From Social Media to Software Developers

Getting my Facebook Business Page noticed - A Guest Post by @avi_kaye

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:11:00 +0000

- A Practical Guide

Or, how I worked hard to get to my first 1,000 fans

There are any number of guides on Internet about what you should do to promote your page. They boil down to ‘engage your fans’, ‘post quality content’ and ‘give a reason to return’. Nice, but not what you would call very useful. You KNOW that you need to engage your fans, and that they are looking for quality content - the question is what, when and how.

So we’ve decided to give you a few practical tips on what and how you should post.

1. Status or Link?

You may not know this, but Facebook grades the content of your posts, and gives them each an Edgerank. I won’t go into the details of Edgerank (that’s for a different post), but it’s important to know that posting statuses aren’t as effective as posting images, for example. The higher your grade, by the way, the higher the likelihood that your updates will appear in your fans stream, and that is what this is all about.

The best thing to post are Videos, followed by Pictures, Links and Statuses.

By the way, if you REALLY want Facebook to like your video or image - make sure you write something about the link.

OK, but what do I do?

Well, what’s your page about?

Is it a restaurant? Post a video showing how you make your special dish. Post pictures of your menu and venue. Post links to recipes that you love, or that your customers sent in.

Are you running a bookstore? Post movie trailers that are based on books (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and so on), post pictures of your book covers or favorite authors, and post links to their websites or blogs.

Have you got a moving business? Videos of trucks, pictures of the New York skyline, your favorite stop along the way - anything goes.

Got more tips as to what people can post on their pages? Leave them in the comments!

2. Ask people to like your posts

This is a very important step - without people actively seeking out your posts, liking and sharing them, there’s a good chance that they won’t be seen by fans of your page. Facebook makes it difficult for newcomers to break the viscous cycle - you need to be seen in order to be seen.

OK, but what do I do?

First of all, your real-life friends that are also your Facebook friends - ask them to go to your page and like and share your posts.

Then ask your Facebook friends to do the same, and ask them to ask their friends to join in the fun - and your posts will start getting enough juice to run under their own power and Facebook will start showing them in the news feed as top stories, and the Ticker

Got more tips as to how to ask people to like and share? Leave them in the comments!

3. It matters when you post

As you already know, your post doesn’t stay in your fans’ news feed for very long, so timing is critical. I mean, if all your fans are on Facebook at two in the morning (maybe you cater to the younger crowd), and you update your page at around 10 in the morning, well, your posts just won’t be seen.

OK, so what do I do?

Go to your Business Page, and click ‘View Insights’. That’s the link on the top right that gives you a bit of.. well.. insight, into how the page works.

Now there’s tons of information we can get from the insights - and we’ll get back to this - but right now, we want to concentrate on one specific piece of information. Check out the small ‘See Details’ link (yeah, they made it really small).

You’ll be able to see when your posts got the most interactions - the most likes and comments. And that’s when it’s the best time for you to post. There are usually two or three times during a day that your post will get a good amount of attention.

Got more tips that will help people promote their Business Page? Let us know in the comments

Good Luck!

TDD Or Not TDD Guest blog by @avi_kaye

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:14:00 +0000

Test Driven Design, or TDD, is one of the leading development methodologies in the world today. The premise is simple - developers test their code while writing it to prevent bugs from occurring. In TDD, developers first write a test, which fails, then they write the code to pass the test.
Remember that sinking feeling when it’s getting close to the release date? Between developers writing code, QA testing code, and developers writing more code to fix bugs, the launch time just keeps getting pushed back, while all the time customers are waiting to get their software. That’s exactly the kind of situation TDD prevents. The QA gets code that is already extensively tested, and when a bug does make it through the cracks, developers can find the problem much faster.
So if you want to be able to manage your release cycles better, ship higher quality software and improve the productivity of your development team - TDD is the way to go.
To learn more, check out the upcoming Three Day TDD .NET Course presented by Lior Friedman, Agile Coach and software craftsman.

Tal Druyan

And then came @MyWebees

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:44:00 +0000

As a social media expert that wakes up with Twitter, lives on Facebook and hangs out on Linkedin, I had my own little dream... Obviously, I’m addicted, so as you’ve probably figured out ;), my wish is connected to the online world.
Well, it’s easier say than done, but I’ve always wanted to connect them all together... From Stumble to Twitter, Tweet from Facebook... Free to do what I want from where I want. With a little time, and using the various tools that are available for managing all your networks (Hootsuite, TweetDeck, I managed to combine and merge the streams. Some of the tools are very good, others are barely up to the task.

But there was one thing that I couldn't do. No application or client had a solution for the problem of importing a blog or website into a Facebook company page. True, there were some workarounds, which I used for my customers. Applications, FBML, iFrame - but there wasn’t an end-to-end solution.
All I wanted was to put my blog in my page. Was that so much to ask? And companies that I represent on Facebook? I wanted to bring their site to the customers and not the other way around. The customers are already on Facebook, so why can’t the website be there too???

And just before I start pulling my hair out :), along comes MyWebees, an application that brings your website to Facebook, and it literally only takes a few minutes. Don’t trust my word for it - Go try it... it’s real!!!! And the best part is, that I got to be in the team that promotes it. As you can imagine, I’m incredibly excited!

MyWebees lets you embed your site on other websites, rather than working on bringing traffic to your site, you will be taking your site to where the traffic is.
A little bit about this application. With MyWebees, it’s easy to embed your website in your Facebook page, providing you with a simple and effective way to create exposure, drive traffic and subsequently generate more business via your website. Just a few short clicks, and your website will be available to the millions of Facebook users, with all the functionality and user experience of the original site!

Tal Druyan

Is your Kanban worth a new iPad? @TargetProcess

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 11:07:00 +0000

You still here?
Good - then you know what Kanban is :). It’s not that simple - heck, if you would have asked me two years ago, I would have said ‘WTF is Kanban? Come to think of it, WTF is an iPad?’ :)

Well, time flies, and I found myself representing Agile companies, Agile consultants and spreading news of Agile tools, such as Kanban.

And no, Kanban isn’t a clever play on words, it’s from Japanese - and simply means ‘Signboard’ - and Kanban boards are used to manage projects, in many industries around the world.
And what’s the BEST way to get more people to hear about Kanban, and learn how it can help them? That’s right -

TargetProcess is sponsoring a Kanban competition on Facebook. Just upload your Kanban board, collect likes by inviting your friends to like it - and one of the two submissions with the largest amount of likes will win a new iPad.

Sorry, at the moment the competition is for US residents only.

So get out your iPhone, Nexus, or webcam, and show us what you’ve got!

Tal Druyan

How to give your Facebook Notes a face lift?! by @butterknife_sm

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:43:00 +0000

At ButterKnife, we have a rule. When we find cool stuff that helps social media efforts, we share it... We don’t keep secrets, because, believe it or not, we want to see everyone succeed.
The latest cool thing has to do with Facebook Notes. There are tons of Facebook users that write notes; and one of the most annoying things in writing notes, as opposed to writing blogs, is that you don’t have a lot of design options while writing notes. Bolding your title or underlining important stuff is more or less it. Forget about adding a video, or enlarging a word. Those of you who write notes are probably nodding your head by now :)
You want to know something? You can make your notes look as good as a blog post, with a bit of work and behind-the-scenes magic. Facebook gives you all the HTML tags you can use on your note - the Facebook Notes Cheatsheet.

All you need to do, is to copy the tags that you want to use from the Facebook Notes Cheatsheet, and presto! Your notes will look much better. No, you don’t need to know HTML. Just copy and paste, and away you go!
So save the Facebook Notes Cheatsheet, and the next time you write a note - open it, and have fun.
Just a tip - if you use an HTML tag like <big>. for example, which enlarges the text, you can paste the same tag a few times - it will enlarge the text more. How? Instead of using <big> once at the beginning of the test you want to enlarge, use as many as you want <big><big><big> your text and don’t forget to close it 3 times as well with </big></big></big>
Don’t forget to preview your note before you publish it, so you can see the effects for yourself :)
If you have questions feel free to ask … here or on our Facebook page or send us a message on our website

Good luck …
Avi Kaye and Tal druyan

Obsessed with Facebook?! “Here, in a visual nutshell, are some highlights about Facebook usage, 2010 trends and adoption numbers” @butterknife_sm

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 06:48:00 +0000

Via: Online Schools

Tal Druyan

Better Facebook! brought by @ButterKnife_SM

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 06:43:00 +0000

Well, I’ve just installed the better Facebook plug-in for Firefox, after reading through what this tool has to offer, and it has a few really cool features. So here’s what I think (I’ll try it for Chrome as well later, and let you know if there are any major differences)
So The Better Facebook is a FREE plug-in (you can make a donation if you like) that adds tons of functionality and a lot of great features to your Facebook account!
For Example:
Once you read every story on a page, just click 'Mark All Read, and they will be hidden the next time you view or refresh the page. But no worries - When new comments are added they will show back up! This helps you keep track of conversations that you otherwise might have missed ;) I like it already….
Besides, you can always click ‘Show’ and see your hidden stories again.
Another feature, is moving all posts by known applications to their own specific tabs. Now I personally am not sure how much I like this feature, but you can change this in Options->Feed Filter.
You can also change options to your Facebook page, by clicking the 'Options' button in the header above!
I’m going to start using it right away, and promise to keep you guys posted and it’s recommended to "Like" the Better Facebook page for more information and support!
By the way, I’m not associated with this plug-in in any way or form, and am not responsible for it. It’s just something that someone recommended to me, and I am passing on the news ….
If you like it, I’d love to know!

Tal Druyan

How to avoid, The new Facebook groups Notifications, and win your life back. By @Butterknife_sm

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:30:00 +0000

If you have already been added to one of the new Facebook Groups, you probably lost your mind already or in the process of loosing it.

No, it has nothing to do with the groups themselves, but with the sadistic notifications setting. Another great gift from the "Man of the year".

For those of you who haven't experience it yet you should also read this part, it will save you the mental damage later.

OK, you joined the group. From this moment onward you will get an Email; for every like, comment, post or a fly that passed by the group. Your inbox will be full in less than 2 hours and you will find yourself wasting your time cleaning you mail box. You may stop, it's never going to end...while you deleting old mails, new mails are coming in.

Wait that was only the first fun part; now it's the notification within Facebook.Yes the one that are jumping while you are browsing. From now on, the average will be 200 an hour.

Everything that is being sent to your email already, plus every action of every member, his friends, family members and kindergarten classmates will be notified to you.

You can leave the group, but you actually want to be part of it. You may work for Facebook groups, in cleaning notifications, but you need to work for a living....

So here is what you do, go to the group. On the top right had side there is a link "Edit Setting" click it and chance everything to NO. or leave only certain notifications. in 2-3 minutes you will still be a member of the group, but will have your Facebook (=life) back ;)

Good Luck

Tal Druyan

Keter Multifunction Garden Products & Holidays' Gifts Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 16:33:00 +0000

First Join me on Facebook Keter's Fan page ... it's really worth watching, if you care about your space.... and don't forget to check http://www.keter.com
Shirley Bovshow, host of the Garden World Report Show previews multifunction garden products by the Keter company at the Spoga-gafa show in Cologne Germany. Affordable, stylish and cutting edge raised garden planter, garden cart, composter and a cooler/bar table are presented.

Stay Tune...
Coming soon; inside storage ideas by Keter; that not only store your belonging perfectly, but look just great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Early Adoption ;)

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:30:00 +0000

If this is the case...you might as well take your time and learn less, "The more you learn the less you know" ;) Check it out it's a Funny One

See more CollegeHumor.

Fear and Courage, Scrum, Case studies and Live Broadcasting all in the #Agile tour 2010

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 22:49:00 +0000

The Agile Tour 2010 Israel (Haifa), Took place Yesterday 11/12/2010 at the Technion.
Unfortunately I wasn’t there, but I got the chance to pick Gil Zilberfeld’s brain (a full time geek and a well known Agile and unit testing expert). So you can imagine I got some of the highlights and low-lights before he will release his post on his blog.
We’ll begin with some numbers. About a hundred people; managers, scrum masters and all kind of developers attended the #Agiletour in the Technion today, which was a great event, to judge by the social buzz it created.
The opening talk was by Haim Deutsch and Gad Lidror, the event organizer. It was short and to the point, and led directly to the case studies given by four experts.
Hillel Glazer, the CEO of Entinex, gave a presentation about values principles and practices. He showed how to give values center stage, not the process. It was a very lively presentation, where Hillel talked about pointing his clients in this direction - don’t focus as much on whether they are doing Scrum or ScrumBut (or any other practice), and return to the values - helping the customer focus on improvement.
Then two case studies were presented.
The first by Orit Karlin, R&D manager at NSN and Aviram Eisenberg, CEO at Ignite.
NSN – Implementing Agile in a large organization
Nokia Siemens, according to the speaker, took an executive decision to go agile. Waterfall process is suitable for large companies with large hierarchies, and that’s why the change to agile was a major difficulty at the organization level.
The second case study was presented by Galit Altinyuva, Localization Unit Manager at Comverse, titled ‘Comverse - Agile Enablement in Localization Projects’.
Both case studies showed how agile has taken off as a mainstream methodology in large corporate companies, and is no longer restricted to start ups or small teams. Another proof for that was a Forester research on agile adoption showing that more than 30% of companies have now adopted an agile methodology.
After that, we split into different openspace “stations”, each discussed a different agile topic. I was part of the discussion about how the real world meets the agile by-the-book principles. People talked about their experience, where they needed to adapt to the needs of real-life development. Was really a down-to-earth discussion.
Lunch was OK, geeks style, no time to eat “I was talking to other people” go figure... ;)
Keynote: Mary Poppendieck , Lean and Agile expert (by Video Conference)
Mary Poppendieck’s presentation was broadcasted live from the US around 2 PM - which 5 AM for Mary, so kudos for her effort - and she gave a vision of the next evolution of agile - customer focus (referring to Kent Beck’s talk on start-up lessons learned), where the customer has a direct effect on the product, and not have his needs translated to the development team.
This is of great value as the customer finally gets what he wants, rather than through layers of translations and representatives. She talked about whole team in alignment of what the customer wants or needs. Simple design - for nothing more than what the customer says he needs, and the team is motivated because they are aligned with what the customer needs.
She gave an example, where the SouthWest operation team can turn an airplane around (ready for takeoff) in 20 minutes time, consistently. What separates them from the other companies, is that they understand that planes in the air means more money to the company. This understanding gives them motivation to achieve this.
The last presentation was by Haim Deutsch CSC and CST Fear and Courage – The Agile Coaching Conflict. Haim gave a presentation of transforming fear to courage - if you want to implement agile methodologies in an organization, you’ll meet a lot of resistance coming from fear. Managers, for example, fear agile implementation because they don’t know how this change affects their position.
If you want to read more, or ask about a specific subject, I strongly suggest that you find some place else ;). Just kidding - Gil Zilberfeld will be happy to answer (happy? He’d be ecstatic!) your comments and calls.

Tal Druyan

The "Free" World War ;)

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 14:20:00 +0000

For decades now, marketers around the globe, have been arguing about a simple, nice and somewhat harmless word: FREE.
Marketing, despite being calculated and based on logic,hasn’t earned the distinction of being considered science. Given that upsetting fact, different strategies and mixed approaches are common in marketing, creating barriers between different marketers, and ushering in a cold war. This “cold war” has too many sides and opinions to be an actual war. And with time the war became a series of endless “opinion battles”.
But no matter what the argument was about, there was one word that really changed the rules in the marketing world. “Free”. To be accurate, we should add her family name - “Discount”.
These two little words represent the line dividing the marketing experts in two. Those that are for “Free”, and those that are against.
OK, I made it up. It’s not really a war, or a battle, or a line.I just love being dramatic.
But I DIDN’T invent it all; Marketers do have different opinions about different strategies, and one of the well known arguments is about promotions. There is something about advertising something for FREE that makes some marketers turn away in disgust, and others thrilled and big fans. There is no middle ground here. A big Yes or HUGE No.
If you are trying to understand where you stand yourself,just to ask yourself whether you believe in advertisements that promise freebies, and whether you join and opt in for a chance to win a free iPad, PhotoShop license, ,or whatever product or service you’re interested in.
Personally? I am a believer. “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one”; when I’m looking for something I need, or even better something I want, but don’t really need, I look at promotions. and I believe them...maybe it’s because I am a marketer that will never advertise false advertisement, or maybe it because I won a pen off Microsoft once, for being one of the first 30 to join their Facebook fan page. I mean, yes, it’s only a pen.. but I never won before...so don’t underestimate my pen ;). I belong to the believer marketers group....and I’m a proud sucker ;)
Now, it’s gets even better. Behind the two groups of marketers, there is a target audience with the same agenda. And that’s what we as marketers need to know. Where would a freebie or a discount would work, and where the target audience are against the “Free”, and it will kill and undermine the promotion.
OK, it’s time to get to the point... I need to know which one are you? Pro- or Anti- Free? ... I’ve got this great promotion in mind for a service... and I have no idea (regardless John Lennon words..) If I’m the only one?!
I will greatly appreciate your opinion - it only takes a sec’ to to write ‘Pro Free’ or ‘Anti Free’.
Thanks a million and.... to be continued.

Tal Druyan

Where did all the fun go? #SocialMedia

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:14:00 +0000

I have written before about Social Media and job hunting. I’m almost sure that I gave you the same advice that I give myself:

Make sure that your social network profiles are professionally written.
Make sure that they are SEO friendly and contain all the important keywords, to put you at the top of the search pile.
Make sure that you have a clean cut picture, preferable a head-shot, not a picture from New Year’s eve, that your friend took after they painted ‘Loser’ on your drunk forehead, and used the rest of your face to show their drunken painting skills.
OK, maybe I went a bit far. That happened to you back in college maybe, but now, as an adult...no way ;)..but still make sure that you have a nice clean picture.
Under hobbies put ‘reading and biking’. You don’t really like to, but do you dare put ‘bungee jumping’? It sounds dangerous... Get the point?

(If this is all new for you, just scroll back and look at my previous posts about the connection between your Social profile and your next job).
Hey wait a second, what’s going on here?! May I please be the one to remind you that Social networking should be fun! It's a social network, for crying out loud. Why is it bad for my image, if I like to share a silly link with my Facebook friends? or to play “The biggest Brain” with my nephew? When did we lose the fun part?

when did we start uploading all our pictures from our latest convention, but stopped uploading pictures from the BBQ with our friend on Sunday?
When did we stop tweeting about funny things happen to us, and turn Twitter into an automated business content generator?

Don’t know about you but I miss the days…. when Facebook was ”Tal is ….” and it was actually stating what I’m doing. I miss silly links and short funny movies that my friends use to share instead of the latest stats about...
I miss the pictures from the day after Saint Paddy day... even if I added the green hat in PhotoShop, at least I was joining in the holiday spirit... didn’t I?
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think that all networks should be about silly socializing ... or maybe not even silly...just socializing. I think that we should turn the wheel back, and remember that in Facebook we have groups and fan pages for business matters.

Or Linkedin, for example, which is a network dedicated to business, while Facebook is more for fun...
You may Tweet about code, JQuery, and researches all you like, but be kind enough to send once in a while a tweet about your break as well....
Not that I am in any position to talk, as my profiles are about work, work, and more work, But at least this blog isn’t ;)

Tal Druyan

Can The shoemaker's children go barefoot? #SocialMedia

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 10:08:00 +0000

Many recent articles and Careers’ Blogs discussing How to find your next dream job through social media. They give you advise on what and why to Have in your perfect profile. And recommends to be active and socialize in all the big social networks in order to spread the word.

I must agree, and admit that it’s true... you must have a great updated profiles everywhere, ‘cause when you are being checked to be hired (In particular but not only) for social media position, your social profiles will probably be more important than your resume.

And SMM is not the only thing, you must work on your profiles’ SEO as well, use the right Keywords in your Bio, and you will show up in more HR searches.

However, when it comes to Online Marketing and Social Media experts, often “The shoe maker kids walk barefoot” . Some don’t even have a website, or fail to use social networks for their own needs.

If we base our search on social media only, it might be that we are losing the best individual for these jobs. Sound Bizarre? well I think that I found the explanation!

During my marketing journey, I met marketers and PR people from all over the world.

There are so many brilliant marketers out there, industry experts that can SUPER socialize for you and be superb. But will never do it for themselves.

They just don’t like to publicize themselves. They like to put someone else in the spotlight, and they are GOOD in that.

And as far as themselves a personal profile “for friends only” will be enough!

Would love to hear your thoughts….

Tal Druyan

How to Hire? - Social Media and Online Community Marketing pros

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 09:57:00 +0000

The future in marketing is already here. Social media and community marketing are taking their places as the largest marketing channels, and companies everywhere are either looking to hire, or have already hired, a social media expert, whether in-house or a free-lancer. To find one sounds simple - just look for ‘social media expert’ in Google, LinkedIn or Facebook, and you’ll get thousands of results. find them by the dozen. Sounds easy, right?
Of course it isn’t.

So how do I choose a Social Media expert?

Before you welcome someone into your company or sign a retainer, there are a couple of musts that you have to take into consideration.

1. You need an expert
Just like an expert in any field, from development to sales, you want your Social Media marketer to have been in the business for some time. Keep in mind that Social Media marketing is a relatively new field of expertise, especially outside of the US. Picking the sweet spot isn't easy - between the inexperienced beginner and the seasoned veteran aren’t that many years difference.

Recommended:

Hire the one with the most experience in your country or industry, or hire an expensive freelancer from abroad.

2. Social Media is larger than you think
Social Media isn’t just Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. Two huge networks have just made the move into Europe from the US - CitySearch, with around 8 million unique visits daily, and Yelp with 10 million. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg - there’s Bebo, StumbleUpon and Digg to name just a few. Social Media marketers who aren’t familiar with these networks will only be able to reach limited markets and produce limited results.

Recommended:
Hire someone who knows the social media world - global large networks, what’s new, what’s coming next, where to put the focus for your marketing efforts.

3. Aim high - go global
No matter the official language in your country, English is the language of the web today, and the language of Social Media networks. Poorly written blog posts and badly constructed Tweets can hinder more than help your business, and can lead to potential customers turning away.

Recommended:
Hire someone who has fluent English - preferably a native English speaker - who has experience socializing and blogging on international websites.
In conclusion, Social Media marketing is a huge asset to your company and can produce great results. To get the most out of your Social Media marketing, hire someone who already has some years of experience under their belt, has worked in other countries and industries and will be able to communicate effectively with your audience.

Tal Druyan

Top 15 Ways Twitter Can Make You A Blogging Pro | Social Media Today

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:21:00 +0000

Top 15 Ways Twitter Can Make You A Blogging Pro | Social Media Today

Taken from "Social Media Today" I would have write such blog, but this one was perfect!!!!
So "Listen To Your Followers" and "Be Honest", "Make Friends" and "Be Social – Engage" ;)

Tal Druyan

Will Gmail Priority Inbox decrease Gmail overall priority? (DK Social M Solutions)

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:16:00 +0000

Ever since Google announced its latest and greatest Gmail addon - the Priority Inbox - the new “gimmick” is getting a lot of attention and (mostly) great feedback. It will save time, help with email overload, set up your inbox according to message priority, even make you coffee and bring you breakfast in bed in the morning.
Basically, what Gmail Priority Inbox does is automatically identify your important incoming email and separate them from less important emails - yeah, it’s called prioritizing. This feature claims to save us hours of going through our cluttered inbox, hunting for the important emails talking about the latest job among the thousands of emails giving us the chance to WIN PRIZES NOW!
Instead Google servers will identify and separate our important messages, based on several criteria:

Gmail Priority Inbox:

Whom we email the most
Who we chat with
How often we receive emails from specific senders
How many of them do we read and or reply to
What Keywords appears mostly and how often in the emails we read and reply.

Beginning so sound familiar? It should. It’s starting to sound like Google SEO within our mail box. Frankly? it sounds great; we will get the actual results that we want and need, not the meaningless email that take up our time. Think of it as your Personal Organizer…
While certain services and companies are still not sure if Social Media is the way to go with their brand, the new Gmail Priority Inbox gives them another reason to turn to Google competitors; social networks like Facebook, Bebo, etc. While you will have to work very hard in order to try and pass the bar raised by the new Gmail feature, Social Media is the place that offers you and your brand the home of the free.
Will this move by Google really impact marketers and marketing plans, and force them to put more effort into Social Media?
Whatever the outcome, it is certain that we will witness even more changes in companies perspectives in the next few months.

Avi Kaye & Tal Druyan

By: Butterknife-Marketing Social Media Solutions

What are the best code comments you have ever heard? “Fix Me Lior Ugly” @Typemock

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 08:18:00 +0000

Apparently developers sometimes like to name their code comments, and can be very creative while inventing them.

And when I say creative I mean creative!

The results are usually pretty funny, at least funny enough to make the rest of the team or other developers that will see the code, laugh out loud…

But what is really funny, is when amusing code comments are not written as a joke, but are actually a comment that one put in order to make sure that he will be understood. The combination of the words without pauses can make a completely different statement i.e. :

// fix me lior ugly

(Lior, please forgive me, I HAD TO blog about it ;)

What Lior tried to say, is that this part needs to be fixed, because it’s ugly. And he made sure to sign his name. This comment has been floating around Typemock for years later and is still good for a laugh …even if it’s not there anymore (Wait, is it???)

So what is the best code comment you have ever heard or made???

Tal Druyan

The Emperor's New Clothes ;) @Tald

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:08:00 +0000

Being the non-techy person in my very technical oriented company, I’m quite often being reminded, or actually reminding myself, that my decision making logic is probably far from logical to anyone else around.

I find myself having perfectly rational explanations as how to resolve a problem that arises, but keeping it to myself…and when I hear everyone else's opinions, I’m more than happy that I did, in most cases.

But recently I started to notice that logic is a very individual concept, and that there are no logical people and illogical people - just differing opinions regarding different situations. It's mostly common sense which can come from anyone, regardless of technology skills…

So yesterday for the first time, I have taken the approach of the child from the novel “The Emperor's New Clothes” and allowed myself to share my simple logic. Just like when he whispers that the emperor has nothing on, I was quite sure I would be quickly corrected or politely explained that developers don’t think that way. But guess what? I said what I had on my mind, which was the simple answer with no deep mind gymnastics behind it, and I was right. The Emperor was naked, and everyone around all of a sudden could see it.

I doubt if I will have the confidence the next time, to argue about a technical issue, or to say my opinion, but at least I know that there is no such thing as one logical answer. And even if there is, it might be mine ;)

Tal Druyan

And today: Warm breezes, sunshine and Kent Beck @Typemock

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:49:00 +0000

I believe that City Hall should officially add Typemock to the attractions map in TLV.

We just said good bye to David Anderson who was here last month and already this morning we have another celebrity sitting in our developers’ room…the one and only Kent Beck.

I am looking through the internal window into the developers’ office and they are staring at him so completely enthralled, it’s amazing.

Yesterday, Roy Osherove casually mentioned that he had invited Kent Beck to visit our offices during his visit to Israel. So, as the marketing person here, I immediately sent an all-company email to PLEASE come to the office wearing Typemock T-shirts for photo ops with Kent…

I guess that the email was sent a couple of minutes too late, since most of the guys only saw it this morning. Only one developer came wearing the shirt :)… But looking at them now, sitting there and listening to every word he utters with respect and interest, it really doesn’t matter what they are wearing for a photo op (or not).

It’s just great to see our developers so engaged.

No photo op? Am I going soft? Am I losing my marketing soul here???? NOOOOOOOOOOOO

Tal Druyan

Employee of the year…#Typemock

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:54:00 +0000

If you are reading this blog, you probably know what easy unit testing is all about, and if you know about easy unit testing, you know Typemock Isolator for sure.

And you may ask yourself, why she isn't going on and on about her usual marketing blah blah ;) …

The answer is simple, when marketing and unit testing meet, something pretty exciting happens.

A couple of weeks ago, Roy Osherove came up with the brilliant idea for a competition to describe Typemock in 14 seconds (like the Twitter 140 character limit). And what better format than a 14 second video?

I was prepared to receive so many videos that I would not be able to upload them all. But somehow that didn't happen. We only got a couple. Two from our own team .

Sorry guys, but I don't get it. You can win up to 50 LICENSES for a 14 second video. Many of you complain how expensive it is. Even if I had no interest at all, I would send one. After all, how long does it take to make a 14 second video?

Go ahead. Win the licenses for your entire team. You'll be the employee of the year. Your boss will replace his wife's picture on his desk with yours. So go for it. Scream "action!" and send us your videos!

Tal Druyan

Summer Time…

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:10:00 +0000

While tweeting today about Typemock speaker and sponsorship at the Dot net Cologne I noticed a tweet about the upcoming industry summer events that made me wonder… it was Uncle Bob Martin that Tweeted “Lots of keynotes and talks coming up. Better Software in Vegas, Rails in Baltimore, NDC in Oslo. Agile in Orlando.”

And what about you, Do you have plans for this summer? Have you programmed into your schedule time on a sunny and sandy beach?

I can already smell the tropical fruits and taste the cocktails…I can almost feel the afternoon breeze cooling the air, and the sunsets and the clear starry skies that are all the more beautiful when seen on a summer vacation…

Yep, typical summer vacation. Sun tanning all day and swimming in the blue ocean. Sounds great, doesn't it?

Well, it does to me. At least, that was the only summer plan that I was thinking about, if asked if I had my summer plans ready.

But, if you have been reading my posts, you probably know that I now live in a new reality, and the longer I reside here, the more I learn about my new home …

Apparently when you are being asked in the developers’ world about your summer plans, it has a totally different meaning…

Instead of sunny beaches and tropical fruit cocktails, get ready to register to all the industry events. Make sure to arrange your schedule to include NDC, TechEd USA, Better Software, DotnetCologne, TechEd Europe and, gulp, so much more.

And shhhhhhhhhh (did I say that?), Typemock has made some summer plans for me of their own.

It is going to be a great summer ;)

Goodbye plans. Hello conferences! (*_*)

Acting @ the Typemock workshop

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:36:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago the whole Typemock team received an invitation to participate in an acting workshop. Attendance was mandatory. (Note that acting and playing are the same word in Hebrew, so I wasn't even sure if we were going to do theater or go to the park.)

Either way, it sounded a bit out of context, and I wondered about the motive. After all…spend entire business day acting (or playing)?!?

Yesterday was the day of the acting workshop. We met at the office and walked a couple of blocks to a studio in southern Tel-Aviv. A huge loft with high ceilings and a smiling instructor were waiting for us.

The loft reminded me of a weight room in a gym and made me feel uncomfortable and concerned that we were going to have to work out. But soon enough we were all sitting on the floor in a large circle listening to the instructor, who promised that we would all learn a lot about ourselves, and that we would experience a sense of confidence or learn how to deal with lack of self confidence. By working with an audience - our colleagues – we would learn how to understand and act more appropriately in any group or environment.

I was skeptical. I’m sure that you would have been the same. But one business day later, as I sit and reflect about it, I honestly feel that the few hours of acting with my colleagues made a difference in the way I feel.

I will not describe or give examples of the program here; I think that it's one of those things that you need to be a part of in order to GET.

The only thing that I can say is that it was great and will affect the way I look at things from now on.

I think that writing about the experience is not enough. There are two things that can be done after such a great workshop; the first is to recommend it to everyone you know (which is what I’m doing now), and the second is to thank the person that recommended it to you, or in our case decided for us ;)

So thank you Eli, it was a super great experience! And hopefully some of you will thank me here after you've checked it out for yourselves.

Spoiler: Look at the way kids experience life - playing and learning new things every day. Don't give up on the child that is still inside you!!!

Cheers

Tal

The Unit Testing Lounge

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Thu, 20 May 2010 16:06:00 +0000

As a newbie to the unit testing industry, I found myself, over the last couple of months, looking for sources to read about and gain more information about my new home.

I can’t say that I didn’t find anything. I did. Maybe much more than I can digest ;)

But I also can’t say that I found a single, simple place, that deals mainly with TDD, and offers a range of information while still giving you a platform to ask questions or to answer other people's.

Eventually I decided to stop complaining about it, and actually do something about it…either by writing a blog about it…as I’m doing, or to just create such a place that will be dedicated to the unit testing industry…

I was told that Facebook might not be the best place to host it. But I figure that Facebook is a good place to get started and if/when we grow…we can always create a site that better suits our new needs.

Therefore, I’m inviting all of you to share and ask and blog and tweet and discuss everything you want or need to know about our industry.

If you want to become an Admin, please contact me directly and I will be more than happy to share the burden ;)

While powered by Typemock (but only because I’m working for Typemock ), this page is not for just one company. I’m inviting YOU ALL to write about EVERYTHING and EVERYONE in the industry ….

Let’s make it a unit testing lounge ;)

Cheers

Tal

Please don't call my parents

noreply@blogger.com (TalD) — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:52:00 +0000

If you had told me about four months ago, that I would soon be disappointed about missing certain lectures at the NDC2010, I would have laughed…

If you had told me that I would know all the names of the opinion leaders in the unit testing world, and actually would be interested to hear what they had to say, I probably would have replied, “now you have totally lost it.”

I admit to being fascinated by what I do and have been spending a surprising amount of my free time reading blogs and industry forums that relate to TDD and unit testing.

I have no way to explain it. There is something beautiful about it. Interesting, even if you are not a developer. (Really, I’m totally serious.)

Those of you who know me personally, are probably wondering if this is the last straw…if I’m losing it, completely.

Maybe you should call my family?! Wait until you hear the rest. Then you will really need to take a few minutes to digest it. Here it is…

Your friend Tal has decided to open and maintained a community page for the unit testing industry on Facebook.

I, Tal Townsend Druyan, solemnly swear that I wrote these words while completely sober and without influence.

Forgive me if I shut my phone for a couple of hours now ;)