How a Great App Recommendation “Engaged Me”, Thanks to TechCrunch & Animoto

Those of you who know me know that I’m engulfed by two passions: great app recommendations (at OpenCandy) by day and my incredible girlfriend Gracie the rest of the time. A combination of the two serendipitously led to my engagement (to my aforementioned girlfriend-turned-fiance) last night. And I owe it all (well the successful proposal part) to a great web app: Animoto.

Almost one year ago to the day, I was reading a post entitled “Happy Birthday Animoto. You Guys Make Me Happy” by an unusually upbeat Mike Arrington which was as strong a recommendation as I’ve ever read on TechCrunch. Fast-forward a year of serious app-crushes/gushes on Animoto by not only Mike, but a few of the other TechCrunch guys (Erick Schonfield, Jason Kincaid and MG Siegler) as well as some non-blogger, real-life friends of mine; and I was convinced this was the one (the app that was going to help me create this special moment).

So, when I started planning the perfect way to propose, I decided to accept the recommendation, fire up Animoto, and created a montage from 133 photos and 2 songs that epitomized the seven years that I’ve known Gracie. I then loaded the “beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video piece from my media” (as Animoto describes so humbly) onto my iPhone. Gracie and I took an afternoon trip to Sea World yesterday and I proceeded to rely on technology to help me close the most important deal of my life… and it worked!

The moral of the story? Apps don’t only solve problems; great apps can change lives. So don’t stop recommending the great ones to one another!

• By Chester Ng
• 11 Comments
• September 1, 2009

1. by bryc3 / September 1, 2009

   Awesome to hear you closed another important deal! Gracie is a catch and you two are clearly smitten with each other. Really happy for you guys!

2. by Guest / September 1, 2009

   Where is the animoto link?

3. by aliciamessinger / September 2, 2009

   Where's the video?? I want to see it now! lol.

4. by jrnuerge / September 2, 2009

   I was hoping to see the video also.
   JR Nuerge

5. by elliottng / September 2, 2009

   Congratulations Bro!

   A good decision. No, a great decision! Animoto guys should be happy with this endorsement!

6. by chesterng / September 3, 2009

   Thanks everyone for the kind words!

   Sorry, I'm just sharing the app recommendation, not the video. Although I've received several press requests; I decided leaking my video in exchange for coverage, site traffic, or link love might not be the best way to kick off my first day with my new fiance. :-)

   But, its *super* easy to load up your pics, videos, music and make your own video on Animoto. Go try it! :-)

7. by Yogi84 / September 8, 2009

   Congrats Chester!

8. by davisfreeberg / September 9, 2009

   What a great story, congrats on the engagement. Hope the next seven years are just as good as the last.

9. by Silicone bracelets / January 2, 2010

   yeah apps are very useful for everyone. i want apps that will entertain me to the optimum level.

10. by Outdoor Water Features / September 26, 2010

    Hmm well, very interesting, thanks for the info.

11. by Mauricio Cassio / November 11, 2010

    Usefull article can i summerize this on my blog? Thanks

11 Responses to “How a Great App Recommendation “Engaged Me”, Thanks to TechCrunch & Animoto”

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