powerful mojo

There are happy stories out there. It’s always amazing to me when they happen on a grand scale and bring together diverse sets of people to make something really special happen.

I belong to Flickr, but I also belong to Zooomr. While they are both photo-sharing sites, they are very different. I enjoy them both for very different reasons.

Zooomr has been going through some growing pains. Kristopher Tate, the boy-wonder developer of Zooomr, and Thomas Hawk, the CEO, have been trying to launch the newest version of Zooomr, MarkIII for the past week. At every turn, they’ve hit a wall that shouldn’t have been there. They’ve been amazingly optimistic throughout it all, though. I have spoken with both of them while this launch has been trying to happen. Thomas is loads of fun and was cracking me up with some of his antics (seriously, hearing him sing along with William Shatner has got to be the highlight of anyone’s evening — hah!). In addition, he set me up with a fellow photographer and kept dedicating songs to us…I think nuptials are in the works. Heh.

Robert Scoble came by to give support in the chat channels (and we’ve spoken several times since my flub up the other day).

Despite some naysayers, the positivity behind the delayed launch has been amazing. The community of Zooomr users has really rallied and has given incredible support to Tate and Hawk. This outpouring of community has reaffirmed my faith in people and community and social responsibility. We feel like we belong to something that is bigger than all of us but also inclusive of us. This is something that will benefit everyone and we’re willing to stand by and be ready to take part when the new version does launch later this week.

Beyond the users, though, some corporate names in the online community have come forward. Zoho has offered space in their datacenter and are currently assisting Tate and Hawk in getting their servers back up and running. Sun Microsystems has offered to loan a 42 terabyte server to Zooomr to assist in the launch. Companies that have no stock in Zooomr are stepping up to the plate to lend a helping hand.

It’s one thing when the community pulls together. We do have a stake in what is happening. It’s an entirely different matter when companies jump in. Altruism is not dead. Not by a long shot.