Je Suis Charlie: How an App Got Approved in 1 Hour

Sometimes a news story is so momentous that it requires immediate action.

“Je Suis Charlie  (opens in a new tab),” an iOS app inspired by last week’s terror attacks on French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, is a great example. When the attack took place, people around the world stood up to support what the publication represented. The French Nice-Matin news agency quickly created an app that allowed users to declare solidarity with the newspaper and show where they are on a map.

There was just one problem: The traditional App Store approval process takes 10 to 15 days—a delay that could have hurt the app’s breaking-news immediacy. The creators tried a different approach: The news agency emailed Apple CEO Tim Cook  (opens in a new tab), asking him to approve the app quickly.

Ten minutes later, Cook’s assistant called, and within an hour, the app was online. The tale offers a pretty great, if simple, lesson: It never hurts to ask. Sometimes, if the ask is important enough, the answer just might be yes.

Don’t Delay Your Event Marketing

10 Tips for successfully #marketing  (opens in a new tab) your event online. Guest blog by @BizonMarketSt  (opens in a new tab) #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) http://t.co/sKUkK9iJ54  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/oZhgkQf3Fq  (opens in a new tab)

— Association Headquarters (@association_hq) January 13, 2015  (opens in a new tab)

Association Headquarters has plenty of great tips for marketing your event online, but this one in particular stood out:

Once you’ve created quality visuals, determined a witty hashtag, reached out to potential influencers, and drawn out a competitive edge for your campaign, start dripping your content onto social media. Obviously, the earlier you are able to plan out these aspects of your campaign, the better. We suggest dripping content as far as three weeks in advance.

You want to be ahead of the event game, building momentum—not catching up after the fact. Read the other nine bits of advice over here  (opens in a new tab). (ht @ AssociationHQ  (opens in a new tab))

Other good reads

Feeling shy at a meeting? If you’re struggling with speaking up, this LifeHacker piece offers useful tips  (opens in a new tab) to help you find your voice.

Toxic coworkers are a fact of life, but they can definitely be handled. Inc.com contributor Travis Bradberry breaks down  (opens in a new tab) how successful people pull it off.

Just because it’s digital doesn’t mean it’s better, argues Association Executive Management’s David M. Patt  (opens in a new tab).

A scene from Sunday’s Charlie Hebdo rally in Paris. (iStock Editorial/Thinkstock)