--- title: "Friday Buzz: Meet Meerkat’s Twitter-Backed Competitor" id: "27751" type: "post" slug: "friday-buzz-meet-meerkats-twitter-backed-competitor" published_at: "2015-03-27T17:22:40+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T17:52:03+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/03/27/friday-buzz-meet-meerkats-twitter-backed-competitor/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/03/27/friday-buzz-meet-meerkats-twitter-backed-competitor.md" excerpt: "The real-time streaming service Meerkat hasn’t been on the market for a full month yet, but Twitter has a competitor which could prove equally as interesting. Also: The value of empathy in conference design." taxonomy_category: - "Meetings / Events" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "live streaming" - "Social Media" - "Technology" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Friday Buzz: Meet Meerkat’s Twitter-Backed Competitor Earlier this week, I [gave the new video-streaming platform Meerkat some major love](https://associationsnow.com/2015/03/associations-care-meerkat-possibly/) —but hinted that there’s a chance we may not be using it in the long run. The reason? Twitter already has a competitor in wait: [Periscope (opens in a new tab)](https://www.periscope.tv/) . The app, which launched Thursday for iOS, promises to bring real-time web-streaming to the masses just like Meerkat does. “Watching a broadcast isn’t a passive experience like television,” [the app developers wrote in a Medium post (opens in a new tab)](https://medium.com/@periscope/up-periscope-f0b0a4d2e486) . “On Periscope, viewers influence the broadcaster by sending messages, and expressing their love by tapping the screen to send hearts.” If you’re skeptical about the chances that Twitter could walk into this space and put up a good fight, it’s understandable. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that Twitter has already launched a successful secondary offering. Vine has [been a valuable tool](https://associationsnow.com/2013/06/lunchtime-links-the-rise-of-vine/) in the social media toolkit since its launch in early 2013. ### Talking Empathy http://twitter.com/bigmoth/status/581380631009050624 ***“It’s no longer enough for a conference** to have a call for speaker proposals to select speakers and topics. We’ve got to understand the most pressing issues that our target customers face. We’ve got to walk in their shoes to identify their current needs and help them find solutions.”* Velvet Chainsaw Consulting’s Jeff Hurt is always trying to improve the conference experience—a topic that drives some of his more passionate blog posts into interesting directions. That includes his latest one, [where he talks about the value of design empathy (opens in a new tab)](http://velvetchainsaw.com/2015/03/25/your-conference-needs-to-adopt-design-empathy-practices/) in fulfilling conference needs. Hurt emphasizes that event planners should stop focusing on the logistics of event planning and more on the people attending the event. “In human-centered design, we put people in the center of the process,” Hurt noted. “This is where design empathy blossoms.” *(ht @[bigmoth (opens in a new tab)](http://twitter.com/bigmoth/) )* ### Other Links of Note **Have five minutes?** Don’t let them fade away. Over on Frank J. Kenny’s website, guest blogger Christina Green [suggests capitalizing on those moments (opens in a new tab)](http://frankjkenny.com/5-engagement-ideas-your-chamber-can-do-in-minutes-a-day/) to build quick engagement. **If you’re an Evernote user,** it might be tough to remember all the stuff you have in your many files. [But the new app Reflect (opens in a new tab)](http://reflectapp.io/) could help by turning your many files into flashcards. **Dig YouTube?** You might dig it even more after taking a gander at this [YouTube toolbox infographic on SocialFish (opens in a new tab)](http://www.socialfish.org/2015/03/cool-infographic-friday-awesomizing-youtube/) . (Twitter) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. 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