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Category Archives: Media Event

NYC Adventures With Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium : The Video!

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At the recent launch of Office 365 Home Premium in New York City’s Bryant Park, I had the opportunity to experience the new features of Office while talking to some very exciting people (keep reading to find out who!). The Microsoft Office 365 experience center showcased the services and applications (for example Word, Excel, PowerPoint and check out OneNote) that together comprise the new Office and demonstrated how they work together for a great experience that helps you amaze, share, connect, explore, create and imagine.   

 

These days, I’m constantly amazed at when and where I can actually get things done. The new Office provides me with instant access to my documents and information offline or online, enabling me to be more productive by utilizing brief segments of my day to get things done for my family and myself. The option to use Office 365 on five devices (including PCs, Macs and Windows tablets), stream full Office apps to any Windows 7 or 8 PC, and use Office Web Apps on mobile devices also gives me the flexibility work how I want. After all, being more efficient during the day simplifies my life, and makes my nights less hectic.

 
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Check out my new video on BlogHerTV that not only shares a VIP tour of the launch but also showcases interviews with interesting people. See what busy mom and Hollywood actress Felicity Huffman says came to her rescue managing her life as a mom. Hear what my blogger buddy Jen Singer from MommaSaid.net can do from a waiting room at the Vet and learn tips from Office Insiders regarding how they are using the new Office to make their life easier. Of course, considering where I was (Bryant Park on a beautiful winter day), I had to put on some ice skates for a New York City winter adventure. Luckily, Jen Singer decided to join in the fun!

 

 

What is Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium? A Game Changer For Families.

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The new Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium is out and quite simply, it is a game changer. I just came back from the new Office 365 Experience (launch) at CitiPond at Bryant Park, NYC where I had the opportunity to work with BlogHer to gather tips and ideas on how to use new Office to be more productive. The Office Experts were at different activity hubs within the Office 365 Experience to discuss connecting, sharing, personalizing and exploring.

 

 

Office 365 Home Premium

 

 

As a busy mom pressed for time, having my documents, spreadsheets, presentations, photos and videos in different silos was not working out very well. I spent too much time trying to remember the location of the latest version a document, or location of a photo…. did I have access to it from my online device or offline on my desktop? And my “office” location rotates on a daily basis from my desk, to a client’s meeting room, to a coffee house and even inside my minivan while waiting for my kids to get out of school. Enough was enough, managing my information was stressing me out! Especially with the new reality that the 9 to 5 workday is history, I need access to all of my information across all my devices no matter where I am.

 

Office 365 Home Premium

 

 

For quite some time, I have used Microsoft Office 2010 for my social media work and my whole family has used Word, Excel and PowerPoint for homework, creative projects, communication and all things productivity. So when I received an advanced copy of the new Office a week ago, I looked forward to seeing how using Office 365 Home Premium could change my daily workflow. I also looked forward to learning new tips from the Office 365 Experience launch.

 

Many cloud-based productivity suites already exist, but what impressed me about the new Office 365 Home Premium is the seamless workflow between devices, online and offline. For me, that seamless integration not only simplified my day, but gave me the confidence to know how to access the most current version of my information no matter where I was working. Adding in my new Windows 8 PCs meant that I could also use the new Office with touch or a stylus as easily as a mouse and keyboard. My day seemed to flow so much better, it was simply a game changer for my work and home productivity.

 

Here are some of the exciting features of the new Office.

  • A single subscription to Office 365 Home Premium allows the use of Office on up to 5 PCs or Macs shared among all users in the home and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, and Publisher.  Upgrades are now automatic.
  • Subscribers also have flexibility to change their 5 devices at any time. This means that instead of Office belonging to one device, it belongs to the subscriber across devices.
  • This subscription also includes 60 minutes of Skype world calling per month and 20 GB SkyDrive storage in addition to the 7GB every Microsoft Account holder gets for free. Additional Skydrive storage is available.
  • Office 365 Home Premium is available in both physical and online stores for $99.99 billed annually ( a great deal at  $8.34 per month).   A free 30 day trial is also available online.
  • Subscribers can stream full Office apps to any Internet-connected Windows 7 or 8 PC with Office on Demand.  With Office Web apps you can view, create and edit Office files on virtually any device, enabling sharing and collaboration.
  • Office 365 Home Premium applications allow the flexibility of writing, typing or using touch.

 

At the Office 365 Experience, I also had the fun and fabulous opportunity to interview well-known actress Felicity Huffman, blogging buddy Jen Singer of Mommasaid.net and Office Insiders.

 

Felicity Huffman sharing her productivity tips with TechMama at the Office 365 Home Premium Launch.

 

 

Beth of TechMamas.com and Jen of Mommasaid.net on skates at #Timeto365? More details of their adventures in the soon to be released video..

 

 

They all highlighted how the new Office has changed the way they manage their home and work lives, online and offline. I especially enjoyed their tips on how they use Office to organize their day as busy parents and professionals. A video of the interviews along with a VIP tour of the Office 365 Experience will be posted soon on Techmamas.com and BlogHer.com.

 

Here are some of the pictures from the Office 365 Experience at CitiPond at Bryant Park (photos in PowerPoint stored in Skydrive):

I will be sharing additional details and tips about the New Office in future upcoming videos with TechMamas.com and BlogHer. The New Office 365 Experience will be at Bryant Park until Saturday – so if you live in NYC stop by to discover more about the new Office. If you are not near NYC, visit Office.com to learn more.

 

 

 Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All of my words are my own.

 

 

 

Media Trip: Disney Dream

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I am packed up and heading to the Florida for the Inaugural Sailing of the Disney’s newest ship Dream. I will be looking into the technology and innovations to give a behind the scenes glimpse of the third ship in the magical Disney Cruise Line. I will also do my best to search out WiFi at sea so I don’t have to wait to share the fun until I return.

Disclosure: This is a media trip, my travel expenses to attend were covered. I am under no obligation to blog, just to experience this special event. But of course, I will want to share with my audience such an exciting adventure!

 

Gullivers Travels Movie Out December 25, More On Our Interview with Jack Black, Emily Blunt and Jason Segel

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I had the fun of attending the Gullivers Travels (the movie) press screening on December 16 with a group of mom bloggers. First I posted with some behind the scene tidbits about the movie. But I also wanted to share more information from the press interviews with Jack Black (Lemuel Guliver), Jason Segel (Horatio) and Emily Blunt (Princess Mary). Each brought a special part of themselves to their roles. The movie Gullivers Travels opens December 25, so I will be heading to the theatres to share the movie with my family.

While the character Lemuel Guliver reinvented himself in the movie, Jack Black also had words of wisdom about his personal re-invention experiences. It was wonderful to see the philisophical side of an actor that always makes me laugh.

We asked Jack Black “since every kid can’t be transported to a fantasyland, is there a way that people can reinvent themselves in their own lives?”

Continue reading →

 

Gullivers Travels The Movie, An Adventure For The Whole Family

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Last Thursday I traveled to LA for a press event I had been looking forward to for quite some time: a screening of the movie Gullivers Travels with the opportunity to interview three of the movie’s fabulous stars: Jack Black, Emily Blunt and Jason Segel.

While I was waiting to board the plane I received a phone call from my tween, middle school son. He told me a few kids from school, friends since kindergarten, were acting mean toward him and he was disappointed. I tried to make him feel better about the situation, but I could not shake the thought of my son feeling “small” while other kids proclaimed themselves “the big kids on campus”.

Update: Here is a link to my second post on Gulliver’s Travels with more interview details.

Of course, the parallel between real life and art was striking that night when I attended the movie screening. The Gullivers Travels movie, based on the popular book by Jonathan Swift, showcases main character Lemuel Guliver feeling like a “small man in a big pond” before he goes on a journey that forces him to overcome his fears and have the courage to reach his goals.

GIVEAWAY: At the bottom of this post I will provide details on my giveaway: One Gullivers Travels movie poster signed by Jack Black, Jason Segel and Emily Blunt. I even saw them sign the poster so this is for real! Comment on this post to enter.

Here is the movie trailer for a glimpse of the special effects that brought the story to life. The movie is in 3D, so for the moment just imagine that added dimension of things coming out of the screen:

Movie Trailer:

Gullivers Travels The Movie will debut in theatres on December 25, 2010 and stars Jack Black, Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Amanda Peet, Chris O’Dowd, Catherine Tate and Billy Connolly. The screenplay is by Joe Stillman and Nicholas Stoller, based on the book by Jonathan Swift. The movie is directed by Rob Letterman with Jack Black as one of the Executive Producers. The MPAA Rating is PG and the genre is adventure comedy.

Plot Outline (provided to the press group):

“In a modern, 3D family comedy take on the classic tale, Jack Black (star of “Kung Fu Panda” and “ School of Rock ”) is Lemuel Gulliver, a lowly mailroom clerk at a New York newspaper. After Gulliver bluffs his way into an assignment writing about the Bermuda Triangle, he goes there only to be transported to an undiscovered land, Lilliput. In this fantastical new world, Gulliver is, at last, a bigger-than-life figure — in size and ego – especially after he starts telling tall tales, taking credit for his world’s greatest inventions, and placing himself at the center of its most historic events. Gulliver’s position is enhanced even further when he leads his new friends in a daring battle against their longtime enemies. But when Gulliver loses it all and puts the Lilliputians in peril, he must find a way to undo the damage. Ultimately, Gulliver becomes a true giant among men only when he learns that it’s how big you are on the inside that counts.”

TechMamas Take:

Those who read the book Gullivers Travels, as I did many years ago, will see that the author created an adventure reflecting on the many sides of humor nature; from miopic, petty, and irrational to brave, creative and compasionate. The book also had an anti-war undertone.

Now take that story and put a “Jack Black” spin on it for the movie. With the added bonus that he is a dad himself (he has 2 small sons aged 2 and 4).

Continue reading →

 

Media Event: Windows 7 Holiday 2010 PC’s

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About 6 months ago I purchased a new Windows 7 laptop with an Intel Core i7 processor, big hard drive and powerful graphics. My computer was 3 years old – which is 100 years old in PC age.

This new computer has really helped me turbo charge my computing experience and sneak work in between my crazy mom schedule managing 3 boys.

Last week I attended a Windows7 Holiday event that showcased some of the newly available Window 7 PC’s. My slogan this holiday season is upgrading family technology is the best holiday gift, so I was interested to see some of recent advancements and fun features.

Listed below are some interesting PC’s I saw and some of the specs. When choosing a PC it is important to first decide what that PC will be used for, then decide what features are important to support that use. Laptops, with their increasing more powerful specs, are crossing the line between being good for mobile as well as home.

Mobile Computing Power that can also used for work/homework:

Acer TimelineX 1830- starting at $600: Ultraportable, light, 8 hours + of battery life. Specs: Intel Core i3 Processor 4GB RAM, 320GB HD, Intel HD Graphics

Dell Studio 15 – starting at $599: 15.4″, 1080p display, Intel Core i7, 6GB RAM and 256GB solid state drive.

Dell Inspiron Duo – starting at $499: 10 inch multi-touch tablet that transitions to a laptop (Dell’s first convertablie tablet).

HP Envy 14 – starting at $999.99: Laser-etched aluminum design with Beats Audio. Up to Intel Core i7, 4GB RAM, 320GB

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge – starting at $700: Curved keyboard, Core i3, 3GB RAM, 320GB.

Lenovo U160 - starting at $749: A thin and light computer with a beautiful red design on the outer lid. Core i5 (or Core i7), 4GB RAM, 320GB.’

Samsung SF510 “Shark” – starting at $979: Curved modern design. Core i3, 4GB RAM, 640 GB HD.

Toshiba Kid’s PC Satellite L635 – starting at $499: Water-resistant keyboard, pre-loaded web browser KidZui and NetNanny. Celeron, 2GB RAM and 250GB HD.

Toshiba R705 – starting at $800: Thin and light 13″ Magnesium honeycomb chassis. Core i3, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD.

Family Touch PC’s:

HP TouchSmart 600 -  starting at $999: HD Multi-touch screen and Blu-Ray. Core i7, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD.

Sony Vaio J - starting at $1049.99: 21.5″ full HD touchscreen. Core i7, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD.

I also had a brief opportunity to view some of the new Windows 7 phones. I will be doing more detailed posts in the near future, but for now I thought the Samsung Focus and the Dell Venue Pro were defintely peaking my interest.

This week I will also be posting on Windows Live Essentials 2011, which I just starting using, then a discussion about some of the available free software and services. If only I could find some way to turbo charge my workouts similar to how my new PC turbocharged my work day!

Disclosure: This post is documenting a media event I was invited to. These specifications are from a press release distributed at the event.

This is not a sponsored post.

 

Inside Look: Disney’s new “World of Color” attraction and tour

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I just returned home from a trip back East and was very busy getting my kids summer schedule finalized, when I received an email about a Disney media event in San Francisco. Attending Disney media events are always worth the schedule shifting and babysitting recruiting time, in return for some Disney magic. So – on July 8 – I attended the Disneyland World of Color road show stop in San Francisco. Here is the link to the World of Color road show press release  with details on the tour, my pictures of the event are at the bottom of this post. The tour was created to take some of the magic of the World of Color attraction on the road.

I first heard of the new World of Color attraction at Disney California Adventure park last spring and hoped to bring my kids to see it after it opened June 11, 2010.  I showed my kids a World of Color video and they were fascinated with the fountains, images and special effects.

The World of Color opening day event at Disneyland press release explained the details of a the new attraction at Disney California Adventure:

“There has never been a show like “World of Color,” the mega-scale,
after-dark celebration of Disney storytelling.  “World of Color”
brings animation
to life with powerful fountains that become stars of the show as they
create one of the world’s largest projected water screens.

The Disneyland News press release also explained some of the details of the special effects used in the World of Color attraction, which runs just under 25 minutes: Continue reading →