Anyhow, I just felt compelled voice my thoughts on that. And if you do nothing else in your career/life, and stay in the same position forever… at least be passionate. It makes work and life so much better, and others feed off of passion. It’s contagious.

I hope the students that I’m presenting to understand the importance of passion. How has passion helped you out in your career/life?

A good example on how you can use analytics is when planning a redesign for your website. Right now, Tridea is closely monitoring our stats to see the what the average screen resolution is on the monitors of our visitors.

From that data, we will be able to decide on what the width of our new website will be, based on the what the average is. That is just one of the many examples that you can get from watching over your site analytics.

One of the plus sides of having analytics on your website, is that there are many cheap, if not free, services available to add to your site with ease. We are currently using Clicky, however, other good ones include Google Analytics (free), Mint ($30/license), and Stat Counter (free version available), just to name a few.

So if you aren’t currently using any analytics on your website, I would highly recommend doing so. The information that you gain from learning how visitors use your site is invaluable. It also helps that they are dead simple to setup as well.

Wow, do I regret that now or what?

Within two weeks, I’ve managed to network out farther than I think I could have via any other method (besides SXSW! This Friday! YES!) There is a thriving, tech-oriented, youthful, and professional community out there, just waiting to hear your opinions on what people are tweeting about. I think this is what surprised me most: I really did expect Twitter to be similar to Facebook’s statuses or MySpace’s messages in terms of maturity and relevance. Instead, I’ve found about a dozen new blogs to follow that are very interesting. I’d like to recommend Mike Rickard’s (Re-)Learning Web Design, which gives very in-depth analyses of topics ranging from client-designer preconceptions, to the inherent challenges to the medium. Diego Aguilar’s FlyLyf drips with style – it highlights awesome cars, gorgeous portfolios of graphic design and art, and fashionable apparel.

Another thing I’ve learned is that by taking the extra step to put your honest two cents in on a topic that you know something about, or even just want to learn more about, will garner you more followers. I’ve asked a lot of questions, and it seems people like others who want to learn from them. I’ve linked up with a variety of developers, all of whom have given me some insight that have updated my opinions on a variety of backends. I’ve also sought out user experience and usability analysis experts, and have been shown some really great blogs and posts on related topics.

Twitter rocks. Go figure.

Talk to people

This is probably the most important part of SXSWi, in my opinion. SXSWi brings together a lot or brilliant minds in many different creative fields, and it is a great venue to meet people. Meet people you’ve connected with on Twitter. Don’t be afraid to go up and talk to your web heroes and mentors. In Austin, the atmosphere is very friendly and there’s this creative energy that just emanates from having so many great people in one place! So grab a drink, bring some business cards, and don’t be a wall flower!

Eat good food

Sure, it’s a web conference, but it’s hosted in a really great city; Austin, Texas. I would recommend checking out Iron Works BBQ for lunch, where there are many famous Texans pictures on the wall. Try and get there early cause the line gets long…it’s a well known BBQ staple! Another great grub opportunity is Gospel Brunch at Stubbs. John and I walked away from their buffet last year about 5 lbs heavier. Definitely worth it. Finally, if you don’t mind a bit of a walk (or hailing a cab) check out Hoffbrau Steaks for a tasty meal that’s light on the wallet. I always feel like I should have steak and Texas go hand and hand…thus Hoffbrau will get my business again this year!

Plan, plan, plan!

There is going to be a lot of cool programming this year and a lot of great people speaking, so make a list of talks you think you would be remotely interested in. Rank them and put down when and what room they are in. You may walk in to a talk thinking it is going to be great and then find it is lacking 10 minutes in. Don’t waste your time! Hustle to the next one on your list! SXSW packs in talks/panels/speakers in abundance so you should never waste your time on something you aren’t getting value from. Luckily, the organizers at SXSW saw the need for planning tools and built in a schedule picker to mySXSW. Use it!

Drink

Water. Every night before you go to bed. Austin is loaded with great bars and there are tons of sponsored parties so you’re bound to have a drink or two or three…so the important thing to do is hydrate when you AREN’T at the bar. Panels start pretty early in the morning and if you are out late, which is VERY likely, you’ll be able to maximize what little time you spend sleeping by hydrating! I usually buy a 12 pack of Propel or Gatorade (do they just call it G now? What the re-brand?) and drink it before bed and during long panels. Trust me on this one.

Enjoy SXSWi without blowing your shrinking stock portfolio

In these tough economic times, frugality is an important trait. If you’re going to SXSWi then you’ve paid for registration, transportation, and lodging. Might not want to spend a lot more money, huh? Here are some money saving tips:

1. Pack some breakfast bars or roll out of bed in time for continental breakfast! Utilize free coffee wherever you find it.
2. Buy some microwavable lunches and make them in your hotel room. Pack granola bars for snacking during daytime programing. Don’t expect to find too many cheap lunch specials, Austin knows when SXSWi is and prices accordingly.
3. Figure out which parties have open bars and get there early! Lines were pretty monstrous last year and with the economy as it is this year, I highly doubt open bars will last as long. That being said, I spent about $10 on drinks last year, and that was purely toward tips!
4. Plan ahead and allow yourself time to walk places instead of taking cabs. If you have to take one, do so in a group to lower the cost!

So there you have it, veteran tips for maximizing your experience at SXSWi. Hope to see you there!

I admit it, I’m resisting Twitter solely because I’m afraid of what people will think if I really tweeted what my up-to-the-moment thoughts and musings were.

JP and Saulter have been pretty insistent on me getting on Twitter, and more than once, JP’s told me about how awesome Tweetups have been. It’s possible I may have fallen victim to the variety of knee-jerk reactions from the initial wave of users who tweeted…well, crap. Since then, though, the community has exploded in numbers and there are lots more mature and professional people tweeting things pertinent to their business and career. Tridea has somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 or 90 people following us, and I’d venture to say almost all of them have some interest in web design, which makes for some really interesting tweeted conversations.

Still not convinced, I went ahead and Googled for benefits of joining twitter, and sure enough, I found some pretty convincing blog posts. Twitips spoke about the ways in which the networks of people that can be tapped into can be to promote your company and also find clients! Problogger espoused on the positive networking aspects along with the ability to keep up to date with your friends and coworkers in a non-intrusive way. Blogger Douglas Cootey wrote about how it helped him with depression and ADHD by finding others with his conditions and helping each other maintain positive attitudes on a daily basis. On the same note, I even found a post on a site called Fat Man Unleashed that also said the ability to reach out to networks of people with similar problems and receive almost instantaneous advice on things like diet and workouts was really helpful.

So with all these positive endorsements, I’ve decided to join Twitter and see what it’s like! Join up with Tridea and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Tridea!

My dad doesn’t take that approach, and doesn’t plan to when getting a new TV. I told him that he should check out other brands like Vizio, LG, and Samsung because he might be able to get more bang for his buck; Sony can be over priced sometimes. While trying to explain why he should shop around, he seemed very skeptical about the idea, so I simply posed the question “why are you so stuck on Sony?”. His response was not only eye-opening, but made me [again] realize the important thing about a good brand is.

My dad, in just a couple sentences, explained just what a brand should be, based on how his experience has been with Sony products. Many words came out of his response along the lines of: reliable, comfortable, long lasting, makes me happy, and so on. I immediately stopped trying to convince him on other brands, because isn’t this what we look for in a brand? We want something that has a great track record, and makes us feel comfortable.

There are advantages and disadvantages of sticking with just one brand, however, if that brand has been reliable for you, then you’re not exactly seeing the disadvantages of not trying something new. As a business owner, this is what you strive to be for your customers. It’s a package deal. It’s not just about your logo, or how your brochure looks. It’s about how good your products are, and how you connect with your customer base. You always want to know that your brand has been reliable and comfortable to your customers.

So my advice for shopping brands…. it doesn’t hurt to do some research, however, go with what you’re comfortable with. Be selfish. Don’t always worry what others think of a brand that you feel comfortable with. In the long run, nothing beats a reliable brand.

Tonight, each 30 second spot will cost 3 million dollars, which is a record level as far as commercials go. As you can see from the title of this post, that’s $100,000 per second. Expensive, to say the least. What we’re wondering, here at Tridea, is whether this is a good investment? A lot can be accomplished with the amount companies are spending on 30 seconds. Of course, nearly 100 million viewers are expected to watch tonight’s broadcast, so some say the cost is justified.

Further, the Superbowl Ads are not only viewed once during the game but are then blogged about all over the internet. So in terms of getting people to see your message, well, it’s tough to beat that exposure. However, I am curious to see how people will react to these companies spending so much money when thousands of jobs are being shed each week.

When all is said and done, NBC will have banked a record $206 million dollars on the Superbowl ads. Could that money have been spent saving people’s jobs? Shoring up an ad buyer’s bottom-line? We’ll have to wait and see.

While the general consensus is now very conciliatory toward Jobs’ privacy, the knee-jerk reaction from many was, “What about my stocks/next-gen toys/updated version of Mac OS?” A bit selfish, to be sure, but with Jobs’ position and highly-lauded innovation talents, I can understand this. However, this sentiment didn’t decline with time, along with the level of interest in what was happening to Jobs. As Jobs himself says,

“Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well…In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.”

Fact is, guys, a solid and successful company does not rely on one person. This holds true whether the company is made up of 35,000 or three. For those of you who are part of a small team, you’re probably used to wearing a lot of different hats. A broad set of skills is a must for finding success in the small business market–but when one member falls out of the picture for whatever reason, what then?

Take the time to seriously consider this, from your perspective and the rest of the team: if you suddenly found yourself stranded on an island with no method of communication, what would be the impact to current projects, future endeavors, and internal processes? Your answers will help show you the areas lacking team talent overlap. For areas that wouldn’t be affected much by your absence, this is a sign that you need to focus on getting a handle on them–for what if it wasn’t you who were stranded, but the teammate most skilled in that area? Conversely, if you find that the company would be seriously set back on a project because you’re the only one the client has spoken with since day one, this should be a prime indicator that your company’s internal communications needs some work.

Key aspects to think about:

• What methods would your teammates have to access project-relevant files?
• Could communications with a client be picked up by another teammate fairly easily?
• Does your network consist of people who share the specializations you have (graphic design, coding, etc) who teammates could tap into during the interim?
• How would your responsibilities be shared or distributed among the other teammates?

Most important of all, does everyone on your team know the answers to these questions?

While Steve Jobs is Apple’s genius, he is most certainly not the only brick in the foundation that keeps the company steady. For small companies, we must strive to make our foundations solid as well, by strengthening the load we can carry.

I use it for my RSS feeds, for playing music while on the go, for watching an occasional episode of The Wire when I’m waiting at the DMV.

I use it for making calls, for text messaging, and for emailing on my personal and business accounts. I use it as my camera for recording inspiration, documenting the world around me, and as a visual reminder for reference later on.

I use Shazam to help me figure out what cool song is playing when I don’t know who it is. I use Google Maps to figure out which subway to take when I’m exploring NYC.

I use the clock to wake up myself and my fiancee up in the morning. I use the timer for cooking ALL THE TIME, and on rare occasions, the stopwatch to record times.

So with all the use I get out of my beloved iPhone (which I call “Baby”) you would think I would want to protect it from harm. Yet, after 7 months of ownership, I haven’t gotten around to purchasing a case!

Yeah, I’ve never been a big fan of cases. I like my phones/gadgets to be sleek, stylish, and get in and out of my pockets easily. The iPhone has a sleek profile to it that I haven’t wanted to sully with the added bulk of a case.

However, John took the plunge and purchased the CapsuleRebel from SwitchEasy. In typical John fashion, he sent me the link and told me I should consider it as well. I added one to my shopping cart and almost pulled the trigger before I came to my senses and decided to sleep on it. The next day I decided against the purchase.

A couple of months later, I inquired with John as to how the case was treating him. “I don’t use it anymore,” he said, “I gave it to a friend. It’s too bulky for me.” I patted myself on the back for holding off. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that I still needed something to protect Baby with.

And then, out of the blue, Spoofee.com (my source for deals on the web) comes up with a half-off code for a company that sells a different kind of protective case for the iPhone. The InvisibleSHIELD by Zagg is a scratch resistant film that is applied over the iPhone and protects it from day-to-day wear. It satisfies my desire for protecting my Baby while not making it needlessly bulky and ruining it’s classy look.

So, there’s an invisibleSHIELD on it’s way to my door, and my phone will bask in near-undetectable protection from scratches and damage. Check back here soon and I will post pictures and my thoughts once I’ve installed it!