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@Bradski1119 I would hate to see you leave our family! Have you checked out our great selection of Blackberry, HTC, and Windows devices?^JJIl y a 42 minutesvia Spredfast en r?ponse ? Bradski1119
The discussion has raged for quite some time ? is the traditional business card dead? Do people, in the age of the web and technology still need to kill trees (or use ores and petroleum by-products) for a silly little piece of card stock to hand out at events or when meeting someone else?
The first argument I had heard on the subject was at a new media group in New York where the speaker insisted that, with web sites and the ubiquitous ?about me? section, why would anyone need a printed business card? Being the curious sort I am?some may say the pain-in-the-rear?I had to raise my hand and ask, ?but how do people remember our URL without that little slip of paper??
There was no answer as I remember?just some mumbling and hurt feelings. Several people commented to me later that I was right. People weren?t about to remember names and URLs, so what was the answer to raging technology and a paperless society?
Business cards are an art form
There?s nothing as fun as seeing how far people can push the innovation of the standard-sized business card. Die cuts, process foils, and thermography, folds, pop-ups, and other great ideas lead to collections by individuals and printed collections of the ?best business cards.?
Here?s some links to blogs showcasing numerous innovative business cards:
100 (really) creative business cards
30 creative QR business cards
You the designer
Business Insider
Inspirationfeed
Artatm
Naldz Graphics
Toxel
Letterpress has been very hot for business cards for the past few years. Pixelclouds.com has recently posted a collection of Letterpress cards on their blog.
More examples can be found on carddsgn.com as well as exquisiteletterpress.com.
A great business card is sometimes just in the name, too! When I was first hired onto the staff of MAD Magazine, my cards were much sought-after by people. Luckily, I had several boxes printed before leaving that job and still get requests for my card. At one Phoenix restaurant, known for snipping off the ties of those who dare dress too formally, then attaching the person?s business card before tacking the tie stub to the wall or ceiling ? giving the illusion of waves of a wheat field from slight breezes ? I decided to wear a tie with my T-shirt, just so I could join the collection. When the waiter snipped off my tie, he asked for my business card. Upon handing him my MAD card, he ran off and returned with the owner who shook my hand and told me my tie and card were going into his personal collection of celebrity?s ties. Try that with a web site!
I recently sold one of my William M. Gaines business cards on Ebay. When I was a young teenager, I visited the offices of MAD and got to meet the legendary publisher of the beloved magazine (or is that the other way around?) and while sitting at his desk with him, he used a couple of his business cards to pick the pastrami from between his teeth (I assume he had a pastrami sandwich for lunch that day but one never knows) and said, ?here, kid?my card!?
That DNA-stained card went for quite a bit on Ebay. Again?the power of the printed card?and toothpick.
The card as a selling tool
Handing someone a business card is the first marketing effort you take with them, aside from looking them in the eye and a firm handshake. The Japanese, for example, put great reverence into their business cards. It is their personality and must be treated with the utmost respect. Many years ago, when I was to meet with the largest conglomerate in Japan, I received some cautionary advice from my sister, who had studied international relations, about my first few moments in my meeting. It wasn?t just bowing but also how to accept a card with both hands, holding it with reverence at the corners, which pocket to place it in (never the back pocket!) and how to give out my business card. It was, it seems, very beneficial to know the proper card etiquette as well as just good manners and business acumen.
In another situation, I was quite embarrassed when at a design event, a well-known nutcase and dilettante made a point of shoving her card into the hands of everyone at the event. When she arrived at the small group with which I was standing, I took her card, wiped my rear end and threw it on the floor, thinking she didn?t see what I was doing. After the laughter from others in the group died down, I was told that the crazy-lady had seen me do it and I was embarrassed by my callousness. I should have waited until she had left the room to do it.
In another article on creatives in social situations, I wrote that a business card didn?t necessarily have to be a standard size. While I advise against a full letterhead-sized printed piece, because people will need to carry the damn thing in their hand all night, wiping with it later, there is no reason that a piece cannot be large enough to show a sample of your work and still fit into a pocket or purse. I had also suggested that one could create a set of ?flash cards? that showed several pieces. Many years ago I had a set of business cards that had fifty different images on them. Even though I attended the same networking groups repeatedly, my cards were known as the ?collect ?em all? cards and were always welcomed when I would hand my card out, even to those who had received one numerous times before.
The key is to have a card people will keep and perhaps show to others. Having a card that sits on someone?s desk of tacked to a bulletin board in plain sight is the biggest compliment since not wiping a rear end with one.
The digital answer
Giving credit where credit is due, a nice collection of digital apps appears on a recent post on webdistortion.com??6 apps that are killing the business card.? The list is short and doesn?t cover ALL of the? sites that can be used for further information about you and truthfully, they may not be the best but here they are for your information and inspiration.
Aboutme
Flavors.me
Identyme.com
Bu.mp
Shhmooze
Missing from the Web Distortion blog entry are sites like LinkedIn, which is for business networking and allows you not only to post your r?sum?, recommendations from others, join groups, and network but the ever increasing amount of widgets allows you to insert Behance portfolios, slide shows, videos, Twitter and blog feeds, and much more.
Another interesting site that was about to go under but was bought by another company at the last minute is visualcv.com. This site allows you to post your r?sum? and portfolio samples, then share the profile with others or download the whole thing as a PDF for emailing.
Twtbizcard has a unique Twitter app for sharing information. Check out the video on their site.
Poken, for those who aren?t embarrassed to carry cute little plastic creatures to networking events and business meetings, is another bump technology gadget. It hasn?t caught on in the United States?and probably won?t but why not click the link and check it out, if for nothing else, a laugh.
Of course, using a QR Code on a printed card can take people to any of these sites or a video such as this one:
Whatever you use, printed or digital, the most important thing to keep in mind, is to make people remember you, connect and become a valued client. The best way to do that is to make sure your information is clear, concise and easy to find.
Speider Schneider is a former member of The Usual Gang of Idiots at MAD Magazine and has designed products for Disney/Pixar, Warner Bros., Harley-Davidson, ESPN, Mattel, DC and Marvel Comics, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon among other notable companies. Speider is a former member of the board for the Graphic Artists Guild, co-chair of the GAG Professional Practices Committee and a former board member of the Society of Illustrators. Follow him on Twitter?@speider
MEXICO CITY ? Mexico says it has been notified of a U.S. court ruling to extradite an American reality show producer charged with murdering his wife during a 2010 Mexican vacation, but says the date for the hand-over is still pending.
Mexico's Attorney General's Office said Friday an agreement has been reached on the extradition of Bruce Beresford-Redman, but "the date for his delivery is still pending."
Earlier this week, the producer's lawyer said he was dropping his fight against the extradition, after a Los Angeles federal court ruling upheld it.
The lawyer said the one-time "Survivor" producer could be sent to Mexico within 60 days following review of the extradition request by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
More supposed iPad 3 parts have surfaced that appear to show differences between existing iPad 2 hardware and an unknown device.?Published by Macotakara, the new photos show an existing iPad 2 dock connector cable alongside the new part, which it is speculated belongs to Apple?s third generation iPad.
Just as any sane person would predict, Apple appears to be sticking to its classic 30-pin dock connector as a source of power and a way of syncing, rather than moving to the industry standard USB solution that is preferred by much of the competition?
With the iPad 3 rumors now beginning to really heat up, we expect more photos to leak claiming to be of iPad 3 parts. This current one comes after Macotakara spotted them on TVC-Mall.com, a web site owned by one of Apple?s own parts suppliers. This isn?t the first time such a leak has?occurred, and we are certainly surprised that Apple has yet to plug the leak.
While the appearance of a dock connector in the iPad 3 is no surprise, it is worth noting that the change in attached cable could well point to a change of internals in Apple?s next tablet, as expected. A rumored Retina display could be one reason for different internal components, as could a new chip to replace the current A5. We?ll no doubt hear more over the coming weeks as we get closer to what we all expect to be an iPad announcement in early-2012.
Ford?s not quite ready to show you any advance looks at the next-generation Fusion, but the automaker is boasting that the 2013 Fusion may be one of the least expensive sedans to feature a form of lane departure warning when the new model debuts.
Ford says that it will equip select 2013 Fusion sedans with what it calls Lane Keeping System. The LKS combines a camera mounted behind the rear-view mirror, as well as a computer that can control the electronic power steering rack.
The system monitors a video feed from the windshield camera to detect solid and dotted lines and decide if the car is between them or not. If the car drifts out of a lane or makes an unsignaled lane change, the car will notify the driver with a tone and a flashing light.
The system also can sense if the driver is drowsy or inattentive. If he or she drifts out of the lane slowly, the system will sound an alarm tone, but will also vibrate the steering wheel (which Ford says will feel like running over rumble strips), and then nudge the car back into the lane if the driver doesn?t do anything else. If the car finds that a driver?s patterns show that he or she is drowsy, the information screen will flash a cup of coffee and suggest that the driver take a break.
While Ford claims that this is the first time that this feature set will be offered in the mid-size segment, the Fusion?s features will face stiff competition from another American car company: Chevrolet announced that it will now put Forward Collision Warning and Lane Departure Warning on its Malibu and Malibu Eco models. We wouldn?t be surprised if other competitors begin offering similar systems in the years to come.
Both systems have their subtle differences, but seeing as both come with high praise from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety as critical safety features, a new segment of the car-buying market will soon reap the benefits of this technology.
@Bradski1119 I would hate to see you leave our family! Have you checked out our great selection of Blackberry, HTC, and Windows devices?^JJ 
USCellular 
The discussion has raged for quite some time ? is the traditional business card dead? Do people, in the age of the web and technology still need to kill trees (or use ores and petroleum by-products) for a silly little piece of card stock to hand out at events or when meeting someone else?
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