Atlanta's Terminal E: "Jesus Christ himself couldn't get his bags in less than an hour."

While I don't buy it, a widespread theory holds that ritualized humiliation and a foretaste of Hell is good for you.

Well, if the theory holds, arriving in Atlanta's Terminal E is very, very good for you.

Now, I don't want to be churlish about air travel: with luck, I can leave Copenhagen at mid-day and be in my beloved South in time for dinner. 

But Atlanta Hartsfield airport seems determined to say: we are going to make you regret arriving here.

Upon arrival at Terminal E, you are sent through the usual immigration/bag collection/customs witlessness ("Did you purchase anything abroad, sir?" "Well, I live abroad." "Did you purchase anything abroad, sir?" "You mean, besides my house and everything I own? No..." "Welcome to the USA, sir, and excuse the fact I am a moron.").

In every other airport, this exchange would signal your liberation. Not so at Atlanta Terminal E: it signals purgatory. Because now, after collecting your bags and getting them through customs, you are forced to give them up again. That's right... you must recheck your bags, and you will be given no receipt for them. And you won't be told where to pick them up -- 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away -- you will need to suss that out for yourself.

While your bags are on their way elsewhere, you will stand in yet another line and subject yourself to a full security inspection. Just as if you are about to board an airplane, instead of leave an airport. You will show your documents, you will take off your shoes, you will show that your laptop works (and woe betide the lamer who depletes his battery working on the plane).

While in line for "inspection" I muttered "This sure puts a new twist on baggage claim." To which the traveler in front of me responded, "Jesus Christ himself couldn't get his bags in less than an hour in Atlanta Hartsfield."

When you do get through security, you will need to travel 1.5 miles by train to the 2nd baggage claim. If you are lucky, your bag will arrive when you do. If it arrives before you do, there's every chance you will never see it again... the 2nd baggage claim is open to the street, and can be (and is) entered by anyone with sticky fingers and a waiting car.

Welcome to Atlanta.

Technorati Tags: atlanta, airport, hartsfield, concourse e, security, arrivls

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 04:10pm in Bizarre & Unexpected, Is Tedious in the House?, Travel | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

8 Twitter tips from a n00b

Those of you wondering about whether to start using Twitter might want to read friend David Murray's new article "How to use Twitter & whether to bother" on Ragan.com.

Murray, who is a technology skeptic, approaches Twitter as a gonzo reporter. While I'm sure this seemed like a good way to go, theMurr ended up getting a mash-note from the überbitch cartoon character of social media and flamed by one of the nicest people around. All in his first day. Probably not an auspicious start.

I'm quoted here and there in the article. Accurately and completely, of course. But reading the article makes me want to offer a few (entirely personal) tips based on my n00bish experience of a year or so on Twitter.

1. Twitter is not a social network. Twitter is micro-blogging.
2. Twitter becomes a social network.
3. "What are you doing?" is not a question you should answer.
4. "What are you doing?" becomes a question you are allowed to answer.
5. The shelf life of any "tweet" is about 20 minutes. But tweets are carved in stone.
6. Replies to your "tweets" are far more important than comments to your blog.
7. Twitter is a river you live beside. You don't have to see every passing boat or catch every fish to live beside it.
8. If your peer group is on Twitter, you miss a lot if you are not there, too.

More to come on each tip in the next few days!

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:09pm in Social Media | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Hopkins & Cook publish revised Social Media white paper

Lee Hopkins and Trevor Cook, two of Australia's the world's quick-witted thinkers about social media, have published the 3rd edition of their white paper Social Media (or how we stopped worrying and learnt to love communication).

In 46 pages of crisp writing, they cover the basics -- more, actually -- of blogging, podcasting, social networks (Facebook, Twitter) and virtual worlds (Second Life). Lot's of input from other social media users, and lots of links to best practice sites.

And it's free. So if you are new to social media, this is the place to go.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:14pm in Communication, Social Media, Writing I Enjoy | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Would anyone like to explain the point of the IABC eXchange?

I stumbled into the IABC eXchange (that's how they spell it) today. Had a look around, came out and walked around some, then went back in. Wasn't any better.

Is there a point I am missing?

Here's the gush from the first page (which features a really tacky blue background and weird fonts):

IABC eXchange is an online tool for networking and collaboration. Developed based on member feedback, the IABC eXchange allows you to create member-only discussion groups, private working groups, and blogs that the whole world can view and comment on.

You have the power to designate who can join your conversation: Grant co-author access to fellow members, allow others to submit entries that require your approval to be posted, or make it a personal platform for sharing your ideas and opinions. The IABC eXchange also lets you create a personal profile, including a photo and information about your areas of interest to help you connect with your fellow members.

Stripped up of the really bad copywriting, I think it says "You can create an open, moderated or closed blog. You can put your photo and personal information on it, too."

Yeah, and I can do that in Facebook, Twitter and the blog you are reading, too.

But since I like playing with social media and trust IABC to guide me to communication nirvana, I jumped straight to the next page (which reverts to the standard IABC layout and fonts), where I was told:

The IABC eXchange is an online tool for networking and collaboration created exclusively for IABC members. Create your own blog, form private work groups or special interest groups with other members and share best practices. Make your pages visible to the world or only to selected members. Whether it's work related, IABC-related or purely personal, the IABC eXchange gives you the power to express yourself. Be Heard®

What the fuck? They just said that. But let's push on... The next page flips to stripped down, Times NewRoman font, in black and white. My choices are: 1) start a public blog or 2) start an IABC only blog. Since I already have a public blog, it would seem pointless to start a new one. On the other hand, creating a private blog for 13000 people in 70 countries seems even more pointless. So let's go with public.

A few steps later, I had an official, certified, IABC blog. How far IABC has come!

Technorati : iabc, iabc exchange, international association of business communicators

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:31pm in IABC, Social Media, Social Tools | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBack (0)

Modernista! vs Wikipedia. When smart-ass upstart takes on stuffy upstart

As I am increasingly tired of Wikipedian onanists purists deletionists, I was amused to hear of Modernista!'s idea of creating their own Wikipedia entry, then using it as their website. Smart, funny and oh-so-totally against Wikipedia's rules about companies editing their own entries. For good measure, the rest of Modernista!'s "site" is their newz link to Google News and their Facebook entry.

Update: the Wikipedians pulled it down.

Technorati : modernista!, rule-breaking, wikipedia
Del.icio.us : modernista, rule-breaking, wikipedia

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:21am in Advertising, Advertising & PR, Humor, Social Media | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)