Marty McPadden

 Seattle Public Market

Along with Traveling to Victoria, BC to attend Social Media Camp, I also made a stop in Seattle to do a quick tour for the city and meet up with some Twitter friends at a Tweet-up. Some of the people I met I had already known from Twitter and some I met for the first time. If you ever have the opportunity to meet your online friends in person, I’d highly recommend it.

The original Starbucks at Pike Place

Last Monday, I took the Victoria Clipper ferry back to Seattle and met up with Whit (@BecauseUAreHere) who gave me a whirlwind tour of downtown Seattle. It was a beautiful day and I said to Whit I had no idea Seattle weather was this nice although she did tell me not to get too excited as it was a “top ten” kind of day. I found that out the next day when it was cloudy and in the chilly 50s!

L to R: Marty McPadden and Terri Nakamura

After the tour, Whit took me over to Terri Nakamura’s (@terrinakmura) house for the Tweet-up. I want to thank Whit for organizing the Tweet-up and Terri for hosting it at her beautiful home. They even came up with a special hash tag for the event: #MartyMeetUp. I never had my own hash tag before.

I had met Terri in person for the first time back in December but I was meeting everyone else in person for the first time. 

The coconut creme pie Felice brought - YUM!

Everyone brought something to eat or drink and we had quite a spread. A couple of highlights for me were cupcakes from Cup Royale which included a unique lavender frosted cupcake everyone insisted I eat. I ended up taking it with me back to my hotel and almost dropped it before I could eat it.

L to R: Felice Lam and Marty McPadden

Felice Lam (@felicelam) brought a wonderful coconut creme pie for me to try. I must say, Felice knows pies!! A self described foodie, you can also follow Felice at @pandafoodie. Thank you Felice, the pie what awesome!

L to R: Rachelle and Marty McPadden

Another Twitter friend I got to meet was Rachelle (@artistpoint) Rachelle is a mom and entrepreneur and big social media fan. We talked a lot about blogging and start-ups! Thank you Rachelle. Remember, it’s all about start-ups!

L to R: Sean Gardner and Mary McPadden

Another person I also got to meet is Sean Gardner. Many of you know Sean as @2morrowknight on Twitter and writer for the Huffington Post. I knew Sean for some time and have chatted frequently on Twitter but it was finally great to meet him in person. 

  L to R: Adam Loving, Whit, Brittney Bush

@superbetch

L to R: Imei Hsu and Felice Lam

Isabella Organ

L to R: Emily Bratkovich, Sean Gardner, Rachelle, Marty McPadden

There were many others that I got to meet and chat with including @adamloving, @superbetch, @HipsForHire, @YoyomanMichael, @emilybratkovich, @kirste, @BrittneyBush, @kenmizell, @cindymizell and @IsabellaOrgan who wrote this blog post about the Tweet-up.

Unfortunately, my visit was a short one but judging from the wonderful people I got to meet, I plan on returning to Seattle soon. This time for more than just one day.

via martymcpadden.com

 L to R: Russel Lolacher, Yuakari Peerless, Marty McPadden

Last weekend I had the pleasure of doing some traveling to Victoria, BC to attend Social Media Camp and Seattle for a tweet-up. While the conference was fun and I learned a lot, it was the people I met in both Victoria and Seattle that made this trip an awesome experience. My first stop was Victoria, BC. This post is the first of two parts. Part two will cover my visit to Seattle.

I first became aware of Social Media Camp Victoria through my friend Yukari Peerless, who I met for the first time at BlogWorld in Las Vegas back in October. 

 The Fairmont Empress Hotel

 If you’re not following Yukari, you should be. She is first and foremost a wonderful person. A social media enthusiast, Yukari owns Lucid Communications, a consulting firm specializing in ESL support, wedding planning, translation and vacation/real estate consulting for, but not limited to, Japanese clients. She describes herself as a "connector" of people and I wholeheartedly agree.

Yukari also co-hosts an online video podcast focusing on social engagement entitled Getting Engaged: Online, In Life, and At Work with Russel Lolacher. I initially started chatting with Russel online and it was great to finally get to meet him in person. Russel is the Social Media Director for the B.C, Ministry of Transpiration and Infrastructure. Russel also spoke at Social Media Camp and blogs at The Upsell, a site focused on customer service.

L to R: Amber Nashlund, Yukari Peerless, Linley Faulkner, Russel Lolacher

 Yukari and Russel were both incredible hosts and made me feel at home from the start. They also introduced me to a bunch a great people. The social media scene is alive and vibrant in Victoria and the people I met live it everyday. I'd like to introduce you to a few:

Derek Ford - A talented photographer and great new friend. He was known as “Mr. Hollywood” at the after parties. Check out his wonderful photography at: DerekFordPhoto.com.

Amber Nashlund, Derek Ford, Yukari Peerless

Amber Nashlund - Along with Jay Baer, one of the keynote speakers at Social Media Camp Victoria. It was fun getting to know Amber during the after parties at @cabin12 and @clivesclassic. Amber can be found blogging at BrassTackThinking.com.

Aaron Hall - An expert in Victoria real estate, I credit Aaron and Derek Ford for introducing me to oysters on the half shell. Who knew oysters were that good!! Thanks guys!

Linley Faulkner - Linley is a new friend I got to meet at Social Media Camp and at Clive Classic. Always smiling, Linley can be found blogging at linleyf.ca.

 Janis La Couvee - Janis is a new friend I met through another Twitter friend @Ellies58 and has become a quick friend. Thanks Janis!

 Janice Mansfield - Janice is into cocktails, cooking and gardening, not necessarily in that order. She can be found blogging at RealFoodMadeEasy.ca and is famous for her handcrafted cocktail bitters. 

  Clive's Classic Lounge Cocktail

 Shawn Soole - Cocktail artist and executive BarKeep at Clives Classic Lounge. Sean’s cocktails are the best I’ve ever had. I can’t wait to go back for more.

 Sean Moffitt - Sean is the author of Wikibrands, a book that shows companies how to use the power of social collaboration to drive business results and also spoke at Social Media Camp. It was great to get to know Sean while cheering on the Vancouver Canucks during the Stanley Cup Finals.

 Kemp Edmonds - Kemp is with HootSuite and also spoke at Social Media Camp. I learned a lot from Kemp about the benefits of using HootSuite to post to my social media accounts. 

 Jason Baker - Jason is a Digital Strategist with Magnify Digital. A huge Vancouver Canucks fan, it was fun getting to know Jason and learning about the joys of hockey. Jason can be found blogging at Digicate.ca.

 Cathy Browne - Cathy is an absolute joy and it was great to meet and get to know her. Cathy, along with Jason Baker took me to the famous John’s Place in Victoria for Sunday brunch and the famous “Eggs Benny,” their wonderful rendition of eggs benedict.

 Chris Budge - It was great to meet Chris, one of the co-organizers of Social Media Camp Victoria 2011. Chris, along with Paul Homes, put on a tremendous conference.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Ashley Abraham, Sandi Heal, Raul Pacheco, Lynn Terry, Janni Aragon among others. I loved my time in Victoria attending Social Media Camp and seeing the beautiful sights but most of all it was the wonderful people I met that was the best part. Isn't it always.

  via martymcpadden.com

Twitter may not be as popular as Facebook yet but the social media platform has grown leaps and bounds since I started using the site in September of 2006.  It is through this site that I had the chance to meet people from all over the world, but the best part of joining Twitter is the loads of information that I get everyday.  Imagine having so many people to talk with 24/7.  This is particularly helpful for me considering the time that I also keep because of my work. 

It is through this social site that I have met someone who is very passionate about tweeting and blogging, a self proclaimed Twitter-holic @mistygirlph.  In one of our conversations we ended up comparing Twitter clients that we have both used in the past and thought we'd share it with you here today.  

   Desktop  

Misty: Seesmic - This is a good Twitter desktop client if you want to see your private messages, mentions, your friend's tweets and your own Tweets too.  It has a clean interface and you can customize the alerts that you want to receive. The seesmic 2 allows one to also customize the color of your background and text, making it unique to the user.   What is cool about this app is that does not use too much space on your computer compared to when you download Tweetdeck.  This app has a mobile counterpart too making it easier to tweet when you travel. 

Marty: TweetDeck - My favorite desktop client is TweetDeck, a versatile dedicated app that offers a ton of useful features to help you tweet better. My favorite feature is the ability to set-up columns based on hashtag searches, lists or trending topics. Within each column, TweetDeck offers filtering so you can zero in on particular followers or key words. TweetDeck allows you to manage multiple Twitter accounts as well as FaceBook so you can post to all your accounts simultaneously or select individually. TweetDeck was recently bought by Twitter so it will be interesting to see what features and updates may be added.

   Mobile  

  Misty: Echofone - As a twitter-holic, being able to tweet on the go is a must for me.  I have around 4 apps on my iPhone, but the one that I prefer using is Echofone.  The feature that i love about this app is that it allows you to ReTweet with comments.  ReTweeting the old way is still what i prefer to do as this allows more people to view the tweet.  You can also scan your friend's streams, your @replies and DMs with ease.  You can be notified easily too if you opt for it in your settings for your phone.  

Marty: Tweetbot - My favorite mobile client is Tweetbot, a new, very slick mobile app. I use multiple mobile apps on my iPhone but Tweetbot is my current favorite. It has all the feature you'd expect from a good mobile Twitter app: multiple accounts support, replies and direct messaging, old and new style retweeting, saved searches and list management to name a few. What I really like about this app is it's clean, well designed interface and quick response which is particularly important in a mobile app.

  Scheduler 

  Misty: Hootsuite - Since Twitter is on 24/7 and everyone is on different time zones, having a Twitter client that can help you schedule your tweets is really helpful.  This is perfect for people who may not want to flood their followers with their tweets.  I use Hootsuite because it helps me to schedule my tweets and also allow me to track which tweets are clicked on by the people who listen to my stream.  This is really helpful in making sure that what I tweet is what majority of the people who follow me prefer to see on my updates.    I like the interface, having columns allow me to track what the people I am following is discovering everyday.  There is a bookmarklet too that makes it easy to schedule and shorten the urls of whatever information I want to share.  

Marty: Buffer - For times you prefer to pre-schedule tweets, Buffer is a great free tool you can use to post tweets when you’re not able to be online. My favorite feature or Buffer is it's ease of use. When you first sign-up for your account, Buffer presents you with ten pre-scheduled slots for tweets. You then simply type or paste in your text and hit enter. Links can be shorten using the built-in shortener. Buffer then automatically placed your tweet in the next available slot. You get 10 slots for free and there are paid upgrades available to add unlimited prescheduled tweets and valuable analytics tools. There are a variety of browser tools and extensions available including a bookmarklet to make scheduling tweets even easier.

  Influence  

Misty: Grader - Long before Klout, grader was the site that people checked out to see who the best people to follow on Twitter.  It shows one the grade or influencers of people from all over the world.  You can even check on a per location basis to see who the powerhouse Twitter-ers were.  The downside for this site is the way they measure the influence of a person, the numbers do not make any sense and it does not really categorize in which topic the Twitter influencer is known for.  I guess that is why Klout is now more preferred as it measures influence based on activity, content shared and reach and not just the number of followers. But if you prefer to just check who tweets in a particular area this site may be the best one for you.

Marty: Klout - Influence online is not all about follower counts and Klout is a great website that uses a variety of metrics to determine an over "Klout" score or influence measurement. Not just relying on follower numbers, Klout attempts to measure your online social activity, overall reach, and probability your content will be acted upon as a combined "Klout" score. Klout has also just introduced "+K" a topic based influence gauge based on user input. If another Klout user believes you are influential in a particular topic, they can vote for you. One of the fringe benefits of a good Klout score is "Klout perks." These are special gifts from companies given to Klout influencers looking to promote their product or service. One of the gifts I received in the past year was a Sony PSP handheld gaming console. It pays to Klout!

  Photo Sharing 

Misty: Twitpic  - I know Twitter is going to roll out a new photo sharing tool.  But for the meantime, I am still using Twitpic to share photos on Twitter.   Tweeting a variety of content makes Twitter a lot more fun!     You can automatically tweet a photo, once you upload or if you want to just share to a few you can just copy the url and DM to your friends.  People can leave a  comment on your picture and this gets automatically shared on their stream too. The best feature that i love about Twitpic is it tracks the number of views on a particular picture  after  you send out a photo.  Twitpic has a mobile app that is perfect for someone who is on the go and want to share instantly. 

Marty: Instagram - Photo sharing is one of the hottest trends on Twitter today Instagram is one of the hottest photo sharing apps. The big appeal of Instagram is it's social sharing features and it's simple, user friendly user interface. Available as an iPhone app, Instagram allows users to take and share pictures directly from their phone. Several filters are included with the app to allow users to create cool effects with their images. People can follow your Instagram feed and you can follow others, much like Twitter. People can "like" your photos as well as post comments. You can also post directly to your Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Posterous, Tumblr and foursquare pages. Instagram is free to download and use.

  BONUS Category: Music Sharing  

  Misty: Blip.fm -  As I mentioned earlier, content you can share on Twitter can vary from cool information, pictures and now more and more users are also sharing music.  My preferred way to share music is via Blip.fm  Being a DJ on Twitter since January 2009 has helped me touch people who love music.  I remember receiving tweets from all over saying that the music has made them dance or had them smiling on a bad day.  Music is a universal language that can bring people together.  Just connect your Twitter account to the site and whenever you Blip a song it automatically sends it to your stream.  For your friends who have a Blip account  they can either ReTweet or give you props to show appreciation for the song you shared.   

Marty: Grooveshark.com - I love sharing music online and even have the habit of sending out a goodnight song most nights on Twitter and Facebook. Grooveshark allows you to share your favorite music with your online friends. The service is available via the website or dedicated desktop app. Grooveshark tends to have a better selection then other web based music sharing services I've tried and the sounds quality is excellent. If you want, you may follow other users and they can follow you. You can make playlists of your favorite songs and listen to any of 20+ radio stations offering a wide range of music types.

  There you go. Out top 12 favorite Twitter clients. Did yours make our list? What are your favorites? Let us know.

via martymcpadden.com

  Ever since I’ve had my iPhone, I’ve been searching for a way to listen to my iTunes content over my car audio system. I’ve tried numerous FM transmitters which use FM frequencies to transmit audio from your iPhone to your car radio. None of the units I tried work very well. Either there was too much radio interference or it would simply break due to cheap construction. I also tried some bluetooth units with built-in speakers but most were too complicated and wouldn't pair up properly or wouldn’t work with iTunes audio content. 

  I then found TuneLink Auto, a Bluetooth audio transmitter from New Potato Technologies. This handy little Bluetooth dongle plugs right into the accessory/lighter port in your car and includes a USB port and cord to charge your iPhone. The unit itself transmits audio from your iPhone to your car’s audio system wirelessly via FM frequency or hard wired connection. For the best  audio quality, the wired connection is recommended. 

  Since a wired connection is not an option for me, I have to rely on the FM transmitter. This is where most units fail but not the TuneLink Auto. It comes with a free iPhone app that searches for the clearest available FM frequencies and lists them right in the app. You simply selection one and your ready to listen. The app can also be set to automatically pair with your iPhone, start up and play whenever you enter and start up your car! This function works very well and is quite handy.

  While the direct wired connection is best, the FM transmitter in the TuneLink Auto works quite well and the audio quality is very good. Having the app automatically choose clear frequencies helps greatly and insures the best possible audio quality. The TuneLInk Auto is simple, well designed and does what it’s designed to do seamlessly and effortlessly.

    For more information: TuneLInk Auto

Photos: New Potato Technologies

I love my iPhone. Some may say I'm a bit of an app junky!! I love discovering and playing with new apps on both my iPhone and iPad. Many I use occasionally but a handful I use on a daily basis. One of those apps is Due from Phocus LLP. It's an awesome reminder/timer app for the iPhone and iPad. It's so good, it has a prominent position on my home screen. I'm always happy to pay for an app that solves a problem and does it elegantly, simply and has a well designed user interface. Due does not disappoint and is worth every penny of the $4.99 it costs.

Due takes all those little reminders you have scattered about and puts them in a simple and clean display without cluttering up your calendar or task list.  To add a reminder, you simply click the + sign to open the reminder screen. Type in the title of your reminder, select the date and time and, if you want it to repeat, the repeat interval. Click "Add" and that's it! Add additional reminders the same way. 

When the reminder alarm sounds, you can either check it complete or snooze the alarm. A quick edit bar is available by selecting the alarm in the list to quickly adjust the date and time or click "Edit" in the top left corner to open the alarm for complete editing. Due does not require a data connection and works completely in the background via local notifications.

Due also features a timer function for setting up quick timers for cooking, napping or other quick reminders. These also include local notification alerts and snooze functionality is so desired. The interface is clean and simple. You simply "flip the switch" of the desired alarm to start the timer and flip the switch down to cancel. Simple!

Since Due works on both the iPhone and iPad, there's a handy Dropbox powered syncing feature to keep your reminders consistent across all your iOS devices. Even if you don't own multiple devices, the Dropbox over the air syncing provides a handy back-up of your reminders and timers.

Simple, elegant with a great user interface that gets out of your way, Due is my go to quick reminder and timer app. 

Due $4.99 (iTunes App Store link)

In Bristol running to the cafe for some food. Busy night ahead. I hope it's sunny where you are. Happy weekend!

Ever since I dumped my unlimted data plan in favor of AT&T's Hotspot plan on my iPhone, I've had to keep a close eye on how much data I am using so I avoid going over the 4 GB cap. Luckily, I was contacted by the good folks at XVision and they asked me if I wanted to try out their DataMan app for the iPhone and write a review. (Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of the app by the developer for the purposes of this review.) DataMan - Real Time Data Usage Manager With Geotag (iTunes link) is a simple yet powerful data usage monitoring app for the iPhone. Once you install the app and launch it, it runs in the background tabulating your data usage, both 3G and WiFi, and displays it by the day, week and month. There is also a geotag function that will track not only how much data you are using but where on a map. There are easy to use settings to configure daily, weekly and monthly data limits and an easy to read display indicating how much data you have used and what percentage of each allowance has been used. I've been using it for about two weeks and have found the statistics timely and accurate. Since it runs continuously in the background, I was concerned there would be a performance hit but I have not noticed any since using the app. I like to stream audio on my phone and DataMan has been especially helpful in warning me if my data usage was getting close to my predetermined allowances. There is also the option to have the app send you a series of alerts when you reach certain thresholds of data use. There are four levels and you choose the perecentage for each level. Overall, DataMan is a simple and useful app for those of you on capped data plans needing to keep a watchful eye on your usage. It sell for $1.99 and is available in the iTunes app store DataMan - Real Time Data Usage Manager With Geotag - $1.99 (iTunes link) XVision has been kind enough to supply me with two redemption codes good for a free copy of DataMan. The first two people to leave a comment will win a free copy. Since I will need your email address to send you the redemption code, please include it in your comment or send it to me via the contact form on my blog. Thanks all! Both redemption codes have been claimed.

The winter was brutal here in Connecticut so I always look forward to this simple rite of Spring...you guessed it...the great snoblower/lawnmower swap. It's a really nice day here today which is a bonus! Here's to Spring!

You maybe thinking, "has Marty lost it?" Why on Earth would I say no to unlimited data on my iPhone? After all, AT&T has eliminated the "all you can eat" data plan in favor of a capped offering which tops out at 2GB. Well for the past year, ever since I got my iPad 3G and subscribed to the unlimited data plan, things were humming along quite nicely. I was loving having all the data I could use on both devices without the worry of limits or caps. Total per month data expense for both devices: $60. Not a bad price to pay for "all you can eat" data with no caps of any kind. I thought this was great until AT&T started offering the ability to turn your iPhone 4 into a mobile 3G "hotspot." This would allow me to use my 3G data connection on any of my WiFi enabled devices including my iPad and new MacBook Air. I would essentially be able to share the one data connection among multiple devices insetad of having to buy separate plans.

This had me intrigued so I did the math. Originally when I got my 3G iPad, I was happy to be getting unlimited data and not have to worry about caps or overage charges. As it turns out, I use A LOT less 3G data than I originally thought, well below the 2 GB limit of the new plan. The new plan is priced at $25, five dollars less than my existing unlimited plan. On my iPhone 4, I also had a $30 unlimited data plan, separate from my iPad. I found the same usage patterns. I was using well below the 2 GB limit. The new hotspot feature, while costing an extra $20 per month, includes 2GB of additional data. So if I went with the hotspot feature, I would essentially be getting a total of 4GB of 3G data to share among any of my WiFi enbaled devices for a total of $45 per month. This would be a savings of $15 per month over what I was currently paying. The only cavet would forfeit the option to go back to my old "unlimited" data plan. I must confess I did hesistate a little before mmaking the plunge. After all, there is something rather appealing about "unlimited." In the end, I made the switch. Even if I went over 4GB in any month, each additonal GB of data is only $10. For what I was paying previously, I would have to surpass the 6 GB of data in a month to exceed the $60 I was paying before and I'd still get the benefit of a shared data "hotspot" to share among all my devices. Done deal.

So far, the hotspot feature had been working flawlessly. It is especially handy now that I can use my MacBook Air without having to find an available WiFi connection. Great when traveling and as a back-up data source in case my primary home broadband goes out. Definitely a good deal in my opinion. Anyone else take the plunge? Would love your comments.

While I was at SXSW last week, I was able to meet-up with Chris Savage and Brendan Schwartz of Wistia. I had known both of them from Twitter for a while and we finally got the chance to meet in person. I want to thank Chris and Brendan for the cool Wistia t-shirt they sent me as well everyone in the office for their warm greeting. I'm very proud to be a friend of Wistia! Thanks again Chris and Brendan. You guys are awesome!!

Wistia provides businesses large and small with video hosting, sharing and tracking solutions. I highly recommend you check them out!!

There is no substitute. ;-)

I happened to catch father and daughter musical duo Jorge and Alexa Narvaez at the Neer booth at the SXSW Trade Show here in Austin, Texas. I dare you not to smile when you view this video. I did.

I had the pleasure of participating in a photowalk with distinguished photographer Trey Ratcliff during SXSW this past Sunday. Trey is a recognized leader in the area of HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography. During the photowalk, Trey shared a ton of great information regarding composition, exposure and equipment he uses in producing his stunning HDR images. The above video features Trey talking about the tripod he uses and the features he finds particularly useful.

What would SXSW be without Leo Laporte and the crew from TWiT. This video is part of the live coverage from Momo's in Austin, Texas which shows Leo and a distinguished panel of tech regulars producing the opening segment of "This Week In Tech." There was a large and appreciative crowd and Leo was great interacting with everyone both before and after the show.

This is video from the live Diggnation at Stubbs BBQ in Austin during SXSW 2011. At the end of the show, Kevin and Alex thought it would be fun to do a little crowd surfing. They enticed some of the crew from TWiT namely Leo Laporte, Brian Brushwood and Lisa Bettany to join in the fun. David Prager of Diggnation also participated. This is shot from inside the crowd. As you'll see, I was close to the action and even helped support Leo, Alex, Brian and Lisa as they surfed through the crowd. That explains all the camera shaking.

Along with Diggnation, Brian Brushwood entertained the crowd with "stupid" (as he put it) stunts to break world records and DJ Mike Relm did a set for an appreciative crowd. All I can say is Mike is incredible. I'll post more of the Diggnation show and a clip of Mike Relm doing his thing in a follow post. Enjoy!

See the full gallery on Posterous

The people from GM are here at SXSW to show off the new Chevy Volt. I hope to catch a ride while I'm here in Austin. Looks very cool!

Felicia Day doing a meet and greet with fans. She will be speaking Monday here at SXSW.