Author Archives: loiswhitmanhess

Vine With Me

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Twitter has announced a new mobile video sharing service, called Vine that allows users to share six second video clips. While it’s a Twitter mechanism, you can share the videos on Twitter, Facebook or email. You don’t have to post the video on YouTube to share.

Vine is free in the App Store.

It’s the fastest video posting and sharing I have ever experienced. Twitter is all about micro-blogging. They gave you 140 characters to text a message, and now they are giving you six seconds to share video.

I realized a while ago that Twitter is based on the same premise as news reporting. Journalists are trained to get the who, what, where, why, how, and when in the first sentence of their story. Well, at least that was true before the Internet took over.

Both text and videos on Twitter have the same premise. If you can’t say it in 140 characters, or a six-second video, then you are wasting my time or you just can’t get to the point.

Click here to see a video of my Miami condo. Only six seconds.

You Never Heard of These Jobs 10 Years Ago

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One of the most important topics in politics today is the job market. While politicians talk about the number of jobs being created, very few mention the new positions that have been born primarily because of the Internet. Content is king and all of the following positions were developed because people want to share information.

I first read about this in a Forbes article but I decided to give you my own interpretations.

App developer

Ten years ago you never heard of an app. Today, more than a million apps have been developed and sold on Apples App Store and Android’s Google. Everyone in the tech business knows that the demand for app developers is going to keep growing, especially good ones.

Market Research Data Miner

This is the person who now makes sense out of all the Internet information that is being cultivated about the customer’s experience. Years ago there was no way to access this information. Today data miners look behavioral patterns to help retailers and businesses predict future trends..

Millennial Generational Expert

The generational expert does exactly what the title says. Companies hire experts to tell them the changes that are taking place in the workforce and how to keep valuable employees. They also assist in grooming the best members of the staff into strong executives.

Social Media Manager

We all know that social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, others) have become the communications vehicles for both small and humongous companies. Someone has to manage the information that is imparted to the targeted audience. This person not only needs to know what to say but precisely when to say it. Timing is everything.

Chief Listening Officer

This is a position many of you have probably never heard of before but has come increasingly important. The CLO has to monitor all of the remarks that are being made about their company on social media (Facebook, Twitter, message boards, blogs, and YouTube) and then report that information to the proper heads of departments. Most of the time immediate action must be taken in order to keep a brand prestigious and respectable.

User Experience Designer

A user experience designer makes tech type products easier to use. They make products and services friendlier so your experiences are more satisfying and rewarding. Companies higher UX designers (stands for user experience) because they want to make sure that their products are being utilized to the highest degree.

Will you still add me, will you still tag me, when I’m 64?

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As we get older, the hours of our lives become more precious. I just finished reading an article in The Atlantic that questioned whether I want to spend the last 25 years of my life reading and posting items on Facebook.

The headline for this post came directly from the article. I loved those words when I read them. I hum the words now as if the Beatles wrote them.

The Atlantic article was entitled “At What Age Will You Stop Using Facebook?” In my opinion, the piece was really a metaphor for how we want to spend the last 20 or 30 years of our lives. By now, we have learned that we don’t want to spend a minute doing anything we don’t like or be in the company of people we can’t stand.

For some seniors, Facebook represents a validation of who they are. They show family and friends all the wonderful things they are doing and feel a sense of comfort that others recognize their importance. The other group likes to peek in the lives of others but will never share a thing about themselves.

I personally didn’t need to read the article to realize that some of the things that I used to love to do hold no interest for me now. I am surprised that my tastes have changed so much. I can no longer tolerate situations that never bothered me five or 10 years ago.

The question for me is not whether I will give up Facebook but rather will I still continue to follow the friends I have today. I already know the answer to that because a few months ago I started deleting people who rant, use Facebook as a platform to talk ill of others, and constantly post their religious and extreme political beliefs.

It felt so good to delete those people right out of my life. It is not so easy to do that offline. Little by little, they may even be getting rid of me. That’s okay. I don’t want to spend time on Facebook looking back. At this stage, I find that so uninteresting. I would rather delve into the world of the unknown and take my chances.

The Job Facts Speak for Themselves

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The following facts about using social media to help you find a job are easily obtained on the Internet. I wanted to do the work for you because of what I talked about yesterday. If my 68-year-old friend nailed a job using his social media skills, so can you.

Online Colleges offered the following information.

1) One in six job seekers credit social media with landing their current job. That number is increasing every month.

2) Posting a social résumé allows you to see who is looking at you and provides you with other interesting analytics.

3) 92 per cent of employers in 2012 report using social media to find employees.

4) Recruiters used LinkedIn 98 percent of the time to find candidates.

5) Job seekers used Facebook the most, 52 percent.

6) Check out http://www.resumesocial.com, http://www.visualcv.com, razume.com, and ziggs.com. These sites will help you reach out to new contacts, search for jobs, create and share, and network.

The opportunity to find a job through social media is such a natural. It is very surprising that it took us this long to recognize its potential.

Check out the chart below. In fact, save the image to your camera roll. You can refer to it all the time.

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We Are Not Too Late for a Second Career

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Just when a friend of mine lost all hope of getting a job at 68 years of age, he was offered a CEO position at a financial services company in Raleigh, NC. Ken had been out of work for eight years and just could not land a position. Prior to that, he held sales and marketing positions at various companies. We would sit on the phone for hours bemoaning our fate. All the good jobs and assignments were going to younger people.

Then one day Ken’s granddaughter introduced him to several social media platforms, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, others. He started to socialize online the way he used to network in person. He dedicated himself to only posting info that made him look desirable for a high ranking position: 1-Business stories he found in his daily readings about a targeted niche. 2-Short, positive thoughts about changes in the specific industry he was interested in. 3-Inspiring comments about recent industry speeches and activities that he posted on other people’s blogs, podcasts, videos and group discussions.

Ken’s main goal was to appear knowledgeable and ageless. He carefully scrutinized every sentence he posted so that he always appeared positive, hopeful, and determined. There was never an attitude, a need to show-off or self-righteousness. It was all about presenting himself as a confident individual who knows how to get things done.

He was very disciplined about his postings. Ken made himself extremely visible and consistent. One day he received an email from a member of the board of a medium-sized financial company in Raleigh that mostly deals with real estate investments. The email was an invitation to a roundtable discussion about the stock market being held at company headquarters. Other outsiders were being invited too. He had to pay for his travel. All else was comped.

He went. When Ken came back from the two-day meeting he was a new man. Not only did he feel refreshed and enthused, but he felt relevant for the first time in years. His participation in social media gave him the business degree he never got. He taught himself so much about what was happening in business today that he actually became more knowledgable than many executives 10 years younger than himself.

Ken used the time away from the daily grind of business to actually become a strategist. The roundtable discussion in Raleigh was really an audition for all those who were invited to participate. Ken got the highest marks because he was the only one who understood and appreciated how to use today’s digital assets.

Today, Ken travels to Raleigh every Monday through Thursday and works from his home in Alpine, NJ on Fridays. He plans to work until he drops. He said he spent eight years in a forced retirement already and was miserable. These days he feels more alive and satisfied. While he doesn’t have much time to BS with me anymore, he doesn’t miss a day of being a voice online. He is gaining more traction than ever before and is teaching his grandchildren social resume skills that will be their calling card in the future

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Do You Think This Was a Set-Up?

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Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, showing off the next big step in technology, augmented-reality glasses.

Being a publicist, I am always suspicious when I read a story about something that happened “by chance.” People like me make “those chances” happen. Do I really believe that one of the richest men in the world, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, was riding the number 3 subway train downtown on Sunday when a stranger spotted him wearing Google’s augmented-reality glasses? Seconds later, the stranger (Noah Zerkin) tweeted the photo of Brin and the post got picked up on every online tech site, newspaper, and entertainment TV show within the next 24 hours.

This is what Noah Zerkin (@noazark) January 21, 2013, said on Twitter. “I just had a brief conversation with the most powerful man in the world. On the downtown 3 train. Nice guy.” Then he posted his photo. Zerkin is an interactive installation consultant who is a self-professed augmented-reality enthusiast who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Puh-leeze!

For those of you who don’t know about Google’s augmented-reality glasses, it is really worth researching because it is going to be the next big thing in technology. The glasses feature a translucent rectangle (the size of a postage stamp) that transmits data directly into your eye. Swiping motions can be made on the side of the headset to navigate the app interfaces. You can take hands-free photos, videos, and other soon-to-be announced tasks. The glasses are truly mind-boggling. A few years from now we will all be using them. They are slated to go on sale in 2014 for around $1,400. By that time, Google will have figured out some very practical uses for this device.

Meanwhile, I think I am the only one who feels the subway incident was a staged event. I have had my own share of PR “coincidences.” I staged Mohammad Ali to show up at a BSR (USA) sales rep meeting at the Chicago Hilton Tower Suites so he could throw air punches with retail customers. We pretended that he was having dinner downstairs with friends during our meeting. Through some miraculous last minute offer to show him the product line that was being introduced, he agreed to come up to the suite to say hello to the audience. The entire shtick was arranged weeks in advance and cost BSR lots of moola to get the champ to agree to the action-packed photo-op. Some retailers still have their photos displayed on the walls of their offices (or retirement homes).

Or how about the time we accidentally-on-purpose, lost a prototype for a new hand-held game for my electronics client in a New York City taxi cab during Toy Fair. The owners of the company offered a huge cash reward if anyone found and returned the one-of-a-kind mock up. Instantly, the brand became the talk of the entire convention.

I could go on and on about publicity stunts, but then I would be staging my own career death. That’s all for now.

Interesting Political Tweets

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Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA)
1/21/13, 11:19 AM
Today Americans honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It’s been 30 years since President… fb.me/1PzcZqPI3

Chuck Todd (@chucktodd)
1/21/13, 11:45 AM
Lamar Alexander twice ran for WH. One of the most extensive resumes of any current senator

Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer)
1/21/13, 11:54 AM
On day 2 men r sworn it, recall that we’re a nation of laws, not men. For all the faults in our system, our system is our strength

The White House (@whitehouse)
1/21/13, 11:55 AM
Obama: “while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth.” #inaug2013

Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff)
1/21/13, 11:55 AM
Second inaugurations aren’t unlike second marriages: a triumph of hope over experience.

Governor Christie (@GovChristie)
1/21/13, 12:32 PM
Today also marks MLK Jr Day of Service. I encourage New Jerseyans to honor Dr. King’s life & legacy w/ acts of service within our community.

The Associated Press (@AP)
1/21/13, 1:03 PM
Here is the text of President Barack Obama’s inaugural address: apne.ws/11M2UuP #inaug2013 -MM

Bill O’Reilly (@oreillyfactor)
1/21/13, 2:02 PM
VIDEO— Will: NRA more popular than Obama… Watch: bit.ly/10inBt1

richardbranson (@richardbranson)
1/21/13, 2:33 PM
#inaug2013 Exciting day for US & all who want more progress in the next 4 years virg.in/aug

Al Gore (@algore)
1/21/13, 2:38 PM
Great to hear President Obama call for climate action in today’s #inaug2013 address. Congratulations Mr. President bit.ly/VgnNwd

Rick Perry (@GovernorPerry)
1/21/13, 2:45 PM
Hey Phil….Texas is home to liberty and low taxes…we would love to have you as well !! tinyurl.com/b3zuhnd

Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee)
1/21/13, 3:02 PM
Anthony Kearns on his performances during the Inauguration, including Joint Chiefs Chair Martin Dempsey. justsayinapp.com/post/130175ad2…

Rolling Stone (@RollingStone)
1/21/13, 3:14 PM
Take a look through photos of the all-star musicians who have visited Obama in the White House: rol.st/YehbiV #inaug2013

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
1/21/13, 3:46 PM
“Socialists think profits are a vice; I consider losses the real vice.” – Winston Churchill

Yahoo! omg! (@YahooOmg)
1/21/13, 4:31 PM
Wow! Prince Harry opens up about being and uncle, and killing Taliban in Afghanistan! – yhoo.it/TbQ5Y8

Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow)
1/21/13, 4:54 PM
The MSNBC liveshot of the first family at the reviewing stand right now is a view we never see of them. Totally casual and candid

Al Roker (@alroker)
1/21/13, 5:06 PM
To have been acknowledged by the President and Vice President on a day honoring the man that made that possible is that much more special

Timothy Leary (@DrLeary)
1/21/13, 5:28 PM
For the first time ever, an inaugural address mentioned the rights of gay Americans–Obama states “America’s jou… bit.ly/10jdQuP

Glenn Beck (@glennbeck)
1/21/13, 6:21 PM
Hope you enjoyed the #MisfitBall! Here’s a look at what was going on backstage… bit.ly/WbF8og

The Colbert Report (@ColbertReport)
1/21/13, 6:25 PM
“Has it always been that we’re in a constant state of crisis in Congress? Because it’s exciting!” on.cc.com/13Iu9ES

Sean Hannity (@seanhannity)
1/21/13, 8:15 PM
The most divisive Inauguration Speech in history today-will discuss & take events/speeches live tonite w @KarlRove @repgregwalden @RepDavid

Romney last Tweeted in November
Mitt Romney (@MittRomney)
11/10/12, 2:37 PM
From the bottom of our hearts, Ann and I thank you for your support, prayers, efforts, & vote. We are forever grateful to every one of you.

Silicon Valley is Broadway Bound

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There are a number of regional musicals that are all about two of the most famous Internet pioneers, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Eliot and I were asked to invest in a few of them. None of the scripts we read thrilled us. It was difficult to get excited about musicals that depict the lives of nerds who became billionaires.

We think this is a fascinating subject that just doesn’t translate to song and dance. Maybe we are wrong. You can judge for yourself. The one show that has a shot at making it to Broadway is “Nerds,” a musical comedy that is currently playing at the A.J Theater in Raleigh, NC. It runs to February 3rd. It stars Darren Ritchie, Stanley Bahorek, Leslie Kritzer, and Diana DeGarmo.

We hope one of the musicals is as good as “The Social Network,” the story of Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. While many people feel the movie was pure fiction, at least it gave you a flavor of what took place to build a social media platform that has become a national sensation. The story of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates certainly deserves the same chance.

Digital Magazines Debut Before Print

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I knew this day would come but I didn’t think this soon. Hearst Magazines just announced that its digital issues will now be available on iPads before the print ones are on newsstands or in the mail to subscribers.

This is huge news considering most magazine publishers were reluctant to go digital just a few years ago. It turns out that magazine readers love when new issues show up on their screens, they don’t have to carry around a lot of weight, and they are saving trees.

Let’s give a round of applause to Apple and Hearst for working together leading the way for a better reading experience.

Hearst titles include Seventeen, Esquire and Popular Mechanics.

Hearst says it is nearing a million online subscribers while also seeing a sharp increase in revenue.

“Giving the Finger” could possibly be a “Cool Factor”

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I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember any of my passwords. I have about 75 different ones because I use many different websites, apps, social media platforms, blogs, YouTube, newspaper and magazine subscriptions, video chats, wire services, databanks, and banking terminals. I keep my passwords on an app called “mSecure” that lists everything in alphabetical order. I also keep printed lists with me in a secret compartment when I travel.

Very little helps. I am so lazy! I hate looking up my passwords. It’s just another step in a long process of digital “to do’s.” I should be embarrassed to admit this, but I can look up the password for let’s say, Facebook, post an entry and close the site, then remember something that I wanted to add. Damn it! I can’t remember the password I just used a few minutes ago. Back to the “MSecure” App list one more time.

That is why I am happy to report that Google announced today that they are working on a high tech ring that you wear on your finger to authorize entry to all of your accounts. You wave your finger in the air, or tap your device to recognize your password. I am so looking forward to an easy solution to help make logging in easier.

Google is also working with YubiKeys , a company that makes USB drives in the shape of a key, that is capable of reading your password on your computer or even from the cloud. How voodoo is that? Some of my friends are not happy about using devices to unlock codes because they believe we can lose them or even get them stolen. Then we are really in trouble.

I just want an easier solution than having to look up my list of passwords. If Google can develop the best reference system in the world that answers any question we may have, then they can certainly figure out how to “Abracadabra” all of our many devices.

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