Here’s what I am looking forward to this month in Greenville:

Trey Pennington (@TreyPennington) has created the “Social Story Conference” which is going to be in Greenville, SC on September 24th. Trey, along with some other awesome people will be speaking on the subject of social media and social stories.  In short, how businesses can, and do, connect with people and form relationships, rather than force-feeding marketing down a one-way pipeline.

If you want to learn more about how to connect with your customer base, how to share in their lives, and how your products or services are part of their lives then you should consider going. If you are just wanting to continue to “broadcast” your information in the hopes that someone is going to listen, then avoid this conference by all means. Let’s face it, if you are constantly blathering on twitter about the $29.99 special your company offers without ever taking the time to follow your followers or listen to what they have to say, you are going to be unfollowed or filtered, just like the annoying car dealership commercials are muted by TV viewers.

The line up of speakers for Greenville is exciting! In addition to Trey Pennington, we’ll get to hear from and connect with Amber Osborne (@MissDestructo), Tim TV, Sean Buvala (@StoryTeller), Olivier Blanchard (@TheBrandBuilder), and Rick Murray… The emcee will be Phil Yanov (@ThinkHammer).

This is not about the social media platform, it is independent of the transport mechanism. It’s not about Twitter, or Facebook, it’s about connections.

More information is on the Social Story Conference website at http://socialstoryconference.com/ and you can also follow the hash tag of #SocialStory on Twitter.

Homeland Secure IT is proud to help sponsor this event and we can’t wait to see you there!

The Clean House - Sarah Ruhl

Let me preface this post with the fact that I had never heard of The Warehouse Theatre until my family participated in the “Google on Main” event earlier this year. After that event, there was a follow-up which took place at The Warehouse and that was the first time I set foot in the facility.

Since then, we have been seeing lots of discussions on various social media sources about plays and events at that venue and decided we just had to check it out, so I purchased tickets on the phone last week for “The Clean House”… To make this even more interesting, I scored a “Social Media Press Pass” which let me in for free…  What on earth was The Warehouse Theatre thinking when they gave MEa press pass? haha  I think it must be because I quickly jumped on the band wagon when Aaron Von Frank (@AaronVonFrank) said he and Paul would dress up as French Maids and clean the home of one lucky attendee if all the shows sold out!  

All that aside, I took my wife Pamela, 17 year old daughter Megan and 15 year old son Brett this afternoon’s performance of “The Clean House”.

Having little exposure to community theatre, I must admit that when I walked in the doors today I was not exactly sure what to expect. I’ve been to many plays and musical productions, paying lots of money for great seats in world reknown theatres, and to be honest, I had braced myself for disappointment. I assumed that I would be watching a production similar to a high school play, with lousy lighting, poor audio, a spartan set and worse, actors straight out of the high school drama department.

Boy was I wrong! The audio was perfect, excellent sound quality, not a missed cue. The lighting was outstanding, including a video backdrop with colored background and text/graphics that were perfectly synchronized with the actors – if there was a mistake made, I sure didn’t witness it!

The set itself was a work of art and fit perfectly with the lifestyle of Lane (Stark white, sterile, with modern furnishings), however, the biggest thing I was wrong about was the quality of these actors!

I am not familiar with the work of the playwright, Sarah Ruhl, but these actors managed to portray characters that I believe we all can relate to and managed to capture our hearts in doing so. Many Broadway productions I’ve seen could have benefited from the expertise of this cast! I saw nothing but true seasoned professionals!

Without giving away too much, this play is funny…  And the timing of the cast was impeccable.  The lead character, Matilda (played by Lynne Junker) is a hired on by Lane (Debra Capps) as a house keeper, but she hates cleaning… Matilda has us laughing from the start. Virginia (played by Elizabeth Finley) the OCD sister of Lane feels moved to help the “depressed” Matilda by cleaning for her.

While cleaning, Virginia discovers the undergarments of someone other than Lane and that leads to the assumption that Lane’s husband Charles is having an affair. As it turns out, it is more than an affair, and we are taken on an interesting ride through what could be considered unbelievable if you have never been involved in something so ludacris in real life. My wife says she can totally relate with every character as the twist and turns unfold.

The play takes you full circle through relationships and the drama that goes with them sometimes. As I mentioned, it is very lighthearted, so do go prepared to laugh at the tragic story. (It is really a love story, but I’ll let you discover this for yourself)…

I feel I must appologize to these wonderful actors and The Warehouse Theatre for being so cynical about what Greenville had to offer in The Arts. I have been missing out on a lot and I am glad to have discovered this source of entertainment and enlightenment for our family.  For a fraction of the cost of an evening at The Peace Center, you can rest assured we will be visiting this venue frequently! 

The next show at The Warehouse Theatre is “The Rocky Horror Show”, a personal favorite that is coming up in October!!!! Hope to see you there!

@RussellTripp posted this to Twitter and I had to save it, thus it got posted to the blog so I don’t forget about it myself…

Thanks Russell… I didn’t even know about the Code Search until today. I can promise you I will be using this

10 Google Services That Don’t Get the Limelight They Deserve  posted on MakeUseOf.com

We have a new giveaway for the month of August here at Homeland Secure IT!

Trend Micro Internet Security is great for business or personal use!

Last month we drew for a wireless network IP security camera, before that we gave away a Cisco Flip Mino HD video camera, and this month, we are going to give away Trend Micro Internet Security 2010, THE best anti-virus packages on the market!

Two lucky winners will receive the retail version of Trend Micro Internet Security 2010 which will protect up to 3 computers from infection by trojan, virus, spyware, grayware, and other forms of malware as well as spam!  Each package retails for $49.99. Protect your Microsoft Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 based computers from infection!

How do you enter? That’s easy! In the “Follow Me” section on the right-hand column of our blog, enter your email address and hit “Subscribe”, you will get a daily archive of this blog first thing in the morning after that. Another option is to join our mailing list/s. You can do that by visiting http://www.HomelandSecureIT.com and hitting the “Subscribe to our mailing list” link on the right side of the page.

If you subscribe to the blog and one of our mailing lists, you get TWO chances to win, if you subscribe to our blog and both mailing lists, you get THREE chances to win when we draw for the names.

Who is eligible? Homeland Secure IT provides computer service, support, repair and sales in the Greenville / Upstate SC area, so if you are in these areas, our mailing lists are probably of interest to you and if should you win one of our drawings, we will try to deliver the item to you in person or you can pick it up at our office on Mauldin Rd. in Greenville. Those who enter from outside the Upstate area are responsible for shipping and handling of the prizes.

Homeland Secure IT employees and family members who are subscribed are also eligible, however, one of us actually won the last contest and we decided to redraw. If Greg wins, he is not giving up his prize, hahah.

Those outside the USA are not eligible unless they can come here and pick up the prize in person. This offer is void where prohibited by law.

How is the drawing done? We take all names on all lists, dump them into Microsoft Excel, run a random number generator from 1 to however many is on the list and select the corresponding name. Very low tech, but hey, it works!

We will draw for two winners of the Trend Micro Internet Security 2010 package on September 1st, 2010. Winners will be announced here on this blog, in our newsletter and via social media sites like Twitter & Facebook.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

Poison Tap Water is trending on Google…    And I am doing everything I can to see if I can get some of that. hahaha

Please ignore this….

Tanya Thompson / @thompsontanya commented about a device on Twitter this morning that caught my eye… It is the Withings / @Withings Wi-Fi connected scale, which uses network connectivity to log and track your weight loss (or gain) among other things.

You can view your trends with a web interface, and access the data with your iPhone. I believe something like this really could encourage you to lose some weight. Recently there have been news stories which cite studies about weight loss and the results indicate that those who use internet weight tracking actually do lose more weight and manage to maintain that loss better than those who do not.

The thing that bothers me is that it will Tweet out your weight once a week to Twitter. All I could think was exactly what it would be tweeting when I stepped on it… Something like, “HELP ME! This fat guy is smushing me!” is probably what it would have to say about me! Still, it is an interesting gadget and I would love to have it. Who knows, maybe I will order one. Follow me on Twitter to see what this thing has to say!

The Androids are coming, the Androids are coming!

A few posts ago I talked about the number of portable tablet computers / pads that are coming on the market. Yesterday I took Scott’s Android pad to a Greenville meeting spot (Halfway to Habana) where we gather on Thursdays for fun and fellowship – nobody seemed too impressed with the device due to the speed, or lack there of.

While discussing the inexpensive Chinese import (called the iPed) with its 8″ display, wi-fi, etc, Phil Yanov / @thinkhammer brought up the Augen Android pad being offered exclusively by K-Mart. I had not heard of it, but I promptly Googled it to find that the Augen is far superior to the iPed in that it is faster and more responsive and that it is has the Android 2.1 OS loaded on it from the factory. Also, it doesn’t hurt that it is being offered by a reputable franchise (K-Mart) that would allow you to return it should you be disappointed with the performance.

I have checked K-Mart stores around the Upstate and none of them show the device is in inventory, but you can get a rain check to help you be  the first on your block to sport one. Will it be serious competition for the Apple iPad? I don’t think so, not yet. However, the Android pad devices are maturing and as they do so, the sales from all vendors combined are going to (eventually) cut into the Apple market share. (Still waiting on the Palm and Windows Mobile tablets to make their showing)

Here is a first look at the Augen from a new user’s point of view:

If you have one of these devices, I would like to hear from you, so please shoot me an email or respond here!  Have a great weekend!

In case you ever wondered – here’s how that copier works in your office… I’m taking our’s apart tomorrow to make sure this is factual…. =)

If you are reading this blog post, you probably know that I am pretty involved in Social Media. Some may say I am addicted to it!

I am active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare, Plaxo, and still have a MySpace account, though I don’t really use it that much. I haved tried out Google Buzz, FriendFeed, and several business only SM sites. (Heck, I have even checked out Chat Roulette and Omegle – but that is an entirely different story)

Out of all of these, one that I fail to see the value in for a computer service, repair and sales business like Homeland Secure IT is FourSquare. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. I use it constantly, and get very frustrated when it isn’t working like I think it should. But I use it for personal purposes. If you have not played with FourSquare, it is a geolocation based social media “tool” that lets you “check-in” to a venue or location when you get there using your GPS equiped smartphone. Assume you go to Starbucks for a quick Dark Cherry Mocha Frapp – you “check-in” and now the whole world can see what you are doing.  You can brag to Twitter & Facebook that you have disposable income you can spend on yummy coffee.

Same thing goes for attractions like amusement parks, ball games, and stores like say, “Target”. If you check-in enough times, you become the “Mayor” of that venue!

Here is where the value of FourSquare comes in… Assume you check-in and become mayor of XYZ Sandwich Shop. You have been announcing this for a while, everytime you visit there. The whole world has seen you were there, giving free advertisement to XYZ! But, if XYZ is smart, they will reward you for your loyalty and offer a free sandwich when someone becomes Mayor, and maybe a free drink every time the Mayor visits after that. A very cheap price to pay for this type of advertising.

Many places, especially restaurants, will offer specials that popup when you check-in near their venue. These will show up as a “SPECIAL NEARBY – Check out the great ribs at ABC BBQ”, which can help bring new business into these places. And still other places will offer you a free entree when you visit several of their location. FourSquare itself offers “Badges” for accomplishing certain feats, such as checking into three Starbucks locations.

All that said, our business does not have foot traffic nor visitors, so offering a “Free Virus Cleanup” to a mayor would be silly. I believe I am the only person to check-in to our location in the months that I have been using it. But it does bring up a pet peeve of mine. Today I was ousted as Mayor of a local coffee shop – BY THE OWNER OF THE PLACE. Wow, that doesn’t do anything to help with loyalty. My suggestion to places that want to check-in themselves, create a second venue, call it XYZ Sandwich Shop STAFF, and let the staff go crazy checking in!

I would further suggest that business owners who can benefit from FourSquare’s power of (free) advertising, take advantage of it the way it was meant to be used. Offer Mayors a treat, some recognition, and encourage them to remain the mayor and others to try and oust the current mayor. 4sq is both a FUN, and a very useful business tool, when used properly.

BTW: If you can think of a way 4sq can be used to promote our computer repair business here in Greenville, and increase loyalty, well I’m all ears, but until that happens, I will be trying to take my place as mayor of every great business in the Upstate!  Watch out Mayors, I’m coming for you…   

BTW: Have fun, it is only a game!  (But seriously, I’m coming for you)…    Also check out other geolocational based SM tools / toys like Gowalla, Gypsii, BrightKite, Loopt, etc…

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010

Do you have a blog and tire of entering your entries through the WordPress web interface? Sure, some people post using Outlook and email their blog entries, but using Word to publish is another great weapon in your arsenal.

Using Microsoft Office 2010, you can simplify your life a little by composing the posting in the familiar Word editor and then publish to your WordPress blog!

How do you do this? Easy as pie…

Step 1: Get a blog! Oh wait, you already have one or you wouldn’t be reading this.

Step 2: Get Microsoft Office 2010 (or 2007).

Step 3: Write your blog entry in Word and when ready to publish, select “File” from the pull down, then “Save & Send” and finally “Publish as Blog Post”

Step 4: The first time you do this, you will be prompted to “Register a Blog Account”… Select “Register Now”

Step 5: Select the type of blog you have, such as WordPress, Blogger, Windows Live Spaces, SharePoint blog, etc…  I’ll go with WP from here on….

Step 6: You need to enter the path to your xmlrpc.php, such as: http://www.yourblog.com/wordpress/xmlrpc.php

Step 7: Enter the user name and password you use to log into your blog and select “OK” (Select “Remember Password” if you trust nobody is going to use your computer and enter silly blog posts for you)

Step 8: Profit… Uhmm okay, maybe not…  Let’s try that again… Step 8: Post something interesting to the blogospher for the rest of us to read!

If you have not tried out Microsoft Office 2010 yet, you can download a free trial, or you can purchase from your favorite Microsoft Partner, like US! Call us at 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for additional information.