Designers contest & update on progress

The designers contest is closed for entries from today and we have 65 designers participating from over 11 countries. The next 2 weeks everybody will have the opportunity to gain as much votes as possible.

Many contestants asked for the ranking of the designers & we here we will have the same approach as with the model contest. We will publish the top 10 (for now) Due to the holiday season we will not give another update & the next announcement will be the one of the winner; at the beginning of the new year.

Please find here the current TOP 20 designers, be sure that still anybody still have a chance to win.Good luck.

Concerning the website development we almost conclude on the online shop as well; so now we are pretty much ready to design & build everything. Hopefully we will be able to give you the first previews on the site design before the end of 2009.
Currently we are discussing the time of launch of the next site release & keep you updated on that as well. For now we still think it is feasible at the beginning of 2010, probably February.
Have a great holiday season!

Ambassadors of JUSTPROUD

Over the last weeks we got feedback on our call for Ambassadors. Currently we have many members who want to contribute and as promised we will introduce (few of) them to you. Over the next weeks we will introduce additional Ambassadors to you (otherwise this will be a very long post).
If you want to join as Ambassador as well, please click here for more information.

Majdeline Abbou - The Hague - The Netherlands

I always had a passion for Fashion. I started working as a model and have worked for a lot of designers such as Otazu, Addy van den Krommenacker, Braez and a lot more. I also work as a Fashion reporter and freelance vocalist.

Joining the JUSTPROUD team makes me very PROUD!

Zuzanna Czyzowska – London – United Kingdom

Hi, my name is Zuzanna am 21 yr old from Cambridge, was born in Poland but grow up in UK. Currently am trained to be an airline pilot but I always loved fashion.. Always wanted to be a model and now I have a chance! I am easy going person who is just addicted to Haribo:)

Alissa Antman – Los Angeles CA – United States

my name is Alissa and I'm from Los Angeles. Born and Raised. My hope are to be able to change a culture for the good and inspire people whereever I go. I believe in volunteering, giving back to the community and helping others for the selfless reason of making the world a better place. I hope to be able to inspire and impact everyone that I meet. Personally I have volunteered at feeding the homeless, pet adoptions, and therapeutic horseback riding. Let's change a culture and encourage the younger generation to serve the community.

Falan Taylor – Philadelphia PA- United States

Former Chef and Current Model for Wilhelmina of PA plus size division

Former Host of the Jewelry Channel live in Austin Tx

Author of Housewife Cuisine cookbook

Trained Chef from Le Cordon Bleu

Lived in Sicily Italy for 3 years and Stuttgart and Ramstein Germany for 1 year.

Lives in Philadelphia PA

Vanessa Jace Sanz, our 1st Face; designers contest, ambassadors & new site release &

Vanessa Jace Sanz, our 1st Face
Last week was all about the result of our 1st model contest. Vanessa accepted the 1st prize very enthusiastic and said: ““It truly makes me happy to know that so many people voted for me and made this possible and for that I am grateful. If there is one thing I want to do, it's to model. I just want to be out there doing what makes me happy, what brings joy to my life. After so many years of hard work, I am looking forward to all that is ahead. I know this is going to be a great journey, one I have been long awaiting and 100% ready for."
Beginning 2010 we will have the first shoot in Holland (Europe) with Vanessa & we are very much looking forward to this. During that shoot she will be accompanied by the three 1st runners up: Sammy, Zuzanna & Deborah, whom all were very thrilled as well. This will be a great shoot!

Designers contest
Today we start our 1st designer-contest. So if you think you have the skills & ambition to design part of the JUSTPROUD collection, please submit your information & example of your designs at our site http://www.justproud.com/en/designer/. The winner will be one of the 1st designers of the JUSTPROUD women’s collection (either of the collezione or basic label). You will have worldwide coverage.

Ambassadors
We had many applicants for an Ambassadors role in our community. Next week we will introduce some of them to you. We always can have more ambassadors because finally we want to have an Ambassadors network of 150 people, representing JUSTPROUD in all the major urban areas of the world.

 

wireframe document

Next site release
We finished, with your input, the next version of the site in ‘wireframes’, prototype & specifications. Now Emakina is going to build it & we expect to be live at the beginning of 2010; obviously we will keep you updated on this. To us it will be a very cool site in which we have a lot of opportunities for designers, models & photographers to take their chance. When we have the visuals for the site-design we will post them here as well.

VANESSA JACE SANZ, 1st FACE of JUSTPROUD Fashion

Today we can announce that Vanessa Jace Sanz is the winner of the 1st model contest of JUSTPROUD. She will be our featured model of our 1st collection, after she will officially accept the prize of course. We are very happy that Vanessa will represent our Brand & are looking forward cooperating with her. In February the outcome of the shoot will be visible at the next release of our site JUSTPROUD.com . The shoot will also be filmed to be finally broadcasted on FashionTV. Probably this will be a final stepping stone for Vanessa & for JUSTPROUD the opportunity to show their first collection with this great model.

Because all models did their at most best, members requested that nr 2 & 3 should share in a prize.
After long discussions we came up with the following:
We create 2 groups: the “1st runners up” & the “2nd runners up”.

"1st runners up"

The 1st runners up will be, in case they accept, involved in the shootings, they will strengthen the image of JUSTPROUD as a community, posing together with Vanessa.

"2nd runners up"

The 2nd runners up will probably be, in case they accept, involved in special shoots during 2010. We will keep them updated on this.

We created & managed this contest with the biggest care & enthusiasm & want to thank all participants & supporting members for their effort. As you all understand we cannot communicate in person or on the site on detailed aspects (as written in the contest rules).
We are now creating the next release site on which many, many contest will be, so that all participants then can be involved in 1 or 2 shoots!

Our progress at JUSTPROUD fashion

Ambassadors
Currently we are looking for ambassadors of JUSTPROUD, all over the world. We do have several Ambassadors already & I will try to introduce them to you next week. All Ambassadors represent a region, so be sure to reply quickly in order to represent your region. If you are interested work on this together with us, please let us know (by email or via Facebook).

Next site release
We are working hard to get ready for the next site release. We expect this to be ready early next year. During the process we will give you previews of the things we created & also would like your opinion on this. All suggestions so far, via mail, Facebook & our site-forum are taking into account & it is great to have so much input for members all over the world.
Yesterday we had a good meeting with John Deprez, CTO of Emakina (the company who is building the site) & we are very enthusiastic about what will be online soon! Yet, a lot of thinking, business logic & effort have to put in, to make it happen; and with all help of you be sure we will create something special.

Model contest
The model contest is closed for voting now & currently the team is validating all votes so we can announce the winner next week. We had suggestions to make a “top 3 prize” so we are deciding how we can act on this. One thing is sure: the 1st prize remains the 1st prize, because we cannot change prizes during the contest. We will announce the 2 runners-up as well and see how we can collaborate with them.

JUSTPROUD 1 month online & the TOP25 model contest

Being 1 month online with the pre-site & already so many enthusiastic people! Very, very (did I say ‘very’ already?) very encouraging!

We will share some statistic of the current site with you, to show that the intensity & worldwide coverage is pretty good from the start.

After 1 month:

• Members from 51 countries
• Average time spent on site is 3 min & 2 sec
• Average of 8,7 page per visit
• Top cities are New York, Chicago & London
• 414 models from 24 countries participating the contest

Let’s continue with the last fact. Currently we are entering the last week of the 1st model contest of JUSTPROUD. For that we tightened the TOP50 (so far) to the current TOP25 (so far).

Please see here our TOP25 contestants. 1 model that wasn’t in the TOP50 entered the TOP25, so anything is still possible!

Over time we noticed that people were trying to manipulate the voting system via all sorts of ways. We advice everybody to put effort in different things because we have set up the system in such a way that manipulation is detected pretty soon. We are in this business too long to be fooled in an obvious way :-).
On the other hand we noticed also that many contestants were very active in getting votes & many did get heaps! That’s cool & that is the way we want to play the game!
Good luck to all contestants & have a great day!

JUSTPROUD Top 50 contestants so far........

Our first model contest closed yesterday for entries. People are still able to vote untill November 18th. Looking into the results (so far) we learn over day & so did we now. Here are some statistics:

• 414 entries
• 24 countries
• Difference between nr. 1 & nr. 50 is only app. 35 votes!
• 60% (app. 250!) of the contestants didn’t put too much effort in getting votes

Here you find the 50 most voted contestants (random) so far.

The statistics make us both happy & sad.

• Happy for the many contestants & even more the 24 countries that are represented. That is really cool!
• Still about anyone is still able to win, because the difference is very small in the top.
• But the thing what made me wonder is the following: People enter the contest & they upload a picture, write a motivation that this is THE thing for them & that they will do anything to meet their goal. And then, and then…………………….. They do nothing??!!

That was the part I didn’t get; if one has a dream & it’s closer than ever, one should expect that they would do anything. But apparently people have dreams, they express them & then they wait and let fate take over. Yes, not all people directed to the site want to become a member in order to vote, but believe me, most people will.

The top 50 did certainly put very much effort in gaining votes. They sent their page to friends; put it on their weblog & Facebook etc etc. They are really motivated to win, very cool to see.

Ok let’s see what the next 2 weeks will bring. Good luck to everybody!

The week comes to an end

This week comes to its end. It was a real nice one for JUSTPROUD.  

• Over 2000 fans at our fan page
• 308 contestants
• Very enthusiastic comments, suggestions & covarge.

 The contest will be a few more days open for entries & then it’s only gaining votes.

We got some suggestions not only rewarding the Nr.1 contestant but also the runners up; we are thinking if & how we can/will do this; we keep you up to date

In the meantime we are busy creating the next release. We cannot wait to put that online. To see all peoples reaction & being able to communicate & interact on our own Fashion Brand platform. But unfortunately we cannot make this overnight, so w have to be a little patient.

All suggestions of the members are taken into account & we think it really will be cool!

We also thought about an ‘ambassador’-role & we came up with this for the moment:

Role:

• ‘Moderate’ designs, model & photography contests
• Member of JUSTPROUD court (the ‘court of JUSTPROUD’ in case members have issues on designs copyrights voting’s etc)
• Arrange yearly live event of JUSTPROUD in your region (small fashion show)
• Representing your region members (activate them & be accessible)
• Periodical updates on region activity / member

Powers:

• Change/ delete comments & contest submissions
• Being one of the votes in order to make a verdict (or not) at the ‘court’
• Submit a plan & budget to arrange the live event
• Representing your region actively within the organization
• Publishing at the JUSTPROUD website & company blog
• Being able to make member accounts inactive (and enter for determination)

If you have any ideas, you can post them at http://justproud.com/en/Forum/ViewTopic.aspx?ftid=26

SOCIAL MEDIA GOES FASHION - JUSTPROUD press release -

JUSTPROUD Launches First Community-Driven Fashion Brand
From today, ordinary people worldwide can break into the fashion industry through JUSTPROUD: the first online fashion community that actively encourages participation from its members. Members contribute their opinions, knowledge & talents from the start, through the design, modeling and photography stages to the end product: selling their clothes and accessories. Ultimately, JUSTPROUD members themselves will be the designers, models & photographers.


The Fashion Revolution
The classic hierarchy of top designers setting trends which filter down into the high street is being inverted. Now ordinary people who are interested in fashion, or people who want to make a career out of it, have a new stepping-stone to enter this industry and give themselves a better chance of being discovered.


Social media foundations
The familiar social media principles remain the same. Anyone interested in the fashion industry can become a founding member for free, invite their friends and network. If you want to be actively involved in the design, modeling or photography stages you can also upload portfolios of your work. All members are invited to make the important decisions. Members can promote their choices and get as many votes as possible; the most popular designs will be produced and the most popular models and photographers will be signed to the ad campaigns. Their clothes and accessories will also be sold through members.


Co-development
Geert Rietbergen, CEO of JUSTPROUD, announces: “From today, JUSTPROUD gives people the opportunity to sign up as „founding members‟ - until January 1st 2010 - and we invite them to share their views on the process and the look and feel of the site. This current site is available in 8 different languages.


By January the community will be in full operation and the first items will be ready for co-development and sale.”


To become a free founding member of the biggest movement in fashion, please visit: http://www.justproud.com/


JUSTPROUD is initiative of the people of BALLSMEDIA. Where they used to work at the agency-side consulting multinationals like Unilever, PepsiCo, KLM etc, now they emphasis on realizing projects where people (like you and me) are really involved & really get the direct benefits. BALLSMEDIA is located in Mountain View (CA, USA), The Hague (Holland) & Shanghai (China).

219 contestants, translations & (almost) ready for the introduction

What a weekend this was. Almost every hour contestants enter our 1st model competition at www.justproud.com/en/model/. This really encourages us to go forward. Even we didn’t plan this event initially we are convinced that it was a good plan to meet the expectations of our members sooner than January. Still this gives us a lot of challenges: removing double entries & pictures without a ‘fashion nature’, installing more security checks & making the entries appear random.
Especially the last one is of great importance, to give all entries equal chance.

Then we are working on the different language versions simultanious. So the whole world (or at least the part that talks English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German or Dutch) can be a part of this movement. Because of the latest changes in the site, due to the contest, we were a little late in supplying the version to translate. Our main supplier in translations did their very best, but at the latest moment we decided to go for another translator who could deliver earlier; (thanks to Jennifer, a former employee of my China Company & girlfriend of Djon) so now we will implement the language versions today. Hopefully without mistakes, because it is hard to make a Japanese version when you’re not native Japanese.

Last Friday the people of BusinessWire supported me through their website in order to prepare the press release. It is always exciting to say: yes, this is it; without the possibility to reverse. But James of Businesswire double checked it for us & now the press release is translated in several main languages & ready to hit the wire.
We are very curious how the media will react. Only a few days of (less) sleep and we will know.

Model competition & more than 1200 fans!

Today we started our first model competition! After receiving great feedback of our members & fans at http://www.justproud.com/, we decided we organize our first model competition. Currently already 60 contestants entered.

Originally we wanted to remain building on the next release of the site, with all functionalities, taken all suggestions of our members into consideration. But because so many members were enthusiastic about it, we decided to meet their expectations earlier and we implemented the model contest justproud.com/en/model/. The winner will be the 1st ‘face’ of JUSTPROUD. Besides that she will gain worldwide coverage, a fully covered trip & be broadcasted on FTV.

Our fan base at Facebook grows very quickly as well; 2 weeks after starting with our pre-site we already have over 1200 fans! A lot of enthusiasm is read from “the wall”. We are curious how this will evolve after of worldwide introduction next week!

Quickly we will continue creating our different languages for the pre-site.

Model competition & other exciting things

This week was an exciting one. Lots of positive reactions via the JUSTPROUD.com, via Facebook & Twitter.

Many people gave good suggestions & positive feedback. One of my former employees, Bram, currently on a ‘around-world-sailing-trip’, even stopped by & thought with us. I had a diner, at restaurant Christian, with Alex which was inspiring as always. So cool how everybody is enthusiastic towards the concept & want to add their contribution.


Working towards the global introduction of JUSTPROUD, we thought how we could involve our current members already & we came up with the 1st model competition. Who will be ‘the 1st face’ of JUSTPROUD at the January introduction of next release site.

Our fan page at Facebook is going steady towards the first 1000 fans & this excites us obviously.
This week we will start our model-competition, finish the other 7 languages of the pre-site & get ready for the global introduction the week after.

Over 300 fans in 72 hours make us happy

72 hours after launching our pre-site JUSTPROUD.com we have over 300 fans on our Facebook fanpage. This really encourages us! Because it’s our test version, we didn’t put in too much effort in creating traffic yet. The first test results are in and we are very (very, very, very) happy with those.

Results:

• Very positive reactions towards the concept
• Very positive reactions towards the site
• The conversion to member exceeds our (modest) expectations.
• Some members did miss the photo upload, which we have planned for the final release.
• 4 separate message boards are too fragmented

To make the site better & meet member expectations we will change the following:

•  4 boards will be 1 message board 
• We created a “member portfolio link topic”, where members can post their online portfolio temporarily (until we have the photo upload ready).

We tried to find the best temporary option without doing too much harm to our original planning; otherwise the full release would be postponed & we didn’t want to do that; hope you agree & understand.

More than 100 fans in 36 hours

Fashion lovers, designers models & photographers are currently uniting at JUSTPROUD. 36 hours after launching our the English version of our pre-site we got more than 100 fans at our Facebook fanpage; thank you soo much.
Next week we will analyze the test results of the pre-site and make adjustments as sees fit. The initial results & reactions do strengthen us in our mission: creating a community driven fashion brand together with you.

JUSTPROUD, English testversion is live.

Fashion lover, designer, model & photographer; this is your chance. Justproud.com is live with its test version. Our own fashion brand!

Preview homepage

Still in the proces of creating the pre-site. Here you can have a sneak preview of the English site. Hopefully we will enter the testingphase tomorrow. Untill then I leave you with the homepage.

Upcomming week

This upcomming week will be an exciting one. We are finishing our pre-website; the one in which we will explain the concept. At this website you can already signup as founding member and share your thoughts with us, in order to make a great first release of the community.

The first pre-site will be published in English and after the testperiod we will publish also in Chinese, Spanish, Portugese, French, German, Dutch & Japanese. So you can imagine we have a busy time ahead :-)