Dec 11, 2009
Woa. Last post was in July. That’s a while. I’d apologize if I cared to… but I don’t so eat it.
Its been a crazy second half of 2009, I thought I’d just hit the highlights:
If you follow my twitter or are one of my nearest/dearest Facebook friends, these would have streamed right in 
The nice thing about taking a long break is that now I got a shit-ton (1 shit-ton = 2.8 metric tons) to write about without having to think too much about it…
Jul 25, 2009
Hello all.
Service this past week has been shitty… the next week looks like it will be crap as well. Pimpin’ ain’t easy.
I’ll try to queue up some fun content while I do some globe trotting
Follow my twitter at www.twitter.com/sheynk for updates.
To make up for that here is a dope mix by the legendary KGBeats for your ear orgasmic pleasure:
Jun 26, 2009
I need to put this out there as a permanent web record of the ultimate truth. Its all about the sneakers. Here are the top 3 ever (if you disagree, I don’t care)
1) Reebok Court Victory Force Pump. Coolest shoe ever.
2) Y-3 Sprint. For the jet setting douche in all of us.
3) Adidas Stan Smith. The forever fresh classic.
Yes. Some of you love your AF1s and Air Maxs. I love Rudolf Dasslers and think Cesare Paciotti makes sick shoes. These, however, rule the house.
Jun 12, 2009
You know what’s easy in the digital media and SaaS business? Accepting the fact that you have to do low margin work to drive your revenue.
Lemme ‘xplain…
So lets say you are a brilliant web developing shop. You have a small, cost efficient team and you are truly awesome at building sexy websites and applications. What I see too often is these shops going after techie media jobs. They end up talking to IT professionals or seasoned digital creative people when bidding for a project.
They end up talking to people like me. I know how long things take, what level of skill is required, and what are the relative costs of doing such a job at other outfits. I am a bad customer. Although I maybe a pleasure to work with because I can problem solve and act as a partner more than a client, I also drive the hardest bargain and demand the most particular work.
The point I am trying to make is that the more experienced your client is in your product area, the lower your margin will be. The key is to find high margin businesses with low exposure to your area of expertise.
Most Lasik surgery clinics have basic websites that they likely overpaid some college sophomore to make. What about family-owned jewelry stores? Most gyms have shitty sites too. Where is the “online trainer app” from your local gym that you interact with through SMS? The more odd the fit of the idea, the greater the probability you can bill through development and expertise building to the client.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know by email or comments.
Jun 11, 2009
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Just as the summer sun is ascending to its throne of molten destruction upon the gulf region, I am ejecting (like a daring superhero) to spend a few months on assignment in NYC.
Will I be back in Dubai? Absolutely. Will I ever try the settling game there again? Probably not…
I am sitting outdoors at a café on Sunset Blvd in LA drinking a beer just after eating an amazing non Halal and definitely not Kosher meal. I am wearing jeans, a shirt, a light hoodie sweater thing, and neon blue Reebok Court Victory Pumps. Pauly Shore just finished his coffee 3 tables from me wearing a really weird headband… he was likely getting a caffeine fix after his workout at the Equinox gym next door.
Think the feel of this moment could be recreated at Ibn Battuta mall? I bet I could best this sitting at Pastis in the Meat Packing district in NYC.
No worries Team Dubai, I’ll be keeping my visa and work in the region active so be ready for “Oh shit Gary is in town” debauchery.
I am flying out in the first half of July.
: – )
Apr 23, 2009
Whatever happened to space being cool? I am not talking about Trekkie space or Star Wards space or Vin Diesel assassin space. What I am talking about is big white spacesuit, moon rovers, rockets, and the quest to conquer the unknown. Back when the USSR and US were duking it out for world mojo, countries would unite behind their space programs.
We need to go to space again, and in a big way. Some world leader (perhaps someone charismatic, educated, outspoken, and loved by all (so far)) needs to pull a Kennedy and say we will colonize the moon within a decade. I am not talking a tiny pod either. Something with a low gravity foosball table and everything.
“But Gary, we are too focused on the financial blah blah blah…” OK, I get it, but get over it. This recession business is the official cop out for getting shit done now… cut it out.
Innovations in space exploration lead to creation of durable and lightweight materials, compact food storage, flight dynamics, miniaturization, advancements in muscle atrophy prevention, and etc etc you get the point: space is pretty cool.
Apr 5, 2009
As promised, I am going to share some insights as to what it takes to kick some serious ass at a conference. I just returned from MIPTV in Cannes and, despite the awful weather, we had a terrific show.
This post is meant to be a timeline guide to avoid anxiety in planning a conference appearance for your company
8-9 Weeks out
Prepare your budget. Make sure you know exactly how much you want to spend on a show in total. This includes:
- The stand itself
- Per Diem for your team
- Space at the show
- Size of team
- Accommodations
- Team dinners
- Lead generation events
- Advertising and promotion
- Transportation
7-8 Weeks out
Book your space and register your team with the conference.
Determine what sort of printed materials and document you will need at the show. These include:
- Brochures
- Business cards for the entire team (we had our booth on ours)
- Product sheets
- Price lists for services
- Template proposals
- Printed in depth presentations for on site follow up meetings
5-7 Weeks out
Work with your booth builder and creative team to create the design for the booth.
Click Read More to read about the next 5 weeks!
[Read more]
Mar 13, 2009
OMFG I’m running late. My heart is pounding. I am pale. I do not know what to do.
I’ve never missed a flight in my entire life because of forgetting something or just not leaving early enough. Half a year ago I joined that club on both accounts.
The flight was to Cannes. The conference was MIPCOM. I am now planning MIPTV, so I need to heed some lessons:
What was the result of my panic?
- 4 speeding tickets (really)
- 1 bewildered coworker (I was Maverick, he was Goose) who I drove (quickly)
- 1 missed flight
The right thing to do was to drop off my coworker (which I ended up doing anyway, just much quicker). Calmly return to my apartment and rebook my ticket. I ended up doing that anyway… only I aged 7 years and lost more money in the process. In case you haven’t figured it out, I left my passport.
Here is the deal: IT IS OK IF YOU MISS YOUR FLIGHT. Sure, it is not a good thing to miss flights, but realize that there are always other planes and that at the end of the day your safety and nervous system are worth more.
Feb 22, 2009
How many phone numbers do you have?
Some of us are lucky enough to just have one, others (like me) don’t have that luxury. To keep sane I have a pretty well sorted system that I use to keep it all in check. Here are my phones and how I sort them:
- US private/personal mobile number
- US BlackBerry work mobile number (with attached unlimited world data plan, cheap data no voice plan)
- US “Desk” Skype number
- UAE “Desk” phone number
- UAE mobile
I will let you in on a little secret: there are only two devices.
My ATT BlackBerry is just an email device. I do not give that number out to anyone. The ATT BlackBerry data plan is the cheapest I’ve seen in the world.
Now for the other 4:
My private phone is on a family unlimited US plan. That number calls to my US based skype number which has unlimited international calling. The skype number forwards to my mobile phone from Etisalat in the UAE that has free incoming.
My UAE desk phone forwards to my UAE mobile phone.
My outbound calls are either made through my UAE cell or if international my Skype Out account (connected through a VPN since its blocked in the UAE). Etisalat also happens to have some of the cheapest roaming charges around.
In case I miss a call, my voicemail system sends me an MP3 via email that I can sort and listen to at any time.
I use a Nokia E51 (highly recommended, pictured above) for all my voice calls (including skype through Fring) and a road warrior Curve as my mobile data hub.
In short: Use an online call/routing system to call a line that has free incoming calls as a “hub number”. Have that number be the number where you get a lot of calls from, but not where you local mobile is.
Shoot me an email or leave a comment if you have a better system
Feb 1, 2009
Yes, I know….a novel concept. Although I am all about connectivity (can be reached by email, sms, skype, gchat etc…), that does not mean that if you send me an email with “important” in the subject line that I will get to it right there and then… especially on the weekend or in the middle of the night.
I have no aversion to working on the weekends, 3am, or other seemingly odd hours, but our uber connectivity culture is breeding bad habits. What I am noticing is that someone will send an email, and think that I am already on the task or have it completed next time they look into their inbox.
…um. Sorry. Doesn’t work that way. Although I do my best to stay available, I do not wait around for other people’s email to plan my objectives for the day/week/whatever.
Moral of the rant: if you need something. Pick up the phone, or wait for a confirmation. There is a human being on the other end of the phone line or computer screen and a little consideration and flexibility goes a long way.
