Fast Society Launches at SXSW
Earlier this week I hung out with the guys behind the service called Fast Society – a simple, private group chat tool. I had met them in the MediaTrust offices in New York back in August, but they were in Austin to soft-launch Fast Society at SXSW.
According to Andy Thompson, Matthew Rosenberg and Michael Constantiner (above), Fast Society was built out of the frustration that came with trying to plan and communicate with their friends on nights out.
Michael says “when we conceptualized the product, we had a few key features that we felt were really important that we didn’t see from other players in the market. First and most importantly is that it should really focus around SMS. 98% of cell phones have SMS capabilities and it is quickly becoming the standard means of communication for the socially active audience we’re targeting. Teens and 20 year olds don’t email with their friends, they text each other. So keeping that natural medium of communication was essential.”
They also said they felt strongly about the idea that the groups should be short-term and focus on a specific event. It keeps Fast Society fresh in users’ minds and the experience becomes better. When users go back to look at conversation history on the event page, they’ll recapture memories from that event.
Another really cool feature about this product is the on-the-go conference calling. By sending the word “CALL” to the short code, Fast Society sends a dial-in number to the team and everyone can hop on and have a quick call from wherever they are. The call is then recorded and placed in the stream on the event page.
The usefulness of a service like this is endless, especially in the business realm. How many times have you touched down with your sales or marketing team at an event and needed a way to stay in close contact? What usually happens is haphazard meetings, and random one-off calls to keep the team appraised of what’s going on and any new developments around meetings or events. Fast Society is certainly great for social gatherings (as it was intended), but it is absolutely BRILLIANT as an organization and communication tool for business teams traveling together at conferences.
As the icing on the cake, it’s completely free to users, although standard carrier messaging rates apply.


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