New Ambassador Program

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Ann

flamingos We are very excited to announce our Thinkamingo Ambassador Program!

We are looking for the best and brightest educators to join our team. In particular, we’d like tech-savvy teachers who are using our apps in their classrooms to apply.

What do Ambassadors do?

Ambassadors promote and represent our company at schools, workshops, conferences, and online. They spread positive experiences with our products, giving us input as beta testers, participate on panels, and give talks. They also receive early/beta access to new products and updates, official gear, promotional materials, support, and the title of Thinkamingo Ambassador. We will feature Ambassador articles, interviews, and lesson plans on the company website and will promote these through our social media channels. We may identify opportunities to promote our apps and send you information.

Is this a paid position?

No. Being selected as an Ambassador is a recognition of outstanding quality in education. We reward our Ambassadors with claim to the title, promotion through our social media channels, publishing on our website, official gear, early/beta access to new products, and general support. They are part of the team.

What is the time commitment?

We know teachers are some of the busiest people around! We ask that you commit at least 2-4 hours each month. This could mean writing a lesson plan, writing an article, attending a workshop, being part of a twitter chat, Facebook Live event, or any number of other things. During really busy times, it might mean just sharing our content through your own social media channels as time permits.

Are you interested in being part of the team? Apply today!

Tips: Review the application first, and gather the information you will need before filling it out.

New Story Dice Stickers for iOS 10

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Ann

Thinkamingo is happy to announce Story Dice Stickers now available in the App Store!

Using stickers in Messages is a brand new feature in today’s iOS 10 release.

Liven up your text conversations with stickers! Our Story Dice application is traditionally used to help brainstorm plot element for creative writing projects like journals, short stories, novels, and live storytelling. Use stickers to suggest ideas in your conversation. Maybe you are co-writing a story or coaching a writer and you need to share a picture rather than a specific word to open up the idea process.

Save time by using stickers when you just want to suggest an idea! Just peel from the preview window and stick them in your conversation!

Dice Tower Con 2016

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Ann

Food Chain Magnate game components This past week, Thinkamingo made its annual trek to Dice Tower Con in Orlando.

What is Dice Tower Con? 5 solid days of board gaming fun! This year had approximately 1500 attendees with tickets selling out within 15 minutes, 8 months in advance. Next year, it expands to 3000 tickets available. The demand is so high that I anticipate another sellout within 48 hours.

Dice Tower Con game bag and badge lanyard This was our third year attending and certainly won’t be the last! Learning new games, meeting people, and reconnecting with old friends is an irresistible combination.

In no particular order, I managed to play Food Chain Magnate, Celestia, Shakespeare, Robo Rally, Potion Explosion: The Fifth Ingredient, Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King, Bruges: The City on the Zwin, Broom Service, Barnyard Roundup, Royals, Codenames, Codenames: Pictures, and Dominion: Adventures. The standouts for me were: Food Chain Magnate, Royals, Shakespeare, and Codenames. Super family fun to be had with Celestia, Broom Service, and Robo Rally! I also volunteered 12 hours this year, so I spent some time meeting new people and giving back to this wonderful community.

As a company, some of our business-related tasks we set for ourselves during this con include a lot of research on: popular apps being used by gamers, new games that incorporate technology into game play, card games, Kickstarter games, and games that lend themselves to upgraded components. We get a lot of ideas during DTC that may or may not be realized through an app, new game, or game component/accessory.

Overall, it’s a great time of recharging and refreshment through gaming. I highly recommend it for a family vacation! Great hotel rates, next to major attractions, great pool, and games for everyone! Tickets go on sale November 15th, 2016 and it will sell out. Conference dates are July 5-9, 2017. Mark your calendars and we’ll see you there!

Ann Adair Talks Tech on Capitol Hill

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Ann

The Washington Monument – Photo taken during the 2015 AppCon.

At Thinkamingo, we spend most of our time producing useful apps that spark creativity. We help our customers tell stories with apps like Lists for Writers and Story Dice. We also want educators and families to feel confident using our apps and know about our commitment to transparency and data privacy.

However, as we continue to grow and provide the best products possible to our customers, there are important conversations happening in our nation’s capital that could have a significant impact on the tech industry.

As policymakers consider action around critical issues including data security and encryption, government access to digital information, and the expansion of computer science education, they must understand the perspective of small tech companies. In all of these cases, federal laws could change how Thinkamingo does what we do best – building apps for education.

That’s why I’m heading to Washington, D.C., April 17-19 for ACT | The App Association’s App Economy Conference. There, I’ll join tech executives from across the country to network, learn, and engage elected officials on the most pressing issues facing the internet economy today.

This will be my fourth year attending the App Economy Conference (formerly known as the ACT Fly-In.) I think it’s important to participate year after year because business is all about building relationships and that takes time. Over the years, I’ve met many different people including the Federal Trade Commission, the White House Office of Science and Technology, and Florida congressional offices including Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Bill Nelson, and Rep. Gus Bilirakis.

I’m eager to tell the Thinkamingo story and educate Washington about how decisions on the Hill impact the future of small tech companies like mine. I know from experience these decision makers appreciate hearing from constituents directly and engaging in an ongoing conversation about issues that directly impact us.

You can follow me as I talk tech on The Hill next week on Twitter (@thinkamingo and @tampamom) and by following #AppCon16.

Updating our Android Writing Apps

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Jon

We’ve updated all of our Android apps on both Google Play and the Amazon Appstore for Android.

Lists for Writers now has all the latest lists. The new search feature lets you search any list – perfect for finding a phobia or term from a genre list. The new shuffle feature randomizes the order of any list, making it easier to find some inspiration.

Story Dice now has all the latest die faces, bringing the total up to 170 different pictograms.

All of the apps also got some substantial internal updates, which should resolve a few cases where things didn’t quite work. Also behind the scenes, we moved all of the apps to Android Studio (goodbye Eclipse!), made some good improvements to our build workflow, and added additional test devices.

Ann Adair Goes to Washington

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Ann

This Sunday, I’m traveling to Washington, D.C. to meet and educate elected officials and regulators on the booming tech industry.

As part of ACT | The App Association’s annual fly-in, I’m joining more than 50 small tech companies from across the country to advocate for an environment that encourages innovation and inspires growth.

Our message is simple. Small companies like Thinkamingo Inc are creating solutions that are improving lives, creating jobs, and invigorating our economy.

But, policymakers in Washington must understand issues threatening small tech companies to ensure growth continues. The concerns we will raise next week include data privacy and security, internet governance, intellectual property and patent reform, and regulatory obstacles to growth. These are important issues for which the federal government is considering taking action.

I look forward to meeting with my elected officials and others in Washington to educate them about the tech industry so they can make the right decisions about our future. Hopefully, an informed Congress will help entrepreneurs like me continue to flourish.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting with nearly all of the Federal Trade Commissioners, including Chairwoman Ramirez, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Senators, and Representatives from Florida. I look forward to having many fruitful conversations about children’s privacy and other technology topics.

Ann Adair is the President and Co-founder of Thinkamingo Inc.

Slate: Can an app make you more creative?

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Jon

This week Slate covered our updated Lists for Writers app in an article about creative writing apps. It’s a good look at the differences between writing productivity apps and apps that help you come up with creative ideas for your writing.

Read the Slate article here.

Lists for Writers 2.0 is here!

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Ann

We are proud to present a beautifully redesigned Lists for Writers iOS app, available today in the App Store. The first thing you will notice is the new look. The list categories expand and contract with a pinching gesture. This new organization makes it easier to navigate the increased content.

Yes, we’ve tripled the content, going from 37 lists to 100+! We’ve got all sorts of new lists and we’re always interested in feedback about what lists you’d like us to add.

We hope you enjoy the new look and all the new content! Happy writing!

New Moms With Apps site and search

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Ann

PRESS RELEASE:

First-of-its-kind destination launches giving parents the power to find best apps for their kids

Thinkamingo Inc of Tampa, Florida is a proud member

Tampa, FL, September 16, 2014:

Tampa, Florida – Thinkamingo Inc is proud to be a part of Moms With Apps – the first destination that makes finding great kid apps easy. The site, which launches today, has 1000 high quality apps from trustworthy developers and gives parents simple tools to find the right ones for their kids.

Thinkamingo can be found on the new site at http://momswithapps.com/thinkamingo. Co-founders Ann and Jon Adair are both passionate about technology, education, and kids.

President Ann Adair says, “I’m proud to be a member of Moms With Apps. I know first-hand how challenging it is to choose the best and most appropriate apps. This new site gives parents and teachers the power to make the best choices for their kids.”

Moms With Apps is designed, from the ground up, by parents for parents. It starts with a tightly curated set of high quality kids’ apps from developers who are passionate about creating amazing apps for kids. Moms With Apps then gives parents simple tools to find the right apps for their kids by age range, subject matter, privacy settings, and even whether the app works without an internet connection.

“With over one million apps to choose from, parents struggle to find the right apps for their family and find it even harder to know if the app their kid loves is one they can trust,” says Sara Kloek, director of Moms With Apps. “We are thrilled to announce the launch of Moms With Apps, the only resource for parents who want to find great, trustworthy apps for their children.”

Moms With Apps showcases apps from hundreds of top app developers. Just like nutrition labels help parents decide which snack is right for their kids, Moms With Apps also provides parents with information – in plain English – to help them decide which app is right for their kids.

About Moms With Apps

Founded by parents, Moms With Apps makes it simple and easy to choose the right apps for your child. Moms With Apps only features developers who commit to our high standards for protecting kids’ privacy and building great family-friendly apps. We make it quick and easy to Know What’s Inside every app we feature so that parents can decide if it is right for their kids. For more information, please visit momswithapps.com and on Twitter @momswithapps.

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I’m going to DC!

Posted on April 26, 2014 by Ann

On Sunday, I am traveling to Washington to meet with my elected officials and educate them about the growing mobile economy and tech innovation. My company is Thinkamingo Inc and we make mobile applications for education and entertainment.

I’ll be joining up with leading entrepreneurs from across the country to participate in the Association for Competitive Technology Washington Fly-In. Around 50 of us will descend on the nation’s capital to help lawmakers recognize the incredible impact that small technology companies are having on our nation’s economy.

More than three-quarters of the most successful companies in the mobile software industry are small businesses – and apps are now a $68 billion marketplace. No one talked about apps six years ago, but now a whole ecosystem has emerged creating jobs for software developers, engineers, graphic artists, marketing professionals, and administrative personnel.

I am traveling to Washington to alert lawmakers about important issues including intellectual property and patent reform, data security and privacy, and regulatory obstacles to growth. We also look to areas where technology and policy can combine to meet the needs of industry and consumers.

These are all important issues that the federal government is facing. The outcomes really matter to me and that is why I’m making sure my voice is heard. Hopefully, an informed Congress will allow companies like mine to continue to flourish.