I got to be on PR Week’s podcast last week!  It was such a cool experience!

I’ll tell you how that came about.  I met Steve, the Editor-in-Chief of PR Week, at a Cision seminar I attended last month.  Cision is a PR and social software company (and I manage the social media for a PR company, so that’s why I was there).  

Steve was one of the panelists who spoke, and I really liked some of his observations and expert insights.  I spotted him by the bar after Cision’s presentation and boldly decided to introduce myself and tell him how great I thought he was on the panel.  Steve was gracious and kind to me, and we had a very animated conversation about social media and influencer marketing.  It’s a subject I know a lot about on account I am addicted to it, and I get pretty passionate.  After a good half-hour of talking, Steve invited me to be on his podcast.  This was never my goal when I began speaking to him, but naturally I squealed with delight and accepted immediately.  

If you haven't seen it already, please enjoy it here (the other gent is "Franktastic" Frank):

So here are my take-aways if you want to get invited onto podcasts or the like:

• Go to events and places where media-types hang out. So much of this is being in the right place at the right time, and while some of that is luck, you can increase your chances with effort.  The right place is never at home on your couch. Get out there!
• Don't be shy. Introduce yourself! (See networking tips here.)
• Have something to say once you introduce yourself. The seminar and Steve's remarks provided a built-in conversation in my case.
• Say "yes"! I didn't have an agenda to get anything out of the conversation other than a pleasant experience with someone very knowledgable in a subject I enjoy. And that's probably the best way to approach an interaction, because I think people can sniff out a user pretty quickly. But, when Steve presented me with the opportunity, I quickly pushed aside any nervousness I was feeling about being interviewed and said that I would love to. In fact, keeping an open mind and an open heart to new experiences is probably my number one tip.

UPDATE:  Read where I am quoted by PRWeek here.

You may have read the last installment in our Stuff @Xtramoney Does to His Pixel series, in which @Xtramoney (whose mother actually named him Mark) and I relied on the Google Maps location-sharing feature to real-time track his phone around Manhattan after he left it in the back of a cab.  The story ended happily; Mark got his phone back and a special taxi driver got a very large tip.

So this weekend Mark and I go to a lake house with one of our friends, @icreatelife_ (known as Kristina to people who don’t have Instagram).  

We are having a wonderful day at the lake, with Mark snapping pics the entire time on his phone.  

​We play bocce ball while drinking adult beverages, float in the water while drinking adult beverages, and cruise around in a motor boat while drinking adult beverages.    ​

1.  Have an adventurous spirit
 
Manhattanhenge is an amazing phenomenon that occurs in one of the most populous cities in the world.  As such, it draws thousands of people every summer who are looking to capture an iconic photo.  You’ll have to contend with your fellow shutterbugs and swerving taxis to get your shot.  Come mentally prepared for an adventure!

2.  Center yourself
 
I’m not talking metaphorically.  The appeal of Manhattanhenge is that the sun sets in direct alignment with the NYC street grid.  To get the best shot of the sun sinking in between skyscrapers, you will actually have to stand in the exact middle of the street.  “But aren’t there cars on the street?” you may be asking yourself.  Yes, there are.  Wait until the light turns red, and rush out into the middle of the street.  I’m a big fan of symmetry in my photography, so this is a must for me.

3.  Technical Tips  

It is very possible to take a fantastic shot of Manhattanhenge with a mobile phone.  Here are some of my tips for doing just that. 
 
-Turn on your gridlines.  This will help you compose your shot symmetrically.
 
-Use the AE/AF (exposure / focus) lock function on your phone.  While looking at the screen in your camera app, tap just around the sun.  The phone will adjust the exposure and update the display in real time.  Don’t tap the sun itself; exposure will be too dark.  And don’t tap the buildings or the street; you will find this over-exposes the image.  Just try tapping around the sun until you are satisfied with the image you see on the screen, then hold down on the screen to lock the focus and exposure.  This is especially important because you will likely be lifting the phone over your head to take the shot (to get a clear shot over everyone’s heads).
 
-Bring a pair of headphones with adjustable volume.  Did you know the volume buttons on a phone also take a picture when you’re in the camera app?  If you plug in headphones, the volume buttons on your earbuds will allow you to take a shot.  Again, this comes in handy if you are holding your phone high above your head.  It will also help you to reduce shake. 
 
-Stand still.  Very still.  As the light gets lower and lower, the camera will have to compensate with a lower exposure.  If you shake at all during the process, your photo will look blurry.  Hold your phone still, and ideally take the shot with your headphones so you aren’t even tapping the phone and moving it.  Hold the phone still both before and after the shot just to ensure stability.     
 
-Don’t use your phone’s zoom.  You may be tempted, but don’t do it.  It’s the quickest way to degrade your image quality.  Using digital zoom means you’ll be using less of your image sensor, and it also means your image stabilization will be thrown off.  So if you want to get a closer shot – zoom with your feet (walk closer).
 
-Don’t use your flash.  Make sure it is turned off (not even on auto).  I guarantee you are not lighting up Manhattan with your phone’s flash; all it will do is wash out your foreground and leave your background underexposed. 
 
-Turn on HDR, but also “keep normal photo.”  HDR, or High Dynamic Resolution, takes three photos in rapid succession: one it considers normally exposed, then one slightly under- and one slightly over-exposed.  The phone will then layer the pics and you wind up with a photo that has all the lovely highlights of a bright image with all the details of a darker image.  You’ll still want to set your phone to “keep normal photo” in addition to the HDR version.  And again, remember the tip above to stay very still while exposing if your HDR is turned on.     
 
-Take a ton of pics. Take photos in both portrait and landscape orientation.  Get creative with adding landmarks or silhouettes into your shot.  The sun will set fast, but each degree it sinks will offer a different beautiful light and color.  Just keep snapping until it is completely gone from the sky. This gives you the most options and increases your chances of having a photo that you love.

I’ve been told I need to be blogging by I think everybody.  One of the main reasons is that it increases your SEO rankings.  As someone who likes getting found and hired by brands, I said to myself, okay, self, you really should sit down and just write a blog. 

They say write what you know, so I figured I’d write about my life as a social media marketer / influencer so that in addition to increasing my SEO, I might actually provide some interesting or helpful content to fellow people also trying to muddle their way through this still-evolving industry. 

And so I did write, and I posted one blog each week for three weeks.  And I’m here to say you all were right.  Here’s the graph of my web site traffic in the past six months.  My one-month increase in page views after posting three blogs, one per week, is 412%.  So here’s a tip, guys.  You need to be blogging.

​

He looks at me with terror in his eyes and utters the words that would send chills down anyone’s spine: “I lost my phone.”​

Mark (@Xtramoney) is tapping each pocket, more and more frantically.  I say the most unhelpful thing, but it’s the thing everyone says in this situation: “Where did you have it last?”

We think.  Was it in the coffee shop? I call quickly, and they look.  No. It’s not there.

Mark remembers having it out in the cab.  I call his phone a few times, but no one picks it up.

I open a browser and look up the Yellow Cab Lost and Found.  You have to file a form online.  Mark paid in cash and did not get a receipt, and neither of us remember the cab number. 

Mark looks like someone just kicked his puppy.  “Is there a way to track it?” he asks out loud.  

We both have Google Pixel phones.  @Xtramoney and I are Google Ambassadors, and as such, they give us free stuff like the Pixel.  We are still learning it, so we are not sure if there is a “Find My iPhone”-type function.  

“Oh!” the lightbulb moment happened.  “I can see it!”

One of the new functions on the Google Maps app is that you can share your location real-time with friends.  Luckily, we had enabled it for each other.  I opened the app and we could see Mark’s little avatar bopping around Manhattan.

We ran to the nearest taxi and dramatically instructed the driver to follow that cab!  (Then we showed him the screen and explained what we meant.)  Well, we picked the right cab driver.  Ibrahim embraced the challenge like it was his own precious smart phone that was perilously close to being lost forever.

“It’s headed uptown!” Mark instructed.  “It’s stopped at Fordham!”
“West Side Highway?  No, it’s coming down 11th!”

Ibrahim weaved through honking cars, sped through yellow lights, and nearly ran down elderly pedestrians while we cheered him on from the back seat.  He planned aloud to cut off the cab and brake so that Mark could jump out and get the phone.  Ibrahim is the embodiment of everything that is wonderful about New York.

After taking a ridiculous route uptown, we slowed.  The avatar bubble had stopped moving, and we were close.  Mark remembered the taxi we were in looked like a Prius, and the driver was a thin, middle-aged black guy in a white shirt.  We saw the taxi!  But it was empty.

Ibrahim was scanning the streets with intensity.  “The Subway!” he yelled with excitement.  He pointed to a Subway sandwich shop on the block.  Mark dashed in and sure enough, the driver had parked his taxi to get some food.  He quickly got over the shock of being accosted and let Mark into his cab so Mark could retrieve the phone.  It had slid under one of the seats.

Mark returned to Ibrahim’s car triumphantly and we breathed a collective sigh of relief, probably just like SEAL Team Six does after extracting a prisoner of war.

I’m not sure what the moral of this story is, but I think maybe it's f$%k Uber, take NY yellow cabs.  They're awesome.