Text message invites to special advance movie screenings
txtMovieClub may be forced to shutdown August 15th, 2009.
To all members
The team at txtMovieClub has always had the goal of complete transparency with it's members.
So it's with a heavy heart that I disclose our potential shutdown of service.
Late Friday afternoon, we received a "dear john" letter from our mobile sms aggregator. In this brief and shocking letter, GoLive! Mobile, LLC, wrote:
To whom it may concern:
We are writing to inform you that GoLive! Mobile, LLC is changing our business model. Since these changes have occurred, we will not be able to carry your account past 30 days from today. Please take the time to find a company that can continue the services you may need for your campaign(s). Please consider August 15, 2009 as the last day that your campaigne will be active with us.
Thank you for your time and good luck in your future endeavors.
Yes, the typo wasn't lost on us either. This notification came as a complete surprise. To further explain, I will define what an aggregator is.
An aggregator allows our servers (system) to connect with mobile carriers (ie. Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, etc.). That is how we send text message invites. We own our own short code 95201, but the short code alone does not allow us to send & receive text messages. An aggregator provides the vital gateway connection that allows for two-way communication between tMC and the mobile carriers via text message.
Why don't we just find another aggregator?
We have begun the search, but there are only 10 (tier 1) aggregators in the US. We have sent SOS emails to all of them. The problem with transferring our short code from one aggregator to another is that the process is not instant. In fact, our short code would have to go through the approval process again with every carrier. This can take 2-3 months. Also, we had a very special deal with our current aggregator. Our messaging costs were substantially below industry norm.
Possible Solutions:
1. We immediately find an aggregator that will let us use their shared short code. A shared code is similar to our short code, but is "shared" with other services. This is an option we are investigating.
2. We transfer our short code and attempt to pay a premium for expedited transfer. This may be an option, but tMC would have to incur additional costs which make this option unlikely.
3. We attempt to contact our current aggregator and ask for more than 30 days. We are aware that legally what they are doing may be considered liable. Especially since canceling our account in 30 days essentially shuts us down and does not provide enough time to allow a transfer of service.
4. We change the txtMovieClub model. Move to a web based service and join the ranks of the unappealing and change our slogan to irresponsible ticketing. The least appealing option to say the least.
No matter which option becomes the most viable, the reality is that it will come with additional costs. Since 2007, tMC has been privately funded by the founders, Kevin, Chris, and myself. Unfortunately, our recent attempt to monetize tMC has been abruptly affected by this action. This horrible timing has compounded our plight.
All tMC services will remain intact and functioning until August 15th, 2009. We will be working very hard to implement a new solution. During the process, you can check back here for the latest update.
Say a prayer, keep your fingers crossed, or perform a spell. We won't go down without a fight!
Best Regards,
Mark
txtMovieClub
The team at txtMovieClub has always had the goal of complete transparency with it's members.
So it's with a heavy heart that I disclose our potential shutdown of service.
Late Friday afternoon, we received a "dear john" letter from our mobile sms aggregator. In this brief and shocking letter, GoLive! Mobile, LLC, wrote:
To whom it may concern:
We are writing to inform you that GoLive! Mobile, LLC is changing our business model. Since these changes have occurred, we will not be able to carry your account past 30 days from today. Please take the time to find a company that can continue the services you may need for your campaign(s). Please consider August 15, 2009 as the last day that your campaigne will be active with us.
Thank you for your time and good luck in your future endeavors.
Yes, the typo wasn't lost on us either. This notification came as a complete surprise. To further explain, I will define what an aggregator is.
An aggregator allows our servers (system) to connect with mobile carriers (ie. Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, etc.). That is how we send text message invites. We own our own short code 95201, but the short code alone does not allow us to send & receive text messages. An aggregator provides the vital gateway connection that allows for two-way communication between tMC and the mobile carriers via text message.
Why don't we just find another aggregator?
We have begun the search, but there are only 10 (tier 1) aggregators in the US. We have sent SOS emails to all of them. The problem with transferring our short code from one aggregator to another is that the process is not instant. In fact, our short code would have to go through the approval process again with every carrier. This can take 2-3 months. Also, we had a very special deal with our current aggregator. Our messaging costs were substantially below industry norm.
Possible Solutions:
1. We immediately find an aggregator that will let us use their shared short code. A shared code is similar to our short code, but is "shared" with other services. This is an option we are investigating.
2. We transfer our short code and attempt to pay a premium for expedited transfer. This may be an option, but tMC would have to incur additional costs which make this option unlikely.
3. We attempt to contact our current aggregator and ask for more than 30 days. We are aware that legally what they are doing may be considered liable. Especially since canceling our account in 30 days essentially shuts us down and does not provide enough time to allow a transfer of service.
4. We change the txtMovieClub model. Move to a web based service and join the ranks of the unappealing and change our slogan to irresponsible ticketing. The least appealing option to say the least.
No matter which option becomes the most viable, the reality is that it will come with additional costs. Since 2007, tMC has been privately funded by the founders, Kevin, Chris, and myself. Unfortunately, our recent attempt to monetize tMC has been abruptly affected by this action. This horrible timing has compounded our plight.
All tMC services will remain intact and functioning until August 15th, 2009. We will be working very hard to implement a new solution. During the process, you can check back here for the latest update.
Say a prayer, keep your fingers crossed, or perform a spell. We won't go down without a fight!
Best Regards,
Mark
txtMovieClub
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Reverend on -
Hrmmmmm
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tMc_logo_top_ban.png, 24 KB
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Permalink Reply by Shari on -
But we don't want it to be GONE because we can't keep the unique "txt" part alive. Right?? Mark and Co. have created something special with the site alone. NOBODY offers this. The community of it... the fun. This is a massive creative outlet for some of us.
I DO NOT SHOW MY BOOBS TO EVERYONE!!! My shirts do!!
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Permalink Reply by Wingo on -
No one was asking for that Shari, we all will say thank you to you keeping it in your shirt.
Please dont hurt me.....
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Permalink Reply by Martin Baggs on -
This is very sad. This has been a wonderful site and one I come to for blog-reading and movie tickets. If there is anything I can do to help keep the site afloat let me know.
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Permalink Reply by Zachariah on -
Yo dude, why didn't ya email me sooner, I'd totally come back to help!
Zachariah
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Permalink Reply by txtMovieClub on -
UPDATE: Buzzzz 6am alarm. I logged about 6 hours of talk time today and the rest writing emails. I was able to speak to our current provider. A very nice woman by the name of Jackie respectively heard our plea and has promised to bring our situation to the attention of the powers that be. While waiting for this result, and speaking to several other companies, we've come to a few conclusions.
1. Switching our short code to a new aggregator will take more than 30 days.
2. The cost associated with switching will be a minimum of $2500. That's just for "setup". All of the providers I spoke to today quoted me much higher rates than we have now (monthly fees & message costs).
3. In speaking to several industry experts today, I was left with the impression that the sms text messaging industry is attempting to weed out the little fish. If a company doesn't pump out hundreds of thousands or millions of sms messages per month, then you're a waste of their time.
4. We had a sweet deal with our current provider. Most of the sales people I spoke to today were surprised at our current rates. I can't tell how many times I heard "Good luck finding a deal like that"...
I know Kevin, Chris, and I really appreciate everyone's support here. Your suggestions and words of praise are heard and welcomed!
I want to address a recurring theme regarding switching to an email based system. Unfortunately, that would position tMC as a direct competitor of gofobo.com. Since this would be a conflict, it's not an option for tMC. One of our saving graces when gofobo came around was that we delivered invites in an unique way. Because of this, both companies were able to coexist and form a partnership. This has resulted in increased screenings for tMC members.
Tomorrow is another day and we can only hope the news gets better. I'll be sure to post the results of our Tuesday tomorrow evening. Thanks again for all the support.
Mark
tMC
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Permalink Reply by Randy on -
I would be happy to pay a monthly, annual or per text fee to be a member. I am sure most of us would. That is a start. Also, do we need to use an aggregator? cell providers offer an email based way to send a text, for instance for verizon you can just send an email to (555)555-2555@vtext.com. It is just your cell number@vtext.com. I am pretty sure all providers offer this. Then you could just use an email client to send the text to us. It is just as fast. (No short code and no aggregator to deal with)
Here is the info for most companies;
T-Mobile: phonenumber@tmomail.net
Virgin Mobile: phonenumber@vmobl.com
Cingular: phonenumber@cingularme.com
Sprint: phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Verizon: phonenumber@vtext.com
Nextel: phonenumber@messaging.nextel.com
US Cellular: phonenumber@email.uscc.net
SunCom: phonenumber@tms.suncom.com
Powertel: phonenumber@ptel.net
AT&T: phonenumber@txt.att.net
Alltel: phonenumber@message.alltel.com
Metro PCS: phonenumber@MyMetroPcs.com
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Permalink Reply by mark on -
Yes Randy. You've done your homework. Thank you for mentioning this option. There are some obstacles to this type of system. First and foremost it eliminates our short code 95201 and capability of two-way communication. For example, text-to-win campaigns would not be able to be run this way. Nor would text MOVIE to 95201 (how so many initially find tMC).
With regards to volume, once a carrier sees that we sent out a few hundred messages, their system instantly shuts down the connection thinking it's spam. This type of messaging was conceived by carriers for individuals to send messages to each other, not bulk sms sending. They monitor traffic very closely to ensure there is no abuse of their systems.
We also thought of using twitter and having members place their unique twitter ID in their profile. Once a member RSVP's to an Event, we can identify them by their twitter ID and send the invite directly. Then a member would request "mobile device" downloads of any tweets sent from tMC. This would in theory give you a "text message invite tweet". Perfect right? We leverage the twitter platform for free! I thought so too until I read that twitter is sending so many sms messages thru the carriers that they are being cutoff. Their reaching daily limits and can't keep up with demand for mobile downloads of tweets. So that would leave many members frustrated that they wouldn't get the invites sent to their phones. Not to mention putting our business lives back in the hands of someone else.
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