Batman Factor Increasing

/

During the cold months, I wear a heavy jacket that looks like something Gunga Dan might have worn as a winter coat.  It's got pockets all over the place, which leaves plenty of room for mobile devices.  Problem is, when the spring and summer roll around, I haven't the faintest idea where to put all my gadgets, since they all won't fit into my pants pockets.  Makes me wonder what I'll do after April - perhaps a man purse.Anyway, here's what I tend to carry around on my person these days:

  • 60GB iPod Video
  • Blackberry 8700
  • Sony T10 digital camera
  • Olympus digital voice recorder
  • Sony PSP

I've tried to do without these devices, but it's better to have easy access to them than to leave them at home or at the office.  My iPod has so many great uses, from bringing me podcasts to listen to on the train and plane to giving me access to my entire music collection whenever I want it to deflecting the unwanted grandkid stories coming from the woman sitting next to me on public transportation.  The Blackberry is irreplaceable - no other good way to keep up with office e-mail when I'm commuting.  I keep the camera and voice recorder with me to record thoughts and things that happen around me for later posting here and elsewhere.  And the PSP is, well, a PSP.  (I recently acquired the Corvette in Need For Speed: Underground Rivals.)

I'd keep the Batman Factor down, but I pretty much need everything in my utility belt.

Not Dead

/

There's been so much going on at the office, I haven't had time to blog.  Between getting prepared for the iMedia Summit, dealing with the work that accumulated while Eric and I were there, pitching a bunch of new business, wrapping up the last of the 2007 plans and generally winding down for the year, there's a tsunami of activity that will keep me scrambling right up until Christmas. I promise to pick things up, though.

So Swamped... Read This Instead

/

There is something about an iMedia Summit that attracts calls from clients.  They must sense that we were out of the office.  We're still digging out here at Underscore, but I did want to say some words about the summit while I've got a few spare minutes. First off, the content was the best I'd ever experienced.  This one blew away even the eye-opening slate of speakers from Beaver Creek three years ago (the one that Bob Garfield keynoted).  Kudos to the iMedia team for getting some kick-ass speakers.  They got me out of a conference funk that usually left me wandering out of a general session all pissed off because no one was talking about marketing, but instead were talking about the interactive media flavor of the month.

Secondly, Don Schultz was amazing.  His speech was a huge validation of the Conversational Marketing practice here at Underscore.  And it was exactly that disruptive, Get-Your-Heads-Out-Of-Your-Collective-Asses type of thing that we needed to get companies thinking about how they're going to cope with the impending shift toward bottom-up marketing.  Brad Berens deserves extra-special thanks for getting this guy to the conference so he could articulate what some of us were thinking.  Go read his interview.  Now.  Hurry. Thirdly, iMedia didn't disappoint with respect to the attendence of heavy-hitters and friends alike.  Most of the usual gang of interactive philosophers were there, with one notable exception being Dave Smith, who decided to actually celebrate his anniversary this year.  Almost everyone brought their A-team, and when they didn't, other attendees took note.

What a great time.  Thanks to Rick, Brad, Masha, Josh, Pubie, Mario and the rest of the iMedia gang for putting together a terrific conference.