2009: A New Beginning For Renkoo…

Renkoo was founded on March 1, 2005, with the belief that we could build a great application that employs the Internet to bring people together.

Version 1 of Renkoo lasted about two years. We built a website — Renkoo.com — that helped people decide when and where together with real-life friends. We learned a lot about building social applications and helped pioneer Dojo Toolkit in the process.

Version 2 of Renkoo also lasted about two years. We decided it was better to take your applications where people are — the social networks — and as a result we learned how to build an entirely different type of social application. We built a half dozen popular applications on Facebook and MySpace that got used by more than 36 million people over a half billion times. These applications were not fulfilling to us because although they were entertaining, they did not help people help other people.

Version 3 of Renkoo is about to begin. We will apply everything we’ve learned — from cutting-edge JavaScript and CSS technology, to our understanding of how applications spread on social networks — to a new domain that we find very fulfilling.

From this point forward, we will serve the mission of helping people help other people.

Haikoo Zoo – Live on Facebook!

Renkoo launched Haikoo Zoo last month, a Facebook app for those into furry friends and maybe not so much into booze. Haikoo Zoo lets Facebook users adopt one of six (so far) cute virtual pets and pet, cuddle, feed, or play with them. Petting or playing with other users’ pets earns you virtual cash with which to buy many kinds of delicious-looking food (including blintzes, pho, and fluffer nutters) or items to spruce up your pet’s habitat (such as fireworks, barbecue grills, and baobab trees). Haikoo Zoo also makes it easy for your pet to make friends with other people’s pets. So far, over 100,000 users have installed Haikoo Zoo, of which 25,000 are daily active users.

Periodic Table of Booze

A Periodic Table of Booze? Yes.

With 140 drinks (and counting) on Booze-Mail, sometimes choosing the right drink can be a daunting task. We’ve decided to help you learn the drinks by plotting them on a colorful chart grouped by, well, we’ll let you figure that out. Learning your boozes has never been easier or more fun. Don’t worry, we won’t quiz you.

Check it and other exciting booze goodies on our Booze-Mail Zazzle store now!

Dashboard Actions and New Buddy Icons

With so many fun things to do on Renkoo, sometimes it’s easy to forget about the basics of your account. Today we’ve added an Actions widget to the top left of your Dashboard that helps you get those preferences in order. Even better, each action opens in an overlay within the Dashboard, allowing quick updates, no page refresh, and low carbs. Now that’s refreshment!

Here’s just some of the fun you can have with those actions: change your Renkoo skin, add another email address to your account, even add IM or SMS notifications. It’s all within easy reach.

Ahhh yes, we’ve saved the best update for last. By popular demand, you can now choose among our fun-loving Renkoo mascots for your buddy icon. Thanks to our Actions widget, we now have a home for the Change Your Buddy Icon feature.

With just a couple of clicks you can select from a veritable plethora of avatar happiness. Choose from four exciting categories: Plays on Land, Flies in the Sky, Swims in the Sea, and Odds and Ends (mostly robots for now). It’s time to get personalized!