April 2009 - Posts

• The Kind of Team We Have Here at Maximizer

  April 20, 2009 Yesterday was a big day for me - Maximizer fielded a team in the Vancouver Sun Run - and I ran in it. The Sun Run is an annual 10 Kilometer run (which is a little over 6 Miles). I managed to run it in just under an hour - something that was a personal goal of mine. Like many people - I had grand plans to train before the run, but in the end my training fell far short of the expected amount. In fact, I had not managed to make 10 K even once before the race. Okay - what I mean is that I didn't train at all.  I still went out to run - and gave it my all, and big reason for it was the team we have here.  We met before the run and then again after the run to swap stories of the challenges we each had during the run. Each and every one of us tried our best and left nothing on the field that day. I could tell by looking at the faces of my team mates. They were exhausted but proud of their personal sense of accomplishment and that they had not let their fellow team mates. That is the kind of team we have here at Maximizer, and I am proud to be part of it.   Posted Apr 20 2009, 10:27 PM by wanderson with no comments Filed under: Teamwork Sun Run

• More of the “Right” and Less of the “Not-As-Right”

  April 13, 2009 I am sure I am not the first person to tell you that with the economy the way it is, we all need to focus on the things that need to get done and let the little things fall to the back burner. But - there's a reason why tough times have a larger negative impact on some companies than others. The first reason is the same as in a good economy: it's hard to know the right things to do. However, in a poor economy - the risks to making a poor choice are more sever and likely, you have fewer resources to use. That leads to the second point: it's hard to focus on the "right things" and stop doing the "not-as-right things". Let's be honest - most of those things are good things to be doing- or you wouldn't be doing them, right? The trick is in knowing which things are the "right things" to do. Aside from having a crystal ball, your gut is one good place to search to figure this out. Ask yourself if your company really benefits from each action, if it's a main contributor to the success of the goal you are after or if it is just one of many actions that support it and most importantly - what would happen if this item was done slower, only partially or not at all. My colleague, Angie Hirata, and I were recently discussing a local industry event where two BCTIA award winners talked about what helped make them successful. I found their insight to be even more important in today's economy. Make your offering a "need to have" rather than a "nice to have When in doubt, just act. Listen to your partners - especially the ones that are where you want to be. Hire people who have worked at your target alliance partners Beware of service providers and job-seekers at networking events Check out the rest of Angie's blog here.   Posted Apr 13 2009, 10:15 PM by wanderson with no comments Filed under: economy

• New BlackBerry Device Rumors

  April 7, 2009 There are some rumors of new BlackBerry devices hitting the net. Now, I'll be the first to say that a rumor is just that - a rumor. It may not be true. However, it takes a lot of time and people to make new devices - and I would like to think the great brains behind RIM's BlackBerry products don't use the old dart board method of product design. What I mean is that they use real customers to tell them what to change from their current models and what to add that is new and exciting.  All of this means that there are a lot of people involved in the design and rumors are bound to happen. The next thing to consider is timing - and with the Wireless Enterprise Summit (WES) coming up next month, I would say that now is a great time to be about to announce some new devices and get some marketing momentum working for you. So, enough said - on to the rumors! BlackBerry Magnum This device is rumored to have a touchscreen and feature GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS, a camera, WiFi, GPS, 480 x 360 resolution display, and QWERTY keyboard and will be available on the AT&T network in the United States. No word yet on other carriers for this device. Note the reference to both the touchscreen and the full keyboard - this would be a big change for usability and more in line with what made BlackBerries so popular. BlackBerry Onyx This device is rumored to be very similar to the Magnum but without the touch screen. It's also destined for AT&T. I have read various rumors that swap the Magnum and Onyx as to which one has the touchscreen. BlackBerry Driftwood This device is rumored to feature GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS, GPS. WiFi with UMA, a QWERTY keyboard and a camera. The UMA support suggests that the target carrier in the US will be T-mobile. BlackBerry Niagra This device is rumored to be an update to the Curve and is being touted as the BlackBerry Storm but with a keyboard instead of a touchscreen. Also missing from this device is WiFi - which given the rate of progress seems like a step backwards. What I like about this device is the rumored 1 Ghz CPU - the extra horsepower will help make the total user experience that much better. The likely carrier for this device in the States is Verizon.   Posted Apr 07 2009, 09:44 PM by wanderson with no comments Filed under: Smartphone, BlackBerry, Rumors