Monthly Archives: May 2011

A Few Photo Apps I Use Daily

Posted by Andy Boyer in Uncategorized

This is not meant to be a definitive review of iPhone Photo Apps.  I’m not anywhere near qualified for that kind of analysis.  But, I’ve downloaded quite a few, and here are a few I use pretty regularly to post photos up to my TumbleBlog at AndyBoyer.Tumblr.com.

Also, I’m going to assume you already have tried, or regularly use Instagram and Hipstamatic.  

Photosynth

1) Photosynth: It’s not the easiest tool to use super effectively, and tends to be pretty buggy, but when it works it’s a pretty cool way to take a panoramic shot.  Great for the top of moutnains, stadiums, or places where you just want to capture a 30,000 foot of your surroundings. The issue is that it is hard to line up the string of photos in a way that creates the perfect stitch.  But, I’m sure with a little more diligence, you can pull it off better than I do.  (Also, make sure you are standing next to someone who isn’t going to move around a lot and get their head in the shot.)

2) Diptic: Easy way to quickly stitch a few photos together into one “frame.”  Do the edits right on your phone, and choose from about 10-20 layout options.  Then, upload that picture to your Facebook pge or what not.

3) Comic Touch Lite: Fun little free version of an app that simply ads comic bubbles to the pic.  Nothing revolutionary here, but super simple to use and fun at bbq’s and such.

4) Camera Plus: I like playing with this, and I think it provides slightly better photos.  Not 100% sold though.  (No example)

5) 100 Cameras in One: Basically it’s Hipstamiatic with a different style interface.  Take pics, run them through a filter, see the result.

Things I’m playing with and haven’t decided upon yet.  (ie, saving them for a future blog post.)

 PicPlz, SlowShutter, ToonPaint, MillColour, Phototreats, Retro Camera, Labelbox, LiveFX

Also:

I’ve already written about publishing tools like Zapd and Color, so I left them out of this post.

Let me know if you have any photo editing tools that you are using every day.

Opinion – We Need New Events

Posted by Andy Boyer in Marketing, Seattle

Now this may not seem like a fair post, since I go to more marketing events than the average person should.  But for a community as creative as Seattle, I’m beginning to think the networking event space has become pretty tame and uninspired.  Don’t get me wrong – the people are great, the venues are fun, and there are certainly more than enough to choose from.  Shauna Causey’s Twestival is awesome, and so is Gigs4Good, but there’s room for more creativity. Here are a few things that strike me.

1) We need to train up a slew of talented moderators.  It’s tough to admit this, but moderated panels are starting to become the death of a good event.  5 people on a panel is too many, and we don’t need to ask each person the same question.  Let’s put together a diverse panel, let them talk about their expertise, and have moderators ask pointed questions.  We should move away from round-table, generic subjects that the people in the crowd can just as well comment on.

2) We seem to use the same speakers over and over. I love that Seattle wants to promote its home grown stars.  And I get that there aren’t 500 local celebs to choose from.  But it does seem like we burn up the star power of these folks by putting them everywhere.  There are only a few events like the Ignite series where we get to see a cavalcade of new speakers that don’t have much experience.  And this is great, because it’s a safe environment where people get to work out the kinks in their presentation style, in front of audiences who are forgiving and encouraging. We need a few more places like this, where speakers can take the stage and gain the experience to hit bigger venues.  Let’s break away from the usual 20-30.

3) We need diversity in the subjects. I think it’s time we go a little bit outside the echo chamber.  Let’s talk to four Bay Area VC’s and find out why they think Seattle is a Tier 2 Startup city.  Let’s invite oil companies and find out why the rest of the country doesn’t mirror our love for green tech.  Let’s listen to politicians explain to liberal Seattle why people still vote Republican in other parts of the country. Basically, let’s bring in people that don’t already think like us.  What do we have to lose?

4) Can we do something new? Sure, I like standing around and drinking a vodka soda at happy hour with colleagues.  But I also like “doing things” in the few hours I have to spend on these events.  I think NWEN does a nice job of mixing it up.  You have some educational events, some pure networking events, and some that are a hybrid of both.  But overall the whole scene needs more Trivia Quiz, Karaoke nights, ping pong tourneys, miniature golf outings.  We need more places for startups to “launch” their companies in front of a crowd of 200, and networking orgs like SMC Seattle to partner more with volunteer orgs like Seattle Works.  I think it would be way more fun to work at a food bank with my Seattle Marketing colleagues, than just belly up to a bar.  

These are my quick thoughts on the matter.  I’m not complaining at all, and I think we still have a wealth of interesting people to talk to at these events.  But maybe, just maybe, we have some room for improvement. 

Drugstore CEO Talks Technology

Posted by Andy Boyer in Seattle, Technology

From TechFlash.comI’ve always raved that some of the most dynamic, powerful, inspiring bosses that I’ve worked for during my years as a technology marketer have been women.  I guess “growing up” in an environment like RealNetworks, where everyone was pretty dang smart, you just didn’t see much labeling of team members by gender.

However, it’s easy to look around the web sites of technology companies and notice there are far more pictures of men in the “Executive Team” pages.  So, I was really interested to hear the perspective of Dawn LePore, the CEO and Chairman of Drugstore.com, at the recent TechFlash Women in Technology event.

3 thrings stuck with me from Dawn’s conversation.

  1. The crowd was 30-40% men.  I think these kinds of event are more powerful when both genders are in the room.  We have lots ot learn from each other, so I was really excited so many men in the audience.
  2. Dawn’s main advice was pertinent to both men and women.  She spoke a lot about her career path, and it’s clear that she wasn’t promoted out of luck or chance.  She made a real decision at some point in her career that she was going to be an executive.  So instead of just executing upon the tasks given to her, she sought out mentors who get help get her to the next level.  She understood that merely doing her current job well wasn’t going to get her keys to her own corner office.  He was going to have to be trusted to to the job of the people abover her if she wanted promotion.  I think too many people do their job well and expect to be moved up, rather than seeking out help on how they can attain the next level.
  3. It was also clear that she had to make difficult family choices, but her and her family made them unapologetically and without regret.  She made the conscious choice to forego a family until she had risen to the top level.  Her husband made the choice to stay at home and be a house husband to help her attain her goals.  These are hard choices, but when you are shooting for the stratosphere, hard choices need to be made.

 

One final thing resonated throughout the Q+A.  Women from both large and small tech companies grabbed the microphone and asked Lepore how she adapted to a world where she was such the minority.  I think it’s aninteresting point for men – and women – to keep top of mind.  That even in organizations that handle workplace gender differences with the utmost care, there is still usually a disparity between the number of men and women in the halls. It’s something to keep in mind, that no matter how hard you try to level the field, there will still be a majority / minority dynamic at play.

Finally, I think Lepore glossed over something we all should at least think about a litlle.  One reason there are fewer women in technology excecutive positions, is that fewer women are entering the technology workplace in the first place.  We need to figure out why so many of our bright and talented women students aren’t considering careers in math and science.  I would have liked to hear her talk more about this.