Dec 25, 2008 | blog
Try as I might, I couldn’t find the post that I thought I wrote about Moleskines some time ago. I think it was about a year ago a couple of online friends and I had a chance to finally meet and talk in person. It was a local version of LifeCamp, and it was Jason DeBoer-Moran (@newcoventry on Twitter) and Thomas Knoll (@thomasknoll on Twitter) along with a few more folks looking to organize and prioritize our lives these days.
One of the biggest take-away’s for me from that first meetup with my now-good friends was the importance of keeping track of thoughts and ideas. While these guys had been doing this for some time, it was a new initiative for me to keep something close to hand to quickly capture those moments of inspiration. The best device to record this information seemed to be a simple notebook.
However, I wanted to find something that was as rewarding to write in as the thoughts I was trying to capture. This is where the Moleskine comes in. Sure, lots of folks are turning back to these traditional mobile information gathering notebooks – to the point of it being cliche. The thing is though, I really enjoy these notebooks. They seem to reward the writer with a great feeling when writing in them.
For me in particular, these notebooks bring a sense of permanence to the things I’m writing. They bring a connection to the past, and offer a way to tap into the legacy of pen & paper in a way that the average ringed notebook found at your local big box discount store for 99¢ simply can’t. If you’re looking for it, a Moleskine can’t be beat for bringing another dimension to note taking or journaling. Give it a try for your next journal and see if it helps to inspire and capture the ideas, stories, and things that you’re trying to save.
Dec 24, 2008 | blog
I’ve been working in the technology field for a long time and the thing that really keeps me engaged is the fact that it’s always changing. Technology evolves and there is a constant need to be upgrading or planning on upgrading. It’s made a great career for myself with a number of great projects and experiences that I can look back on with fond memories.
"IT" as it’s called has also enabled me to push boundaries that were uncomfortable for me, allowing me to grow and continue to learn about things that I needed to but was uninterested in. To my mind, this is what a career should deliver; experiences, personal growth, team participation, leadership, and providing a decent living for a family. This is something that a technology career has rewarded me with for my investment.
So with that knowledge, experience and expectation, I wonder just how big the social media market is for it’s practitioners. As every site integrates more social media and "web 2.0" technologies and methods, how will social media professionals remain in demand? Ensuing generations will be even more well versed in the concepts, tools, technologies than even the much celebrated millennials today.
As the online world continues to circle around and pick up the once-forgotten "human face" that it lacked in the .com boom/bust, it becomes harder to distinguish just what a social media professional is. I fear that most of them will simply be absorbed into the existing professions as Marketing and Public Relations – already, the social media sphere is mostly made up of this demographic.
Am I off base here or is there really a career path for social media specialists or professionals as we know them today? Or will it just become another skill listed by bullet point on the resume of future marketing professionals? What do you think?
Photo credit: Jay Dugger
Dec 5, 2008 | blog
Hi everyone! I thought I’d let you know about the upcoming Social Media Breakfast – Twin Cities on December 19th. It’s a Holiday version of the event, meant to be fun and unstructured.
We will be meeting at the Lake Elmo Inn Event Center, where we’ll have a full breakfast buffet with all your breakfast favorites (including bacon!), served during the entire event. The Lake Elmo Inn has great food, and is a consistent reader’s choice winner in Mpls./St. Paul Magazine, with great facilities and excellent food.
This is a pay event and costs $20 per person. Registration will be open through Dec. 16th and there are only 60 seats available, so don’t wait! Click Here to Register
We’ll be having a great morning with the story of Ratchet, related by Katie Konrath. If you didn’t hear the story, it’s one of community, social media, and compassion coming together to make something happen. One of the great examples of our interest and commitment to social media on a personal level.
Also, we will have an “open mic†for you to share your stories from past events, or to talk about things that Social Media Breakfast has enabled for you. Tell folks what exciting new ideas you’re working on or what you do.
Along with that, we’ll have much more time to talk and trade stories on a more intimate setting, with smaller groups and less pressure to adhere to an agenda. Bring your ideas or stories and share with the folks at your table or the one next to you.
So come enjoy our most exciting event, our 10th event in Minneapolis & St. Paul, our first full breakfast, and probably the best chance to simply connect with more of the SMBMSP crowd than you’ve had a chance to previously.
I look forward to seeing everyone who can make it! If you want to make it, but don’t have a ride lined up, direct message or “@” smbmsp on Twitter and we’ll do our best to connect a some folks together
When:
Friday, December 19th, 2008 from 8am to 10am 
Where:
Lake Elmo Inn Event Center
3712 Layton Ave. N.
Lake Elmo, MN 55402
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Dec 1, 2008 | blog
There are dozens hundreds user-interface or aesthetic reasons that I could list off about the T-Mobile G1 which runs Google’s Android. However, it’s the functionality that has really sealed the deal for me.
The form factor and the ability to quickly add such a wide variety of applications to the device really makes it more useful to me then previous smartphones I’ve used. The variety of applications and new ideas is exciting and fun to watch develop. It’s no secret that mobile app marketing is very successful, below I’ve listed a number of applications that I’ve loaded and find really useful.
Cool Apps to Check Out
- fBook – A Facebook client app, similar to the iPhone app. Makes quick work of keeping up on Facebook.
- Locale- Basically a profile customization utility. It can change profile settings based on location, time, system events, contacts, messages, calls, etc… Really useful
- Maverick – An IM client that allows you to connect to more Google Talk accounts than the one tied to the phone account.
- Meebo – A Meebo client that allows you to log into not only your Meebo account, but also into any other IM service that Meebo supports. The nice part of this is that the Meebo client uses the data connection for send/receive rather than the text-messages that the built-in IM client does for Yahoo, Live, or AIM.
- PF Voicemail + – Enhanced voicemail, similar to visual voicemail on the iPhone. Allows you to review your voicemails by caller so you can choose which one to listen too first.
- Phonalyzr – Nifty little utility that will graph your call usage by date, time, length, incoming, outgoing, and other criteria.
- ShopSavvy – Cool tool for use while shopping. It uses the camera to scan a UPC code and then look up that product online. It has the ability to generate wish lists, and alerts for favorable pricing.
- Mileage – Allows you to keep track of mileage and costs for multiple vehicles.
- Twidroid – Currently the best Twitter client for Android. That statement, of course, is entirely subjective. I like it and that’s all that matters right now. 😉
- WeatherBug – Great Android version of the desktop app. Well designed for the screen size with a smaller memory footprint than The Weather Channel app – which is also a top-notch weather client.
- TextEasy – Allows you to send an SMS text message to more than one recipient.
- Toggle Settings – The app to have! This great tool allows you to quickly and easily manipulate various settings and radios on the G1. Very important since we know how power-hungry the current G1 software stack is.
- wpToGo – Have a WordPress blog? Either on WordPress.com or self-hosted, this tool is a simple but effective blogging client for Android.
- Opera – Opera Mini 4.2 for Android. ‘Nuff said.
- AnyCut – Allows you to create a shortcut on the desktop for nearly anything in the system.
Other Good Apps
- Task Switcher – While you can’t close processes with it (or others that don’t have root access) it’s still nice to see what apps you may have left running.
- Voice Recorder – Quick voice notes. This functionality should have been built into Android.
- Video Player – Watch videos from your SD card.
- Solitaire – When you need to pass a few minutes.
- Pictoral – Ties into Picasa.
- PAC-MAN – Is there anything to say?
- Orienteer – Makes use of the digital compass in the G1.
- Fitness – Uses the accelerometer in the G1 as a pedometer. Kinda works, and the developer is getting closer and closer with each release. Neat to see new app ideas like this.
- HotSpot Locator – Locate T-Mobile WiFi hotspots close to your location, either by GPS or by Wireless.
- inetwork test – Get a quick result on the 3G or EDGE network performance in your current location.
- Convert That – Conversion tool for nearly anything you can think of.
- Bubble – Mostly a demonstration app, it’s a level that uses the accelerometer in the G1.
- aTweeter – Another Twitter tool. A bit lighter weight than Twidroid, but improving quickly.
Of course, I don’t have all these installed right now (though almost!). I’ve been testing and experimenting with these apps and many more. The available application options have grown significantly over the past month. A great indication of a healthy & robust development ecosystem.
If you’re thinking about an Android device – don’t hesitate. Sure, the G1 may not be the one for you, but watch the next one or two devices that come along on your network. I promise, even the iPhone doesn’t hold the amount of promise that Android does long term.
Nov 25, 2008 | blog
Hi! Sorry I’m not posting as frequently as I had been. I’m working on that, but am a bit sidetracked with my current client in Minneapolis. Its funny how some clients can take up not just time, but more importantly energy from your normal pursuits.
Sometimes it’s hard to work at client sites, where you don’t have the connectivity, or freedom, or time to keep up with the daily routine. Other times it’s just a rollercoaster of energy absorption that the client takes up so I don’t have any left for personal endeavors. Its a really frustrating experience when I think about it.
So, I’m trying to “partition†my client work from my personal work. That was something I thought I had gotten a handle on awhile ago, but must have forgot somewhere along the way. At any rate, as I work through rebalancing my work/personal time, I’ll be working on posting here on the blog again.
Stay tuned.
Nov 17, 2008 | blog, happiness
Like Jon Swanson, I’m not really big on memes, but since the 5-Things meme is a long standing blogging tradition, who am I to refuse? So in his 25 Things post, Jon tagged me with “Five Happiness Reasonsâ€, I’ll bite and hand off to another couple bloggers.
Here are my items for the “5 Things†meme: Reasons to be Happy:
- The change of seasons
- Our ability to overcome challenges
- Your family & friends
- Being part of the community
- Doing something for someone
So now I’ve got to tag another 5 bloggers eh? Well, I’ll tag Mykl Roventine, Todd Jordan, Josh Kahn, Mike Keliher, Garrick Van Buren. What’s the five things? Since it’s that Thanksgiving time of year – how about 5 things in social media to be thankful for? Participate if you like guys.
Photo credit: Leo Reynolds
