• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Martin Hofmann

a personal blog about technology, communications and other stuff that interests me

  • English
  • Deutsch
  • Archives
  • About
  • Contact

Archives for April 2007

"I don’t like the sound of my turn signals"

by Martin · Apr 21, 2007

From the next-time-let’s-not-make-conversation department:

Heavy traffic in Toronto. We’re coming to a halt at an intersection, two cars between me and the red light. The light turns green and both cars in front of me start signalling for a left turn. By the time the oncoming traffic has passed and they are gone, the traffic light is red again. We have to wait for another round.

Me: “You know, they should have signalled way earlier.”

Passenger (P): “Who?”

Me: “The two cars in front of us.”

P: “Why?”

Me: “Are you serious? Because I would have changed to the right lane, and would have made it across when it was green. Instead they stop at the lights and it looks like they want to go straight. Then they wait until the lights turn green to signal. And I am stuck behind them. Can’t they make up their mind when they approach the traffic light?”

P: “It’s okay. We’ll still make it in time.”

Me: “That’s not the point.”

P: “I know what your point is. Unless you want to chase after them to yell or make European gestures, let it go.

Me: “European gestures? I take offense to that. And I don’t want to go after them, I am just saying…”

P: “You couldn’t go after them anyway. Because it would mean that you would have to use your left turn signal now. And that would really annoy the driver behind you. Because you should have signalled way earlier if you want to make a left turn.”

Me: “Do you want to walk the rest of the way?”

The light turns green.

Two miles later.

P: “You know, I do that all the time.”

Me: “What?”

P: “Not signal until the light turns green.”

Me: “Why? WHY?”

P: “I don’t like the sound of my turn signals.”

Filed Under: English, Ongoing, Personal

PR Toolbar: Making room for more feeds

by Martin · Apr 14, 2007

The list of blogs in the RSS reader has grown quite long. After talking to Michael O’Connor Clarke and Gary Schlee at the last Third Tuesday, I’ve decided to split up the RSS reader in the Canuck PR Toolbar into two sections: one for PR blogs (red) and one for marcom and social media blogs (blue). 

This has nothing to do with “separating church and state”. It is simply a functional improvement because a couple toolbar users told me that some RSS feeds had become unreadable because in lower screen resolutions the combined list extended beyond the margins of the monitor. Now the two RSS readers have a little room to grow again.

I will do another round of search on the weekend and add new Canadian PR and marcom blogs (suggestions welcome, as always).

The toolbar will update itself automatically. No need to reinstall. If anybody has trouble with the updated version, let me know.

Filed Under: Communications, Toolbar

High Road is hiring

by Martin · Apr 11, 2007

“We have immediate opportunities for consultants with 1 – 2 years agency exp as well as account managers with 4-6 years experience. The ideal candidates will have relevant technology and/or entertainment/gaming industry experience in an agency environment.”

Contact info and more here.

Filed Under: High Road, Personal

Links of Note – April 10, 2007

by Martin · Apr 11, 2007

1) “How To Live Up to the Innovation Hype” – Business Week innovation and design writer Reena Jana on former “next big thing” companies that didn’t live up to the initial hype but are now seeing an upswing in business growth because they have “refined their technologies, remade their business models, and reached out to new audiences.”

If these [new] technologies weren’t taken to market, their owners may never have found that better use,” Chesbrough writes in an e-mail. “Innovators need to learn how to play poker in pursuing these technologies, rather than playing chess, where the objectives and possibilities are clearly defined at the outset.”

Henry Chesbrough, executive director of the Center for Open Innovation at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business

2) “How Blogging Can Help You Get a New Job” – The Wall Street Journal

Corporate recruiters have long surfed the Web to vet potential hires, but now they are also surfing blogs to unearth job candidates, expanding their talent pool and gaining insights they say they can’t get from résumés and interviews.

PR Blogger Kevin Duggan is quoted in the article. He says that his blog generates “about one job lead a month”. 

Blogging still plays a minor role for PR hiring practices in Canada. But the importance is growing. Blogging can definitely help people get a new PR job here, too. Just ask Chris Clarke or Michael O’Connor-Clarke or Tamera Kremer of Thornley Fallis.

Filed Under: Articles of Note, Communications, Innovation

Copyright © 2023 · No Sidebar Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Flickr
  • Google Plus
  • YouTube