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10 Things I Miss About South Carolina

Kyle James — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:12:00 GMT

This past weekend I took a wonderful trip back to South Carolina for some R&R. I’m also about to be a first time uncle as my younger brother is about to have his first child. I thought it was scary enough when my younger brother got married before me, but now he’s about to have a kid. I remember back when I used to drive him to school every day or even further back when we used to play Contra in the yard squirting evil alien bushes with our water guns!

Man I’m OLD!

So while I was home I started tweeting “Things I miss about South Carolina.” This list built to ten things so just in case you missed out, here was my list.

The warm weather, even the humidity.
How cheap everything is, especially food and clothes (yes, I went clothes shopping).
The sweat tea! You don’t know real sweet tea unless you KNOW!
Riding around in a truck… heck I never ride around in cars anymore… so if I do then do it BIGGER!
Listening to country music radio. Yes, that’s right we still listen to the radio and not satellite.
Family… what else is there to say…
Going out to lunch after church on Sundays.
Having the time to watch multiple Braves games in a weekend, them being on TV, and them winning!
Drivers letting each other over and NO HONKING. Instead, waving to each other, even strangers.
It’s always just a flight away.

Also, if you are interested I took some pictures at my brother and sister-in-law's baby shower.

Wildside: 80’s Hair Metal Brought Back to Life

Kyle James — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:08:00 GMT

Last weekend one of my coworkers at HubSpot’s band was playing out in Waltham. What a great opportunity to support a coworker and listen to some live music! To top it off they are an 80’s hair metal cover band! That’s right lots of AC/DC, GNR, Bon Jovi and the rest of the great tunes of that decade. So if you are in need of a Boston area 80’s rock cover band you should definitely check out Wildside!

Don’t believe me check out these short videos I took of the action.

The Wildside of Boston

Some GNR Love

Now is the Future: Streaming Online Video

Kyle James — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:34:00 GMT

A while back I wrote about the differences between living in the country and the city. I think it’s time to start expanding on some of those changes living in the city represents. The first change is the availability of FiOS high speed internet.

My apartment is wired with the ability to use FiOS internet, which means lightning quick 20Mbps. Needless to say it is much faster than anything I’ve had before! With this extreme speed there are a lot of things I can do with my internet connection. For example, I have the ability to watch high quality streaming video. Hulu, MLB.TV, ESPN360 and YouTube have all been great to watch through the internet connection, but the most enjoyable by far has been Netflix!

Netflix has multiple subscriptions but their basic package is right at $9/month. With this you can have one movie checked out at a time, AND you can stream as many movies through their online servers as you would like. So basically for $9/month you can watch all the movies you want from Netflix streaming collection of 10,000+ movies and television shows, as well as having new releases shipped to you one at a time. How can you beat that!? Of course the catch is you need a high speed internet and you have to watch the movies on your computer. Wait a minute. Maybe you don’t…

The Xbox 360 with Xbox Live is another one of those exciting entertainment toys. Besides all the great games, they also have a Netflix add-on for Xbox Live. So this means that all those great streaming movies from Netflix can be watched through the Xbox on my plasma TV! Netflix even has some movies and shows that stream in HD. Double win!

With Netflix through the Xbox 360 and being able to stream the rest of streaming online video through a laptop to the television adapter, who needs cable or satellite? Ok, so six months after moving to Boston I did finally give in to cable, but it wasn’t by choice.

Save the money...buy a high speed internet connection and watch streaming online video. You will thank me in the long run because THIS IS THE FUTURE.

Video: The Cheeseball vs @MyDawgSkip

Kyle James — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:39:00 GMT

I don't really know how to explain this so just watch the video.

Skip is such a beggar for human food. The first few cheeseballs that we gave him he ate right up. Since then he has created what can only be described as a ritual that he performs with these little balls of intense cheesey puffiness.

Two Tweetups in One Weekend: eduTweetup & HubSpotTV1Year

Kyle James — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:27:00 GMT

So this weekend I attended two tweetups. For those of you who don't know what a tweetup is, it's an event organized partially through twitter where you have the chance to physically meet individuals that you have connected and built virtual relationships with. Granted, it sounds sounds the same as a get together or meetup, but for some reason it is fun to say "tweetup." Here's the wikipedia definition of a tweetup.

For the first tweetup, we celebrated the one year anniversary of HubSpot TV. That's right, it means that they have filmed 52 episodes and continue to produce them weekly. In the short attention span of the web, this is a major accomplishment I've even had the pleasure of filling in as co-host of a couple of episodes.

Since I always end up being the photographer for HubSpot events this one was no different.

I guess having the biggest camera puts me on the spot to be the photographer?

The following day, some of my great friends came to town for our second eduTweetup, including fellow .eduGuru writers Karlyn & Rachel. Before heading out to Harvard Square for some fun and hanging out with a bunch of Higher Ed peeps, we enjoyed a Duck Tour around Boston. Here are some pictures and a video of riding a duck boat into the Charles River. Notice the one picture of Captain Jason.

Needless to say after a day of adventure and touring the city, me and my lazy self didn't even take the camera to document the evening. Actually it was probably a good thing because apparently their are some pictures out there floating around of me dancing... always a scary thing.

Weekend in Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard

Kyle James — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:22:00 GMT

Saturday August 1st, Heather and I left the apartment early in the morning to head to South Station, hop on a bus, and head down to Cape Cod for a weekend with our friends, Bonnie and Dave. As a side note, Au Bon Pain's Smoked Salmon and Wasabi on Onion Dill Bagel is an AMAZING breakfast sandwich.

Anyway, so when you no longer have a car, traveling outside of Boston becomes a little bit of an adventure. The bus ride was mostly uneventful besides the traffic, but when we arrived Bonnie and Dave were ready to take us on a ferry ride to Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard. It was a perfect day so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Martha's Vineyard reminded me a lot of Hilton Head, SC. I guess the only difference is they get a lot more snow in the winter.

Week in Chicago for eduWEB 2009

Kyle James — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:11:00 GMT

Last week I was in Chicago for the eduWEB conference. It was an awesome conference. Not only did my presentation on SEO for Higher Education go extremely well and get fantastic feedback, but .eduGuru WON the eduStyle People's Choice award for Best Higher Education Blog. Of course all that aside it was just a fantastic chance to hang out with all the wonderful people in Higher Education Web that I just haven't had the time to since taking my new job.

I'm won't get into everything about the conference in this post, but I do want to share some of my pictures exploring Chicago. One of my favorite times during the trip was while hanging out with my buddy tsand on Wednesday when we went out to meet the PlaidNation crew. What an interesting way to take a vacation while also building brand awareness and documenting the whole adventure! So I'll shut up now and share some pictures.

Navy Pier

Around Chicago with tsand

Fenway Park Pictures: Braves In Boston

Kyle James — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:19:00 GMT

A little trivia for you. Did you know that the Atlanta Braves not only were originally from Boston, but they were originally called the Boston Red Stockings and are one of the two remaining original National League Teams, the other team being the Chicago Cubs. The original Boston Red Stockings team and its successors can lay claim to being the oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. It was in 1907 when the now known Braves gave up the name "Red Stockings," which was then quickly picked up by the American League Boston Red Sox. So take that Red Sox fans and your tradition!

This game happened to be current Atlanta Braves pitcher Derek Lowe's first return to Fenway Park since leading the Red Sox to a World Series title back in 2004, the teams first title in 86 years. Unfortunately the game didn't come out the best for the Braves. Josh Beckett threw a complete game shutout ending in a 3-0 victory for the Sox.

So anyway...fun time at the park and here are some pictures.

Rollercoaster Review and Marketing Lessons: Six Flags New England

Kyle James — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:54:00 GMT

Last Saturday Heather, Ben, Dan, Krystal and I went to Six Flags New England for the day. So Six Flags New England is probably three quarters across the state from Boston. It only took about an hour and a half to get to Springfield, MA where Six Flags is located with just a straight shot along the Mass Pike.

We made it a goal to ride every rollercoaster because after all, that is the whole point of going to an amusement park right... the rollercoasters!? So here is my review of the rides. First of all it probably needs to be stated that I am extremely critical of my rides.

Rollercoasters

Batman - The Dark Knight: This ride allows you to sit in open facing chairs, and we had the pleasure of riding on the front row. Definitely enjoyed this coaster a lot, and I would recommend anyone that rides it to definitely get on the front row. 7/10

Bizarro (Formerly Superman: Ride of Steel): So in a common practice among amusement park rides the famous Superman coaster was rebranded during the offseason to be called the Bizarro who happens to be a Superman arch-villain. This rollercoaster is the crown jewel of the park and is simply the largest, fastest, most amazing coaster I've ever ridden. 10/10

Catwoman's Whip: Ok so it's probably not fair to include this "kids" ride in the rollercoaster mix, but it is technically a rollercoaster. Surprisingly entertaining for a kid coaster but nothing to really get your blood boiling. 3/10

Cyclone: This wooden rollercoaster definitely provides all the bumps and bruises that you would expect from an old wooden coaster. Nothing really outstanding to mention, but if you love rollercoasters with short lines this one definitely fits the bill. 6/10

Flashback: This fun little coaster takes you for a ride then runs you through the same short course backwards. Kind of reminds me of The Viper from back in the day at Six Flags Over Georgia. 6/10

Mind Eraser: This ride will bottom line knock the hell out of you. Your feet will dangle and it keeps you in a head harness that just doesn't quite fit right so you keep banging your ears against the "pads." Ouch. 3/10

Pandemonium: This fun little ride really kicked into gear because of the way the four person car can spin 360 degrees inside of the casing. Really adds a lot of fun to the whole experience. 8/10

Thunderbolt: So here is where I failed, and it turns out this is the one rollercoaster at the park that I didn't ride. Sorry no review on this old time wooden coaster.

Other Rides

Houdini - The Great Escape: First of all I have no idea how they spun this ride into something called Houdini (once again lots of rebranding), but what an extremely mind bending, fun experience! I won't tell you what happens because that would ruin the fun, but I couldn't stop laughing my face off at the entertaining experience. 8/10

Scream: Unlike most towers that take you all the way to the top and drop you at the speed of gravity, this one shoots you up to the top extremely fast then drops you and does it a few times really fast. Definitely worth a scream or two. 6/10

The Marketing Takeaway

So if you happened to read the news, as my buddy Paul informed me, Six Flags filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the the day we were at the park. That really doesn't have anything to do with the marketing takeaway because the company is just filing for bankruptcy to handle the debt on the books.

Now what is interesting is how the Bizarro is practically the same ride as the Superman, and there are other rides at the park that simply get rebranded every few years. Although they aren't new rides they change the name and the theme behind it to keep them fresh and entice people to come back and visit again. This happened with the Houdini as I noticed on the license plate in the building that it was originally called the Mad House I believe. So sometimes you don't have to create brand new assets. Just rebrand the ones that you already have that are a little stale with some new paint and a fresh campaign. So although the Bizarro isn't much more than the Superman rollercoaster from last year (just with a bunch of purple paint on top of the red paint), it helped reinvigorate the fans and provide some great marketing material to entice people to visit the park.

Mass Effect: Video Game Review

Kyle James — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:43:00 GMT

I spent the better part of the last three weekends playing a role playing game (RPG) by the name of Mass Effect. All I can say is WOW! This is by no means a new or recent game as it came out the end of 2007 and has won its fair share of game awards including The New York Times Game of the year.

Needless to say I dropped close to 40 hours on the game. And it really cut into my productivity time especially on the weekends, but wow, what an experience. I'm such a sucker for sci-fi as my review of Battlestar Galactica will attest. The makers of Mass Effect, Bioware, have made a few amazing RPGs before this one like the amazing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, but everything about this game spoke of an epic. The story was top notch, the exploration, voiceover work, number of items to find, and let's not forget how gorgeous the graphics looked!

The best way I could describe the experience is kind of a hybrid between Star Wars and Star Trek (but isn't that what people say about every other futuristic space thing?). It was like Star Wars with the choice of making your character "good" or "bad" and having the consequences of those actions along with the fact that you played as a Spectre that for no better explanation is sort of like a Jedi. The Star Trek element came in because you really were able to go out and explore worlds that felt like you were truly "going where no man had gone before."

So final verdict - if you own a Xbox 360 and surprisingly haven't heard of this game and haven't played it then go grab a copy. Heck the $20 price tag for a new copy makes it all that more appealing! Also with this being just the first of a proposed trilogy and the second one already starting to pick up a lot of buzz you will want to make sure that you have beat this one first.

The YoYoShow

Kyle James — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:18:00 GMT

While wandering around Boston the other week we made our way to Faneuil Hall and the street performers. If you haven't seen the Yo-Yo People be sure to checkout YoYoShow.com. John and Rebecca are married and we learned that Rebecca just had a baby so she wasn't at the show. Imagine that they are creating new generations of Yo-Yo People!

The YoYoMan was a sight to see. So much so that I decided to not take one, but TEN videos! I also wanted to play around a little bit with the YouTube Playlist function so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. You know me, all about efficiency. Enjoy the videos. Also you can watch the whole playlist on YouTube. Be sure to watch the videos in HD for the full performance!

Lose Control of Your Marketing - Co-Hosted HubSpot TV

Kyle James — Mon, 25 May 2009 10:53:00 GMT

So I'm actually starting to get a little comfortable hosting HubSpot.TV and last friday was my third chance to sit in and co-host the show. Also feel free to check out all the show notes.

JCVD: Movie Review

Kyle James — Sun, 10 May 2009 21:21:00 GMT

We all remember those lazy Sunday's on TBS where they have the "Movies for Guys Who Like Movies" and all the movies seem to include one of three actors, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, or Jean-Claude Van Damme. Ok so maybe only I remember those days. Jean-Claude Van Damme was just that guy who could put a hurting on anyone and in boxing terms "pound for pound the baddest man in Hollywood"! Sorry Arnold, but JCVD could probably run circles around your tree truck sized legs and you wouldn't even know what hit you.

I watched JCVD over the weekend and was really impressed by this movie. Here is a movie star older and openly knowing that his best days are behind him, sorry Stallone but you just aren't the same hulk that you were the first time around in Rocky or Rambo just admit it. In the movie Jean-Claude plays himself and his life is a mess. How powerful that we can see a washed-up and broke movie star at the end of their career with nothing left. He poored everything into this role.

Though some really interesting and unexpected chain of events he's in the middle of a bank robbery and doesn't know how to handle the situation. There is one part where the movie pans out and Jean-Claude pleads his soul to the camera talking about his life and how he just wants to live in peace and make it through this final conflict without anyone getting hurt. It doesn't matter if the part is scripted or him actually telling his real story it pullss you in and he shows a character depth worthy of an Oscar. Keep in mind that here is a character who hasn't ever really played a character that required any acting besides just kicking butt!

Amazing movie and absolutely nothing like I expected. We all know Jean-Claude from his action and kung-fu days but here he pulls off a masterpiece of a drama that will suck you in and keep you guessing to the very end. Oh and yes there is some amazing action sequences in it just for those action guys out there. The intro sequence is an amazing single camera masterpiece that has to be seen to be believed.

Watch the trailer below and see what you think!

Heather Graduates! Anderson University Graduation 2009

Kyle James — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:55:00 GMT

So yesterday, May 2nd 2009, my girlfriend graduated college. I know that it was a huge day for her and the weather couldn't have been much more enjoyable. A little overcast so that it wasn't unbearably hot and just a gorgeous May day! Of course me being the person I am when Heather asked me to bring one of my favorite toys, my Nikon D90, and take pictures I was most happy to oblige. Congratulations baby!

Biz in Boston and he made it to HubSpot

Kyle James — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:30:00 GMT

On Friday Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone came to HubSpot in marking our 3rd Twitter approach to getting celebrities to visit our little office in Cambridge. So before The story and controversy of the even it well documented on twitter using the #bizinboston hashtag. I won't get into all that, but I will share some pictures that I took of the event. Enjoy!

TV Show Review: Battlestar Galactica - The Complete Epic Series

Kyle James — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:02:00 GMT

So I'll admit I'm a closet Sci-Fi and Fantasy person. Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy, etc. I definitely know more than my share about all these and more. I don't claim to be an elite all knowing guru in any of these, ok maybe the D&D fantasy world of the Forgotten Realms I know much more than a engaged fantasy geek, but I've definitely spent a considerable amount of time learning all about each and trying to understand what is the cult following that keeps people addicted to each.

For as long as it has been around I had never really spent any time with the Battlestar Galactica series even with the Sci-Fi channel bringing back the old series with a good bit of success. Going through the NetFlix "instant watch" queue a few weeks ago I ran across the "Battlestar Galactica: Complete Epic Series" set. This is the complete run of the original 1978 TV show that lasted all of 24 episodes consisting of 21 stories.

Immediately it was obvious that the show was a gigantic knockoff of Star Wars. Dirk Benedict, of the A-Team fame, is one of the main characters and his name is Lt. Starbuck... sound a little like Skywalker anyone, although his character is portrayed more like a Han Solo type? The bad guys, a robotic race known as the Cylons, sure look a lot like Darth Vader except a shiny Silver instead of Black. Also the Vipers look a lot like X-Wing fighters, the Cylon attack ships look similar to Tie Fighters and the main ship is called a Battlestar... sound a little like a Deathstar anyone? Even all the male characters having the long shaggy hair, or maybe this simply was the hair style of the late 70's?

With all that said I really enjoyed the series. Maybe it was the similarities of Star Wars that brought back the nostalgia of a long lost cousin, but the show definitely had some enjoyable feel good moments. Each of the 50 minute episodes had some nice charm and if you want a good comparison I would say it's very much like watching Star Trek: The Next Generation reruns. So pick up the old series and a find a month where you can watch a new episode after work each night and lock and load. Enjoy!

Blackberry App World: First Thoughts

Kyle James — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:21:00 GMT

So since I got my Blackberry Storm way back in November I've been waiting for the Blackberry App World to launch. The App World is RIM's response to the Apple iPhone App Store. It's not like Blackberry devices didn't already have hundreds if not thousands of apps that ran on their multiple devices, it's just that they hadn't built a place to easily find and add new apps.

Before We Even Start...

So on Wednesday April 1st the long awaited Blackberry App Store finally became a reality. Before I even share my thoughts I do want to go ahead and start with a gripe. RIM has been promising this marketplace for a long time (heck six months at least right), but what makes it so bad is that this was supposed to be out in February and it wasn't until a full month after the end of February that it is launched. Now there isn't anything I can do about that besides complain, but considering they took their long sweet time to launch you would expect it to just be amazing, right? Now when I first downloaded App World on Wednesday it was version 1.0.0.26 and just in the past few days they have already released two new versions to address issues. Now it's good to see RIM address issues quickly, but guys... they have had plenty of time to get this out and get it right to start with.

Thoughts About the Blackberry App World

Upon opening it is nice to see quite a few games, apps, add-ons, etc that the store is already populated with. There is 120 games and probably a good 300 total apps upon launch... not bad. I haven't bought any apps yet, but from what I've read the purchasing process is a little clunky as you have to tie a PayPal account to it. Luckily I have a PayPal account, but I still have a hard time imaging they could have done this a little more "professionally". I have a Blackberry Storm and one of the BIGGEST turnoffs of that phone is the lack of WiFi support, thanks Verizon for screwing us all on that one. WiFi would have definitely made the store a much better experience because although the 3G network is nice I just have to think that it would have been faster over WiFi. I'm especially spoiled because my WiFi at the house is connected to a 20MB FiOS network that I can't tap into. Another blaintanly missing app was any Twitter applications... just wierd?

At the end of the day I'm excited about this organization and advancement in Mobile software for the Blackberry lineup and the initial lineup has some really fun software to play. I am a little critical because I think it could be a little better, but am really glad that it's out. If you have a Blackberry Phone produced in the last two years there is absolutely no reason that you shouldn't download and install App World. You will get waves of new functionality out of your phone.

I have some additional links to reviews below the picture here, but if you want one great review, besides this one of course, then I would highly recommend Walter Mossberg's First Impressions of the New Blackberry App Store. Walter, like myself, is very critical but does a great job of waying the pros and cons and simply writes a fantasic review.

Other Reviews:

Co-Host of HubSpot.TV on Friday

Kyle James — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:46:00 GMT

So yesterday Mike Volpe took the day off his normal co-hosting seat at HubSpot.TV and Karen Rubin asked me to try and fill Mike's literally larger than life shoes. I think I held my own, but be the judge for yourself by watching the show. For full notes of the show check them out at the HubSpot TV - Marketing March Madness page.

Movie Review: Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room

Kyle James — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 10:19:00 GMT

Very rarely do I actually ever review movies. Ok this is actually the first time I've formally written a movie review. Enron: The Smarest Guys in the Room simply struck some cords as being extremely relevant and hitting on my deep engrained moral and ethical principles. It was simply appalling to see the level of deceit and corruption that was going on in this company for an extended period of time. What was most troubling was the fact that these people honestly believed from the bottom of their soul that what they were doing was ok and that they were smart enough to make everything work at the end of the day.

I'm sure pretty much everyone has heard the Enron epic story of collapse? This movie does a fantastic job of documenting the process from the beginning to the end. The stories of the California energy crisis struck me as specifically malicious and just evil! I was sucked in wanting to know what else lead to this collapse, what other steps down this road lead to destruction. What lessons can I learn from their mistakes? One obvious question that we can always be asking is something that most five year olds are notorious for... "Ask why?" Don't be afraid to ask the tough questions and tackle the right problems because it is the right thing to do.

Maybe what ties me up is the proclaimed intent that the guys at Enron were a bunch of brainiacs attempting to change the way that the world does business and do it in such a way that helps them make a little money off the top. In many ways the work that we are doing at HubSpot is trying to change the way that people market and do business in the 21st century. I absolutely love what I do and the difference that I make in my clients business. When I get on the phone with a client and see their progress and see it is obviously going in the right direction with leads coming in and web traffic reporting month over month increases it makes the long hours all worth it. Looking at the Enron story I'm that much sure that what we are doing is the right thing because instead of wrapping our company up in vales of mystery our whole process is to teach small to medium sized business to be more transparent and build relationships with clients and potential clients through the power of the social web and blogging. This unheard of level of transparency allows potential clients to see that we are all in fact real people with real problems and that most of all we really care.

At the end of the day making a quick buck doesn't provide happiness, it is the meaningful relationships that you make with people that are the road to happiness. Money doesn't buy happiness, money buys pleasure. There is a very important distinction to make there. So if you enjoy documentaries and business than I would highly encourage that you watch this movie. Hey it's on the Netflix instant watch list if that helps! In this tough economic environment it's not too far of a stretch to blame a lot of these issues on the same sort of people that were behind Enron. So after watching ask yourself. What sort of positive difference can you make today? We are after all only given one day at a time.

Differences: Moving from the Country to the City

Kyle James — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:24:00 GMT

Here I am closing in on my third month of New England big city life and I thought I would take a little time to reflect on the differences between living in Duncan, SC compared to Cambridge, MA. From culture, temperature, size, and distance there is a lot of differences from living in a 1,500 square foot house that I own to a 1,000 square foot apartment that I pay three times the monthly payments and aren't even building equity.

Living in the Country

Own a vehicle and drive everywhere
Drive to the grocery store whenever you need anything
When the dog needs to go use the bathroom you just let him out in the fenced in back yard
No snow and the weather is warmer
Grass to cut
Twenty minute ten mile driving commute to work

Living in the City

Sold my vehicle and live next door to work
Order groceries online and have the delivered
Have to take the dog down the elevator and actually walk him
Winters are cold and it snows regularly
It's a five minute walk from door to door to work

Lots of Differences

I could keep going on and on with differences from the lightning quick and affordable FiOS internet connection I now have to be within walking distance of a mall. One thing is for sure is that it is moving from one world into another. I've always said that one day I'm going to be through with technology and simply want to live and be one with nature. As technology now is such an important part of my life and everything that I do I feel more confident than ever before that one day that time will come where I will simply be ready to disconnect.

Beyond all the differences it has been interesting to try and adapt to the new environment and I've even made some changes willingly. For example selling my car and walking to work. I also gave up cable and watch TV through the internet in one format or the other. Netflix streaming through the Xbox 360 is extremely cool and convenient. What is so interesting is that this really is the future of television. Anything on demand anytime that you want to watch it is the future. The only TV that I really miss is the sports, but quite honestly I'm just too busy to really notice. Luckily MLB.TV will be available for my Braves addition.

In the mean time I'll just soak up and learn everything I can.

Happy Birthday Lara: Party in Somerville

Kyle James — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:23:00 GMT

Last night was my friendLara Simpson's 24th birthday. Lara and I go WAY back. Way back meaning when Lara was just a little freshman in college and needed someone to fix her computer, I just happened to be the guy working the IT Help Desk that night. I won't get into the whole story, but a few years later Lara was the first student I hired as Webmaster at Wofford and I like to think that the little letter of recommendation that I wrote for her helped to get her into Emerson for grad school (hey Lara even if we know you're just a Bad Ass and it didn't really help let's just pretend like it did!). So anyway Lara led the way to Boston and when I was contemplating the move up here she was one of the first people that I contacted to explore the idea.

So Happy Birthday Lara! Great time last night hanging out and meeting all your friends and I wish you nothing but the best as you shoot for the stars! Although I don't get to claim to be your boss anymore you have been and always will be a great friend.

It's not the Bar it's the Relationships

Something else that I was thinking about last night on the walk home was from a conversation I had with someone last night. We are always wanting to check out new places and looking for the perfect bar to hang out. Boston has its famous Cheers thanks to a certain television show back in the 1980s. Although we are always looking for a great new place to hang out that has the best drinks in town at the end of the night it always comes back to the friends and the relationships that you build with those people. A bar is a bar, but the people who you spend time with is what you remember the next day or a decade later.

So next time you plan to go out don't stress it trying to find the perfect place, spend the time to make sure that you have all the people whose company you want to enjoy on the same page to spend the time together.

Forget a White Christmas When You Can Have a White Birthday!

Kyle James — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:18:00 GMT

So today was my birthday. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not much of a birthday person. In fact I usually try to sneak by another birthday without anyone noticing. So although I flew back to South Carolina for a long weekend it was more to see friends and fill out some loose ends in the move to Boston instead of a social calling. It was great to see the family and some friends in South Carolina, but to prove my point today, my birthday, was suppose to be filled with travel as I make the 1,000 mile trip back to Boston. Still this being my lifestream I have to document the adventures of the day somewhere.

White Birthday In March... In South Carolina

So we had a gigantic snow storm come through last night and today which really did a number on much of the travel. Although they didn't get a foot of snow in Boston, we probably got a good six inches in South Carolina. That is the kind of huge snow storm that we only get every few years down here. It was actually kind of interesting how immune I have gotten to snow after only two months in Boston as it seemed like just a little blizzard instead of A BIG DEAL.

So needless to say my flights were canceled and I've enjoyed an extra day in South Carolina. I've been telling people all day that as far as I can tell I've never experienced a White Christmas and here I get a White Birthday!

The Surprise Party Event

So somehow the cat got out of the bag this year and people found out that today is my Birthday. The rest of the .eduGuru team got together and put together a little blog post announcement and it was off to the races in Twitter and Facebook birthday wishes. Rachel and Nikki suggested that people start following the @eduGuru account on twitter and people ran with it. There was even a little hashtag created, #happybdayKyle, that I'm still trying to keep up with. It also helped that our quite social friend Chris Brogan helped us spread the word and the Twitter account started to skyrocket! We call this "The Brogan Effect".

Secret Marketing Tip: Turn an event like a birthday into a marketing campaign to get new readers and get the support of your full network to help promote the event.

Finally our favorite "YouTube Comedian" Todd Sanders took the time to send me a birthday cake... or two. Yes Todd I just called you a YouTube Comedian... that's the perfect word to describe what you do.

Everyone THANK YOU! I'm so blessed to have a wonderful network of friends! Watch out now because we all have Birthday's and yours will come up sooner or later. ;)

@MyDawgSkip - Yes My Dog Skip is Tweeting Now

Kyle James — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:07:00 GMT

This weekend I'm back in South Carolina visiting the family and Skip is still back in Boston spending the weekend with friend and co-worker Dan Dunn.

Dan is fairly active on Twitter, I'm fairly active on twitter (ok so maybe that is an understatement) and Dan has already been twitpic'in some pictures of their weekend adventure so it just seemed to follow standard logic that Skip needed to be on Twitter, too... right!?

So maybe Skip isn't exactly the most excited Person (er... Dog) to ever get dragged into tweeting, but this should be a lot of fun. Skip already has a profile on Facebook, Pictures on Flickr and YouTube videos featuring his adventures so now we just have a new way to tie all this excitement together. So join in a "Dog's Life" as skip sleeps his way through his new adventures in Cambridge, MA.

Follow Skip on Twitter

The 1K Party and a Special Hammer Sighting

Kyle James — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 08:43:00 GMT

Wow what a wild last week at HubSpot. Long work days into the night, but that's more of the norm now than the exception. I'm not complaining, "it simply is what it is". Between these two events on Thursday and Friday it became obvious a blog post was in order.

HubSpot 1K Customer Party

That's right HubSpot crossed the 1,000 customer plateau and that meant time to have a celebration with the customer base. I'm really not sure of the exact turnout but I was on Photographer duty and brought Rock Band for some good time at work including this "EPIC" performance by Ben Smith.

Enjoy these photos from the event.

MC Hammer makes an appearance on HubSpot TV

So some of the guys got on Twitter and asked @MCHammer to stop by the studio and make an appearance and what about him actually doing it! I spent most of the event attempting to answer support calls over the massive cheering and but did hear this quote with everyone else:

"forget the numbers, just be interesting." -MC Hammer

So cool! I snapped a few pictures of the event, but this has to be the gem.

For more information about either of these events be sure to checkout HubSpot's Company Blog.

It's a Bird... It's a Plane... SuperBrontoMan! #SM-wars

Kyle James — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:05:00 GMT

DJ Waldow and the guys (and girls) at Bronto are an awesome group of individuals. I began working with them way back in 2006 (wow was it that long ago?) at Wofford and of recent times a nice little content sparing match has started up between Bronto and HubSpot. One that I have self titled "#SM-wars". I don't know if it's war, but a social media battle back in forth in fun is a really interesting content creation strategy.

The one thing I do know is that I, SuperBrontoMan, will keep a viligant eye on the situation. It is my duty to see this content creation episode to it's end and watch it where it might go. Will I be a part of the creation... well DUH!

(actually you could consider this telling a creation of content).

The History of #SM-wars

This all started with "A Tragic Story About Bronto & His Diet Coke Castle". I'm not really sure where Ellie got little Bronto, but this tragic story stirred up quite a bit of response from the Bronto team. What soon followed was an amazing story that could only be the brain child of said DJ Waldow. In case you haven't seen Bronto's rebound and trip down the river then well... just watch.

Wow... that was truly the master piece of January 29th, 2009... no doubt!

In the mean time Bronto and the family have traveled up to Cambridge to hang out in the office. Lil Brenti moved to the forrest, but Bronita hangs out with Reba... still don't understand "Why so angry?".

So stay tunes because I'm sure this story has more to come and I'll do my best, as SuperBrontoMan as my watchward, in reporting.