Basno Blog

This brief screenflow (click here for larger version) provides...

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:15:00 -0400

This brief screenflow (click here for larger version) provides an overview of the process of creating, customizing and distributing digital valuables on Basno. It is meant to be accompanied by the page of Verified Issuer documentation available here.

What's new on BASNO? (updated 4/25/2011)

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:47:00 -0400

We’ve relaunched! Question is, besides the new look, what has changed on basno.com?

Expanded badge creation and distribution capabilities
We are really excited about equipping users with all of the tools they need to make, own, distribute and display digital objects. Digital badges, stickers, pins and other goods are redefining the way people tell their stories online.

Ultimately, the core tenets of almost any item we like to collect — everything from a diploma, certificate or medal to a t-shirt, jersey or hat — are fairly simple and boil down to two main things: (i) who distributed it and (ii) what are its release properties (i.e. was it distributed exclusively to a select group of people, or can anyone own it? if anyone can own it, is its supply limited? is there a cost to acquiring it?).

Think about it: diploma? distributed by your university exclusively to your graduating class; football jersey? licensed by a league or team and available to anyone willing to pay the price while supplies last; student organization t-shirt? created and handed out by a student exclusively to fellow members of the organization.

We believe that by allowing individuals and institutions to come together, create badges and other goods and then control their creations’ release properties (and that last part is the differentiater), the physical objects that we have long cherished will take new, and in fact enhanced, life online. They will appear in people’s News Feeds and Timelines, on people’s Profile pictures and embedded on their personal blogs or company websites. They will begin to fill a new shelf space, one that captures the essence of how collections have been formed and refined offline but that also unlocks everything the web does best: ease of access and display, communities both open and closed, discounts, commerce and more.

To-date, only Verified Issuers have had the ability to create and distribute badges on Basno. Now anyone can create something. Initially, “something” is a sticker, but going forward something may be other types of social merchandise (pins, buttons, patches and more) and will ultimately take many different forms. Authentic badges will always be identifiable by their silver frames as invitation-only goods created and distributed only by Verified Issuers. This has been the core product of our platform to-date and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. We believe goods distributed by high quality brands exclusively to recipients who have achieved a meaningful threshold (whether through a commitment of skill, energy, time or other resources) are best suited for the profile-focused social web and, in both digital and physical forms, hold huge sentimental value for their owners.

Publishing badges to your profile picture
Crucial to the essence of any object is its permanence. When you stick your medal up on your shelf, you only have to do it once. You don’t have to remind friends and contacts of it every time they enter your room or office. They can see it and understand it without your prompting. If they choose to engage with you about it, they can, or they can internalize its meaning without saying a word. That’s in large part the power of an object, and that’s the effect we’re focused on providing with the digital goods offered on BASNO. Inasmuch, we’re excited to offer users access to a new “shelf space” (if you will) through our “Publish to Profile Picture” interface. To complement the Vault every user has on basno.com, we hope that users will begin to integrate their most cherished badges into their various profile pictures. We hope badges will bring new meaning and purpose to what has become one of the most static aspects of social networking and empower users everywhere to express themselves through the objects they own.

Our Publish to Profile Picture interface is very easy to use. By dragging select badges into place at the bottom of a profile picture and publishing the picture for use on Facebook (Twitter and LinkedIn coming soon!), users can quickly place two of their badges in the most prominent place on their profiles.
Accelerated issuer verification and onboarding
It’s hard to offer authentic goods without verified issuers! Impossible, in fact. So we’ve spent a lot of time refining the process of verifying issuers. Specifically, we’ve centered our new verification process on one main observation: namely that brands and organizations can have a presence on Twitter independent of any underlying administrator account. Therefore, as institutions put BASNO to work (primarily to issue badge but also to own them), we expect most of them will access the platform using their Twitter credentials. By submitting the “Get Verified” form, potential issuers can initiate a very basic review of their Twitter tag and Company Website, where our primary objective is to confirm that hosted on the Company Website is a link to the specified Twitter tag.

Upon confirmation of those details and basic subjective review, Basno places the submitted Twitter tag on its Verified Issuer list, such that upon signing in with Twitter on the Basno sign in page the user is recognized as having been Verified. Users already verified by Twitter are automatically recognized as Verified Issuers. The Basno Verification Service team then also monitors issuance behaviors and confirms other details in order to give finalized Verification status.

Improved badge customization, tracking and measurement for Verified Issuers
Some of the best parts of badge issuance are the goodwill it creates with badge owners and the way it empowers those owners to become ambassadors for a given brand, cause or initiative across the social web. In this regard, badges serve a dual value proposition: (i) enabling owners to differentiate themselves in an unobtrusive manner, while (ii) helping issuers popularize important and value-creating behaviors and commitments. In all cases, the ability of an issuer to fully customize a badge experience — to make its voice and branding consistent throughout the experience — helps make both (i) and (ii) possible. It underscores the fact that a badge is indeed a credible distribution from a Verified Issuer. It also helps make specific calls-to-action directed at those exposed to a badge more meaningful.

Indeed, issuer customizations and personalizations across the entire life-cycle of a badge serve to enhance that badge’s power as a tool for engagement and promotion. A well-drafted invitation (sent in a timely manner) increases the likelihood that a potential badge owner will elect to accept the invitation and claim ownership of their badge. A well-conceived badge design, name and description will make users more eager to share their badge on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Targeting the right community with a badge (its messaging and design, included) makes it more likely that badge owners will choose to participate in a badge owner dialogue. Impactful copy in a Facebook message and a compelling, challenging and intriguing call-to-action at its end maximizes the chance that a user exposed to the badge will elect to take action in response.

So we have enhanced the tools made available to Verified Issuers for customizing every aspect of a badge: the design, name, description and classification; the invitation email; the message that a user shares when posting a badge to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn; and, finally, the calls-to-action attached to that Facebook message. As importantly, however, we’ve improved the collection and presentation of stats about badges to make sure that Verified Issuers can fully understand and contextualize the impact and efficacy of their various badge campaigns.

How do I share a badge with my friends and contacts?

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:46:00 -0400

Badges were made for sharing! Or at least most were.

Part of the value of badge ownership after all is to establish credibility with your contacts and to demonstrate pride and passion about certain experiences and affiliations. Therefore, there are a number of ways to let those around you know that you own certain badges, both new and old.

Share: You can always elect to simply “Share” your badge on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. You can do this by pressing the relevant icon located on an individual badge page. A prompt to Share is also presented as part of the “Add to Vault” interface that launches when you claim a badge. When adding an object to your Vault, you can simply highlight the networks through which you’d like to share your badge and upon adding your badge to your vault message will be published on your selected profiles notifying friends and contacts of your new badge.

Publish to Profile Picture: If you want to place your badge in a prominent place where it will not fall to the bottom of your News Feed, you may choose to Publish it to one of your profile pictures. Do this by pressing the star icon next to any of the badges in your Vault. We’re really excited about making this functionality available, if for no reason other than it’s been a request from many existing users. We’re also hopeful that it will allow people to innovate around their profile pictures to add meaning and depth to that aspect of a profile in a way they have not been able to before. [Note: we’re working on this service now and are expecting to launch it for Facebook profile picture integration by 5/1/2011.]

Embed: Finally, you can also elect to embed your badge on your web page or blog. The code for embedding is made available on a given individual badge page, next to the Share buttons discussed above. Users who understand basic HTML should have no problems making use of the embed code, but embedding a badge should be done with caution.

How do I claim a badge?

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:46:00 -0400

There are a number of ways to claim ownership of a badge.

By invitation: If you’ve received an invitation to own a badge, it will include a unique claimcode presented in the form of a URL beginning http://basno.com/services/accept_badge/. By clicking on this link, you can claim your badge. If you are not yet signed in to basno.com, you will be prompted to sign in, whereupon your badge will be placed in your Vault. Going forward, you can access badges that you’ve claimed by signing in to basno.com and accessing your vault.

In the store: All badges can be found in the Store. Some are available to be claimed by invitation only. But most are freely available and can be added to your Vault by clicking the “+” / “Add to Vault” button displayed next to the desired item. As with invitation-only badges, upon clicking the “Add to Vault” button, you will be prompted to sign in if you have not already. You will also have the opportunity to share your ownership of your new badge with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and, as appropriate, invite others to own the same badge.

By creating a new badge: You can always create a new badge to own for yourself and, as importantly, to share with friends, contacts and other deserving users. Do this by going to the BASNO Design Center, or to learn more about the claiming process, click here.

How and why to "Get Verified"?

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:46:00 -0400

Verified Issuers stand at the core of Basno’s services. Badges and other digital goods distributed by high quality, verified brands exclusively to recipients who have achieved a meaningful threshold (e.g. finishing a race or course of study) are best suited for the profile-focused social web and, in both digital and physical forms, are items that people love to collect, cherish and display!

Verified Issuers on Basno have access to exclusive resources to customize and control branded digital objects with added precision and impact.

Badge Templates: Verified users have access to badge templates that other users do not. For the moment, this means that Verified Issuers can access special edition silver-framed badge templates. As we make more object templates available in our design center, Verified Issuers will always have access to some shapes that non-verified users do not.

Badge Customizations: Every aspect of a badge can be customized to help Verified Issuersreachtarget badge owners and their networks with maximum impact. Personalizations also ensure that a badge experience is in line with a brand’s overall strategy and that badge campaigns are properly implemented to promote value-creating behaviors. Indeed, issuer customizations and personalizations across the entire life-cycle of a badge serve to enhance that badge’s power as a tool for engagement and promotion. The primary areas for badge customization are: the sender, subject and body of an invitation email; the message to accompany the badge image users share on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn; and specific call-to-action links integrated at the bottom of any message shared on Facebook to help convert interested badge viewers into future badge owners.

Badge Tracking and Measurement: Verified Issuers may also access detailed tracking and measurement statistics that help evaluate the impact and reach of a given badge campaign. This helps them understand how well badges have been received by their audiences, on what networks users have shared their badges and what impact those badges are having from the perspective of creating impressions and directing targeted traffic.

Getting Verified by Basno is very easy. The easiest way for Basno to verify a given user, and therefore make the features above available to them, is by “whitelisting” that brand or organization’s Twitter tag. By submitting the “Get Verified” form, Basno initiates a very basic review of the submitted Twitter tag and Company Website primarily to confirm that hosted on the Company Website is a link to the specified Twitter tag. Upon confirmation of those details and a subjective review, Basno places the submitted Twitter tag on its Verified Issuer list, such that upon signing in with Twitter on the Basno sign in page the user is recognized as having been Verified. Users that have already been verified by Twitter are automatically recognized by Basno as a Verified Issuer.

Get Verified today!

How do I create a badge? What can I do with badges I create?

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:46:00 -0400

Creating a badge is incredibly easy and a fantastic way to demonstrate your affiliation with / support of an organization or cause. Common ownership of an object can also serve as a reaffirmation of existing bonds or a catalyst for new relationships and communities. There are certain things we want to own simply because of the other people who own them — be they friends, family or respected peers!

Creating badges, and then distributing them for others to own, is one of the core features of the BASNO platform. Simply go to the Create page to begin the process. You can:

Design a badge: First, choose a template. Once you’ve done that, upload, resize and position a design of your choice, and finally, name, describe, categorize and tag your badge.

Define a badge: Crucial to a well-designed badge is the description that the creator provides to help explain its purpose and what it says about its owners. When creating a badge, it’s also important to categorize and define the badge to help with discovery. And finally, creators must define whether a badge is invitation only or whether it should be made available on an open access basis (i.e. that the badge is first-come-first-serve), and if it’s open access if the supply of the object should be limited.

Invite friends to own a badge: Once you’ve created a badge, you will have the opportunity to add it to your vault. Through the “Add to Vault” and, coming soon, “Promote” interfaces, you may inform others about your new badge and get them to claim the badge also..

Customizing: Verified issuers may also access Basno’s badge customizations in order to improve the efficacy of a campaign, including refining the messaging around any given badge and better directing traffic to your sites. This includes incorporating links that lead to an issuer’s web page of choice in either the message or as a call-to-action link.

What's a badge? Why do I want to own one?

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:44:24 -0400

Digital badges are the online equivalent of established offline signs of achievement, affiliation, skill and experience (e.g. medals, trophies, certificates, sports jerseys and more). Digital badges, pins, patches, stickers and other forms of social merchandise are redefining the way users tell their stories online. When connected to meaningful commitments, achievements and distinctions, these objects are particularly powerful: they empower users – without brag or boast – to establish credibility and demonstrate pride and passion and, in a moment, communicate highly nuanced messages.

When offered via Basno, a badge is always limited-issue and invitation-only. Basno badges are uniquely marked with a serial number, 2D barcode and an encrypted watermark. Each one can be specifically authenticated, stopping impostors from taking a screen-shot and claiming to own a badge they do not. The badges are also stored in a secure online vault on basno.com but are also designed to be displayed by their owners on all major social networks or personal blogs.

In general, we believe people use the things the own to tell their stories. They fill the shelves of their homes, the walls of their offices and even their wardrobes with objects they’ve collected over the years and then use those objects to communicate nuanced messages about who they are, what they’ve experienced and where their passions lie. Goods of all forms provide users the opportunity to establish credibility and demonstrate pride and passion in a passive and often third-party validated way. Basno empowers people to do this online.

Why to own an object on Basno, including the authentic badges offered on the platform, is really subject to any given user’s appraisal of the badge and what it means to them. What we guarantee is that the owner has access to the information necessary to properly evaluate goods offered on the platform. We want users to know who created and distributed an object, we want them to understand whether that object is available by invitation only or whether it’s open access. And if it’s open access, we want them to understand how limited a release it is or is not. We believe that by guaranteeing transparency on those topics users will be equipped to make snap assessments of value, as they do every day.

What is Basno? Can I trust it?

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:44:04 -0400

Basno is a platform for people’s digital objects.

We believe people use their belongings to tell their stories. They fill the shelves of their home, the walls of their office and even their wardrobes with items they’ve collected over the years (be they diplomas and medals or stamps, posters and t-shirts). And they use those objects to communicate nuanced messages about who they are, what they’ve experienced and where their passions lie.

Basno empowers people to do this online. We provide organizations and individuals a platform to create, track and manage the supply of digital goods and equip users with the information they need to evaluate those goods and then the tools they need to claim, store and display them.

We guarantee three basic things. One: that the source of an object is always known. Two: that when you own something, it’s yours, it’s unique. And three: that, if an object is available by invitation only, uninvited users can’t own it, and similarly, if it is mean to be a limited edition, that in fact its circulation is limited.

Your possessions on Basno are more than just images placed next to your profile picture. We serialize objects offered on our platform and seal them with encrypted information that makes each one singular – an object unto itself that can be mimicked but never exactly replicated. It is yours, and only yours, for as long as you want it.

Each badge created on BASNO and owned by a user has an independent page where viewers can access the badge’s basic certification information (or meta data), including who owns it, who issued it, when it was issued, how many versions of the badge are in circulation, etc. For owners of a given badge, this independent badge page is also where they can access and participate in a dialogue between badge owners.

Users are also equipped with the necessary tools to make their ownership of a given badge known. Most simply, they can Share their badge on their Facebook wall and Twitter timeline or as a LinkedIn status update. A badge owner can also embed their badge on their personal blog or company website. Finally, badge owners can also Publish their badge to one of their profile pictures through the BASNO Publish to Profile Picture interface. Please click here for more on how to Share or Publish a badge.

Can BASNO be trusted? Please see our Terms of Services and Privacy Policy for more information on Basno and how we use the publicly available information that we receive from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Our platform is completely secure, and you are able to make your Vault private if you wish.