CNN recently published this article suggesting digital alternatives to the business card:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/10/01/digital.business.cards/
Are we seeing the last generation of paper business cards? Or is this just a fad? CNN seems to suggest that the business card is yet another casualty of the conversion to all-digital media.
Each of the digital suggestions in this article have their own unique merit – the ability to record where you met someone along with their contact information, and endless customization possibilities, for example. Certainly for someone in a fast paced, technology centered industry, any of these would make a great addition to her virtual identity.
However, I don’t see how digital business cards can render the paper version obsolete. There’s always merit to something tangible. I believe it creates a lasting impression where a digital substitute cannot. It gives the feel of exclusivity – a personal invitation to contact someone again. If I were told to simply “Google” someone, this would not make me feel special. Anyone can find that information. However, if you hand me your business card with 3 different contact phone numbers, I feel like you’re making that extra effort to ensure that I get a hold of you again.
Sometimes the newest, flashiest product isn’t always the best choice for every situation. At least that’s my opinion. Feel free to disagree 
Categories: CD Replication, Consumer Electronics Show, DVD, DVD Replication, DVD-r, HDTV, High-Definition, LinkedIn, Media Storage, Social Networking, USB Sticks, digital downloads, glmt, glmt.com, great lakes media technology; www.glmt.com; replication; cd; dvd Tags:
GLMT Featured In One To One Magazine!!!
Please take a look at the article published in One To One magazine featuring Great Lakes Media Technology and its unrivaled blu-ray authoring services.
Can LinkedIn Help Your Company Sell?
Are you diving into the networking craze that so many companies are now doing? Can social media websites such as LinkedIn help you sell your products? I say why not give it a try…LinkedIn is free, easy to use, low maintenance – and if nothing else you’re able to connect with colleagues, partners and friends that maybe you haven’t heard from in awhile. It’s free marketing, and during these tough economic times, surely can’t hurt.
Being in a sales/marketing role here at GLMT, there is no doubt that LinkedIn has been a great resource for current and potential customer contacts. My goal is for people to think of Great Lakes Media Technology and myself when someone needs the products and services we offer – and LinkedIn can only help to increase that brand awareness. Not to mention that observing a contact’s profile helps you learn a little background about the person that you otherwise probably wouldn’t have known. Even tangible networking events usually don’t involve discussions of people who think highly of you (recommendations section of LinkedIn).
As far as me personally generating sales revenue as a result of being in touch through LinkedIn – to be honest I have yet to see any real results. You’re probably laughing by the way I was just talking up how useful the website has been, but believe me I have faith. Even if it does not directly result in a sale, I do believe it has helped me to better connect with existing customers. I’d love to hear your thoughts…
GLMT attending North American Music Manufacturer’s (NAMM) Show
GLMT will be sending representatives to the 2009 NAMMM Show in Anaheim, January 16th-18th. Many of GLMT’s customers and friends are music publishers and manufacturers which makes it an opportune time and location to meet with them.
The NAMM show has been an event that GLMT perennially attends due to its large scale service to the music publishing and manufacturing industry. GLMT has helped with many of the marketing materials distributed at the show and have also manufactured many of the disc-based products sold at the show.
A Layman’s First Impression of High-Definition Television
Let me say, I’m impressed. For the first time in years I sit staring, open-mouthed, at a football game for more than 10 minutes. The crisp images projected in high-definition on a plasma television cannot be beat. I feel as if I’m on the field with the players. I get dizzy when the camera moves quickly, panning the crowd. Watching sports has become pleasurable again. HD viewing gets an A+ from me.
But, just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, a Blu-ray/plasma TV combination tops even the most exciting football game. Together with surround sound, watching the Transformers movie over and over again this weekend at the request of a very excited three-year old proved to be an easy chore. How many times can I watch these robots fighting and flying around the cities? I don’t know, I’m not finished yet. Especially considering this is the only Blu-ray disc I have in the house, and it belongs to my son. I foresee this being played a lot and I won’t get tired of it too soon.
HD television is a pleasure to watch and I look forward to the day when everything is broadcast this way. It’s a disappointment now to watch the older, fuzzy shows. 21st century, here I come!
Eco-Friendly Disc Not So Friendly
You can turn on your television, tune in to the radio, or even open up your web browser and you are bound to see something about going “green.” We are all in the midst of a “green” generation and at Great Lakes Media Technology we’ve adopted the “ChooseGreen” packaging concept (made with 100% recyclable, 30% post consumer and all soy based inks on custom packaging), which has seen a HUGE increase in demand over the last few years. Anytime energy is saved and resources are conserved, no doubt we are all for it. Researchers are now experimenting to create an eco-friendly disc, although none have been successful.
Currently there are replication companies marketing what they are calling an “eco-friendly” DVD (or flex disc). Flexible because they are 0.6mm thick as opposed to the 1.2mm thickness of a standard DVD, and environmentally friendly because only half of the plastic is needed to manufacture the disc. Unfortunately there are some serious problems with this.
1. Companies are only manufacturing 1 layer (layer 0) of the format, which happens to fall outside of the specifications for all DVD formats. As a licensee of the DVD patent groups – which is extremely important to avoid potential liability – we are disallowed to manufacture non-compliant products.
2. Compatibility with these thin discs are not good. Less than 80% compatibility.
3. The manufacturing process of this disc is no different than the standard manufacturing of a DVD.
As further research is conducted we will continue to keep our eyes open. We are constantly working towards protecting our environment, as well as providing more options to our customers.
Why so Serious? Batman Blu-ray Disc to be “Killer” App for the Format?
The
Dark Night Blu-ray disc promises to be dazzling. If you are one of those “Jokers” who thinks that DVD is just fine on your 1080p Flat Screen television, this title will sure to change your beliefs.
The darks will be eerier and inkier, the explosions will be more ferocious, the entire movie will be more of spectacle on Blu-ray. If you were on the fence about Blu-ray, this title’s demand for high bit rates of data, colors not possible in upconvert, and pure uncompressed sound will make your DVD feel like it is a black and white picture with Dutch subtitles.
BD-Live: Could it Make Blu-ray Applicable to the Corporate World?
I previously posted about BD-Live (see below) and what it has to offer to consumers. Call me a naysayer but those consumer features are not all that exciting… yet. Our business, disc replication/packaging and content development (NewMedia), has to be concerned with corporate communications as it is a major part of our business.
The DVD specification does not include web linking from a DVD player. Mostly because DVD players were not wired for internet connections from the beginning. Of course Sonic, Adobe, and other authoring platforms have created the ability to link through to websites from menu screens for DVDs playing in computers, but the compatibility and consistency of it actually working makes it difficult to include on any large scale project.
Blu-ray and BD-Live aims to make physical disc media more dynamic with web connectivity. Experts more negative than I, claim that if Blu-ray is adopted, they will never connect those players to their networks. I respectfully disagree with that view point. With 20% of current Blu-ray player owners already accessing BD-Live content, one can conclude that at least 20% of these early generation players are connected to the Internet.
This 2008 holiday season it is expected that the second generation players will have internal wireless networking capability(which will make it hard not to connect to the Internet) and will have a sub $250 price point. Will this be enough? It is important that consumers find this enticing because the potential for innovative corporate communications will be endless. It will be new medium, with stunning resolution, and an unparalleled way to attach excellence in branding with your business.
What about BD-Live and Corporate Communications? This is where I see BD-Live even more useful than on the consumer product side. Think of these possibilities:
- Allow your end-user to request slides, .pdf manuals, applications for credit- all contained in a carefully branded, high definition menu and have the materials pinged to home/office computers or handheld devices.
- After a stunning high-definition video, ask for feedback, ask for an order, and allow the user to communicate with your company right then and there, while the juices are flowing.
- Track who is actually watching your program.
- Become more responsive by allowing users to open up chat screens with experts from your company after questions about a how-to video.
- Provide up-to-date documents at all times to your dealer network without making new discs.
These are just some of the ideas I have for the medium. I know marketers and business communicators are looking for new, innovative ways to excite their customers and/or employees. Enthusiastic employees and customers grow your business and Blu-ray and BD-Live have the capability to harness and convey that sort of power. Now we wait for the consumer to adopt this technology and the major entertainment publishers have a responsibility to provide valuable content. We wait…. Enthusiastically.
BD-Live Gaining Momentum
Is this Tangible Media’s Answer to Digital Downloads?
With the swarm of Blu-ray titles touting BD-Live capability, many consumers want to know what BD-Live has to offer. BD-Live is the ability to use a Blu-ray Disc, a Blu-ray Player, and an internet connection to access additional features and interactivity not included on the disc. Some of the features make more sense than others. Below are some that may be of value:
-Make movie clips with user faces superimposed on characters in the movie and send them
over the BD Live network as viral marketing campaigns. See Sleeping Beauty.
-Edit movies for viewing with sensitive viewers and store the custom edits on remote
servers.
-Send digital copies direct from the disc menu to your portable device. See iPhone/iPod
Touch Application.
-Allow storefront merchandising from the disc menu.
-Update audio on older blu-ray discs for new audio codecs optimized for your home theater.
To get our opinion on how we actually see some of these features being useful for corporate communications see our blog.
