spireteam

[spireteam]

Beauty for Android (App Update 3.1)

Oh, snap! Our Android app just got a whole big extra serving of beautiful today, so if you don’t already have it, you should get it, here.

Want to know what’s new? Check it out:

A modern, elegant new post feed

Our trusty old post feed has served us well, but it was about time for a little spring cleaning. With this release, we’ve given each post a little more room to breathe with a new design that simplifies the layout while emphasizing what is most important: your accomplishments and daily updates! Along with some snazzy little animations and slick icons, we’ve also introduced a new floating Post button (affectionately known to us as the Floating Action Button, or FAB) that pops up at the bottom of your screen for easy access and gets out of your way when you just want to browse.

A new day, a new challenge (design)

To accompany our revamped post feed, we’ve also created some gorgeous new designs for our challenge cards. Whenever your organization or team is running an challenge, you’ll see challenge cards at the top of your feed that now feature a rich, colorful layout to help brighten your day and inspire you to get going. We’ve also included some new iconography to help you understand the goal of each challenge: a trophy icon means it’s a competition where you and your team compete to win, while a star icon means we aren’t keeping score... so just want you to jump in, see how other teammates are doing, and try taking the challenge on, yourself! Along with updated challenge cards, we’ve also refreshed the design of all related elements, including challenge posts, leaderboards, and more.

Your profile, reimagined

Perhaps the biggest improvement in this update is the brand new design of your profile. In addition to a clean, elegant new look, we now dynamically create a color scheme for your profile based on the richest colors in your cover photo. Just upload your picture and Spire will magically create a look that is uniquely your own. So give it a try! Experiment with some of your favorite photos and help us create an awesome profile just for you. (We’ve also given the same treatment to each team profile—go check out your favorite team to see the new look!)

Beautiful, inside and out

In addition to our top highlights, we’ve also invested a little TLC to bring design updates to our more utilitarian features. You’ll notice that settings, profile edit screens, and other little areas of the app have now been beautified and given the love they deserve.

Impressive, right? We’d love to know what you think, so feel free to shoot us an email at hello@spire.me, or just tell us, here: What do you think of the new update?

[spireteam]

Fitness tracking just got a whole lot better.

Today we're excited to share three big updates, which are available on spire.me and in the newest versions of our iPhone and Android apps!

(1) Direct Integration with Fitbit and Jawbone UP

We are excited to announce that Spire now has direct syncing capability with the two most popular fitness tracking devices: Fitbit and Jawbone UP! If you have either one of these, just go to spire.me/sync, to get your integration set up! If you don't have one of these devices, don't worry! We provide several other ways to sync your fitness data with Spire: check out this article for more info.

Fitbit and Jawbone integrations is still in beta-mode, which means we're still testing it out... so if you're having any issues, shoot us an email at hello@spire.me, and let us know what you think!

(2) New Fitness Stats

With this update, you can now track even more data! In addition to steps, you can now see Active Calories, Time Active, Distance on Foot, and Distance Cycled, right on the website or the newest versions of the apps!

(3) Plus, a brand spankin' new mobile organization profile page.

All of the information for your organization (whether it's your employer or your health plan) has a shiny new look. Now, you can easily see the teams, challenges, and rewards, all in one place!

We're excited about this update, and have even more to come! Let us know what you think, and if you have questions, check out help.spire.me, or shoot us an email at hello@spire.me!

Have a wonderful day, and happy Spiring!

[spireteam]

Get excited, everyone! You can now view your daily step totals on Spire!

If you have an iPhone, download the newest version in the App Store, and you can connect with Apple's Health app. If you have an Android, get the latest version in the Google Play Store and connect to the GoogleFit app. From there, you can use your phone to track your steps, or connect your favorite tracking device or external app to do it for you! 

Either way, once you've connected your app, you can also view your step totals on the web!

Plus, if your Team Captain decides to do a Step Challenge, we'll add up the totals for you. Don't worry, Chester is really good at counting fast! 

We've also updated our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, to reflect our dedication to keeping your data secure. Check them out, here.

Hope you enjoy this update, but there's more to come, so keep an eye out... and in the meantime, let us know what you think at hello@spire.me! 

Gratefully Yours,

The Spire Team

[spireteam]

Welcome to the Spire Society

It’s here! As we announced last month, Spire is undergoing a big update. We, as a company, are now dedicating ourselves to spreading happiness and health to people within the context of organization-based communities.

So, what does this mean for you?

For one, it means that, starting today, if you are not already utilizing Spire with your co-workers within an employer organization, you will need to join the Spire Society.

Spire Society is a new take on our community, where you can continue to do all the things you’ve always loved doing within Spire—post accomplishments, give and receive points, earn rewards, and, most important of all, cheer each other on!

If you are already using Spire with your co-workers, you are still welcome to join Spire Society—just check out this blog post, and use the "Sneak Peak" instructions to get in. Those interactions will remain totally separate from what’s happening within your organization, so it’s totally up to you!

Part of this transition is a fresh start with teams. We’ve included brand new versions of a few of the top, most popular teams, already, but if you’d like to have another team added, just let us know! Send your suggestions to hello@spire.me, and we’ll be continuing to add new ones, as time goes on.

Along with this transition, we’re doing away with the potential login through Facebook or Twitter. If that’s how you’ve always logged in to your account, don’t worry! We’ve set up this page, on our help portal, to show you exactly how to access your profile. 

We know this a big change, but we’re excited about this next chapter for our community. As we streamline some things, this transition is enabling us to make some great new changes possible—like the simplified feed filter, and the much more straight-forward post-creation system, which you can see in this update, as well some truly incredible updates that you’ll get to see, soon!

If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch—you can email us at hello@spire.me, or send Chester a message!

Thank you for being part of this community—you're the best!

[spireteam]

Old Friends & New Friends: Announcing the Spire Society (with a sneak peak!)

Spire's mission has always been to help as many people as possible live happier and healthier lives. Since the beginning, we've done this by bringing people together from different parts of the world and different stages in life to inspire and encourage each other in a virtual community of support.

Over a year ago, we decided to offer Spire to groups of people who already had something in common: their work! Since most people spend more than a third of their lives at work, and since co-workers are often like second family members, we hoped that bringing Spire to the workplace would be a powerful way to expand our mission. As a company, too, we also liked the idea of enlisting other businesses as a force for good... after all, a happy and healthy group of people can be invincible!

In the process, we discovered something: The community of support and inspiration offered through Spire became even more powerful, when paired with the existing web of relationships already found inside organizations. We also realized that we would be able to share Spire more rapidly, and with more people, with the help of our organizational partners.

Based on these discoveries, we've decided to focus on using Spire to spread happiness and health to people within the context of our partner organizations.

At the same time, the public Spire community - the one you know and love - very much resembles that "second family" we so often find in the workplace. Many of you have never met each other, but have spent more than three years supporting each other, lifting each other out of sorrow, and cheering each other on in celebration.

So, in the same way that we have established dedicated spaces within Spire for our organizational partners, we have also decided to create a custom space just for you, our public members.  We are calling it the Spire Society.

The full launch of Spire Society won't be for another month, so we'll be continuing to add content, over the next few weeks, but if you'd like to get a sneak peak, you can check it out, today!!

In order to do this, you'll need to enter in your custom access code: W4MA9V

On the web, go to your name (in the top right) and click to open the drop down menu, you’ll see ‘Redeem Code.’ Click that, and add in the code above. Or, if you're already signed in, you can go to http://spire.me/redeem.

On iOS, go to the profile tab (the bottom right icon), then tap the settings gear icon (top right). From there, just scroll down to the bottom, and you'll see "Redeem Spire Code."

On Android, go to the 3 vertical dots (top right) and then select "Enter Invitation Code."

When the full transition takes place, every member will join through an organization (which can include Spire Society), but for now, nothing will really change ... we're just excited for you to see what the future holds!

In the meantime, we hope that all of you will also be able to join Spire, in a new capacity, along with your co-workers! If you’re interested in using Spire at work, send us an email at hello@spire.me, and use the subject line “Chester sent me.” Or, you can use our "Request a Demo" form, here. Either way, from there, we can give you more details, and specific instructions on how we could help you bring Spire to work for show & tell! 

Thank you for all of your support, through the years. Seeing your amazing accomplishments and constant encouragement for each other has always been our inspiration, and you continue to inspire us, every day!

[spireteam]

Score! Say "Hello" to New Challenges!

Once upon a time, Spire members had a problem. “I’m excited to share my personal accomplishments and love getting encouragement, but I just don’t have any ideas for where to start. What should I post?” We heard your frustrated cries, and Challenges were born: a simple way for Team Captains to suggest specific actions for their team members to take on.

As we’ve grown, Challenges have continued to be a crowd favorite, so we’re taking them to the next level: Say “hello” to New Challenges!

Here’s what’s involved: —New Score System: If your Captain chooses to enable our new scoring system, we’ll keep track of the top participants, automatically! At the end of each score-based Challenge, an MVP will be determined, based on number of posts, points earned, and High Fives received, but there will also be a Most Encouraging Player: the person who gave out the most points, high fives, and comments! —New Leaderboard: When score is kept, you can see who’s leading the way on a sparkly new in-platform Leaderboard! —More visible Challenges: All of the Challenges from all of your Teams will now appear, at the top of your main feed. Each time you pull up the app, flip through them, to get new ideas for things to accomplish and post!

Most of this will be determined by the Captain, so if you’re a regular team member, encourage your fearless leader to get with it!

And if you’re a Team Captain, get ready for a whole new world of fun, because you can control the Scoring system, pick participants, and even schedule out your Challenges, in advance! All from the Challenge creation screen, from your phone or computer!

With all this in mind, here’s our first new Challenge to you: Enjoy the world around you, share it with Spire, and let us know what you think!

[spireteam]

Spire is all about people. Yes, the Points are fun, Rewards spur us on, and a nicely-timed High Five can be a day-changer. But the reason we built Spire, and the reason it’s such a magical place is because of the people. Spire lets you tell others about the things you’re excited to do, to share the joy and the sense of achievement.

That’s why we’re crazy-excited to share our latest update with you: Friend Tagging! We've built this feature to practically read your mind—just start writing your friend's name, and we'll pop-up some suggestions, for who you might be talking about. Just select the right one, and they'll be notified that you've mentioned them.

  But wait! It gets even better! This is one of those glorious two-for-one situations, because not only can you tag a friend in the text of a post, but you can also share who you’re with. Whether you want to let the Spire world know who your partner in crime was for an accomplishment, or just want to save some characters in the actual post, tap this icon to share the spotlight:

To start the tagging fun, just make sure you have the latest version of the iPhone app or Android app! It's already live on spire.me!

This has been one of our top most-requested features for a while, so we've been working hard to get it jusssst right. What do you think? 

We love getting your feedback, so please let us know what questions or ideas you have at help.spire.me!

[spireteam]

Happy Happiness Day, everyone! How are you celebrating? 

Our recommendation: Take this survey, created by our friends at the The Happathon Project, which will help you to recognize the real sources for happiness in your own life!

[spireteam]

Family

"Family" is not only the clan we're born into, but also the friends we keep around by choice...or inertia.

Everyone has friends and relatives who are...inevitable. Maybe it's an uncle seeking investors for his latest scheme. A sister-in-law you'd like to shake when she starts talking about her chihuahuas. Or former neighbors, a couple who got into NASCAR when you took up topiary.

You might feel obligated to see them on holidays or get together once a year. You cc them on LOLcat emails, or maybe they're on your second tier, if-I-get-to-it Christmas card list. Yet you enjoy hearing from them and manage to have a good time.

You accept these familiar, familial fixtures in your life because that's what we do with "family." You don't choose your family and you don't get to choose your sister's latest boyfriend, your son's next bookie, or your old frat roomie.

You bite your tongue and pass the green bean casserole. Focus on your shared history and know you can have a happy, if different, future together. By dessert, you can look at your cousin without staring at her nose ring or you've figured out how to talk sports with your mom's boyfriend without bringing up his job as a baby seal clubber.

So when your old friend tells you he's changed his name and gone into a new line of work--even if you don't approve or maybe even understand--you take a deep breath. Remember it's still the same personality inside. Maybe you take a little time to get used to the idea. But then you resume your relationship on its old familiar, familial terms. Because ultimately, those are the people who you want to be around in the good times, and the ones who help you through the bad times. They're the ones you really miss when they're gone.

So smile at the memory of your old friend LifeKraze and pass the potatoes to Spire. Because that's what family does.

This has been another edition of the Cyrano Series, where intrepid and mysterious Spire member Cyrano de Bergerac shares her unique perspective on the world around us. Be sure to visit her profile to say thanks!

[spireteam]

Our Snow Dance has worked in Chattanooga, Tennessee!! 

Is it snowing where you live??

[spireteam]

2 ways to start 2014 off the right way

Start things off right by...

Sharing your 2013 #SpiREview: Post your favorite Accomplishment of 2013! Whether you posted it on Spire before or not, this is your chance to pick out a highlight from last year and celebrate it again.

Creating a 2014 #SpiREsolution: Pretty much the same as a regular resolution, but (1) set a quantifiable goal, instead of a vague one ("Take 10k Steps a Day" instead of "Walk more") and (2) post it in your Spire profile bio. This will help others to cheer you on and keep you accountable!

Thanks for being part of the Spire community—have a great year!

Photo by Thomas Hays.

[spireteam]

#GivingTuesday - A Few Suggestions

After the shopping-obsession of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, 'Giving Tuesday' is an opportunity to put your money to good use for others! We would encourage you to donate to causes and organization that are most important to you, but if you're looking for suggestions, here are a few of our favorites:

DonorsChoose.org: Support projects created by public school teachers that enrich their classrooms. Whether it's test tubes for science projects, soccer balls for gym class, or books for English, you can find and support a project that's meaningful to you, in your own city.

charity: water: Almost 1 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water. 1 billion! Help end the water crisis by making a donation that will bring new water—and new life—to people around the world.

CauseCentric Productions: Founded by renowned filmmaker (and Spire member!) Céline Cousteau, CCP creates short films to help spread the word about grassroots organizations working on environmental and socio-cultural issues. The stories they share are amazing, and you can help fund their efforts by making a contribution here!

What you decide, we hope you have a wonderful Giving Tuesday! Give like it counts!

[spireteam]

Final LK Swag clearance deal: 75% off!

Here's your chance to get the last few items in our inventory!

Just go to the LK Gear Shop and use these codes to get 75% off:

For the "LifeKraze is the New Black" Shirt: retroLKshirt

For the LK Slingpack: retroLKpack 

We're not saying you should keep them in their original packaging because they'll be worth millions on eBay someday as collectors items... but maybe you should.

While you're at it, why not swing by the Spire Rewards Store and pick up a sweet poster from Holstee or some skincare products from Apothederm? You know you want to...

[spireteam]

We celebrated our rebrand to Spire today and @lookout4meesh made a fantastic chocolate cake with our new logo as the icing!

[spireteam]

Catherine wrote this excellent book about customizing your diet, and she's giving it away today and tomorrow (Wednesday, 11/6 & Thursday, 11/7), just because she's that sweet!

Check it out and if you like it, write her a nice review! Oh, and swing by her Spire profile and give her some points!

[spireteam]

NeverMiss Hero: John Di Rienzo

This weekend, John did something truly incredible. 

He completed a full year of running every single day.

As many of you know, John started his streak last year, with the #NeverMiss Competition, inspired by legendary streak-holder (and Spire member!) Mark Covert. The very first day of the contest, John went for a run, and he hasn't missed one since.

We're so proud of John and wish him the best as the streak continues! We'll be sending him a special prize, but in the meantime, be sure to stop by his Spire profile and give him some Points!

[spireteam]

LifeKraze is growing up…. Say ‘Hello’ to Spire!

Today, we’re making a big change. Actually, one big change and a lot of little changes. The big one? We’re not ‘LifeKraze’ anymore. Now, we’re Spire.

We’re about to throw a lot of text at you, because this was not a quick, random decision, but a very long and careful one, and we’re excited to share with you about how that process works. But, if you just want the highlights, here are the things you need to know:

—Our new name is Spire, and our new website is spire.me. If you go to LifeKraze.com, you will just be redirected to the new address.

—Our iPhone and Android apps are the same. Well, except that they look way better and are much simpler to use, but you don’t need to download anything new. Just update your current LK app (Android or iPhone), and it will automagically be Spire!

—We, as a company, are going to be focusing on supporting people where they work, specifically for people that work in health care. This will in no way affect the availability of the Spire platform to you, as a general member.

So, why Spire? A spire, as you dictionary fans may know, is a tall tower, or a peak, a pinnacle. If you dig a little further, you’d see that the word has the same root as a sprout, shoot, or blade of grass. So a spire isn’t just a pinnacle that you reach toward or something you look up and forward to, it’s also a growing, living thing.

But, perhaps even more important to us, -spire is a root word. It forms the basis of a few different words that represent the core of what happens when you’re a member of our community: You aspire to do something. You conspire with others to make it happen. You inspire those around you to do something, and the cycle starts again.

You also may recognize it as the core of “respire.” As our pal Cyrano de Bergerac pointed out in the first-ever “Cyrano Series” guest blog post for us, “re-“ is a very important word. To “respire” means to breathe in and breathe out again. So, as the world attacks you and tries to knock you down so hard you can’t get up again, with its frantic pace and unrelenting challenges, we hope Spire will be a place where you can come and take a breath in and let it out again. May this community always be a breath of fresh air to you!

But, you may still be asking yourself, why not LifeKraze? “I liked the name LifeKraze,” you continue, “and, besides, calling Chester 'the LK9' was so clever!” Well, thanks! We’re thinking about renaming him to “Chester the Spire Spaniel” (or, CSS for short), but we’d love your input. And we loved being LifeKraze, too. But we firmly believe that “Spire” is a better representation of who we are and where we’re going. It’s not like you need to toss out all your great LK swag… In fact,  it's the proof that you got in on a good thing at the ground level!  LifeKraze was the foundation and we're building Spire on it.

Change is good, right? In fact the whole basis of LK has always been about positive changes. We want to become people who are changing ourselves and our world for the better. More active, more healthy, more  encouraging. And we think this name change will help us to be even better.

Change always takes some getting used to, but we are so excited about this transition, and hope that you will be, too!

This transition comes along with the most substantial design overhaul we’ve ever done. You’ll recognize all of the same core features, but both the iPhone and Android apps have been channeled into an elegant 3-tab experience that makes everything easier to find, with the former being fully integrated with iOS 7. And the web version is cleaner and simpler than ever!

We are working on making this transition all at once, but there will still be a few things that linger over. Please bear with us! We are dedicated to creating the best possible experience for you, and are excited about making progress in that direction, together.

Our change of address labels are still being printed, but we’ll be transitioning our other social profiles over, too. You can also find us at @SpireTeam on Twitter and Instagram, but we're still at Facebook.com/lifekraze and Pinterest.com/lifekraze, for the time being!

So, even though this is a big adjustment in some ways, we want you to know that the heart of who this company is, and the core of what we’ve built this community to be, has not changed, and will never change. We will always continue to be dedicated to being the most cheerful, encouraging place on the Internet, and maybe off the Internet. Spire is still a safe place for you to share all of your Accomplishments and find the support to keep pursuing your dreams.

Obviously, there are a lot of little changes that have to be made, so if you have questions, please send us an email! All of our addresses still work, so you can start with chester@lifekraze.com, or reach out to any other team member.

To wrap things up, we would just like to say, thank you! You are what makes this community so special, and we look forward to continuing to grow, along with you!