Categories: Articles

March Break

Even the most ultimate road warrior and digital nomad needs a break every now and then.

Sure, the latest tech can help you get down to work wherever you are. But time on the road (and in the air) is also the perfect opportunity to let loose and play. Sudoku was never my thing, and lugging around a hardcover of Dan Brown‘s latest just isn’t in the cards. So, in the spirit of March Break, here are two of my favourite ways to kill time when not strapped to e-mail or grappling with a smartphone:

Foursquare. Have you ever dreamt of becoming the mayor of Yorkville or Yaletown? Now is your chance. One of the hottest games, applications and online social networks – yes, it’s all three and more – is Foursquare. This app for the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android phones (though it can also be accessed by any mobile device with a browser) allows you to “check in” and tell your friends where you are, so they can recommend where to shop and eat and what to do nearby. As more and more people connect, you learn more about the best spots to frequent, and the more you go to a specific place (and tell your social network), the more status you earn for that locale. And yes, you can be named “mayor” of your favourite bar, restaurant or hotel. You can also receive hyper-local offers (like free appetizers at certain restaurants) and, as with the best of video games, you can unlock badges that give you real-life street cred (and some additional goodies).
Cinemin Swivel. For those of you who’d rather stay in your hotel room, the Cinemin Swivel lets you project a crisp 60-inch image from over eight feet away. This amazing multimedia pico projector is about the size of two packs of cards but still lets you get that movie theatre experience for around $300. It pulls your video files right from your iPod or iPhone (or you can use a VGA-to-AV adapter to connect a laptop). The coolest part about this mini-projector is the 90-degree swivel hinge that makes it simple to project on any surface – even the hotel-room ceiling (full disclosure: WowWee, the manufacturer of Cinemin Swivel, was a client of Twist Image).

What would you recommend to the road warriors and digital nomads for this March Break?

The above posting is my monthly tech and gadget column for enRoute Magazine called, Ultraportable. I cross-post it here with all of the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original versions online here:

– enRoute Magazine – March 2010 – Portable Play Stations.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.