Last week was a quiet class for me. My students were out doing video shoots for their latest assignment, so there were just a few people hanging around, working on editing and so on. One of my students approached and sat down to ask a few questions. Nothing out of the ordinary.

A few minutes later, he struck up an interesting conversation. He said, “Nobody talks here.”

I asked what he meant. He explained that, since moving to Canada, he’s noticed that people don’t talk to each other. Standing at bus stops, waiting in line, it’s just a bunch of people, not talking. They might be fidgeting with their mobile device, plugged into their earbuds, or staring off into space, deep in their own thoughts, but they are not in any way connected to the people and things around them.

He’s absolutely right.

I’ve noticed this before too, especially since I’ve been a city dweller. Growing up in small towns, if you didn’t talk to everyone around you there was a problem. But in the city, it’s different. I’m as guilty of it as anyone. We don’t talk. We won’t talk.

Hide and Seek. We won’t talk to the people right in front of our eyes. Therefore, does it strike you as a bit strange that we are so willing to extend our hand in the online world and talk to just about anyone? There’s some weird social disconnects at play here. If you’re the guy who wants to strike up a conversation with everyone at the bus stop, people often see that as odd behaviour. But if you’re the gal who wants to chat with everyone on Facebook, then you’re a social butterfly. We stand in line at the grocery store, afraid to talk to the stranger behind us, but we bury ourselves in our iPhones instead, talking up a storm with 5000 of our closest”friends” on Twitter.

Step Away From the Device. We rave on and on about how social media has done so much to bring us together. It’s a worldwide conversation! It’s changed the way we communicate! I think in some ways, social media has merely given us tools to hide behind. For some people, especially the shyer ones, social media does make it easier to extend their hand and say hello. But, imagine, if we just took the time to look up from our BlackBerrys once in a while and say hello to the person standing next to us. Imagine how we might be brought together then.

Here is my challenge to you. At least once this week, as you go about your day, take the time to strike up a conversation with a stranger, in person. It doesn’t have to be long. It just has to be real. Don’t worry if people think you’re weird. I learned from my student that, in other cultures, you’re weird if you don’t talk to people! The philosophy is, we’re all here, in this moment, sharing whatever experience, good or bad. We might as well say hi, right? There’s a lot of wisdom in those words.

So stop. Put down your mobile device. Look around you. Smile. Say hello to whoever is there. You just never know what might happen.

Share/Save

In case you’re just tuning in, here’s what happened the other day.

Flash forward, 5:30pm today. I delicately removed my formerly soaked iPhone from its cozy rice bath, where it had spent the past 48 hours or so. I ever so carefully plugged it in.

Nothing happened.

Then, the faintest glow, of the battery recharge symbol. 15 seconds….30 seconds….45 seconds…

And there it was. The Apple logo, bright and clear as the day I got the phone and turned it on for the first time. 30 seconds….50 seconds…1 minute 20 seconds.

Home screen.

Amazing! Outstanding! Marvelous! The rice bath worked. It really, really worked! My husband is a genius!!!

As for my life without my precious mobile device the past two days? Not so bad.

Did I feel disconnected? Sure I did. Did the world end? Of course it didn’t. Did my productivity go down? Marginally.

The truth is though, I’m glad to have my technology back.

Does it seem ridiculous to you that I’m even writing this? After all, what’s the big deal? It’s just a tool. And as I’ve said before, it’s not about the tools. To some of you, it probably seems sort of silly that I’m putting so much emphasis on this event.

In the end, of course I could live without my technology. We all could.

What I do know is, I choose not to live without it. Because it adds a dimension of productivity, and connection, and fun to my work and my play. And I’m grateful that I get to have access to these wonderful tools.

And I’m not about to give it up any time soon.

Share/Save

This is a true story.

Last night, I was in the bathroom. I washed my hands, then leaned over the (yes, it was clean!) toilet to grab a Kleenex. In one fell swoop, my iPhone slid from the pocket of my hoodie and…..kerplop. Yes. Ker. Plop.

I panicked, grabbed the sopping wet phone from the water (did I mention, the toilet was CLEAN??). I dried it off as best I could with a towel. The screen was a dull flicker, from the Apple logo to nothing…Apple logo…nothing. Now, before the incident, the phone itself was completely dead – the battery had just died and I was on my way to plug it in to the charger for the night. So, at this time I have no way of knowing if it’s going to be okay or not.

I’m slightly reassured by a similar incident that happened to a friend last week, where her iPhone ended up running through an entire washing machine cycle, and came out totally, totally fine. My hubby immediately went online to try and find out what we could do. As a result, my iPhone is currently getting a 48 hour rice bath, and I’m crossing my fingers.

But here’s the interesting part.

I’m more upset than I thought I’d be.

It’s not the phone itself that I’m grieving. What’s causing my emotional distress is what the phone does for me.

That device is my phone, yes, but that’s the part I use the least. It’s also my Email on the road, my To Do list, Calendar, Weather Map, Daily News, Text Messaging service, and myriad other useful things. My mobile device is fully integrated into my life. Some things are a comfortable habit – I have a wake up routine, where I pick up my phone, and, still in bed, read the news, and if I’m not feeling like getting up right away, maybe I check Twitter, Email, Facebook and the like.

This morning, I reached over, and my phone wasn’t there. So I just got out of bed. It felt a bit weird. I’m sure as I go through the day today, I’ll reach for it some more. Instead of checking my phone when I’m waiting in line at the coffee shop, I’ll have to do something else. Instead of replying to emails while I’m out and about today, I’ll have to wait till I get home to my computer.

Now, there is a certain segment of the population who will probably tell me all that is a good thing. We’re too attached to our technology anyway. We don’t have to be “on” 24/7. But here’s the thing. Having a mobile device with me as I go through my day makes me much more productive. I’m tracking tasks, scheduling appointments, replying to emails, communicating via text with my team, and keeping up on the days’ events all while I am on the go. I steal moments here and there to do these things, so nothing piles up. As a result, my inbox is always relatively clear, and my schedule is always relatively sane.

What I’m worried about (particularly if the rice bath doesn’t work and I have to go shopping for a new smart phone) is that the failure of my technology is going to cause my systems to fail too. That what’s already going to be a busy and stressful week will be made more so because I can’t manage my information on the fly.

Then again..maybe it will teach me some new ways of doing things.

I’m not upset about my phone. That’s just a thing, and things can be replaced. I’m upset about the impact it has on my systems. But, because I always try to see the positive side of any situation, I’m going to look at this as an experiment – to see if I can improve my systems, by having them ripped out from under me.

And, in the meantime, I have this very cute little retro Motorola V300 that my husband found laying around. I’ve decided I’m going to choose the cheesiest ring tone available, and hope that lots of people call me, just so I can feel all 2005. I’ll have the sheer, er….joy of typing text messages on a 10 button phone pad again.

You know what? At least I still have a phone, and at least I have text messages. Those systems are intact. We’ll see about the rest after a few days.

Wish me luck!

UPDATE: The Motorola phone has seen better days. So, my business partner is kindly lending me her old BlackBerry Pearl to use in the meantime. Feeling a little better that at least I’ll have email on the go. And a QWERTY keyboard.

Share/Save

As some of you may know, hubby and I did our annual road trip to Indiana at the end of March to attend the Horrorhound Weekend convention. That convention, for us, is about so much more than movie screenings, shopping at vendor booths, and spotting the odd celebrity. It’s in a big way, an opportunity for us to see some of the fantastic friends we’ve made over the past few years.

One group in particular, is a team of podcasting friends who produce a show called Night of the Living Podcast. Dubbed as “a show dedicated to all things horror”, NOTLP is a weekly romp through horror, news, pop culture, and general hilarity. The 5 hosts (Freddy, Amy, Andy, Erica, Kelley and Chiseck) all hail from Cincinnati and bring equal parts of movie knowledge, horror culture and random silliness to the show. It’s hysterical and entertaining and totally Not Safe For Work (which makes it even more lovable).

Greg and I have been fans for years, and we’re fortunate to have become good friends with this amazing group of people. People who let two complete strangers who they met on the Internet into their home 3 years ago. Complete strangers who wanted to make a documentary about them. That involved re-enactments of bludgeoning and other ghastly things. People who spend a good majority of time watching horror movies (so they should know better). But, Cincinnatians are known to be kind, welcoming and generous people. And they figured, “Heck, Greg and Sue are Canadian. There are no psychos in Canada, right?” Heh heh.

Which is why the review I’m about to post is completely and utterly biased.

A few weeks ago, NOTLP released their iPhone app. I personally love, love LOVE when podcasters release iPhone apps. I think it’s one of the most effective ways to distribute (albeit to a “closed” audience of iPhone users, but NOTLP knows their audience!). I’m more inclined to listen to their show on a whim now, when I’m waiting in line, in the car, etc. because it’s literally there, at the push of a button. No loading iTunes, no waiting for syncs. Plus, they’ve included some great features, like the Episode Extras, that includes Wallpapers, a Web Site Link, Tell a Friend, and my personal favourite, Play in Background. There are also lots of contact options, including email, Twitter, Facebook but also the “Call The Show” button, which puts you through to their Viewer Feedback line. I can also star my favourite episodes (which is useful for NOTLP since they’ve done 178 shows).

Now, the App is $1.99 at the iTunes store. Some people grumble a bit when podcasters start charging for things. After all, I can download and listen for free at iTunes, right? The thing is, in this case, you’re not paying $1.99 for the content – you’re paying for the method of distribution.  iPhone apps are designed for convenience. I’m one click from the content now, instead of 10 clicks and a sync. To me, that convenience means a lot. It’s one of the main reasons I own an iPhone. Not to mention, the NOTLP app itself is gorgeous, and the user experience for me is a big part. But if paying for apps is not your thing, yes, you can still get the whole shebang for free at the iTunes store. It’s your call.

More media makers need to consider their distribution methods. With the trend towards new interfaces (like tablet computing), it’s going to be more important than ever to find new ways to distribute content. NOTLP are a small group of podcasters from the Midwest who are, in my opinion, crushing it in the media making space. We should all learn from the great example they are setting.

Share/Save

The other night I went to a party. There were probably about 40 people in and out of the place the whole night. Oddly, I knew only about 6 or 7 of them (unusual for this particular circle). We had lots of fun, the wine was flowing, the food was delicious, and our hostess with the mostest was gracious as always.

At one point, I stood back in the corner to observe the scene, as I often like to do at such minglings. Something very odd struck me. Not one person was reading their Blackberry. Not one person was checking their iPhone. Nobody had a Bluetooth headset sticking out of their ear. And there certainly wasn’t a MacBook to be found in the place.

Lately, I’ve been going to a lot of social gatherings with other techno-geeky types. At these types of parties, the technology flows as plentiful as the wine. People are texting, Twittering, taking digital photos and posting them to Flickr, and of course, laptops abound. It’s just part of our culture. We’d never do these things in mixed company  (well, most of us wouldn’t), but don’t consider it rude or antisocial when we’re around each other.

It’s not that the people at this party were not computer folk – quite the contrary. I met IT specialists, communications and PR people, and programmers. It’s just that they aren’t necessarily as IN to all this social media stuff as I am. As you might be.

As I struck up conversations with people and got around to the inevitable “what do you do?” part of the conversation, people were interested in what I do with Web and video. I mentioned some video podcast projects we are working on. Another friend mentioned a social media consulting gig I’m working on with her. I got a variety of reactions, from the “Hey cool, we need to talk” to the sort of blank stare, polite, “oh, that’s neat”.

It made me realize something really important, talking to all of these people. I’ve talked about the social media bubble here before. I firmly believe that we get so caught up in all this social media stuff that we forget that there is a vast portion of the population that has no idea what we are talking about. It’s not through any fault of their own – in fact, it’s probably partly OUR fault that they don’t know more about it, or care more about it.

Here’s a couple of interesting observations I made through the conversations I had that night:

Social Media Ain’t for Everyone. One group of people got to talking about Twitter that evening (at no prompting from me, I might add!). One of the members of the group said “Twitter? Yah I’ve heard of it. I have no use for something like that.” She made an interesting point. Social media isn’t for everyone. And because it isn’t for everyone, we still need multiple channels to talk to everyone. And that, my friends, is the reason why things like TV and newspaper aren’t really on death’s doorstep as much as people inside the bubble like to imagine them to be.

Social Media is Still a Mystery. Of the people I had conversations with about technology and communications, several of them were interested in finding out more about how all this stuff works. The truth is, a lot of people out there still only use the Web for email and to find company web sites, and MAYBE some online shopping. Heck, I talked to one person who still uses dial-up because she “wasn’t online enough to justify the cost of high speed”. Not online enough? Does that still happen? ;-) My point is, if you are IN to technology, then social networks and blogs and podcasting and Twittering and such is second nature. You can’t imagine life without it. Truth is, life DOES exist without these things. This online community stuff is still a mystery to a lot of people. Does it mean that we need to go out there and evangelize till we’re blue in the face, “converting” everyone we meet? (Grasshoppa, follow me…I will show you the ways of the Interwebz…)

Absolutely not.

What it DOES mean, is we need to have REAL conversations with people about the things that matter to them. Then, and only then, will we see if any of this social media stuff would be beneficial to helping them to meet their goals. If I go to a party and an insurance salesman comes up to me and starts to immediately sell me insurance that I don’t need, I’m not going to spend much time talking to him. Same holds true for me. If I walk up to everyone I know and start pimping social media as the must-have, be all and end all of existence, I’m not going to make a lot of friends.

Don’t ever assume that everyone is going to care about social media. Some may very well care, and if helping people with social media is part of your business, you’ll definitely want to find another time to connect with those people on that level. But the truth is, some may not really care at all. But that’s okay too. You can still be friends. Because there’s more to life than social media. And those “offline” friends you have just might help to open your eyes to some things you’ve never noticed from your cozy spot inside the bubble.

Share/Save