We decided that we were long overdue to start actively seeking  feedback from our paid  users.  So we did.  Obviously, we used our own hosted survey service, PapayaPolls.com.  Eventually, we’ll create a separte survey for non-Premium users of our site too.  Both will be updated and revised as we go along.

We’ve got a handful of responses so far.  While there are no clear patterns, the input is extremely valuable.  It’s a highly recommended exercise.   After all, shouldn’t all decisions be data driven, if possible?

I did a quick Google search to find out example deals, this article about the San Jose site came up.

I signed up, so that I can see which local retailers give Groupon.com a try. If you’re into new marketing concepts, or if you are a retailer yourself, sign up for your own Groupon.com Vancouver account – yes, I get a referral credit for that link.

I’m keeping an eye on Groupon in Vancouver. If it hits critical mass, I suspect that one or more of my retail clients will be experimenting on Groupon.com sooner rather than later.

This clever young fellow, DamageTutorials, seems to really enjoy creating his usernames with unique-names.com.

Not only is it a better quality video than we would ever be able to make, coming from us it would literally be self-promotion. When this fellow does it, it’s much more believable.

Thanks DamageTutorials! You made our day.

Update: Rats, it appears that DamageTutorials’ YouTube account has been deactivated. We’re hosting the video here on the blog, we can’t find contact information for DamageTutorials… so if you happen to see this, drop us a line.

Here’s the original YouTube video embed, though, it probably will never work again:

Check out the video DamageTutorial’s – Unique names – Thinks of a username for you in seconds on YouTube. Make sure that you turn on your speakers, the narration is quite good.

So, I get peeved when larger firms do email communications wrong.

Today I received an email invite from a company claiming to do work for Fido.  I think it’s cringe-worthy.

My first step in my research was a quick glance at the Fido homepage – no mention of a new survey program, though, I didn’t really expect to find one.

Looking strictly at the email itself then, here are some tidbits:

Subject line:  Invitation to Join the Fido Listens Panel

OK so far.

From: Fido Listens Team <fidolistens@itracks.com>

Who is iTracks.com? I’ve certainly never heard of them.  Definitely a yellow caution flag.

The email copy talks about a survey and some prizes for participating in Fido’s latest customer feedback thing.

A lot of scams offer prizes or financial incentives.   Can you get two yellow caution flags?  Or maybe just upgrade to a larger one.

The survey link goes to  https://surveys.itracks.com/survey/RogersFido_4?ID=xxxxxxx.

Well,  iTracks.com hosts the survey.  Their homepage looks legitimate at least.  Funny, I was expecting iTracks.com to be an online MP3 store.

And a support email address of support@fidolistens.ca.

Wait, now what is fidolistens.ca? More on Fido Listens later on.

And a contact mail address of Ipsos Reid, a well respected research firm based in Vancouver.

Ah! I’ve heard of them. Actually, I know people who have worked there. Of course, anyone can write an email with someone else’s legitimate mail address.

So, let’s review. Yes, I am a Fido cellphone user.  But who is iTracks.com?  Do I really believe that they got my email address from Fido? Who is FidoListens.ca?  And is IPSOS really involved?

fidolistens.ca?  At least this was somewhat comforting.  The vanity domain of fidolistens.ca forwards to https://iaf.ipsos.ca…, i.e. a page belonging to IPSOS and transparently hosted by them on their own domain.

In the end, I feel comfortable doing a survey that is hosted by IPSOS.  But that’s only because I know that IPSOS Reid is a legitimate firm.  A little over a year ago I ranted about another Fido survey attempt in my blog post, How to Properly Use 3rd Party Web Services, I didn’t feel comfortable with the firm conducting that survey.

If you are using a 3rd party firm for surveys or anything that is customer related, please make it easy to verify that it’s legitimate.  At Papaya Polls, we offer to host our pages under your own subdomain.  It works great and it is very confidence inspiring.  I would have zero hesitation in doing a survey which had a web address of http://fidolistens.fido.ca or http://surveys.fido.ca.

Anyway, enough ranting.  Time to enjoy the sun.

If you’re a teacher, event host, or group organizer that is looking for a fun way to celebrate the festive season, Perceptus suggests that you visit our web based bingo card generating site, print-bingo.com and generate your free (and customizable) Christmas themed bingo cards.

Of course you’re free to create non-Christian bingo themed cards for the holidays. You can start your custom bingo cards by editing our word list for the Winter Holidays.

As always, basic use of our site is free. But you’re welcome to upgrade to a Premium access account for only $10.

Merry Christmas!