Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

So, here’s a shot that Shane took of Roxanne and me “iChating” at the Bare Feet Santa Fe offices. She’s in Hawaii and I’m in Santa Fe, Shane is wandering around the office with his tiny little camera…and we’re goofing a bit here (”Shane, get back to coding!”)

You’re probably thinking “So what? What’s this to do with business?” Well, here are two points:

1. Great, functional technology is more affordable than ever. And, a lot of it is - well - fun and functional. Which makes it fun to work, which leads to greater productivity and less stress. (All of which is not to be confused with the dreaded Blackberry addiction - You should use technology, not let it abuse you. And, of course, as with any tool, we have to learn how to use it.)

2. We actually were doing some business here. On another screen (which you can’t see in this shot) we were reviewing a client’s draft site design and talking about it live and in person. No back and forth with voice mails and emails, No ping-ponging Instant Messaging, no crackly phone lines…just talking face-to-face (and occasionally making a funny face).

So, spend some time over your morning coffee checking out info and trends at places such as Wired, Apple, and Slashdot. “Cool” is getting more functional (and cheaper) all the time.