Gettin Geeky Episode #49 Creating Google Tracks

Gettin Geeky Episode #49 Creating Google Tracks In business we can learn a lot from watching how teens and young adults have been leaving Google tracks all over town. Make sure your online business activities, whether sending out tweets, blogging, posting videos and more, all lead customers to your door.

@GinaSchreck

November 19, 2010 | Filed Under Geolocation, Gettin Geeky, Gettin Geeky Video, Video | Leave a Comment

Mobile Dependency

I left home to go pick up the Schrecklet from school the other day and after leaving our neighborhood, I realized I left my purse at home. Without any hesitation I kept driving…without my license…without my credit cards…without my lipstick!

Technology speaker, Gina Schreck, Social Media for business, mobile technology

Mobile Dependent...& LOVIN' IT!

It is a one hour round trip and I knew I wasn’t planning on stopping at the store so no worries. I would drive safely or ditch any police officer that tried to pull me over-HA.

After another minute went by I wondered if I would have turned around if it were my cell phone that I had left behind. ABSOLUTELY I would have. An hour without connectivity? Egad! I am finding that more and more we are dependent on these mobile devices, from making reservations on the fly, looking up show times for movies or finding the definition of a word to win the debate on what LUCIFUGOUS means. (You’ll have to click to look it up yourself.)

Even a year ago I wasn’t as dependent on this mobile life-manager as I am today. Now my calendar is here, my business email, I take lots of photos and store them here (temporarily before sending them to my computer, Facebook or someone else), get directions and navigational help to get to my appointment, and so much more.

Now the million dollar question for our business is, how can we capitalize on this mobile-dependent trend? What are you doing now to reach your community with products, services, or content? Can it be delivered to a mobile device? Does your website have a mobile format? If it is too text heavy with buttons that are too small to click on from a mobile device, customers may get frustrated. Are you using all of the functions of your own phone to streamline your own life? If you are still carrying around iPods, cameras, CDs, etc you may need to learn to use your device more effectively (see my last post for more ideas).

I used to say, “people will not leave home without these THREE things- wallet, keys and phone.” Now I have to say it is down to TWO!

How about you–are you more dependent on your mobile device than ever?

Gina Schreck

@GinaSchreck

Let us help you explore ways to capitalize on the mobile-dependent society we live in.

Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di

@GinaSchreck

September 30, 2010 | Filed Under Future, Geolocation, Mobile Technology, Technology | 1 Comment

GRAB YOUR KIDS & SMALL PETS: Smart Phones Take Over the World

Last night as I drove home from the airport, I got to thinking how many gizmos and gadgets I had sitting in a pile (my new tech museum) in my office that were now rendered useless because of my phone! Just eight short months ago, the new Google phone entered my life and at the time I had no idea it would reek so much havoc among my other gadgets.

Gina Schreck, gadgets, technology speaker, technology business, conference speaker

Gadget Graveyard

I used to bring my TomTom GPS wherever I went not only to talk me through directions to my destination, but to tell me what time I was expected to arrive (which became a sort of game to see how many minutes I could shave from the initial projection). I had grown quite close to my GPS, even naming her Gloria Petunia Schreck. But now, Gloria has been replaced, or RIGHTSIZED, by my phone’s navigational system. My Nexus One (Nexie for short) pulls up the location, gives me turn-by-turn directions, with a slightly more robotic voice than the old Gloria, but it gets me there all the same. It even allows me to play the “shave the minutes” game.

I have a fabulous 10 megapixel Nikon DX camera that I would somehow fit into my purse whenever we went on trips, or I would carry around in my car, because you just never know when you might see something picture-worthy. Now, Nexie is snapping pics and videos that are almost as good with the built in 5 mega-pixel camera everywhere I go. My big Nikon camera has not moved from my dresser top in months.

I have just about every iPod version Apple has put out: The original fat white one, a tiny green nano that clips on your shirt, a yellow bigger nano with a video screen, a metallic Shrek green wider bodied model and more. They sit in my office museum. Nexie has music downloaded onto it and with a sync application that brings songs from my iTunes library right in.

Videos no longer need a DVD player, we don’t need to carry a digital voice recorder, video games don’t have to be played on a dedicated device like DS players, no separate calculators, flashlights, pedometers, or travel alarm clocks are needed, and even webcams are not really needed with the new iPhone 4′s forward-facing camera.

Last night I was reading in USA Today’s travel section about Holiday Inn rolling out its Mobile Key, that allows guests to bypass stopping by the front desk when they check in. After making your reservations, you are sent a code that tells you your room number and then opens your door. Check out the video demonstration here:

Now as Tom Bodet would ask, “Will it leave the light on?”

With so many mobile apps being developed and our devices doing so much more more than make and receive phone calls, it’s no wonder we call them MOBILE DEVICES instead of just CELL PHONES. What does all this mean? Is it like iRobot, where our phone will rise up and take over the world? Well if it will cook dinner for me, I may not mind. But what it does mean is that the trend is not stopping any time soon. Our devices will get smarter and do more, but how will you use this trend and the power it has to reach new audiences, in your business? What services can you provide through these devices?

Gina Schreck, Technology speaker, social connecting, social media for business, mobile technology, trends

I'd like to make a hotel reservation please.

I know one thing for sure, those who learn how to develop the applications and programs that we continue to load, will be in greater demand than ever before. Sign that kindergardener up for app development classes NOW!

Will we still carry these devices around in our purses and pockets or will we soon wear them? Let your imagination run for a moment and share your creative ideas on what else can be replaced by these SUPER SMART gadget killers.

Gina Schreck

@Gina Schreck

Let us help you use today’s technology to connect and engage YOUR community!

Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di

@GinaSchreck

September 23, 2010 | Filed Under Future, Geolocation, Gettin Geeky, Mobile Technology, Technology | 3 Comments

Social Sharing: Important Trend or Evil Plan to Take My Crown?

“I’m watching Biggest Loser. I joined a local kickboxing class this week and will try to lose weight with these contestants!”

“Eating at my favorite deli for lunch- the best egg salad sandwiches in the world!”

“Anything by SEAL is a favorite song”

People want to share their life experiences with other people. Whether they know each other or not, they feel someone else out there wants to know this information.

We want to connect with others and new technology tools are allowing us to do that. We can find people who like the same music we like, who go to the same places we go and even those who are reading the same books we are reading or television shows we are watching.

Initially you may not see the purpose in all this social sharing, but it is a trend that continues to grow. A trend we cannot ignore. Sites like GetGlue are allowing people to rate movies, books, artists, TV shows and more. Fans comment and you earn stickers for “checking in” and can be elevated to GURU status if you can answer questions on the particular show or topic. The game-like concept fires up my competitive juices. Who doesn’t want to be THE OFFICE guru?

If you are familiar with Pandora Radio, you may have noticed that while one of your favorite songs is playing, you will occasionally see the face of one of your Facebook friends who shared that this is also one of their favorites. We have the ability to search for and connect with others who like the same music we do.

We can even share how our weight loss plan is going with the Tweeting Scale. When you step onto this smart scale (or idiotic-blabber-mouth scale) it will upload the data to your computer or mobile device, and if you’d like, it will send a tweet telling the world how much you have gained or lost. WHY? WHY would someone want to share this kind of information? Because we are social! Because more and more, people are looking for ways to find and connect with their tribes, their posse, their peeps! Before you shake your head and shrug off this strange behavior, let me ask you to consider this “case-study.”

On Foursquare, one of the geo-location sites I wrote about last week, I began checking in here and there just to learn more about it, but really didn’t see why people were going through the trouble… until I became the “Mayor” of my daughter’s high school. The surge of power became more than I should have been allowed to handle.

I was then checking in everywhere trying to see where else I could dominate. Two days after my first Mayoral appointment, I got wind of a dad who dethrowned me. Who was this man who ripped my crown from my head? How did I let this happen? I went to work. I checked in every time I dropped the Schrecklet off for summer sports conditioning and within a week I was Mayor Schreck once again.

This GAME engaged me. It caused me to take action. It caused me to go a little crazy, but I have hopes that my title will somehow help the Schrecklet during her freshman year! When the surges of testosterone subsided, creativity started to flow. I started to explore other ways we can use these game-like tools to engage our community, our audiences, or our customers. How can I get my customers to GO MAD trying to learn new bits of information as they earn points or stickers? How can you get your customers to fight over who gets to be KING or QUEEN of your business, if only for the day? Can you invite your community to share knowledge with one another?

Instead of shying away from these sites, log on and start playing. How will these new tools and trends shape your business? How can you tap the power they have to engage and turn customers into RAGING FANS (Ah Perhaps this is an idea for a follow up book to Ken Blanchard’s RAVING FANS. ) If we study the trend in Social Sharing, we will discover ways to tap this wave and get on board!

Happy Sharing~

@GinaSchreck
Check out more tech tips on our Facebook page and let us know how we can help you and your organization start using today’s tech tools to connect and engage! Gina@Synapse3Di.com

Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di

@GinaSchreck

August 26, 2010 | Filed Under Geolocation, Mobile Technology, Social Media, Technology | 1 Comment

Oh! The Places You’ll Go…with Four Square, Gowalla & More You Know

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

Your mobile in hand.
You’ll check in here and there.
Your friends NEED TO KNOW
Through Gowalla and Foursquare.

You earn badges and stickers that don’t mean a thing
Become Mayor of Whoville or maybe the King!

Ok, so I updated and tweaked Dr. Seuss just a bit, but I’m sure Dr. Seuss would have been the Mayor of Whoville and that cafe that serves Green Eggs and Ham! He was all about FUN and GAMES!

So what is all the buzz about “Geo-tagging” “Location-based apps” and “Check-Ins?” Is it just another Farmville-like game to waste the time of so-called adults? Perhaps, but if we take the time to EXPLORE and use our IMAGINATION a bit, we just might see a use… we just might see a fit! (OKAY, so it’s contagious!)