Fast Society - Fast Becoming A Go-To App

by on Oct 11, 2010

While in Lake Tahoe for the Tahoe Tech Talk I was introduced to an iPhone app that had just been released called Fast Society. The description I was provided went something like “It’s a group texting application“.

Frankly, that sounded pretty boring to me but I proceeded to install it and took the minute required to activate it. It was at this point that I was added into the ‘texting group’ of a few other friends who were attending.

After the first few communique’s back and forth I was struck by one of those ‘Wow’ moments. I don’t typically write about specific products, much less review them, so the fact that I’m doing so now should clue you into the fact of just how impactful I believe this app is going to be.

Let me state right up front that it’s the type of thing you need to experience to appreciate. While I can describe it, it’s not the same.

So what, exactly, is it you ask?

In a nutshell you can add a group of friends to your list, assign a time-frame from an hour to 3 days for that list to be active, and then everyone participating on the list sees any texts you send to it. In addition you can instantly establish a conference call to everyone on the list, as well as send out your location to the list. You’ll notice that I said you had to provide a time duration for the list, you can only have one list active at any given time, which may sound like a hindrance but you’ll find it makes perfect sense.

To give a very specific scenario, when I attend the BlogWord Expo I intend on setting up a list with my primary partners in crime. We’ll instantly be able to communicate via voice, text, and provide current locations amongst ourselves. Those of you who attend large diverse conferences can appreciate the difficulty in maintaining that level of communication.

Just download it and try it out, have I ever steered you wrong?

Cheers,

Matt Ridings – @techguerilla

Post Author

As CEO for MSR Consulting, Matt has the privilege to consult for a variety of progressive organizations ranging from name brand enterprises to nascent startups while leveraging his background as a creative problem solver and strategic thinker. Matt...

  • http://twitter.com/officiallyrad Andy Thompson

    Hey Matt! It’s so great to hear stuff like this, glad to hear you’re a fan of what we’re working on. To anyone who doesn’t have an iPhone, we have other native apps in the works as I type, but anyone with internet on their phone can just go to m.fastsociety.com to create a team. Really excited to see this evolve, thanks for sharing the good word.

    Andy
    co-founder @ Fast Society

  • http://www.honeybeeconsulting.com startabuzz

    I had the opportunity to use this at last week’s BlogWorld EXPO and found that it made communication with cohorts there much easier, much more fluid than if we had all been trying to send individual text messages. The app made things more efficient, made it possible to coordinate meetings with precious little aggravation, freeing up a few precious extra moments to breathe during the busy conference. FastSociety even made it possible to learn about some of the local wildlife, as well as its customs with regard to haberdashery. Thumbs up!

  • http://www.honeybeeconsulting.com startabuzz

    Hey, Andy! I loved using the app, but since I’m an Android user, I was limited to the mobile site (which worked just fine). Glad to hear that there’s something in the works for us!

  • Anonymous

    Have to say that I, too, was wondering if this was going to be “meh”. But Matt kept insisting, so try it I did. And I can absolutely say that it made my communication with key groups of people at BlogWorld SO much easier and better. The location piece especially was handy for those of us that don’t have an interest in managing a location app all the time, but want a few select people to know where we are for a specific purpose.

    I still think I wish that I could keep my group active for a longer time, but understand the utility behind the design the way it is. Perhaps it’s just my friends. :)

    Sure I’ll be using it again soon.

  • http://socialbutterflyguy.com/ DJ Waldow

    I’m sold. 100% agree with Matt though that you have to use it to become a believer. I was part of a few “Fast Societies” during Blogworld. It certainly made coordination simply.

    DJ Waldow
    Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
    http://www.blueskyfactory.com
    @djwaldow