Spin the Pen Revisited: Spin It to Win It

Last summer, my friend, Daniel McCoy, and I entered the Pentel Recycology Student Campaign of the Year contest, hosted by Alloy Media + Marketing. Our entry to the contest was called “Spin the Pen. Save the Planet.” Among our many campaign strategies, we utilized a Facebook group, YouTube page, Twitter page and website. We featured pen spinners JC and Xero spinning the Recycology products.

As winners of the contest, Daniel and I attended the John Caples Awards, were offered internships at Alloy Media + Marketing to further the Spin the Pen campaign, and received a lump-sum of $5,000 to split among ourselves and those who helped out, JC, Xero, and our cameraman, Josh. Great prizes, right?!

Unfortunately, I was unable to take the internship, but Daniel did a great job there. He continued the Spin the Pen campaign, but focused on the Pentel RSVP, a pen that many pen spinners consider to be the best pen to get started spinning with. I think that was a great move, as many spinners kept telling us that the Recycology products were too light and had too many protruding functions to spin.

His new campaign is called “Spin It to Win It“. The main video is shown above. Check out the website for a tutorial, an introduction to Xero (the featured spinner), and more. You can even upload your video for a chance to win $500! Here’s Xero’s entry:

My congratulations go out to Daniel and Xero! Great site, videos and campaign!!!

Yoostar Test with Marilyn Monroe

On Fashion’s Night Out at Bloomingdale’s, I had a chance to try out the YooStar home green screen kit with Marilyn Monroe. Check out the video above!

Free ColdStone Ice Cream for Make A Wish Event

This just in! Go to Cold Stone Creamery on September 24th from 5-8pm for free ice cream when you make a donation to Make A Wish Foundation! About 85% of Cold Stone proceeds in September will go to the foundation. To learn more about the social, click here. For store locations near you, click here!

Yoga Toes!

My friend Maria has been wearing YogaToes for quite a while now. She’s an enthusiastic fan of these jelly-like feet helpers. As a New Yorker, my feet are one of my top concerns. Cobble stones, pavement, sidewalks and curbs can really take a toll on your feet! Not to mention, I’m always challenging my feet to stiletto duels in the streets.

I finally decided to get YogaToes, as I way to relax and treat my poor feetsies! They came earlier this week and I’ve been using them since. They are supposed to help shape, stretch, condition, align, strengthen and stimulate toes while treating and preventing bunions, hammertoes, fatique, poor circulation and varicose veins.

They have annual Labor sales in which they take $25 off the usual price of $49.95. Having missed the sale, I just searched for deals. I happened to find a deal in New York Magazine for $15 off!

After a week of use, I haven’t seen much of a difference, however, as I’m mostly trying to prevent feet problems. Seeing those gross bunion ads in NYC subways has really scarred my mind! I hope I never have those problems!!!

Fashion 2.0 Fashion Week Meetup Sponsored by Style Coalition and Ideeli

(Above: Maria Kucinski and Erica Swallow (me) at the Fashion 2.0 Fashion Week Kickoff Meetup)

(Above: Yuli Ziv, founder of Fashion 2.0 Meetup, and Deirdre Sullivan, Social Media Director at ideeli.com, hosted the fashion trivia giveaway!)

Last night, I went to my first official Meetup! It was the Fashion 2.0 Fashion Week Kickoff Reception that took place at W New York – The Tuscany. Organized by Yuli Ziv, the party included an open bar, a hot gift bag full of goodies and a ton of fun guests. Some highlights for me included hanging out with my BFF Maria, meeting a few great people, sipping wine, getting compliments on my Moo.com minicards and seeing Phillip Block.

For more photos, check out my Flickr photostream!

My First Time as Mayor!

Hooray! I just became a Mayor on Foursquare for the first time ever! It just so happens that I’m the mayor of Dean & Deluca – Times Building. I owe The New York Times for this great honor. If I didn’t work in this building, I wouldn’t be compelled to eat so many Two Little Red Hens chocolate cupcakes, supplied by Dean & Deluca, just downstairs! And thank you, Dean & Deluca for your existence. And Soraya Darabi for introducing me to Foursquare! Cheers to all!

Friend.ly Facebook Friend Stats

Cool! I just discovered Friend.ly, a Facebook application that analyzes yours friends’ demographic information and outputs basic statistics.

Thought I’d post my friend stats here so that you could all psychoanalyze me!

Out of Erica’s 1,035 Facebook friends:

Most common name: Kevin (11 friends)

Most common zodiac sign: Libra (83 friends)

Longest name: Maximillian-Conroy Hencke

Shortest name: Yi Li

Female/Male: 50% / 50%

Single/Taken: 39% / 61%

Youngest friend: 17 years old

Oldest friend: 105 years old

Average age: 23 years old

If you’re interested, go try it yourself at http://friend.ly!

Note: You can click “Don’t Allow” for both prompt boxes and it will still calculate the statistics. Plus, you don’t even have to publish the output to your Facebook news feed!

Invitation Codes – Haute Look, Gilt Groupe, Rue La La, ideeli, Editor’s Closet, The Top Secret, Glam List, Beyond the Rack…

I just landed a social media dream job at Bloomingdales.com. As a result, I’ve made it my personal mission to learn about and join all of the sample sale websites out there! These websites are a great way to enjoy designer fashion at extremely low prices!

There are quite a few, so I’m racking up memberships left and right! I’d like to share the wealth, as many of these sites are invitation-only websites. If you’d like an invitation code to any of the following, just comment with your e-mail address and which one(s) you’d like an invite from and I’ll send you an invite to join in the fun!

Beyond the Rack
www.beyondtherack.com
Click here to sign up for Beyond the Rack now!

Billion Dollar Babes
www.billiondollarbabes.com
Click here to sign up for Billion Dollar Babes now!

DD Push
www.ddpush.com

Editor’s Closet
www.editorscloset.com
Click here to join Editor’s Closet now!

Gilt Groupe
www.gilt.com
Click here to sign up for Gilt Groupe now!

Glam List
www.glamlist.com

Gomatta Girls
www.gomattagirls.com

Hautelook
www.hautelook.com
Click here to sign up for Hautelook now!

ideeli
www.ideeli.com
Click here to sign up for ideeli now!

Juxzy
juxzy.com

One Kings Lane
www.onekingslane.com
Click here to sign up for One Kings Lane now!

Rue La La
www.ruelala.com
Click here to sign up for Rue La La now!

Secret Style
www.secretstyle.com
Click here to sign up for Secret Style now!

The Top Secret
www.thetopsecret.com
Click here to sign up for The Top Secret now!

If you’d like to join any of the above-mentioned invite-only sample sale sites, write in the comments below! Don’t forget to mention which sites you’d like invites to and your email address!

Make a Dent in the World Water Crisis!

Dear Friends,

I’m trying to help put a dent in the world water crisis and I need your help. I’ve created three projects via charity:water, each with a goal of raising $5,000, enough funds to build a water well in a community in need of clean water. I’m asking that all of my friends and family find it in their hearts to donate, as there are millions of people without the basic need of water.

I’ve made three funds to match my friends’ interests:

1.) NYU Fund: For all of my NYU friends that want to make a difference. This fund goes towards helping bring water to schools in need of it. Have some school pride and donate today at http://new.charitywater.org/nyufund.

2.) NYC Fund: For the city known for its water towers, atop every building. This fund is for all the New Yorkers who care about delivering clean water to people in need. Donate now at http://new.charitywater.org/nyc.

3.) Erica & Weikai’s 2nd Anniversary: Today is the 2nd anniversary of dating for Weikai and me! In celebration, we’re asking all of our friends and family to find it in their hearts to donate to the millions without water. We’re lucky enough to have been born in societies with an overabundance of water. Let’s give back. Donate now at http://new.charitywater.org/EricaandWeikai.

With all of my love and best wishes for you and yours!
Erica

Are You Sharing Too Much Online?

Being that I’m pretty active online, I’m always wondering if my social networks are conveying the best image to potential employers (and friends!). Today, I ran across a great blog post on the Doostang blog about “the professional downside of your online social life” that gave me a few tips about best practices.

If you’re worried about whether you’re sharing too much information about your personal life on your social networks, it’s worth a look!