

Hipvite, quick and easy way to organize meetups - Plea for TechCrunch coverage - BrianGaffney
http://pleasefeatureustc.com/

======
rkudeshi
I'm a sucker for these types of "resume websites," so I clicked over. Some
thoughts:

1) I literally have no idea what your app does. At a minimum, add one sentence
about the app itself!

2) Is the aim of the site to really get featured by TechCrunch or do you
actually want it to go viral amongst HN types? I ask because you give no
reason for TechCrunch (or anyone else) to cover your app. What is special
about it? Why would TechCrunch's audience be interested? Most of these types
of websites have some type of "intro letter" explaining the benefits to the
intended audience, which you are currently lacking.

3) Your video is pretty good (and helps me figure out what the app actually
does!)...so why do you have it hidden in the bottom corner of the website and
behind an additional click at that? Put it above the fold and make it easy for
people to actually watch it! This could also solve point #1 mentioned earlier.

4) This is more of a personal thing, but I took issue with the line "we even
made this better looking than our site!" Why should this random microsite be
"better" than your app's real website? It made me curious, so I started
looking for a link to the main website. I didn't find anything immediately and
only then realized I had to click on the logo. So I clicked over and I think
your "real" website is actually much better. You don't have flashy slide-in
graphics like on the microsite, but you have a good concise description of the
app and then a well-made link to the App Store. Might want to take some
inspiration from that for this microsite.

Hope this helps and good luck!

------
il
Why do you care about TechCrunch coverage? It's a great blog, but it's just a
blog. TC coverage won't make or break you. You'll probably get more traffic
from this submission to HN than a TC post.

~~~
olalonde
> TC coverage won't make or break you.

I've often heard the opposite (in reference to Twitter's success for example).

[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/05/business/media/michael-
arr...](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/05/business/media/michael-arringtons-
audacious-venture.html?pagewanted=all)

[http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Mee...](http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Meet-
The-Reporters-Who-Can-Make-Or-Break-Startups-3678889.php)

Perhaps things have changed since then.

~~~
il
You can prove this empirically. TC publishes dozens of posts a day- are there
dozens of billion dollar companies being created daily?

------
ryan_f
First, I agree with everyone on the TechCrunch coverage and it not being what
it used to be.

But just as a pitch/landing page, I don't get it. If I was <insert news site>
I would leave the page immediately. It doesn't show off your product. It just
requests them to donate more time to find out through their own research,
which seems highly unlikely.

Why not use your home page? And if that doesn't cut it, maybe that should be
fixed before asking others for coverage.

Best of luck!

------
temuze
I might be wrong, but at first glance, it looks like everyone involved needs
to install Hipvite to organize and event.

If I am correct in thinking this, I would advise you to make an SMS fallback.
It's difficult to organize an event with friends if they all need iPhones to
install the same app.

~~~
gummadi
Apparently they do send a text link.

>> A web link is sent as a text message to anyone that does not have the app
so they don't miss out. <http://hipvite.com/learnmore>

------
ClintonWu
Respect the move and it just might work. If it doesn't, then might want to try
building a relationship with a TC human being before the coverage ask.
Probably a higher probability use of your time. Maybe you already have it
though and this is part of the push.

~~~
cofejay
Cheers, we tried contacting TC twice but no luck. Hopefully this push could
get their attention.

------
daurnimator
A great idea + app; but I can't consider using it until an android comes out.
I can't rely or assume that the people I meet with have an iPhone.

------
shalmanese
Great website but poor timing. I was going to forward this to some contacts at
TC... except they all just left for Burning Man this morning :(.

~~~
cofejay
Bummer, didn't know..any chance on a follow up? I'll shout you a beer :)

~~~
shalmanese
They're still at burning man until the end of the week. If you haven't gotten
into TC by then, I fear they'll view it as "stale news" when they get back :(.

------
mindcrime
Two questions: Why does TechCrunch still exist, and why isn't there a _good_
media outlet focusing on technology / startups / etc?

OK, bonus third question... why does anybody care what TechCrunch has to say
anymore? Their reporting is rubbish, their attitude is crap, and their logo
looks like it came out of a 4th grade fingerpainting class.

~~~
taskstrike
They have tons of readership, and a lot of VCs browse the site.

PR is a just a method to drive traffic and hype for your startup.

~~~
benologist
Is any of that still true today? This isn't 2009, TC is a factory now and they
are pushing out 2 - 3 dozen pieces a day on mainstream tech news and what
giant "startups" and corporations are doing.

The last part I guess is the same as it always was but the volume is so big
now you'd have to be falling down the front page before you even realize
you're on it, and VCs must have better things to do than check back every 30
minutes for the next article.

~~~
taskstrike
Look at Alexa ranks for them. Their traffic remains strong. I still scan the
headlines for every article and I assume other people do the same.

------
codyko
Gorgeous app. Graphics are very clean and the interface is intuitive. Nice
work!

