Clutter

Attention is working remotely this week, but I decided to come in and work during the "quiet" week. I say "quiet" because it really isn't.

Proof: LOOK AT THIS DESKTOP CLUTTER.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Set aside 10% for fun and failing

This post is fantastic. "Stuff I've Learned at Microsoft" by Sriram Krishnan.

My favorite part, and it's so true, is "Ask for forgiveness, not for permission."

Any sufficiently large institution has something to lose. Credibility, money, power, you name it. Ergo, any request for something new and risky is met with caution. Be it a new proposal or a new project, it is safer to say ‘No’. Corporate systems are optimized for saying no. Maintain the status quo. No risk of failure and a spectacular blowout.

This is exactly why you are better off going ahead and doing something without asking first. If you don’t ask, no one can tell you to not do it. Have an interesting idea for a side project? Go code it up. If you ask someone first, you’ll probably get told “Go consult with team X,Y and VP Z” and face an endless spiral. Want to write a blog post on something you care about? Go do it.

Obviously, you need to know what you’re doing. Don’t do something obviously stupid. Making a post about unannounced feature X? Bad idea. Checking in code without telling anyone? Very bad idea. Sending an angry flame mail to the wrong VP? Depends (but typically not a bad idea). Like with any risk, there are downsides.

This won’t work all the time. You will fail, sometimes spectacularly. That is OK (see next heading for why). In fact, if you don’t make a complete ass of yourself from time to time, you’re probably doing something wrong.

Corollary: If other people are going to be impacted by you failing, you need to tell them first

Sometimes, especially in client services, you need to go ahead and try, versus waiting for the no answer. Even if the answer is a yes in the end, the waiting time may kill the overall strategy as to why the project or campaign would be successful.

If you look at any of the really crazy stunts, launches, promos----most of them were not planned out months in advance, they were done within a week, a night, an hour. Late nights with coffee and Red Bull banging it out so the idea would work against the time factor are what make some of the greatest case studies.

Sure, and for the most part, planning is key. But every once in a while, don't be afraid to take that jump. If 90% of your work is planned out, we should be able to budget 10% for the "quick thinking projects." Or, as I have been calling them, the "Fun and Failing" projects" that require tight turnaround and a "let's see what happens" attitude.

Thoughts?

What would you pay for?

I was thinking about all of the web services I use on a daily basis and realized how I pay $0 for everything (minus Flickr.) I'm spoiled and expect everything for free. Video, music, content, conversation. Our generation asks (or doesn't even ask), someone builds it and the cycle goes on. If it came to a point where all services cost, what would I do? Here's the rundown:

Web services I currently pay for:
Flickr---the $25 annual membership is well worth it. I'd happily pay for this service for the rest of my life, although a point of security around all my photos would be nice. Heck, if they asked me for $35 a year and added in a secure back-up, I wouldn't blink.

Web services I would pay for:
Hulu - Done. $50, $100 a year---let me know. Sure, I love that it's free but I realize it's not going to be like this forever. Just give me the content I want at a cheaper price than my stupid cable company cost and I'm yours. (Plus- Hulu introduced me to Community and Arrested Development so I am forever grateful)
Dropbox - I don't pay for it now, but I would. I used to use Dropbox a lot more at Carrot Creative. If I used it more now I would definitely pay. I also know many of my friends who use it and see the value.
Facebook - I have too much of my life on it. Too many connections, too many photos. I realize that they'll probably start charging us at some point (heck, with all the changes lately I wouldn't be surprised if I got a bill for 2020)
Twitter - I'm on the fence with this one. I remember a life without Twitter, yet I use it so much now.
Last.fm/Hype Machine - They're light years better than iTunes and give me music I want to hear. A simple subscription for this service would be OK with me, as long as the contest stays as quality as it is. (P.S. Last.fm is the ONLY web service I use that I do not have the kmaverick screen name for. I own it, but used an old e-mail and can't access it. Last.fm, if you're listening, let's chat about this)

Web services I wouldn't pay for/undecided:I can't automatically say I wouldn't pay for them because I don't know what the cost would be. That said, I would definitely question my choices before putting down the credit card for these.

Blogging Platforms - Unless ALL of them start charging, I'm sticking with the free platforms. I had a conversation with someone asking if I'd pay for Tumblr. I don't know. Sure, I use it every day but it's more of my "escape" network to take a break. I don't use it as a function like the ones above. But, who knows.

What about you? What would you pay for? Fill out the quick survey below. I'll post the responses if I get a substantial amount. Should be interesting.

Click here to take survey

Work/Life Balance Before the New Year

The work/life balance during the holidays is pretty non-existent-at least for me, and for many of my friends. Running from party to party, cramming in meetings, finalizing plans (or beginning them) for 2010 and trying to keep a calm sense of mind and sleep for a few hours is pretty hard to do this time of year. I've always struggled.

While setting new goals starting January 1 is a common plan, I'd like to get ahead of that. Rather than wait until the year to come to an end and deal with complete exhaustion (and hangover) during the break as I usually do, I went searching for a few things to help get me organized so the new year is already steady vs. a "January 1 I become a new person."

Here's what I've done so far that has already helped. Share your tips in the comments. We all have better ways to keep our lives together.

• I joined a new gym yesterday. The Manhattan Plaza Health Club. (This place is a utopia by the way with all of the spas and a POOL. Yes. A POOL. I think I am more excited to go purchase a racer back Speedo circa 7th grade more than anything) It's too damn cold outside to run in the morning and that's meant me putting off my runs and thus lacking any and all physical activity. I've made a goal to get to the gym at least 3 times in the morning during the week. Clear head in the morning means happy Kristin for the rest of the day.
  
• To Do lists with TeuxDeux. Seriously, this site is amazing. Drop in your to dos. If they don't get crossed off, they carry on to the next day. I also love the "Someday" list for long term goals. Need to fill those in.
• Delete you desktop. My desktop is usually a clutter of folders and draft documents. I deleted 38 files last night from my laptop alone. Desktop at work is next, but it's a start.
  

Techies Give Back...Another reason why New York rocks

Today I attended Techies Give Back at Chelsea Piers Sky Rink. NY Tech Gives Back is a day for the NY tech community to come together for a good cause through volunteerism and giving. The inaugural event brought together over 85 NY tech folk and supporters (as noted from the Eventbrite) to ice skate at Chelsea Piers with kids who are part of the Camp Interactive Program.

For those who have never head of Camp Interactive, I strongly urge you to check it out. It's really fantastic. In short: "a not-for-profit organization that empowers inner-city youth through the inspiration of the outdoors and the creative power of technology. When urban teenagers step back into nature and forward into technology they gain invaluable skills, heighten their academic standing, and begin to realize more of life's possibilities."

Camp Interactive is also the beneficiary of the Pepsi/Foursquare Leaderboard Challenge that is ending this evening.

We all had a lot of fun. While we all did not get paired with a camper, the fact that we were able to come and show our support, open our wallets to help with every one's participation(instead of putting it towards the traditional Sunday beer) and network with other folks in the community made it all worth it. Little things like this bringing together people who get along (and discuss similar things) for a cause seem like a no brainer.

One conversation developed around the tech community here in New York and all of the great things that we contribute to. While it's easy for us to quickly log on to a website and send a quick donation, there really hasn't been particular event that has brought everyone to one place purely for a cause. (Note, many events like Charity Water and Social Media 4 Social Change directly are planned for the cause, but there wasn't the 1:1 interaction with the charity. Call me out if I'm wrong here of course)

I think this inaugural event really set it off and I think others should be planned soon. I'd be interested in helping organize an event similar to this. If you're interested, shoot me an email and we can plan something. Special thanks to the organizers of this event Adam Gillman & Simon Kirk. Taking the time to plan and organize takes skill and time.

If you're not familiar with other charitable events organized by NY Tech folk, check some of these out.

• Robin Hood: Stay in to Feed NYC
• Donors Choose Blogger Challenge
• Social Media 4 Social Change
• Charitini
  

To think, smart, innovative, friendly, tech savvy AND charitable all on one island? Who knew! :)

And now, while I didn't capture much, some photos and a special video to show you just what you missed.

Photos and video include super talented ice skaters: Alli Mooney, Joe West, Brooke Moreland, Maury Postal, Charlie O'Donnell and Jason Schwartz.


Created with flickr slideshow.

#techiesgiveback from Kristin Maverick on Vimeo.

Too much negative?

So, THIS account started following me on Twitter today. From their bio: "Avoiditnyc.com is the first comprehensive negative review website allowing users to share their bad experiences with others and help businesses improve."

I received the direct message after following (I'm curious): @AvoiditNYC "Thank you for following New York City's first and only comprehensive negative review website. I look forward to interacting with you in the future."

So, it's a site to write negative reviews? About anything? While the site has yet to launch, I feel like that's a bit tiresome. If you gather people into one spot that is fueled by negativity, you're setting up a downward spiral. As much as people like to complain, you can only complain for so long. Plus, why would you want to go to a site that only has negative things? How does that help me?

And come on, as if New York doesn't have enough negativity! (See---I'm already turning into a negative person in this post. It's contagious.)

Stick with your reviews on Yelp, send a quick complaint via Twitter or write a blog. Be positive or negative. Just be honest and provide a review that is honest.

Thoughts?

Check-in for good with Foursquare

*Note this post originally appeared on my company's blog here.

New York superstar startup Foursquare and Pepsi have partnered for good this week.

From the official Foursquare blog: every point added to the Foursquare leaderboard this week will be lead to Pepsi donating $0.04 to CampInteractive, an organization that helps empower inner-city youth through technology skills and mentoring.

The total donation has been capped at 10,000 points / $10,000.

A perfect week to do this with all of the holiday parties on the calendar this week, New York Foursquare users should be able to hit that mark easily in a few days.

Name your wine

For those who know me, they know that a glass of Chardonnay is my go to cocktail if I'm in the need for some liquid relaxation.

Not sure if it was a Long Island thing or maybe a college thing, but I always leaned toward picking up a bottle of Yellowtail Chardonnay. (I'm guessing it was the price point too---great wine for <$12 is pretty good.) So, to my delight I stumbled upon the current Yellowtail contest to name their new Chardonnay. Rules are simple. Check out the site here, fill out your proposed name and hope they like it!

About the Wine:

Deadline is December 9th.

Prize: A hand-delivered shipment of the wine when "we get our hands on the first batch"

I'm sold.

We are TOO Public

According to what I'm seeing on my Twitter stream (and from a bunch of my tech savvy friends), this is the current process of going out:

• Plan a meeting/event with Plancast (I'm really not liking this, make your plans privately and stop filling up my stream---has anyone found this to be REALLY valuable?)
  
• Sync event to your Google Calendar/Facebook Events/iCal/iPhone
  
• Tweet that you're excited to go to the above plan (Yay!)
  
• Check in on Foursquare that you're there (Bonus points if you send said check in to Twitter)
• Take photo of delicious food and drink at event and post to Flickr or Tumblr
  
• Review venue and event on Yelp
• Sleep
• Repeat

Can't anyone just call up a friend and go out WITHOUT publishing it to the Internet? I seriously know where all of my friends who use the above services are at ALL times. I feel invasive. Have we become TOO public with what we're doing? Is privacy completely gone? Or do we just love sharing what we're doing even more than we did a few months ago and don't care?

***Bonus points to anyone who can take the above bullet points and turn into a fun graph or chart. I'm not a designer.