Maybe I'm just nit-picking, but it's a little cumbersome to use a thumb drive every time I need to share or back up small files. E-mail attachment size limits are too small, and burning a CD just for one file is cumbersome and wasteful, but I have to get the files from A to B somehow. So what do I do?

I use an online backup service called Dropbox, which generously gives me 2 gigabytes of storage for free. That's the size of a typical thumb drive, and because it's all online, I don't have to carry one around and risk losing my personal data on the side of a road somewhere.

When I installed it, Dropbox created a folder that automatically uploads files I save inside it to the Internet. I can get those files from any computer by logging into my account on their web site.

The files are synchronized to other computers that are running Dropbox and are signed into my account. I use my desktop and MacBook to work on projects, and with this feature I know I'm always editing the latest version.

Dropbox really shines when I need to share a file with someone. Inside my Dropbox folder, there's a folder labeled "Public." When I have a file I need to send to someone, I copy it into that folder instead of just putting it in the main Dropbox folder.

When I right click on the file and click the "Dropbox" menu item, it gives me the "Copy Public Link" option. This copies a link to the file online to my clipboard that I can paste into any e-mail or instant message. I can even use a URL shortening service like bit.ly to make the link short enough to write down.

Since discovering Dropbox, my thumb drives have been feeling very neglected.

Maybe I'll turn them into Christmas ornaments.

Photo credit:  chrismear

***

Joseph Rooks is a freelance writer and designer.  He blogs at Keeping Tech Simple, his photos are on flickr, and he's on Twitter @josephrooks.

Dear Getting a Grip:  Every year my company holds a holiday office party.  Every year I debate whether or not to go.   This year, you decide.  Yes or no?

Dear Holiday Spirit:  Facebook has nothing on the holiday office party for creating angst over the crossing of the line between personal and professional.

One way to decide is to perform a cost-benefit analysis, even in a spreadsheet if need be.  Each option requires yes/no weighing.  First the costs:  What are the personal costs of going?  Perhaps time away from your family?  What are the personal costs of not going?  Will you miss social time spent with co-workers who are friends?

What are the professional costs of going?  Might you tend to drink too much and say things that will plague you at work later?  What are the professional costs of not going?  Maybe resentment from the rah-rah supervisor who organized the event?

Now to the benefits.  What are the personal benefits of going…the personal benefits of not going…

Getting a Grip:  What do you want to do?  Given you have x number of years on the planet, how do you want to spend the hours during which the office party is scheduled?  If you want to go to the party, go.  If you don’t, don’t.  Sometimes deciding what to do can be that simple.

***

Need to start “Getting a Grip” on a personal problem at work?  Need workplace advice?  E-mail your question to grip@handshake20.com.

Getting a Grip, a workplace advice column for Handshake 2.0, is written by Anne Giles Clelland.  Getting a Grip regrets that not all questions can be answered, personal replies are not possible, and questions may be edited for brevity and clarity.

***

Getting a Grip appears monthly in Valley Business FRONT.  A version of this column appeared in the November 2009 issue.

From Elizabeth Parsons:

Some finer points on consultant culture

Allan Tsang is a consultant, but you wouldn’t know it by his friendly, unassuming demeanor. 

“Consultants,” he told me at a recent glitterati event celebrating the area’s technology community, “don’t give out business cards. It’s just the opposite of what you would think. Business cards say ‘salesman.’”

“Nor do they shake hands.” Allan extended his hand to demonstrate. I reached out to accept it, and instead he wrapped his fingers gently around my elbow, leaning in. “’Let’s talk,’” he said, in his best consultant voice, deep and serious. “Follow me over to the table.”

Such is the upside down world of “marketing” for the crème of the crème consultant. The best ones are like those elusive, sexy strangers hovering around the edges of the party. You might hear about them - but never will the accolades stream from them. Blatant self-promotion is tacky, the telltale sign of a wannabe.

Most area techies know Allan for his 88owls.com, which the entrepreneur describes as “eHarmony for business,” matching companies eager for seasoned, reliable consultants with “the one” (or ones). Each consultant is carefully vetted; they must prove they’ve been in the game at least 10 years. 

I just passed the 10-year milestone in writing, PR and marketing, but I don’t do mysterious well.  And I’m not ready to burn the business cards that emerged after a 12-hour brutal battle of the wits with my printer. But for those ready to join (or access) the “in” crowd, give Allan a shout. 

Since, for now, I'm more comfortable with the “freelance” moniker, I've been checking out oDesk.  I've joined a smorgasbord of fellow freelancers who offer their services at competitive rates.  Like in any free market, I've got to do the  leg work to construct my success - but oDesk sure does it make easy for me to find work, and for work to find me. 

Video credit:  Z. Kelly Queijo 

***

Elizabeth Parsons is a seasoned editor, writer, and communications professional.  You can follow her on Twitter at @e_claire_p.

Anticipating the premiere of Handshake Media's corporate video on December 1, 2009, I've been reflecting on my history with short films and music videos.

When MTV launched in 1981, I saw my second music video.  I saw my first 10 years earlier before a now-forgotten feature film as an unforgettable short:  Skater Dater.

According to Wikipedia, "Skater Dater" won the Palme d'Or for Best Short Film at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival.  It was re-released in 1971 which is probably when I saw it.

Why do I think of Skater Dater when I think of Handshake Media's video which I previewed a few days ago?

Art with film and music.

You're invited to the 3-minute premiere of Handshake Media's corporate video at Bull & Bones Brewhaus and Grill, on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 6:00 - 6:03 PM, EST. 

And you're invited to read more about the story of Handshake Media's video.

Blacksburg Media is a client of Handshake Media, Incorporated, the parent company of Handshake 2.0, and Handshake Media, Incorporated is a client of Blacksburg Media.

You're invited to the 3-minute premiere of Handshake Media's corporate video.

A 3-minute premiere?!  Yes!  Can you guess what kind of video it is?!

Thanks to Matt Vaughn of Bull & Bones Brewhaus and Grill, the YouTube version of the video will debut on the big screen in the billiard room and bar.

When? 6:00 PM to 6:03 PM, EST, on Tuesday, December 1, 2009.

We're buying the first drink for the first 50 people who join us to celebrate!

Jarred Foresman, director of the video and head of Blacksburg Media will be there, as will familiar faces you will recognize from the video.

We so hope you will come!

Here are the directions to Bull & Bones, located at First & Main on South Main Street in Blacksburg, Virginia.  We've written about the development of the video and we wrote about Bull & Bones when it opened to the public on New Year's Eve.

The only hint we'll give you about the content of the video is that it ends with this:

I look forward to replacing this:

with this:

***

The Parametric Pumpkin Pie image was created using Wolfram's Mathematica by Alex Edelman. Here's a high-resolution .pdf of the Mathematica Notebook.  Here are all the parametric images on Handshake 2.0.

As I've written about in a series of posts, Blacksburg Media is making a corporate video for Handshake 2.0 to be released next week. I expressed my very rational (not!) reasons for initiating this project on my corporate blog.  I was drawn to waiting to view the video for the first time at its premiere. Z. Kelly Queijo, founder of SmartCollegeVisit, made a survey for us to help us seek guidance from others and to explore the issues of corporate use of social media - of which a YouTube video would be one medium - more fully.

• Should Anne preview her new Handshake 2.0 corporate video before the public sees it, or should she wait and view it for the first time with the public?
• What do you think? Anne wants to know. How risky is it to share branded media before the CEO has seen it or approved it?

Although I am one of the 2 who voted, "Yes, go for it!", the simple, elegant graph that results from a survey created with Google Docs made the way clear.

I previewed the video.

Were our corporate message and our corporate brand conveyed accurately enough that I could have seen the video for the first time at its premiere? Absolutely. I tweeted what I felt after viewing the video.

Before previewing, I wrote on my personal Facebook page:

I feel like previewing the video and asking for a change is like asking a poet to revise a sonnet to rhyme this word, not that one. I want to share the first reading, to share the unveiling with everyone else, like everyone else. Ah, well."

Did I see any moment in the video - any rhyme - that I would change? No, I did not.

Did I see wording in the opening text that I would like edited a tad to more specifically do the branding work I intended that I may not have conveyed fully during initial conversations?  Yes.

As a CEO responsible for the direction of my company, should I have previewed the video? Probably, yes.

I also wrote this on my Facebook page:

You know why I don't want to preview the video created by Jarred Foresman of Blacksburg Media... ? Because at the beginning of the project, I asked him to create art and let go.

He did. It's art.

From Anne Clelland, Handshake 2.0:

We are having a corporate video made by Blacksburg Media that will be released next week.  We've written about the process and are now considering the next step.  We want to host a premiere and invite all to come view the video in person before the next day's release.  I am torn.  I have not seen the video yet and to celebrate it, I want to view it for the first time with everyone at the premiere.  Yet, corporate responsibility calls and I wonder if I should view the video before it's released to make sure it matches my corporate message and vision.

What to do?

Z. Kelly Queijo made a cool survey for her own site, SmartCollegeVisit, and very kindly made one for Handshake 2.0, too!  I would love to run this question by you.

If you cared to leave a comment, we'd love to learn more about your answer. Thank you so much for participating. We'll share the results!

From Wallace B. Newton Sr. (Wally), for First College Visit, a series of first college visit stories by business professionals sponsored by SmartCollegeVisit.

When I first visited Virginia Tech, it was known as Virginia Polytechnic Institute  -  VPI. In the summer of 1966, I was a rising high school senior.   One of my best friend’s dads had gone to VPI way back when, and he brought us both to campus for a visit.

VPI seemed  a long way from my hometown of Newport News, Virginia.  I remember walking into Burruss Hall, with its massive doors and massive auditorium, then meeting Dean Dean, an older man (it seemed) who knew my friend’s dad.  They talked old times; I listened. I told him my grades, and he told us both that if we continued  with that level of performance during our senior years, we would be accepted into VPI. I had a cousin two years older who was also at VPI, so there was little left to think about.  I applied early decision, found out in December 1966 I was in, and never applied anywhere else.
 
Then came September 1967, and my cousin and I drove a pickup truck from Newport News as I became a freshman.  No parents, just me and my cousin, and homesickness set in even before I left Newport News.  As we drove up three-lane Christiansburg Mountain, after what seemed like an all-day drive, I thought to myself, "What have I done?  If this is not the end of the earth, surely it cannot be far from here."  

Five years later, having acquired two degrees, a wife who was a student at Radford, and lots of friends, as I left Blacksburg in June 1972 I recall thinking, “This is a pretty nice place I leave. Maybe one day I’ll return.” 
 
In July 2004 I did - moved to Roanoke, 40 miles away.  The frequent trips to VPI, now known as Virginia Tech, seem ever so short.    I guess you can say you can remove the boy from the place, but you can’t remove the place from the boy.

***

Wallace B. Newton Sr. (Wally) is an adjunct instructor of finance at Virginia Tech.

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First College Visit on Handshake 2.0, a series of first college visit stories by business professionals, is sponsored by SmartCollegeVisit, a college visit portal with tools and resources for planning campus visit travel, college visit advice from parents to parents, not-to-miss college campus sites, and more. You're invited to subscribe to SmartCollegeVisit updates, to follow SmartCollegeVisit on Twitter, and to become a fan of SmartCollegeVisit on Facebook.