Hurricane Party 2.2 hits the app store

Today we launched the latest & greatest version (2.2) of Hurricane Party into the app store.  This update resolves the unfortunate crash that some of you experienced.

Let us know how it’s going out there and be sure to invite us to any parties you’re throwing!

Be sure to hit us up at support@hurricaneparty.com with any feedback or ideas.

Thanks, Team Hurricane Party

SXSW Press Coverage Wrap Up

SXSW has been over for a couple weeks but only now am I beginning to recover. So many parties… so little sleep.

As part of the recovery process I’ve compiled a master list of all the fantastic press and buzz surrounding our SX launch. Here it is in semi-chronological order:

• Scobleizer – First look: Hurricane Party gets us ready for SXSW
• AppScout – Find parties for SXSW and beyond with Hurricane Party App for iPhone
• MIT Technology Review – Towards a More Social Sense of Place
• ReadWriteWeb – Avoid Long Lines & Jam Packed Parties at SXSW with Hurricane Party
• GigaOm – 10 Austin Startups to Meet at SXSW 2011
• GigaOm – New Mobile Apps Are All About The Group
• VentureBeat – Event app HurricaneParty comes out swinging against competitors
• Mashable – Find & Start Impromptu Parties at SXSW With Hurricane Party
• GigaOm – 10 New Mobile Apps I’ll Be Using at SXSW
• ReadWriteWeb – 5 Absolute, Must-Have Apps to Rock SXSW Interactive
• Appolicious – These iPhone apps will keep you grooving at SXSW 2011
• Mashable – 5 Social Apps That Will Make SXSW More Intimate
• New York Times – GroupMe and Rivals Offer Group Texting for Smartphones
• Washington Post – South by Southwest kicks off
• TechCrunch – How To “Win” SXSW: Hint – It’s The Same Answer Every Year
• KXAN Austin News – Repurposing SXSW to benefit Japan
• SiliconANGLE – Hurricane Party for Japan, Tonight at SXSW
• FOX Austin – SXSW Interactive Lends a Hand
• CNN – SXSW Japan events attract donations but few attendees
• Austinist – SXSW Interactive: Sunday Highlights – Visual Music Discovery, Hurricane Parties, and 4chan Founder
• ABC News – Facebook ‘Friends’? Nah, Group Chat Apps Link Real Friends
• Event Manager Blog – Organize Your Party On the Go with Hurricane Party
• AustinStartup – SXSW: Hurricane Party’s Japan Fundraiser
• The Independent – SXSW rallies to Japan disaster relief
• TheNextWeb – Don’t know where the party’s at? HurricaneParty app makes social networking social
• Robert Scoble – Great mention on Quora by Scoble for Golden Ticket campaign
• The Meeting Maximizer – Jolene Jang made an awesome video of her Golden Ticket experience
• Capital Weekly – A Bulgarian news paper wrote about us! If you speak Bulgarian let us know what they say about Hurricane Party.
• DailyIndia – The international coverage continues!
• Lies Damned Lies and Statistics – Social networks that impressed us at SXSW
• McCombs Business School – The Next Big Thing
• AppStores – The unofficial SXSW app showcase
• AustinPost – SXSWi The Winners and The Losers
• MassTransmit – 6 Breakout Mobile Apps
• Community Engine - SXSW Afterglow
• Inside Mobile Apps – Analysis: Data Shows Almost All Mobile Apps Gained at SXSW but No Clear Winners
• Shopify Blog – Nice mention in Shopify does SXSW
• TechCocktail – Hurricane Party Hottest Startup at SXSW

Goodbye SXSW, and thanks for the fish

Custom, 'cute' graphic to show we have a sense of humor for when we make mistakes

Thanks to everyone that made it in to Austin for SXSW. We hope you all had a great time around town;  it’s hard not to.

Now that SXSW is over, the HP team can get back to work! The first thing we’ve been working on is a bug fix resolving an issue that some of you encountered when using the app.  If you’ve been able to use the app normally for a while, but then the app consistently hangs prior to crashing  during startup –  you are experiencing the bug.

The underlying reason for the bug is that you’re too damn popular. We’ve been testing the app continuously on our devices and amongst our friends, including Chico Snow, the most popular friend we have (low facebook friend count notwithstanding).  However, we didn’t hit the critical number of address book phone numbers that causes the problem.

The fix: We have streamlined some flabby initialization code by removing a few redundant operations and optimized the startup process.

Our goal is to submit the updated app to Apple today tonight tomorrow, and it will be in the store ASAP.

Sorry about the issues and please never hesitate to contact support@hurricaneparty.com with any questions or ideas.

TechCrunch Guest Post: How to “Win” SXSW

Honored to have a my guest post run in TechCrunch!

Check it out.

$10k Raised at Hurricane Party for Japan!

Hurricane Party for Japan was a HUGE success! We raised over $10,000 for the Red Cross’s relief efforts in Japan. That means SXSWcares has collectively raised $35,000! In fact we raised so much money, we’ve increased our collective fundraising goal to $50,000. Keep the momentum going and donate at SXSWcares.org.

René Pinnell bid spotting at the live Auction

Thank you to our sponsors Eventbrite, Capital Factory and Kenichi and all the businesses who donated for the live auction (see below).

Also thank you to George Vaught, a Texas legend, for conducting the live auction.

 

 

 

Donating Businesses:

Legendary Texas auctioneer George Vaught

• Kenichi
• Austin Surf Company
• Annie’s West
• Hudson
• Kung Fu Saloon
• Moose Knuckle
• Frank
• Paggi House
• Maria Maria
• Lone Star Equestrian Center
• The Pheonix Nightclub
• Roial Nightclub
• Urban an American Grill at the Domain
• Tito’s Handmade Vodka
• Keepers Clothing

Hparty in Washington Post!

First the Gray Lady and now the Gray Gentleman! So pumped, honored, excited for Hurricane Party to be in the Washington Post.

We are in great company… Bump is mentioned in the same sentence with Hurricane Party. Love it!

 

“The Gray Lady” lovin’ on Hurricane Party

Woke up this morning after first night of SXSW fun to find Hurricane Party in the New York Times. Front page of the business section no less!

We will now erect several churches in honor of the great Jenna Wortham.