Is scanning the only option?
I have just returned from the BlogHer ’08 Conference in San Francisco (see my notes on the conference) & am now faced with organizing the giant handful of business cards I collected. My normal response to such a task would be to put the cards in a Ziploc bag & thrown them in a shoe box under my bed, but not this time…
Steps I have already taken:
- Take notes directly on the cards immediately after talking to people, noting what we talked about
- Collect the cards in a envelope, in order – this will help me remember the people I met in groups & also to correlate them with the notes I took throughout the conference
- Count the cards (there are exactly 50)
Here are my next steps:
- Choose a tool in which I will catalog my new friends electronically
- Key in info for each contact: name, email, URL(s), my notes, etc.
- Visit all 50+ of the URL’s!
- Tag each contact (includes defining a logical set of tags – eek!)
As I start by choosing a tool, I am feeling a natural pull toward Excel – but I will resist. What I’m looking for: online, flexible, integrates with email & maybe even Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc. Ideas?
Will cataloging my contacts simplify my life? Stay tuned.
Tags: blogher, business cards, spring partners
I’d love to see of your 50 cards if you just searched Facebook and LinkedIn with email addresses how many full contacts you could pull out. The web as your big business card holder. And possibly del.icio.us for your tagging?
UPDATE:
Ok, I am hitting a wall when it comes to tagging my contacts:
Gmail: I can tag contacts in Notes, but I can’t search them!?! Groups are nice. But there is nowhere to put in a contact’s URL. I have to say I am disappointed in google on this one.
Yahoo mail: I can tag in Notes & the search works well, but dammit I just put all that time migrating to gmail so that I could manage my husband’s calendar…not going back!
Highrise: It’s kind of like a CRM system that is supposed to work well with email…but I can’t get my stinkin’ login to work, no matter how many times I ask them to resend my password.
Next stop: Plaxo, but do I really need to sign up for another contact aggregator?
UPDATE:
Plaxo: Does most of what I want: Creates categories (kinda like tags, but not really) & has a spot for URL. But I can’t seem to select the email address for multiple contacts at once in case I wanted to email 2+ friends at once.
So, I decided to take Jeff’s advice & try to find my new contacts where they already live… Started with Facebook & the first person I looked for wasn’t there! I feel weird inviting her to join just so I can connect with her where it’s convenient for me. Plus, Facebook is not the right place for an address book of contacts who don’t already live there.
After an hour of spinning my wheels, looks like I am headed back to Excel, or maybe gmail & then export to Excel!
One option…but awfully pricey if you’re not the type that attends conferences on a weekly basis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae7ijS0epzU
Aren’t there many card scanning products, services and devices out there that at least take the typing out of the equation?