Online Home of Derek Meister
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With the summer winding down and school on everyone’s minds, we’re getting more and more questions on whether those tiny (and cheap) netbooks make for a good back-to-school purchase.
I had an opportunity to speak with Fox 8 News about the pros and cons of both netbooks and notebooks for students.
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The most surprising thing for me when it comes to stats about social media is just how quickly it’s becoming popular with the traditionally non-tech orientated non-teen population.
There’s plenty of buzz going around now that price and release date info has been leaked for Microsoft’s new media player.
According to Gizmodo, the ZuneHD should hit in mid-September, with a 16GB unit for $220 and $280 for a 32GB version.
I have to admit that I never really had a problem with my original 30GB Zune, and the OLED screen on this new unit is very tempting.
However, already owning an iPhone, with it’s extra app functionality, has made me wonder about the viability of dedicated devices like media players.
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This one made me laugh, if only because I’ve actually heard parents of college-bound children say similar snarky things while in the field.
Barry Judge, the Chief Marketing Officer for Best Buy, mentions the commercials in a blog post about Twelpforce and how it is blurring the line between customer service and marketing.
Also, John Bernier talks about the Twelpforce learning experiment in a blog entry called Getting Dressed in a Glass House.
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This week marked the official launch of Best Buy’s @Twelpforce, which allows customers to connect with regular employees for questions and support with products and services they are looking at, or have already bought.
TechCrunch has been very positive on the idea of connecting customers with employees, calling it, “a phenomenal way to engage with Twitter users and social media in general.”
I’ve had an opportunity to join in on the experience as a Geek Squad Agent, and it’s been eye-opening in just how powerful the idea is. I’ve seen hundreds of customer-employee interactions since the launch, and it’s wonderful to see how welcomed the responses are by the public.
I think the thing that makes this idea so unique is that it’s not just another contact point for a company public relations team. Instead, it’s made up of regular employees from around the world, 700+ at last count. The expectation for participation, according to the publicly-available website is that @Twelpforce members, “just have to be curious, proactive, and helpful- much of the same stuff you do everyday.”
I look forward to more @Twelpforce twittering in my future!