Monthly Archives: May 2012

HELP ME GET RID OF MY HEEBIE-JEEBIES

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I get the heebie-jeebies when I see a person over 50 not using a smartphone.  They might as well be wearing bell bottoms, because they look like dinosaurs to me. I hate it even more when they say “Smartphone, what do I need it for?” 

I am so passionate about this subject because I don’t want anyone from my generation to miss out on all the cool technology that is offered today. All the stuff we dreamed about when we were growing up is finally happening. We are so lucky to be alive during this amazing, innovative era.  I often wonder where I came from when I’m excited about finding a new app that makes my life so much easier, but my friends aren’t jumping for joy. 

This week alone I added a scanner, business card, two videos, and a greeting card app to my iPhone roster. Every time an app is added, I feel like I inherited a significant gift from a major donor. I can’t wait to play with it.  I admit that when I open most of them, I am clueless about what to do next. I usually push a lot of buttons until I discover what to do, or I wait until I see one of my younger friends.  I bug them relentlessly to show me how to work the app. Our tech guru at HWH usually bears the burden of showing me the ins and outs, over and over. I can never remember a thing if I don’t repeatedly use the app. 

My biggest recommendation to everyone that is technologically challenged is to get a geek to help you once or twice a week. Hire a young kid for $25 an hour to demystify what you don’t know. You will be amazed at how simple it all is.  All this tech stuff doesn’t come intuitively to our generation because we didn’t grow up with it. The kids today did.  If you resist, it is because you are afraid to admit what you don’t know. That is so silly. Even some of my engineering contacts from Google ask me questions about social media that I assumed that they should know the answers to. The digital world is all about everyone helping each other out. 

The greatest reward you will receive when you delve into the world of technology is that your children and grandchildren will be so proud of you. You need to be a part of the tech culture.  You’ll see what a great icebreaker it will be when you contribute to the conversation around the dinner table. You will level the playing field. The generation gap will disappear on certain topics outside of technology as well. All of a sudden, you’ll be relevant on many fronts.  Please don’t be a cynical spectator any longer. You  also need a smartphone  because it’s the future of communications. Smartphones are going to be a big threat to desktop and laptop computers.  Most people today use smartphones for everything. They read novels, draft contracts, and edit videos right on this handy, small, mobile device. Please be a part of the upwardly mobile society.

SHARING VIDEOS PREDICTED TO BE THE NEXT BIG TREND IN SOCIAL MEDIA

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Unless you were hiding under a rock a few weeks ago, you had to have read that Facebook bought a smartphone photo-sharing app called Instagram for $1 billion in cash and stock. It made page one news in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Every TV news station covered it. What made the story so remarkable was that Instagram is a two-year-old San Francisco-based company. Yes, just founded two years ago and it was bought for a record breaking sum. That is why the Internet is so sexy and appealing to everyone who understands the dynamics of the digital world. This little baby company came up with the concept of an easy way to snap a photo, chose a filter to transform its look, and then use Instagram to post it on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr. 

Facebook immediately saw a synergy between its business model and what Instagram was all about. At the end of last year, Facebook reported that 250 million photos a day were being posted on its platform. In its SEC filings, Facebook also noted that its members spend nearly one-fifth of their time browsing other people’s photos. Instagram was a natural and most desired fit. 

Mobile apps like Instagram are aimed at people of all ages, but I personally feel that every parent or grandparent should download the app so you can share more with members of the family and friends everywhere. This is a wonderful and fun way of keeping in touch. Now, get ready for something brand new. Internet forecaster Gary Vaynerchuk is predicting that video sharing is the next big thing. It’s also a natural. Gary is the one who predicted that Facebook would buy Instagram.  Now Gary is saying that YouTube is going to buy Viddy or Socialcam because those apps allow users to shoot or capture a video, edit it, and privately or publicly share it with the world at large. Both apps upload to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Gary is quick to point out that what Instagram did for phone-shot photos, Viddy and Socialcam are going to do for videos. 

Consider yourself well informed after you click on Gary’s video blog called The Next Wave, which appears on The Daily, the first of its kind national news publication built exclusively as an application for touch screens and emerging digital platforms. The Daily is currently available on the iPad, iPhone, and select Verizon Samsung tablets. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpahiDOwUMs

Pop Goes The Weasel *

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Every day I get a call from someone seeking advice on how to successfully bring his or her brilliant product or service idea to market. I know they are calling me because I have been around innovation for 45 years. However, the truth is that the answer should be coming from them. People feel that just because they have a brilliant idea they get to sit back and let everyone else figure out how to make it a success. 

Guess what? It doesn’t work that way. The venture capitalists and angel investors are not giving one dime to those who don’t have proof that there is a market for their idea and how they are going to make a profit from it. 

Do yourself a favor. Watch Shark Tank on TV. Don’t tell me reality TV is fake. We’ve all heard that before and have our own opinions about the level of realism on these types of shows. That is not what I am talking about. I want you to listen carefully to the questions The Sharks ask: 

1-What is the valuation of your company and how did you arrive at it?

2-What is your profit margin? 

3-How many of these did you sell? 

4-What is your cost for making these products? 

5-How much of your company am I going to own and at what price? 

6-Who is your competition? 

7-How much of your own money did you invest? 

8-What money do you live on? 

9-Who is this product for? 

10-How are you reaching that market? 

The bonus question always is: What part of this idea is patented or trademarked and can you get ripped off? 

Mark Zuckerberg

Jack Dorsey

These are  the “tough to answer” questions you are going to get. If you can’t answer all of these, then go back to your day job and rethink your idea. I am not being mean for the sake of being mean. I want you to wake up to the real world. While you may have read that Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Jack Dorsey of Twitter just came up with concepts and didn’t have any answers to the questions I just asked you, think again. There are Sharks questioning their every move, every day. 

You have to know how to filter the stories Hollywood feeds you. Understand what is real and not. And you better be ready for the fight of your life if you call me or anyone else with your brilliant idea!

*  http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1314/what-does-pop-goes-the-weasel-mean

 

 

 

DIGIDAME IS A TSA PRE-CHECK TRUSTED TRAVELER

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I am writing this post from the American Airline’s D49 Gate at Miami International Airport. It is 6:41am. For the second time, my husband Eliot and I skipped the usual 45 minute security line because we belong to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Pre-Check Trusted Traveler Program. We no longer have to wait on endless security lines that usually adds panic to our forever trek from the check-in point to the New York bound gate at the end of the terminal. Ever notice that most flights headed to NY are relegated to the furthest gates?

The pre-check program is very important to us because we usually take an early morning flight out from Miami to NY. That means getting up at 4am to shower and do all of the morning rituals in less than an hour. We are out the door by 6 and at the airport by 6:30 for a 7:30 am flight. Not a minute to spare.

The TSA Pre-Check is one of the most wonderful results of the digital revolution. You are pre-screened once you opt-in online. No more removing shoes, laptops, toiletries and lighter outer clothing.  I feel like we are “Forward To The Past,” pre 9/11. There is a special security line for the Pre-Check passengers. You walk right through while everyone else is giving you dirty looks, especially the First Class passengers who are not happy about being upstaged and are clueless about this program.

We also belong to the Global Entry program. For $100 you can fill out a form online, then subordinate yourself to an in-person interview where you get finger printed and have your photo taken.  If you clear the screening, you receive an identity card and a sticker on your passport that allows you expedited clearance at customs when you enter the United States.

I was so nervous for my interview. I didn’t know what they were going to ask.  I rehearsed the “Pledge Of Allegiance” and “The Star Spangled Banner” many times the night before. I memorized the list of Presidents of the United States and who was serving in the current administration. The interview was nothing like that at all. They asked some basic questions and I signed a few documents. I did get extremely nervous when the electronic scanner could not capture my fingerprints. I had to try about 10 times, which required me washing my fingers with hand wipes, powder, and tissues. It was so embarrassing and brought up old childhood memories of me thinking I was really from another planet.  Then another police officer came to my rescue when he discovered that my name was spelled wrong on the application which had stopped the process. Whew, maybe I am human.

David Pogue

I could go on and on about the virtues of both programs, but the digital genius of The New York Times,  David Pogue, did a blog post about this last week.  You should give it a read.  http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/zipping-through-airport-security/

No one explains it better than Pogue.

STYLECASTER LEADING FASHION INDUSTRY AS DIGITAL PIONEERS

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If you think that Vogue, Marie Claire, WWD, and Elle rule the fashion world, think again. The Internet has changed all that. For the last few years, the generation that is wearing all the trendy, tight fitting, and transparent clothes,is turning to StyleCaster.com as their fashion source. That is not to say that the other fashion magazines are not as relevant. I am just letting you know that StyleCaster is most talked about by the best selling and notable designers, as well as the fashionistas, because of its cutting edge ways of presenting the news. No other fashion publication can keep up with StyleCaster because the owners are digitally oriented and are employing all the latest technologies.

Today, StyleCaster has 2.5 million unique monthly visitors. However, the company says it reaches more than 10 million people on a monthly basis and has partnered with more than 50 top-tier advertising partners since its launch in 2009. 

Ari Goldberg

Ari Goldberg, CEO of StyleCaster Media Group, along with his brother David, Chief Marketing Officer, used to be relegated to the back of the runway shows when they first co-founded the company. Today, they sit in the front row next to Anna Wintour and The Project Runway cast. They are constantly being talked about in all of the publications that cover the Internet (such as The WSJ, Tech Crunch and Mashable) because they are the first to adopt new technologies in both editorial and digital practices. From day one, they owned video production facilities and were shooting original editorial content in-house, as well as from the runway shows. No one else was doing that. 

Before starting StyleCaster, Ari was Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for LeBron James and LRMR Marketing. He was also Director of Business Development for Steve Stoute at Translation Consultation + Branding Imaging. He co-founded  Sociocast Networks and was instrumental in the founding of Last Pictures, Qwiki, and SaveFans. David worked at CNET, a leader in digital technology, and at the major brand, Theory. 

David Goldberg

The two brothers are constantly marrying the editorial world with social media. Just a month ago they announced another editorial breakthrough. StyleCaster launched the first platform where readers, on a worldwide basis, will now have the opportunity to engage with everyone from bloggers and thought-leaders, to designers and retailers. The in-house editorial content from the StyleCaster staff will now be featured on News.StyleCaster.com and BeautyHigh.com. The content from the public will be prominently ranked by popularity. As many of you know, that is a huge trend in social media. StyleCaster will also introduce the proprietary “Love” button – a one-click tool that lets StyleCasters support the contributions of their fellow community members. Every “Love” brings a submission closer to the top of StyleCaster.com.

StyleCaster’s community members will be able to: 

  1. Share photos
  2. Share links to articles and products
  3. Share the ‘Love’ with StyleCaster’s proprietary “Love” button 

StyleCaster recently raised $1 million in its Series A-1 Funding in November 2011. The bridge round, which included Zynga’s Owen Van Natta, raised StyleCaster’s funding up to $5.5 million since its Series A round in 2009.

WHO ARE HUGH?

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Meet Hugh MacLeod. He is well known in the digital world with 36,000 followers on Twitter. I wanted you to meet him because much of what he says applies to people of all ages. Hugh is a cartoonist, a blogger and author. Most of all he is a realist. He talks about things most of us are afraid to surface or even seriously think about.  His company, gapingvoid, is a weblog where his illustrations spread messages, inspire people, help businesses kick butt and support causes. He was blogging long before anyone actually knew what a blog was.The reason why Hugh is often referred to as a digital guru is because he used the Internet to achieve creative freedom. 

Hugh often says that the Internet allowed him to get out of the corporate world which was more about internal politics and less about true creative ideas. For years he was stiffled, sufficated, stressed by the suits. Then he met up with Jason Korman, an entrepreneur who can spot trends before they actually happen. Both men became fearless pioneers on the Internet with a new concept called gapingvoid, a multi-level platform that encourages others to find their voice and learn ways to express it. Hugh has written three books about lifestyle and business topics. His latest one is a love letter to blogging.

As an artist, he wants his work seen and heard. He doesn’t want gatekeepers to stand in his way of reaching out to the community he adores. “If  blogs exis­ted back when I was a kid,” he writes, “a lot of my crea­tive peers wouldn’t have given up their dreams in order to go do some bill-paying govern­ment job. And what’s true for artists is also true for ANYONE who gives a damn about their work. Too many voi­ces, lost unnecessarily.”

   

THE DOUBLE LIFE OF AN AUDIO BOOK JUNKIE

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Living the life of a person who listens to audio books from services like Audible is very multi-dimensional. No longer do I read a book in isolation. I remember so many times in the past, when I was reading a printed book that I loved, I just wanted to hug it all the time. I hated when I finished reading it because that meant we would part forever. I would place the book on a shelf near me and blow kisses to it once in a while. I would call friends and sometimes strangers to see if they read the book so we could talk about it.  Then I joined book groups because I wanted to share what I had read with others.  I really didn’t like most of these groups because they were usually made up of people I knew or friends of theirs. We usually spent more time discussing everyone’s life then the book. So then I joined a more serious book club. The heated debates were so violent I feared for my life (not really but it sounds good). There was one bitch who screamed so loud and pulled at her hair with such force that I thought she was going to split in two. The fact that she downed five or six glasses of wine didn’t help either. 

I just didn’t want to be victimized. Live book clubs were supposed to be intellectually stimulating experiences, not bully fights.  I decided after five or six of these face-to-face gatherings, that all of my future interactions would take place online. I joined two online discussions  groups through publishing houses, but shortly discovered that many of the participants disappeared in a day or two. I really wanted a community where there was a sense of commitment and lots of related services. 

I don’t remember how I found Audible but it must have been through one of their advertisements. They offer a 100,000 plus titles (every genre imaginable) as well as radio shows, podcasts, stand-up comedy and recordings from captains of industries that cover culture, politics, business and entertainment. The narrators, many of them famous actors or the authors themselves, just don’t read word for word, they provide vocal inflections. You hear a giggle, a deep breath, a pause, an accent or a cough that enhances the experience and confirms that you are totally realizing the essence of the book.  That first exhilarating experience happened to me when I listened to James Michener’s South Pacific on an audio cassette in my car. I had a long three hour drive and I didn’t want the trip to be monotonous. I picked a book that I wouldn’t ordinarily read in print. The three hour trip felt like three minutes because I had never experienced Michener before. Listening to descriptions about faraway places and the adventures of getting there, were beyond anything that I had ever imagined. I felt like a whole slice of life was given to me on a silver platter. 

I also love that I can now discuss my books 24/7, 365 days a year on Audible. I always have someone to converse with on my terms. Most audio book clubs offer message boards, discussions with authors,  reviews,  a list of books you’ve bought, what you wish for, new entries, a gift area and instructional videos on how to get started.  I feel like I am part of a club that has been tailored just for me. I can pay monthly or annually and I even get credits for buying books. Sometimes I feel like they are giving me more books for free than I actually purchase. 

Lately I have done the unthinkable.  I buy an audio book from Audible and I then buy the same book for my iPad as well.  I love listening to the book, then searching on my iPad for the parts that I want to repeat to others. I underscore in yellow and use the electronic book marks for searching purposes.  I am just one of those people who likes to share interesting thoughts with others.  I recently listened to Steven Tyler’s, “Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?”  What an odd choice for conservative me?  Not at all. I am thrilled to hear all about the behind the scenes life of a rocker and the risks he took. I love the part when he was jumping on a trampoline in an outdoor Connecticut activity center after hours.  All of a sudden the owner appeared and asked him to leave. He explained that he was letting off steam before performing in a concert that night. The young owner invited him back to his house, not too far away. They were drinking a few beers when the guy’s father showed up. Paul Newman walked in with a racing friend. Tyler was blown away. The young owner was Scott Newman. He spent the next hour or two trading entertainment war stories. He couldn’t believe that he was in the presence of a legend. He described the situation with such surreal detail and such excitement. I was glad I heard it in the spoken word.  The 16 hours it took me on the treadmill to hear Tyler’s entire book was extremely enjoyable.  At the end of each session, I felt a sense of renewal. His life was so foreign to me that it forced me to think about my future in a way I never thought possible.

 

MY DIRTY LITTLE SECRET

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I have to admit this in the first line of my post. I listen to audiobooks. I listen to them on my iPhone, iPad and iPod, whatever device is accessible at the time.  It has changed my life. I never would have experienced James Michener, Mark Twain, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Walter Issacson, Stephen King and lately, Joyce Carol Oates, if I didn’t belong to Audible and other audio book clubs. You can poo poo me all you want. I can hear you now, “There is nothing like sitting down with a book and reading it yourself page after page.”  Let’s not get into a discussion about printed books versus eBooks at this time. We can save that for another discussion.  Yes, reading a book with your own interpretation and visual sense is a very satisfying and rewarding experience. I still read books and I also read several newspapers each day (okay maybe peruse). Also, six online blogs (Huffington Post, Mashable, AllThingsD, The Daily Beast, CNET, Tech Crunch) and countless news, entertainment and specialty magazines. There isn’t enough hours in the day to cover all this, do my job, shower, dress, make phone calls, see friends, exercise, watch TV or a movie, read and post on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

However, there is always time for an audiobook. I listen while I am on the treadmill (yes I know it doesn’t show), in the car, the subway, on a flight to wherever, waiting for my doctor, a business appointment that is always late, in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep, when I knit, on the beach, in the park and during long walks. It is just marvelous. It is a different kind of experience than reading the book yourself. Frankly, I think you capture more. You hear stuff your eyes can’t capture, especially from the authors who read their books themselves. I remember when I listened to Harry Markopolos reading “No One Would Listen, A True Financial Thriller.” That was his book about trying to get the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to take a meeting with him so he could expose Bernie Madoff. I almost fell off the treadmill when I listened to the part about his paranoia that Bernie was going to have him killed. He bought a gun, barricaded his home and was always on the lookout for thugs.  I was laughing a little too much. What was very serious to Harry was somehow humorous to me, since we all know that Harry was not even on Bernie’s radar screen most of the time. I don’t think you could have picked this up through the written word. Maybe, but it was pretty remarkable hearing Harry describe his emotions.

I also don’t feel I would have grabbed the highs and lows of what Joyce Carol Oates describes in her book “A Widow’s Story,” the immediate experiences of widowhood. I felt her 13 months of pain, anguish, terror and depression. Very few authors write like Oates. She describes peeling an onion like an exhilarating experience. You don’t want to miss a word. I tried reading her in the past, but didn’t have the patience to comprehend what she had to offer. I can do it now because I’ve learned to appreciate her every word. I was so involved in her story, that I got very upset when I found out that she had remarried  13 months later, but had left that out of the book. Her publisher defends her in a story in the New York Times, saying that her subsequent life had nothing to do with what she went through after the death of her husband, Raymond Smith. Hmmm!

I can go on and on about the virtues of listening to an audio book, but I have gone way beyond the limits of how long a blog post should be. Tomorrow I will tell you about the intricacies of belonging to an audio book club and other personal experiences I’ve had listening to James Michener and even,  I hate to admit, Steven Tyler.

 

 

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

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Conducting business is so different these days. Everything is an open book. Yesteryear, if you had a business problem, you would seek counsel from a close, trusted friend under an oath of the utmost secrecy. Today, the younger set candidly goes online to openly post a question on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any other social platform. Within minutes, the question is answered by several, if not 20 or 30 eager connections that are more than willing to dispense their expert advice. That could possibly save hours, days, or even weeks of grief worrying about the challenge; not to mention the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars that were saved by not making the wrong decisions. 

Let’s take this process one step further. A few entrepreneurs got together a few years ago to create Ohours, an in-office, one-on-one meet-up between young (there is no requirement that you really have to be young) people just starting out and experts in a wide variety of fields who volunteer their time. All of the experts post their available time slots on the Ohours website and usually host the meetings in their office or by phone. That is not to say that many meetings do not take place at a Starbucks, a pizza joint or even on a park bench. The one big caveat that is posted on the Ohours site is that the meetings don’t last more than 20 minutes. Sometimes the meetings last longer, but the experts usually volunteer for three meetings in a row so everyone has to adhere to the schedule. 

There are many meet-up groups like this around the country. What is so amazing about them is that the volunteers are usually well known, successful business people who you normally wouldn’t have the chance to meet in a million years. Now, you not only get the chance to meet them, but you are getting free advice that can possibly send you into orbit. How remarkable is that? Big names in finance, marketing, media, security, real estate, science, fashion and entertainment have devoted countless hours to this concept. 

I have even volunteered my time. I have met some of the most creative, ambitious, and promising young people of my career. None of them are frivolous, just the opposite. They are determined to make their ideas work and they are willing to put in the sweat equity to make it happen. To be completely honest, I usually volunteer my time because after each session I am usually even more inspired about my own work than ever before. Yes, even at my stage of the game.  I find talking to people with new ideas so invigorating that I can’t wait to reinvent myself one more time. 

Every time I visit the Ohours website to peruse who is volunteering their time, the topics being discussed and the folks who are seeking counsel, I think to myself, “why wasn’t this available when I was starting out?”  The answer is easy. There was no Internet.

TO TWEET OR NOT TO TWEET, THAT IS THE QUESTION

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 While many folks around my age bracket and older like Facebook, most have not joined Twitter. I am not sure why, other than they don’t understand the benefits. I am going to tell you in plain and simple terms why you should join. It is great for researching people and topics. Most of the younger generation is on Twitter because they use it as a vanity stage or they actually discuss important topics, both personal and business with each other. It has become their main news source and there are good reasons why. The digital community is all about participating in the making of the news, not necessarily sitting back reading about it. 

For example, one Twitter user sees an airplane actually land on the Hudson River. Instead of dialing 911, he or she posts it on Twitter and the word spreads faster than anyone can imagine. A 911 operator can even be one of the people on that person’s Twitter list. The next thing you know everyone springs into action. Everyone does their part to report the news or do something about it. You are no longer idly sitting by, picking your nose, wondering what is going on. You are now getting a blow by blow account of the developments just as if you were on a news team. Unless you have experienced this, you just can’t imagine the excitement and euphoria you get, especially if you have helped save lives. 

 

The other benefit that I think is so important, yet rarely gets talked about in my generation, is that you can search the tweets (opinions) of people you most respect and actually post your thoughts for them to see as well. All you have to do is post their their Twitter name preceded by the @ sign (e.g., @digidame for my Twitter account) on your post and when they search he or she will see your comments. Do that long enough and there is a good likelihood that those people will start following you. I almost fell over when Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and big time investor in startups, actually answered one of my tweets. I walked around for the rest of the day feeling like I was actually somebody. The important thing to remember is that @TwitterName signs are for people and #hashtag signs are for topics.

I would strongly suggest that you start using the search area on Twitter before you start discussing or ranting a topic. The search area is called Discover and it is wonderful because it features the important stories of the day, activities, trends, who to follow, categories to browse, and the place to find friends.  Just this morning I read a story that the Discover tab on Twitter is getting an update. I love learning that because that always means good things. In this case the Discover tab is going to present content that Twitter says is even more personalized and meaningful to the user. “To do this, Twitter has incorporated additional personalization ‘signals,’ including tweets that are popular among the people that a user follows. The new design shows who tweeted about particular stories/content after which the user can view, reply to, retweet and favorite said tweet. The update will be rolled out over the coming weeks.” See more information on Cynopsis.  

If you have any questions about getting started on Twitter, leave a comment on DigiDame or email me. If I don’t know the answer, I will get someone quickly who will answer you. Remember, we are all a part of the digital revolution. Getting info should be instantaneous. 

To ease you into the Twitter process, here is a story Time magazine wrote about the most important people to follow. Somehow I trust you to find your own. It won’t take you too long to get your own online circle of friends. And when you do, you will be socializing with Tweet meetups in your neighborhood, but that is just an option. I do promise you that your life reading the news is going to change forever. You will never pick up a print publication again.