sC: Join the Conversation

In July we revealed a number of upgrades, enhancements, new functionality etc. to the skignz App.

This month we felt that we would focus not only attracting people to using skignz, but focus on our existing users and try to understand what they want from skignz by way of functionality, design, aesthetics etc.

All of the previous few months upgrades and changes were done with the user in mind.

So with that we have decided to enhance the 'user group' by creating the 'skignz Community', where only people who have downloaded the app and created an account will have access to this information and more importantly can contribute to/help shape the future of skignz.

So what is the skignz Community? What will it do/be?

skignz Community ('sC') will provide registered account users with access to News, Information and Insights before they are available to the general public. 

Not only will you receive and email update from time to time, but sC will evolve within the app to provide you with an instant update of where there is interesting skignz content. Such as brands who are using skignz to give you new experiences, provide you with exclusive offers and so much more.

Like we said earlier we don't only want to 'tell/inform' you of what we are doing, we want you to get involved, so we have created a 'chat' element where you will be able to 'loiter, learn, suggest and share ...'

All of this you can access now, that's if you have not already tried it out. sC chat resides in your menu bar within the App.

When sC Chat is selected you are presented with a chat box with a few options. We have purposely not overloaded the functionality of sC Chat because we would like you, the sC to help us develop it further into something that's useful, helpful and relevant. 

We feel this will come from the content and what you guys want to talk to us about, for us that's where the value will come from, the open dialogue between users and developers, designers, technologists, programmers etc...

If you have not already taken a look please do! Let us know what you think of skignz, the app, What's good? Whats bad? Whats ugly?

We feel too many apps and technologies these days are built for the benefit of the developer (the team who builds it), they look for efficiencies, ease of build, or it can be through a lack of knowledge or skills.

The skignz approach is ALWAYS develop for the users benefit, not our own. The reason why skignz is so quick to download to your mobile device and the file size is so small (other popular apps like twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc... are around a file size of 13mB, in some cases even bigger!)

skignz is currently less than 1mB - yes you read that right ONE mB.) 

Your mobile device only has limited storage space and with a recent trend of 'operating system updates' eating into that memory, we want to reduce the impact we have on the photos and videos you want to take.

Unless it's needed to make skignz perform properly in each area of its functionality, then its doesn't go in the code, simple as that! We are constantly revisiting, revising and recoding areas of the skignz technology platform in order to improve its speed, quality, look, feel and ease of use for you - the sC!

We have not solved everything yet and we don't think anyone would expect us to, however with your input and feedback we can promise that we will constantly be evolving and improving. 

Which is the mantra for sC 'Constantly Evolving & Improving'.

Please take a look at our website and social media channels for more information about us, but if you really want to discover skignz and what it can do for you, download the app, have a play, test, try and try again, then let us know what you think? 

That's the real value of the sC... Please join the Chat! ;-)

skignz on the move: New UK & Europe HQ

As we reported earlier in the year skignz today moved into Fusion Hive, the new home for our UK & Europe HQ.

Over the coming weeks we will be improving the interior, putting our own stamp on the place and 'skignzing' it up to meet our needs. This week we have already had a number of deliveries of furniture and equipment with more scheduled over the coming weeks. 

Apologies if there is any disruption with regards to post, telephone calls etc. we are in the hands of third parties to 'transfer' our services across. 

We will 'hope for the best and plan for the worst' as they say.

We will provide more glimpses as we go along but in the meantime below here are a few photos of the blank canvas we have to work with and a few shots of the stunning building, that is now skignz's home at Fusion Hive.

 

The new address for skignz in the UK & Europe: 

skignz
UK & Europe HQ
Fusion Hive
Northshore Road
Stockton-on-Tees
TS18 2NB
United Kingdom

As always if you want to find out more about skignz then please visit www.skignz.com or check us out on the usual Social Media Channels... or you can simply download skignz through the App Store/Google Play.

#leedsfestival2015

Over this last bank holiday weekend many revellers have been attending one of a number of festivals across the UK, Creamfields, Notting Hill Carnival, Leeds & Reading Festival.

Our destination was Leeds, where skignz made its debut for the crowds, right across the whole festival site and we are delighted to say skignz managed the full weekend without a single error, hiccup or the ensuing hangover.

The same cannot be said for our founder, Si who decided they would also attend on the Saturday to do a range of 'live testing'. This included the recently launched changes and functionality within the app as well as one or two things the guys feel will further enhance the 'live event' experience.

Rather than sprout on too much about how good a weekend it was, what bands were awesome and who got in the worst drunken states, Si suggested that the old adage 'a picture speaks a thousand words' might be the right approach to outline skignz's activity. 

So as the powers that be have instructed we thought if 'a picture speaks a thousand words', how about a full gallery full of pictures? Now what would that say to our audience? 

We would like you to make up your own mind, please take a look through the below and feel free to let us have your thoughts, opinions, feedback and, dare we say it, a little praise for what we hope you will agree, is a pretty awesome addition to the #leedsfestival

Never lose Your Car in the Car Park again, Si marking his, for later...

 Make sure we pick our tickets up and enter through the right gate...

Check out which Camp site we are located in?

Important things: Closest toilets to our Tent ;-)

 Whoaaa a sea of tents, glad we know which Campsite we are in?

We were wondering where the nearest stage was?

 Battery charging.. they never offered that 5 years ago... 

What will there be 5 years from now?

 Looking for the info point, whilst getting involved with #oxfam guys...

Wondering what the cocktail of the hour is? Press the 'skign' to find out

 Need the cash machine? Store some valuables? on more charge?

Finally the Main stage... Mumford & Sons were simply Awesome!

You always need to rehydrate at these events - Find the Aqua points ;-)

 and of course you must eat at some point!

 If for whatever reason you do have an illness etc... Find the Medics!

 Very Important place for everything you've lost or maybe found?

Interested to see what the other stages offer?

How about 'Who's up and coming?'

 or step inside one of the big Marquees for the rising bands...

Wrong campsite...

 Also not our campsite.... this place is HUGE!

Not that way either... try again!

Back to the Music... Thats what we are here for...

We hope our little sample Gallery of a festival through the lens of skignz has 'spoke more than a thousand words' to you... in fact it should have spoke more than 24,000 words....

Public Notice: No staff or directors were harmed in the making of this short gallery, although considerable time was saved finding each other, our tent, our car and everything we needed when we needed it! 

"Wouldn't it be great if we all had skignz?"

Plus the small matter of a hat being purchased to stop sunburn, plenty of liquids to quench thirst and many calories consumed all in the interest of product testing, enhancing the environment and improving the already overall AWESOME #leedsfestival experience.

*All Images were taken with the new skignz 'capture' button, including all posts to social media over the weekend were also using skignz capture and posted direct to our own twitter/Facebook/Instagram channel's - Cool or What?

We will be uploading the complete set of photos to a newly created Facebook Album aptly named #leedsfestival, plus we will be sharing shortly some real time footage shot through the skignz viewer as if you were looking through and interacting with the skignz whilst you were there... 

So instead of looking at our website etc or social media channels why not just click on this link and download the app http://www.skignz.com/downloads

Subverting the Subversive with skignz

This summer the widely acclaimed artist 'Banksy' opened the doors to his 'Dismaland' theme park.

The enigmatic graffiti artist takes over derelict seafront lido in Weston-super-Mare for six-week show featuring Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer and David Shrigley amongst others.

Although we didn't personally get chance to visit, we heard through some of the skignz users that one user had placed a number of 'art skignz' in and around the Dismaland:Bemusement Park.

This was the first attempt by the user to create his own skignz and place them somewhere of significance. He then informed a few of his own friends who he knew would be visiting the park to download skignz and take a look at what he had put there?

The skignz user in question had previously met Si Brown (skignz Co-Founder & CMO) at a Hackathon for BBC Music Live in Newcastle. Since then further conversations between the two around an idea that ANY artist ANYWHERE on the planet, could use skignz to 'place' their own work in locations, where using the power of social media they could encourage other people to view it. 

This quickly became 'ARt Above', Martin (skignz user, artist & musician) decided to test how he felt this could work. 

As you can see from the images his fiend (also a professional artist) sent through to him (using the in app skignz capture function)

As you can see Martin was very successful in 'out banksying banksy' if that's at all possible.

Although Martin had not visited the park or knew where anything specific was exhibited, its ironic how one of his images from the Alfred Hitchcock film 'The Birds', nicely floats above one of Banksy's own pieces 'Woman attacked by Seagulls'.

Even more ironic is the amount of people who visited the park and probably looked at this picture, will have had no idea that Martin's Picture was floating in the etha, just above!

Martin said: "skignz & 'ARt Above' can do for graphical art what spotify has done for music"

We wonder if Banksy himself might use the skignz technology and contribute to the special channel created specifically for Artists 'ARt Above'.

Not just Banksy but any artist who wants to use skignz to display their own work, then please go ahead, create a skignz account, download the skignz app on either iOS or Android. Then you can start to upload your artwork to the skignz platform and 'place it on a map' wherever you want to place them.

In 1999 the 'lads mag' FHM beamed a giant picture of the model Gail Porter on to the Houses of Parliament in London England. 

This could be done again, but only viewed through skignz!

Where in particular would you like to place your art or have you any ideas where artist could place their art?

Contact us here at skignz if you would like to know more about 'ARt Above'

England Veterans World Cup Winning Captain, Jamie Clarke joins the skignz team

skignz are delighted to announce the latest member of the management team is Jamie Clarke.

Jamie's background is in Social Care Management, he has worked within the NHS, for the English FA and more recently as a consultant for a range of Health Authorities and Charitable Organisations across the UK.

He specialises in delivering Service Implementation, Co-Production Models of Delivery Design and a Service Improvements expert. 

Jamie actually started his career in the Armed Forces serving with the 7 RHA (Royal Artillery) in Northern Ireland & Operation Desert Storm (1st Gulf War 1990). 

He was then 'bought out' of the Army in 1992 to play professional football for St Johnstone in Scotland and then Darlington in England.

Jamie has continued playing semi-pro football into his early forties for many northeast non-league clubs, however his greatest footballing achievement was when he captained the England team to win the Veterans 2014 World Cup in Thailand.

Jamie on skignz: "I was really excited when I first spoke to Si about the concept of skignz and how it works.
 


It just seemed to me that putting the world's information in front of people, wherever they are in the world was incredible. skignz is something that can be used for a multitude of different tasks, placing key information in front of the user on a local level.
  


Using Augmented Reality and Geolocation technology to put information in front of your eyes is something that can only be a good thing!"

Si Brown (skignz, Co-founder & CMO) said: "I've known Jamie for many many years, mainly through football, although he was always playing for the opposition, until the last few years where we have both played (In the loosest sense of the word) on the same veterans team.

On a professional note, we have crossed paths a number of times, when I was involved with a Mental Health Charity and he was working in both the NHS and The FA with vulnerable adults and children with serious Mental Health conditions. He's a great guy, frighteningly enthusiastic and seemed to get skignz 'at hello'. 

Since then he's brought more energy to the team and has already focussed on a number of potential ways in which skignz can be used. Not only in his past career sectors, but also identifying new ways in which other sectors can present their current data and information in a more meaningful and visual way.

His role as Head of DV (Data Visualisation) Partnerships has been developed to play to his strengths and enable skignz to have a strategic thinker purely focussed on this key area of our business growth".

Jamie on Joining skignz: "I can't explain how excited I am to be joining the skignz team.  Si, Gary and the team have made me feel really welcome and it's so clear that we are all working for a common goal.

I've worked all over the UK delivering and implementing high quality services and products to people who need them. Joining skignz was the easiest decision I've had to make. 

The vision and enthusiasm of everyone at skignz is infectious, and this is where I want to be, hopefully helping to ensure success at every level of the business"

If you would like to find out how your company/organisation could benefit from using the skignz technology platform to enhance its data. 

Please contact Jamie on +44 (0) 845 058 0519 or in the first instance email him at info@skignz.com