There are only two days left to get in on the early-bird price for the 2010 Geo-loco Conference: The Future of Geo-Location.
If you are at all interested in the topic you should consider this one-day conference scheduled for July 21. Bancroft Research Group has assembled what appears to be a “who’s who” of experts and brands for the event. Here are few of the confirmed speakers according to the site:

• Fred Wilson – Union Square Ventures
• John Battelle – Federated Media
• Andy Ellwood – Gowalla
• Matt Galligan – SimpleGeo
• Louis Gray – Paladin Advisors
• Deborah Schultz – Altimeter Group
• Robert Scoble – Rackspace
• Jeremy Toeman – StageTwo Consulting

Here is the whole list: http://geoloco.tv/?page_id=133
The topics range from “The Futures of Location Based Services” to “Please Stalk Me,” on the implications of LBS on security and privacy.

Hope to see you there!

It’s been slightly more than 24 hours since I activated the phone and here are my impressions:

Ordering

I was lucky enough to get an order through on the 15th despite all of AT&T’s issues. Although it did require three attempts before the order was successful.

Shipping

Upon checking the tracking number on Wednesday I was delighted to see that it had already been delivered – a day early! Kudos to the team for exceeding expectations on that front. I appreciated that the box it shipped in had no indication that it was from AT&T or Apple. The plain brown packaging with no branding was a nice touch since it sat on my porch for most of the day until I got home from the airport.

Packaging

Kudo’s again to the design team. The packaging while very nice is getting smaller and more efficient. I’m guessing that I could pack six of these in the box that my first iPod came in. Glad to see Apple moving toward more responsible packaging overall.

The Pros

• The Retina Display: This display is phenomenal. I can’t recall ever seeing any screen with this much detail and sharpness.
• Multitasking: It’s about time: I can now listen to Pandora and see my timer or make notes in Evernote at the gym.
• App Folders: Very nice and well designed approach. I’m now down from nine screens to three.

• Front camera: It’s a heck of a lot easier to take those self-portraits now.
• Main Camera: Excellent. Five megapixel with flash? Very nice. It won’t replace a real camera, but it’s a vast improvement for snapshots. Still testing the flash, but it seems to work well close up.

The Cons

• The Integrated Antenna: Wow. How this ever got out of the lab is beyond me. There are plenty of complaints already about the phone dropping calls because of the unique antenna design. There is visible signal loss and I’ve experienced two dropped calls today already. YouTube is already flooded with videos demonstrating the issue. Although the bumper is reputed to solve this issue, my local Apple store is sold out. It will be interesting to see how Apple addresses this issue.
• The Touch Screen: I noticed a slight hesitancy in the touch screen as well and gave it test drive with Tetris. In my experience, the touch screen is significantly less smooth and less sensitive than the 3Gs.
• Forwarding Photos: This is a small notice, but when I email photos, it sends them with the same name instead of retaining their identifying number as it does when you sync or transfer the photos.

No word on the FaceTime feature yet. As soon as I log my first call I’ll update this post.

Summary

Overall I really like this phone. It was the perfect early birthday present. I’m very happy with the new features with the exception of the antenna. However, this is a phone. As cool as it is in all the other respects, designing it so it drops calls is unacceptable. If the bumper doesn’t solve this without decreasing reception, I’m afraid I’ll have to revert back to the 3Gs until Apple solves the problem.

If you are an app developer or a brand with an app (mobile or desktop), check out the App Exchange that is going to be hosted at ad:tech April 19 & 20 in San Francisco.
Until midnight March 31, ad:tech is accepting submissions in the following 4 areas for a FREE “highly coveted speaking spot on the expo floor.”

1. Branded Apps
2. Non-Branded Apps
3. App Platforms
4. App Promotion

You can find the brief here.
And the submission form here.
(Disclosure: I’m involved in coordinating the submission process – so ping me with questions.)

The Geo-loco panelists

Wednesday evening I attended the sold out Geo-loco panel event put on by Bancroft Research Group at Stage Two Consulting. There was a waiting list of over 80 people indicating a significant level of interest in the topic of geo-loco services in the Bay Area.

The panel was composed of Kevin Marks of BT as the moderator, with Robert Scoble of Rackspace, Tom Coates of Yahoo’s Fire Eagle, Matt Galligan of SimpleGeo, Jeremy Toeman of Stage Two Consulting, and MG Siegler of Techcrunch as the panelists. Sponsors included Rackspace, Traveling Geeks, We Blog The World, Stage Two Consulting, and Gordon Biersch.

Based on who I recognized in the audience, I would say it was largely composed of geeks and early adopters.

As one would expect, the first thirty minutes revolved around privacy before moving into monetization, place vs. space, and how companies are trying to use it. Here are a few of the more interesting quotes and points that were made (more or less in the order they came up in the discussion):

• Tom Coates pointed out that as an industry we now have a history of legal precedence and experience. He shared that privacy was a primary concern when building Fire Eagle and that large companies routinely factor in privacy when building these apps.
• Jeremy Toeman started out by reminding us that our address information has been public since the first phone books. If someone wants your address, they can find it on the web.
• Robert Scoble said that when he shared Twitter a year ago, people said “That’s lame.” Now, when he shares Foursquare, they say “That’s lame and scary.” Geo-loco services have a much higher bar to adoption than did Twitter.
• MG Siegler: “The business application of this is what is interesting. The question is the privacy issue; why should I tell you where I am?”
• Kevin Marks: (speaking for the consumer) “I’ll tell you where you I am if it is valuable for me, otherwise, I lie.” For an example, he pointed out that if you believe the addresses people give on the web, more people claim to live in Bev Hills and Schenectady, NY than actually live there.
• They have the two most easily remembered zip codes: 90210 and 12345
  Matt Galligan: “Location is going to be in everything soon – it’s all about making the apps smarter and more useful.”
• Jeremy, the self-proclaimed naysayer opined that the existing services are not here to stay. “Something will be here, but this is not it. People don’t want the deluge of coupons.”
• Robert: “Plancast is the new Doppler.”
• Robert also noted the philosophical differences between services. Gowalla requires you to check in at your location where as Foursquare allows you to lie.

You can see video clips of much of the event courtesy of Renee Blogget.

That I would have liked to have heard before we ran out of time was the panelists’ predictions of what is coming next. It would have been a neat trick if someone could have predicted Apples move the following day to ban geo loco ads on iPhone and the iPad.

6. Bring your resume. Take a moment to look at the interview from the interviewer’s point of view. If the agency is hiring that means that there is enough extra work to justify a new position (or to refill an existing one). It’s likely that one or more of your interviewers are carrying that load. That means more meetings, and more work on top of the interview process. You want to present your best, so have your resume ready in case it’s needed. You are only cutting into your own interview time if someone has to step out and reprint your resume. And as a project manager or interactive producer, I recommend that you have one or two more copies than you think you’ll need.
7. Take notes. Many experts recommend that you ask if you can take notes before the interview starts. That’s fine, but I personally care a lot less about whether you ask. You are a project manager. Please convince me that you aren’t going to rely on your flawless memory to run projects.
8. Do your research. Sometime in the interview process, the interviewer is going to offer you the opportunity to ask some questions. This is really an opportunity for you to show off your knowledge of the space, your skill set, and your interest level. So, check out the company website. See who their clients are. Think about the challenges they may be having. If you haven’t done your research it’s going to show. And if you’ve been taking notes, you should easily have several questions that don’t involve compensation and benefits.
9. Ask for the job. Someone took a lot of time to set up a series of interviews. Perhaps it was a recruiter, or maybe the hiring manager. Do not walk out the door without a follow-up plan. You might be the lead contender for the position, but if you don’t follow-up, say thank you, and ask for the job, then you are off the radar in days. Maybe even hours. So, show some enthusiasm. Why do you want to work there? What about the agency is appealing to you? Remember, they’ve interviewed three other candidates that day, so remind them of the skills you bring to the table.
10. Once you’ve accepted the job – show up. Cold feet. I get it. Sometimes after the interview process is over and you get briefed about the project, you have that hollow feeling in the pit of your stomach and your mind starts asking questions: “Is this project to big for me? Do I really have the experience required?” Those questions are fine and even answering them in the negative is fine. But please do it before you have negotiated compensation and accepted the job. Do not wait until 10 AM the day you are supposed to start to Facebook message someone in another department that you used to work with to say you are having second thoughts and won’t be coming in. Not only do you look bad, but it reflects on the people that recommended you and served as references.

There are many more I could add to this list, but these 10 are the highlighted mistakes of the last two months. Please add your own favorite “what not to do in an interview” stories below!

Part I

1. Focus on the end game. You may have been out of work for awhile, it happens to all of us. And sometimes the temptation to take any job that comes along is high. Resist playing that game. If you are senior enough for the position, you are senior enough to be thinking about your career, not just paying your bills. You have just as great a stake in making the right decision as the company does. Relax and focus on making sure this is going to be a good fit. This means being honest in your skills, expectations, and desires. It does not mean changing your story in mid-interview or between interviews.
2. Be on time. Now, generally I wouldn’t expect to have to include this one―it’s usually covered by parents or even in a class, but based on results, being on time isn’t particularly a quality that some candidates feel obligated to meet. Yes, parking is difficult. Yes, our office isn’t the easiest to find. You are a Project Manager. You are supposed to anticipate and mitigate risk―so be on time. In fact, I’d recommend you change your definition of “on-time” to “15 mins early.” It shows you anticipated everything and left enough margin in your planning. Showing up 40 minutes late without a phone call is going to get your interview canceled.
3. If you are sick, reschedule. No matter how great a fit you might be for the position, if the interviewer leaves the room thinking more about finding a dose of Airborne than about hiring you, you’ve already lost. Call early and reschedule. The interview team will appreciate and respect you for it.
4. Do not come in stoned, hung-over, or strung out. Enough said.
5. Dress up. Yes it’s an agency. Yes there are people walking by in tee-shirts and jeans. Yes you can wear the same if you are hired. I’m not saying that guys need to wear ties and girls need to wear heels, but a good rule of thumb is “dress as if you were going to an off-site client meeting.” If in doubt, ask the recruiter or hiring manager – they’ll appreciate the question and be happy to give you some advice.

Part II …including how to blow it after you’ve been offered the job!

“I put in a lot of passion, and read and blog nearly every morning (It’s 3:51am right now) before I check any email (which is paying someone else), have an editorial calendar, and am slowly writing drafts (there are 413 of them right now) each day as I collect little bits of information, or get ideas.”

My notice here is that his definition of paying himself first–blogging, is how I define his biggest contribution to the community. I don’t think it’s any accident that Jeremiah has risen to the blogger A-list over the last three years. To paraphrase something that Brian Klemmer said to me last week, “We define success as position, acquisition, and consumption and then wonder why well paid people don’t contribute and take responsibility.”

Congratulations Jeremiah on all you’ve accomplished and will continue to. Thanks for demonstrating a spirit of contribution!

Note: Jeremiah, Robert Scoble, Kevin Marks, & Mark Silva are participating in an SFAMA panel discussion on small business, tech bloggers, and social media next Thursday night. Come join us!

Bluetrain 55/85

I’m very excited - this week I received my Bluetrain print from Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid.com fame. Here is close up of the work from Hugh’s gallery site, gapingvoidgallery.com:

If you don’t know Hugh, I suggest that you take a few minutes and peruse his blog -  paying particular attention to his original How to be Creative post that is coming out soon as a book titled Ignore Everybody, The Global Microbrand, and the Hughtrain.  [Warning: The language in the accompanying cartoons may be offensive to some.]

The Hughtrain, is of course, the inspiration behind Bluetrain and itself was inspired by the Cluetrain Manifesto.

Here’s Hugh’s description of it:

In 2004, I wrote a manifesto, which was derivative of the Cluetrain. I called it the Hughtrain. Around that time, the idea that products were not just functional things to be mass produced and foisted upon consumers, really began to take on meaning for me. We human beings are here to find meaning, not just to consume stuff. and that has informed my philosophy ever since.
This “bluetrain” is a reworking of the cover of that manifesto, and an ideal that anyone who gets up in the morning, with fire in their belly will understand.

I first heard about the Hughtrain from Mark Silva, one of the co-founders of Real Branding, through a Twitter post around the fall of 07 and it immediately struck a cord. I’ve followed Hugh’s blog ever sense and was delighted to see that he was taking his idea of the Global Microbrand to the next step by making prints available. (And lucky me, I got in on some of his early pricing!)

The “Use” of Art

All that background to get to the real reason for this post: the Use of Art. Or rather, my use of this particular art. Why buy a print of something that Hugh offers freely on his website?

Here is why I did it: I needed it.

I needed a touchstone that I could look at and be reminded that human beings don’t scale. That in this economy when clients, colleagues, and vendors are stressed out and upset all around me, that I can’t afford to get caught up in the chaos again – and I know what it’s like to be caught up in the chaos. That the end game isn’t about how much money I make or ‘success” I achieve, but that is about how much of a difference I make in the lives of others.

I bought Bluetrain to remind me that despite how good or poor a job I am doing of it at any particular time, that it is my privilege and responsibility to become a better leader; to point the way and demonstrate the higher values of trust, responsibility, risk, hard work, and commitment. It’s not enough for me to just “get the job done” and meet the revenue goals.

Life requires more.

It requires that I honor others by investing in the people around me, that I call them up to a higher standard so they can both see and develop the confidence to reach for their higher potential. And it requires that I honor myself by taking care of me physically, mentally, and spiritually. It requires that I be willing to accept feedback and criticism and that I embrace the fact that while I can’t control the circumstances that I am still responsible for my experience. Or, in Hugh’s words:

The soul cannot be outsourced. Either get with the program or hire a consultant in Extinction Management. No vision, no business. Your life from now on pivots squarely on your vision of human potential.

That’s why I bought Bluetrain – and I know of no higher “use” for art.

A Tale of Two Neighbors

Last week, my girlfriend had to go out in the rain and get her dog, Pearl out of the back yard because Pearl was barking at the neighbor on the other side of the back fence. Pearl is a rescue dog and has a highly developed sense of “her” territory. It apparently extends to anything she can hear.

This neighbor, upon moving in several years ago got tired of Pearl’s barking at him every time he was in his own back yard. His solution was to throw rocks at Pearl. It was witnessed, and after being challenged,  he stopped throwing rocks. But Pearl never forgave him. As a result, he has no peace in his own back yard unless my girlfriend is home to call Pearl into the house.

When a new neighbor moved into the house next door, Pearl of course began barking at him. His response? He came over, met Pearl and brought her a cookie. There after, anytime Pearl would bark, he would talk to her over the fence using her name and occasionally throw over a cookie. This neighbor is now Pearl’s new best friend of course, so she doesn’t bark at him anymore.

Which neighbor are you?

We are in a tough economy and when people feel threatened it tends to bring out their more primitive, protective nature. You are working with and around “Pearls” every day. Any client, customer, or co-worker can fall into that role.

Yes, Pearl “shouldn’t” feel threatened. Yes, you should expect to have some peace in your own back yard. Yes, the vendor should have sent you the price list. Yes, the customer shouldn’t expect an extra round of revisions for free. Yes, your coworker should have kept his deadline.

So what?

Which are you more interested in, being “right”, or getting the results? Are you throwing rocks or cookies?

The significance and excitement of Tuesday (1/20/09) has been almost more than I can fully realize. Yes, there is great work to be done and immense problems to be solved, however; this is a rare time for me when the emotional bests the pragmatic in my own heart. I hear the calls not only from my own practical self but others to throw off the pageantry and simply get to work with the business of turning the country around, but my heart asks a basic defiant question.

Why shouldn’t we allow ourselves and our nation to celebrate the good for the same duration as we require ourselves to mourn the bad? Certainly we elected Barack Obama to lead the nation, we expect him to hit the ground running and by all indications this is exactly what he will do but I am compelled to stop and savor this moment by allowing it to sweep me up in feelings that I would typically brush aside as having little practical merit.  I feel a sense of hope and optimism and I am resolved to allow myself to experience these emotions without regret, cynicism, guilt or embarrassment.

What follows is beyond my control, but what is fully within my control is my ability to enjoy the now without hesitation, knowing full well the call to “get to work” will eventually supplant these less than pragmatic feelings. Everything we are told is important indicates that we should always look past today and into the future for inspiration or hope. If you work hard you will be promoted in the future, if you study hard you will get a better job in the future, if you are faithful you will be rewarded in the afterlife, but what these things miss is the happiness that can be experienced today.

If you are moved by Tuesday’s events I encourage you to allow yourself to get emotional and fight the urge to shake off the excitement as something which makes practical progress on the real problems facing our country impossible. Enthusiasm, optimism and hope are the fuels of change and without them the fundamental ideals of our country are impossible to achieve.