April, 2009 Archive

Multimap Outlook 2007 Calendar Mapping Add-In Tool

Just been given the heads up on a new tool to make it easy to add a map and directions to a meeting request in Outlook 2007!

The guys at Multimap have built a mapping Add-In to Outlook which, with a few clicks, embeds a map into a calendar meetings, contacts and emails which saves time adding links and generates an “easy to access“ map you can view or print plus find directions and transport links. image

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  • When you want to add a map just – you guessed it (!) – click on “Add Map” and a little box pops up.
  • Jot down the address or postcode and click GO.
  • Then – you guessed right again (!) – click “Add Map to Meeting” and that’s it!

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It also let’s you click on the Bird’s Eye view – my favourite feature so you can see exactly where I work! 

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If you have Office 2007 check it out and let us know what you think!

Oh….and before you ask it works in the US too! 🙂

Microsoft Office Live – Free Website Tool Review

I’ve just designed a site for the Budleigh Salterton Art Club in Devon!

Me….a web designer?! Who’d have thought?!

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I used Office Live to do it and it took about an hour to set up and launch!

You get to register a domain for free for the first year and you get free web hosting, free design tools and templates to create and edit your site and, to cap it all off, you get free support by phone and email – not that I needed it because it was so easy to set up the site!

You can pretty much add in anything you want at a click of a button:

 

imageSeeing as it’s an art club I added a photo gallery but you can have a multitude of modules including contact forms, event calendars, stock lists and even a quick fire map & direction section!

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The navigation look and feel is very much like Microsoft Office, as you’d expect being called Office Live! But my point is it’s so easy for the web novice to find their way around and get a new half-way decent website up and receiving traffic in just a couple of hours.

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Check out the 3 Step Guide on how to get started and see how other companies have got on with the system at their customer gallery!

It may not be as super-pretty as something a professional designer could whack out, but in these cash-strapped times there is a bunch of retired budding Van Gogh’s in deepest, darkest Devon who are very happy with the result!

Don’t Watch Porn At Work!

It’s not recommended and a bit anti-social, but if you do then don’t be stupid enough to Tweet about it!

image This guy has now deleted his Tweet but remember your Tweets live on in Twitter Search!

John West Tuna Ad – No Drain?

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Spotted this ad for John West Tuna near my flat at the weekend. I’m not sure what the bloke with the fiddle is all about but my eye was drawn to the USP – “No Drain Tuna”

Now they’ve obviously done some market research and found that some consumers are reluctant to buy their product because it’s too “fiddly”.

(I think I’ve just got the fiddle reference while writing that last sentence…………groan!)

But is our time so precious that we’re now looking to save a few seconds while opening a can of fish?

Maybe it’s because we’re too busy blogging and tweeting?

I’ll be “trawling” your comments for an answer soon I expect!

Bedford & Strand – London Restaurant Review

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Having spent so much time over the last few years in the US where food and service tend to be very good, I’ve been getting more and more frustrated with restaurants in the UK which tend to either be too expensive, serve awful food or sufferer from shoddy and indifferent service.

When asked to go out for dinner or trying to arrange a date in London I’ve found it a bit of a lottery. Do we spend a load of cash to have a decent night out? Do we shrug and laugh at the less than attentive waiter or waitress? Do we just accept the food isn’t that fab because, well, that’s just the way it is?

Last night things changed as I was introduced to an oasis in this culinary desert we call our capital.

The Bedford & Strand bar and bistro near Charing Cross is simply delightful.

I turned up there with four mates from school. We get together every 3 months or so to catch up, chew the cud and find out what’s going on in each other’s lives.

We used to just hit a pub and sink several pints but now in our late thirties (did I just admit that?) we prefer a more refined evening of food and wine!

A small door way on Bedford Street hides some pristine stairs which take you down to a bar and restaurant buzzing with media types and folks drinking in the fantastic atmosphere and wine.

A mixture of French and British food, the menu is reasonably priced averaging around £14 for dishes like pork belly, fish cakes, steak tartar and sausage and mash.

The service was excellent, the manager – Kate – was chipper, funny and informative, not batting an eyelid when I simply said I didn’t like the cassoulet I’d ordered.

She just changed it!

The wine was very good and the extensive selection was nicely laid out on the menu by price bracket.

They also have a deli counter which is open all day serving excellent cheeses and meats.

Really it was excellent! It felt like we should have been in a rustic gaff somewhere in the French country side or a faux Euro-bistro somewhere in Manhattan, but we weren’t.

We were in central London, just shy of Covent Garden getting value for money!

As we left, actors from the theatre musical Joseph piled in for a post show beer and included a taller than you’d think Gareth Gates!

With all the wine we’d drunk it was a “long and winding road” home I can tell you!

Susan Boyle Proves Britain’s Got Talent

 

I’d heard about this over the weekend via Twitter while I was in the US.

Only got around to watching it at 4.30 this morning through a jet-lagged haze!

Has to be one of the most amazing performances ever on one of these “talent” shows.

I must have heard that song sung a 1000 times while at auditions in my acting days.

None of them came anywhere near to topping that!

I’m betting she’ll be Number 1 this Christmas!

Why Do Mobile Phones Beep?

image If there’s one thing that’s going to make my blood boil on a Wednesday morning, on the train, when I’ve had 3 hours sleep thanks to jet lag, it’s some berk texting away on a mobile phone that is making a high pitched beeping sound with every key stroke!

Why do phone beep like that and why is it the default setting? Is it a usability thing or is it a disabled access requirement?

Anyone in the mobile industry know?

It does raise the question of self-awareness though. How people think that beeping away like that on a train journey with hundreds of fellow passengers within earshot is ok.

It’s like the guy who gets on my train at Mortlake with – I KID YOU NOT – a ceramic bowl of cereal and a flask of milk and eats it while reading is emails!!

And then there are those thoughtless bar stewards who don’t move down the train/tube carriage because they’re newspaper reading might be impeded or they’re too feeble to use their natural sense of balance to stop them falling over and have to hold on to something!!

I know I’m a bit tired and crabby, but what is wrong with people?

Right – I’m off to Boots for some Pro Plus!

While I’m gone, let me know what gets your goat about your fellow human beings!!!

Microsoft Challenger Charity Party in London – NSPCC

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The Date & Time is Friday 8th May, 2009 at 7.30pm.

The place is HMS President.

The cost is £30, including buffet and welcome drink.

All proceeds go to the NSPCC.

How’s that for an offer you can’t refuse?

Join us for our 1920’s Gangster party all in aid of the NSPCC. There will be eating, there will be drinking, there will be gambling, there will be dancing. And there’ll probably be more than a few people talking like Robert De Niro.

HMS President is moored on the Thames opposite the Oxo Tower. The nearest tube station is Temple, and buses will be provided from Reading to HMS President and back for less than a tenner.

To purchase tickets please email challpar@microsoft.com

For more information please visit www.challengerparty09.spaces.live.com

Microsoft adCenter Keyword Research Tool

I’ve not written about this awesome little program on my blog until now.

No reason other than I suppose I forget sometimes that although I write a lot on the adCenter Blog, there are other channels I can talk about the great work our teams at Microsoft do.

In a nutshell the Microsoft adCenter Excel Add In Keyword Research Tool lets you plug in a keyword and assess how many people search using that word in a given time period.

image It will also tell you what other searches contained that term.

So not just “camera” but also “digital camera” “SLR Camera” “Camera Stores in Cardiff” or “my camera oh oh, my camera never lies anymore” (assuming people are looking for Bucks Fizz lyrics!)

keyword researchThe killer app for me is the demographic tool which lets you see which demographic – age and gender – is typing in that keyword more than any other?

Why is it important?

Well never before have you had so much rich data to use when marketing online…..or offline for that matter.

Knowing the different keywords that are associated with your products, services and brand and your competitors brands is important when you’re building out web or PPC keywords, content and ad copy.

But if you know what the audience that is most interested in learning more you can tailor your marketing accordingly.

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Women aged between 18 and 25 are going to require a very different message than the kind you’d use to target a guy aged 50-65 so having a better understanding of who your customers are helps you come up with marketing that will resonate.

So download the Keyword Research Tool now and give it a whirl – you will NOT be disappointed!

We’re piloting the new version which has UK data at the mo so watch out for that on the adCenter Blog!

“Where Haven’t I Been?”

5 flights, 4 countries, 3 hotels, 2 hangovers and only 1 life!

The last couple of weeks have been madder than Mad Jack McMad!

1st there was Iceland and www.rimc.com – check out mine and Rand Fishkin’s post and my Facebook Photos for some insight into that incredible few days!

Then there was SES New York – check out our wild and whacky videos here, here & here!

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After a pit stop in Boston to visit my mate Dom Doyle who teaches Theology at Harvard, it was onto Toronto where I spent time with the Canada team and participated in a round table with some of Canada’s finest press folk and managed an amusing dinner out with Vanessa, Danny and Andrew & Mona from www.PageZero.com

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Now I’m in Seattle meeting with my team, planning the next year’s worth of excitement and doing lots of work during downtime on the wedding!

After two weeks it’s a bit odd being away from Englandshire, but travelling sure makes sure you’re busy.

It amuses me how some people seem to think it’s all glitz and glam, but believe me you yearn for your own bed and a daily dose of Radio 5 Live!

The key is to make long trips comfortable and I have some tips on how to get the most from your mileage…….but I’ll save them for another day!

BTW – If anyone can name the BBC comedy and character who says the words in the title of this post, I’ll send them a surprise!

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