Using Technology to Enjoy a Little More Sunshine This Summer

By Kim Tarasiewicz

As we move into summer, everyone wants more free time to enjoy the wonderful weather and outdoors. And believe it or not, technology can help with that. While technology can keep us connected when we might wish to be off the grid, it also allows us time to work when we are able and not miss important calls, meetings or emails.

At Furia Rubel, we savor our vacation time as much as the next person and we have found some tech tools to save time and be more efficient – and in my case, provide more of my beloved beach time.

Here are some favorites:

IFTTT is an app that lets you combine all of your favorite online technologies. The acronym means “If this, then that” and it allows you to create your own recipes such as “If I post a picture to Instagram, then add it to my Dropbox.” Imagine the time you can save not having to log into each separate application. Even better, you can sign up for a free account and connect your services.

Workflow (for iPhones) and Llama (for Androids) both allow you to connect applications and then combine actions to create automatic tasks. For example, you can set your phone to automatically be on silent when your calendar has you scheduled in a meeting. Or on a personal level, every time you order pizza with an app, it automatically sets a reminder time to pick it up.

Gmail labs are special settings that add helpful features to your Gmail. By going into the “settings” icon at the top right of your Gmail and clicking on "labs," you can manage your email more efficiently. As Gmail states in the disclaimer at the top, these tweaks aren’t permanent, but they are fun to experiment with. "Canned responses" is a great tool for all those times you use the same wording in an email. You can create several and use when needed. And of course the “unsend” feature recently was introduced into the Gmail mix, so when you accidentally hit the send button before attaching your document, you don’t have to send another email with the apology and a big “Oops.”

Carrot is a task application that rewards you when you complete items on your list, but will chastise you when they are not finished on time. As Carrot says, “Greetings lazy human. Slackers make me upset.” It is a fun way to get things done during the day. And if you like an app that interacts with you, it has an alarm, fitness, weather and calorie counter version too.

So get out and enjoy summer this year and experiment with some new technologies and applications. You may find a few that can increase your productivity, making everyone happy. In what other ways do you save time and work and live more efficiently?

Cover Girls: Furia Rubel Executives Featured on Cover of W4 Magazine

In December 2012, the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce featured several influential Bucks County, Pa. executives on the cover of its monthly member publication, W4. Gina Rubel and Laura Powers were highlighted for their dedicated service to supporting the organization through technologies such as websites, apps and promotions. Click here to see the cover in full.

New Rules for Experienced Pros

In the Career Development section of The Strategist spring 2008 issue, Robert L. Dilenschneider discusses the importance of experience in the realm of PR, stating that there is “no substitute for invaluable experience.” Dilenschneider is the founder and principal of the Dilenschneider Group, Public Relations firm where the average employee is older than 50.

Nevertheless, Dilenschneider acknowledges the ever-changing career climate and divulges new “power rules” for aged PR Pros. Dilenschneider says, “technology is an area that young people take to naturally and an older professional would do well to sharpen his or her skills.” He recommends professionals should comprehensively understand how to use search engines, blogs, iPod downloads or mass Internet postings.

On the other hand, Dilenschneider recognizes the downside of the recent high-tech revolution, sighting too many people with “minimal writing skills” who “do not take the time to think logically and critically.” Therefore, it is crucial to “connect directly with people” and to have the ability to “fashion information into a compelling story or argument.”

Mr. Dilenschneider has authored eight books, the most recent being 50 Plus!-Critical Career Decisions for the Rest of Your Life. Additional tips from his book can be found in Robert L. Dilenschneider’s article The New Power Rules PR Pros Should Know About.

Apple iPhone & AT&T vs. Google gPhone & Verizon

The iPhone made a grand entrance and splash in the consumer product industry in 2007. Since AT&T was the only U.S. carrier able to capitalize on this successful product, it has left a bitter taste in many mobile carriers’ mouth; Verizon Wireless being one of them.

Google recognizes the disdain of many mobile carriers and is looking at Verizon Wireless to help make a splash in the wireless industry. Reuters.com reported that current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart stated, “If Google is going to make a splash, it’s going to have to say (to operators) ‘offer our phones and we’ll share the revenue’.”

If Google truly believes that a long key factor of their growth is in the wireless market, making concessions with America’s large mobile companies is a must. Although Google and Verizon are amidst talks of putting Google applications on Verizon phones, they still have many obstacles to overcome.

Being a Verizon Wireless customer myself, I would love to get a phone equivalent to an iPhone. Word on the street is that Google doesn’t offer much of a financial return for prospective mobile carriers, so I am afraid my dreams will have to be put aside for the moment.

How do you feel about an “all inclusive” phone put out by Google? Do you think it would be as successful as the iPhone and which Google applications do you think would be available?

If you want more information, check out Reuters.com

Keeping Up With the Blog Conversation

Here are some tools to help you keep up with the conversation on blogs. These are tools you can use now to track what’s being said about you, your industry, your company and your competitors:

Ice Rocket (www.icerocket.com)
Blog digger (www.blogdigger.com)
Blog Hop (www.bloghop.com)
Plazoo (www.plazoo.com)
Feedster (www.feedster.com)
Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts)

Consumer Technology: Office Winner or Woe?

Consumer technologies vamp up the daily lives of many people; from blackberries to iPhones, AOL Instant Messenger to Google chat. These products and applications provide a twist: an expeditious and more productive approach to modern communications.

Certain questions arise in my head: does the self-empowerment that these consumer products give to the average person create a longing to have those same amenities in the workplace and does this longing of technological tools make it acceptable to bring into the workplace?

Josh Holbrook, the author of a new study conducted by the research firm the Yankee Group, tells the Wall Street Journal that, “86% of corporate employees say that they use at least one consumer-oriented tech tool that isn’t supported by the IT department,” even when the, “IT groups at many companies try their hardest to keep these tools out of the office.”

Why are employees giving an unspoken voice to consumer tech products in the workplace? Holbrook believes that consumers are much more innovative than the business world and quite frankly, I agree. According to Holbrook’s study, so do more than half of the participants, stating that, “that they would be more productive at work if they had access to all the technology that they could use at home.”

Playing devil’s advocate now, I understand that the need for security is at an all time high in the 21st century. I applaud valiant efforts by businesses to protect their workers and believe policies and procedures should be upheld.

At the end of the day it is important for both sides to understand one major thing; to need to create and establish a win-win environment- where corporations maintain productivity and employees have access to their personal gadgets. With some creative and knowledgeable heads put together, I am sure a compromise on both ends can lead toward a more productive, efficient, and profitable end.