I know, 1st update in forever

So.. a lot has changed, and a lot is going on, but lets keep it interesting and i'll tell you about my latest news. I met someone (work related) who I think could really manage our public profile, and could give our public face the perfect female touch. The part that intrigued me the most is how much experience this person has, and how similar they are to me. Its a small world after all

The 3 ways Aaron Bitler is going to change the world in 3 years

First, I owe it to everyone who reads or might read my blog an update. I recently graduated from VA Tech (may of 2011)... something that I never thought would ever happen. Life is good.. Life is new, and exciting, and I am loving every second of it. After graduation I left good old Blacksburg and moved to Orlando where I teamed up with a company called Crunchy Logistics as the Director of Interactive Systems :) So I guess hard work, innovation and a little luck really does pay off!

So Aaron.. you have a "new life".. what are the 3 ways you are going to change the world in the next 3 years?

#1 Way I am going to change the world: Home Automation/Natural User Systems
Well first, I plan to revolutionize the way humans talk.. (actually interact) with computers. I have previously used the term NUI or Natural User Interface to describe this up and coming phenomena, but now.. after brainstorming with the real talent of this ambition, I will be using the term Natural User System.. because we have moved beyond a more natural "interface" and have made significant progress towards a more complete system that encompasses all aspects of a users life. What?!?! Ill explain...

...You wake up in the morning, about the same time you normally do.. and the shower is warming up, the fan attached to the vent is running, you get into the shower and over the speaker you just installed, a voice tells you the latest news from Hack-a-Day, Endgaget, and Popsci... after getting ready.. your about to walk out of the door, when that same computer voice says "Aaron, just to let you know there is a 70% of rain this evening, you might want to grab an umbrella"... you respond... "Computer.. (or Alice ;)... I don't have an umbrella" ...(later that day, on your way home from work, Alice reminds you to pick up an umbrella).
...get the picture?

If you have ever seen the movie Iron Man.. which I am sure you have, this narrative might remind you of that movie where the main character "talks" with his computer. Well, what you saw in that movie.. and what I just described to you might sound like science fiction.. well I can assure you it is not, in fact we are extremely close to this. All of the pieces are there.. its just that no one has put them together... until now. And that is why I am excited for the Townsend/Bitler team to demonstrate this concept and technology to the Crunchy team this Thursday/Friday.

#2 Way I am going to change the world: The STAT Box
It's late.. I have work tomorrow.. not really in the mood to explain this concept to the fullest and not sure I even could :P
In a nut shell, Imagine the xbox kinnect and all of it's glorious power, now take that power.. plug it into a statistical program with some smart algorithms.. add a cheap computer or maybe even to some computer cloud. What do you have? ...well what you have is a box that you the business man, the PR person, the researcher, the professor, can set anywhere.. add a couple of parameters, and in a few hours get un-bias, reliable statistical information. What? Ask yourself, how many people and human hours would it take to do a study on.. lets say.. "what the difference is in Orlando between the people who drink diet coke and regular coke?".. it would take a lot of human hours and a decent amount of undergrad students... yea. Now what if you put a box in front of the fountain machines, the soda aisle in the grocery store.. and in 2 weeks you came back, plugged in your little black box to your PC/MAC (through USB of course) and up came a spread sheet that told you all of the things you were looking for? Pretty powerful in my book.. but who am I to give an opinion.. I only grew up during the Internet age..lol

#3 Way I am going to change the world: The mtBAR
:) I think the title says enough

Thank You e-mail to Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary!

I would first like to say THANK YOU for...

1) coming to VA Tech

2) speaking at Tech pro bono

3) being the most interesting speaker I have heard in a long time

4) bringing charisma

5) the cool & creative stuff you gave to the students

6) ..and for really caring about the students, and staying up until every single student had a chance to talk to you, it really shows a lot of character.

In all honesty, it is people like you.. who saw an opportunity, worked their ass’s off, had a little luck, kept working their ass’s off, made it big, AND THEN “paid it forward” ..that people like me, look up to.

I really think more college kids should hear your story because I think you hit the nail on the head, on so many topics. Coming from someone who takes pride in being involved with technology before most other people, you really know your stuff. I could talk all day with you about what and how technology is going to be used in the future (near future). Coming from someone who is also an Entrepreneur, you have a great story that can/will encourage others to do something other than the 8-5 job.

I started my own company about 2 years ago.. and things worked out pretty well in the end, (I merged with another company, Crunchy Logistics.. didn't make any financial profit off the merge, but I am profiting very well in experience/knowledge.. lol) And although I am not making it big, when I share my story with other people, especially the students in the E-Club (Entrepreneur Club), their eyes light up and I can see the wheels turning.. what I am trying to get at, is that when I was in their shoes and heard other peoples stories, and when other people hear our story of how we became an entrepreneur, it helps them figure out what they want to do and encourages them.

I just thought you should know that :)

**This is the 1st half.. the rest is business**

the GaryV E-MAIL CHALLENGE!!

Okay guys, I was going to tweet this, but after trying to break up my tweet into 2 tweets (because I was over the limit), I needed to do justice to the cause and explain whats going on.

I was lucky enough to meet GaryV in person after what I am sure was a long day, and I was told I should e-mail him... Well if you have been doing PR for as long as me.. which isnt that long at all, you have quickly learned that trying to talk to the people in charge.. the people who ultimately make the decision, basically the head honchos, is hard.. it is hard to be able to talk to them.. ill tell you another story later down the road about Jeff Han.. basically how the father of multi-touch blew me off and I will never forget it. He PROMISED me an interview for a school project... while on the phone with Jeff he said "Just e-mail me the questions you would like answered"... I e-mail them to him, a week later nothing, so I e-mail him again and a week later nothing.. So I start calling.. my project is overdue, not like he said he would do it for me or anything. It got to the point where I called him everyday, multiple times.. and left messages, and still nothing, I would have gladly taken a "no, aaron, Im busy" ..I would have even taken a Fuck you answer. It was just the simple fact that he never got back to me, that I will never forget about. (Well jeff, move over because you made me just that more determined)

IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE. Unless you are talking to a small company, that you will get a chance to have direct conversations with the CEO, and that is why I think this whole concept is of "Husitle 2.0" f-ing cool.

Because it is now 3:39am and it is taking me 2453451324512x longer to write I am going to wrap this up with this: The 24 hour promise is bold, and in principle freaking awesome, but with a auto response video explaining that he is just one person and cant always get to your e-mail right away, we will double the amount of hours to 48.

SO if I/we get a response in 48hrs, it is just as good as if I we got it in 24hrs, at least in my book.

I sent my e-mail at 1:45pm.. so lets see what happens!!

my Next big shift in life

Wow... Things are going to be different,

After my little adventure to Orlando this past weekend, meeting Gary Vaynerchuk, and finally taking my prescribed medication for ADHD.. which I had stopped taking for awhile to give my body a break, I came to the realization that I can + should get more out of life. From now on, I... am going to keep a better web presence!

Here is what I am going to do:

1) At least twice a week, I am going to host a online show, that will last at least 5 mins. I am not 100% what its going to be about, but it will most definitely involve technology. I realized this weekend that, I have a lot of shit to talk about, and its actually interesting and useful.

2) I will update my Blog.. this blog... aaronbitler.blogspot.com at least twice a week, and it will be primary focused around my opinions and ideas.

3) I will update my twitter... which I don't even really know how to use very well (they recently made some changes) at least ONCE a day. My twitter will act like my "status update" ...like what I am doing, what project I am working on, random ideas that suddenly pop in my head.

4) I will use facebook for primary personal reasons.. except the fan pages, which are for work. I will upload my pics to facebook. My rules for facebook are.. and have been, that I will only be your "friend" on facebook if I know you.. and are someone I could have a beer with.. or any other adult beverage.

5) Youtube and Viemo... I will be using you guys to upload my show to.

6) Blogger.. I am going to use you as my website until I figure out what I want to do about a website.. I am thinking Wix or Wordpress

7) Phone.. you as well as blogspot/blogger will keep the glue together. You guys are my central means of communication. I promise to use my phone in the most efficient way possible, with apps and settings that only help that efficiency. And.. I will try... to never let you die

8) Phone.. I am already very good at this, but just to share with the world, I will never let a miss call happen... unless I either cant hear you.. or I am in a situation where answering my phone would not be acceptable, I will always answer my phone... so I guess its a good thing I have Verizon.. sorry at&t your not reliable.

9) E-mail accounts, I am going to have you all forward to the same account, I only want 1 that I have to check.

10) E-mails! Don't worry! It's called "Hustle 2.0" and it means I will read every single e-mail I get (send to aaron@crunchylogistics.com) and respond within 24 hours. (If I don't.. and I can afford it, I buy you a case of beer and overnight it within the next day*)

And because I feel like 10 is a good number well stop there.

*NOTE: I cant afford to buy myself.. let alone anyone else a case of beer, but I will still answer you within 24 hours.. pinkie promise

the mtBAR comes alive!

Wow, the mtBAR! It was a huge hit at the Automate 2011 and I really think it opened everyones eyes to the potential of this technology. I could write a book about just this past week but I will keep it short. Since my first multi-touch.. about 2 years ago, I have wanted to work on a project like this.. a multi-touch bar. With a lot of hard work from a lot of different people and with some luck, the mtBAR became a success story! I have to give credit to the Crunchy Logistics team, Neil Dufva, Brandon Hill, John Hargrove, and of course myself (Aaron Bitler), for coming together to make this happen, we spent many nights and many hours to make it all work. And also the Imaging Source for allowing us to unleash our full potential.

Challenges in PR (Public Relations)

First Post!

I created this Blog so that others could learn from my experience. I recently was asked to handle all of the Public Relations for the company I work for and what a challange has it been.

After gaining some traction and booking some notable news outlets I have been struggling to book more. So far the G4 channel, and Hak5 show have confirmed they will be featuring our company's new product, the mtBAR. I also was able to get a story published in the Collegiate Times and Daily Press, but those stories were more about me than the product or company.

Although I have contacted over 50 media outlets and have sent 100's of e-mails my most recent focus has been on 4 news organizations.

Number 1: CNET, I've called them at least 10 times now, and left several voicemails, and even spoke with Molly Wood for a brief second (she thought I was someone else and said she was waiting for someone and told me to e-mail her).

Number 2: AMD, yes the same AMD that owns ATI, we are using some of ATI's best hardware, you think they would want some free publicity. NOPE.. cant get in touch with anyone. I've called and e-mail both the Public Relations person and the Marketing person and no one will answer. :(

Number 3: Orlando Sentinels Newspaper.. I am having some luck

Number 4: Chicago Tribune.. Since the trade show is in Chicago you would think they would want to cover it.