Shelly Palmer's Inside Scoop on Using Tech to WFH and Keep Connected

I encourage you to listen to the complete podcast here or subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify and well almost anywhere to hear all his recommendationsI learned a lot about soundwaves personal tech stacks and his own podcast on the Westwood One network Think About This with Shelly Palmer and Ross Martin amp8211 oh and if a relationship with an artificial companion could be in my futureOn the serious side Palmer has been diligently donating content through his nascent techfocused social networking platform PGX amp8212 already about 2000 members strong amp8212 and frequent Zoom meetings to help today39s WFH population work smarter and stay physically and mentally healthier His robust list of resources continues to evolve with each webinar supplementing his quotAlone Togetherquot interactive discussions on Wednesdays and weekly emailsI spoke with Palmer from my kitchen desk which he informed me is not optimal for audio and he from his Vermont vacation home where he39d meant to be for just a weekend or soOur meandering conversation went from solid scientific advice to musings fun anecdotes about his time with family and the podcast with Martin to his most recent Socratic online chat about what a postcoronavirus society might look like as Palmer is not averse to airing strong opinions without much prompting Here are some of the takeaways edited for brevity and clarityOn Choosing One Tech Tool Over Another quotIn some cases it39s just personal preference In others it has to do technologically with where you are and what you39re trying to doquot He uses Zoom for meetups with 150 or so attendees and Webinar Jam for onetomany He was trepidatious about quotcrowd controlquot with Zoom and keeping quotchatquot open but he says quoteverybody has been super respectful either virtually raising their hands by clicking a button or actually raising their hands because they39re on video I was surprised in every case over the last two weeks how people are so quickly adapting to and evolving into good citizens in video chat So apparently you can teach old dogs new tricksquotOn Adapting to TechnologyquotPeople have been accepting of technical glitches that you would never have accepted before It reminds me of the change when smartphones drove vertical video It39s been fascinating to see the speed with which people are willing to adopt bad lighting bad camera angles and bad hair and I think it39s fantastic because the most important thing is that we figure out how to be social animals in a time when coronavirus is forcing us to be less socialquotOn Using a Personal Tech Stack More PersonallyquotThe tech stack that39s at your home will ultimately evolve as Amazon starts to ship again but for people who want to communicate using audio and video through their technology here39s what you need quicklyquotA workspace that is conducive to working and that you consider only for work amp8212 because you need a way to know psychologically sociologically physiologically you are working I can walk away from that space And when I39m in that space other cohabitants understand that I39m in my workspace There39s a giant difference between being home and working from home Some people keep their computer just for work in that space and use an iPad or their phone in the living room to text their friends or keep Facebook openquotI take breaks every 45 minutes I take lunch every day I have a quitting time You need the mind the body and the spirit all lined up and take care of the whole humanquotIf you39re working for a bigger corporation they will likely dictate the virtual private network and what office suite you39re going to use A good choice for small collaborative companies is Google Suite amp8212 Google apps Google Docs are truly interactive as are Google Sheets their version of Excel and you can chat through Google Hangouts and have Slack running so you can interact with clients without having to send email A lot of clients are using Microsoft Teams which is their version of Slack Microsoft is offering that free right now trying to take advantage of the people working at homequotBut when you39re working totally by yourself right now the most important thing you can do I think is to send an email or a text message to everybody you know in the world and find out how they39re doingquotOn Staying ConnectedquotYou have to electronically connect And it does require a cultural and psychological shift for those who say 39I39m not a Facebook person39 or 39I39m not a LinkedIn person39 but your passion project now is to be part of a larger world electronically and it39s very timeconsuming So my number one recommendation to everybody is don39t worry about the technology text smoke signals carrier pigeon skywriting Just get out there to everybody and say 39Hey what39s up Do you need any help39quotOn Building New HabitsquotThe cultural shift is going to be dramatic and everything I know about marketing says that if you brush your teeth for 21 days in a row on the 22nd day it39s a real habit and then it needs a little brand love and the whole arc of things you need to do as a marketer to reinforce a habitquotSo are we going to wash our hands 15 times a day for the rest of our lives Are you and I and our kids going to be wary of large groups for the next five years I have no idea It39s a novel virus and until a substantial number of human beings get it and develop immunity to it it39s going to be a problem until there39s a vaccinequotI39m a big believer in technology so I39m crossing my fingers that there39s going to be some tech that takes care of some of this at some point But it39s going to take time We are going to adapt to this new world order And if that includes having artificial companions maybe I think the most important thing here is that we can have each otherquotOn Being VirtualquotI don39t like the word virtual anymore Like 39Shelly would you do a virtual speaking engagement39 For me it39s 39No I39ll do an actual speaking engagement for you and I will use some tools to make myself appear magically like television in front of your audience39 This idea that it39s not real doesn39t make any sense to me Would it be better if we were here and could grab a beer together Yeah But I39ll still enjoy the beer and I can still enjoy your companyquotOn AI replacements for journalists quotTruthinessquot in media and if we39ll continue to Zoom like crazyThat you39ll have to listen to the podcast for Bonus You39ll learn which recording platform I chose tooDon39t stop now Stay in the know on audio and media industry trends with executive interviews and more from EB MossClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Shelly Palmer's Inside Scoop on Using Tech to WFH and Keep Connected

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E.B. Moss

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Shelly Palmer's Inside Scoop on Using Tech to WFH and Keep Connected

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E.B. Moss

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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