When The Lights Go Out (or Staying Mobile)

by Bryan on March 17, 2010

Storm 2010
This weekend’s storm has put a lot of things in perspective.  Let me first say that if your house is intact and you have your health, then all is good.

When you work primarily from home and several trees knock out your electricity, internet, and telephone…you are going to be slightly inconvenienced.

I can’t even remember or fathom what folks did when these kinds of things happened 20 years ago.

But in these new times, many consultants travel light. And we’re even more connected now than ever. Let’s go over the checklist:

No electricity:  Not to fret.  My laptop has a battery.  And I can bring it to a relative’s house or the library to plug in and connect. Up until this weekend, I preferred desktops as my main computer.  That has now changed. “What about your fax machine,” my father asks. “I need to fax you the bracket for March Madness.” Go ahead, I tell him, I’ll get it as an email (courtesy of TrustFax).

No phone: I have Google Voice, so my biz landline number was already set up to receive these calls.  So for now, I will be using my cell phone to make and receive calls, but at least I don’t have to give folks a new number to reach me.  If you’re confused about Google Voice, read this).

No internet:  I’m still very nomadic on that one.  I have been using my sister in law’s DSL connection.  I did use a colleague’s ethernet in their conference room for most of the day on Monday, and you’d be surprised at how many folks do not lock up their wireless network (many thanks).  But this situation calls for a MiFi, a wireless card, or the reactivation of my Boingo account in the very near future.  And of course, the Blackberry is in overdrive.

I didn’t set out to travel this light.  But technology keeps offering these tools that are both effective and less than a handful.  Let me also add, that even if I had most of my stuff on a desktop, I backup to a very light external drive every day.  I could have grabbed that and brought with me to use on whoever’s computer. And I’ve been using the cloud a lot more (GMail, Google Docs). But back in the day, when this sort of thing happened, it would have been extremely difficult to stay in communication with colleagues and loved ones, not to mention how hard it would have been to keep working.

Ironic, huh? Having no tethers, makes it easier to stay connected much better.

How mobile are you?

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Tagged as: blackberry, Boingo, Business, google, Google Docs, Google Voice, MiFi, Mobile phone, power outtage, storm, TrustFax

  • http://rubenquinones.com Ruben Quinones

    Good post Brian, and sorry for the tough week you had. Im debating on whether to do sugarsync – 40 Gigs for 5 bucks a month. If I lived in the suburbs, (other places got flooded)I would already have done it, :)

    • http://bryanradams.com Bryan

      People are raving about SugarSync, I may have to put that to use as well.

  • http://rubenquinones.com/ Ruben Quinones

    Good post Brian, and sorry for the tough week you had. Im debating on whether to do sugarsync – 40 Gigs for 5 bucks a month. If I lived in the suburbs, (other places got flooded)I would already have done it,

    This comment was originally posted onnetworKING

  • http://bryanradams.com/ Bryan

    People are raving about SugarSync, I may have to put that to use as well.

    This comment was originally posted onnetworKING

  • http://bryanradams.com/ Bryan

    Here’s a couple of pieces that I read with interest in the last 7 days.  Many thanks to ReadWriteWeb, BlackWeb2.0, Tim Berry, Victus Spiritus, and Ms. Ileane.

    Super monitoring/blogging/search tool, Lazyfeed gets a new look.

    A new site for the hip networker, Grind.com, launches.

    One of my favorite blog aggregators, Regator receives a fresh coat of paint.

    A book that sounds right up any networker’s alley, The Referral Engine.

    Another favorite of mine, Ask.com, goes under.

    Will EPIC be a new way to communicate and really make email obsolete?

    If you’re blogging and you are not using Feedburner, why aren’t you?  And if you are, you always have to check in to see what new stuff they have up their sleeves.  The FeedFlare option now posts to Google Buzz, among other places.

    Interesting Links For The Week is a new post from: networKING, a weblog by Bryan R. AdamsShareAdd this link to Box.netSubscribe to the comments for this post?Share this on del.icio.usDigg this!Post this on DiigoShare this on FacebookShare this on FriendFeedGrind this! on Global GrindEmail this via GmailAdd this to Google BookmarksPost on Google BuzzAdd this to Google ReaderShare this on LinkedInEmail this to a friend?Submit this to NetvibesAdd this to NingPing this on Ping.fmPost this to PosterousStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponShare this on TumblrTweet This!June 24, 2010 — Free Tool To Build Your Press ListApril 12, 2010 — Managing A Large Address Book in Blackberry (W/O Eating Too Much Memory)March 17, 2010 — When The Lights Go Out (or Staying Mobile)

    This comment was originally posted onnetworKING

  • http://bryanradams.com/ Bryan

    Yeah, I know what you’re saying.  ”Bryan, you better make time!”  And that’s true.  I apologize for the absense.  I also had a server issue that knocked me out of commission for over a week.

    My title is not an excuse for not posting.  Posting can be vital to networking success, so it should have been on my schedule.   No ifs, ands or buts.  I must say that the posts I viewed while I was on the go, helped me when networking at various group meetings and one-to-one meetings.  Stuff from Larry Sharpe (Don’t Give Out Your Business Card), Ivan Misner (3 Ways To Get More Business At Your Next Networking Event), and Valeria Maltoni (How I Use LinkedIn Content For Intelligence)…just to name a few, was fascinating stuff to check out.

    I also planned to review some helpful apps and things that enabled me to stay connected while I was on the go, but like I said in a previous post, smarter people than me have contributed great reviews/how-to’s already, so I will just link to hem. The following helped me immensely when my hosting company’s server went haywire rendering mewith no website or spotty email. Here’s my list:

    Rapportive
    Google Calendar (though I am playing around with Tungle.me)
    Gist
    Symbaloo
    Foursquare
    Google Voice
    DimDim (thanks for the tip, Francisco)
    Google Mobile Apps for Blackberry

    I promise to not be out of touch for so long…regardless of the circumstances.  Let me know which ones you use or if there are some other apps that are worth pursuing.

    So Busy Networking, I Had No Time To Post is a new post from: networKING, a weblog by Bryan R. AdamsShareSubscribe to the comments for this post?Share this on del.icio.usDigg this!Post this on DiigoShare this on FacebookShare this on FriendFeedGrind this! on Global GrindEmail this via GmailAdd this to Google BookmarksPost on Google BuzzAdd this to Google ReaderShare this on LinkedInEmail this to a friend?Submit this to NetvibesAdd this to NingPing this on Ping.fmPost this to PosterousStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponShare this on TumblrTweet This!

    This comment was originally posted onnetworKING

  • http://bryanradams.com/ Bryan

    Yeah, I know what you’re saying.  ”Bryan, you better make time!”  And that’s true.  I apologize for the absense.  I also had a server issue that knocked me out of commission for over a week.

    My title is not an excuse for not posting.  Posting can be vital to networking success, so it should have been on my schedule.   No ifs, ands or buts.  I must say that the posts I viewed while I was on the go, helped me when networking at various group meetings and one-to-one meetings.  Stuff from Larry Sharpe (Don’t Give Out Your Business Card), Ivan Misner (3 Ways To Get More Business At Your Next Networking Event), and Valeria Maltoni (How I Use LinkedIn Content For Intelligence)…just to name a few, was fascinating stuff to check out.

    I also planned to review some helpful apps and things that enabled me to stay connected while I was on the go, but like I said in a previous post, smarter people than me have contributed great reviews/how-to’s already, so I will just link to hem. The following helped me immensely when my hosting company’s server went haywire rendering mewith no website or spotty email. Here’s my list:

    Rapportive
    Google Calendar (though I am playing around with Tungle.me)
    Gist
    Symbaloo
    Foursquare
    Google Voice
    DimDim (thanks for the tip, Francisco)
    Google Mobile Apps for Blackberry

    I promise to not be out of touch for so long…regardless of the circumstances.  Let me know which ones you use or if there are some other apps that are worth pursuing.

    So Busy Networking, I Had No Time To Post is a new post from: networKING, a weblog by Bryan R. AdamsShareSubscribe to the comments for this post?Share this on del.icio.usDigg this!Post this on DiigoShare this on FacebookShare this on FriendFeedGrind this! on Global GrindEmail this via GmailAdd this to Google BookmarksPost on Google BuzzAdd this to Google ReaderShare this on LinkedInEmail this to a friend?Submit this to NetvibesAdd this to NingPing this on Ping.fmPost this to PosterousStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponShare this on TumblrTweet This!August 17, 2009 — Google Voice For The Networker On The GoMarch 17, 2010 — When The Lights Go Out (or Staying Mobile)April 21, 2010 — Everybody’s Crazy ‘Bout A Sharpe Dressed Man

    This comment was originally posted onnetworKING

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