But an event I covered the other day had my fingers in knots. I tweeted 260 times or so during this event as I covered it for a social media group. It was Gravity Summit and it took place Monday.

Take a look at the pre-event video. I’m in there hamming it up at the Harvard Faculty Club in Cambridge, MA.

#GravSum Pregame Warmup from Schneider Mike on Vimeo.

Next up are a few tech reviews and then I’ll be back on the horse…errr keyboard and invading your consciousness.

Thanks for your patience.

Keep reading!

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: fingers, movie, social media

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

That’s right, NPR sent me to the Consumer Electronics Show to report on the gadgets that make Americans drool. I came back with lots of audio, many blisters and a great deal of respect for the cab drivers in Las Vegas.

Further, I came back with content. I’ve sent some to MobileMag.com and some to Technology Review. But the bulk of my research and interviews have been used on the air at Boston’s NPR radio station – WBUR.

Here is the first clip that ran last week.

Interview with Anthony Brooks – 1/8/09

And here is the clip that ran earlier today.

Boomer and Kid Tech – 1/14/09

If you’re having trouble listening – because they require Real Player, then just click below for the audio of my clips.

Here and Now, WBUR.org – CES Report – Jeff Cutler

Here and Now, WBUR.org – Tech Boomers and Kids – Jeff Cutler

Please realize that WBUR is public radio and they enjoy support from listeners like you. It’s even more important that you give them money now because I loved working with them on this project and look forward to many more adventures. For that to happen, they need your suport.

WBUR.org is the Website and Here-Now.org is where you can find more great stories any day of the week.

Keep reading….and listening!

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: #ces09, Jeff Cutler, NPR, technology, WBUR.org

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Steve Garfield and I spent a moment with people from Optoma to put their little projector through it’s paces. I’m working on an article for Gatehouse Media featuring these products, so I’m not going to give you my take yet.

But here’s my interview in total along with some photos. You make up your mind. And I welcome your comments.

Keep reading!

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CES, interview, Jeff Cutler, Optoma projector, steve garfield

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

From the arrival Sunday – and please realize that we’re only at day two of this massive show – I’ve been at the microphone, on my feet and in the face of anyone with a product to sell and a story to tell.

If you’re not familiar with the machinations of a journalist at a trade event, the blueprint/gameplan/schedule is pretty much as follows…

Set up interviews, meetings, outlines, story ideas, assignments, timelines and leisure plans before you drive to the airport.

People you’ve never met send you literature and pitches asking you to cover their products in your segments. At this point, you don’t even know what the real stories are or in my case, who you’re writing or recording them for, but that doesn’t deter the PR armies from filling your inbox faster than a new Viagra drug note or a god/prayer/Nigeria/hoax email from family, friends and that nice guy named Nigel overseas who wants to give you $40Million.

You then play the planes, trains and automobiles dance to get to your hotel. I’m lucky that mine – reserved sight-unseen (or should that be site-unseen?) – was amazing. See this video for a walk around the estate.

Next you start working. For me, reporting for NPR’s Boston station WBUR meant that interviews and information had to be compiled before the show floor was even open to the media. To this end I had to attend multiple press events and consume large amounts of complimentary refreshments.*

After doing my taping of a program for Here and Now – a syndicated, immensely popular and brilliant show – I had to press the reset button on my soul and go back at it. I have other segments to write and produce for the radio station and also have three other clients in the publishing world who need content.

It’s only Saturday and the show doesn’t end for another 40 hours. If you are keeping score, I’ve met @scobleizer and @jaffejuice in person, I’ve rubbed elbows with Dick DeBartolo, have interviewed really smart people with really silly products, have interviewed really smart people with really great products, have been on high-lust status for the technology I’ve seen that may never make it to market, have lost some money at poker, and I’m still going at it.

My second NPR segment should air the middle of next week and my first is right here for your listening pleasure… ENJOY.

I’ll be giving a more comprehensive detail of the things I learned about at CES, the pieces I’ve written and recorded and some of the less professional fun I’ve had out here, soon.

For now, it’s back into the fray with microphone in hand and a smile on my face.

Keep reading!

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CES, Here and Now, Jeff Cutler, NPR, Technology Reporter

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Mine’s short, but I refuse to refer to it as an ADD or ADHD situation as I believe those are mythical conditions created by a lazy physician and parent base. We’ll explore that opinion in another column…if I have enough where-with-all to remember.

My contention today is that it’s time to simplify. Everything. As soon as possible. There are certainly external factors forcing my hand in this decision, not the least of which are family illnesses, the cohabitation situation at my mansion and my completely frantic workload.

I take the blame for these items – except the health issues – because I’ve spent the last month working on my first novel. I finished it and have been quietly gloating the past few days. But now it’s time to get to work.

In order of importance, I must…

Write blog entries for the majority of my neglected 14 blogs;

Organize the Grampys.org site so that we can take registrations online and put up fantastic auctions;

Edit the aforementioned novel. I expect it will go through two rounds before I’m even ready to share it with my yet-to-be-named agent*;

Write a feature article for Gatehouse on holiday entertainment gift options – CDs, DVDs, and other gifts;

Finish my meeting schedule for vendor interactions while at CES in January;

Get fitted for a suit for sitboaf’s wedding;

Shop for holiday gifts – Channukah and Christmas;

Find and gobble some pumpkin pie (as nobody thought to bring any to Thanksgiving.

If you have suggestions for any of these tasks, *or are an agent looking for a literary novel – the fictional memoir of a boy whose life was shaped by the influence of his seven sisters, please contact me in the comments here.

If you’re an editor still looking for a reporter on the floor of CES in Las Vegas in January, let’s talk. My dance card is pretty full now, but I might be able to assist you before or after the event with research I’ve already completed or planned meetings.

Talk to you all soon. Head down now, gotta work.

Keep reading!

ILLUSTRATING my complete lack of attention span…the main reason I wrote this was because I have just been looking at the plethora of bookmarks and links to other sites in each of my browsers. I’m headed to clean those up – BEFORE ANY OF THE OTHER TASKS. Wow. Talk about ADD – or don’t!

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: #ces09, Jeff Cutler, journalism, nanowrimo, reporter, SPJ

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh