Do you love social media?

Not so fast...heres why

its ruining your business.
PAGE 2
APRIL 2012
BITS & BYTES
Presentations in your pocket.
PAGE 10
BUSINESS CALENDAR
See this months events.
PAGE 8
COACHS CORNER
A thousand pictures.
PAGE 11
www.brooklynbiztrends.com
Special to Business Trends
Ridgewood Savings Bank announced the local winners of its Lights, Camera, Save! video contest for teens
aged 13-18. The video contest was designed to inspire teenagers to learn about the value of saving and moti-
vate their peers to become life-long savers. The first place winner Nang (Nancy) Yone from St. Brigid School
in Brooklyn won an iPad. She had two assistants, Rochey Roy and Jessica Louis, who each were awarded $50
gift cards. The contest is part of the American Bankers Association Education Foundations National Teach
Children to Save Program. Pictured, from left, are: Walter Reese of Ridgewood Savings Bank; Sheila Smith
Gonzalez, Principal of St. Brigid School; first place winners Nancy Yone, Rochely Roy, and Jessica Louis; and
Nancy Adzemovic and LouAnn Mannino of Ridgewood Savings Bank.
Lights, Camera, Save!
P u b l i s h e d b y E l a u wi t Me d i a
P r e - s o r t e d
S t a n d a r d
U S P o s t a g e
P A I D
W i l k e s - B a r r e , P A
P e r m i t 9 0
By TIM RONALDSON
Business Trends
Travel to Washington Avenue
in Brooklyn, and youre likely to
find something incredible hap-
pening residents, property own-
ers and merchants all working to-
gether to make the corridor a bet-
ter place to live, work and visit.
For the past four years, the
non-profit Washington
Avenue/Prospect Heights Associ-
ation has brought together these
three constituency groups to
make the neighborhood a more
attractive place. And, so far, it has
worked.
By banding together and
doing things collectively, we get so
much more accomplished than
doing it individually, said Dana
Ottey, president of WAPHA and
owner of Awedacity, a ladies bou-
tique located on Washington Av-
enue.
While the association has been
in existence since 2008, it has
stepped up its efforts in the last
year. Marketing initiatives in-
clude a Wash Ave newsletter,
the Web site
Washington-Avenue.org, purchas-
ing and installing holiday lights,
and programs such as Sip &
Shop Washington Avenue.
WAPHA has ramped up its Wash
Ave Rocks event each summer
for the last few years and has even
run a WAPHA Bucks campaign to
help cross pollinate business
from one store to the next.
Washington
Avenue/Prospect
Heights Merchants
Association finds
cooperation and
collaboration pays
dividends for all
please see WAPHA, page 5
Working
together
pays off
By TIM RONALDSON
Business Trends
Kenneth Daly is lucky.
He has a product that an increasingly
large number of people want, a product that
is safer for the environment and that costs
less than the most commonly used alterna-
tive.
Kenneth Daly, as president of National
Grid New York, can help you convert to natu-
ral gas.
I think were in a unique position in that
we really want to be leaders in terms of ener-
gy and help our customers make wise energy
choices, said Daly, a 24-year National Grid
vet who is celebrating his one-year anniver-
sary as president this month. Wed like to
have a much cleaner and more sustainable
Brooklyn.
Making Brooklyn a cleaner borough
National Grid working to help more customers convert their energy to natural gas
please see NATIONAL GRID, page 4
2 BUSINESS TRENDS APRIL 2012
Advertising programs in BROOKLYN BUSINESS TRENDS are a fraction of
the cost of the alternative of direct mail campaigns. And we can give
you verified statements from the US Postal Service to prove that we
reach your market.
Each month, BROOKLYN BUSINESS TRENDS is mailed to all of the bor-
oughs business and community leaders using a mailing list that weve
developed from a number of leading Brooklyn business and community
institutions as well as top-rated list vendors. By advertising with us, you
get to communicate your message to that entire audience.
To download our current media kit, visit
www.brooklynbiztrends.com. Or call us today
to discuss your marketing and advertising needs.
Janet Warren Dugo, Publisher
janet@brooklynbiztrends.com
347-682-4867
Editor-In-Chief- Dan McDonough, Jr.
(dan@brooklynbiztrends.com)
Publisher- Janet Warren Dugo
(janet@brooklynbiztrends.com)
66 Willow Ave. | Staten Island, NY 10305
Phone 347-682-4867 | Fax 866-745-9380
www.brooklynbiztrends.com
WEVE
GOT YOUR FUTURE CUSTOMER
Fact is, weve probably got a few hundred or thousand of your future customers.
And we could be telling them all about you every month!
Why social media
is ruining your
business
By ADRIAN MILLER
I love social media and have a
solid appreciation for all of the
marvelous things that it does for
our businesses including:
n Helps us to build awareness
of our company and brand
n Creates visibility and can
generate and register attendees
for events
n Provides a (free!) tool for the
gathering of business/marketing
intelligence
n Offers access to prospects
and reconnection with dormant
accounts
And yes more.
But, can social media do it all
and by all, I mean bring in busi-
ness? Now lots of you are shaking
your heads and thinking that I
am a bit nuts for even thinking
that there are companies out
there that believe that social
media can save the day in their
acquisition of new clients. But
heres the truthI am saying this
because I hear it and see it each
and every day as I go about meet-
ing new prospects, working with
clients and speaking with busi-
ness people at networking events.
Business people are doing their
status updates, scrolling through
the news feed, engaging in con-
versations with Linkedin con-
tacts and are actually neglecting
things like picking up the phone
and calling, yes calling, prospects
and dormant accounts alike.
Rather, theyre using social media
and email (hey, its fast and con-
venient, right?) and forgetting the
personal touch points that really
do matter.
People like to buy, they dont
like to be sold and they like to buy
when they have a relationship
built on trust and respect. Social
media can help lay the foundation
but thats all.
At the end, social media is part
of an integrated marketing plan.
It doesnt stand alone, it wont
save the day and it wont close
business. Thats sales. You close
sales and, unless youre an inter-
net business with no brick and
mortar and not a human to be
seen on the org chart, then you
need to take a look at your mar-
keting and sales programs for the
remainder of 2012 and make sure
theyre positioned correctly to
bring in the business you want.
Adrian Miller is a sales training pro-
fessional. She may be reached at
(516) 767-9288 or via e-mail at
amiller@adrianmiller.com.
4 BUSINESS TRENDS APRIL 2012
Daly, a graduate of St. Francis
College who was born and raised
in the borough, assumed the role
of president last April. In this po-
sition, he looks after the interests
of the 4 million customers that
National Grid serves in the state
of New York, and works closely
with the communities they sup-
port.
Upon taking over as president,
the first step Daly took was going
on what he called a Listening
Tour, where he entrenched him-
self in the community to listen to
the needs of community groups
and his customers. The common
themes he found were that cus-
tomers wanted a reliable energy
system, were interested in pro-
moting sustainability, and needed
to know that whatever was done
to ensure those first two needs
wasnt an expensive proposition.
Were conscious of the fact
thatwere still in the midst of a
lingering recession, Daly said.
So everything we do, we try to do
it in a way that our customers can
afford.
According to Daly, the most re-
liable energy system that pro-
motes sustainability is natural
gas.
As such, National Grid is in-
vesting $2 billion over the next
five years for energy infrastruc-
ture that will allow more cus-
tomers to convert to this more re-
liable, sustainable and cheaper
source.
In the past year, weve really
made great progress, in that
were heavily investing in new in-
frastructure, Daly said. It cre-
ates a more reliable system and
also helps to clean up the environ-
ment.
Through the process, National
Grid will work with local commu-
nity organizations to make sure
its programs are aligning with
those of its constituents, Daly
said. One such initiative is The
Brooklyn Queens Interconnect
Project, connecting New York
City boroughs to Long Island and
enabling customers to convert
from oil to gas.
National Grid is also working
with the city to convert all its
large buildings that use heavy oil
to natural gas. Over the next few
years, Daly said the company will
convert close to 80 buildings in
Brooklyn alone.
Daly said National Grids main
challenge is to fund these invest-
ments without having to increase
their rates, which they are able to
do by minimizing their own inter-
nal costs.
And thanks, at least in part, to
a milder winter, National Grid is
forecasting a 20 percent reduction
in customer energy bills.
A second challenge that Na-
tional Grid faces is a good one for
the company: The demand for
natural gas is steadily increasing.
Daly said theyve seen a 50 per-
cent increase in demand over the
past year, forcing the company to
stay on top of trying to meet that
demand.
There arent too many benefits
of a recession, Daly said, but one
is that it forces people to make
smart decisions.
Daly believes that, while were
still in the fifth year of the lin-
gering challenge to the economy,
hes starting to see some positive
signs of recovery. Hes seen a 5
percent increase in new building
permits throughout the city, and
National Grids customers have
been able to pay their bills more
frequently, too up to a 98.5 per-
cent payment rate.
National Grid continues to en-
trench itself into the community
because, as Daly said, they be-
lieves its their responsibility as a
large company.
But its not all about energy.
The company has internship
and project programs and teaches
classes for young students who
they hope will one day be interest-
ed in math, science and engineer-
ing for our countrys future.
I have an obligation toen-
sure that the society of our chil-
dren is better than the society we
have today, Daly said. Our role
is to help make Brooklyn the
cleanest possible borough it can
be.
Making Brooklyn cleaner
NATIONAL GRID
Continued from page 1
Northfield
celebrates
125th
Northfield Bank is celebrating
their 125th year of operation. The
bank was founded on March 1,
1887, by a group of business own-
ers, and today the bank has 23
branch locations in Staten Island,
Central New Jersey and Brook-
lyn.
In conjunction with the an-
niversary, the bank launched a
new historical website at
www.eNorthfield.com/125, which
includes:
n Photos and articles from the
banks historical records.
n A detailed history of North-
fields past including the street
where the founders first met, the
amount of deposits collected dur-
ing a 1948 branch grand opening
ceremony, and much more.
n The community can share
stories and memories of North-
field Bank past and present.
n Logos: View the evolution of
Northfields logo over the past 125
years.
APRIL 2012 BUSINESS TRENDS 5
Ottey said the key to these pro-
grams, and WAPHAs overall suc-
cess thus far, has been the fact
that all constituents are excited to
participate. Even though there
are competing businesses in the
corridor, the owners are more
than willing to work together.
From Otteys perspective, for ex-
ample, she said she would provide
a referral to another Washington
Avenue store if her own store
doesnt have what a customer
wants.
Id love to see more boutiques
on the avenue, because competi-
tion is healthy. I dont look at it as
competition; I just see it as more
of a draw, she said. Collectively,
it just makes us all better.
Over the past year, WAPHAs
membership has grown from
around 24 to around 61, and fur-
ther growth will allow the associ-
ation to do even more. Ottey
hopes the association can expand
its marketing efforts in the near
future to bring even more visitors
to events such as its summer
street fair, which hosted 600 peo-
ple the first year and 2,000 people
last year.
In addition, she wants to ex-
plore expanding the holiday
lights program to light nearby
parks.
Plans for a street cleaning proj-
ect are already underway, and a
street greening process is next
up for discussion.
Were exploring ways that we
can sustain what were doing and
even enhance it, Ottey said. If
we can make our avenue and our
area more inviting to people, then
more people would want to come
to the avenue and support our
businesses.
WAPHA recently formed a task
force to research whether an ex-
pansion of the association would
be in their best interests. As a
merchants association, WAPHA
relies on membership dues and
whatever other money theyre
able to raise with other programs,
Ottey said. With the holiday
lights, for example, many mer-
chants donated their own money
because it was something they
wanted to see happen.
Other business corridors have
formed Business Improvement
Districts, whereby taxes levied on
merchants and property owners
help pay for improvements, pro-
grams and projects. Ottey said
WAPHA is in the exploratory
stages of whether a BID, or other
tactics utilized by other corri-
dors, would work for them, or
whether simply expanding the
footprint of their merchants asso-
ciation would be best.
The first step to this, or any ex-
pansion project, Ottey said, is to
answer the question, what is it
that we want to accomplish?
Once WAPHAs members do that,
they can create a plan that every-
one supports and, ultimately, a
corridor that everyone wants.
Its so important to me to see
this succeed, and I think a lot of
the merchants feel this way, she
said. The exciting thing is that
everyone is so enthusiastic and
willing to volunteer.
Cooperation pays off
WAPHA
Continued from page 1
in our opinion
6 BUSINESS TRENDS APRIL 2012
66 Willow Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10305
347-682-4867
JANET WARREN DUGO
Publisher
ALAN BAUER
General Manager & Editor
STEVE MILLER
Executive Vice President
ED LYNES
Vice President of Sales
TIM RONALDSON
Director of Digital Media
TOM ENGLE
Art Director
STEVE COPPOLA
Director
RICHARD GRADO
Director
ROBERT CUTRONA
Director
LAWRENCE RAMPULLA
Director
DAN McDONOUGH, JR.
Chief Executive
RUSSELL CANN
Chairman of the Board
MICHAEL LaCOUNT, Ph.D.
Vice Chairman
BARRY RUBENS
Chief Financial Officer
Business Trends is mailed each month to the
business and community leaders of
Brooklyn. If you would like to receive the
paper, but are not currently on our mailing
list, you can request to be added to the mail-
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To submit a news release, please email
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email janet@brooklynbiztrends.com.
SPEAK UP
Business Trends welcomes letters from
readers. We look for letters that are 300
words or fewer. Include your name and
phone number. We do not print anonymous
letters. Send letters to news@brooklyn-
biztrends.com, or 66 Willow Ave., Staten
Island, NY 10305. Business Trends reserves
the right to reprint your letter in any medi-
um including electronically.
New Yorks primary matters
For once, a political partys candidate isnt set by the time New Yorkers vote
I
f youre a registered Democrat or
an independent, this doesnt really
apply to you. You can just sit back,
relax and read this for some amuse-
ment.
If youre a registered Republican,
though, this month marks an historic
moment for you a month that fea-
tures, wait for it, a presidential pri-
mary vote that actually means some-
thing in the state of New York!
Thats right, by the time New York
Republican voters head to the polls on
April 24, a clear-cut winner in your
partys primary race will probably
have NOT been decided yet. We say
probably because a lot can change in
a little time in politics.
Most presidential primaries have
been well decided by the time New
Yorkers have a chance to vote. If a
clear-cut winner is determined very
early on in the process, one is usually
in place by Super Tuesday, which was
March 6 this year. But 2012 is different.
Mitt Romney looks to be the front-
runner at this point, the most likely
candidate to face off against President
Barack Obama in the General Election
in November, but hes been in this po-
sition before.
Rick Santorum and maybe even
Newt Gingrich? could pull stunners.
After all, there are still three more pri-
maries before New York votes, plus
four other states that will hold their
primary on the same date as us.
Its a rare chance that any party-af-
filiated New York voter has a say in a
presidential primary election, so if
youre a registered Republican in our
state, you should take advantage of
the opportunity you have. For once,
both of your votes in a single presiden-
tial cycle will actually matter.
in your opinion
By ROBERT CUTRONA
Two months ago I wrote a piece about
Obama and his self-serving energy policy.
Specifically, I wrote that Obama blocked
the Keystone XL pipeline that would have
transported oil from Canada to the Gulf
Coast. I wrote that this decision defied
common sense, as the pipeline would have
generated thousands of high-paying jobs
and, more importantly, would have been
the first step in reducing our dependence
on oil supplies from other countries. It was
patently obvious that Mr. Obama delayed
the pipeline to fish for environmentalists
votes come November. You know, those en-
vironmental zealots who forecast an earth-
quake whenever someone sneezes.
At the end of March, Mr. Obama made
another decision, approving federal per-
mits to construct the southern half of the
pipeline. As an aside, the southern leg of
the pipeline doesnt cross any internation-
al borders and, therefore, didnt need
Obamas approval. Further, we should ask
what half a pipeline is going to serve, but
that would be cynical and partisan. Howev-
er, I have an insatiable curiosity, so if any
of our readers know the purpose that half
a pipeline serves, please let me know. That
is, if the purpose is other than Obama
claiming that hes attempting to solve the
energy crisis by giving us half a pipeline.
A more important question is why did
Mr. Obama flip-flop on the pipeline? The
answer slipping poll numbers due to soar-
ing gasoline prices. The outrageously high
pump prices are vividly and clearly dis-
played for everyone to see and feel in their
wallets and pocketbooks. The $4.19 per gal-
lon is clear to the 99 percenters driving to
their next stop on the occupy circuit as
well as the 1 percenters filling up their
Bentleys.
The result is that, regardless of econom-
ic status, everyone is feeling the pinch, and
this translates into another failure of this
president.
A majority of Americans are growing
weary and angrier by the day over the pres-
idents inability to bring the prices back in
line. He is down in the polls; he wants a sec-
ond term, so he jumps around like a long-
tailed cat on a freeway.
If you want another four years of a
leader who flips, who flops, who takes cred-
it when there is none due, and whose every
decision is based on personal political
gain, then lets re-elect Mr. Obama in No-
vember.
Robert Cutrona, president of
Project One Services, is a director of Business
Trends
Falsehoods, flip-flops and doubletalk
IRS issues identity theft warning
By JOHN J. VENTO
The IRS has issued a warning to taxpay-
ers about a growing problem in America:
identity theft. Your tax return can reveal a
gold mine of information to thieves. Here
is what you can do about it.
This time of year especially, be on the
alert for phone calls or e-mails from sup-
posed IRS agents asking for your birth date
or other private information. The IRS does
not use such methods to gather personal
data. If an e-mail directs you to a website
that you suspect is fraudulent, forward it to
phishing@irs.gov.
Thieves do not need a lot of your person-
al data to steal; just having your social se-
curity number can be enough to file a
fraudulent tax return in your name. To
minimize the risk, dont routinely carry
your social security card with you. And if
please see IRS, page 7
APRIL 2012 BUSINESS TRENDS 7
you have your card stolen, or have
reason to believe your credit his-
tory has been affected by theft,
notify the IRS Identity Protection
Specialized Unit at 1-800-908-4490.
Another step to protect your-
self is to carefully review all cor-
respondence from the IRS. If a no-
tice reports multiple filed returns
in your name, or income from un-
familiar employers, take it to
your tax professional.
It might be an indication that
someone has used your personal
data to obtain a job or file a tax re-
turn. And remember, thieves can
create very authentic-looking tax
notices, so let a tax pro look it
over first.
Finally, make sure your com-
puter is secure. Use strong pass-
words for access to sensitive web-
sites, and protect your backup
media from theft. Make sure your
tax preparer uses safe computer
practices, too. This kind of three-
legged approach involving the
IRS, your tax professional, and
safe personal practices can help
protect you from identity theft.
John J. Vento is a certified public
accountant in private practice and
president of Comprehensive Wealth
Management, Ltd. He may be
reached at (718) 980-9000 or via
email at john@ventocpa.com.
Identity theft warning
IRS
Continued from page 6
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Northfield Bank acquires Flatbush Federal Bank
Northfield Bancorp Inc. and
Flatbush Federal Bancorp, Inc.
announced the signing of a defin-
itive merger agreement under
which Northfield Bancorp will
acquire Flatbush Federal Ban-
corp in an all stock transaction
valued at $6.50 per share of Flat-
bush common stock. The transac-
tion represents an aggregate
value to Flatbush Federals mi-
nority stockholders of approxi-
mately $8.1 million. Under the
terms of the merger agreement,
consideration for the transaction
will be comprised of shares of
Northfield Bancorps common
stock. Flatbush Federal Bancorp
stockholders will receive 0.4748
shares of Northfield Bancorp
common stock for each share of
Flatbush Federal Bancorp com-
mon stock they hold.
The merger has been approved
by each company and is expected
to close in the third quarter of
2012. Closing is subject to several
conditions, including the receipt
of regulatory approvals and the
approval of the stockholders of
Flatbush Federal Bancorp and
the members of Flatbush Federal
Bancorp, MHC.
RESUME WRITING
HELP AT BROOKLYNS
BUSINESS LIBRARY
EVERY TUESDAY
Time: 6:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m.
Location: Business Library, 280
Cadman Plaza W. at Tillary St.
For information, call 718-623-7000
BNI PROSPERITY
EVERY TUESDAY
Time: 7:00 a.m. 8:30 a.m.
Location: Floridian Diner, 2301 Flat-
bush Ave.
For information, call 718-981-8600
BNI MONEY MAKERS
EVERY WEDNESDAY
Time: 7:00 a.m. 8:30 a.m.
Location: Bridgeview Diner, 9011 3rd
Avenue
For information, call 718-981-8600
BNI BROWNSTONE
BUSINESS
CONNECTIONS
EVERY THURSDAY
Time: 7:00 a.m. 8:30 a.m.
Location: Juniors Famous Restau-
rant, 386 Flatbush Ave
For information, call 718-981-8600
SCORE BUSINESS
ASSISTANCE FOR
ENTREPRENEURS
MONDAY- FRIDAY
Time: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10
a.m. 2 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday 1
p.m. 3 p.m.
Location: Business Library, 280
Cadman Plaza W. at Tillary St.
For information, call 718-623-7000
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS
TOASTMASTERS
FIRST, THIRD THURSDAYS
Time: 7-9 p.m.
Location: Historic Plymouth Church
For information, call 718-797-2246
PROCUREMENT: READY
FOR YOUR FAIR
SHARE?
THURSDAY, APRIL 5
Location: City Tech, 300 Jay Street,
Namm Building
For information, visit:
www.conta.cc/ProcureSeries4
BAY RIDGE FESTIVAL
OF THE ARTS
MONDAY, APRIL 9
Time: 11:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. & 3:00
p.m. 8:00 p.m.
Location: Good Shepherd Lutheran
Church, 7420 4th Avenue
BROOKLYN BUSINESS
BASE BUSINESS
EXCHANGE
BREAKFAST
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11
Time: 7:45 a.m. 9:15 a.m.
Location: Downtown Brooklyn
For information, visit the Web site
www.brooklynbusinessbase.com
SCORE SEMINAR:
ESTABLISHING &
BLDG. YOUR RETAIL &
WHOLESALE BUSINESS
SATURDAY, APRIL 14
Time: 11:15 a.m. 5:00 p.m.
Location: NYPL, 188 Madison Ave.,
NYC
For information, call 212-264-4507
NYS WOMEN BAY
RIDGE CHAPTER:
ANNUAL FUNDRAISER
SATURDAY, APRIL 14
Time: 12:30 p.m. 4:30 p.m.
Location: Siricos, 8023 13th
Avenue
For information, call 718-238-3900
THE PARISH OF SAINT
ANSELM: 90TH
ANNIVERSARY DINNER
DANCE
FRIDAY, APRIL 20
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Gargiulos Restaurant,
2911 W 15th Street
For information, call 917-693-1309
BROOKLYN BUSINESS
BASE EVENING
NETWORKING EVENT
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25
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8 BUSINESS TRENDS APRIL 2012
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Email: news@brooklynbiztrends.com
Mail: Business Trends, 66 Willow Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10305
By BILL DUBOVSKY
Situation
As a consultant and lecturer, I
need to present files, documents,
spreadsheets, PowerPoint presen-
tations, videos, music or photos
on the go. Its no problem from a
laptop just connect to a projec-
tor or flat panel display, use a
function key to adjust for the ex-
ternal display and youre good to
go. From an iPhone or iPad,
maybe not so easy...
Since most content is created
on a computer, iPhone and iPad
users have the extra challenge of
getting necessary files to their
mobile devices. Since Apple mo-
bile devices dont use a USB port
or have a Finder or local
browsertype program to let
you see what is stored on your
machine, it can be frustrating to
transfer your content to these mo-
bile devices and then present
them on a projector or monitor. In
this article, Ill explore just a few
samples of the numerous apps
currently available from the
Apple App Store to enable this
process.
What is it?
Since mobile devices use apps,
not traditional programs and
data files that computer users are
familiar with, each app keeps
track of its own files on your de-
vice or in the cloud. By using a
file transfer app, you can transfer
content from your computer to
your mobile device. All of the
apps listed below will work on
iPad 2 or newer but only Image
Out, Mobile Slides and Presenta-
tion will allow you to actually
project your work from an iPhone
4 (or better) to a projector or flat
screen monitor.
How it works
Probably the simplest transfer
app is arguably FileMagnet. Once
installed on both your computer
and your iPad/iPhone, you sim-
ply open (click) on the app on
your computer, then drag the files
you want to transfer to the open
app. Next, open the FileMagnet
app on your iDevice, and the files
get automatically transferred
from your computer to the device
via WiFi. When you touch the file
in FileMagnet, it opens based
upon its purpose a video, pdf,
document, spreadsheet, Power-
point Presentation, etc. While I
use this quite a bit for presenta-
tions from my iPad, the files cant
be projected from the iPhone 4.
What you need
The appropriate app for your
mobile device and its app or
transfer program for your com-
puter. You will also need either a
iPad/iPhone to VGA adapter
cable to connect your mobile de-
vice to a video projector or moni-
tor along with a mini-audio cable
if you want to play sound, or a
iPad to HDMI adapter cable
which allows you to connect di-
rectly to a flat screen TV with
sound. Both adapters are avail-
able on-line or at an Apple store.
The free app DropBox is useful
for many of the file transfers,
while other apps use files that are
emailed to your mobile device as
an attachment or downloaded
from your mobile web browser.
How to get it
Go to the Apple App Store. Try
to get free apps first to see if you
like them. Then, if they work the
way you need them to, you can
upgrade to the pro versions for
a small fee.
What we tried?
FileMagnet, Evernote, Quickof-
fice, My Computer, WirelessDISK,
Presentation, Image Out, Mobile
Slides, FileApp Pro, Notability
and others.
Findings
Comparing them is tough. Mo-
bile Slides, Image Out and Pres-
entation were able to transfer and
project from the iPhone, but were
not easy and intuitive to learn to
use. FileMagnet (small fee)
worked on both devices for trans-
fer, but only on iPad for presenta-
tion. It does a nice job on most
files (pdf, doc, xls, audio and
video) but you need to scroll
through Powerpoint slides when
presenting. My favorite app for
presenting Microsoft Office files
on the iPad is Quickoffice Pro HD
which uses DropBox to download
the files from your computer. I
have not had much luck with
FileApp Pro thus far.
Bottom-line
I expect that more and easier to
use file transfer and presentation
apps will be available for mobile
devices every day at the Apple
App Store.
I remember when I first pre-
sented with an overhead projec-
tor, film strip projector, slide pro-
jector, and 16-mm film projector,
and later a VHS/DVD player and
TV on a large cart. Soon after,
notebook computers with USB
drives were the way to go. Now I
carry all my materials on my
iPad or iPhone. Very cool. I cant
wait to see whats next!
Bill Dubovsky - Comtel Information
Services, has a proven track record
of business success spanning over
30 years in helping hundreds of or-
ganizations improve their profitabili-
ty. He is the principal technology
specialist with Comtel Information
Services, a New York based telecom-
munications consulting firm, and an
adjunct lecturer in business at the
College of Staten Island, C.U.N.Y.
Contact him at
billdubovsky@gmail.com.
10 BUSINESS TRENDS APRIL 2012
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95l2 1hrd Avenue
rookyn, NY ll209
College of Staten Island - SBDC
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Dean Balsamini Sr., Director
718.982.2560
Presentations in your pocket
BITS & BYTES
Telecom Tech Tip of the Month
A great website for converting and downloading Youtube videos (and
web videos) is keepvid.com. You dont have to download any software
and there doesnt seem to be any catch to using it. Just cut and paste
in the URL of the video you want to download, then tell it the format
you want to save it in, and go. Within a few seconds to minutes, its on
your desktop. Give it a try!
Brooklyn Technology Triangle
City Council Speaker Christine
C. Quinn announced funding for
a study of the Brooklyn Technolo-
gy Triangle led by a coalition of
stakeholders from the Brooklyn
Navy Yard, Downtown Brooklyn
Partnership, the DUMBO Im-
provement District and private
companies located in the area.
Last year, Quinn proposed the
creation of a Brooklyn Tech Tri-
angle that would connect tech-ori-
ented academic and real estate re-
sources in Downtown Brooklyn
to the nearby tech business hubs.
The City Council will now pro-
vide $100,000 in funding for a 10-
month area-wide study that will
help the city determine how to
best adapt available commercial
space to meet the needs of tech
start-ups, develop a strategy to at-
tract new companies, and provide
the MTA and other transporta-
tion providers with the informa-
tion required to improve trans-
portation within and among the
three burgeoning neighborhoods.
By BILLY SPARKLE
They say a picture is worth a
thousand words.
I submit to you that a word is
worth a thousand pictures
If I were speaking to a group of
people and I uttered the word
boat, each person in the room
would have an image pop into
their mind of a boat. And if there
were a thousand people in that
room and I asked them to each
write a description of the boat
that just popped into their mind,
we would end up with a thousand
different descriptions of a thou-
sand different boats.
One word a thousand pic-
tures.
Why is this relevant?
For many of us, achieving our
goals especially in business re-
quires that we communicate ef-
fectively with other people. And a
key to creating effective commu-
nication is being able to recognize
where ineffective communication
is showing up just like the key to
creating clean windows is being
able to recognize where the win-
dows arent already clean.
Ill use a recent example to
demonstrate this point. I was re-
cently with a client who is new to
the commercial real estate indus-
try. I asked him about getting one
of his clients to sign an exclusive
and he responded with hesitancy.
I inquired about that at which
point he said, Well I dont want
to pressure her. Now notice, I
never asked him to pressure her.
I simply asked about having his
client sign an exclusive. Yet, when
I said the word exclusive, the
image that popped into my
clients mind was pressure.
One word does not create one
picture.
Depending on who is listening
to that one word and what their
already-existing meaning (or un-
derstanding, definition, etc.) of
that one word might be, there is a
wide range of possible images
that could be popping into their
mind as we are speaking our
words to them.
It is worth keeping this in mind
when communicating with em-
ployees, clients and prospects.
Regardless of how clearly we may
be speaking, the words we say are
not necessarily the words they
hear.
So how do we discover what
they actually heard? By taking
advantage of what one of my
mentors taught me: The meaning
shows up in the response I get. In
other words, I can tell based on
the response a person gives me
what they actually heard me say
(even if I didnt actually say it).
Too often, we fall into the trap
of not understanding another
persons response to something
we said and we end up in an inef-
fective dialogue. This teaches us
to put aside what we just said and
*listen* to the response we get to
then determine what exactly the
other person heard us say. Then,
we can use our communication to
create bridges of understanding
rather than using the rest of the
dialogue to build walls of separa-
tion.
Naturally this is a skill and,
like all skills, it can be developed
with practice, patience and perse-
verance. Heres a simple exercise
to help you practice After mak-
ing a statement to another per-
son, pause and say to them, Id
like to find out what you just
heard me say to you. Or, So that
Im clear, can you please repeat
what it is you just heard me say?
These are brilliantly effective
techniques to discover the pic-
tures that popped into the other
persons mind as they were listen-
ing to your words. Remember:
one word a thousand pictures.
And dont allow them to simply
respond with, I heard you. Get
them to actually say out loud
what they heard you say. By en-
gaging in this practice, you will
become increasingly skilled at
hearing what others are hearing
you say even if you didnt say it.
And as you become more clear on
what others are hearing, youll
experience yourself becoming
much more effective as a commu-
nicator. And given the goals
youve already set for yourself, I
believe you can imagine how
valuable this new skill will be.
Coach Billy works with highly com-
mitted men & women to produce un-
precedented results in their busi-
nesses and their lives. Learn more at
www.billysparkle.com or contact
Billy directly via e-mail at
billy@billysparkle.com.
APRIL 2012 BUSINESS TRENDS 11
A thousand pictures
COACHS CORNER
TWC Research Program
Time Warner Cable announced
that it has begun the third year of
its innovative program The
TWC Research Program on Digi-
tal Communications to award
stipends designed to foster re-
search dedicated to increasing
understanding of the benefits
and challenges facing the future
of digital technologies in the
home, office, classroom and com-
munity. Researchers affiliated
with universities and not-for-prof-
its are eligible to apply for the
stipends.
Interested applicants can find
more information and the specif-
ic research topics at www.twcre-
searchprogram.com. Applicants
are asked to write a three-page
summary outlining their ap-
proach to one of the topics and to
submit a brief resume for each
author. Multidisciplinary teams
are encouraged, to provide the
broadest possible insights. The
next deadline for submission of
applications is Nov. 1.
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