Tel-Aviving

2010-06-29T09:59:00.000+03:00

The last few weeks were rather crazy here at The Gifts Project's new office. Besides moving to the coolest location on earth, right in the heart of sleepless Tel-Aviv on Rothschild's Ave, we have also hired few ninjas to help us cope with loads of work, and new projects.

I am happy to welcome our latest acquisition - Asaf Gartner, our lead engineer and IT expert (and he actually likes it!!!). Asaf always dreamed of flying remote control helicopters, and i am sure one day he will make it happen, but for now he is practicing his violin when he is out of hugging servers.

Best of luck!

Welcome to Avishay Sheba!

2010-06-13T22:04:00.000+03:00

Welcome to Avishay Sheba, our new top geek in the opening five.

In addition to being our Chief Geek, Sheba is learning Spanish and an amateur actor in indie movies.

With Sheba and the squad, here we come...
Stay tuned.

The Gifts Project wins at TechAviv startup competition in NY

2010-06-10T19:09:00.000+03:00

Congratulations to The Gifts Project for winning at the Sam Zell Entrepreneurship startup competition at TechAviv NY last night.
As Charlie Federman wrote on his blog: "...I was really impressed by the people, quality of ideas and implementation, the audience participation and the organization skills of the Meet-up host, Yaron Samid."

Thank you everyone for your support!

Is Regifting Bad????

2010-06-08T18:38:00.000+03:00

Before addressing this important subject of regifting, let's crack first what does it mean. "Regifting" is the act of taking a gift that has been received and giving it to somebody else, sometimes in the guise of a new gift. In the USA, "National Regifting Day" is defined as December 18th. In Canada, eBay marketed "National Re-gifting Week" as December 26th-30th.

Now, did you know that two out of three people admit that they have either regifted or seriously considered to regift? In fact, more than half of adults recently surveyed by Money Management International (MMI) find regifting acceptable. A study determined that giving an unwanted gift you received to someone else (regifting) is not considered as unacceptable as in the past. According to the study, 77% claimed that they decided to regift because the item was better suited for the person who received it. 9% admitted to doing it out of laziness and 4% said they regifted because they did not like the person who was getting the gift.

So what do you think is regifting bad, lame and mean, or it's ok to regift as long as you follow your guts feeling?

Well, I think that regifting is fine. It's not my favorite way of gifting, but sometimes you get this china set from a delusional aunt, and you just absolutely have to get rid of it. It's a bad karma to have something in your house that you can't event look at, certainly not use it, or keep it. Since every pot has its cover, i am certain that this china set will be appreciated better by some of your cheesy friends. Besides, sometimes you just forget/busy and you don't have time to prepare a better gift, and regifting can easily become "better than nothing".

The problem with regifting is that there is a slight chance that the person may find out aboout this, and you should be ready for it, because this chance you are taking might ruin your relationship with the gift receiver. Therefore, you must prepare a touching speech for why you decided to regift that specific gift to her, and it better be GOOD.

However, if your regifting idea comes up because you try to save some bucks, the better idea would be to set up a group gift, and invite everyone to chip in together. This way, you are not only come out generous, but you also save some time and money for your friends!

Floyd's Birthday

2010-05-28T19:29:00.000+03:00

What happens when friends want to surprise Floyd on his Birthday, but they are not sure how?

Real Friends. Real Currency

2010-05-24T20:18:00.000+03:00

Virtual Currency vs Real Money

We've been debating about choosing the right combination of paying methods with our active users, advisers, investors and other steak holders for a while now. Recently, we came to the conclusion that virtual currency is great for casual gaming apps, but when real friends are gifting real gifts, they prefer to have maximum transparency and pay with real money, as long as they can participate with any amount they want and it remains confidential to avoid awkwardness around gift's participation.

So now it's ready, up and running, and we want to know if this is what you guys had in your mind, and if it feels safe, secure and inviting.

Thanks!

Graduation Gift Ideas for Parents

2010-05-18T20:07:00.000+03:00

They have been working towards the future, and you feel you want to find a graduation gift unlike any other. Many sites and stores offer unique personalized graduation gifts, but do you think these gifts will dazzle them?

One of the most memorable times of our life is college, college sweetheart, college friends, college independence... When you just graduate, you still can not grasp college as one thing you are going to remember and cherish through your entire life. All you want is to see what is out there and your confusion ads up to a big diffused question "who am i now?". This confusion can not be resolved with a gift, no matter how cool the gift is. However, maybe listening, supporting and providing valuable advice can lead the proud graduate to better realize what he really wants for himself. Maybe some practical help with financial planning can be much more valuable than any cool gift? Also, maybe this is a great opportunity to come closer to your children after they have been away for so long and affected primarily by their peers.

So here are few ideas how to get closer to your graduate, and show him the way:
1. Take him fishing for two days, camping outdoors. Listen to him, put on his favorite music, learn how he feels, share your own memories from that time, don't preach.

2. Buy him a good personal finance planning book - and go over the important parts together, explaining its importance and providing examples. They don't teach those things in college, even in Economics. When you just graduate, you naturally don't think about 401K or pension, but the earlier you start, the better off you will end up.

3. If you can afford, send him to a trip abroad, maybe a different culture or some perspective can resolve some of the confusion.

4. You can also prepare well towards the graduation day and make a movie / album with the most memorable places and experiences in college - their dorms, best friends, girlfriend, classrooms, their hobbies, whatever it takes. This special gift will accompany them forever, but it takes time and cooperation by close friends.

5. It's possible that your daughter has already decided what she wants, and even accepted a job proposal, but reassure her that she is welcome home anytime, and your house is always open, no matter what she needs. Don't let her tough appearance fool you. She is still young, and doesn't have all the answers.

Good luck dear parent.

Give the Gift of Life

2010-05-07T21:08:00.000+03:00

This morning i receive a Google Alert about a very unique group gift, a gift of life.

While fully occupied with other group gifts and our loyal users, this alert has drawn my attention immediately. The link lead me to The Philadelphia Jewish Voice article "Hope from Trauma". This article is about loss, love and gift of Amy Kaufman who tragically lost her 17 year old daughter in a car accident and discovered that her daughter, Shauna, wanted to be a donor. However, Shauna's wish could not be fulfilled due to some technical and bureaucratic reasons which Amy decided to successfully fight.

This is how i learned about The Gift of Life, Bone Marrow Foundation. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, Gift of Life is one of the nation's public bone marrow, blood stem cell and umbilical cord blood registries. Through its life-saving work, Gift of Life is a world leader facilitating transplants for children and adults suffering from many life-threatening diseases, among them leukemia and lymphoma.

Gift of Life's vision for the future may sound simple: A match. Anytime. Anywhere. For anyone. But its mission is to Give the Gift of Life.

Wedding Group-Gifts

2010-05-02T20:00:00.000+03:00

Often the more-expensive items on a wedding registry are dream/luxury wedding gifts that the couple don't believe they're actually going to get. Whether you're crazy enough to buy such a wedding gift on your own, or you convince other guests to chip in together, you'll be making dreams come true.

Following an article "Don't blow your budget on pricey wedding presents" posted on Washington Post by By Cameron Huddleston on Sunday, April 25, 2010, i would like to expand the talk about the benefits of Social Group Gifting.

I think that despite the fact that registries take a lot of fun out of buying a creative thoughtful gift, we can still find affordable unique ideas by organizing a group gift. We lately, organized a Group Gift for our friend using The Gifts Project on Facebook. Every registry normally has few overpriced items, and so we picked a Digital Video Camera that will stay with the couple for their 10th anniversary, and shared with many mutual friends and everyone was happy to chip in with any amount they felt comfortable with. Lesley (the bride) was thrilled as she didn't expect anyone to pick on that one, it was definitely a win win.

Here is a brief list of the main benefits of the Collective Wedding Group-Gift:

1. No headache. You pick a big gift from the registry and set up a group gift.
2. You share the details using social and viral tools on The Gifts Project.
3. You chip in with any amount you want and save the awkwardness for everyone.
4. The new wed couple gets a big significant gift that they never imagined they will get.
5. Even those who couldn't attend the wedding could participate in the gift, and feel better with their absence.
6. The Gift is shipped directly to the couple's house, so no hassle for the organizer to go buy it or deliver it.

Everybody happy. Did I miss anything out?

Unique Gift Ideas for Moms for This Mother's Day

2010-04-27T19:26:00.000+03:00

How many moms are in your life? We don't want anyone of them to be left out, especially the new moms. However before you focus on choosing the gift, you must understand the difference between a new mommy (and her needs), and an experienced mother with grown-up kids.

In the US we celebrate 2010 Mother's Day on Sunday, May 9 for those of you who don't know, and the great thing is that we have enough time to get ready and organize a Group-Gift from our family.

Here are few ideas:

1. A beautiful, framed poster of her family tree. Geni.com offers a personalized poster with your choice of designs and colors.

2. Apple offers to say Happy Mother's Day with an engraved iPod touch. But remember, once it's engraved, you can't replace it.

3. Canvas on Demand offers Mother's Day Sale with up to 30% off.

4. GPS to Make Mom's Life Easier
The Gifts Project has a big selection of GPS with all the features that Mom will need without overwhelming her. Write "GPS" in the search box and check it out.

5. A Pink Slim Digital Camera is always a great treat.

6. Show mom some love by treating her to a delicious meal at her favorite restaurant.

7. Bring her your new graduation diploma with flowers, you will make her as happy as she can be.

Please come back and tell us what you liked the best and how she responded.
Good luck!

Facebook Ads are Down

2010-04-23T09:09:00.000+03:00

Apparently during the highly acclaimed F8 conference in San Francisco, Facebook Ads are down, and the following message is posted:

"We're sorry!

Facebook Ads is currently unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

What a bummer.

Apple iPad - What is the big buzz about?

2010-04-16T00:13:00.000+03:00

According to Engadget, the Apple iPad is a killing word, more than a product, it's a statement, an idea, and potentially a prime mover in the world of consumer electronics.

The Cnet states that the Apple iPad is the first affordable tablet computer worth owning, but it won't (yet) replace your laptop.

Many videos have been posted on youtube, such as:

A new Facebook group called "iPOD, iPhone, iTouch..iPAD..what's next? iTampon?" has reached 546,760 fans within days claiming that Apple is going out of hand.

Many times when a new product is released to the market, you can trace polarizing responses, but never as much as the iPad gets. Looks like the haters tend to be techies and the fans tend to be regular users. Seems like among many great new features, the iPad lacks few basic capabilities such as downloading books from any store besides Apple's eBook store or a digital camera, having said that, it makes your world sensually richer and visual. I, personally, find it funny that the majority of the passionate reviewers haven't held an iPad in their hands yet.

I am positive that the next version will address many of the concerns the critiques raised. Meanwhile, i wonder whether the iPad is really as revolutionary as many people see and describe it. Or maybe, we just like to get our hopes up in the air that a new invention will take us to some magic place where no one has ever stepped before?

Easter, Passover & Springtime

2010-04-06T20:00:00.000+03:00

Easter Eggs in the techie world mean surprises hidden in the software for people to discover. They are part of the small details that make a difference for customers and a great way to get people connecting around your product. Easter Eggs are best when they are lighthearted and non-usability essential. They bring a challenge that helps keep customers engaged with the product.

But seriously what are the REAL Easter Eggs?

Eggs have been a part of springtime traditions for a very long time. Since new life came from eggs, eggs became the symbol of nature’s rebirth. Many decorated egg customs developed around the world.
These are some of them:

* Germans use green eggs as a symbol of mourning on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter.
* In China, parents might give family members and friends a red-dyed egg to announce the birth of a child.

* During the Renaissance in Italy, romantic young men tossed empty eggshells filled with perfume or cologne at young women. The custom spread to Austria, France and Spain. Later, in Mexico, empty eggshells were filled with confetti and used to make wishes. The eggshells, called cascarones, are still used today at Easter and for other happy occasions.
* For a special celebration, Japanese parents give their children eggs that are decorated to look just like the children!
* When the monarchs called tsars ruled Russia, a jeweler named Peter Carl Faberge made eggs out of precious metals and gems. The tsars gave the eggs to family members as special gifts. Today, both serious egg artists and hobbyists use less expensive materials to decorate eggs that look like the Faberge eggs.
* Using wax, many colors of dye and special designs, Slavs make very fancy decorated eggs called pysanky. Long ago, people believed that the pysanky helped keep the world going around. The beautiful pysanky are still made in modern times and some collectors display them all year.

Decorating eggs is fun for all ages and makes a great family project. You don’t have to be a professional artist to decorate eggs. You can dye eggs simply with food coloring, special egg dyes or dyes made from natural foods. You can also paint eggs, cover them with beads or sequins and other materials or make them into faces or animals. For a family project, you can even divide the tasks assembly-line style. The youngest family members can dye the eggs. Older children, teens and adults can paint or glue decorations on the dyed eggs.

Thank you to http://www.incredibleegg.org for this great Easter article.
Happy Spring break!

April Fool Party Games and Gifts

2010-04-01T20:00:00.000+03:00

Happy April Fool's Day!

April Fools' Day, sometimes called All Fools' Day, is one of the most fun days of the year. Some see it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stems from the adoption of a new calendar. In any case, this fun holiday is awesome for practicing your best tricks.

Here is some fun suggestions provided by thefoolsday.com:

Choose the coolest gifts for your friends and relatives that are sure to entertain them or stun them on the day for fools. Popular choice for book worms may include books on tricks and pranks, hilarious and funny jokes, books on optical and other illusions, the impossibilities and eternal puzzles of science, practical joke books and some easy experiments that create shocking effects are some good options. The other books may include silly and foolish ideas and anecdotes.

Gag gifts are of course the first choice on April Fool's Day and you will find plenty of ideas from the websites marketing pranks, fake currencies, fake receipts and parking tickets, practical jokes and gag gifts. Some popular choices include fart machines, stink bombs, various bumper stickers, fake bullet holes and cracked glass tattoos. Fake lottery tickets, fake skeletons and blood are also popular while many love the pen that gives a mild electric shock. Almost everything is available online these days including boinks, inflatable dolls and animals, extra large diapers, dead roses and fishes, silly putty, finger cuffs, Groucho Marx glasses with a big nose and mustache, crackers & poppers, funny tattoos and whoopee cushions. So go for it and make a mark that everyone will always remember and cherish.

I would also love to suggest some very funny games and pastimes for your April Fools Day Party in this section. 'Wisdom Sayings' is a board game that is most suitable for a group. The funny combinations, with which the people come up to complete the proverb they had hardly ever heard, are just hilarious sometimes. 'Baby Sounds' will certainly be loved by kids and small children and is an interesting family game. This will give the parents an opportunity to spend some quality time with their kids too and interact with them bringing out some family memories from the times when their kids hadn't learnt to talk yet.

'Belly Dance For Men' is just fun to watch and you will certainly roll with laughter as the men try to dance their way seductively like ladies and imitate their dreamy graceful steps. It is more suitable for a party for adults with bolder and more active guests. 'Bluff Master' is a game that uses a standard deck of 52 cards and it gives you full scope to cheat and lie with only one catch - 'Don't get caught!'. 'Silly, Silly!' is again a fun game in which the stupidest person is to be chosen and crowned on April Fools Day and is a perfect icebreaker and get the people to tease each other and build up the mood of the party.

Have fun!

The shadow side of social gift-giving: miscommunication and failed gifts

2010-03-27T20:00:00.000+03:00

Published on Communication Research Trends, Sept, 2006 by J.D. Sunwolf

“I know what I have given you. I do not know what you have received.”--Porchia (1969)

Gifting as Dilemma: Gifts Do Not Speak for Themselves
"From the day you are born until the day you die, you stand in the midst of gift-giving and gift-receiving dilemmas. Every gift you receive requires that you attempt to decode the intended message of the giver, then challenges you with an added interpersonal burden of appropriate gift reciprocation. Unfortunately, gift objects do not speak for themselves. They require decoding.

Today, social gifting behaviors stand at an intriguing intersection--where the paths of communication, culture, social psychology, philosophy, and marketing meet. While people exchange gifts interpersonally, they are increasingly influenced in their object-choices and gratitude-reactions by mass media marketing. People are increasingly reporting stress, disappointment, anxiety, and misunderstandings when they anticipate or participate in social gifting.

As a form of social exchange, gifts both create and re-create relationships. The idealized gift, however, requires the union of the right object with the right person at the right time—a challenging social intersection. Gift exchange may be one of the few remaining crucial social incidents of significance, testing relational ties on the marketplace.

Failed gifts, in fact, can trigger relational trauma. Givers may be reluctant, receivers ungrateful, or occasions poorly-defined. As a result, relational gift-giving and receiving may be accompanied by high levels of anxiety. A gift-receiver's personal "psychosocial-noise" can cloud or distort the symbolic message(s) that were intended by a gift-giver.

Not all gifts are successful: however clear any giver may feel about the meaning intended behind a gift-choice, once the gift is offered, a receiver faces the communication challenge of gift-interpretation."

That's why Group Gifting can significantly reduce the risk and uncertainty in choosing the right gift. Group Gifting also makes it easy, affordable and reduces the responsibility the gifter takes upon himself. This creative and informal way of communication presents another channel for us to communicate our affection and share positive energy with one another.

The bridesmaid's survival guide

2010-03-16T19:16:00.000+02:00

Written by MP Dunleavey

The wedding may be the happiest day of the bride's life -- but does it have to be the most expensive day of yours? For many bridesmaids it can be, because tradition and expectation have merged into a giant snowball of expenses.

Negotiating with Bridezilla

Peggy Post advocates a polite (of course) but forthright approach to money matters -- because it will only make you miserable to pretend that it doesn't matter. Here's how:

Scope the scene. The first step is to gauge what sort of celebration the happy couple has in mind. A weekend at the Four Seasons will put very different financial pressures on you, the bridesmaid, than a barbecue. "Can you let me know when you're getting married and where it's going to be?" is a tactful way to inquire.

Voice your concerns. Many brides have a rosy vision of their Perfect Day, but Post says it may be possible to negotiate certain concessions ("It's easier if you're a close friend or sister," she adds). Few brides will compromise on their desired location, but they might scale back on the cost of your dress or their own hope to have a wild bachelorette weekend in Vegas.

Be honest. "Instead of fretting and being resentful, it's important to carefully and calmly speak up if you really have to," Post says. For example, if you're in school, just had a baby, or were recently laid off, it's appropriate to explain your financial straits: "I'd love to be in your wedding, but I can only afford X for the dress." This gives the bride an opportunity to offer help or some other solution.

Don't overextend yourself. Many attendants feel they must give a gift for every shower, plus a wedding gift more or less equal to what the married couple might have spent for each guest. This is a myth, says Post, who advocates a much more financially sensible approach: "Give a gift based on what you can afford and your relationship to the couple," she emphasizes.

Group Gift. Giving a larger gift, as part of a group is fine, and essentially easy and original. If you're invited to more than one shower, or if you're invited to a shower you can't attend - there's no need to struggle with financials over a gift, but instead with good planning ahead, you can master the best significant gift by setting up an affordable Group Gift. Everyone at the shower will appreciate it, and you will keep being the most fabulous bridesmaid.

So cheer up, and try to enjoy it, and maybe (just maybe) you will be lucky enough to find your dream guy if you make this adventure classy and easygoing.

Heading to SXSW

2010-03-11T20:00:00.000+02:00

I am really excited to go to SXSW this year, especially since I missed it last year. SXSW was the place where I discovered Twitter in early 2008. I remember being at a cocktail party (the 3rd one that evening) and felt a bit overwhelmed with so many people around me, so I sat down for a moment next to a guy who was typing voraciously on his new iPhone. I asked him what is he doing, and he replied ‘tweeting’.

Earlier that day, I was at this session where the panelists spoke about portability between social networks, APIs, Open Source and Twitter. I was fascinated and decided to open a twitter account to try it out. But I didn’t know what to say, and more importantly to whom. So the very day after, I started following people that I met at SXSW, and they followed me back. I shared my thoughts about the conference and the sessions and we discussed them together.

This is how I started my tweeting life. It’s not that I became addicted. Not at all. But sometimes when I was pre-engaged with my iPhone and people asked me what are you doing? I was tweeting.

This year I am thrilled to discover new worlds and freshen up. My schedule at SXSW is crazy as i try to grasp it all, and I keep wondering what “new me” will come back from the conference. Or am I setting the expectations too high?

10 rules of Pro Gifting

2010-03-06T02:18:00.000+02:00

Do –

1. Always get your partner a gift on your anniversary / special occasion / Valentines Day. It can be something small, a cute funny greeting card, but don’t skip it, it’s a life changer.
2. Try to plan ahead – it will be more thoughtful and cheaper!
3. If you like sending flowers - always test your source and their flowers – the flowers on pictures can look very different in reality.
4. When you look for a gift – try to enjoy it. It’s one of those small opportunities to make people around us happy even if it’s not the most unique, bright or exclusive gift.
5. When you’re not sure what to get, you can always get a random item (perfume) at one of your friend’s favorite shops and get a gift note (if you are not comfortable enough with a gift card), so she could replace it. It’s simple, easy and works!

Don’t –

1. Don’t forget your mother’s and your partner’s B-day date. Make sure it’s listed on your calendar, and get prescheduled annual reminders. You can use a FB Calendar or any other reminder service. It’s fairly easy nowadays to keep records of the special occasions of the people in your life.
2. Don’t ever get the same gift twice, not even for two different friends. If they find out, it might get awkward.
3. Don’t regift. It might sound like a good cost-effective idea where everyone might be happy, but the bad scenario is not worth it, believe me - it can get pretty ugly.
4. Don’t overpay. If you regret it, you might feel bad later, and blame your friend even without noticing it. Remain truthful to yourself and your budget.
5. Don’t forget adding a greeting card, your personal note can make a difference.

How to throw the best surprise party?

2010-03-01T20:17:00.000+02:00

The birthday day is approaching and you are not sure how can you make your friend happy on their special occasion. Except for the really low % of people who don’t like surprises, most of the people will be thrilled to see their beloved friends on their b-day. Let’s make it happen and have some fun while doing it!

1. Pick a date. It’s always better to throw a surprise party before the actual b-day date. This way the surprise is much bigger. It can also be right after, but preferably not on the actual b-day date because they will be expecting it then the most.
2. Make a list of invitees based on their FB account or their cell contacts. Don’t leave tracks behind you!
3. If you aren’t close friends with special person’s friends- find someone trust worthy to help you gather the information, the names and contact details.

4. Use FB events to manage the attendees’ list, but be careful with confidentiality - your friend might see it on their news feed. You can also use www.evite.com and create your own evite. But obviously be careful, the b-day person cannot be invited.
5. Never tell anyone until two weeks before the actual event. Two weeks is a decent notice for people who want to come.
6. Have plan A and plan B to distract the person on the evening of the event. It should be something he expects to do on that day, nothing too odd or suspicious.
7. Make sure people behave in the same way they normally do next to him on the day of his b-day and before the event. There is absolutely no point making someone feel lonely and neglected in order to surprise him.
8. On the special date, make sure people don’t park right outside the venue where the event takes place. Put a warning on the evite, and on the reminders.
9. Always follow up with your guests. A week before your event- send out a follow up email. A few days before your event- get a final count.
10. Bring a camera and have someone to capture this glorious moment.
11. In order to really make the best out of it – make sure you all chip in for the gift the b-day person dreamed about. You can always use www.giftsproject.com. It’s free!

What is Gift Economy?

2010-02-23T19:24:00.000+02:00

Gifts create bonds. They create reciprocal connections between individuals, they result in interaction between people and thus are highly personal. There is an unspoken obligation of the gift receiver to return the generosity at some point in the future in some way, shape or form, but there is no set date or value for the future interaction. Researching various gift economies, it was found that those who perform the most favors and give the most gifts to others are often the most powerful because they have set up multiple reciprocal favors that they haven’t called in yet. Even if they never call in those favors, the gratitude from the recipients adds up to doing something good for the world.

Today is Random Act of Kindness Day!

2010-02-17T20:00:00.000+02:00

Random Act of Kindness Day is an unofficial holiday increasingly celebrated around the world in order to encourage acts of kindness. A random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a person, or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual. There will generally be no reason other than to make people smile, or be happier. Some people assume that if they can't donate or make a significant impact over many people's lives, it's not worth to perform a small act, however, we believe in: "if you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one".

I came across this guy last week who is very talented and he decided to pay for his upside down mortgage by singing and selling pixels: http://pleasehelpmepayoffmyhouse.com/#english
You are welcome to start your celebration of the Random Act of Kindness Day right here, right now.

If you have a kindness story you would like to share with others, please feel free to comment.

From now on you can set up a Group Gift for your friends!

2010-02-16T15:05:00.000+02:00

A bachelorette party is coming up? Your best friend has a birthday? Your colleague at work is getting married?
Great! From now on you can set up a Group Gift for your friends and invite others to participate. You can easily become the best friend by taking few very simple steps and your friends will be grateful forever.

We have been listening to our users' feedback and realized that not everyone feels confident enough to pick their own gift, even though we all deserve one! So, we decided to add this desired feature of setting up a Group Gift for each other. I invite you to try it out and tell us what you think.

One of the most challenging parts was to accompany the good friend who set up a Group Gift and make life real easy for her during the process because not only she had to pick the perfect gift for her friend, participate in the gift and spread the word among others, she also has to lead the way to the victory!

That's why we decided to award friends who set up gifts, chip in and help spread the word with GP coins. We make it very easy for you.

You are welcome to try it out: www.giftsproject.com

Maya and The Gifts Project team

New Version is Coming Up

2010-02-11T22:55:00.000+02:00

Right before the Valentine's weekend, I wanted to give you heads up about a new upcoming version of The Gifts Project.
The new version should enable you guys to set up a Group Gift for friends without stretching each others budgets and yet make everyone happier on their special occasion.

We hope to launch next week and until then Happy Valentine's Day!
Stay tuned...

10 tips for absolutely the best Gifter

2010-02-05T20:14:00.000+02:00

Who is the best Gifter and what makes her an expert?

Many people state that 'as long as the intention was good, the gift is less important'. Well, I am going to challenge it. Personally, i believe that gifting is not for everybody - it's for people who actually like gifting and are capable of being selfless and thoughtful at times. I don't think this statement works in the gifting situation, because in order to really make someone happy with their gift, you need to research, and have basic understanding of the recipient's personality. Having said that, many people refer to the gifting process as an obligation they need to fulfill the best they can. That is completely fine and socially acceptable, however doesn't necessarily indicate a 'good intention'.

To support the Gifters who are willing to invest some of their attention to the gifting process, we have gathered here some of our best advice for gifting:

1. At times, when you walk the street and bump into an item that screams “Joe” – Get it for Joe! It may seem like you’ll have plenty of opportunities to buy it later, or find something nicer, however the reality is that you won’t. So why wait? Get it and hold on to it until the right moment comes, and believe me Joe would be grateful.

2. When you buy/make someone a present, you should always focus on their interests / desires / wants instead of their main practice in life / profession. So if Joe is a Veterinarian – obviously you shouldn’t get him a dog doll despite the fact that he loves animals, but maybe more like a tie / cologne / sexy underwear to make him feel more muscular :)

3. Avoid being superstitious in gifting, and don’t assume based on stereotypes. A stay at home mom doesn’t necessary want a new set of pots; she might want a book on how to start your own business. As well as a CEO of a company doesn’t want for his B-day a new book on leadership skills, but more of a massage package to get away and relax.

4. Avoid focusing on your personal taste! It’s not about you this time; it’s about their special occasion and who they are. So if you don’t like a yellow color – deal with it, however Joe may love it – and his taste comes first.

5. Think out of the box. If possible, get something they wouldn’t have gotten for themselves anyhow. It’s nicer to get something you really want than something you really need (unless they cannot afford the needed item and really want it). For example – if Joe needs to purchase a book for his school – it wouldn’t be probably the best gift if you get it first as a B-day gift. The idea is to stick to added value and an element of a surprise.

6. Don’t count hand in hand; it will pay off much better if you are generous and not counting the pennies to break even with Joe’s gift last year. Pettiness has never contributed to our relationships.

7. Always purchase gifts according to your budget. Although at times you feel very generous (maybe the person was extra nice to you or you got a bonus) still keep it to your budgeting limits, you will regret spending too much money later. Gifting should be always truthful and wholehearted. It is much more important than impressing someone with an overly expensive gift, and also embarrassing at times for the gift receiver.

8. If you are completely lost, and out of ideas, get a gift card, you must know something about your friend’s hobbies or interests to make him happy even without a dazzling gift (iTunes/Apple gift card always works for me). You might be surprised, but in 2009 the most wanted holiday gift was gift cards. According to a recent study, 55% of consumers hoped to receive gift cards.

9. Take notes when it happens! When Joe mentions stuff he wants, or you detect a need by yourself – make a note, you never know, but it might become very handy one day, especially when you are out of ideas.

10. Check out online if they have a wishlist or a Gifts Project account, maybe you’ll find out exactly what they want. In that case, simply chip in! It’s the greatest, easiest, affordable way to make your friends happy!

Happiness and your social network

2010-02-01T20:46:00.001+02:00

The most popular & desired gift ideas (straight from Genie in the bottle)

2010-01-27T20:37:00.000+02:00

Now that Christmas is behind us, we can review the list of perfect gifts to make your friends and family happy, and more importantly - to make you the best gifter!
We took the freedom to check what our community thinks about the most desirable gifts this year and came out with a short list of winners:

Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s ebook for reading digital books and other digital media
iPod – Apple’s portable media players (you really don’t know what iPod is?)
iPhone - is an Internet and multimedia enabled smart phone by Apple
Wii - is a home video game console by Nintendo
Xbox – is a video game console by Microsoft
Power mat - A revolutionary new way to wirelessly charge all your favorite devices from one power source without the tangled mess of wires
Polar Monitor – A heart rate monitor for physical activity
Nintendo DS – is a dual-screen handheld game console by Nintendo
Flip MinoHD™ - a portable digital pocket camcorder
iHome iPod Dock – a built-in docking station to charge and play the iPod
Sephora Scent Sampler Best Sellers For Her - ten deluxe fragrance samples

How to make people happy?

2010-01-22T18:56:00.000+02:00

Someone once asked me ‘why would I want to participate in so many people’s gifts, when it’s not even my closest friends?’. Well, I feel the answer is not so simple.

First, we need to look deep inside on our personal happiness level because there is no way we can make people happy without being happy ourselves.

According to the Kabbalah - Giving should be made for the sake of giving. The inner of giving is independent of any calculation of the will to receive. Here there’s no intention of self-benefit, no good feeling, no wish for society to live in peace just so it will make my life easier, no gain in social stature, no increase of self-esteem. Nothing, nothing for myself at all.
The “Law of Tenfold Return” is that Universal Principle wherein gifts freely given for Spiritual Use return to the grantor good fortune equal to or greater than ten times the loss. The ‘Law of Tenfold Return’ works on the principle that when a vacuum is created it must be filled, when a seed is magically planted, it will bear fruit greater that its weight and original value. Basically, it’s simply states that whatever you give will be returned to you times ten. Therefore, you should give what you want to receive. If you want money, give money; if you want love, give love; if you want attention and appreciation, give attention and appreciation; and so on.

Second, the expansion of the virtual world and growth of social networks is changing the type of the relationships we have with our circle of friends. While in the past, we had few close and deep relationships, nowadays we have hundreds of friends from all over the world, however we interact with them on a selective basis of topics and predominately using digital media.

In order to make numerous connections come closer and share their happy moments with their entire network of friends – they can actively participate in those special events and yet keep a reasonable way to share this love with everyone without stretching their actual pocket.

Third, a gift economy (or gift culture) is a society where valuable goods and services are regularly given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards. Ideally, simultaneous or recurring giving serves to circulate and redistribute valuables within the community. The organization of a gift economy stands in contrast to a barter economy. Some consider the gifts to be a form of reciprocal altruism. As an example you can view Israel's response to the Haitian earthquake, the latest in a long line of noble deeds when it comes to disasters around the world: 140 countries have received aid from Israel. Israeli rescue teams' efforts have been second to none, and their staff have shown true humanity in a time when it is so desperately needed by the victims.

Of course another interpretation of the gift economy is that social status is awarded in return for the gifts.

This spread of positive energy and love enables us to contribute to the society around us and catalyze happiness in our environment.

Personalize your Valentine's Day with M&Ms

2010-01-20T01:55:00.000+02:00

Sweet! This Valentine's Day, say what you feel on personalized M&Ms! How cool is that?

This year, we are bringing to you this awesome idea to surprise your special someone with a heartfelt message or upload your favorite photo of you and your sweetie! Here's some more ways you add some spice on your day of love:

• Sprinkle romantic messages around the house
• Upload that perfect picture of the two of you together
• Bake cupcakes with your FACES M&M'S® as the topping

Happy Valentine's Day!
The Gifts Project

Floyd feels very lucky to win his Interactive Badge at SXSW Party!

2010-01-13T20:07:00.000+02:00

This Monday, Floyd managed to convince his boss to invest in SXSW Interactive 2010 in a very unconventional way.

I went to SXSW Interactive Mixer in San Francisco with other movers & shakers, participated in the ruffle, and surprisingly enough won a free SXSW Interactive registration Badge! Never won anything in my life - so it's about time. Check it out on SXSW Interactive.

I am very thrilled to go because Tomorrow really Happens in Texas every year, and everyone will be there.

Being very excited with SXSW, we decided to award all SXSW participants with FREE coins to try The Gifts Project using the code FLYD201. Hopefully some participants will get a real gift, just like i have.
If you plan on coming too, let me know, will be great to meet you.

Floyd and Friends

Hello World! Meet Floyd and The Gifts Project

2010-01-12T03:31:00.000+02:00

So who is Floyd? Why Floyd? What is he up to?
Floyd is a caring friend, conscientious member of the society, an active member of the giving community and a Pro Gifter. He is here to teach us to become good friends and awesome Gifters, and he is an integral part of The Gifts Project.

The idea behind The Gifts Project is to provide a new fun way to enable real group gifts where everyone can chip in for their friends. This way, the desired gift doesn’t have to be expensive for anyone anymore. To make things simple, a person who has a special occasion coming up, picks her desired gift on www.giftsproject.com and hopes for the best. Meanwhile, her buddies discover her wish and each can participate in her gift without stretching their budget.

My friends – @rongura, @matanbar, @erezdickman and I @mayagura have been working for a while now to launch The Gifts Project. When we set out to build this application, we took a deep look on the existing ways to create group gifts and wanted to twig them. We worked hard to develop something new and different so people could get the gifts they always wanted instead of repetitive virtual messages. The result is a simple, easy to use, free and definitely the best way we know to chip in for gifts.

This blog is simply about gifts. After years of extensive experience organizing group gifts offline, we hope to share our knowledge, and tips with you and spread love and happiness among your friends. From now on, if you need any advice related to gifts or surprises – our gifting community will be here for you.

You are welcome to join us and enjoy giving and receiving the best gifts ever – because you choose them. The Gifts Project absolutely loves feedback. Feel free to say hi@giftsproject.com or follow us on twitter @giftsproject.