Techies often slip into a zone of strange banter where a familiar and often humdrum topic is cast into the vocabulary and context of our working day lives. This banter inevitably takes place while our brains are focused on something incredibly dull- a pressure valve, if you will, that allows us to enjoy what we’re [...]

As economic realities trickle down through the manufacturing and service supply chains, I’m starting to hear distressing news from my colleagues at other agencies. Work is beginning to dry up, either because clients realize that it’s more cost effective to bring the larger projects in-house, or because their budgets are getting cut as a result of reduced consumer spending. Everyone seems to be fairly certain that things are going to get worse before they get better, and as a result everyone is battening down their hatches to weather the expected storm.

Bad news like that is almost inevitably followed up by commiseration about how many hours they’ve had to work recently, how they’re constantly under pressure to put in more, or how their coworkers have had enough and have left for greener… or at least less stressful pastures. This in and of itself isn’t necessarily bad- we all understand the pressures of marketing and agency work, and a certain amount of dedication to the project deliverables are par for the course. Yet when weekly hours exceed 50 on a regular basis, you’re buying short term productivity by draining both current and future creativity of your talent. Speaking from experience, gradual burnout is still burnout, leaving long-term scars, and the tightening of client budgets and inevitable cannibalization of the RFP bid has resulted in even more frightening stories: Talented designers and developers are going on antidepressants because of their work load (True story, source withheld).

One of the fringe benefits of running an Adobe User Group is that we’re cut in on product and project announcements right when they hit the broader market. As a result, I attended a session last week on Adobe Genesis, an initiative which is currently in very early development, yet solid enough to be demoed [...]

With the release of Google Chrome last week many of our (and  your) clients are starting to wonder exactly what Google’s entry into the  browser market means. The release of any new software package, especially by a powerhouse  like Google, can often have broad and far reaching impact, and everyone wants  to be forewarned about what’s coming down the pike.

You have no idea how long I’ve been itching to write this post. The idea for it came into my head… oh, about 6 months ago, when it looked very likely that I was going to achieve what everyone’s told me not to: Go from the Couch to running a Marathon in less than a [...]

Let me tell you a story: Last Saturday I was feeling particularly melancholy because I knew I had to do a training run, but really had absolutely no desire or motivation to do so. I’m sure you know the feeling, it’s that “eeeeeh” apathy that comes when facing something unpleasant when there are far more interesting options available. Well, one thing lead to another and I decided to completely skip my run, but I made it a point to at least get a short bike ride in to my favorite coffee shop / office away from home. I’ve always wanted to scout out the 670 connector which supposedly connected to the Alum Creek bike path that’ll take me all the way to my favorite running/skating area down south. So I got all my stuff together, slung on my messenger bag with my laptop and hit the road.

“Avid” has to be one of my most favorite adjectives ever, because no other word really wraps together the feeling of hunger, enthusiasm and pure enjoyment that comes with really pursuing something to your fullest potential. Listen to it a few times: when someone is described as an ‘avid’ cyclist, an ‘avid’ gamer, do you automatically think they’re a professional competitor? That they’re OCD about something? No, it’s both less and more than that- almost like the person really comes alive in that domain.

Let’s speculate about immortality for a bit. It’s something that’s been on my mind a bit recently because… well, what with stem cell research and leaps in medical science, the problem of human mortality could reasonably be solved in our lifetime. I’m no doctor, and I haven’t done research on the actual progress being made, but frankly I’m far more fascinated by the potential long term ethical and social impact that this might cause. So let’s just lie back with something vision-inducing (I recommend running 20 miles) and try to glimpse the future.

Everyone seems to have a Blog these days (if not several), resulting in significantly more noise than signal in pretty much everything out there. Everyone and their brother seems to be jockying for position to be the next big name in… in what? Internet Celebritydom is a fickle and hard-to-reach goal, and more often than not is reached by pure luck than anything else. So in order to pare down this article I’m going to restrict myself to skill-based celebrities. Individuals who through their contribution to a particular field have achieved recognition and celebritydom on a level beyond the average Blogger. Chances are that you know some of these individuals in your own industry or field of expertise, and your own company would do well to be affiliated with them. They might be constantly out of the office speaking at various locations, however the fact that your company name is attached to their expertise marks you as the leader in the field. This article presents some guidelines on how to choose, contact, engage and retain such celebrities.

Two years ago, my colleague Isaac went to SXSW, and came back with a presentation on Mobile Development. In it he said that one of the greatest challenges is getting a mobile application “on deck”. “On Deck” is the term used for an application that’s available on a provider’s mobile platform, that place you goto online when you browse applications, ringtones and such, and to get something on there used to take an Act of God. Why? Because all billing had to be handled through the provider, all sales had to be done though your phone bill, and payments to third party companies had to be set up through their system (and usually required a hefty premium). In short- more trouble than it’s worth. Fact is, this is largely still the case. Yes, with greater adoption of mobile web browsers these things are becoming a lot easier, yet getting an application onto a phone remains problematic, especially if the consumer isn’t aware that you have it. The best option these days seems to be building a Mobile website, which is a far cry from a good user experience.