Remember just a few years ago, when the first smartphones came out? People would tease each other for checking e-mail on the device, as if it made them obsessive or just plain strange.
The world moves fast. At this point, it’s hard to believe there was ever a time when the Internet, e-mail and your entire work life was not right at you fingertips, regardless of whether you are anywhere near your office.
Ubiquitous connectivity has fundamentally changed the business world — for the better, no doubt. People periodically refer to the modern “mobile workforce,” and it’s an accurate term. Everyone seems to be constantly traveling for work. Conferences in Florida, client meetings in Wisconsin, whatever. Two weeks ago in Florida, we were posting to Dealbreaker.com and AbovetheLaw.com on our hotel wifi, while our editor in New York made sure Fashionista.com posts went live on deadline. On the way home, we were blasting time-sensitive emails back and forth until the moment the planes took off.
Americans make more than 405 million long-distance business trips per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. And one in five adult Americans plans to take at least one business trip in the next six months (you can imagine the Wall Street number is probably a teensy bit higher). But when you’re on the road, the deal still needs to be closed, and the trades still need to be made. Thank God for your laptop, your smartphone, your tablet.
It would be hard to quantify the astronomical increases in efficiency and productivity that technology allows just during travel alone.
Flight delay? No biggie. Stuck in a hotel room? Just pop in your wireless card.
Continue reading »
Every day from Oct. 3-Oct. 31, New York steakhouse Smith & Wollensky is literally changing the name of their restaurant to the last name of a randomly chosen guest who pledges to make Smith & Wollensky their exclusive steakhouse. And when we say, “the name of their restaurant, ” we mean on everything: the awning, the the signs, the napkins, even the knives. All you have to do is go to their website, take their pledge, and book a table and you too could see your name alongside the famous Wollensky.
