After months of horribly neglecting all my blogs and other social media sites, I’m back in the saddle again. Actually, this new exchange site has been one of the things I’d been putting off, because I was just too busy to take a couple of hours to get it going. But as usual, once I get into a new gadget, tool or other cool application, I get a bit obsessed. I’m even finally getting the hang of Twitter (its definitely more fun when you find people you already know to follow).
I also got a new mobile phone this week (gave back the i-mate I had been using for a few weeks, it was great for email, but crap as a phone). It’s an Xda Stellar from o2 (a UK mobile provider), and I love it. Best feature that I’ve never had before is an app called WorldCard Mobile, which lets you use the phone’s camera to take a picture of a business card, then it converts the info on the card into a Contact listing, which then synchronizes with Outlook. Having just returned from the IABC Conference in New York, with a stack of business card from people I met, this is perfect timing. I know you can get the same function from a stand-alone business card scanner (I’ve had them in the past), but this is so much better, because I always have my phone with me. So I can use downtime (on planes and trains, waiting for a meeting, etc.) to input cards, instead of letting them pile up. Once they pile up, there’s no hope of remembering who the heck this person was or where we met. This way, I can make my notes about conversations while they’re still fresh, and even link them directly to my calendar or to-do list if there’s any follow-up required. It’s so perfect, I’m going to need to update my Power Networking Tip about writing notes on the back of cards (that suddenly seems so very antiquated). The tips, by the way, were recently re-published by IABC and have been going out with membership renewal mailings. I originally wrote them back in the early 90s, as a speaker handout when I spoke to IABC chapters about networking skills. It remains a hot topic (not to mention fits perfectly with one of my Four I’s). Here’s the flyer in case anyone could use the tips: Power Networking Tips