From elementary school to college, most kids don’t know that parents quietly act as if they are going to work when the kids are off [...]]]> In many states, August means a few things to parents – slow news, end of summer, and most of all, lower utility bills because – THE KIDS ARE BACK IN SCHOOL!!!

From elementary school to college, most kids don’t know that parents quietly act as if they are going to work when the kids are off to school. What really happens is that the cash register at BevMo sings in anticipation and all over the nation, parents are partying like it’s 1999. Or maybe just sleeping…

Unfortunately, there are repercussions to the glorious start of the school year. It is what most parents dread – filling out continuous, monotonous, and repetitious paperwork – which is further exacerbated if you have multiple children in school.

I was recently speaking with some college friends, who are also parents, about the treachery of school forms:

“I abhor signing a form stating that you have read & understand the “handbook” that you have to go online to read. You can check a box if you need a paper copy, but only after you sign & return the  form. What?! Streamline your processes! Oh, and all of the forms are due back the next day. ”

- Dr. D. Owens

I have experienced the same. I understand the need of having a paper copy back up on file of parents acknowledgement, student emergency cards and other pertinent information. However, when the school has to input this date into a database anyway, wouldnt it make sense for this to start on digital?

I shouldn’t complain though, as my children’s school district is on the forefront of using mobile & digital. In the past, the school used to send pertinent information and notices home via my 6 year old, and of course, its either lost, made into a paper plane, or crumbled beneath the other stuff in their bag.

This year, the school decided to GO GREEN & GO DIGITAL. Now, most of the notices are texted to me, with the dates able to populate my calendar on my phone.  Which, of course, is synced to my desktop calendar. Also, an IVRU calls my phone with information if it needs to be longer than 140 characters and is also transcribed to my email with my google phone number. Some of the documents I need to view are online, and if I would like a paper copy, I can request one electronically where I can pick up at the school, saving postage. And believe it not, my children attend public school, not private school.

Now this is not a knock on public schools or private schools, but what I believe separates the two is that some private (or charter) schools have to take a “start-up” mentality – looking at new and exciting ways to teach, do business and get parents involved. An LA Times article (http://leep.it/oT) noted that the Los Angeles School District lost $10 Million dollars due to to the inefficiency of its inventory tracking system.  I wonder how old was the system? Some public schools could use the intelligence of innovation, but within cost range, because, alas, I dont think “talking benches” (http://leep.it/oU) are an efficient way to spend money, at least tax payer’s money…but I digress…

I am not saying that digital and mobile should replace all paper correspondence,  however, both allow for flexibility, convenience and cost efficiency.  Maybe schools should consider joining the republic of digital….

When I am traveling with no access to a farmers market, I usually pick up Fresh [...]]]> Yes, you’re still at the Team Textopoly blog where we give you all things digital and mobile. However, in honor of my recent sighting of Rachael Ray, I started to think about the importance of mobile and what we eat.

When I am traveling with no access to a farmers market, I usually pick up Fresh Express pre-packaged salads. However, that came to a crashing end when I read this 3 days after my purchase:

http://leep.it/mD

Now, the FDA (& CDC) still has a recall list you can sign up with for email here:

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/default.htm

of which gets lost in the mix of other emails. Yes, I know.

Now wouldn’t it be great if we could segregate those alerts based upon location, food (for vegetarians, etc), instead of merely date of recall? And this goes for other recalls as well.  Many fathers like myself have cringed when finding that a toddler toy has been recalled, after having spent 23 hours assembling it.

And if we could get it sent to our mobile? awesomeness….

The purpose of government is to protect (i.e. military) and inform its citizens (thankfully with organizations like the FDA).  However, as time moves on and black & white television is replaced with color, and Big Blue Computers are replaced with minicomputers the size of your palm, the government should be on the cutting edge of reaching its citizens with all things digital…and mobile…

UPDATE: So, while writing this, I was reminded again of tools the FDA could use as I read about the massive egg recall (http://leep.it/mP) , of which a brand I recently purchased (AND USED) was included, Lucerne.

Here is a Rachel Ray-like thought.  The grocery stores already know what we buy when we use those reward cards and programs. (and yes, we know you’re collecting data on us) Additionally some, like Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons have your number tied to the reward card. Wouldnt it make sense to be able to automate this recall process with those two pieces of data? SMS?

BTW, if Rachael Ray did work here, she’d probably would be doing this:

Vitaminwater recently launched their newest campaign staring the genius that is Gary Busey.  In the new ads Gary Busey plays Norman Tugwater, Fantasy Sports Attorney.  He’s fighting to get monetary compensation from fantasy sports players for the athletes that he represents.  The whole thing is pretty funny and quite entertaining, but Busey’s nut-job cheesy TV [...]]]>

Vitaminwater recently launched their newest campaign staring the genius that is Gary Busey.  In the new ads Gary Busey plays Norman Tugwater, Fantasy Sports Attorney.  He’s fighting to get monetary compensation from fantasy sports players for the athletes that he represents.  The whole thing is pretty funny and quite entertaining, but Busey’s nut-job cheesy TV attorney character takes the cake.

The most interesting part of the whole campaign would be the texting component that they have going on – we are a mobile company and into the whole mobile thing.  It’s nice to see a campaign with integrated mobile components.  By texting in TUG to 70734, users receive a call from Gary Busey followed by an SMS with a link to their mobile site.  Once on the mobile site, users can watch the viral video and share it via Facebook and Twitter.  It’s a pretty robust campaign, from the Facebook page, videos, billboards, and OOH.  We salute you Vitaminwater, welcome to the mobile club!

Mobile usage across the globe is growing faster and stronger than a 13 year old girl can say Justin Bieber! First, let me hit you with some facts:

-          According to the International Telecommunications [...]]]> You want exposure? You want people to know about your brand, your product, or your service; well the answer is in your pocket!

Mobile usage across the globe is growing faster and stronger than a 13 year old girl can say Justin Bieber! First, let me hit you with some facts:

-          According to the International Telecommunications Union, mobile subscribers will surpass 5 billion in 2010, which is over 70% of the global population! The world population in April was 6.8 billion! The ITU says growth is being driven by advanced services and handsets in developed countries and increased take-up of mobile health services and mobile banking in the developing world.

-          Gartner (March 2010) predicts that by 2011, over 85% of new handsets will be able to access the Mobile Web!

-          LeBron was never the king, SMS ruled all! According to Portfolio Research (Feb. 2010)

• SMS is used by 4 billion consumers worldwide
• In 2009 worldwide SMS traffic topped five trillion messages, and that figure is set to exceed 10 trillion in 2013.
• MMS, mobile email and mobile IM are all growing strongly. The driver for MMS is the number of camera phones, for mobile email is the business market and while IM is popular with the youth market.
• The global mobile messaging business is worth over US$150 billion, and will hit US$233 billion by 2014.

If your brand isn’t capable of reaching more than 2 million people, you’re not using mobile! And if you’re not using mobile, you are definitely not at full potential! Check the facts, call us up, let’s have some lunch, and then drop it like it’s hot.

Want to be at full potential? Email me at: asif[at]textopoly[dot]com. – P.S. – I don’t think Miami is going to win the championship this year.

If you’re anything like me, which probably 80% of the people I interact with on a daily basis are, we [...]]]> As most people in the United States know, mobile phones are no longer used simply for calling someone for a piece of quick information or directions from A to B.  Mobile phones have become our lifelines.

If you’re anything like me, which probably 80% of the people I interact with on a daily basis are, we would be unable to function without the use of our handy (no pun intended) mobile phones with their ever-expanding capabilities.  Whether it be the iPhone, Android, or Blackberry, users have become infatuated by the unlimited number of games, messaging applications, and internet use that are available with one touch of a finger.

To support my belief that mobile phone users are becoming more and more addicted to the multiple capabilities of a smartphone is a statistic showing that between the months of March and May 2010, smartphone usage has increased by 8.1%.

A few statistics that should have companies who want to sell their products salivating;

• Nearly a third (31.9%) used their smartphones for web browsing
• 30% used downloaded applications
• 20.8% used their phones to access social networking sites or blogs

This is great news for companies who are hoping to expand their products and advertise in the mobile world.  With the rise of smartphone usage, and overall web browsing on any mobile phone; companies and agencies are now given the opportunity to reach out to their audiences and give them the information they are seeking through WAP/mobile sites (which in my opinion are brilliant), text messages, and applications.  These tactics just make things that much easier for their consumers to devour whatever their hearts desires!

If you feel like your brain just hasn’t taken in enough to convince you, feel free to check out the article yourself and let me know your thoughts!

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=131673&nid=116386

http://leep.it/jy

Let’s chat about it! Holla at me at: asif[at]textopoly[dot]com