Ilium Software Blog

Behind the Scenes at Ilium Software

Everyone Looks Better in a Hat

by Ellen

I’m convinced that everyone looks better in a hat. Not these hats, however.

We had so much fun with our earlier caption contests (here and here), that we can’t resist having another one. But rather than trying to caption yet another picture of the 9 of us standing outside our building, you get to caption a few of us as individuals. And to make it really easy, we’re wearing hats, wigs or masks.

Just send us a caption for any of the photos below (with some indication of which photo you’re captioning) for your chance to win today’s prizes. As before, send your entries as replies to this post, and enter as many times as you like. The winners will be selected and announced tomorrow.



Click on any photo to enlarge it

This is the second contest in our week-long 11 year anniversary celebration. We’ll give away one $121 Amazon gift certificate for the best and funniest entry, and runner-up prizes of a complete package of our software and swag to many others. Enter as many times as you like, by sending your entries as a replies to this post. Employees and friends of Ilium Software aren’t eligible to win the prizes, but are welcome (and encouraged) to participate anyway. Today’s contest closes at 9:00 a.m. eastern time tomorrow morning.

The Blanks Have Been Filled In!

by Julie

11 yearsAll right – it’s been a busy morning here at Ilium Software HQ. We’ve had a lot of news headlines to read through. All of them were really great, and, just as we suspected, many of them were weird and confusing. Some of them, however, actually sounded believable, didn’t they?

But, as with any contest, many will enter and few will win. However, we were only able to narrow it down to seven lucky people, because there were just too many good comments. So here it comes – one BIG winner and six great runner-ups:

The first prize of a $121 Amazon gift card, plus a complete package of our software and swag, goes to: Warthog for the headline “Steve Jobs was ARRESTED yesterday, shortly after he WIGGLED. Early reports suggest he was trying to DANCE.” I can almost see the photo that would run next to that headline, can’t you?

The runners-up, who each receive a complete package of our software as well as some cool swag, are: Dave Beauvais, Jeremie Lariviere, Matthew Miller, bamhm182, Singh and DougP.

To all the winners – I’ll be sending out an email to each of you with details on how to get your prizes, so keep an eye on your Inbox and Spam folders too!

Thanks to everyone for taking part in the contest – there were a lot of clever responses. We’ve got a new contest running right now, so keep your creative thinking caps on and try your luck again!

Fill in the Blanks

by Ellen

Fill in the blanks to win a prize! Today’s contest is a fun-filled game of MadLibs.

If you don’t know what MadLibs are: where the heck have you been hiding? Okay, seriously, if you need a refresher or want some more details, read a quick explanation of MadLibs here.

Julie has “doctored” a NewsBreak page with fake headlines. To get the full MadLib-ian effect of this contest, we recommend that you first find a partner: grab a friend, a co-worker, or just tap the guy’s shoulder next to you on the train. All you need to do is ask your friend for the words in blue – don’t read them the full headlines! Write down their answers, and when you’re finished, read them aloud – you should get some pretty silly results!

Fill in as many of the headlines as you like, and send us your entries as replies to this post. You’ll need to type the entire headline into the comments, not just your answers to the words in blue – otherwise it’s going to make even less sense. We’ll do the judging and announce the winners tomorrow.

Fill in the Blanks

This is the first contest in our week-long 11 year anniversary celebration. We’ll be giving away one first prize of a $121 Amazon gift certificate for the best and funniest entry. Plus, we’ll have runner-up prizes of a complete package of our software and swag to many others. Enter as many times as you like, by sending your entries as a replies to this post. Employees and friends of Ilium Software aren’t eligible to win the prizes, but are welcome (and encouraged) to participate anyway. Today’s contest closes at 9:00 a.m. eastern time tomorrow morning.

Good luck!

We’re 11 Years Old!

by Ellen

Today is our 11 year anniversary! Yes, we’ve been making and selling mobile and desktop software for 11 years. We’ll be celebrating it all this week, and you get the presents!

Every day this week, we’ll have a contest. Of course we’ll have copies of our software as prizes, but since we know that many of the people who read this have most of our software already, we’ll also be giving away one or more $121 Amazon gift cards (that’s 11 times 11), each day. So check back daily – we’ll have entertaining reading and fun prizes.

And because we never have a celebration without a sale, every day this week, you can get 55% off any of our software. Just visit www.iliumsoft.com/elevenyears to start shopping – you’ll see the discount in your cart when you’re ready to checkout.

Today’s contest follows. But first, I want to thank everyone who’s been so very helpful and supportive of us over the last 11 years. We couldn’t have done it without you! I’m not going to make a list – I started to, but it was a very long list, and I got worried about inadvertently leaving someone off. But – you know who you are. Reviewers and writers, beta testers and customers, friends, supporters, partners, people who send us suggestions, information and kind words. We really could not have done it without you. Many, many, many thanks to everyone.

Now, let’s start the celebration! You’ll find the first contest here.

Fabulous Handheld Spider

by Ellen

I’m getting ready to go on vacation, so of course I checked out new games I can load onto my Pocket PC and bring with me. I’ve been addicted to Spider on my PC for a few years now, but never found a good implementation of it on a handheld until now. But Astraware has finally done it – made a version of Spider that’s actually playable on a handheld.

It’s hard to do – the screen is small, and you can’t use handy keyboard shortcuts for hint or undo like you can on a desktop. But they’ve solved the problem with a mode that shows all available moves, so you don’t have to go to the menu to see each one (why didn’t Microsoft do this in their version? It’s so obvious once you think of it), and an Undo button right on the screen. The cards are as big as they can be, and the stacks resize as they fill up.

This is a lesson in usability for handheld developers. (No, I’m not playing games. I’m learning about usability. Really.) There are 12 different solitaire games in the package, and it looks like the others are just as well implemented. Brilliant job, Astraware. And thank you – the flights and airport are going to be a lot more bearable for me now.

Dangerous Marketing

by Marc

Marketing is a tricky business, and one wrong move can set you back twice as far as a good campaign can move you forward. We recently posted an article entitled “Windows has left the building!”, talking about an ill-conceived marketing tag-line that appeared at the Microsoft website. The reason this caught our eye wasn’t just a chance to laugh at Microsoft. We happen to like Microsoft a LOT over here at Ilium Software. Instead, it was a chance to see how even a company like Microsoft, with all of its resources, can miss something simple and end up hurt by it.

First impressions are a huge part of marketing. It isn’t about what the customer thinks after they’ve taken time to dig into your message and really understand it. The sad reality is that most customers never bother. Rather, it is the immediate, visceral response your message generates.

Using the “Windows has left the building!” tag-line as an example, the phrase is (obviously for many folks) based off the famous “Elvis has left the building!” line. Using a well known and familiar line and tweaking it is a great way to strike a familiar chord in your audience. Unfortunately, the original line was about the King leaving the stage. The show was over. Everyone could go home. It wasn’t about Elvis hitting the street to do a show for the crowd out there. He was done. Finis.

So, when Microsoft uses this line they are accidentally saying, “Show’s over folks! The King is done and has left the stage!” Someone at the Microsoft PR firm deserves a swift kick for this snafu. I mean yeah, when you think it through you can figure out what they mean, but unfortunately by then it is too late. They’ve made their impression.

I’ll leave you with a great, simple example of this that I learned in a fantastic marketing class at University of Michigan. A professor said, “Unless you are an exterminator, never get a flyswatter with your company name on it. Having your product directly associated with bug guts does not create a positive impression in the minds of the customer.”

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