I bought the MyTouch Slide at 10:05am on Wednesday.  The T-Mobile person told me there was enough charge to get me through the day.  I wasn’t naive enough to think that and it didn’t.  I gave it a minor charge because I knew I was going to be out for a bit later in the day.

I loaded apps that didn’t transfer over from my G1 which was a huge annoyance and worked on setting up my phone. At one point I pressed the Gmail icon and it went to my Gallery. I reversed, hit Gmail again and it went to Gallery, and repeated it.  I figured I would turn it on and off, possibly all the apps I loaded just messed with something.  I restarted it and it was fine though the battery was toast by 10pm.

I charged it all night,unplugging it at 8:20am today. I used 3G, which I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off as I can on the G1, I used a little bit of GPS, and tweeted.  By 12:30 I was getting the low battery warning. I found a friend’s laptop and started charging, even turning the phone off so it might charge faster.  I got it back up to 70% according the the stupid notched bar in the About window.  They couldn’t have a number assigned to it?

By 4pm I was a low battery again. I charged it again with the phone off and got up to 60% when I turned it on but still charging.  I ran some apps including Taskiller but then the battery indicator said I had 50% charging.  Laptop charging couldn’t keep up with using the phone?  Interesting Taskiller would kill something and then seconds later it was back.  It showed 15+ apps running, some I had never opened.  I kept killing and many came back. The phone finally died around 7:30pm which I find pathetic.

I also had several problems getting the Twitter app to work and Seesmic. Often they would just sit there.

I switched from my G1 to get a faster more reliable phone.  I am going back to my G1 to have a more reliable phone even if it’s slower.  I can use the GPS and forget it’s running in the background for 2 hours, run different Twitter clients, call, text message, etc and usually get 14 hours.  Granted I do have a double battery but I thought the newer phones with upgraded Android systems could handle battery life better.

I had to pay an upgrade fee to get this early.  It isn’t worth it for a glitchy phone that dies if I can’t find a charger.

I will give T-Mobile a chance to give me a different MyTouch Slide or a different battery to see if it is just one thing causing my problems.  I wouldn’t have kept the G1 if it sucked this bad in the beginning.

Is Social Media only discussion between friends? Possibly, but I don’t see why it should be limited to that. I have family, close friends, friends, acquaintances, interesting people I read about, and random events. Social Media has these layers as well.

I asked my buddy, who mocked me for months about how stupid Twitter was but now loves it, if he followed companies and why. He wants to know what happens and uses Twitter as a feed for those sites. His favorite is Woot and now he can keep track of their Woot-offs.

How do you define Social Media and what it is for you?

For years they talked about permission marketing and it is here. I follow very few companies but the ones I do I want to here about their specials; actually I want them to respond when I ask a question and many fail at this. They are the ones who need a Social Media company helping them. That will be another post down the road.

Social media to me is getting the information that I want and listening to those I want. Yeah, sometimes it is boring and trivial but once again I choose who I listen to everyday like any other relationship. I can’t say what Social Media is for you just like I can’t say who your friends should be.

The owner, I guess, was talking to the guy who took my order as I moved up the empty line. It seemed like he was admonishing him. I felt it was because I asked prices for different items and passed on the upsell. I don’t know why I thought this but I was a little frustrated that he as talking to him as my food was cooling. I like hot food hot and cold food cold. McDonald’s had that right.

He finally walked up and asked what I wanted to drink.

“Water.”

“Bottle?”

“No, just a cup.”

He stared at me for 5 seconds, which is a long time to stare at a stranger.

“Did you know that water is our best seller these days”

“Uh..”

“See all of these closed restaurants in here?” There we’re quite a few. “I bet water was there best seller too. Did you know this is the highest $ per square foot in the state.”

I was truly dumbfounded that this conversation was happening.

He could have said there was a charge for cups. Fine, I get that. Theaters don’t give them for free and neither does 7-11 I think.

I just stared at him blankly; annoyed that I didn’t know what to do and that he put me in that spot. I gave him my money and he gave me change.

I have to imagine (hope) that he doesn’t say this to everyone. I hope he snapped at it was done. Maybe he got a bill or the rent was due. I have had businesses and I get it. Either way this was on his mind and he should have adjusted. I won’t go back just because of how odd it all was but in truth I only go there a couple of times a year.

Another missed adjustment. I was frequenting Pizza Schmizza quite consistently at the end of ‘09 because they had a 1/2 price pizza slice Happy Hour. It fit my schedule that I was going there way to often. When the New Year hit they dropped it saying they were losing money on it.

They could only lose a significant amount of money if it worked. Going from 2-4pm there was little chance of eating into lunch sales. Obviously it worked and people were enticed by the discount. What if they did 25% off or the classic, buy a slice get a drink? They had the eyeball’s, or rather mouth’s, attention and lost it. Would love to see how the numbers changed.

Moral: Adjust

Written on my Phone, ignore the typos.

One is that it is much easier to guess why something worked than predict it and control it. He gained 1000’s of fans within the first week and did zero to promote it.  Everyone assumes he did at first and they say it only happened because of whatever strategies he set into motion.  There weren’t any.  It was very organic in creation and growth.  People just liked it.  I am sure an outsider is guessing how Dale did it and they will miss that, as always, killer content was the key.  If my point is too rambling just look at any company that tried to create a viral video. It almost never works.  The public decides when something works not matter how we try to finagle, poke, or control it.

Second is that by saying “365 Things To Do In Vancouver” he is making a  underlying promise to me. Most will assume he is referring to how many days there are in a calendar.  The promise is that he will bring me something new every day, or darn near close.   If I like his content at the outset I will be back because I believe he will do this every day.  His site becomes a part of the community because they accept him or form a community around him.

If you have been around blogs long enough you know many die a long death of neglect.  It is easy to put off a new post until tomorrow’s tomorrow.  It is hard to keep the attention of an internet surfer, almost by default they have attention deficit.  After looking through similar “things to do” pages I notice the 365 prefixed pages typically have  more fan.  We are on the internet to be stimulated much like the rat hitting the bar in his cage to get a food pellet.

This is one of the principles that Pouregon (launching May 1st) will work on.  I have said over and over that I believe the rigid schedule of guaranteed posts seven days a week at 6am, 10am, and 12pm will set in the brain of readers knowing they can come back day after day.

And no matter how much I try to control or predict, the public will decide if they like it.

Google ads are seen on most sites you visit.  When you click on that ad then the owner of the ad pays Google money and then shares it with the site owner.  CPC is paying per click.

CPM is paying per 1000 impressions.  CPC can be abused.  You set a dollar limit to be spent each day but what if your competitors clicks your ad wasting money resulting in less possible clients seeing it?  CPM takes care of that.

So what is a fair price?  Well it depends.  Many sites are somewhat broad.  A technology site like Gizmodo talks about all the cool tech and what you can do with it.  I don’t care about Apple products because I don’t own one.  My visit to the site is worthless.

A site like Mashable.com  has ads for things I don’t understand though I love their social media coverage.  I honestly don’t even see the ads anymore except for the one they fit between posts.  I have been trained to ignore them even though they blink.  I came to see what is happening with social media and I know where that information is.

The factors for deciding a fair price for CPM

• How narrowly or specifically does the site fit your business?
• Position of ad. Many Newspapers ads are made to look like article and are forced to say somewhere that it is an ad because it can be so convincing.
• What demographics does it bring?

For something to make an impression, I have to see it.  We are built to not see the thousands of things that are around us.  When we buy a new car we see that car everywhere because it is part of our focus now.  I told someone about the bumper sticker with the Oregon State outline and a green heart in it.  They told me they never saw it before but a week later they told me they were seeing it everywhere.

I am launching my new site Pouregon.com on May 1st.  While I am looking over websites and Twitter accounts of wine, beer, and coffee shops I see tiny mistakes that take a moment rectify.

The bio is there to tell who you are and how to contact you.  I see it over and over. @CompanyX tweeting for you to come down for their special but no website link, just their funky username, and no way to find them.  People forget that websites and social media are not just for your current fans but to help new people find you; make it easy.

Your Twitter account should have a username, which is your @XXXXXX, and your profile name, which instead of your business name, I believe it should be your field.  For @MikeCanDoIt, my profile name is Portland Real Estate.  My follower count has surpassed others who may be more influential than me but I am easier to find.  On @Pouregon, my profile name is Oregon Wine and Beer.  If you Google “Oregon Wine and Beer” Pouregon’s twitter account lands anywhere from #1 to #7.  Twitter is powerful, use it.

But remember followers aren’t everything.  Keep that in the back of your mind. Some people will be influenced by the number you have but after a while many understand it doesn’t mean a lot.  But the more you have there is more potential to connect.

Make sure your name is capitalized in the right places.  My website mikecandoit.com had one marketer call me looking for Mr. Candoit (candwa).  One Twitter it is MikeCanDoIt.  I convinced on lady that I saw her non-capitalized name as CindysHair not CindyShair, and that was the most gentle mistake I have made  reading usernames

For both sides check out these links,
Kevin Smith’s account – SModcast 106 is an audio cast of him retelling what happened.

Southwest Airline’s apology #1 and #2.

Kevin Smith announced what happened on Twitter then everything went crazy.  Many people took Smith’s side.  Some took Southwest’s side.

Southwest came out and “apologized”. They say it was “heartfelt” but then they go on to give some personal information of his and then a slight retelling of their side followed by a paragraph about their policy.

I have always said there are three sides to a story but if Kevin could bring down the arm rest and wasn’t infringing then there is no story and no case.  So I don’t know if there is any room for truth stretching.

In his podcast, Kevin says that he thinks one guy is to blame for starting this.  When he is asked to leave they mention the pilot had requested it.  Kevin refutes that the pilot can see him which even Linda admits in the blog post #2 saying they were following orders to hurry up.  And like psychology has shown us many times, we follow authority even if it isn’t right.

So what is so fascinating?

1. Southwest Airlines had a public response on their site at “14:57 on Sunday”, about 18 hours later.
2. This apology was hollow and many commenters mentioned that. Much like customer service lines I get where they say, “I am sorry to hear that,” every 30 seconds.  It become insincere.
3. Being out and this transparent, Southwest had to say something but they weren’t prepared but felt they had to move quick.  In the second blog post Linda Rutherford said, “I have never dealt with a situation like what has been unfolding in the last 48 hours.” Also, their Twitter account has been silent for almost 24 hours.
4. Reading comments on Southwest’s blog and then on other sites where they had almost none of the story and had not heard Kevin Smith’s telling yet, people picked his side.  Even asking why a Hollywood guy is on Southwest Airlines.
5. Almost completely lost is the fact that Kevin says he could lower the arm rest which seems to be in line with the policy.
6. One thing proven over and over the longer I have been on the internet is that few people actually read everything but they are quick to jump to a conclusion.

Here’s what I think Southwest should have done.  They should have pulled everyone that was a part of that event aside and asked for their account of what happened AND what should have happened.  One person pulled the trigger to pull Kevin Smith off the plane. It most likely wasn’t the stewardess who had already recognized him as a the famed-director.  We do things for friends, it’s just the way it is.  If the other employees A) do not agree that Kevin Smith was too big or B) agree that someone else was on the plane of equal or bigger size, then the person who pulled the trigger should be suspended or fired.

Kevin said there was a guy larger than him on the plane that he made eye contact with as he was leaving.  I am assuming that guy was sitting next to someone or Kevin wouldn’t have pointed it out.   Southwest has to have a policy that is consistent and that doesn’t seem to be the case by the stories that I have found.

Lastily, Southwest should have gotten their people together to come up with a better first response. I think it should have happened a little faster but what did come out was pretty bad and I don’t think it involved talking to anyone that wasn’t covering their asses.

What should Kevin Smith have done? He’s done what many have done he just has a better platform.  The only thing that he could have done was instead of taking of his face, making a mockingly bloated face, he should have taken one of his seat and sides.  Irrefutable at that point.

UPDATE: Kevin just responded to Southwest’s #2 blog and tells about Linda Rutherford calling him.  The first call went well but I think when she ran everything through the filter, the story or mea culpa was changed.  Linda is in a tough spot and she will earn her paycheck this week.

The scary thing for Southwest is that Kevin Smith does not mind being the butt of jokes and he will retell this one for years. I don’t know how much it will damage Southwest in the end but they won’t have some of the good will they have spent millions trying to build.

There are many lessons for companies in this recent fracas and I think it will scare some from away from Social Media because nothing was gained and their misstep may have added fuel to the fire.

In order of when I met them (to the best of my recollection),

Ron Ares – Ron is probably the first person that I really connected with online in the real estate world.  His website has great Portland market insights.  Some agents are so competitive that they are afraid to share information or helpful suggestions and he, like any other Realtor on this list, isn’t like that.  He’s been helpful and a great guy to get to know.

Nick Bostic – Nick is a King of all trades when it comes to tech, the web, and social media.  I first met Nick when he gave me an opportunity to be part of a collaboration of local real estate bloggers. The more I have gotten to know him the more I am honored that he would ask for my assistance with any project.   He has continued to impress me with his knowledge and creativity.  He has the ability to cut through the crap and figure out what is useful.

Dale Chumbley – Dale is the definition of social.  Social media was made to give him an outlet. You’ll find him on Facebook and Twitter with videos and pics of funny and interesting stuff.   He has been listed at least twice as a Top Influential in the Real Estate industry lists but the funny thing is that he rarely talks real estate.  He does social media right, just getting to know people and making friends.

Schnik – I have said it before and I will say it again, if Twitter starting charging I would pay for his account to keep him on there.  Though his job is with an MLS he could easily be a comedian.  He comes up with the best quips and comebacks on par with any top comedian.  I swear I almost spit milk out my nose once reading something he wrote.

IanWatt – Ian Watt was one of 20 agents given a digital camcorder to just play with and see what they could do.  He was the only one who did anything with it.  He went from being top 10% in his company of hundreds of agents to top 1%.  He showed me a way that real estate videos could be done which opened a new way for me to communicate and many have said that videos work better for me.

Luckily I have met everyone in real life which makes it even a richer experience.  Social media rocks.

I have a friend who doesn’t appreciate one of my fantasy basketball players, Chris Duhon. He was giving me a hard time about playing him while he was struggling and now Chris Duhon has turned it around. I am against my buddy this week and Chris Duhon is killing it for me.

So here’s the plan:
If you have one left over Christmas Card, even if it is mangled, ripped, or whatever, sign it “Merry Christmas, Chris Duhon” and mail it to

Mr. XXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX

Or just put your name on it and write something like, “Hey did you see Chris Duhon’s line last night? Wow! Merry Christmas”

Leave the top left of the envelope empty so he won’t know what’s going on until it’s too late.

If you are feeling very generous do as many Christmas Cards as you want. Draw little basketballs inside the card, write “3 points!” or “wow look at all of those assists or just have fun.

This has the potential to be awesome. I think I can get 40 cards to him but with the help of you and the power of the internet I can’t even guess the potential number of cards he could receive. And if the cards arrive after Christmas it will still be funny so don’t let that stop you.

When it is all over I will make him take a picture with all of the cards and put it on this site as an update. If there are a lot than it will be a video.

Thanks for thinking about it.