Oddpodz, the social networking site for change agents, problem solvers, and creative people, has launched a “new improved” web site to “better serve its citizens”.
According to Oddpodz, the “creative class” represents one third of the workforce in the United States and approximately 150 million people worldwide. Oddpodz is a social networking community that is trying to appeal to those people.
Oddpodz was founded in 2006 as an online community. Oddpodz has ambitious goals of growing beyond a pure online destination, though. The company plans to build a thriving, diverse revenue enterprise.
Oddpodz invited their initial users to voice their feedback about the site–and used that feedback to develop changes to the site.
Probably the most notable changes to the Oddpodz site include making the “Muzeum” (which is the social networking section of the site) a focal point on their home page. They also streamlined the navigation, clarified the brand messaging, and created a cleaner home page and simplified the registration process.
Among other changes and upgrades to the site, the citizen search features have been expanded and improved.
Oddpodz provides users with the Muzeum, which is a virtual space for social networking. It includes:
— Citizen profiles
— Chat rooms and forums
— Personalized galleries
— Opportunities to vote for and provide feedback on works
— A “pod garden” to build common interest groups
— Three stages for music videos and other creative media
— A featured citizen section for recognition
— Compelling design, innovation and creative content
— Celebrity and guest interviews
— Blog
— Weekly ezine covering trends and cool observations
— A venting section
— Robust marketplace full of unique gifts and finds
— Over 200 hand picked vendors
— Art, fashion and home dwelling goods
According to Oddpodz, they take “the concept that pioneer online social networks like MySpace and Facebook created for the mass market and carves out a place for a segmented group of like thinkers — the influential Creative Class(SM). The term Creative Class was first coined and later service marked by social scientist, Richard Florida who wrote the bestselling book, The Rise of the Creative Class, and studied this population and its positive impact on economies. Florida estimates there are about 38 million “Creative Classers” in the U.S. and more than 150 million around the world. Additionally, his research showed the Creative Class represents 30% of all employed and nearly half of all salaries.”
Oddpodz, LLC was founded in January of 2006 by Karen Post, a national branding expert, speaker and author of Brain Tattoos, creating unique brands that stick to customers’ minds, and Jocelyn Ring, a former investment banker.