Technology and the Breakdown in Human Interaction—Take II

By Julie Tangen
Technology brings us together in so many ways, but from a social standpoint, what are the repercussions of its advances? Do gadgets, like iPhones, shut out the world around us and are we on the verge of a breakdown in human interaction? I posed this in a blog a few years back.

Since then I’ve come to realize how powerful technology can be for deepening relationships. Thanks to my iPhone I can watch my little nephew take his first steps via video chat. I can check in with family members more frequently via text. I’m able to respond to client and editor requests quickly, no matter where I am. My iPhone has also helped to expand my business and social network. For instance when I meet someone out and about I can immediately connect through Facebook or LinkedIn and start developing a friendship with that person, where as five or ten years ago their business card might have been filed away in my rolodex with other interesting people I’ve met along the way.

I’m typing this while waiting for my latte, by the way. Am I missing an opportunity to chat with the person in line next to me because I’m so focused on my iPhone? Maybe. But I’ve been able to create more meaningful friendships with the people who make my coffee because we’re now connected through Facebook.

Do you find that your iPhone/iPad/gadget opens you up to new people and experiences?

RSA 2011

By Kristina Molfino
If the expo floor of this year’s annual RSA Conference in San Francisco is any indication of the state of our economy, I would say we are headed up! Hundreds of vendors were out in full force this week at the Moscone Center, showcasing their latest and greatest security technology. The fresh, electric, excitement that had been lacking the past few years is back. Huge exhibits, signs, lighting, sumo wrestlers, SWAG…they were all back.

I met some new people and saw some familiar faces, but overall, walking the expo hall was refreshing. The cherry trees aren’t the only thing blooming in the city – IT security is alive!

Can there be an Apple without Steve?

By Cathy Wright
The recent story of Apple CEO Steve Jobs taking medical leave was big news. Some media outlets (and the stock market) seem to think Apple is doomed without him. I don't agree. Not to diminish Mr. Jobs amazing contributions to the resurrection of Apple, but it's a huge company now thanks to him. I find it hard to believe its entire future still rests on the vision of a single person.

And let's be honest here, Mr. Jobs has been dealing with his unfortunate health issues for some time. I very much doubt he's been putting in 12 hour days working with the product development team this past year. And yet Apple has been rolling along very nicely indeed, which I guess says something about the caliber of people he has hired beneath him.

Disney made it without Walt, and I predict Apple will make it even if Mr. Jobs is forced to step down. Come to think of it, I believe Steve owns a big hunk of Disney also. I'm certain he'd give it all up in exchange for being healthy again. I wish him a speedy and total recovery.

Forecast Remains Cloudy

By Kelly Indrieri
The forecast calls for continued clouds in 2011 and the attendees at this week’s Dreamforce conference could not be happier. After eight years putting on this conference, Salesforce saw its biggest crowd yet with over 30,000 people participating at the cloud computing event of the year.

Two Kulesa Faul clients, Jitterbit and Model Metrics, participated in the show and saw amazing success with news that included the first cloud computing Groupon offer from Model Metrics and Jitterbit showcasing CloudReplicate, which gives Salesforce customers the ability to access their data in a relational database of choice on Amazon EC2.

While the day saw amazing news across the show floor, the nights were reserved for Stevie Wonder, parties, a cloud crawl and Bill Clinton! It’s truly the premier conference in the enterprise IT world with a mix of innovation and fun without the software, of course.

A Toast to Success

By Robin Bulanti
Now’s the time of year we pause to give thanks. Sandwiched between the Thanksgiving holiday and Dreamforce, we’ll squeeze in our annual holiday party this week, when we get together to celebrate success and show some serious love to our clients, colleagues, and partners.

This was another evolutionary year for Kulesa Faul—we branched into new areas like greentech with People Power and expanded our cloud practice introducing new clients Model Metrics and Host Analytics. We also saw exciting developments across our enterprise portfolio with the “return” of ALM innovator Serena Software, a bright spot for MySQL customers with the public launch of SkySQL and the acquisition of one of our favorite hot companies: KACE is now officially Dell KACE.

We owe a great deal of our success to our team and foundation of core values, so it was especially fun to be named one of PR Source Code’s top five tech communicators in the small agency category this year, the result of an independent vote by more than 800 journalists and bloggers. As an agency, we aren’t one to chase our own awards, so this came as a lovely little surprise and testament to the work we do every day. The honor follows another for my colleague Tami Casey, who was named a PR Source Code top tech PR pro in another independent vote of journalists .

Our clients also had some notable wins including Model Metrics recently named Chicago Tribune’s top small company to work for, Inc. 5000 top private company and CRN 2010 fast growth company, CloudShare and Host Analytics named to the AlwaysOn OnDemand 100 and Host Analytics winning a Ventana Research Leadership Award.

We’re looking forward to seeing many of our friends this week to celebrate these and other successes…Here’s to many more!

App to the Future

By Dave Struzzi
Apple’s recent “Back to the Mac” event got a lot of Mac fans excited. The big hardware news from that event, of course, was the introduction of the next generation of the MacBook Air, their ultraportable and futuristically thin notebook. Lost in the shuffle of Apple’s hardware and operating system upgrades, however, was a smaller news item that I believe can drastically change the landscape of the Mac vs. PC wars: the introduction of a new App Store for Macs.

Similar to how the App store caters to iPhone and iPads, Apple plans to give software developers a portal for distributing their apps directly to consumers with MacBooks and other Apple products. The goal is likely to recapture the excitement and runaway success of the original App Store; one that gave iPhone users access to hundreds of thousands of programs, games, and tools, at a minimal price.

Adding this capability to MacBooks is a major milestone because the sheer number of available software compatible for Apple computers has historically paled in comparison to its PC counterpart. One stroll through the software section of your local Best Buy can attest to that, with aisles filled with PC software versus the shelves filled with Mac software.

The App Store for Macs is a smart move on Apple’s part to bolster its software lineup, especially considering that all the software in that portal will get the Apple “stamp of approval” to be there. Its biggest hurdle, however, will be ensuring that all developers get a fair chance to appear in the store, even if their software competes with Apple’s own offerings.

Giving Back to Our Alma Mater

By Danielle Salvato and Ana Embry
At Kulesa Faul we see the value in following through with ideas and passions that our company and employees believe in, such as traveling to Costa Rica for a week to help others less fortunate, or donating our time to advise students on their potential. It’s a privilege to say that Kulesa Faul strongly believes in giving back in different ways.

The two of us have a great amount of respect for our alma mater, Chico State. We believe strongly in giving back to the program that helped get us where we are today. This past Friday, we went to visit and speak to the Chico State Department of Journalism. Within the department is a well-driven PR program that leads Tehama Group Communications, a student-run PR agency. Twenty years ago, TGC opened its doors at Chico State. Since then, it has brought together more than 400 students to serve nearly 100 local, regional, national and nonprofit clients. We are just two of the 400 students.

For TGC’s 20th Anniversary, the department had two full days filled with alumni speaking panels and individual insight on various topics. We led speaking sessions on job-hunting for college seniors—more specifically, how to find a job in a tough economy and interviewing do’s and don’ts.

We are honored to do something that gives back to the college that gave us so much and appreciate that Kulesa Faul supports us in this endeavor.