Hurricane Party's Blog

Hurricane Party 2.2 hits the app store

hparty — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:02:37 +0000

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

hparty — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:17:21 +0000

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

hparty — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 20:01:14 +0000

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

hparty — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:52:12 +0000

Honored to have a my guest post run in TechCrunch!

Check it out.

$10k Raised at Hurricane Party for Japan!

hparty — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:56:50 +0000

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!

hparty — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 22:19:29 +0000

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

hparty — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:50:26 +0000

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.

Hurricane Party Top 5 in Mashable!

hparty — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:27:26 +0000

Rick Wittenbraker, Co-Founder and General Partner at Stage One Capital, included Hurricane Party in his article “5 Social Apps That Will Make SXSW More Intimate.”

Thanks Rick!

Appolicious Lovin’ on Hurricane Party

hparty — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:56:29 +0000

We are the first app after the official SXSW app mentioned in this awesome Appolicious round up on must have SXSW apps. And I quote:

“Of course the soul of SXSW is its social spontaneity and the fact that a party can break out any place in Austin at any time during the festival. The best iPhone app to keep you appraised of all the action is the free Hurricane Party. This newly updated app, which had its beta test in Austin and is now nationwide, tells you where your friends are in real-time and lets share status updates and RSVP to the gatherings that matter most to you. The founders even challenge users to ‘assemble something Charlie Sheen-worthy’ by using the app.” – Appolicious

Checkout the other apps we’re along side. We’re in good company.

5 Absolute, Must-Have Apps to Rock SXSW Interactive

hparty — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:28:15 +0000

ReadWriteWeb just included Hurricane Party in their Top 5 Apps for SXSW!

Thanks Mike Melanson!

Hurricane Party in the Top 5 Apps for SXSW