Friday 17 May 2013

The thumbs up post - a beatnik's guide to social sites

Do you remember the first time you realized you were hooked on some social media site? Or should I ask - did you ever realize you can't stop using it? Spending long hours looking at some friend's random photo album will not further your time-management techniques. But don't worry, it's just an inevitable side-effect of the Computer Age and with a little attention it can be kept within safe barriers.

There are many debates on the topic and serious studies are written about the dangerous side-effects of the online depencency, but on the other hand, there are people who simply don't care to share their relationship status for example and stopped using / have never ever used social media sites. I've recently read an interview with those who quit Facebook for a shorter/longer period of time, explaining the reason of their choice. I must metion that the title of the article was somewhat funny - Are You A Psychopath If You Don't Have A Facebook Account? We Don't Think So - and you can read it here.

I don't think we should make such a harsh difference between Facebook users and non-users, but I'm sure we've all gone through various phases of our online socializing path: I sometimes feel the urge to share, like, tweet, pin or blog, other times I'm so fed up with the new timeline, the annoying game invitations or the stupid posts of others that I seriously consider deactiving my account. However, I could never do it because of my social community manager duties at the office, but that's another story.

As I tried to examine my social networking habits, I thought I could write a list of the social profiles and the way I use them:

1. Twitter: the business source

- I use it for job-related purposes, I share links of articles that I've read and found important;
- a few years ago I was a bookmark maniac but after a while there were so many uncategorized websites in my browser that I couldn't figure it out what website I bookmarked for what reason. I don't bookmark sites anymore, but post them on Twitter.

Office Beatnik usage score: 5%

2. Pinterest: the creativity source

- Ladies, beware! Causes instant addiction!
- The story is the same as with Twitter - for me it's an alternative for bookmarking and works just great for images and videos;
- I love lists and categories and labels and image galleries, so Pinterest is absolutely for me and not only for me, but for millions of users worldwide. Why? Images are more appealing, people love images and have no time for long blogposts (If this is true, I'm wondering who'll read this one);
- I've gathered ideas to garden party decoration so far, to kitchen renovation, hairdos and make-up tips;
- Only by looking at my (or others) boards I come up with new ideas;

Office Beatnik usage score: 10%

3. Facebook: the information source

- I had to check the date when I've created my profile (November 17, 2007), I stick to it ever since;
- friends, colleagues, family members, ex-classmates use it, just a click and I can chat with them;
- most importantly I use it for 'information gathering' about the brands, blogs, bands, books, events I'm interested in;
- I've encountered lots of businesses (smaller businesses) that have a website, but their page on Facebook is more up-to-date, so it's more convenient to like their page and have their updates in my newsfeed;
- I'm not into sharing every detail of my personal life, I mainly use it for being informed;
- Utility: thanks to my favorite bar's 'Your favorite song' contest on Facebook I recently won a concert ticket; if I didn't like the Canon page, I would have never known about their 'Buy a camera and win a bike' contest and would have never actually won a ravish new bicycle;
- The gym where I train posts the timetable each and every day, so I don't have to hit up their website to find out what class should I attend next;

 Office Beatnik usage score: 85%

What about you? Where do you expose your online persona?


Tuesday 7 May 2013

The Coolest Office Break Rooms

Is it cosy? Is it stylish? Is it completely different than your regular spot at the office? It's every employee's dream to work at an inspiring workplace, where even the break room is designed in such a manner that you're simply eager to spend  a little time in it.

Yandex office by Atrium Designers

The general aspect of the office space in most cases is defined by the profile of the company - a hip advertising agency for example will certainly have a heartmovingly stylish interior design. I'm sure you're all familiar with those office spotting sites and blogs that present ravish designs of the most popular companies, or the images of various Google offices around the world. My favourite site presenting the most popular compaines' behind-the-scenes images is The Daily Muse. Here you're not only given a little insight to the offices, but interviews with some of the representatives as well.

Break Room at Enervex Inc. - Venting Design Solutions
Image Source

While looking at these great office designs I couldn't help but admire the way they pay attention the little details in order to create a sophisticated, yet laid back atmosphere: the walls sometimes remain uncovered (in case of brick walls this is absolutely obvious), while the rooms are given a certain  character with the help of beautiful installations and wonderful decorating elements.

Swatch - Switzerland

What I like the most about these office diaries are the images of office break rooms, where co-workers can eat, relax and have a coffee break. These areas in many cases are designed in such a way that they really create a sense of escape from your daily duties for a couple of minutes and to fill  you up with new energy.

Parliamentdesign, Portland, Oregon

Der Tank, Tallin, Estonia

Selgas Cano Architecture, Madrid, Spain

Level Eight by Collins Towers

The uncovered raw material like wood or brick and the exciting jungle-like sections break the monotony of the stern office design and inspire new ideas. Though the office where I work has no such design, but it does have huge windows and an exceptional view to green hills and high trees. How does your office look like?

Check out futher images here.


Thursday 2 May 2013

Exploring a creative mindset with mind mapping tools

If you're getting serious about blogging or content writing, you might face the problem of not knowing how to continue with posting. It's a common rule that you should write down what comes to your mind, make a list of the ideas you'd like to discuss. It's a really good way to get a fresh perspective on your older thoughts  and you can avoid to shift away from your main topic.

Modern brainstorming tools

Most of the times I really like to stick to old-fashioned things like taking notes with pen and paper or my antiquated mobile phone, but then again, I'm really into hot new tech stuff as well. I thought I'd search for some crazy mind-mapping tools and see how they'd ease my thinking.
I've found a great number of creative tools, but I've chosen three that I'm thinking of using regularly:

MindMeister

You can sign up for free and try lots of great functions to plan a whole project in detail. This tool is dedicated  for companies mainly, but I think it can be useful for bloggers as well. You can add notes, different kinds of icons and images, tasks and due dates and the 'ideas' can be shared and edited simultaneously.

mindmeister brainstorming
MindMeister

Bubbl.us

This one is way simpler than MindMeister and you can start brainstorming without registering. There are no fancy icons or images here, but you can easily export the sheet with your precious ideas.

Mind mapping about blogging
Bubbl.us
Gliffy

Very professional, my personal favourite. While looking at this one I realized I could use this tool not only for brainstorming, but to do more. The landing page has convinced me in such a way that I felt a certain urge to create a flowchart, a floor plan and a venn diagram as well, even though I don't really need them right now.

floor plan created with Gliffy
Gliffy