Last week, Consumer Reports ranked AT&T the lowest among U.S. carriers, “was the only one to drop significantly in overall satisfaction.”  I think this had to do with the amount of iPhone traffic but there is something just not right about the AT&T network.  I have a client that has provided me with an ATT USB data card and I can rarely use it.  When I am in a hotel room, I can’t use the card because I don’t get any coverage.  At a previous company, we had a corporate AT&T account but we couldn’t even get a signal in our building.

So, no surprise here about AT&T.  I went to the Verizon Wireless store to check out the 4g coverage and it is absolutely amazing how fast it is.  I think the pricing is pretty fair.  But, in doing my investigation, I am pretty impressed these days with Sprint.  The Sprint Overdrive pricing is competitive when you consider that the data plan for 4g is unlimited.

So, the battle is on between my reliable Verizon connection and the pricing competitiveness of the Sprint Overdrive.  Stay tuned.

Carrying a cell phone for me is ad natural as putting on my eye glasses, grabbing car keys, and putting on shoes.  Actually, I don’t always wear shoes but I definitely have to keep my phone with me.  On the rare occasion I don’t have my phone with me, it is usually only for a few minutes and I feel totally naked.  So, whenever I get a new phone, it is important for me to get a case that will protect my phone and allows me to keep it near by all the time.   I am really hard on phones, so the case has to make it easy to use the all the button functions but durable enough for the occasional drop.

OtterBox has always been one of my favorite cases to use.  From a protection standpoint, they have three series they offer for protection. The first is the OtterBox’s Defender Series and it protects the most, it has 3 layers of protection, “a clear plastic membrane, high impact polycarbonate shell and durable silicone.”

The Commuter Series, is made of the same type of material, but slightly thinner silicone and thinner polycarbonate shell.  The Commuter Series doesn’t provide the same amount of protection as the Defender Series but it is not nearly as bulky.

The third is a silicone case called the Impact Series.  I just don’t use silicone cases.  But if I did, I would imagine the Impact Series cases would be pretty good.

I was sent the Commuter Series for my new HTC Droid Incredible phone.  There are a few things that strike you first about the case.  First the packaging is great!  You don’t need a pair of scissors to hack the blister pack open.  The case comes apart real easily so that you can get at your case right away.  There is a plastic screen saver that for the life of me, I can’t always get on without some bubbles in the plastic.  A little plastic card helps you push out the air bubbles and then the two main pieces of the case. The first thing you do is slide the phone into the silicone case, and then snap the plastic case around the silicone.

As you can see, the Commuter series doesn’t add a whole lot of of bulk to the Incredible.  I like how protected the phone is and the buttons work great.  Also, the cut outs work great for the charger, headphone etc.

The one problem I have with the Commuter series is the lack of a belt clip.  I really need a belt clip.  Before being sent the OtterBox case, I used the Verizon case which leaves the face of the phone unprotected.  Not such a great idea.

I love OtterBox cases and I really like the balance between weight and protection of the Commuter Series.  If I worked outside, I would definitely use the Defender series (I do for my iPhone when I hike) but for day to day use for me, the Commuter Series fits the bill.

Check out my video review by clicking on the link.

OtterBox Commuter Review - HTC Droid Incredible

I went on a family vacation over spring break this past week.  We had a great time skiing and swimming  in in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.  We had a major snow storm the evening before we were leaving.  So, to get more information on road conditions, we looked at the streaming video from CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation) and checked out the web cameras all the way to our destination. Just like in 24!

After viewing still and live video streams, we realized that the biggest problem would probably be getting out of our own neighborhood.  The roads were wet but clear.  We made it to our hotel with no problems at all.  So, we skied and swam at the Hot Springs.  The problem was coming home.  We had heard the weather report and didn’t think it was going to be so bad.  We even checked with the hotel clerk before we left who said that the weather looked bad an hour earlier but looked better now.

So, we took our time at the pool in the morning, swam in the snow and blissfully headed out.  However, we were about 5 miles away from Vail when the snow got really, really bad and the traffic ground to a stop.  They closed Vail Pass in both directions.  We had a choice… We could sit in traffic, try to navigate another difficult mountain road, or find a place to sit and wait out the closure.  We had my Garmin to look at the roads (but I still became disoriented) but we were able to stop in Beaver Creek at a Starbucks.  We were there before everyone had turned off the road so we got a table to ourselves.

I found an outlet with 6 plugs and quickly charged up my :  Macbook Pro, (now we were streaming CDOT all the time), my iPhone, the portable DVD player for the car, my wife’s Blackberry and even had my Verizon Blackberry Storm.  So, here is the practical advice for anyone travelling or needing to wait somewhere.  First, make sure you have all the cords that you needed.  (I forgot my BB Storm cord) and plug in as soon as you can to top off your charge.  My wife’s phone was almost out of batteries, my iPhone was down (playing games in the car) and my Macbook Pro only had about 3 hours remaining.

So, what’s the secret for surving a long layover.  After hundreds of thousands of miles of flying and getting caught in airports all I can say is -Relax!  It is easier said then done.  After the initial hour of thinking this was fun, we really had to remind ourselves but being stuck in Starbucks is much better than sitting in a car.  Also, since we had DVD’s, Wifi and coffee, what could we really complain about?

I noticed lots of people using their iPhones and even a Droid phone to keep track of when CDOT was going to open the pass again.  CDOT offers a phone service as well and guess which was more accurate, phone or web?  The phone!  That’s right, it seemed to be that CDOT would update their phone messages before the web so people who kept hitting redial to call CDOT actually heard the Vail pass opened sooner than those of us looking at web cameras.

So, the lesson I take from this?  Top of your gas before you leave regardless of how close exits are on the highway.  Check with your equivalent of CDOT.  Top of your batteries whenever you can plug in!  Relax.  It could be worse!

I’ve been following this website called WorkAwesome.com, by Andre Kibbe.  ” It’s a blog for people who want to be awesome at work.” I just started following it but he’s a big supporter of Getting Things Done (which is great!) and other great ideas and tips.

His last post is Four Strategies for Increasing Email Productivity and I wish more and more people would read this.  We are getting inundated with email.  So much so that ignoring it just looks better and better.  But, what I have noticed is that I can sit on my email all day, and not actually ever get up and go talk to someone.

Some of his main points are:

Take responsibility for your communication. The watchword here is “communication,” not “email.” Just because a discussion or request was initiated via email doesn’t mean it has to continue via that channel. Rediscover the forgotten power of sneakernet.

Pick up the phone. Yes, the telephone is more disruptive than email, and it lacks a paper trail, but there are numerous advantages to replying to an email via phone.

Set new filters and unsubscribe daily. If you delete the same type of email more than twice, it’s tempting to keep deleting them, or worse, archiving them.

Create real-time mobile alerts for VIP messages. One of the reasons employees resist batch processing email is the very reasonable fear of missing a critical message from a customer, manager or employer.

My biggest peeve is the “reply-all” when not everyone needs to know.

Hit the link above, it’s a great article…

This is a pencast for University of Denver Comm 4314.  I was asked to be a guest lecturer by the teacher.  It might take a minute to load, runs about 22 minutes.



This part 2 of a two part series of Chaos By Design is looking at in 2010

1) Adjust your mindset – you will never keep up with technology, so don’t bother. Be a fast follower!

2) Develop other streams of revenue that monetize your content, loyalty or VIP clubs for special donors with access to special, member’s only content for monthly partners. Sell content online, accessed online!

3) Look at new products like VerseMinder.com that drive scripture memory but are brand-able to create positive affiliation with your ministry on the desktop. Get out of the e-mail clutter.

4) Monetize name acquisition for newsletter, e-blasts, sponsored newsletter etc. Don’t try to handle the selling of your lists yourself, go with the pros that do this all the time!

5) Your site should have Google Analytics and you should use an email program like Constant Contact that can tell you how your site is doing. These statistics should be reviewed EVERY WEEK, especially if you are running a campaign or special promotion!

6) Make your tactics drive revenue – Sure, spend time on social media, but make sure your audience is using it as well. Make sure your landing pages serve the purpose of showcasing your product, but also allows you to capture potential client information.

7) Go to Rapid Product Development – Stop making big bets on products. Go with open source products that can be modified and adopted for your needs. Rarely is a business requirement in your business SO unique that no one has created an application for it. Get a product out, instead of making it perfect. Address the main functionality first and GET TO MARKET!!!

If you are printing and shipping CDs and DVD’s. STOP! Create the experience online or at a minimum, use on-demand duplication and shipping. Charge less for downloadable contact, charge more if you have to print, ship, pick and pack a cd or DVD.

A few of my content clients are looking to next year to see what they should be preparing and anticipating. So, this is part 1 of a two part series that outlines what I think they should be looking at for next year.

1) You have to look at ALL media as a potential outlet for your message. If you’ve been doing TV, but not video on your website, you must do both. If you have a radio show, but not a podcasts, you must do both. If you are an author, are you writing e-books in topics in between your books release, you must do both. Then, combine an email blast with a video insert!

2) Stop travelling so much – DO MORE WEBCASTS! Time shifting is a key element in society, people want to consume content when, where and how they want to. Partner with a streaming company that can stream your content. Most websites aren’t optimized for it and it’s expensive.

3) Look at Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click/Pay Per Action, Social Networking, Mobile media as ADDITIONAL tools to the marketing mix. If you are doing them, then maximize them to sell your service or products. Test the experience yourself to make sure it is isn’t terrible.

If your NOT doing them, do them now, DO NOT DELAY, but do them with end goal of enhancing revenue, NOT just to have a Twitter account.

4) If you need a technical person to administer your site, you are doing something WRONG. Extremely powerful content management systems (CMS) are available that are user friendly and free. Some of the largest websites in the world are run on free, open source software. Your Development budget should NEVER exceed your CONTENT Creation Budget. NOT ANYMORE!!!

5) Use MINI-Sites to showcase products. Your shopping cart with little pictures of the product and blurb next to is NOT enough.

6) Mobile is important now and will continue to be- Mobilize your website because more and more people are using mobile devices to access the website. With some recent changes, MOBILE giving in the form of donations will be on the upswing. If you do events and take an offering, more and more people DO NOT carry cash, Let them use their mobile device to donate. Tweet!

7) Adjust your mindset – you will never keep up with technology, so don’t bother. Be a fast follower!

On a daily basis, I use two computers.  One is a Mac Pro that I use in my office, the second is a 15 inch Macbook Pro that I use when I am with a client.  I also have a Blackberry Storm and an iPhone 3G.  The reason I have two phones is a long but mainly I use the Storm for voice and triage email and then when I really need to reply or see thing, I use the iPhone.  I am definitely a Mac fanboy and the most important thing for me is to sync across multiple platforms.

That’s why I really like Snow Leopard because the integration with Microsoft Exchange is great.  I use a Mailstreet Exchange account.  My email is actually pointed from 1and1 to a Mailstreet email box because I have other folks that use a CBD Management email that don’t use Exchange.  So, for my personal use, this is the best way.  The integration of Exchange with Snow Leopard is supposed to be really easy.  It is if your email is a native Exchange account, not my rigged one.  So, I have to remember to enter the information for the Mailstreet box, not my 1and1 account.

The Snow Leopard email response is better than Entourage.  Entourage still uses Microsoft’s web access through OWA to get to my email account.  So, changes that I make on Entourage or slower than on Apple’s Mail application.

Love Snow Leopard, love access to all my stuff through multiple devices.

I was on a plane to a client on Monday and read this great article about faster innovation.  The Journal devoted a whole section in collaboration with MIT in their Business Insight Section.  The article speaks to how technoogy allows companies to test new ideas at speeds - and prices- that were unimaginable not too long ago. The article points out how companies are going to switch from the long process of traditional research and development and adopt these faster ways to solicit ideas and go to market.

I am a big fan of this idea.  In fact, Product Development cycles are becoming so quick because of open source tools, that companies really should take a look at how quickly they can go from idea to market in as fast a manner as they can.  I love the web because within a really short time, you can dream of an idea and within 6-8 weeks, you can be selling.  This rapid product development cycle usually drives folks nuts because they have to truncate so much research and go with a “gut” reaction.  But, if the product cycle is fast and cheap, why not launch features and ideas quickly to see if they can stick.  In the days of heavy custom code, I can see how that would all creep “out of scope” but now, with modules, plug-ins and open source, the heavy lifting is done. The New, Faster Face of Innovation.

In my triathlon days, we used to say “go fast or die.”  Well, in product development, I would say the same.

As a communication medium - email has  had rapid adoption has become a communication standard.  Statistics, extrapolations and counting by Radicati Group from August 2008 estimate the number of emails sent per day (in 2008) to be around 210 billion.  183 billion messages per day means more than 2 million emails are sent every second. About 70% to 72% of them might be spam and viruses. The genuine emails are sent by around 1.3 billion email users.

Since we all use email, you would think we could all practice a little etiquette in our email.  After all, we don’t let children just pick up the phone without teaching them some few basic manners… “Hello” is always a good way to start a phone conversation.  However, for e-mail, I don’t think we’ve come that far. I recently read  Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home, a new book by David Shipley  and Will Schwalbe.

photo courtesy of Amazon

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