The new JCP catalog is much thinner and is a monthly publication.

Notice the new logo

Why is JCP changing their pricing strategy…

Red, White & Blue color coding for the pricing strategy. No more “always on sale” at JCP.

A sample of the Red “Everyday” pricing

Shop by Texting

           Shop with a QR code.

Monthly content targeted towards events like the Super Bowl and the Oscars.

Learn something new: My friend Steve is learning to drive a motorcycle as his new goal for 2012. Considering he is not the risk taking type, this is a stretch for him. It will put him out of his comfort zone and cause him to grow. What could you learn; a new language, a new technology, photography, how to ride a horse… and how might it help you grow? Check out the book “Learn Something Every Day” by Robert Young. 

See something different: I went to a movie in the middle of a weekday recently. It felt odd and “wrong.” I got to examine my beliefs about the right and wrong times to see a movie. What other “rules” was I holding on to? Do I follow some rules that no longer support my vision of who I am? What could you see differently? Art, an old car, behavior of your children,… and how might letting go of a view help you? Check out photographer Kat Miller’s website “See Things differently.”

Be a different person: What would it mean to do absolutely nothing for one hour; or one day? As an entrepreneur I look at the ROI of my time so at first my reaction is “why would anyone do that?” But, I hear that once you quiet your mind, you are able to see life and issues more clearly and this is the payoff for quiet time. Check out “The Critical Role Quiet Time Plays in the Achievement of our goals.”

Do a different task: Have you been on a Habitat House Build? I like it because I’m not in charge, I’m part of a team, I’m making a difference and I meet people from different walks of life. This different task helps me break the habit of doing the same things, the same way. What is a different task for you? How could you benefit? Check out this video on YouTube “Doing things differently leads to something exceptional”

As always, I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

Events worth looking into:

2/07/12 Dallas SEO/SEM Meet up – Hardcore Video SEO

2/08/12 Social Media & Your Career in 2012

2/08/12 “From Made in China, to Made for China”

2/09/12 Membership in the Current Age – Executive Briefing

2/09/12 AAF Dallas Presents the Addy’s

2/10/12 Author of “Paper Promises” Philip Coggan to Speak in Dallas

2/11/12 7th Annual Career Symposium

2/13/12 Arts Markets and Management Research Initiatives

2/14/12 The 2012 Economic Forcast with Alan Murray

2/15/12 Membership in the Digital Age

2/15/12 The state of the World by Former PM of Canada, Jean Chretien

2/16/12 Top 5 Pitfalls of Building a Fin./Acct.Team,…

2/17/12 Membership in the Digital Age

2/24/12 DFW BeMyApp Competition

2/28/12 Last Tuesday Happy Hour at The Ritz-Carlton

3/9-12/12 South by Southwest interactive – SXSWi

Dear LinkedIn user,

We wanted to let you know about a change coming soon to the Tweets Application on LinkedIn.

1. First, we are not eliminating the ability to send updates between your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. You can still go to your Settings page and choose to send either all tweets or only tweets with a #in hashtag to your LinkedIn status updates. It’s up to you. Again, tweets imported from Twitter into the LinkedIn network updates stream will not be affected.

If you haven’t yet joined your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, here’s how you do it.

2. At the end of January, however, we will not be supporting the standalone Tweets Application on LinkedIn (see image), that displays tweets from everyone you follow on Twitter on your LinkedIn homepage. As of January 31st, this module will no longer be available.

If you have any additional questions, please visit our Help Center.

Thanks,
LinkedIn

J.R. Atkins meeting with techies in Palestine

In addition to the many Biblical sites I have seen while traveling in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Egypt, I have been meeting with Social/Mobile/Tech people along the way. Here is a short list of some of the topics of conversation so far.

“Brain Drain” is the trend of smart, young people, leaving Palestine for other countries where they don’t have to live as second class citizens.  They move to the US, Jordan, Dubai, Lebanon and other places where they can create a better life for their families.

“Maktoob” was a popular search engine developed in Jordan and recently purchased by Yahoo. This is the dream of every young Palestinian Technologist just like Americans; to develop a start up that goes viral and is purchased by a larger company.

“TEDx Ramallah” occurred in April ’11 in Ramallah and was simulcast in Beirut and Amman. For those who attended in person or on line it represented a watershed event where people could share, collaborate, develop ideas and build the Palestinian community. TED has grown from Technology, Entertainment and Design to include a broader range of topics as indicated by the 28 videos from TEDx Ramallah.

“Pal Connect” was the first-ever Palestinian conference for social media, held in Ramallah in December 2011.  The event attracted social media professionals, journalists, traditional media professionals, academics, students, and civil society representatives. The folks I spoke to said they expect next year’s event to be bigger and better.

“Palestine ICT Incubator” PICTI assists tech entrepreneurs take their ideas to market by helping with designing, developing, implementing, and promoting those initiatives to business ventures. A Start Up weekend was held in 2011 and another one is planned for 2012. Spark is another business and technology incubator program being developed at Birzet University.

“MARKAVIP” is another example of a tech success story. Similar to Living Social or Group On, the web site offers daily deals on select merchandise at a substantial discount.

I hope you have found these as interesting as I have. Please offer your thoughts in the comment section of the blog.

The basic idea of responsive web design is that a website should “respond” to the device it’s being viewed on. In broad terms, this can mean things like:

   Adapting the layout to suit different screen sizes, from widescreen desktops to tiny phones

   Resizing images to suit the screen resolution

   Serving up lower-bandwidth images to mobile devices

   Simplifying page elements for mobile use

   Hiding non-essential elements on smaller screens

   Providing larger, finger-friendly links and buttons for mobile users, and

   Detecting and responding to mobile features such as geolocation and device orientation.

Most of the time, though, when people talk about “responsive web design” they’re referring mainly to the first of these points: creating a responsive layout that can gracefully adapt to different screen sizes.[i]

Here a few examples of websites that utilize Responsive Web Design. You can test their responsiveness by adjusting the size of your browser window and seeing how the content changes.[ii]

By using Responsive Web Design you will create a more pleasing user experience for your website visitors thus increasing their time on your site and conversions.

To learn more about Responsive Web Design check these additional resources. I look forward to reading your thoughts and comment.

1. Book: Responsive Web Design by Ethan Marcotte
2. Article: 60 Examples of Responsive Website Design from Inspiration Feed
3. Blog: the Future of Web Design by Courtney Boyd Myers, The Next Web

“…skimmers (engaging only briefly), dippers (engaging casually, in undemanding ways, e.g. by posting on blogs and comment threads), and divers (hardcore fans exploring the full story experience) – and these types also influence and engage one another: divers attract dippers, dippers attract skimmers. Skimmers deal mainly with easily accessible, non-complex elements, divers with the more complex elements that also require significant marketing investment.”

So as we write content for Social Media, Blogs, Print, Web … we need to keep these three types of readersin mind. By the way, this is very similar to the way I was taught to write in Journalism and we called it the inverted pyramid model.

Please post your comments below.

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http://news.yahoo.com/8-reasons-continue-holiday-job-search-150323731.html

8 Reasons to Continue Your Holiday Job Search

1. You’ve got more time to search for a job since work has slowed down.

2. Your competitor job seekers may not be looking.

3. It’s a perfect time to meet the people who may be hiring later.

4. Holiday networking opportunities are abound.

5. People are more laid back.

6. End-of-year budgets may provide hiring opportunities now rather than in January.

7. Holiday cards are the perfect excuse to remind hiring managers that you’re available.

8. Freelancing while everyone else is on vacation might get your foot in the door.

First let’s look at all the ways in which we can connect without a business card. Here are just a few you might want to try out: 

Bump – The Bump App allows you to bump your iPhone or Android phone with another phone and exchange information. You can exchange your contact information, pictures, videos, files, and almost anything. (This App requires an internet connection to work & both parties must have the App.) 

Beam Me – The Beam Me App, available only on iPhone is similar to the inferred beaming of the Palm Pilot of the late ‘90’s. Although this App was popular for a while, it appears to be abandoned by the developer. (This App requires an internet connection to work & both parties must have the App.) 

Card Munch – Available only for iPhone, the user takes a picture of a business card with the App. The App then sends the image to a real person to key in the data. You get a notification when the transcription is complete. If it is incorrect, you can have it re-transcribed with the click of a button. Once you accept the transcription, you can send the person an email, text, or invitation to connect on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter. Although the App is free now, LinkedIn purchased it and could change it to a paid App. (This App requires an internet connection to work.) 

Text & Email – No Mobile App required, just ask the person for their mobile number or email address and send them your contact information from your phone. (This non-App requires an internet connection to work.) 

LinkedIn App – In addition to accessing all of your LinkedIn contacts on the fly, the LinkedIn Mobile App will allow you to connect with others and exchange information. This App is not available for the Android yet but is available on the iPhone, Palm Pre and BlackBerry. (This App requires an internet connection to work & both parties must have the App.) 

Twitter & Facebook App – These Apps are more like the Text & Email from above. Just get the users ID, send them a message and you are off to the races. (This App requires an internet connection to work & both parties must have the App.) 

With all of these technologies, you can facilitate the exchange of information without a business card. Yet, that is the one of the main reason why so many people have business cards. In addition to these Apps, on-line profiles provide a great deal of information about someone before we meet in person. So again, what do I need a card for? Here are few reasons or ideas on why you might want to carry something like a business card. 

• In The Moment Marketing – The card shows or tells something about your business
• Marketing For Later – The recipient remembers you and your business later
• Something To Remember You By – A lasting impression
• A Gift – As in Japanese culture, you exchange cards like they are gifts
• A Conversation Starter – A little something unique about you and your business

I have used a unique card for the last 3 years and it stimulates a variety of conversations. People come up to me and say “oh yea, you’re the guy with the cool card”. Now granted I am in marketing and social media business but aren’t we all in the business of marketing for ourselves? Thus I suggest you still carry a business card, it’s just for different reasons. 

What about students and retirees, I suggest you carry a personal card with your contact information and maybe a title or statement that says something about you. This way you can make a better impression on people you meet and you have something to exchange when they offer their card.

There are few people who are “off the radar”; they do not need to build a network due to the private nature of their work. But remember, even James Bond carries a business card, though it does say “Universal Exports” and that is a rather misleading company name.

Maybe there is a point to be reached, that you are so well known, that you don’t need cards. Right, I’ll probably still carry unique cards just because I like them so much and the results they generate.

Noteworthy Events 

11-28-11 Knowledge Management Association Inaugural Event

11-29-11 Last Tuesday Happy Hour at The Ritz-Carlton

12-01-11 The Jingle Mingle

12-05-11 DFW-World Affairs Council presents Wang Jiarui

12-06-11 Social Media and your Career in 2012

12-06-11 Dallas Aggie Business Luncheon Honoring the Aggie 100

12-06-11 The Dallas Business Club Annual Holiday Party

12-07-11 N Texas Crime Commission Membership Breakfast

12-08-11 NTCAR – Virtual Tour – Uptown/CBD

12-08-11 Networking Luncheon – DFW IT Professionals

12-08-11 Dallas Safari Club Holiday Party

12-15-11 Using Facebook to Market Your Business with J.R. Atkins

12-27-11 Last Tuesday Happy Hour at the Ritz Carlton

New Airships use hovercraft technology to raise and lower themselves somewhat like a helicopter. The shape is more wing-like and aerodynamic then the older models such as the famous Hindenburg. The skin of the new Airships will be made of tough new fabric that can last up to 15 years and the hull is pressure stabilized so if you poked it with a sharp object all
the helium inside would not rush out.

Since Airships do not need a long runway, Airship Ports can be set up adjacent to a large parking lot. Can you imagine a portion of the Wal-Mart parking lot being cordoned off for an Airship landing and takeoff? Think how this would open up additional markets. Instead of going to the traditional airport, you can go to a regional Airship Port to catch your next flight. This could help elevate some of the crowding at traditional airports.

Although the weight capacity is similar to airplanes, the fuel consumption of an Airship is much less. Think about it, once an Airship is airborne, it takes little fuel to push it along. But this does bring up the issue of speed. The average Airship would have a top end speed of 120 mph making a trip from LA to New York take about 20 hours. So, maybe it’s better for
shorter hops or for non-rush cargo.

If you have time and would like a unique way to travel then keep your eye open for ads in the future. As for now, I was unable to find a source selling tickets on any type of airship. Yet we both know, if you have the money …

I look forward to reading your thoughts and comments on the future of Airships.

Sources & Resources:

• Wikipedia
• PopularMechanics
• Airship.com
• AdvancedAirships
• DoesGlobal Warming Help the Case for Airships?
• HybridAirship.com
• CNN- Skyliner