The Octopz blog, now known as The Pond, has relocated to a new address at thepond.octopzlive.com, our new online community hub.

Moving the blog over to this new address will give us the ability to add more online community features to the site, starting with a new series of videos that we’ll be releasing over the next few weeks.

Please be sure to update your browser bookmark to reflect the blog address change. If you subscribe to our blog by RSS or email, this address change will be made automagically on our end.

Over at the feedgrowth.com blog, the folks from Digital Scientists noted how easy it is to use Octopz to manage the creation of video content and noted that

. . . there are an almost unlimited number of collaboration tools available, what’s different here is the ability to markup and review video files (without requiring a PhD).

Online collaboration expert Dr. Cindy Gordon blogged about the changing business realities of online collaboration and young adults and praised Octopz, calling our software

. . . one of the most powerful on demand collaboration software solutions that I have seen in a long time.

Tech executive Alex Saunders got a demo of Octopz at the recent Enterprise 2.0 conference and blogged about our software, noting that

. . . at $99 per month per license (per simultaneous meeting), it’s easy to imagine this product becoming an inexpensive and indispensible must-have for web design shops and creative teams everywhere.

To see Octopz in action inside your web browser, take the quick tour and then sign up for your own free trial account.

Technorati Tags: collaboration, geoperdis, online collaboration, RIA, SaaS, webware

A new guided tour of Octopz is now live on our website. Octopz co-founder and Chief Evangelist Barry Fogarty introduces you to the user interface, shows you how to

• upload digital documents and rich media
• manipulate and markup the files
• instantly invite someone else into an Octopz room
• use the text, video and voice chat features to collaborate with them online

You can play through the entire video or select individual clips from the navigation menu. We’d love to hear what you think of the guided tour video and what other topics you’d like to see addressed in this format. Email us (editor [at] octopz.com) or comment below.

Technorati Tags: barryfogarty, collaboration, flash, geoperdis, Octopz, online collaboration, screencasting, webware, workflow

Hi, my name is Barry Fogarty. I’m a co-founder and the Chief Evangelist for Octopz. We launched our collaboration service a little over two months ago and a lot has happened in these first couple of months – some of it planned and some not. I thought I’d share a few of our impressions.
 
 
1. If you build it, they will come 

Since our launch, a number of positive Octopz reviews have been written by technology media outlets. One of the first was published by Robin Good’s MasterNewMedia website – which was especially pleasing for us as, unknown to him, we’d used his reports to help guide our development efforts. 

Just prior to our public launch at Web 2.0 Expo, CNET’s Webware.com also published a positive review of Octopz. They followed that up by selecting our software as one of the Top 5 technologies at the Web 2.0 Expo; we were also nominated as a finalist for the Webware 100. InfoWorld identified Octopz as a 2007 Rising Star and profiled us in their Month of Startups feature.

We also started this blog right at the same time we released Octopz and we were pleased to see the blogosphere take early notice of us as well. The blog has also proven to be a great way to connect with our users. Which leads me to my second impression . . .
 
 
2. If they build it, they will come 
 
Someone, I’m not sure who, said this at the Enterprise 2.0 conference last week (more about the conference in a future post) and I couldn’t agree more.
 
Our users have been clear about what they like (ease of use, range of document types supported, etc.); and what they don’t like (insufficient disk storage, confusion in the signup process for free trials, and lack of clarity re how to get tech support). We’ve taken this feedback very seriously and addressed the shortcomings as quickly as possible. 
 
We’ve also decided to take things a bit further and we’re currently working on a number of initiatives:

 
• expanding our support for Flash documents by releasing an API that will allow our users to easily import their Flash swf’s into Octopz – while maintaining all of the content’s features and interactivity

 

• enabling users to make their Flash documents available to other Octopz users. We’ve seen some very cool mini apps that our users have built and we’re considering providing a forum to facilitate the sharing of these apps

 

• enhancing Octopz’s content management capabilities – both internally (within Octopz itself) and externally, via API, with other content and digital asset management programs

 Any thoughts and suggestions are more than welcome.
 
 
 3. Builders wanted
 
Getting good media reviews and positive feedback from early adopters of Octopz has been very gratifying. But we’re not resting on our launch laurels and are working hard to improve the way we collaborate with our users (and how our users can collaborate with each other)

We also need to expand our great team So we’re looking to hire some new people. In particular we’re looking for people with the following skills:

• Flash (especially AS3 and Flex)
• Java
• Sales (in particular within the creative and agency businesses)

We’re based in Toronto, Canada but if you’re good you can be anywhere – we eat our own dogfood and will use Octopz to collaborate with you. 

Technorati Tags: barryfogarty, collaboration, infoworld, Octopz, online collaboration, RIA, SaaS, web2.0, web2expo, webware, workflow

Last week we released a couple of enhancements to Octopz. They are:

The Octopz document storage space has been doubled to 1 GigaByte per license at no additional cost. So now you can upload, view, markup and save even more digital documents and rich media files.

We’ve added support for Microsoft Office 7 documents, which typically end in .docx, .pptx and .xlsx. You can simply upload, view and markup Office 7 files as you did with previous versions of Office documents, which continue to be fully supported.

The new Custom Branding feature allows you to customize your Octopz Meeting Zone and Rooms with your company’s logo. Simply upload a gif or jpg of your logo and it will be automatically placed in the upper left hand corner. Your logo can be up to 36 pixels high and 360 pixels wide. For instructions, click here to see a short video on how to do this.

Technorati Tags: collaboration, online collaboration, RIA, SaaS, screencasting

Filmmaker Andy Coon stopped by our booth at the How Design Conference yesterday and really liked what he saw in Octopz for film and video creatives. Writing on his blog, Andy said:

Editors around the world rejoice, Octopz is a web application that will allow you to collaborate with your clients anywhere in the world. Granted there are other applications out there but check out Barry Fogarty Co-founder & Chief Evangelist take us through an example of the features for video editors.

Andy also taped Barry’s demo at the booth and published it on his blog. You can see it here.

Technorati Tags: collaboration, geoperdis, Octopz, online collaboration, webware

Just looking at the new iPhone ad and wondering out loud about the future.

Technorati Tags: apple, collaboration, geoperdis, iphone, Octopz

Octopz co-founder and chief evangelist Barry Fogarty speaks during in the 15 minutes of fame presentation at the mesh conference earlier today.

Technorati Tags: barryfogarty, mesh, mesho7, Octopz, online collaboration, RIA, SaaS, web2.0, webware

This week, Octopz CEO Ron, Chief Evangelist Barry Fogarty and VP of Marketing Ann Christie will take part in mesh, Canada’s leading (and sold-out) web conference. Mesh is literally being held in our own backyard, the MaRS Collaboration Centre in Toronto on May 30 and 31.

The mesh organizers selected Octopz as one of the three companies that will present in the 15 Minutes of Fame (15MOF) event on May 30, between 11:30a.m. and 12:00p.m. Three more companies will present in the same time slot on May 31. We’re thrilled to have been selected by the mesh organizers and look foward to taking part in the 15MOF event, as well as attending the whole conference.

Mesh was launched in 2006 by Mark Evans of b5media, Mathew Ingram of the Globe and Mail, technology lawyer Rob Hyndman, entrepreneur Stuart MacDonald and Michael McDerment of Freshbooks.com. Learn more about mesh here.

Technorati Tags: Canada, mesh, Toronto, web2.0

Ron McKenzie, Octopz CEO 2.0 and Barry Fogarty, Co-founder and Chief Evangelist.

On May 24, Ron McKenzie, P.Eng. joined Octopz Inc. as Chief Executive Officer. He takes over the CEO function from company co-founder Barry Fogarty, who will assume the newly-created role of Chief Evangelist.

Ron has extensive experience leading fast-growing tech companies both in Canada and the United States. He has held leadership roles in the computing and communications sector with companies such as Hewlett Packard, SGI, FORE Systems and most recently as Executive Vice President, Marketing and Business Development, of MTS/Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada).

According to Ron:

It’s an exciting opportunity to join an organization with such a unique and differentiated solution. It’s a tremendous testament to the quality and originality of Octopz that they’ve launched to such great reviews from critics and customers. I’m looking forward to using my experience in the computing, software and service provider sectors to help propel the company to even greater levels of success.

And Barry, grinning ear to ear because he gets the fun gig of Chief Evangelist, adds:

Ron’s strengths and experience will bring new impetus to the continuing development of our solution and the rapid growth of our business. With Ron leading the team, I am excited to take on the role of Chief Evangelist, allowing me to concentrate on promoting Octopz and working more closely with clients to ensure that future developments continue to not only meet but exceed their needs and expectations.

Find out more about Ron, Barry and the rest of the Octopz team here. The official news release about Ron’s appointment is here.

Technorati Tags: barryfogarty, Octopz, RIA, ronmckenzie, SaaS, webware