anecdotes, stories and insights on what ireckon!
Well this month I had to come back from my holiday camping at the beach for the Qld Leaders monthly meeting. Always a shame to interrupt a good holiday but unfortunately there wasn’t a day without an interruption, so was a break if not a holiday.
Being committed to the 12 month process, there was no option of not going.
Readers of this blog will know I like Twitter. And there are many others like me out there.
Yesterday I received my email advising me that because I don’t live in 1 of 3 countries, I would no longer receive the free SMS updates of the people I was following on Twitter.
Part of the attraction of Twitter is that you get to interact with it in a very cool way using your mobile, and out and about you get to interact with the people you follow. True mobile interactivity.
Due to their huge growth and of course the costs of this service they have turned it off.
While I won’t quit on Twitter just yet, I have started to look around at alternatives. Frankly I would probably pay for the SMS’s but that is not an option they have put in place for us Aussies. Well not that I have seen yet anyway. I don’t expect to get everything for free, like many users on the net, and am more than happy to pay for a service i get utility out of, but it seems their planning hasn’t factored me into their equation.
Facebook has an embedded widget for smart phones so that you get basically the same deal as being online, I get updates like messages on my phone and it costs me, not them - that’s smart thinking.
Maybe Twitter should have thought through all its options before it shut the gate on a community that has been extremely loyal through all its downtime and other issues.
I guess they feel the USA audience is enough to see them through the rough times, but that only creates more ill-will in the smaller countries that have high usage and uptake rates like Australia. I see a pal of mine in the UK bemoaning the same deal there, so that big audience isn’t going to be happy either.
Twitter, maybe this time the Whale of success might sink your boat!
Ireckon has been a proud supporter of the Beacon Foundation, a national not-for-profit aimed at helping young people create their own future. They work with schools to provide positive influence and leadership to help young people avoid unemployment and to think forward.
Today I got to experience first hand the work they do, and how well it works.
Ireckon was asked to provide some financial support to Forest Lake High School, and we were invited to hand over the cheque to the Student Leaders involved in this year’s program. The presentation was held at their assembly for Years 10,11,12 and not only did we get to have our small minute of involvement but watched and listened to the senior staff and school leaders conduct their assembly.
Been sold, have the t-shirt and yes I have my new Blackberry Curve.
So not really one to get too hung up over phones it was a tough call on whether to wait and try an iPhone or not. I love the ‘play’ factor with the iPhone, but wasn’t fully convinced it was going to replace my old wee Blackberry as a functioning email device over here in Australia just yet.
If you have seen any of my odd frustrated Tweets about my slowly dying old Blackberry you would know it was time to replace or pull all my hair out. The curve site uses “Brains and Beauty” as the tag lines, of which I have few of either, so I just hoped it had enough for the both of us!
I was a guest today at the official launch of the 2008/09 Queensland Leaders Program. This program is now in its second year and by all accounts has been a huge success for the participants.
In short the program supports 15 individual companies based in Qld to assist them access mentoring, capital and training to enable them to become best of breed international corporations, enhancing the business future of Queensland.
From their site- Vision:
- Build the head office infrastructure and networks in Queensland
- Generate economic and employment opportunities at senior management level
- Further develop industry sectors around key organisations
- Further develop and diversify the Queensland State economy
- Increase local management skills and connectivity
- Increase business investment into the State
- Harness the strength & resources of our business leaders
The luncheon was addressed by the State Treasurer Andrew Fraser, and industry speakers. Notably Richard Suhr, Enterprise Lead at Google Australia & New Zealand, discussed the modern technology that matters (from a Google perspective anyway).