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Blackberry Etiquette

The professional world of the U.A.E , and especially Dubai, is a very fast paced one indeed. I mean come on, we have the tallest building in the world Burj Khalifa, the largest mall The Dubai Mall , the fastest roller coaster at Ferrari World. You name it, we've got it (even obesity).

Everyone's used to larger, bigger, faster, shinier and more technologically advanced communications tools. (Including the iPhone4 and the Blackberry). In all parts of the world people want to look good. Now "good" can be used very broadly and by "good" i mean Fancy, Shiny, New, Up-to-Date, Busy, Important, Rich... I think you get my drift.

Don't get me wrong  I LOVE the UAE, and I am one of the many people that also cares about the way people perceive me. I am very aware of how people are judged (or think they are judged) by the types of phone that I/we own.

Technology, commerce, trade... all this things have been picked up so quickly by a country as young as the UAE, that places alot of importance on instant gratification, that people have missed out on something very vital... Etiquette.

Some rules of thumb for all us blackberry users:


1. If you are in a meeting, put your phone away.
Not on the desk in front of you, and not just on silent. AWAAAY! Turn OFF the vibration, better yet... turn off the phone! Out of site, out of mind. If you are expecting an important phone call and the call comes through during the meeting, excuse yourself and leave the meeting, and come back when your done.


2.If you are in the office, or out socialising, turn off your notifications.
I'm sure you find it extremely annoying when your phone is constantly beeping away, as do others. It is extremely distracting. Change the profile to vibrate and keep it in your pocket.


3. When typing a BBM, SMS or an Email...
Avoid doing so within close proximity to strangers. They will feel uncomfortable for being tempted to snoop and you will feel hateful towards them for reading your emails. You could buy a screen protector.

4. Avoid eyeing your blackberry when chatting to a friend.
We are all guilty of this... how many times have I seen (or have been in ) a situation where people are glued to their communications devices when out with their friends... effectively outcasting themselves and their friends by NOT communicating to them.


5. Please please please please NO BROADCASTS.
I know that some of the jokes we receive are incredibly hilarious and possibly even a relief. But it is really annoying when you receive the same broadcast ten times from ten different people.
(Though I must admit broadcasts about new speed cameras are gladly received!)


Blackberries are great communications devices, and are excellent when you need to send an emergency email or if your out of the office heading to/from a meeting (not at a meeting!) they can be excellent help when looking for directions. However, you should try not to use it in excess. Especially when you stop physically communicating with people in favour of digital communication.

Dubai Metro Advertising

In my post, " Hot enough to fry an egg? " , I talked about the witty ambient advertising that Saatchi and Saatchi Dubai used to try to get people onto the metro. I've managed to find more images online thanks to Ads of the World ! enjoy!

Update: I'd like to thank @msliedrecht for pointing out that Saatchi and Saatchi won the Dubai Lynx award for best small scale ambient advertising (for this campaign).

Click on the title of the blog for the link to the original. =)

 
Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Dubai, UAE Executive Creative Director: Marc Lineveldt Creative Director: Danny Higgins Copywriter: Neil Harrison Advertiser’s Supervisor: Sara Mohammed Al Mudharreb Account Manager: Hema Patel Account Supervisor: Chandresh Rughani Art Director: Darren Jardine Photographer: Tara Atkinson

Vintage cigarette ads

    SBT Co. Ltd has come up with a fantastic invention called the E-Cigarette.

It's an electronic cigarette that actually tricks the brain into thinking you are smoking ...
The "end"of the cigarette is filled with nicotine, dosages of which you can increase or decrease, it even gives you a heating option, that increases the temperature of the end of the cigarette. 

Interesting huh?

It was only a few decades ago (1920's onwards I believe) that advertisers were influencing women to smoke more. Telling them that it's cool, sexy and independent women that smoke (insert desired brand). (and telling men that they'll be manlier and more appealing to women if they smoke). They use lack of coughing, slimming down, celebrity endorsements, and flavors as incentives to attract potential and current smokers.

There are also ALOT of inappropriate sexual innuendos (entertaining too) ... just pointing them out! 

I've collected the following images from Google images:

Online shopping! My first time

Today, I had my very first online shopping experience. It is amazing the fear you get from pressing one little button!

Click here to see my previous online shopping articles

I had been planning on buy the Canon 550D DSLR camera for ages now, and have finally saved up enough to buy it. So I went round to all the stores and played around with the camera, (and checked out cheaper options), looked around for the best deals, including second hand cameras on www.dubizzle.com , and finally made up my mind to buy it - but not where to buy it from...

Therefore, I freaked out yet again and started asking around and my colleague tells me that www.souq.com now has  a "Deal of the Day" section.

So I logged on to Souq.com and Lo-and-behold! Souq is selling the exact camera I want with a carry case and 8GB memory (including the default 18mm lens) for 2,999 thats 8,50 Dhs cheaper than I was going to get for it anywhere else.


So seeing that there were only FOUR more of those left, Yasmin did the unthinkable... she took a chance. She made a hasty decision without asking for anyone's thoughts on the matter.


*Cue scary music*

.... She clicked onto BUY NOW

I don't own a credit card so I can't buy item online... BUT they had the option to pay CASH-ON-DELIVERY which is like the coolest more awesomest thing for a person freaked out by online shopping!

It was relatively simple, all I had to do was to put in my PO BOX address and phone number.... click on confirm... and that was it! I went back to the main page and it said there were only THREE cameras left (im guessing I got the fourth) ...I then breathed a sigh of relief when I got a confirmation mail from the website with my order on it.

So, we'll find out in 3-7days!

I Got IT! -----------------------------> it took 5days tuesday -->sun

Will have LOADS of fun with this!

iPhone 4 VS Blackberry. The result.

After all my talk about wanting to be an Apple fan girl , I went out and bought a Blackberry.

 

Mission:  Buy the iPhone 4

Technique: Cash in Hand

Special instructions: Keep old prepaid number, or cheapest postpaid contract.

Result: Mission Failed

Don't get me wrong! I desperately wanted the iPhone 4, it was going to be one of those purchases that was going to change my life forever and make everything seem perfectly fine, like a new pair of shoes.

I had been tormenting myself for months thinking about which phone would be the best purchasing decision to make.

To me:

Apple = Creative ,Cool, geeky (which we now know means cool to me) , tech savvy, original,  reliable, MONEY.

Blackberry = Professional, dull, smart (British meaning) , connectivity, BBM, Dull, dull ,dull, reliable, does the job.

What happened was this, I went in there with one goal in hand, to buy the iPhone 4.

I went to the Du stand first, all happy and perky with 3000AED  that I had saved tucked carefully away in my hand bag. (I had  a friend working there and was hoping she could give me a really good deal) turns out I needed my passport photocopy AND a salary certificate to prove that I earn more than AED 3000 a month. Obviously I don't go running around with spare copies of my passport lying around, let alone salary certificates, so, disappointed, i trudged along to the next stand.

Then I went to Jackey's (They had a deal with Etisalat so I could save around 300AED) , at Jackey's I needed my Passport photocopy PPC (again) AND i needed to pay by credit card (which I dont have and don't plan on having), I could've cried I was so excited to get it and start playing around with it.

Eventually, feeling really downtrodden, I glanced at the Blackberries. The sales lady instantly pounced and told me that the bold 9700 only cost 1599 AED. Grudgingly, I asked what documents I needed to buy it, the lady said that If  I had my PPC then i could get a another phone with it as a freebie. I said no, I JUST want the phone. No contract, I want my prepaid number and I want etisalat to credit my account with 185 AED a month.

Sure! The lady says... well I can be really indecisive and I wasn't going to go back to GITEX and I couldn't make a purchasing decision like that on the spot, especially after all my months of decision making.

So I went home.

And I thought, you know what, I need a smartphone now and it's so much easier to buy a Blackberry. (I am An Advertising Sales Executive and I am constantly on the road and often need to check my emails or a location map).

I headed down to Virgin Megastores, and buying it was so easy, I could afford to buy a car charger and a bb case, as well as go get my hair done. At the end of the day, because the buying process was so easy, I bought the Blackberry.

I'll be buying the iPhone 4 once they sell it without an obligatory contact !!! (and no I dont want to buy an unlocked phone)

GITEX Microsites

So GITEX 2010 is coming up! And companies are going wild creating microsites to keep us all up to date!

Here are a few:

1. Tbreak Special 
2. Spot On Pr's Gitex Live
3. AME Info Gitex
4. Gitex on Facebook

Enjoy! See you all there!