The last week of September 2011 was a pretty cool week in the life of this iPhone developer.  The events which happened were set into play ten months before, just after Christmas 2010.  Back then I started in on a couple new apps, one to be completed rather soon and the other was still an idea being formed.

The more urgent app was to part of an advertising campaign for a new National Geographic Movie - The Last Lions.  Our team had pitched an idea where users would “lion themselves” and share via social media.  This project perfectly illustrated the concept of teamwork.  Ben did a spectacular job of selecting images of lions from the movie and carving out portions of them which would be overlaid on the iPhone’s camera view, putting a person’s face inside a lion’s mane, or have them being attacked by a lion, or laying with a pride.  Charles and Justin’s vision of social media interaction and engagement came up with the idea a user would “unlock” more overlays as users shared images on their wall.  Of course I got to do the fun job of putting these ideas and creative work together!

The other project which started up then was for an app which ultimately was named Chefs Feed.  Chefs Feed is a one-of-a-kind food app where top-notch chefs in major cities have recommended their favorite dishes in their city.  This was the largest single app on which I have worked, with tons of custom UI, ability to update databases over the air which the user doesn’t even notice, and integration with our own Kochava usage tracking system.  Again, truly a team effort between the client, Justin Landis (or project manager) and myself.

So why does the last week of September 2011 stand out?

We found out Tuesday or Wednesday that week that the campaign of which the Last Lions app was a significant part, had won an Online Media, Marketing and Advertising (OMMA) for the best in the Education/Charity/Non-profit category.  Pretty cool.  Last Lions has a 4.5 star rating in the App Store.

Chefs Feed released late on Wednesday the 28th.  On Thursday the 29th a ton of press hit and Gizmodo named Chefs Feed “App of the day”!!  And, when I didn’t think it could get any better, when Friday rolled around, Gizmodo named it the first of their “Essential Apps for September”. 

The role PLAYXPERT played in these projects was significant.  The role our clients played was equally crucial.  We have found time and again that the best results come from the best teams and that what we do is only half of the puzzle.  An app owner needs to understand their mission, understand their audience, and know how to market the app once it’s live.  In both these cases, our clients were stellar on all levels.

The satisfaction of a job well done is wonderful.  The satisfaction of a job well done that is recognized by the masses just makes it all the sweeter.