Monday, February 25, 2013

Microsoft Windows8 Party



Remember Crowdtap? Well, guess what?? I was selected to try and sample for free, the Windows 8 phone by HTC. It was the most exciting moment of my life when I opened my email and realized I was one of the ones selected for this amazing event. I immediately set to planning my party and spreading the word and inviting anyone that could come.
Then it was time to party shop!



I had been informed to select the colors that corresponded with the new phone itself - Cyan Blue, Red, pink and green. So I headed to the party section and picked up some plates, cups and tablecloth that would work with this and feature those colors to my party guests. I also purchases pizza and snacks and desserts and drinks to serve and give us all a great time.



I chose to play a Bingo game to keep the action fun and stimulating and give everyone an idea of all that the phone could offer them. Verizon had asked me to do a Pinterest Challenge to give my party goers a great idea of all the fun things this phone can do. However, my youngest partier was 28 and I knew Pinterest would not be intuitive and would end up being frustrating to my guests. I feel like a fun and engaging party is one that is remembered and I wanted people to talk about this party and remember it as a GREAT time and not one in which they were frustrated. So I myself did the Pinterest challenge just to show my guests what they could do. I think everyone appreciated that I had stepped outside of the box and half the room was asking me what Pinterest even was. So I think I made the right decision on this one.



As the party started, I asked everyone to help themselves to the food and drinks and to start passing the phone around. It was a great time and everyone was excited about the choice of snacks and I heard alot of exclamations about how great the phone looked and how it worked. I let everyone ask me questions and I walked around showing them different tiles and what it could all do. Here are some pics from the beginning of the party...



Then as it seemed like everyone was finishing up their snacks, I decided to do a small talk on the capabilities of the phone. I told them these would be part of their bingo words and later I would hold a quiz to see who remembered what and hand out candy bars to the winners along with prizes from my Verizon bags! Here are some pics of the Bingo games...

I had so much laughter and fun going on in the room and it made my day. I knew people were having a good time experiencing the phone and all it had to offer. Kids Corner got lots of acclaim since it is something we all care about - everyone in the room had kids and knew how hard it was to keep them off the other apps on the phone that you DON'T want them messing with. One of my party goers was so excited about the phone that she planned to go to Verizon the next day and check out getting one! She has been frustrated with her current service and phone and she LOVED my phone. So I think the party was a huge success and everyone had a great time.



Thank you to Verizon, HTC and Crowdtap for this fabulous experience!!