Top 5 Biggest PowerPoint Mistakes: #5 Using PowerPoint in the First Place

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When the going gets tough, shoot the messenger. Don’t laugh. According to the New York Times (“We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint,” April 26, 783414_92347913_no_projector_royalty_free-stock-xchng_3002010), we can blame the ubiquitous PowerPoint for stultifying creativity, a false sense of security, and thousands of hours of lost productivity. (Disclosure: I drafted the bulk of this article – the first of a five-part series – the weekend before the Times published their story.) How could something that feels so right be so wrong?

Let’s start with something a mentor told me before the Trash-80 even made it to the shelves of your neighborhood RadioShack® store. I had to give a presentation to the board of directors of the radio station I so happily spun disks for. These various music directors had no idea what I intended to spring on them – I wanted to add sports broadcasting! I felt a handout might ease their concerns.

“Good idea,” said the mentor, “but don’t pass it out until you’re done with your Continue Reading “Top 5 Biggest PowerPoint Mistakes: #5 Using PowerPoint in the First Place”

Six Things I Discovered From My Twitter Experiment

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3251106353_5e938c592f_o_Twitter_Logo_Bug-Eyed_Bird_250Have you ever read a book that offered a great idea and wondered if it really worked? That’s precisely what I felt after I read Twitter Power by @Joel Comm (here’s the book review). In the book the author outlines a 30-day plan for “dominating Twitter.” So from November 14, 2009 through December 13, 2009 I conducted an experiment. In the process, I discovered these six critical facts about my Twitter use. Has your own Twitter experience revealed similar eye-openers?

  1. Continue Reading “Six Things I Discovered From My Twitter Experiment”

Day 30 – December 13, 2009 (Sun): Have Fun!

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Start of Day Twitter Stats: Follow: 170 Followers: 184 Listed: 9

Missed yesterday? Go here to read what happened on Day 29 – December 12, 2009 (Sat): Find Followers on Your New Timeline

twitter_power_joel_comm_150It’s the last day. Where will I end up at midnight tonight?

You might notice a steep jump in followers between yesterday and today. I must attribute it to one thing: @chrisbrogan started following me. The total increase of 24 followers represents more than a 15% increase in followers in one day. Yes, I know we started with a low base, but I can’t discount the significance. I certainly can’t say it had anything to do with what I did yesterday. I was having fun teaching my daughters how to tweet and how to blog. OK, OK, I did get into a few conversations, including the one that led @chrisbrogan to follow.

Also, for the first time since the start of this experiment, I’ve got more followers than people I follow. I don’t know exactly what that means, but it must mean something.

As I near the end of the road in this experiment, I can say I’ve learned a bunch of things. I’ll compile them and present them as separate blogs – bite-sized pieces if you will. Tomorrow I’ll post my preliminary conclusions. They may surprise you. Because I’ve been holding back a vital piece of information from you. It’s a piece of information all good experiments require.

How many followers do you think I’ll have after 30 days? Click here to enter your guess on my Survey Monkey survey “Chris Carosa’s 30-Day Plan to Dominate Twitter Experiment.” There’s no prize, but the fan who guesses the closest correct number the earliest will “win” and I’ll mention you if you want me to.

Day 29 – December 12, 2009 (Sat): Find Followers on Your New Timeline

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Start of Day Twitter Stats: Follow: 165 Followers: 160 Listed: 10

Missed yesterday? Go here to read what happened on Day 28 – December 11, 2009 (Fri): Create a Second Timeline

twitter_power_joel_comm_150Here we sit with less than 48 hours to go in this experiment. We (my daughters and I) started a new timeline – @MightyMovie, a classic movie quote Twitter account meant to direct followers to my daughter’s classic movie teen review site. Cesidia takes care of the reviews and Catarina takes care of the quotes. I did this most of the day with my daughters. The going was slow at first, but I think I created a monster in Catarina.

And then @mikegastin asks me something that takes me back to my newspaper days:

@ChrisCarosa Did you break the @chrisbrogan story?

Continue Reading “Day 29 – December 12, 2009 (Sat): Find Followers on Your New Timeline”

It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again

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A lot of people had Veteran’s Day off. Not me. Not only did our office remain open (we’re open whenever the market’s open), but my day overflowed with meetings and conferences. I spent the bulk of the day at the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery participating in the Social Media Today conference with easily a couple hundred other folks interested in the latest happenings in the Web 2.0 world. Graciously organized by Ana Roca Castro, who did a wonderful job despite forgetting to include bathroom breaks in the agenda, the event exceeded her expectations and deservedly so.

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Oddly, it didn’t take long for an eerie feeling of “haven’t I been here before?” to course through my ancient synapses. No, the presentations didn’t tell me things I already knew (quite the contrary). Hmm, how can I describe it? More like teetering on the eager cusp of undiscovered opportunity. (The last time I felt this way occurred nearly 25 years ago in the German House, but that’s a story for another day.)

Continue Reading “It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again”

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