Having spent the past 17 years creating a mini fashion world grounded in classic American roots – fashioned with a twist – it’s clear that Steven Alan has quietly emerged an uncommon fashion pioneer. Continue reading »
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If you’ve ever hit the slopes on a pair of rented skis, you know fit is everything, and even a millimeter can make a big difference in your performance on the mountain. That’s why you need Wagner Custom Skis, made by die-hard skier and mechanical engineer Pete Wagner one pair at a time in an ultra-modern shop powered entirely by wind and sun. Wagner skis are built with everything from Kevlar and carbon fiber wraps to old-school standbys like sugar maple and aspen, with a variety of flex and bases for optimum speed in different weather conditions and on specific courses. Continue reading »
Earlier this year, I spent several months making frequent transcontinental phone calls for articles I had to write. From my west coast office, I had long conversations with businesspeople in Belgium, England and even Ethiopia. But I never used a phone, and I definitely didn’t fly anywhere. I called from my laptop, using Skype.
The connection was generally better than my cell phone, and way, way cheaper.
We’re living in a mobile, location-flexible world, and more than ever, employees work from their homes and favorite cafes, in addition to their cubicles. Folks can do this—often without much travel–because of all the tools we have to stay in touch with clients and coworkers across town, or across the country.
Email and instant messaging are old news. Now we’ve got videoconferencing – on your tablet, your ultrabook, your Smart TV, and even your smart phone.
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.
When former Microsoft-division Expedia launched in October 1996 on the cusp of the late-nineties Internet boom, the concept of a cost-comparison shopping website was still as foreign to people as mass market cell phones and the mp3. Today, the word Expedia is synonymous with travel, as the company has revolutionized the consumer shopping experience and inspired a legion of similarly themed business models. Continue reading »
- Use the Bloomberg command
NH BLG_DEALBREAKER <GO>
to access Dealbreaker
