Jeff Cutler™ – columns, essays and opinions

The other night I was co-host of a Ford event in Cambridge. I was – as far as I know – the first person in Boston to drive the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO.

It was fun and fast. Here’s the complete test drive, from trying to get out of the garage to doing the firedrill in the street to change drivers. Enjoy!

EDITED – Here is the version with me narrating – so some of the banter and sound is cut out. The video down the bottom is the original without any interjections from me.

Taurus SHO Test Drive – Boston MA – Jeff Cutler from Jeff Cutler on Vimeo.

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Well, guest poster Gradon Tripp took the wheel of the Taurus SHO the other night and here’s the video.

I wasn’t scared….really! That car HAULS!!!

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Today I’m at Radcliffe listening to various educators and technology specialists. This group of learned professionals has gathered for the Social Technology and Education Conference in an effort to impart tech knowledge to an audience of teachers, administrators and related education professionals.

There are some great things about this conference and there are some failures. Let’s start with the pluses…

*Registration was a dream. Simple and fast. All badges were ready and there was never a line
*Sessions cover a lot of ground so there’s a topic for everyone
*The facility was perfect – the Gym at Radcliffe is roomy and sound travels well

*Wifi was provided! (I still wonder about tech conferences that fail to provide reliable and strong wifi for attendees)
*Slides and presentations are already online – in part

If I were to stop there, you’d go away thinking you’d rush forward and sign up now for next year. Not so fast. Here’s how the event failed…

*It was publicized ONLY using social media and new media tools. So the people who NEED training with these tools are expected to find out about the conference via those same tools. Further, the traditional media outlets wrote nothing about the conference in advance because they are poorly trained to listen to social media noise.
*No lunch. That’s a personal pet peeve, but if you’re bringing us all together for the day, why not foster some casual networking by keeping us onsite during our meals instead of sending us out into the world during the conference?
*By the middle of the day, the conference was running 10-15 minutes behind. C’mon. How can you lose 15 minutes during a 45-minute session? Poor preparation is the only reason.
*No listening! Because the organizers want to remain on track (see previous note), they have disallowed Q&A for the entire conference? These are teachers! Don’t they know that Q&A is how people learn? If I want to try and learn something in a one-way manner I’ll go to the YouTube Learning Channel.

Don’t you think that listening is where everyone should start? How else can you figure out how to respond, how to act and what to take away?

Let me know what you think. I’ll listen.

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Just a quick thought that I wanted to get on electrons before it escaped my sieve-like mind.

When you’re attending an Open-Coffee or similar networking session, wouldn’t it be great to have a whiteboard or some other sign-in mechanism to give new arrivals a view of the people in the room?

Just showed up at Cambridge Open Coffee at Andala Coffee House and the room is packed with people shouting at each other over the street noise.

With 15 people in the room before I wandered in, I have no idea where to start, who’s here and what’s already been discussed.

In fact, when I arrived today, the group was sitting in a campground circle vigorously talking about something.

It’s settled a little bit now, but I still have to get up and poke each and every person to find out their story and share mine if applicable.

What’s your experience in going to networking and tech gatherings?

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Is that enough W’s for you? I’m not trying to usurp the journalism story rule but I did want to share with you my schedule for the week. WAIT. I’ll do that in a separate post.

In this post I wanted to let you know why a merry band of men and women*(look in the right banner for “Our Friends”) thought – as did I – that it would be a good idea to create a webinar for Chief Marketing Officers. That’s what CMO means if you didn’t know. And also why it would be a good idea to give it a listen if you care about how you market your business.

Oh, the Webinar is tomorrow. Go sign up HERE. It’s only about 40 minutes plus a Q&A section. You might learn something about using social media, communities and other tools and techniques to reach your audience. Now here’s the top five WHYs…

1 – Shiny tools like Twitter and Facebook are being overused by everyone. If you want to stand out and have a measurable impact with your audiences, you should know the best ways to integrate these tools into your existing marketing plan.

2 – The majority of individuals in management positions don’t understand how the aforementioned shiny tools might help them communicate with audiences they’ve never reached. The Webinar series will explain some techniques for explaining how community building is done in Web 2.0 and 3.0 ways.

3 – Resources are dwindling. As your staffers get handed a box from the copy room and are escorted to the door you’re left doing the same work with fewer people. We’ll help explain how to get this work done by balancing your remaining team and using new tools.

4 – Outside perspective is valued everywhere, even if it’s not discussed. You might not want to hear what a consumer has to say all the time, but it can help you refine your message. You might hate hearing a competitor’s opinion of your process, but it could help you beat them the next campaign you run. Our team has CMOs, journalists, content specialists, marketing pro’s, advertising agency executives, account managers and sales people on it. Our views will help you look objectively at your current marketing path and either pat yourself on the back or lock yourself into a closet and weep quietly. But at least you’ll well-reasoned impetus to do so.

5 – It’s free and any return you get is 100%. When have you gotten 100% on any campaign? I thought so.

Join for The Skeptical CMO and friends: The value of building your online community (before you need it)”
Date:  Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Time:  3:30 PM – 4:30 PM EDT

Here’s the sign-up link again.

If you have ideas for future Webinars (or marketing podcast episodes), or if you have questions for the panelists, leave them here in the comments.

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It came to my attention Thursday that not everyone is pleased with the results of the election. Be it the choice by the country of a new President or the changes in Massachusetts laws (we still have an income tax and now we can’t bet on dogs), but one firm in Cambridge has notified its employees that healthcare has just become more expensive.

The company – Aspiant of Cambridge – sent an email out Tuesday night minutes after the election results had been announced on the major networks, saying that the company would no longer contribute any money to employees’ healthcare plans.

I was given a copy of that email by an employee and decided to share it with my readers.

Here’s the text of that email. I’ve stripped out the addresses of the employee who provided it and also removed Aspiant CEO’s cell phone number, but have left the time stamp and all other information intact.

From: Mirko Geffken
Subject: Health Insurance Employer Contribution Elimination and Travel Reimbursement Elimination
To:
Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 11:02 PM

Hi All,

with the recent events Aspiant is no longer able to provide a health insurance contribution. This means that effective with the next payroll the employer contribution to healthcare is reduced from 50% to 0%. Also, all previously authorized travel reimbursement, including MBTA passes and all other travel reimbursements are hereby revoked.

Effectively this means that the portion you are paying for healthcare will double.

Unfortunately these steps are necessary because it is uncertain that future legal developments will allow for a reduction in benefits. To preempt this development this change is made effective immediately. It is likely that with the change in administration alternative health insurance options will become available that may reduce your health insurance obligation.

It is also likely that our tax obligations will increase and it is unlikely that a raise in rates will be possible from our client in these economic times.

If anyone is interested in researching alternative health plans (PPO only) that provide similar coverage (with maybe higher deductables) feel free to do so and let me know if you find one of interest. Please be aware that MA law requires you to have healthcare coverage, so it is not possible to drop coverage altogether.

I regret having to move in this direction, but this is the partially the cost of doing business in the state of Massachusetts and the impact that future policies will have on this organization.

I can only hope that future elections will provide a more positive environment for business or further measures will have to be taken.

As always should you have any questions feel free to see me.

All the best

Mirko

–
Mirko Geffken
President & CEO
Aspiant, Inc.
Cell:
Tel. (877) 527-7426 x501
Fax. (877) 527-7426

I was unable to confirm if this tactic or measure is legal under Massachusetts law. I’ve also been unable to find out what the impetus for this move was. I’ll try to chase down more of this story as it develops and find out from some healthcare advocates in the state to see if this move is legal or where the abandoned employees can get assistance.

But in a time of economic challenges, wouldn’t you think a business owner might have some compassion for his employees? Further, all contributions into these plans are still deductible on the firm’s taxes.

Maybe the guy is just being a dink because his ballot question, candidate or dog had a bad day.

If he just doesn’t like Obama, he’s still got 70 days to deal with the regulations under the old administration.

I especially like how he says that “all previously authorized travel reimbursement, including MBTA passes and all other travel reimbursements are hereby revoked.” That’s a nice touch. Hope people didn’t travel far for the company on their own dime and now can’t get reimbursed.

Also interesting is the fact the company lists two positions available on its Website and gives the following text as enticement to come work for Mirko…

Aspiant is constantly looking for highly-skilled consultants specializing in Microsoft technologies. We seek candidates with a strong desire to learn and stay on top of technologies in their line of work and look for a company that supports their ambitions.

If you are seeking a consulting position with a highly capable and team-oriented environment, please send your resume and a brief description describing what it is you are best at to:

Whatever the case, I’m sure his clients, prospective investors, family and friends will be interested to see how he treats his corporate family.

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For a number of years, I’ve been hanging around with a crowd of new-media folks. These people introduced me to Twitter and and showed me how to use other technological connective-tissue applications to converse with and learn from smarties.

Now I’d like to give back. Here is how you, too, can get unlimited Internet access on your iPhone for $19.99 a month without a contract. And thanks to Steve Garfield for suggesting I create a column detailing my technology win.

——————————-

*Any similarities to my experiences are purely coincidental, I am only telling the story in the first person because third-person writing requires a better technique than I’m willing to exercise at 9:38PM on a summer Saturday. Anything quasi-legal that happens/happened in this shared recount is purely anectdotal and you can assume that it never happened. Especially to me. ESPECIALLY the unlocking and jailbreaking of an iPhone – which we all know is against your terms of service.

As I sat in the portable hammock trying to text message a friend on my crummy Verizon LG phone, I got a call from a fellow podcaster. He sounded gleeful, so I tried to quickly get him off the phone so I could continue pouting and fighting with my phone. But he wouldn’t be deterred.

This friend, let’s call him Jason Calacanis, pressed on and urged me to ask him what he was doing right now. I blithely said that he was talking with me and he snickered.

“No, what am I doing right now?” he insisted.

I said he was probably being chauffeured in his Tesla Roadster. He laughed again and said that he was playing with an iPhone and it was a better gadget than anything he had ever seen as CEO of Netscape.

I said, “I doubt that,” mostly because this was an imaginary conversation and Mr. Calacanis has never been to Jeff Cutler dot com. And I doubt that a link to his blog will get a reciprocal action, but who really knows. But I digress. On with the technical aspects and details to getting your own iPhone running on a data plan that will only cost you $19.99 a month.

This friend said that he was cruising the Internet with ease and could check his email anywhere…even in the bathroom at the Rowe’s Wharf Boston Harbor Hotel.

I asked how and he said that he only had to pay $200, sign a two-year contract and pay about $80 a month for a mere 400 cellphone minutes and all-he-could-eat Internet access.

I feigned excitement and said, “Really? Could I get bent over for a grand total of $2000+ just to check my email, send IM’s, read Web pages and Twitter from anywhere?”

He said that I was just jealous, and inside I agreed. I was struggling with Verizon’s crappy Wireless Web on a miniature cellphone screen. I had no access to my own POP email and I wasn’t able to access AIM or Twitter. I wasn’t sad until this friend pointed out my woefully unconnected situation. Then I was miserable.

So I set out to find a way to make myself happy.

First, I scoured Craigslist. I looked for a first-generation iPhone. I wanted to find one in perfect working order. No damage. No crazy stories from the seller. I wanted the ‘grandma’s creampuff’ of iPhones. I found it.

In Jamaica Plain, there was a gentleman who had just upgraded to the newest iPhone and was trying to sell his original 4GB model. He had spoken with a handful of people about the phone and they had all fallen through. Then I came along.

We traded emails and the man said he was waiting on one last buyer who seemed a little flaky. If that fell through, the phone was mine. I held my breath and checked my email regularly. Then the message came…the phone was mine if I still wanted it.

I pounced.

I met him at his house and gleefully handed over $220. The phone was pristine, in perfect working order, included the box and the original cleaning cloth. He even said I could call him with questions about working the phone. Best of all, when he got the phone he purchased AppleCare – a transferable insurance policy on the iPhone that covers it against pretty much everything except malicious damage.

For just over $200 I got a perfect iPhone with a warranty that won’t expire until July 2009.

I got it home and played with it for three days. I was Wijacking all over the neighborhood and throughout Boston. It wasn’t too difficult to find an unsecured Internet access point and checking my mail and getting online was easy. Then I went to a Tweetup (a face-to-face gathering of technology folks) at John Harvard’s Brew House in Cambridge, MA.

There was no free Wifi. There was no unsecured access. I was bumped off the ‘Net. While people like Steve Garfield and Peter Kim were able to hop online with their gadgets, the only happiness I could find was an excellent caramel bread pudding and a mediocre draft beer.

I decided that the next day I would solve my access issues.

A search online brought me to…

iClarified – a site that shows you how to unlock your first gen iPhone and how to jailbreak any iPhone

iPhone Freak – a site that had a rumor about a MediaNet plan that AT&T was reluctant to offer

Wireless and Wifi Forums – where some people have asked if AT&T would chase them down if they got data plans only

and AT&T’s own Forums – where they simply answer YES to the question about putting MediaNet and unlimited Internet on a Pay as You Go plan

Here’s the skinny on what I did and how easy it was.

1 – Unlock the phone. Your phone must either be out of contract or unlocked via the iClarified method on their site. Otherwise the phone and iTunes will want you to activate the phone on a contract.

2 – Go to an AT&T store that sells prepaid SIM cards (keep your iPhone in your pocket). Not all AT&T stores sell these so make a few phone calls to find a store that does.

3 – Buy a SIM card. Any denomination. I bought a $100 card and popped it in. Choose the $1 a day and $.10 a minute plan. Don’t worry, you’re not using the phone as a phone – if you are, you might be better off with a phone plan from T-Mobile or AT&T as it will get expensive to make calls on the phone.

4 – Activate the phone with the code the salesperson gives you.

5 – Once the phone is active, call 611 (the customer service line at AT&T – a free call) and add the MediaNet unlimited feature for $19.99 per month. The larger MediaNet plan is $39.99 a month and includes unlimited text messages. You can add text messages pretty cheaply if you’re not texting more than 200 times a month.

6 – After adding the MediaNet plan, you can access the Internet via AT&T’s EDGE service for free, unlimited. Your account has been debited $19.99 and you’re good to go.

In my case I won’t be making calls on the iPhone because I’m locked into a contract (remember how bad contracts are) with Verizon for the next year. When that contract is up I will look at what phone plans are available with data via T-Mobile and AT&T.

Any questions? Put them in the comment section here. I’ll answer them as best I can.

See you on the ‘Net.

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