Author Archives: Brian Mulawka

04.26.13
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Samsung pushes back Canadian Galaxy S4 delivery date

There are going to be an awful lot of disappointed Samsung fans this weekend. April 27 was tagged as the shipping date for Canadian pre-orders of the Galaxy S4 smartphone, but Samsung Canada just posted this on their Facebook page:

Samsung is excited to see the level of pre-orders that Canadian consumers have for the GALAXY S4. Samsung Canada had intended to ship pre-orders by the 27th, but due to the overwhelming global demand of the Samsung GALAXY S4, we will not be able to meet the pre-order date of April 27th for all customers. These orders remain the highest priority with carrier and retail partners and will be fulfilled in the coming days.

via Samsung Canada.

It has to be something of a two edged sword for Samsung — they must be thrilled to have this kind of demand for their new product, but fans who are willing to pre-order a device get justifiably upset when it doesn’t ship on time. It will be interesting to see if this does any lasting damage to Samsung’s brand in Canada.

04.23.13
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Feedly: A free news service for news junkies

Feedly news readerOnline news addicts blew a collective gasket recently when they learned the Google RSS Reader service was to be shut down. Google said declining numbers of users was one of the main reasons for the shutdown, and it is safe to say most people didn’t even know Google Reader existed, don’t know what an RSS reader is, and certainly had no idea why you would use one.

I was one of the news junkies, though, who was left scrambling for a new way to get my daily fire hose of news. So after a lot of research, and even more trial and error, I’ve found Feedly to be a more than capable replacement. And while you might not be interested in going through hundreds of stories a day as I do in my professional life, Feedly is flexible enough that it can also be a fabulous tool for pretty much anyone who has any interests they want to read about. Continue reading →

04.21.13
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Why I chose HootSuite for my social media work.

HootSuite Certified Professional Feature with Brian MulawkaHootSuite University recently posted a ‘Featured Certified Professional’ article where they talked to me about my experiences using their platform and going through their certification program. You can read the full item here, but since then a number of people have asked me why I chose HootSuite over other platforms in the first place.

I both monitor social media and create and publish social media content for my clients, and quite simply I’ve never found another platform that allows me to do so much all in one place.

And to be completely honest, price is another huge factor. The free version of HootSuite is incredibly powerful, and for just $9.99 the pro version has most of the features I use. The only other costs are for custom analytics, but I’ll come back to that. So basically you’re looking at a free or almost free social media dashboard where you can monitor all your social media in one place. Continue reading →

04.20.13
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Cel phones extensions could ring in the end for landlines

HTC Mini - Landline killer?Our family’s landline has long been an expense that I’ve greedily eyed for elimination. After all, we’ve got 3 cel phones in our house, do we really need these extra handsets just because we’re at home?

The argument against moving to strictly cellular phones (mostly from others in my house) is generally that without extra handsets we’d have to carry our cel phones around all the time. If we go into the basement or upstairs, we’d have to tote our cel phone around all the time if we want to be able to answer it.

Not so anymore, thanks to the HTC Mini.

Continue reading →

04.17.13
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Simple social media rule: Don’t joke about tragedy.

Epicurious Enrages Followers With Boston Bombings Tweets

People all over the world are still reeling from the horrific bombing in Boston yesterday, and feeling profoundly shaken by the graphic images from the attack.

Social media mangers for hundreds of companies and organizations rushed to offer condolences and support, and to let people know how they can help. As seems to always be the case, however, there was at least one who took the opportunity to make an insensitive, ill thought-out and unfunny joke about the situation.

When will social media managers get the message? When it comes to tragedies like this, people won’t appreciate your joke, and your brand can suffer significant and permanent damage. Continue reading →