Update on Republic Wireless Beta

By On March 30, 2012 · Leave a Comment

I received this email from Republic Wireless. If you missed their Beta and you would like to try the service, please read and act. (this is in continuation to my post on 12/14 World Wi-Fi number for FREE from Republic Wireless)

Republic Wireless Beta Notifications
Republic Wireless Optimus

Hi there,

Some pretty exciting things are happening at republic wireless. We’re writing you because you said you were interested in knowing about upcoming news.

We wanted to make sure you saw Brian’s recent blog post, which includes news about next phones, saving money before you make the jump, and you guessed it… when beta will reopen. Find that and more in the March Update.

Don’t forget to jump in community and give us feedback or let us answer any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

 

Yours,

republic wireless
 

How to View notes privately, while delivering a PowerPoint presentation

By On March 7, 2012 · 1 Comment

Today I tried to Google, how I can see the notes in my presentation while I am presenting using a live meeting on the other screen and no one else can see those notes. After some research I landed on a documentation on Microsoft that helped to achieve this. It is highly useful feature and worth knowing by anyone who spends lot of time presenting either live on different screen/projector or in virtual meeting (LiveMeeting, WebEx etc.) This post will help anyone who wants to know “how to view notes while presenting powerpoint”

View Notes Privately on other screen

MS PowerPoint has a Presenter View, which is a great way to view your presentation with speaker notes on one computer, while your audience views the notes-free presentation on a different monitor/projector. You can also use a a pen to annotate during the presentation. Please find the greater details on Microsoft site for PowerPoint Support.

The article helps to describe the following:

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Power of Feedback

By On March 6, 2012 · Leave a Comment

One of the most crucial items in a Manager-Team Member relation is feedback. I have personally seen and experienced the power of feedback numerous times. I have been at both the sides of receiving and giving of feedback. So must be you too, sometime or the other on one of the sides of feedback as a kid-parent, manager-team member, teacher-student etc. All my great experiences in life have been in relations where feedback was flowing. Definitely it is not easy to make the feedback flow on either side but whenever I have seen it flowing, I have seen strong teams, relations or partnerships.  The most common aspect of feedback is, we all are mostly afraid of receiving it as well as giving it. If we are receiving feedback we are afraid of a negative feedback and if giving we are afraid of the reaction if the feedback is not positive. I have always understood the power of feedback hence have heavily relied of receiving and giving feedback. I would say I am little high on receiving feedback. If you have recently received a feedback (positive feedback,or negative feedback) and you are trying to understand how to react or would like to read about the power of feedback or you are trying to understand if and how to give negative feedback; please read the notes below:

I recently attended a webinar “The Power of Feedback” by  Carole Robin, Ph.D. and organized by Stanford GSB

Here are the notes that I captured  as I completely agree with the speaker on this topic as I have practiced this infinite number of times in my personal and professional life and it has worked each and every time.

Feedback is good as:

  • Human beings are intentional animals
  • Embedded self-disclosure
  • Builds relationship
  • Pinches before crunches: It helps to handle the problem as it starts and not let it become very big.
  • Promotes intellectual honesty: if we provide feedback regularly it helps us to share the honest feedback and saving lot of money by not needing to involve consultants
  • Key to development More feedback helps both the parties to evolve and create leaders

Even when feedback is so good why is it so rare?

The reason is the mental models we hold and/or we lack the skill to receive or give a feedback.

Mental Models: 

Positive:

Disingenuous, suspicious, binding. These are the beliefs that we hold based on past experiences. We overlearn from our experiences and we stopped giving those.

Constructive: (we are reluctant to give constructive feedback so that we don’t)

Hurt, Discomfort, disrupt, other “turn table”

Lack of skill:

In every interaction there are many realities. We are not able to capture the complete picture in any interaction. In the illustration below,Person A and B have their own realities and a net of common realities that they may understand about each other.

Power of Feedback - Mental model

Mental Model

When Person A is giving feedback (s)he is aware of their own needs, motive, situation and the common reality only and totally unaware of person B’s reality.

Power of Feedback - Sender does not understand the receiver's realities

When person B receives the feedback (s)he is not aware of person A’sneeds, motive and situation but only aware of their own feelings, reactions, responses and the common reality.

Power of Feedback - Receiver does not understand the sender realities

As none of the parties have a complete picture it is highly complex to give or receive a feedback properly.

What happens if they don’t stay on their side of the net and go over the net. They would be able to understand the other side of the net too. The giver would understand the feelings, reactions and responses of the receiver while the receiver will understand the needs, motives and situation of the giver. This helps to remove all the guess work and understand the complete picture and a great feedback. Whichever side you are on, If you go over the net and try to clarify things become better.

 

Power of Feedback - Go over the NET

HOLD BACK YOUR MENTAL MODEL AND PRACTICE THE SKILL OF GOING OVER THE NET.YOU WILL SEE HOW WELL YOU RECEIVE AND GIVE FEEDBACK.

The speaker shared a mantra that she uses all the time:  Tell yourself always that “Feedback is a gift”  and train yourself to say ” Thanks for saying something” to anyone providing you a feedback.

Here are few other great points about feedback that the speaker shared:

The feedback should be

  • Behavior specific
  • Impact on me
  • Benefit to you
  • Builds emotional bank account
  • Note meaningless platitude
  • Beware of sandwich (share bad with good): Don’t mush a negative feedback with a positive one. The person receiving will not be able to understand what to take positive or negative and most of the times they end up taking the negative only.

When you compliment don’t just say “great job”.  Be more specific and add value and weight to your compliment.

GIVING FEEDBACK:

    • Speak to their interest
    • People view selves as reasonable
    • Stay on your side of the net

RECEIVING FEEDBACK

    • Listen for understanding
    • Accept over the net; use model
    • Move to problem solving
    • Say when had enough
    • Maintain gift mindset

Goal of feedback is to Move to joint problem solving. When providing feedback always remember, DEFENSIVENESS is Normal AND  desirable. When the receiver becomes defensive always assure them that “I know it is not so easy to get this feedback”.

-Enjoy

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2012 Digital Marketing Events

By On March 1, 2012 · Leave a Comment

A list of Digital Marketing Events in 2012 for anyone who plans or is interested to attend any Digital Marketing Event and Conferences.

Event Name Location Date Event Description (From Event Websites)
Emerging Media Conference San Francisco, CA Jan. 23-26 Discussion topics covered by industry professionals will be the focus while presentations of numerous emerging media technologies will be offered daily for attendees to not only watch and learn, but also participate in. All discussions will concentrate on the latest trends with audience-driven participation encouraged and expected. 
Online Marketing Summit San Diego, CA Feb. 6-12 Join over 1,000 of your marketing and internet peers and hear from industry-leading expert practitioners, teaching best practices in the areas of: social media, search (SEO and PPC), demand generation, conversion, email, analytics, integrated marketing, mobile, online advertising, affiliate marketing, ecommerce and website strategy. 
The Social Media Strategies Summit Las Vegas, NV Feb. 7-9 Social Media Strategies Summit has been designed to apply to a variety of industries. In an effort to meet attendees’ learning objectives, it is built in six tracks, each outlined to focus on a particular industry. Each track includes sessions focused on the following categories: Corporate Case Studies; Community Engagement and Customer Service; Measurements, including analytics, ROI and tools; Sales Approach; Legal Risks & Strategies; and Marketing Strategies & Tactics.
Email Marketing Summit 2012  Las Vegas, NV Feb. 7-10 Whether you’re involved in B2B, B2C, operations, creative, strategy, small business, multinational or agency marketing, Email Summit 2012 will bring you cutting-edge case studies, training, how-tos and research that will address your specific email marketing needs.
PubCon Honolulu, HI Feb. 14-15 Pubcon Paradise 2012, supported by the industry’s leading businesses, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors involved in social media, Internet marketing, search engines and online advertising, will offer a multiple-day look at the future of technology presented by many of the world’s top speakers. 
Social Media for PR and Corporate Communications Conference  Las Vegas, NV Feb. 14-16 Conference to cover how to engage customers, employees and the media in a digital world.
OnMedia New York, NY Feb. 21-22 OnMedia NYC is where cutting-edge technology CEOs from the back streets of Silicon Valley meet the global advertising and media establishment. This two-and-a-half-day executive event features CEO presentations and high-level debates on which forces are disrupting user behavior and creating new opportunities in the marketing, branding, advertising and public relations industries.
SearchFest 2012 Portland, OR Feb. 24  Industry experts and thought leaders from around the country deliver in-depth presentations ranging from basic SEM and social media fundamentals to specific advanced techniques.
SES London London, England Feb. 20-24 SES London is the leading search marketing conference in Europe and continues to get bigger each year. Bringing together the industry’s brightest minds and most seasoned practitioners, it truly is a wealth of search and online marketing nuggets.
Email Evolution Conference Hollywood, FL Feb. 22-24 For the past four years, the Email Evolution Conference has focused on the ever-changing and evolving world of email marketing, providing you with the best ways to capitalize on the high ROI this low-cost communication tool can provide both on its own, and integrated with social, search, mobile, video and other email enhancers.
Inbound Marketing Summit New York, NY Feb. 28-29 With a unique mix of inspirational speakers like Chris Brogan, Laura Fitton, Tim Hayden and Barry Libert, cutting-edge content and real-world case studies, IMS is where innovative marketing and media professionals meet face to face, participate in sessions and network with their peers. 
Search Marketing Expo West San Jose, CA Feb. 28-March 1 Participate in your choice of more than 60 sessions on search engine optimization (SEO), paid search advertising (PPC), social media marketing, local and mobile search, landing page conversions and more. Whether you are a beginner or SEM expert, you work at (or with) an agency or manage search marketing in house, SMX West has programming to fit your needs. 
SXSW Interactive Austin, TX March 9-13 Dynamic speakers and compelling daytime content provide the heart of the SXSW Interactive Festival. While this content covers many different aspects of new media technology, creative solutions for a better tomorrow serves as the underlying theme of all SXSW programming. 
SES New York New York, NY March 19-23 SES Conference & Expo is the leading global event series that educates delegates in search and social marketing, putting a special focus on tactics and best practices. SES events provide instruction from the industry’s top experts, including representatives from the search engines themselves. 
International Search Summit Munich, Germany March 29 The International Search Summit is back for its second year alongside SMX London. It will cover a range of SEO, PPC and social topics, and feature speakers with experience in international search. 
Social Tech ’12 Seattle, WA March 29-30 SocialTech is designed specifically for B2B marketers who want to get the most out of social media marketing for their businesses.
PRSA Digital Impact Conference New York, NY April 2-3 The Digital Impact Conference will be attended by public relations, communications and digital media professionals seeking guidance, inspiration and ingeniousness from leaders of the digital media revolution.
Ad:Tech San Francisco San Francisco, CA April 3-4 Ad:Tech is an interactive advertising and technology conference and exhibition. Worldwide shows blend keynote speakers, topic-driven panels and workshops to provide attendees with the tools and techniques they need to compete in a changing world.
2012 Nonprofit Technology Conference San Francisco, CA April 3-5 This three-day gathering brings together nonprofit professionals from around the world to collaborate, innovate and maximize effectiveness. With a wide mix of social events, seminars, trainings and resources, the 2012 NTC will help you put technology to work to further your cause. 
2012 International Social Media & PR Summit  Amsterdam, The Netherlands April 11-12 Conference will cover best practices to connect with your customers using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+; how to use social media to engage brand ambassadors inside and outside your organization; how to build measurement into your social media and ensure you can evaluate your progress; and how to give your organization the tools to embrace the mantra ‘content is the new marketing.’
Ad Age’s Digital Conference New York, NY April 17-18 Ad Age Digital strives to showcase the best and most interesting digital innovation, highlight how technology is changing consumer behavior and what’s working for marketers, all while looking forward at how the landscape will continue to unfold.
Forrester’s Marketing Leadership Forum Los Angeles, CA April 18-19 Forrester’s Marketing Leadership and Customer Intelligence Forums 2012 will empower you, the marketer, to achieve competitive advantage in the age of the customer. Turn up the heat from lukewarm experimentation to fully baked strategies that deliver results. At this event, you will hear case studies from industry leaders and see demonstrations from leading and innovative companies that will show you what works on the path from cool to mission-critical.
Mirren New Business Conference New York, NY May 1-3  This event is for agencies serious about taking immediate steps to improve their businesses.
Forrester’s Interactive Marketing Summit 2012 London, England May 3 As the professionals responsible for all digital marketing efforts, interactive marketers must tie customer knowledge into relevant marketing messages, deliver a single, personal brand experience to each customer, drive marketing decisions in real time, and manage an increasingly complex technology ecosystem. Only via these efforts will you master engagement across digital touch points. Forrester’s Interactive Marketing Summit 2012 will empower you with the knowledge and skills to address these challenges and drive competitive advantage.
SOBCon Chicago, IL May 4-6 The Successful Online Business Conference (SOBCon) is the think tank of the social web where some of the best minds in the Internet space gather to present models, discuss insights and determine best practices.
Digital Summit Atlanta, GA May 9-10 Conference topics include mobile, usability, social media, online advertising, search, analytics, email, ecommerce, online video and more.
TedXEast New York, NY May 11 TEDxEast is a small community of TEDsters and other luminaries who are passionate about technology, entertainment and design. 
Confab Minneapolis, MN May 14-16 Confab plays a major role in driving the content strategy conversation forward. The conference tackles content challenges, and provides a forum for discovery and change.
TechCrunch DISRUPT NYC New York, NY May 21-23 Event features lively stage debates showcasing industry experts, and a Battlefield Startup Competition.
Social Media Results London, England May 22 This one-day conference will cover how to build profitable, long-term customer relationships, and clearly demonstrate real results with integrated, targeted and engaging social media strategies.
Search Marketing Expo Advanced Seattle, WA June 5-6 SMX Advanced is the only search marketing conference designed exclusively for experienced internet marketers. Sessions are fast-paced, Q&A-packed, frequently controversial and informative.
BlogWorld & New Media Expo New York, NY June 5-7 Learn how to create better content, and grow your brand, audience and revenue online from the world’s most successful new media experts and social media innovators.
info360 New York, NY June 13-14 Learn How to manage exploding information from ever growing sources including collaboration and social media platforms, How to find the right people and data solutions across the organization to help you do your job, How to execute an online content strategy to control the brand and message on your company website, How to choose the new breed of enterprise apps while expanding your cloud infrastructure, How to get employees to work together more efficiently and communicate better—even when your team is spread out across the globe
Inbound Marketing Summit San Francisco, CA June 12-13 IMS is returning to San Francisco this summer with an expanded focus on content marketing, mobile technologies and the latest social tools and tricks. 
140 Characters Conference New York, NY June 19-20 #140conf NYC is expected to be the largest worldwide gathering of people interested in the effects of the real-time Internet on both business and the people.
HubSpot Inbound 2012 Boston, MA Aug. 27-30 INBOUND is a 3-day marketing conference and training event designed to help marketing professionals, business owners and agency executives deepen their knowledge of inbound marketing through a combination of inspiring keynote presentations, focused breakout sessions, expert-led small group workshops, innovative product demos, and exciting networking activities.
Content Marketing World Columbus, OH Sept. 4-6 Content Marketing World is the largest gathering of content marketing professionals in the world. The 2011 event brought together more than 600 marketing professionals from 18 different countries.
TechCrunch DISRUPT SF San Francisco, CA Sept. 10-12 Event features lively stage debates showcasing industry experts, and a Battlefield Startup Competition.
Dreamforce San Francisco, CA Sept. 18-21 Dreamforce brings together all the leaders in cloud computing to collaborate, connect and inspire.
Ad:Tech London London, England Sept. 19-20 Ad:Tech London will reveal the latest digital trends and market figures, share best practice and address industry challenges.
Search Marketing Expo East New York, NY Oct. 2-4 Attend SMX East and you’ll take away tactics that increase traffic to your website, and increase conversions and sales. Choose from 50+ sessions on search engine marketing topics, including search engine optimization, paid search advertising and social media marketing on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. 
DMA Las Vegas, NV Oct. 13-18 DMA brings practitioners and experts from the entire marketing continuum to discuss solutions and best practices to achieve optimal channel mix and integration that lead to measurable results and increase real-time customer engagement.
PubCon Las Vegas, NV Oct 16-19 Pubcon Paradise 2012, supported by the industry’s leading businesses, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors involved in social media, Internet marketing, search engines and online advertising, will offer a multiple-day look at the future of technology presented by many of the world’s top speakers. 
Inbound Marketing Summit Boston, MA Oct. 24-25 The Inbound Marketing Summit is where the online marketing community gathers to solve today’s marketing and business communications challenges. This event features the brightest minds in the business, including world-renowned authors and practitioners, as well as leaders from some of the companies already using the new tools and strategies. 
Ad:Tech East New York, NY Nov. 7-8 Ad:Tech is an interactive advertising and technology conference and exhibition. Worldwide shows blend keynote speakers, topic-driven panels and workshops to provide attendees with the tools and techniques they need to compete in a changing world.
Web 2.0 Summit TBD Mar 26-29 The Web 2.0 Summit brings the intelligence, innovation, and leadership of the Internet industry together in one place at one time. Visionaries and executives across key industries will present their unique perspective on the web’s future-in-flux and how the tools and principles of Web 2.0 are impacting their businesses. 
Social TBD TBD A Radian6 user conference, Social 2012 is designed for people who oversee and implement social media programs.
FutureM Boston, MA TBD MITX’s FutureM is an intellectual marketing mash-up: a five-day long offering of events, discussions and parties throughout the Greater Boston area. FutureM brings the community together to contemplate and celebrate the future of marketing, and Massachusetts’ role in helping to realize it.
WOMMA Summit TBD Nov. 2012 The Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s Annual Summit is the only word of mouth marketing conference where research and measurement integrate with online social media and offline conversations. WOMMA Summit is a year-end review of best and next practices in word or mouth and social media marketing in addition to future trends. WOMMA Summit showcases thought leadership from some of the innovative and forward-thinking brands in WOM and social media marketing today.

Source: Respective Event Sites and especially the list downloaded from pro2020

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Leave a Trail of The Genius

By On December 15, 2011 · 2 Comments
1000 things on a shelf

Slide from Aaron's deck

Few months back I got a chance to listen to my mentor’s mentor, Mr. Prashant Pala. He was sharing a lesson from life. Mr. Prashant Pala is a highly successful entrepreneur and a great visionary. Every time I have got a chance to talk to Prashant or listen him I have gathered a few years of wisdom in few short minutes. At such a young age I could never imagine anyone having so much of wisdom.

Lets get back to where i started, I was talking about life lessons. The same lesson came back to me few days ago while listening to a speaker at An Event Apart. It was Mr. Aaron Walter, talking on subject “From Idea to Interface”. He shared how twitter came to existence. To cut the story short, the concept of idea came to its founder almost 6 years before it came into existence. The founder didn’t let the idea die when he got it and all whom he shared it with ridiculed him. He put the idea onto paper which was used years later. Aaron talked about “1000 things on the Shelf”. He Talked about letting all your ideas be noted and shelved so that you can take them out when a right time comes.

The twitter Idea on paper

Twitter on paper, mark of a genius

As a very successful, genius person says ” Luck is when Opportunity meets Preparedness”.

The same was shared by Mr. Prashant Pala when he was talking about “leave a trail of a genius”. He was sharing that always carry a notebook and pen. As soon as you get any idea or good though in your mind, note it down. Once you write those down you give your ideas a chance to live else so many thoughts (and many of them great ones) come to our minds but are lost before we may even think about them. That is what makes the genius different from most of us. While a genius will always note them down, most of us will let it die, everyday and every time.

Leave a trail of a genius! Give your ideas a chance to live. Don’t let your thoughts die.

I Wish the best to the Genius inside you.
-Rohit

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What is clutter

On December 15, 2011 By

World Wi-Fi number for FREE from Republic Wireless

On December 14, 2011 By

SEO: Does hosting and site performance matters?

On December 2, 2011 By

Change is a Process, not a Project

On November 18, 2011 By

What a Great Use of Internet Search

On October 21, 2011 By