Slydial, a free phone service I found extremely interesting (I blogged about it when it was released) recently coded a significant upgrade to their product. What I’m impressed about is their ability to get it right based on user feedback. More first-time users will be attracted to utilize the service. When it first launched, it was so close, but still fell short as being a service people would actually use on a continual basis.

I’ve decided to divide this blog post into two parts:

PART #1:
VHS RE-WIND, for those of you who don’t know what Slydial is… it’s a simple phone service that essentially connects you directly to someone’s mobile voicemail (vs. it actually ringing to voicemail). Personally, I’ve tried out the service a handful of times. Here’s what I’ve used it for so far:

• Called my mom while I was at work to tell her my plans for my trip (my mom tends to bring up subjects that usually just plain weird to talk about in front of listening co-workers)

• Called a friend back to tell her my plans for the night (Her name is Lindsay. And she’s notorious for keeping my on the phone AT LEAST 20 minutes or more. I’ve NEVER had a brief conversation with her).

• Phoned a business client during the day (I had a great work flow going that I didn’t want to interrupt and I wanted to ask a complex question that I couldn’t do over email).

That being said — my only “beef” with the service? You have to type in the phone number you wish to Slydial. Everyone knows with the advent of cellphones NO ONE remembers phone numbers anymore. Heck, I can’t even tell you what my own parent’s phone numbers are.

Today, they released an App for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile (iPhone App pending approval) that allows you to use the service using your Contacts list. WA-LA. Simple right? Nice! The ease-of-use has increased 200%. No writing the phone number down then having to call the service.

PART #2:
Even if you don’t ever use Slydial, this product enhancement “case study” brought to mind a larger more in-depth principle regarding the Internet. The web is a “living, breathing entity.” As news happens, it’s updated. As photos are taken, it’s updated. It’s real-time. It’s happening now. This is why it holds such great utilitarian value to all of us.

For a business it should represent who you are RIGHT NOW, not 6 months ago. As things change, as you get feedback, as you conduct mini/complex surveying — your website should be constantly changing to improve based on WHAT WORKS and WHAT DOESN’T. Furthermore, it should also be changing with your business. If information changes or new things are affecting your business, consider making sure it’s up-to-date on your website.

I refer to this concept and way of thinking as “perpetual beta“. It’s the mindset that your website (no matter if it’s business or personal) should be constantly under review to ensure it’s updated and the best it can be. GONE are the days when people had the age old easy excuse, “well it’s printed all over our marketing material — so I can’t change it”(cause likely you had 5,000 prints of it).

In the case of Slydial, they had a great product idea that was good. But it’s execution wasn’t great. So they tweaked it. Fixed it. Extended it’s value by creating an App.

We’re all already familiar with the king of the perpetual beta — Google. All of their products are constantly being updated and perfected. Here’s some quick examples of what I mean in regards to adopting this mindset:

• Change that main navigation button name because no one understands what it means and what information is in that section. Try something else.

• Add that latest Project you’ve worked on to the Portfolio section of your website. Make sure a date is on it to illustrate how frequent you’re updating your website, it’ll boost your credibility.

• Update the words and vernacular, because that’s not what your employees refer to it when working with clients.

There are two easy takeaways from just this one simple product software enhancement:

1.) Slydial improved for the better — and it will possibly exponentially improve their adoption of the product. You should check it out if you think it might be useful to you.

2.) Consider adopt the mindset of the “perpetual beta” when it’s appropriate. What’s out of date for you? What should be changed? Now go update it! Try it out, experiment, see what works and what doesn’t. Carry the mindset that when things changed, take action quick, the touch point people use as the sole mechanism for information/research (the Internet) should be updated right away.
–

Today I was out and about photowalking on my vaca in Florida (visiting my mom). Check out all of them on my Flickr account. Here’s my favorite ones from the set of photos I took today:

I’m down in freezing sunny Florida right now visiting my mom — we’ve been shuffling around town having fun and I couldn’t help but LOL when I came across this t-shirt:

“OMG it’s a t-shirt!”

It’s amazing to think that someone anyone has the power to create, publish and distribute all through a free medium — the Internet. Furthermore, this example proves you have the ability to affect mainstream culture with JUST the Internet, so much so that you can create product offerings around them! The OMG SHOES video has over 21 MILLION views to date. Insane.

If you want see what this silly viral video craze is/was all about — here’s the original YouTube video:

Tonight I had a chance to watch truly an amazing day in history.  This election was easily the most significant in my lifetime.  This is the sort of thing “I’ll tell my kids about”. While I won’t bore you with the details about my personal view points and convictions RE: politics — I will reiterate something I mentioned on Twitter this week.

“Anyone who has an informed opinion RE: politics, that’s what counts. Just having a choice is what’s makes this country great.”

I went to a watch party downtown with some friends after work (I can walk to P&L now, it’s great!), while I was there I took some photos.  Check them all out on my flickr account.

I’d like to shake the speech writers hand who wrote the final sentence of his speech:

“I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voice, I need your help, and I’ll be your president, too.”

Powerful stuff. Those words hit me like a ton of bricks.

This past weekend I attended HillOween, a local homegrown benefit here in Kansas City. I tell everyone that this is truly one of the two parties in KC you CAN’T miss. It benefits the Lee Ann Infant Development Center. I video blogged about it last year.

Check out the costume I wore this year… Insepctor Gadget! The entire thing is pieced together. I actually had a fun adventure at the hardware store trying to figure out how to make the “helicopter” hat (it’s just, PVC pipe, wood and electric tape). My date was Penny — you know Inspector Gadget’s niece?

I snapped some photos of my friends before we went to HillOween — check out this one of my roommate Adam. I thought the black and white effect, Adam’s cold facial expression and composition in this photo make gives it really eerie overall feeling.

Everyone is growing up! My good friend from college, Jeremy, got married this Saturday. I not only attending the wedding, but DJ’d the reception. As I mentioned on Twitter; I find it really gratifying to be a part of what is considered to most - the happiest day of their life. When a friend trusts me to DJ their wedding, I view it as a huge compliment — and I’m always glad to help.

While at the wedding, I took photos with my Canon 40D. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m still learning a lot about my camera — but these were my favorites that I snapped (you can see more on my flickr account):

I wanted to share one of my favorite photos I while at the Standard Style benefit. As you may know, I recently purchased a Canon 40D and I am still learning and experimenting (takes a lot of patience and practice!). While other pictures of the event turned out well, this was by far my favorite. I just caught this in a split second — thought it was a cool perspective and composition.

This past weekend I went to Lawrence, Kansas to attend the first football game of the season for my alma matter, the University of Kansas. I’ve been getting TONS of email from college buddies counting down the days till the first game.  After our win last year at the Orange Bowl — Jayhawk fans have been anxious to see how good our team is this year!

When we were driving in the car to the game, I was discussing how there are three undeniable adrenaline pumping moments of excitement everyone experiences when attending a Kansas football game.

1.)  There’s a feeling of excitement which forces you to smile when you pull into the town of Lawrence. The glimpse of the historic landmarks and buildings bring a sense of “home” and “comfort” of a place that holds some of the dearest memories from years past. It’s enough to make you wiggle in your car seat anxious to walk around the city. It’s also not uncommon to immediately roll your windows down to “soak it all in” and enjoy it.

2.)  The second greatest adrenaline pumping moment begins after you’ve parked and begin your journey of walking to “the hill”.  Upon walking into the tailgating areas and crowds of people around the stadium, you’re hit with a combination of emotions that is made up of both pride and pure excitement. This is something easily seen in the faces of all the students, fans, alumni — not to mention the abundance of glorious paraphernalia endorsing “KU” and “Rock Chalk Jayhawk”!

3.)  Finally, the last great moment is when you walk in to Memorial Stadium and you see the inside of the stadium.  While KU is not traditionally viewed as a football school, our stadium is gorgeous!  Looking around at the “sea of blue” in the stands is one great feeling!

When I was at the game, I snapped some photos (below) and video blogged some footage (below). I wish I had taken more — but frankly I was having too much fun!

Check out these pics I snapped this weekend of my sister’s new puppy — his name is “Charlie” and he’s a cockapoo. He’s chill, loyal and quiet. A great addition to the family.

I took this photo when I recently was in New York City. This is right off of Times Square on 47th Street and Broadway. I upped the contrast, decreased the brightness and chopped in the color. Anndd waaaa-laaaa! I think it’s pretty cool…

**UPDATE** I received a Twitter reply today regarding this photo… someone actually wants a poster print of this!?! And here I was just having fun with photoshop…