2007: Reflecting with my Penn

It's not often I pick up my personal pen about Penn. After the most surprising first year as editor/creator of DuelingTampons.com, I must thank you before hopping a flight to London to celebrate not just my birthday and the new year.. but the biggest gift of the year - DT turning 1 year old. As I sip a glass of champagne at 35,000 feet, I will be toasting you.

DuelingTampons' popularity caught the attention of the DP. Both Alumni Weekend and Homecoming Weekend came alive as DT had cameras rolling and brought you exclusive video coverage.

You might think Wharton's Donald Trump (W'68) got all of this year's glory as I tracked the who's who of Penn. Turns out alum Elizabeth Banks (C'96) ranks at the top of the DT's most famous Penn clicks. That came as a little surprise to the Hollywood actress/Penn superstar when I sat down to dinner answering questions about DT to friends.

Famous and infamous words flew out of the mouths of undergrads like Jessica Gold Haralson (C'08) when Playboy picked her out of the Penn crowd having come across her controversial smart-sex magazine. Jessica was quoted in Playboy's September issue talking all about how in her own words "porn is awesome".

DuelingTampons has become a habitual networking source for all things Penn. Over the course of this year, DT posted 400+ stories unique to the Penn community, 600+ videos, 300+ photos, and 400+ message board posts. The number of undergrads and alumni checking out the site on a daily basis has grown into the thousands from what originally started as a hobby and now has become a love of mine. I'm committed to DT's momentum continuing as the ongoing source to keep the Penn community connected.

In the new year, expect to feel more networked to Penn than ever. More emerging talent in film and music are on the radar. More business success stories are emerging from Wharton. More videos and photos from the past and present keep hitting the DT mailbox. It's proof that it really does matter who you know - especially when you share the Penn experience.

If you haven't done so already, please click here to add the DuelingTampons widget to your facebook profile. This will help to increase awareness of our creative community to other Quakers.

Make your hopes and dreams walk the walk in 2008. And know that I am very grateful for you being a big part of DT's success.

Best,




Matt Rosler (C'96)
editor/creator
DuelingTampons.com

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Some 2007 Highlights:

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POSTS:

+ This was the year for the Penn documentary filmmakers!

+ Alumni working all over TV!

+ Penn musicians making news

+ Talented undergrads in the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 classes.
Puneet Singh's (W'08) appears on the Colbert Report
Filmmaker Brian Canavan's (C'10) jawdropping Light Graffiti video
Musician Andrew Dudum's (C'11) signed to a record label

+ Some Rising alumni stars:
Musician Gabriel Mann (C’95) on Oscars, music on TV shows, launches new album
Actor Roy Vongtama (C'96) appears in major TV and film
Actress Elizabeth Banks (C’96) in a a media storm this year!
Singer Ananda Sen (C'98) debuts one new song a week for 52 weeks
Stand-up Aaron Karo (W'01) debuts his comedy via video on the web!
Mask and Wig alumni form new troupe producing hysterical videos

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VIDEOS:

+ Reunion Weekend 2007 (45+ videos) and Homecoming Weekend 2007

+ Mask and Wig performs in Los Angeles (15+ videos)

+ Pennfest 2007 features Broadway and KROQ stars

+ Alumni featured in Film, TV, Stage, and Literary

+ Penn Musicians: live performances

+ Acapella Madness

+ Very creative class Projects

+ Compelling freshmen election videos

+ Vicarious walk down Locust Walk and into the Quad

OTHER VIDEO CATEGORIES: Recently Uploaded, Los Angeles Penn Events, Performing Arts, Around Campus, Spring Flings, Hey Day, Graduation, Sports, Pennfest: Emerging Penn Talent, Penn Relays, Misc: Humorous/Tips

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PHOTOS:

+ 5 years of Pennfest programs and photos

+ On campus construction through the years (oh how things have changed!)

+ Penn actors: Headshot Hotties

+ Freshmen dorm rooms!

+ Penn musician photo gallery

+ Penn Memoribilia from years past

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MESSAGE BOARDS:

+ Stories about how alumni got their starts after college
(great for those thinking of a career in entertainment)

+ Los Angeles job posts

+ New York job posts

+ Alumni Quotes

+ Alumni promoting their businesses

+ Upcoming Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia events

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READ MORE - 2007: Reflecting with my Penn

Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #1!

In my "Penn" related Facebook Widget countdown this week, I've covered widgets (what is a widget?) having to do with Penn basketball, ticketing, and videos.

And now today is the mother of all Penn facebook widgets.

Drumroll please...

Click here to see my #1 pick!

#1) "DuelingTampons.com" Widget
Of course it's going to be the DuelingTampons widget! As soon as I post the latest Penn Alumni and Undergrad news to my site, it automatically is updated into this news widget! Help me spread the word of this site by posting this widget on your profile. It would be much appreciated! :)

Click here to add my widget to your profile!

Got a "Penn" related widget I didn't cover? Comment below!

See all my Facebook widget picks!

If you haven't already, add yourself as a friend to my profile!

READ MORE - Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #1!

Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #2

So far, my 3 "Penn" related facebook widget picks (what is a widget?) have centered around Penn basketball, phone books, ticketing and now today, it's all about video.

Click here to see my #2 pick.

#2) "myTV" Widget
Penn Entrepreneurs Nat Turner (W'08), Zach Weinberg (C'08), Scott Becker (C'09) and Michael Provenzano ('08) have built a slick application called "myTV" for Facebook which allows users to search YouTube and save videos to a personal playlist.

The talented founders of Invite Media, Inc. have recently launched their tech start-up which focuses on online video optimization and monetization. Backed by two Wharton statisticians, the myTV application is a launching point for the creation of a video discovery and recommendation engine based on behavioral targeting.

Stay tuned because Invite Media also struck a deal with a major video publisher that will enable them to largely distribute their content recommendation engine to over 40 million users. With personal recommendations already available for the music realm thanks to discovery services like Pandora Radio, the inclusion of video content into the discovery engine will greatly expand the online video industry and possibly lead to better ad monetization.

Click here to add the application to your facebook profile!

See all my Facebook widget picks!

If you haven't already, add yourself as a friend to my profile!

Check back tomorrow for my #1 pick!

READ MORE - Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #2

Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #3

For the past 2 days, our #5 and #4 picks have centered around Penn basketball and phone books.

Today we've got a really useful widget (what is a widget?) developed by Penn alumni that will help all of you performing arts folks and party planners!

Click here to see my #3 pick.

#3) "Facebook Ticketing" Widget
Developed by Christopher Stanchak (W'03) and Iqram Magdon Ismail (Eng '05), this application allows users to sell tickets to their facebook events. I've already begun to see several Penn groups using this...

Click here to add this to your profile!

See all my Facebook widget picks!

If you haven't already, add yourself as a friend to my profile!

Check back tomorrow for my #2 pick.

READ MORE - Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #3

Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #4

Moving on from my #5 picks (a and b), our widget pick #4 (what is a widget?) is something that was developed by a Penn alum that is useful for the many Penn people I see on facebook who tend to lose their cell phones.

Click here to see my #4 pick.


#4) "Styky Phonebook" Widget
I've seen many people here on Facebook lose their cell phones and post messages to have their friends help them rebuild their phonebook.

With Penn alum Kunal Gupta's (C'04) Styky Phonebook application, you now can use your existing friend network on Facebook to quickly and easily build or rebuild a phonebook. This application puts a form on your profile which lets people give you their number or any number (your choice). This information is then given to you for approval and, once approved, it is added to your Styky phonebook!

See my past Facebook widget picks!

Click here to add this to your profile!

See all my Facebook widget picks!

If you haven't already, add yourself as a friend to my profile!

Check back tomorrow for my #3 pick.

READ MORE - Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #4

Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #5 (Revisited)

Yesterday we covered my pick #5.

I actually have another Penn widget (what is a widget?) which is similar to yesterday's #5 pick but a bit more robust. I am going to lump this widget under my pick #5 and publish my pick number #4 later this afternoon.

Click here to see my additional #5 pick.

#5b) "UPenn Basketball Fans" Widget
Check out all the latest discussion, trivia, top players, standings and photos.

Click here to add this to your profile!

See all my Facebook widget picks!

If you haven't already, add yourself as a friend to my profile!

Check back later today for my #4 pick.

READ MORE - Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #5 (Revisited)

Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #5

Okay, if you haven't done it already, you'll just need to join facebook. Yes, it used to be just for undergrads gawking over the new incoming freshmen class (okay it probably still is), but over the past year it has expanded into something more powerful...for everyone of all ages. It's a much more powerful site than myspace or friendster has ever been.

One of the cool things you can do is add "widgets" to your page. And what is a widget? It's a self-contained application that you can add with the click of a mouse that acts almost like a desktop application and can be moved around mostly anywhere on your profile page. These widgets help someone decorate/personalize and add functionality to their profile page.

At this point there are thousands of widgets, but over the course of this week starting with #5 and counting down, I'm going to post my top 5 "Penn" related widgets you should add to your profile (if you haven't already). These widgets either have something to do with Penn or were built by Penn undergrads/alumni.

To start things off, click here to see my #5 pick.

#5) "Penn Quakers" Widget
Think you're a diehard Quakers fan? Show off what you know by making game predictions for the 2007-08 Men's Basketball season. This widget was developed by David Lei (C'10) and is brought to you by The Daily Pennsylvanian.

Click here to add this to your profile!

If you haven't already, add yourself as a friend to my profile!

Check back tomorrow for my #4 pick.

READ MORE - Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #5