Togglethis

Infobox_Company
company_name = togglethis
company_
company_type = Private
foundation = 1996 - 2001
location = New York
key_people = Paul Maya
Marc Singer
Founded in 1996 by Paul Maya and Marc Singer, togglethis merged the concepts of MOO/MUD and Choose Your Own Adventure to create some of the earliest, consumer-facing graphic avatars on the internet [ [http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/384/dryer.html Dryer, D.C. (1999). At what cost pervasive? A social computing view of mobile computing systems, "IBM Systems Journal"] ] . Their interactive character technology laid the groundwork for later virtual reality companies like There.com and Second life.

The company was part of the NYC Silicon Alley community, being named one of ‘@NY’s 25’ companies in 1997 and 1998. [ [http://atnewyork.internet.com/news/article.php/251271 The Tiny World of Web Ads: It's Time to Innovate, @NY] ] The founders were named one of the Silicon Alley Reporter’s 100 Internet Industry Executives in 1997 – 1999.

togglethis was primarily known for its original animated character, Bozlo Beaver. [ [http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,8243,00.html Bugs Bunny, Meet Bozlo Beaver Wired News] ] Bozlo was created to showcase togglethis’ Interactive Character technology (IC Technology). Bozlo was sent via weekly emails to subscribers’ computers. [ [http://www.businessweek.com/1997/35/b3542043.htm Meet Bozlo Beaver, Business Week] ] In every episode Bozlo came onto the desktop and insisted that the user was invading HIS desktop. Bozlo devised ways to get you to leave your computer. In one episode Bozlo brought with him angry document files that chased your cursor around the screen. In other episodes, Bozlo brought you a gift that turned out to be a bomb; you and Bozlo played a game of hot potato until one of you exploded. In 1997 Warner Bros. licensed Bozlo beaver and the IC Technology. [ [http://users1.wsj.com/lmda/do/checkLogin?mg=wsj-users1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FPA2VJBNA4R%2FSB878512879114103500-search.html Looney Tunes to Star in Web Ads, Wall Street Journal (premium link)] ] [ [http://news.com.com/2100-1023-204920.html Warner Bros. to launch interactive cartoons, CNET] ] Bozlo was distributed at Warner Bros. Online. [ [http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,666862,00.html Warner Bros. Online Launches First 'Net-Grown' Animated Star, Bozlo Beaver, Time Warner press release] ]

In addition to Bozlo Beaver, togglethis had promoted film [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00E5DA1F3BF931A35757C0A96E958260 SCREEN GRAB; Film Spins Off a Small Galaxy of Screen Toys, NY Times] ] , television and brand advertisers using its IC Technology. Clients included The Walt Disney Company, ABC, New Line Cinemas [ [http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3041 Interactive Character Promotes New Line Cinema's "Lost in Space", ClickZ] ] , NBC, BMW, and Coca-Cola. The campaign for Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me was seen by over 750,000 people and featured an interactive Austin powers that trained the user on how to be a successful international man of mystery. [ [http://calbears.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BDW/is_26_40/ai_55681289 Smashing, Baby, Yeah!, Brand Week] ] [ [http://doi.contentdirections.com/mr/mgh.jsp?doi=10.1036/0658003070 Kania, Deborah. (2001). "Branding.com: On-Line Branding for Marketing Success", New York: McGraw-Hill Companies. ISBN 0658003070] ]

Many of the togglethis characters were animated by Colorado based artist, Gwenda Kaczor. [ [http://www.gwenda.com Gwenda Kaczor's Homepage] ]

See also

* Silicon Alley
* Dot-com company

References

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://togglethis.com Archived version of togglethis] at the Internet Archive
* [http://www.gwendadesigns.com/characters5.html Archive of togglethis characters] at Gewnda Kaczor's Homepage