Q & A with Vivian Rosenthal, CEO of GoldRUN & 2011 Social Media Week Panelist

Vivian Rosenthal is CEO of GoldRUN, a new augmented reality platform that enables users to locate, interact with and take photos of GPS-linked virtual objects positioned in the real world. She’ll be a panelist on Friday’s Social Media Week panel, Check In or Check Out: Avoiding Location-Based Nothingness. 

What was your social media eureka moment?
It was realizing that I could use social media to galvanize people  into action,  gather friends around an event, or reach fans about a  launch. Social media had the power to democratize things, to give anyone a voice, to shift the power from them to us, from brand to  consumer.

What do you use on a daily basis and how?
Email, which I really hate and Twitter, which I really love. Email is something I have to do, it’s a laborious and overused form of  communication. Twitter is something I choose to use, and it reaches  more people and wastes less of my time.

 What is hot and what is just hype?
Anything has the potential to be hot, that’s what Malcolm Gladwell  explains so well in The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.

What do you see as being the next big thing at next year’s conference?
The further integration of games and brands.

What is the one takeaway you hope everyone gets from your panel?
Our physical and digital lives are forever going to change with the
widespread adoption of augmented reality.

More information on GoldRUN:

GoldRun is a new augmented reality platform that enables users to locate, interact with and take photos of GPS-linked virtual objects positioned in the real world. A powerful promotional tool tailored for the mobile environment, the app hosts AR-driven social media games, guides, virtual photo booths and loyalty programs designed to drive traffic to physical and online destinations, increase product sales, enhance brand engagement and bolster viral impact.

GoldRun users take pictures alongside virtual objects and can immediately post these photos to Facebook. By helping brands tap into this image sharing impulse, the app turns social networks into even more effective distribution channels as GoldRunners share images of themselves interacting with everything from scenes in blockbuster films, to iconic sports figures and the season’s must have fashion items.