Michael Berner

“You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn’t.  That is true freedom”

35 from ARC’TERYX on Vimeo.

A deck about content with really really really great content from the Upworthy crew.

I want to post to @Path.  What’s wrong with this image?

In what amounts to a minor but important UX flaw, iOS displays rows of 3 in their preview folders but rows of 4 in the expanded view.

I use @Path on the daily so I should know where it is, but the preview folder sends a mental note to look left when expanded.  Without fail my finger always hovers over the place LinkedIn sits.

It’s only a half second hover but a consistent mistake that adds a minor frustration point to the experience; a friction in the UX that unfortunately compounds over time.

When you have such a tactile experience like an interaction with a smartphone, it’s important to note that mental signals can translate to physical actions. Design with both in mind.

- @michaelberner

I would give anything to have a travel video 10% as good as this

a story for tomorrow. from gnarly bay productions, Inc. on Vimeo.

It’s no secret Apple has one of the best in store experiences in retail.  This isn’t a new integration, but their EasyPay just made it that much better.  Found my product, scanned it, charged my Card (with the Amex Pass Passbook app), and I walked out the door.  30 seconds in and out.

A nice nod to bringing the ease of digital commerce to brick and mortar.  

This time of year always brings me back to my favorite quote. Good words to live by:

“I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness or abilities that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” - William Penn – Read on Path.

Overwhelmed by the options for helping out post #Sandy? Yeah, happens to the best of us.  By all means keep hitting up NYCService.org for the latest opportunities, but if feel like getting your hands dirty and making a tangible difference right now, Staten Island is in dire need of help.  Houses are truly destroyed and the residents are getting minimal labor help from the gov’t.

*No formal anything is needed, just show up and start helping.

So here’s the suggestion:

Getting there:

Drive if you can.  If not, take the Ferry over and then jump on the SI Railway to New Dorp (its at the ferry station).  Comes every 30 minutes and takes about 15.  Get off at New Dorp and walk down New Dorp Lane towards the water (tip, stop by Crossroads Church and they’ll send you the right way)

What to do once there:

When you arrive, start knocking on doors.  I’m not kidding.  It may not look like it, but every house here flooded, meaning every basement is destroyed.  Knock on doors and ask them if they need help.  Odds are they will say yes.

What to bring:

I’m never going to deter the standard financial or daily utility donations, but from what I saw, they need very simple things:

1. Bodies for manual labor (wading through the destruction, putting in bags and depositing on the street)
2.  Shovels.  The most efficient way to help
3. Hammers (you will be breaking down walls, this helps)
4. Saw (cutting up carpets, pipes, drywall)
5. Heavy duty garbage bags
6. Anything else you want but these are in order or priority

What to wear:

You will get dirty.  Wear rain boots, old pants and layers.  Its cold outside but can get hot inside, so this helps. Bring thick gloves and surgical masks. 

When to go:

Now. Tomorrow. The next day. All week. Lots of people are out there but the surface is just being scratched.  Never underestimate the value you can add.

We’ll try to get some crews out there this week.  If you would like to join, hit me up at @michaelberner or at Rebuild Staten Island and we’ll pull together a group.

 #OccupySandy

UPDATE: Failed to mention you’ll be thrown in with some of the most amazing people you can meet, from all walks of life and from all over the tri-state.

A year ago today I was in Paris; a holiday following the activation of Coldplay UNSTAGED for my (then) client American Express.  A week post up in the Bastille with no plan other than to have no plan, I wandered the arrondissements with the simply goal to explore new things.

Foursquare was my guide. Explore was my compass and the tips at each venue were my local resource.  The only fair thing I could do was return the favor.  Thus began a week long mission of racking up check-in points and leaving tips across the city.  Partly out of a sense of altruism for the greater good on Foursquare, but mainly I just wanted to brag.

But then came a check-in that was different than the others.  A stop at the the Musée d’Orsay netted a comment from an old colleague, Shari Forman.  Shari was heading to Paris that weekend and we decided to meet up.  It’s that kind of serendipity that got me on the platform in the first place.

We met that Friday and our conversation ran the gamut.  But it wasn’t the general chatter that interested me most, but the description of a new team at American Express called Digital Partnerships and Development.  And they were hiring.

The rest is (Foursquare) history. A simple check-in connected me with an old friend from which a conversation arose that led me to explore a new opportunity in my career (best decision I’ve ever made, too!).

Foursquare is a simple utility and one in which people use and find value from in different ways.  And the simple fact is that a lightweight action like a check-in can carry with it an incredible weight, can connect and influence in innumerable ways and provide value where before there was none.

It’s for that reason I’m a convert. Why I work in this industry. Why I love what I do.