Connecting with modu

TheMarker.com recently released their list of the 40 most promising people under the age of 40 for 2008.

Zack Weisfeld, VP Marketing & Strategy at modu was one of the bright 40 who made the list!

A huge congratulations goes out to him and the other 39 amazing men and women that were chosen. Definitely something to be proud of!

Of course that only means, our marketing team has to work a little extra harder now!

Thanks TheMarker!

It’s back to school time! You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief across the globe as parents accompany their kids towards the start of a new school year. It’s not just about books, bags and pencils anymore, now mobile phones have been added to the shopping list.

It’s now a fact that, by the time kids leave middle school, 75 percent of them have their own cell phone. So how do you determine whether or not your child needs a cell phone? And how young is too young?

Dan Derry with Verizon Wireless says, as far as age, parents should base their decision on where the child will be and when.

For example, if your child is going to be by themselves a lot.

“It’s a good time to have a cell phone, especially to keep in contact for safety reasons and security,” said Derry.

It’s also important to factor in cost and control when determining the best plan to meet your child’s needs.

A personal tip I can give you is to understand what your child’s school policy is about cell phones and to set ground rules about when and where they can use it.

Another quick tip is to monitor your kid’s phones, see who they’ve called or texted so you’re not caught by surprise with an inflated phone bill.

Ask my daughter though “who just started grade 2” and she’ll tell you it’s all about the camera features. She’s quickly becoming a pro a recording her and her friends break time antics.

Wishing all your kids a fantastic and safe school year!

Share your thoughts bellow about young kids and cell phones, Pro or Con?

Quick Heads-Up! I’m going on a vacation this week, most of you out there are enjoying or already enjoyed a little R&R and I think it’s time I do a little relaxation myself! So as of tomorrow: no posts from me until next week. Wow it’s hard to think that I won’t post here for a week. Ok I can’t do it, can’t promise I won’t post here in a week. I’ll definitely have to do a little surprise posting! I’ll be headed to the dead sea.

While I’m away, you’re free to post your hearts out in the comments!

As I mentioned in the last post, this past week I had the opportunity to visit New Media Expo or NME for short. Here’s a vid I put together of how it all went down!

The New Media Expo started yesterday morning with an opening keynote speech by wine enthusiast and CEO of Wine Library TV Gary Vaynerchuck. Gary has been featured by Conan O’brien, Ellen, Time Magazine and many others media outlets for his unique approach at marketing his brand and his business. The keynote was passionate and set the tone right for the 3 day expo.

As in all shows, it’s the hallway, unplanned, connections that really leave you with information to think about. The issue on everyone’s minds is the importance of utilizing social media marketing tactics to reach an untapped audience.

I ran into Justine of www.iJustine.com who got a chance to check out modu first hand. A few minutes later, Gary Vaynerchuck came around and wanted to see modu as well…

I’m loving the excitement happening here!

iJustine, Rockin’ the modu!

Gary Vaynerchuck, hands on with modu and giving very positive feedback!

If your at the show, Drop a link to your pics, or blog post!

Getting ready to head to the New Media Expo this morning, I’ll be meeting with bloggers and podcasters to discuss the new media marketing field as well as demoing modu at the show. If you’ll be attending and you bump into me, do stop and say hello!

Vegas so far has been overwhelming, wish I could have slept a little more but my I guess I’m still in Sensory overload. Nothing some good coffee won’t cure!

Well time to get work done! Off to New Media Expo!

I’m about an hour away from boarding my flight towards Las Vegas. A 15 hour flight awaits me! So I won’t make this post too long, I’m looking forward to a landing already and even more looking forward to meeting all the great people at the New Media Expo!

Wish me a good flight, here’s the view I’m looking at in the meantime! My View From Here!

47 comments, that’s how many comments an article that recently featured Nataly Kremer, modu’s Director of Software generated on TheMarker’s website (a leading Israeli business newpaper with a strong online presence).

Below are some highlights of the article translated in English.

Nataly Kremer, Director of Software, marked as one of Israel’s greatest hopes of the Israeli High-Tech industry believes that Dov Moran’s(founder and CEO of M-Systems, inventor of the Disk on Key) vision of “modu” will revolutionize the mobile world. She also confesses that expectations for the device have caused her to lose a little sleep.

Back in 2005 Kramer was becoming one of Dov Moran’s Favorites. As a young software team manager Moran asked her professional opinion concerning a relevant matter and she answered with great confidence
That was the beginning of a great friendship.

After M-Systems was sold in 2006 to Sandisk, Moran was left to peruse his next project, needless to say that many of his ex-employees wanted to join him. His agreement allowed him to take 7 employees only. Nataly Kremer was eager to follow along.

Since February 2007 she has been working at modu and manages the heart of the activity that claims will change the face of the mobile industry. She admires Moran and believes his ideas are nothing less than genius. As for Moran, he believes that Kremer has the potential to reach very high business levels.

“We are making a real revolution,” she states without a hint of cynicism. The sales graph which will be published at the end of 2008 will prove if she’s correct, and if all the modu cynics will end up eating their words.

I work at modu because it’s Values

Kremer grew up in a home with 2 career oriented parents and learned early on that mom could do anything and everything. She never missed classes at school and always refused her parents offer to stay at home.

Wild nights out clubbing were never her thing, “I’m really not a wild person.” Her perfectionism and the need to excel were already evident as a toddler. “I was learning to write and had trouble with the letter D” she says, “It was as if my world was crashing in on me. My parents understood that they might have a problem.”

In High School she studied math and chemistry “I thought that computers were for geeks” she says. She was also a team leader in the marine scouts in Tel Aviv. “That’s where I learned values such as teamwork, cooperation and acceptance of others” she says. “That’s also why I am at modu, there are fantastic values here”

““Everyone wants to work here, which is what allows us to choose the absolute best” says Kremer, but despite the demand the search for the excelling employees is a complex task. Today she’s looking for 10-15 more employees for her team but refuses to loosen the rope.

Kremer was asked:

In job interviews, how do you know if the person is right for the job?

“I ask him what he disliked about his previous employment or what obstacles he was faced with. If they make a big story out of little things, they’re not the right person”

Have you ever fired someone for not being pleasant?

“I’ve fired someone due to lack of professionalism, it was difficult”

You also manage people older than you.

“Correct, I’ve never ran into a problem. As long as we’re all acting professional, there are no issues”

You’ve created high expectations in the mobile market for a product which you are responsible of the development. Is it stressful?

“I’m not the type of person that gets stressed easily, but I admit I’ve also experienced sleepless nights. People may say about me that I am very excited and give everything for my work but the less positive side is that I also take things very personally.

Original article posted here: http://themarkerit.com/tmit/article/4008