Thanksgiving: A personal reflection

Where do I start? I have so many thoughts, opinions and feelings. Sometimes I don’t know how to truly express myself. This Blog is part work and part personal, so I am guarded at times. But, today, I am not going to guard my personal written monologue.

I am very sad about what took place in Mumbai yesterday. The attacks on Mumbai represent so much more than the day, weeks, and months of pain inflicted on India – the world.
Why can’t people live in peace and in harmony? I know that since the beginning of time there has been war, anger, territorial strikes, and religious differences. But we are supposed to be more evolved today - aren’t we? Aren’t we supposed to be emotionally evolved?

Between the recent economic meltdown, the “war on terror,” bombings across the world – haven’t we seen enough.

Today is Thanksgiving. I am having family and friends for a feast at my home. When times are tough and the world is up for grabs – we have just a few things. And these things are not possessions. These things that people or at least I personally care about are friends and family. I love my family and I only wish warm, kind, caring thoughts to them. But, beyond my family, I also wish warm, loving, caring thoughts for people around this world.

People are losing jobs, people are losing homes and people are losing their lives in all this war and anger. My heart goes out to everyone today. Good, bad, evil – everybody is getting a warm thought from me. It all starts with one person. One act of kindness. One act of positive gesture.
I have never been officially “religious” probably because I grew up with a lot of religious people around me when I was younger. And, those religious people were mean sometimes – much of the time. The judgment passed on others was like acid. I literally thought – wow – that is a religious person – or in my home town, that is a Christian.

I consider myself spiritual. I believe in a higher power. I don’t care if you are Catholic, Jewish, Hindu or Born Again. All I care about is the following: are you a good human being, do you treat people with respect, are you kind? These are critical questions. And, as this blog is part personal and part business – I think about this stuff in business all the time. Life is too short to work with people that you don’t want to work with. My mom (also one of my best friends) says to me all the time, “Kathleen, if you die tomorrow, is that the decision you want? Is that how you want to live your life?” When I approach life, work, love, I always think, “Kathleen, is this going to make you happy? Are you doing something good? Are these good people?”

I am very proud of my network. I love my friends. I love my family. And, I fortunately, love what I do for a living. And, I like all my colleagues, clients, professional friends. I wish all of you a warm Thanksgiving. And, I hope all of you put out positive, warm, caring, kind energy to the world – not just today, but every day.

Kathleen Shanahan

Mumbai: Our Deepest Condolences

Our Condolences Go Out to the people of Mumbai.

The last few months have been difficult domestically. Today, we witness hardships abroad and we empathize with the families and loved ones of Mumbai as well as the business and vacation travelers.

Here in Silicon Valley we have very close ties to the people of India. Many of our friends and colleagues are from India, specifically from Mumbai. One of my dearest friends, Kunjali Shah, and her mother Mrs. Palavi Shah were in India the past few weeks. Fortunately, Kunjali left her family on Monday and her mother was on a flight back to the US today.

I am personally very sad to see this kind of hurt throughout the world. From 9/11 to bombings in the UK to now Mumbai, we continue to see a world in pain. We at BOCA Communications are very sorry for the tragedy today and our hearts go out to the people impacted by this unfortunate event.

Devicescape: Financial Times - A Success Story

For years I've been working with Devicescape. I am very proud of the company. It has remained so focused on its business strategy and driving results.

The company recently had a successful 3.0 launch. Since its launch of the Easy Wi-Fi product, it remained focused on driving deals (HTC, RIM, Intel) and delivering cool technology (its Easy Wi-Fi is one of the most popular wi-fi downloads at the iPhone App Store).

I am very proud of the company and its management team.

Today, we got a nice write-up in the FT. The reporter totally "got it." The first thing that came out of his mouth was the importance about the mix between Wi-Fi and 3G. These are not competing technologies - they are supportive of each other. Additionally, In-Stat came out with a report a few months ago about the biggest Wi-Fi trend (the blend between Wi-Fi and 3G). And, of course, the Smartphone is driving this trend.

Devicescape started to beat this drum years ago and it is like companies are finally getting it. And, I personally appreciate when a reporter understands the value too.



http://blogs.ft.com/techblog/2008/11/devicescapes-easier-wi-fi-aids-carriers/ Devicescape’s easier wi-fi aids operatorsNovember 18, 2008by Chris Nuttall Wi-fi can be a hard thing to figure out for a user on-the-go - all those networks, signal strengths, passwords and WEP encryption keys. While popularising wi-fi with its Centrino chipsets for laptops, Intel did a pretty poor job with the software, in my opinion, making it impossible for me to log on to some networks from my corporate notebook. So I’m glad they’ve now handed the job to someone else, in the shape of Devicescape, a Silicon Valley company backed by VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, among others. Its software is now used in most Intel-based laptops, as well as a host of other devices. For example, I downloaded its popular Easy Wi-Fi application for the iPod touch and entered my login details for AT&T Wi-fi. Now, when I go into a Starbucks coffee store, I just press a button on the app screen to instantly connect. Before, I had to fire up the Safari browser and re-enter all my details on the AT&T website to get online. David Fraser, Devicescape’s chief executive, tells me it should be even easier than that. As more smartphones, such as the iPhone, incorporate wi-fi chips, manufacturers are embedding Devicescape’s software to switch seamlessly between 3G and wi-fi, without the user noticing. “We’ve moved from text messaging to watching YouTube videos on the phone and this explosion of data traffic can cause problems for carriers,” he says. By shifting users onto wi-fi, where available, operators can ease any congestion. Devicescape’s technology is used in Blackberry, Motorola, Nokia and Palm smartphones. As more categories of devices include wi-fi, the company sees its market expanding - it is in the new Nintendo DS handheld console and sees opportunities in personal navigation devices and digital cameras. The company maintains a database of thousands of networks, enabling easy connections to hotspots, municipal wi-fi and services such as Meraki and Fon. The San Bruno start-up, employing 30 people, was known as Instant 802, before Mr Fraser joined four years ago and rebranded the company. It is now at cash flow break-even and is hiring staff, at a time when everyone else in the Valley seems to be cutting back.

Heads Down: So I took some time off

Ok - I was slammed in October. I had client launches, media relations, new business and etc. I just didn't have the time to devote to a blog.

Therefore, I must commend the bloggers out there that can do it. Between work, regular email, Twitter, blogging and etc...I just don't know how people find the time.

What can I say, clients first - then blogging. But, I am going to try to get back in the game.

I am about to head to a tech meet-up. Very excited. Maybe I will blog about it. Maybe I won't - we will see.

Intent To Blog - To Be or Not To Be

I always have the intent to blog. I think about all the different topics - but then I just get busy with work. Yes, work...

I feel like I still need to comment on my trip to NYC. I will create another blog entry for that - but overall, a success.

Social Ad Summit - Observations

I am most likely going to have a few posts today...I am at the Social Ad Summit today and I am going to provide some kudos the event organizer. The room is packed, a lot of market experts and companies leveraging social networking platforms such as MTV, Chase, Ford and etc. I hate it when I go to a conference and I am being "pitched" product the entire time. I want to learn about applications, services and actual implementations. I am getting that information from this conference...

The key concepts that are coming across so far are...

What is the end goal and how does a company chart a course to get to that goal?

How does one remain focused on the brand? How is my social networking strategy supporting my brand?

What kind of money are big companies spending on social networking / sites? On that note, MTV is spending about $500,000 advertising dollars on new media / social networking sites. Am I crazy to think that is actually kind of low? A company like MTV has so much money….I feel like the ad dollar would be more.

There is also a lot of talk about the move from click through rate to engagement/results. How does one engage with their audience – what is the company trying to drive from the engagement?

As I continue to listen to the panels – I will provide updates…

Social Ad Summit - NYC - Advertising and Social Networking

I arrived today from San Francisco into New York City. I am here to attend the Social Ad Summit. Why? While I don't have a lot of clients specifically in the "social networking" arena - PR has changed tremendously and social networking is here - here to stay. Therefore, I see it as my job to remain on top of the trends, learn more about the trend and hear from industry experts.

While I am excited about the conference - I am going to admit it - I am disappointed with the fact that I proposed a CEO as a speaker, but she wasn't accepted. The shame is - she would have been perfect. And, yes, I am going to bring out the woman card...I know that gender shouldn't matter, but as a woman who owns and runs her own company in the center of the technology heartland - San Francisco/Silicon Valley - I would like to see more female representation. Yes, women do speak on a lot of panels, but after reviewing the speaker list - out of almost 30 speakers - only two are woman. So, I proposed a CEO that runs a internet "how to" site that is all about social networking and 100 percent based on an ad model - but she wasn't accepted...oh well. I am sure all the other folks will be equally amazing.

I look forward to the conference...