August 23, 2008

What I did when I lost my iPhone 3G

in: Agent18, AT&T, FindMe, GSM location, iPhone 3G, twitter

I lost my iPhone 3G yesterday and the first thing I did was try and find out its location. I have a Twitter account but unfortunately I erased my GSM location after I got a twitter from a stranger saying he knows my crosstreets. I looked into FindMe and found out that I should have set up a separate Twitter account for my iPhone. This way my iPhone would have been twittering its GSM location on a regular basis. But the iPhone would be only able to twitter the location if it has the internet access. Thinking more about FindMe, I realized that it has little use in New York anyway. What good does it do to know the crosstreets of the location of your iPhone if at the crosstreets in NY there are usually hundreds of people

I immediately blocked my number at the AT&T and found out I was no longer ellegible for the discount and that I’d have to pay the full price of $499 for a new iPhone. :-( I started imagining other options and became sad… How can you get another phone after owning an iPhone…

I went to the Apple store and fortunately I didn’t have to wait in line since I’ve already waited in one before.

I got it, I love it, I’m happy I own it again.

I got a clear case for it by Agent18. Looks great!!!

Comments

August 17, 2008

Manga Me - the Fun of Avatars

Comments

in: avatar, faceyourmanga, Japanese anime, manga, twitter

Hello, please meet Anna Sabino. I look exactly like that, only my necklace is longer, I don’t like chokers. I love my Lucid shirt. And the stars are cool, oh so cool!

Hahahaha, you can create your anime avatar using www.faceyourmanga.com. It’s free to see your avatar and about $2.50 to download it. I have to admit that this is probably one of the most weird purchases I’ve made in a while… Twitter users are all about that now. Soon there will be more users on Twitter with avatars than with regular pictures!

Comments

August 16, 2008

The Amazing Power of Tradeshows and why I’d Love to Attend them All but Shouldn’t

Comments

in: Accessories the Show, BlogWorld Expo, Fancy Food Show, handmade jewelry collection, International Gift Show

photo courtesy of newyorkdailyphoto.com

I’m a tradeshow junkie. Love going there, have attended many of them, oh so many, from The Fancy Food Show to the International Beauty Show, Licensing Show, Car Show, Toy Fair, you name it. What I love most about the tradeshows is how much trendsetting power they have. Every time I go to a tradeshow, I feel so special, I feel like I’ll be the first to find out what’s the newest. It’s so fascinating to watch fads and trends and how fast they come and go.

Taking as an example the International Food Show, one year I noticed the Sugar Free fad, the year later it was the Low Carb diet and that’s when all the bread and pasta company booths were screaming for business, the next tradeshow all went "back to normal."

I often play a game of guessing and trying to forecast what new products will survive, which ones will have a fast and short life and which ones will have a long existence and develop many variations.

I exhibit my jewelry collections at the International Gift Show and Accessories the Show. I like both shows, it’s so inspiring to be surrounded by fellow business owners and share, complain and cheer together. It’s great to be able to meet your clients in person and show them what’s new. The national and international exposure your brand gets exhibiting at tradeshows is amazing.

As a business owner, however, I constantly have to remind myself of not spreading myself too thin. One of dangerous things I’m doing is attending too many tradeshows, and I often do it just because I’m curious. So the upcoming tradeshows I’m attending are:

August 17th - 21st - International Gift Show - Javits Center - exhibiting

August 23rd - 24th - Pet Fashion Week, Metropolitan Pavillion - I can’t help it, I’m attending, I’m so intrigued by this cute industry!

August 31st - Sept 3rd - International Jewellery London 2008 - attending

Sept 19th - 20st - BlogWorld Expo, Las Vegas - attending

And trust me the list had to be reduced. I stopped giving myself excuses and attending just any tradeshow because "you never know who you’re going to meet". Being open is important but being focused is crucial to my career as a designer.

OK, I’m off to finishing some odds and ends for the tomorrow’s International Gift Show set-up. See you on the tradeshow floor!

Comments

August 8, 2008