Mobile: The World of Tomorrow, Today

Technology used to evolve at a rate that redefined reality for every generation.  Today, technology evolves at a rate that redefines reality every day.  The era of isolationism has come to an end, and the world of tomorrow can be seen today.

Popular culture has given us plenty of examples of this future world: the 1939 World’s Fair, Disney’s Tomorrowland, The Jetsons, 1984, Minority Report and more.  When first presented, all of these examples seemed like outlandish dreams for an unattainable reality.  But with today’s technology, the dreams for tomorrow have their genesis today.

The origins of the exponential growth of modern technology can most easily be traced back to the beginnings of the popular internet as we know it in the 1980s.  Sure, without all of the inventions that came before, we never would have arrived at the internet.  But until the 1980s man was still able to exist as an island if he so chose. Now, with the internet acting as the great connector, the purveyor of information and the facilitator of relationships, the sea between individuals has been bridged.

Web 2.0 forced society’s hand, isolate or integrate?  And while there are still some who are wrestling with the practicality of using a blog, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and other social media sites as marketing tools; a new development is requiring yet another massive shift in reality.  The introduction of the smartphones and tablets now enable us to access the capabilities of the internet anywhere and at anytime. The internet is now able to fill holes in our daily lives; who is near me, where should I eat, where is the best deal near me, where should I stay?  The line dividing the real world and the virtual world has blurred.  The beginnings of “Augmented Reality” are here.

Take a look at the new TripAdvisor app announced this month.  Via your smartphone, you can now search for hotels, restaurants and things to do in a “Live View” mode, through your phone’s camera.  This shows you all of the closest attractions in the selected category, their direction, distance, price, rating and reviews.  For a generation driven by speed, usability and convenience, this app is a homerun, and its concept is the catalyst for the world of tomorrow.

By playing into the needs and available technology of a generation, mobile sites (especially review sites) allow users to gain knowledge on the go.  And while some say “knowledge is power” I say “knowledge is comfort.”  Because TripAdvisor is using the most up to date technology to provide knowledge and transparency to its user, it solidifies the trust and dependency of the user.

Imagine your dream vacation.  If you are like me, you pick a destination and a couple of “must-sees,” but a hotel, the best places to eat, and the minute details of every historical site are not well researched beforehand.  Instead, you show up in the city, full of the excitement of an adventure, and start wandering.  You run across a couple of architecturally stunning buildings.  At each one, you stop, open your wikitude app and there on your phone are all of the important details of the buildings.  Along the way, you realize how hungry you are after traveling.  You open up your Yelp, TripAdvisor, or other relevant app and discover the best rated local food in a 15 km radius.  You check out the menu and decide to order.  The reviews were right! The first day of your trip has been amazing and you can’t wait to wander and explore some more, but you need to find a place to leave your bags.  You again, pull out your phone and open TripAdvisor.  There is a well rated hotel, with good customer reviews a few blocks away.  From the TripAdvisor app you open their website on your phone, MOBILE FRIENDLY! You can view rooms, prices, and book all on your phone.  You book your room while walking to the hotel, check in, freshen up and are back out exploring in no time.

Each of these apps made a difference to the user’s experience, but why is that important?  After having the trip of a lifetime, finding sights, food, and a place to stay with such convenience, it would be hard for a user not to leave a good review on a review site or recommend the local gems to friends.  Augmented reality turns user experiences in to word of mouth marketing!

If all brands took such a forward looking stance on marketing, and focused on the possible instead of what they deem impossible, augmented reality would become reality reality.

What should we Tweet/Post/Shout/Share/blah blah blah?

Upon my initial jaunt into the world of Web 2.o, I often found myself firmly standing at the ends of the spectrum, either one extreme or the other.  I was either dumfounded on what to post/share/tweet/etc. or I was overwhelmed by the amount of information available to post/share/tweet/blah blah blah.  These two situations did nothing for my social network because they rendered me inactive.  My blogspot writings stand as a witness to my ineffective efforts at socializing.

I am the typical millennial.  I first stepped into the realm of the World Wide Web with the likes of chat rooms, AIM, and MSN messenger.  What followed was Myspace, Facebook, Blogger, and Flickr.  I have finally joined the tweet-or-die revolution, WordPress, and am a mayor on foursquare.  But how did the change occur?

The key: I started sharing information.  I started blogging about things that were sent to me or that I had happened upon.  Then I started tweeting or retweeting those things.  I tagged people in posts/tweets/shouts.  And started searching for my own information.

What we all must realize is that this is the WORLD Wide Web.  There is endless information at our fingertips!  Find what interests you and start sharing it (it is very likely that there is someone else in the world who would appreciate it).  Be yourself, like what you like, and share it.  Be transparent and enjoy the possibilities of the WWW.

If you are scared and you need ideas on what you should or should not post check out the following posts:

Do’s

Don’ts

Effective Meetings

I would like to thank my friend Heather Mason, President of A Caspian Production, for the following post.

I met Heather at a public relations conference I produced.  Imagine my feelings of intimidation and anxiety upon meeting her.  I had spent seven months producing an event run entirely by students and she is a professional project manager who produces world-renowned events.  However, after spending some time with her she put me at ease and gave me some great tips for the future.  The importance of effective meetings was one thing she emphasized when making preparations for any event.

A few days after the event, she sent me an email with a linked article titled, “Unmanaged Meetings Offer Travel Sellers Opportunities: How to Profit”.  The article focuses on how meetings can either be a great loss or significant gain for an organization.  Five reasons for loss are as follows:

1. Smaller meetings are generally sourced by non-professional planners (perhaps a secretary, administrative assistant or marketing coordinator at the firm).

2. They are usually overlooked by upper management.

3. There is no reporting, feedback or tracking of these smaller meetings and their attendee costs, so there’s no accountability structure in place.

4. Because they are not sourced professionally, cost leveraging opportunities are missed (for example, the booking of multiple programs with one vendor, which often result in cost-savings, is not present).

5. The shorter lead times leave less chance for cost comparisons, and ensuing negotiations. Under the gun, planners are forced to just accept what hotels offer to them.

I have definitely seen how these points have been a detriment to meetings I have planned or attended.  Thankfully, the author also provides advice for correction. Namely:

·        Select the most cost-effective and appropriate location.

·        Encourage the selected hotel to provide meeting planners with the negotiated transient travel rates.

·        Provide meeting planners with negotiated ground transportation negotiated rates.

·        Partner with a meeting logistics company that can provide discounted services to the planner who needs additional help.

For some organizations these ideas are not relevant, however, this should make us think about how effectively we are using our time, money and other resources when organizing meetings.

Thanks Heather!

It’s Tweeted or It’s Not Important

As I have previously posted, I am new to the world of “tweet or die”.  It has quickly become a favorite mode of information transfer in my life.  Part of my conversion may be due to the fact that information comes in golden nuggets of a mere 140 characters.  Tweets gets straight to the point, it is like reading the headlines, or ledes of news stories and deciding if you want to continue.

My morning routine used to consist of logging on to npr.org and scanning the headlines for a quick fix and then streaming the audio through my computer while I was getting ready.  Since introducing twitter to my routine my mornings unfold a little differently.  The schedule now includes checking the @CNN and @cnni feeds for a quick overview, and then I listen to streaming audio.

My new reliance on Twitter is a small example of how the 140 character tweets are affecting the world.  Enter a recent blog post I read, titled If It Doesn’t Happen on Twitter It Probably Doesn’t Matter.

The post focuses not only on twitter but also on upcoming trends and effective ways to use social media.  It tells you who should use social media, tips for success, and rules.

My favorite quote of the post “In 2009 everything was about the status update;
in 2010 everything is about the check in!”  Here comes foursquare!  Tweet or die is still in full force but my new goal is to become the mayor of something!

My Name is Brittany Brown and the Last Time I Used Social Media was 30 Seconds Ago

Remember the days when addictions were a trend?  A time when news was dominated by star’s and starlette’s run-ins with addictive habits (oh wait!, wasn’t that yesterday?!).  And then the world got on the baby train (thank you Brangelina & Tomkat)!  Well, it seems as if addictions are back at the top of the list of trending topics.

Enter social media.

I will be the first to admit that I am an addict.  I spend far too much time linked to the World Wide Web.  My methods of choice:

1. Gmail (and other Gmail supported email providers) - While not classified as social media, I always have a tab open for Gchat.

2. Twitter – I am a recent convert from Facebook, but my new motto is ‘Tweet or Die”!

3. Hootsuite – An easier way to track feeds than the traditional twitter dashboard.

4. Facebook – I said recent convert people!  I still check my account daily.  But I can unequivocally say that Farmville and the other silly apps for Fbook pushed me into the arms of my new love.  Tweet or die!

5. WordPress – 3 posts in a day…is that excessive?

6. Linked In – I am working at actually utilizing this as a resource.

7. Stumble Upon – This is the best way to find some of the greatest stuff on the WWW.

8. Blogger – I must admit I rarely update my public blog here.  My private blog I add to almost everyday, but you don’t get to see the fruits of my labor (sorry!).

9.Google Buzz – I really don’t love this yet.  I hope the bugs are worked out soon, and that it becomes a practical SM source.

10. Google Wave – I finally got my account a couple of months ago, only to be saddened that there is little opportunity for me to use it.

As you can see from the above list, I spend a lot of time in the land of the web.  I realize some will look at it and say I am wasting my life away in front of a glowing box.  Others will scour the list and notice how incomplete it is (sorry.  I have not joined the world of digg, foursquare, delicious, etc. YET).  Please be patient.  I am sure when I become and iphowner, I will find myself with an even deeper commitment to my addiction.

Please don’t judge that I am not seeking support or a cure for my condition.  I have embraced it.  I am not in denial.  I know it exists, but I like my addiction.  Maybe instead of judging you should read the article “Is Social Media a New Addiction” and make a list yourself!  Come to terms with your SM use.

Thanks to jackieb3 for being one to encourage my addiction and leading the way in SM addiction lists!