Julia Roy

Navigational Technology

Thank heaven for navigational technology. I am awful at directions, both giving and interpreting them. It doesn't matter if I am in a car, on foot, or riding the subway - when reading directions like head North toward... travel East on ... - I am immediately lost. After moving to NYC, I thought I would never get to new places on time, ever.

But using a combination of the iPhone Map application and Hopstop, I can find my way around New York City quickly and easily. Without these tools, especially Hopstop, I would be lost and helpless all the time. You laugh, but it's true -- do not underestimate the severity of my lack of direction.

1) The iPhone Map application, with myLocation integration, is awesome at finding particular places that are close to where I am. For example: If I need to find the closest Duane Reade pharmacy, I hit the myLocation button to show me approximately where I am, and then I search Duane Reade on my map and pins appear where all the Duane Reade's are that are close to me. I use this a lot when I am out and about running errands.

2) Hopstop is my savior. It gets me from point A to point B in the quickest, easiest, most efficient way possible, every time.  Hopstop was designed for city commuters who walk and take subways, buses and cabs to get to their destinations. If you live in or visit NYC, Long Island, Boston, Chicago, San Fransisco, New Jersey and/or Washington DC, you must check out Hopstop next time you need walking or subway directions. It's so easy to use and has seamless mobile integration. Its Simple: 1. Enter the addresss you are leaving from and the address of your destination, 2. choose whether you want to get there by walking, subway, bus or cab and 3. it will provide  you with detailed directions that you can email or text to yourself. With Hopstop, I never get frustrated when I have to go to a new place. I simply log on to the site and text myself the directions or use their mobile site to be guided step by step to my destination.

 

Breaking News.... Undercurrent Rules!

I would like to say thanks to Steve Hall of Adrants and David Burn of AdPulp for posting about Undercurrent's new website.

And yes, I am very flattered to be mentioned in both of the posts *huge grin from ear to ear*.

I really love our new site, because it truly represents who we are as an agency AND as individuals.  We are not some approved copy or text - we are avid participators of social conversations and consumers of shared information. Heck, if we are collectively tweeting, saving and sharing content on a daily basis, why not put it all in one place!? This is who we are... entirely digital baby.

p.s. Steve, I think  your glasses are pretty rockin' too!

Podcamp NYC

I'm excited to meet in the flesh so many of the people I *know* online.

Podcamp is going to RULE! Are you going?

Basecamp and Dabble

I've been using Basecamp and Dabble since starting at Undercurrent just over six months ago. We use - Basecamp - an online project management tool, in combination with - Dabble - an online customizable database. Both tools together allow us to manage internal milestones and activity, disseminate project updates to remote Agents, and keep up with day-to-day client communication.

I have to admit, I only started using Basecamp and Dabble seriously since January, and since then, it has totally turned me into a believer.

Basecamp takes project organization and accountability to the next level, turns email into collaborative ongoing conversations, reminds users of upcoming and late milestones, and files all messages and documents in a way that it can be easily found.

Dabble has pretty much completely discontinued my need for Excel and Numbers - and that my friends is a beautiful thing. Not to mention I can create charts and graphs from all data entered, and incredibly valuable tool for reporting.

Basecamp has recently added two features that makes me want to cry with joy:

Responding to a message using email. Before, you would have to click on a link in the email with the message, sending you to the  company basecamp site, in order to make a comment on the message. This feature probably saves me 7 hours a week in basecamp work.

Frequently accessed project feature. Hallelujah. I use about 6 different projects daily, so this helps navigate through the other projects with ease. I bet this feature is saves the entire office 20 hours a week of basecamp work, at least.

Yianni and Me!

Yianni Garcia has joined Undercurrent as my partner in crime.
We will be breaking all the rules.
Beware internet.
We're coming.

Tweetstats

I came across Tweetstats from new Twitter follower @hjortur. Tweetstats provide you with some stats that reflect your Twitter usage from day one, the day you sign up for Twitter. (my results)

It aggregates the number of Tweets from when you signed up to present day, and gives you stats on how many tweets you've posted each month, how many tweets each day, at what time of day you tweet the most,  the people that have @'ed you the most and the most common interfaces you use to tweet.  Phew, that's a lot of info!

Seems like I was at my peek Twitter usage in September '07.

On average I tweet the same amount each day, except for on Sunday, I take a Twitter break.

I tweet the most just after lunch.

I am Joec0914 #1 fan ;)

I use  the Twitterrific application the most to post tweets.

Linkedin Invitation Etiquette

I raised a question on Twitter earlier regarding random Linkedin invitation requests from people that you don't really know.  (click here to see responses) It's annoying when I click on the email notification of a new request, only to find a person I don't know, with the generic message:

Julia,
I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.
- xxx (first name of person I don't know)

Don't get me wrong... I like connecting with people I hardly know through the soc. nets.! What better way to start a real relationship, by starting with a virtual one.

But tell me how I know you! Same thing goes with Facebook. If we have no friends in common, tell me how you found me. Even a simple "I was searching and found your blog and clicked through to your fb profile, let's be friends!" Oh, and I can't wait until Twitter builds in a "people you follow that this person also follows" feature, so that I can better understand where my new followers are coming from too.

Go ahead, connect with me, but give me some context so I can know you better!

Mimobots, Yah Know :P

I took part in my first live video chat today. I had a great time and a lot of fun talking about Mimobots, consumer evangelism and new media.

For those of you who were watching the live chat and caught my rants on Twitter after, we will always have the yah knows..... :)

Thank you to Jonny Goldstein and Scott Stead for having me on the show and Evan Blaustein, CEO of Mimobots for the great conversation and opportunity to share the love for his products with him.

Chatting about Mimobots

I will be participating in a live video chat with Evan Blaustein, founder and CEO of Mimobots on Jonny's Partay, tonight at 9pm/est.

We will be talking Mimobots, product evangelism, transparency, social outreach and other new media stuff as it relates to getting the word out about products, services and brands.

Make sure to tune in and watch me blab on an on and possibly most likely make a fool of myself.  hehe.

Someecards

I am a freak for Someecards.  Something about the simplicity, the randomness, the hilarity and the relevancy that brings me back to the site over and over again - sending Someecards to friends, family and people I hardly know.

I could spend the entire day browsing through the pages and pages of ecards, giggling uncontrollably at the appropriateness of the inappropriateness.

If your on twitter follow @someecards and get your daily fix.

* Click on the image to enlarge and laugh.

Blogstring Boston Tweetup

I had an amazing time at the Blogstring Pub Crawl in Boston.  It was the first time I returned to Boston since my move from Boston to NYC three months ago, and I must say it made me quite sentimental to trek through my old neighborhood.  I love NYC, but Boston is definately a place I could see myself returning to someday.

Special thanks to Sarah Wurrey for putting this shin-dig together and Michael Denton who drove Paull Young, Abe Estrada and myself to Boston and back.

It is really great to get to know those I chat and engage with inside social networks better, as well as meet those I "follow" but hardly chat with. Building stronger relationships and taking online, offline is what keeps me ticking.

*photo by Amanda Gravel

Dear, Marketing and Communications Students

If you do not have a blog, START ONE!  I have been searching for students to do some fun, innovative and interesting social media work, but as for students who blog... they are far and inbetween. If I can't find you online, you might as well not even exist. Cruel maybe, but today marketing and communications exists online, so if your not playing, you can't be on the team.

Seriously, in this day of quick and easy self publishing, why wouldn't you jump in? It is simple really. You don't need to be profound (although I am sure it would help if you are), but you do need to take enough initiative to learn and engage with social forms of media - as it is the reality of today's media landscape and will help you understand where we are today and where all this is headed in the future.

Sign up for del.icio.us, to tag and share articles you find interesting.  Sign up for flickr and post pictures of your small dorm room, your campus, your marketing class, your cat... whatever.  Sign up for twitter, make and effort to post a few times a day and follow other people you find interesting, engage and link to sites or news. Sign up for digg and start digging new you like and bury news you think sucks.

Then go to Wordpress and sign up for a free blog. Talk about your experiences in these social communities, link to these profiles you created in your sidebar with widgets and blog posts with outgoing links. Make yourself searchable. When you type your name into Google, what comes up? Nothing? Then you've got some work to do.

Dual Screen and Improved Productivity

My life both, personally and professionally, has been changed by simply adding another screen to my workday.  Yes that is right, completely changed. 

I, like many others, am prone to intense feelings of anxiety and A.D.D., not because I have a disorder, but because who wouldn't get stressed out and distracted by constant incoming emails with links and attachments, opening up new windows and new applications that just pile up on top of one another. It is so easy to get lost, forget what task you originally started to tackle and in general just stay sane!

Anyone who works on a computer - I don't care the industry - should have two screens at work.  Office managers, public relations professionals, sales rep's, you name it - should all be given the opportunity to be more productive and efficient.  Let us multi-task in a way that allows us to seperate our spaces. Apple's "spaces" feature on Leopard is starting to address this issue, but a much better solution remains... give us more screens!

Youth and Technology

I thought a lot today about teenagers, and the crazy amounts of technology that is available to them.  I consider myself "born digital," but I know in actuality, I have been re-born digital. I did not have the technology that is available to teenagers today.... not even close.

I remember calling my mom from a payphone at the mall, getting so angry I was wasting quarters when she didn't pick up.  I remember sitting at the computer, watching every second I was online because it we paid for the internet by the minute.  The most complex computer class I had in high school, was typing class.

If I was a teenager today, how would my life be different? Texting, Facebooking, YouTubing... all at my fingertips. Would I perceive my future differently? Would I have been more connected with the world - instead of just my neighborhood?

With the opportunity this gives teenagers, I also think about the repercussions. When is access to information too easy? Porn and violence at a click of a button.  Maybe things are not so different, maybe I am undervaluing a young minds ability to filter these images and messages... but I have been thinking about it... a lot.

Facebook Direct Messages

I am loving Facebook these days. Not because of stupid applications, not because of wall posts, not because I like to get poked all day :P - but because of the power of direct messages.

Facebook is a great place to drop a line to a friend in a way that is so very  different from email. When a person is in their Facebook account, they are ready and waiting to have a conversation, check up on friends and browse new social happenings. However, when a person is in their email, they are being bombarded with spam, work and other various non-wanted interruptions.

However, as a member of hundreds of Facebook groups I get a lot of group messages that come into my direct messages mailbox, which are not actually direct, as they are sent to me as well as everyone else in the group. I must admit, I have been deleting a lot of them lately before opening them. I have found that group administrators are using their access to groups members as a way to send spam, not-so-important and not so direct messages. This is unfortunate, because when I do sometimes open the occasional group message I am glad I did. Maybe I should be giving group messages more of a chance.