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I took my second one-on-one Mac class at the Stamford Town Center Apple Store last Friday at 8am, before the mall even opened. I love that! I didn’t get caught in the middle of rush hour traffic, I didn’t have to hunt for a parking space and there wasn’t much activity in the store. I could concentrate on my lesson better than the afternoon session I’d gone to two weeks before when it was noisy and crowded.
I learned two very cool things that I hadn’t figured out on my own–how to download a photo without going into my picturetrail.com collection (6 steps) and how to download video into i-movie, edit it, bring it into youtube.com and upload it onto my blog. Years ago, this would have been a semester-long course.
I had a staff member click this image of my hair stylist, Donna Lysobey of Noble Salon, and me before Donna fixed me up for my new headshot. You’ll see the afters as soon as I get the proofs back from Kate Eisemann. Deryll, my one-to-one instructor walked me through the uploading steps. Voila!
One thing I know for sure is that I want to work with professionals when it comes to my image. I’ve got Scarlett Debease of Scarlett New York styling my wardrobe and Donna to do my hair and makeup for the photo shoot. That helped me to relax and look my best when smiling for the camera.
Last month I received the NEWBO Woman of Distinction Award. Right before the awards presentation portion of the meeting, I handed my digital camera to Don, my client Jill’s significant other, and said, “Could you record this?” I didn’t even know how to instruct him to zoom in, but he did a valiant job. Deryll taught me how to zoom in while uploading this to youtube, so the quality isn’t perfect. I’m most pleased with the audience’s reaction. I’d love you to watch this first minute and let me know if it translates.
My kids are tweeting their hearts out. They were born to this technological age. In nursery school, Laura was in the dress-up corner playing grocery store and scanning bananas over the toy cash register. I didn’t understand why she was waving the fruit over the keys in that particular way rather than just punching in the dollars and cents amounts. Our next trip to Stew Leonard’s revealed the answer as the check-out clerk there used the same motion. “Smart kid, my daughter” I thought.
I’m trying! We of the Baby Boomers have adapted to answering machines, computers, cell phones and the like, each time protesting, “Who needs that?” before adapting and proclaiming their benefits.
I know I will master this new technology. I know that it’s important. I know I will make great connections and learn lots. But right now, I still don’t get it and am whiny and annoyed. However, I recognize that that’s my style and move forward anyway. I had a wonderfully generous twitter lesson on Friday from Miraim Salpeter who introduced me to tweetdeck. Now there’s a chirping sound coming from my laptop every few seconds as tweets come through along with notification of new followers and those I’m following.
This morning’s reading in Courage to Change, a daily inspirational book, ends with a quote by Confucius: It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
Unstoppable is my middle name.
My workhorse road-use-only laptop Averatec computer lost its ability to get an Internet connection a couple of weeks ago. I dialed the 24/7 800 number for assistance and got a “no longer in service” message and no forwarding number to call. Averatec.com has disappeared from cyberspace, so I am on my own here.
My brother and two of my children, not to mention an ardent group of friends and colleauges have been swearing by their MacBooks forever (over a year). Not only are they gorgeous to look at (the Apple computers, that is) but have battery life I’ve been yearning for since my earliest Dell laptops konked out after 45 minutes playing a movie rental during a flight.
So today, my daughter Laura, my husband Buddy and I will trek to the Apple Store at the Stamford Town Center to pick out a MacBook (not Pro) for me. Our second computer ever, after the dos-based IBM hunker died, was a Mac, and I loved it. Now that they interface with PC’s so elegantly I’m able to make the switch.
If you notice a big improvement in my graphics or increasing use of audio-visual components, you’ll know the genesis. I’m going to sign up for their weekly training program and up my tech-savvyness.
How are you spending your Memorial Day? (Not reading blogs, most likely!)
That title’s a little misleading. I actually learned a lesson last week and had it reinforced by hearing a story about Lauren Bacall this week.
I was invited to be included as part of a new web presence, which shall remain nameless, if I acted quickly and got in on a pre-launch opportunity. The publicist for the project asked if I would provide content in exchange for crossing links, having banners and buttons that connected our sites. It was going to be the next big thing.
I’m making it seem less inviting than it originally sounded to me. I was immediately gung-ho, but had a lot of questions. I wasn’t clear on exactly who these people were and what it would look like to join forces. The publicist for the organization was my contact person. She made it all seem most important and urgent. I had big questions marks swirling between me and the opportunity.
I called in help. Two of my most net savvy colleagues were willing to spend time with me investigating and tracking this organization on the Web. I also called my daughter Lindsey for whom I have the utmost respect. She gave me great advice:
“Mom, if you don’t really understand it and aren’t really excited to link up with them, don’t do it.”
Oh. I had thought if someone pursued you and made it sound really, really exciting, you should jump in. But it didn’t feel right, and Lindsey nailed it. I passed on the offer.
Then on Monday night at our mastermind group meeting, Mary Ellroy shared a Harvard Business School case study she remembered from the late 70’s. They reported that Ford Motors had hired Lauren Bacall to enhance the image of one of their models, the Ford Fairlane. It did raise the public’s image of the car, but had the opposite effect on Bacall’s reputation which was diminished by the association.
I’ll wait for google or amazon to make me an offer…
My husband, a retired English Department Chair, and my kids used to do the ‘happy dance’ (even before it was named that) when the prediction and nature supplied a snowstorm worthy of closing schools. There’s still that jubilant feeling in the air today when Mother Nature takes over and plans get changed. I’ve already canceled two meetings that were going to take place this morning and required me to be somewhere out of my home office.
Fortunately, my afternoon appointments are virtual and therefore secure. One is for a follow-up call after a Dream Peek Experience last month. Within 30 days of our initial conversation, my client will check in with her progress, successes, challenges and evaluation. It’s always an exciting call because everything shifts when you get into action mode.
My other meeting will be via Skype.com. I joked with this new client that I’d have to wash my hair since we’ll be using our video cameras during the call. (If you don’t yet know Skype, check it out! It’s a free service that allows communication with crisper sound than the phone. We used it these past four years to have regular contact with our daughter who was in Japan. It was as though she were right next to me–her voice was that clear.)
Today I’m happy to re-group. I gave myself the weekend to play and enjoy life. I’ll use this newfound time to debrief my systems/relationships coaching notes from last weekend’s course, summarize a client meeting held on the 26th and catch up on my correspondence.
Then, to reward myself, I’ll put on my boots, hat, scarf and gloves and get out for a walk to my PO box a mile away (or go for a manicure–a mile in the other direction).
While I’m not an advocate of doing business 24/7 or bringing your Blackberry to the lunch table, I do believe that you can operate from anywhere these days. The reason I mention this is that good friends of mine have been planning a trip to Florida this week. One of them just lost his job and thought that he may need to stay home in CT to make phone calls, follow up on leads and suffer.
A wise colleague of mine has a penchant for saying, “I carry my office with me in my pocket,” meaning that wherever he is, he’s open for business. It could be the car, an evening at home or actually at his desk with file folders in hand. He is 100% reachable, if he wants to be.
Another associate suggested that it would be a great opportunity for our mutual friend to learn how to do business on the beach as she has done in the past. I say, “Ditto!” A well-planned and pre-paid (!) vacation is essential to our well-being. It would be deprivation to deny yourself this opportunity.
I do want to advocate for the flip side of the availability issue, too. And that is to choose occasions where you are consciously unavailable, like dinnertime. I just got back from a weekend Relationships Coaching program where I intentionally turned off my phone throughout the day. I’ve taken week-long vacations where my outgoing messages–both email and phone–said I would respond when I got back.
The important piece here is that you get to decide. What are your priorities? What’s most important? Is there room for both? You run the office. Don’t let the office run you.
Although business is relatively quiet, getting ready to launch into the New Year still requires lots of activity, some of it fraught with feelings. My computer guru informed me that it was time to upgrade. Turns out, I’ve had my current desktop unit for four and a half years–a virtual lifetime in the world of technology. It had been getting sluggish and the all-important synching to my Palm Treo was failing. I’m quite good at helping others through changes, but had to go through some muddy water myself this week.
Things weren’t where they used to be. I couldn’t send my headshot to a reporter because I couldn’t find it. I had to upgrade my ACT database program from 6.0 to 11.0 (which shows you how long I’ve been putting that off) and spent precious hours on the phone with tech support thousands of miles away. My videocam and microphone won’t work at the same time now, so I need to get a new combination unit. None of these are big deals–like minor surgery–unless they’re happening to you AND all at once.
I also lost a document (and dollars trying unsuccessfully to re-find it on my laptop) that I’m sure is the one key to all my future success. Note the grandiosity in my mental attitude.
Yes. I know how to coach myself through this, but there’s been a toll–being snappy with my family, growling at a friend, frustration at what’s not getting done.
It took me some time to come to acceptance of the situation, but I’m there now. It’s a new day, a new year. I’m excited and happy and grateful that I’ve been able to turn this upset around and notice how lucky I was it happened at such a quiet time when I was able to devote non-client time to deal with it.
I rode in on the train to NYC last Saturday with my good friend and colleague, Nancy Moon. We gabbed the whole way in and covered the gamut of subjects from our lives, families, and health to our finances, businesses and plans for the future.
Ultimately we landed on technology. I find that to be true very often these days. There’s so much to share and learn. We got on the subject of Twitter which neither of us knew much about other than we need to know more. With that, Nancy produced from her handbag a 50+ page printout from Twitter’s site. She brought it with her to study it on the train ride home.
This left me with my jaw hanging open. I know this sounds really dumb, but I’ll say it anyway for everyone else out there who, like me, doesn’t fully have the concept of how this stuff works. Nancy had printed out a manual for operating Twitter by downloading everything on their website.
My way? I’d go to one page, see the links, connect, forget where I was or what I still needed to know and give up. I was so impressed and incredulous at simply seeing someone else’s approach. I’m sure I knew that it was all available, but had never seen what it could look like. I’m a new woman!
This morning I printed out multiple pages from several websites that hold interest for me and tucked them into my rip ‘n read folder for later.
Thanks, Nancy!
I attended a great talk on social networking a few weeks back given by Peter Shankman. The big question on the minds of most in the audience was, “When am I supposed to do this?” Everyone’s days are already filled to the brim. How do you make time for something when you don’t really understand its value?
I’ve been dabbling in LinkedIn for about a year now and Facebook for less than six months. It’s just beginning to feel like there’s some potential for my life and business. (I can hear those 20-somethings snickering as I type.) When I go to visit my profile on Facebook and see reports on what all my ‘friends’ are up to, I think, Hmmmm. This is pretty cool. What do I want to tell them about what I’m doing?
Peter reminded us that any networking takes time. I certainly remember the effort it used to take to attend events when I was new to entrepreneurship. I was afraid to walk into those crowded rooms and act like a businessperson, especially when I’d just returned from carpooling or a pediatrician appointment. Or, I’d just changed out of sweats and was racing around my office trying to locate my business cards so I’d appear more professional than I felt.
I’m experiencing that same awkward adjustment period with the online communities. How do I want and need to show up here? How often do I participate? How do I download photos, video and blog entries? Should I create a business page, groups, etc.? There’s always a learning curve. It’s just a different modality that I need to get accustomed to.
The time issue though, with all these additional online commitments, is what to let go of. I decided that it would be an indulgence I’d gotten used to: casual lunches with friends. These could take up a good two hours in the middle of my day. Now, I take a 30 minute break, then go back to my desk. It’s increased my momentum, kept me focused and allowed me time to explore the new media and to feel current.
Happily, 
I’ve substituted early morning or late afternoon beach walks with those friends who I used to dine with. What I’m always hungry for is a conversation with them, not an egg sandwich.
My father didn’t curse often, but he inevitably would when the phone rang during supper. This was the 50’s and 60’s–before answering machines, voice mail or even off buttons for the ringers. He hated that anyone from the outside world could disturb our family’s peace, and we had no control of it.
Today we do have control, but oh so many more invasions into our domestic lives. My friend Linda is new to computers (I know, I know) having resisted allowing them into her life until a few months ago. She confessed to me that she finds email invading her life. “You have to choose when to respond or it can consume you.”
The rest of us are like those frogs in a pot of water where the heat is being gradually turned up. They don’t notice they’re getting killed. Linda, who jumped into the boiling cauldron immediately “got” that it’s too hot to survive. Smart lady!
I allow myself a few limited time periods to deal with email–20 minute blocks of time using a timer. Without that limitation, I’m too easily drawn into the vortex that is cyberspace and can’t get out. Anything that doesn’t get dealt with during those prescribed times gets saved until the next allotted slot.
After 7 days of being entirely unplugged while at the Golden Door, I know how sacred time is and how important it is to set our own limits and respect them. I’m interested to hear how you protect your precious time.
