We have a lot of Mad Men fans here at CurrentMarketing.  I’m late to the party and I’ve just started watching the first season.  I’m in love already.  I’m also a lover of fashion and haute couture.  Never mind the fact that I’d never be able to afford it or that it’s not practical for life here in The ‘Ville. It’s all just pretty to look at.  I’ve noticed that some lines coming down the runway for Fall have a very Mad Men vibe to them. Louis Vuitton and Fendi both have lines this coming season that seem like they would be perfect for Betty Draper or Joan Holloway.

I’ve also noticed a new popularity in mid century designed furniture.  Well preserved pieces are hard to find and if you do, the sellers generally know what they have and have priced them accordingly.  Some EBay and Craigslist sellers will list their items as “mid century” just to get your attention.  You click on the item and it’s something straight out of the 80’s.  Let me just say there wasn’t much as far as fashion or design that I want to relive from the 80’s.

You can’t help but notice this coincidence between the shows popularity and the current trends in fashion and home furnishings.  I’m sure Don Draper would agree.

One of my biggest passions is traveling.   Shortly after I bought my iPhone, I traveled to Chicago and put it to the test.  I found that I could search anything from where to get the best cupcake near my hotel to train schedules on the Metra.  Here are a couple other great apps I've used:

Southwest Airlines has a great app that allows you view flight schedules and will even let you check into your flight.  They also offer special “Ding” offers that are only available through the app.

I’m all about location when I travel. I prefer to stay in urban areas where I can walk, take a train or catch a quick taxi ride.  Yelp and AroundMe apps both let me find restaurants and places near my hotel.  The Yelp app is great for giving you ratings from other users so that you aren’t blindly walking into a place that might be below your standards.

While Yelp is great, I’ve found that AroundMe has a more expansive listing of places.  Both apps will link you right to the location on Google maps making finding it a breeze.

My Mom would have loved this last app.  When I was a kid we always had to hit a Cracker Barrel on every road trip we took. Sometimes it would be for breakfast, lunch and dinner!  If iExit had been available in the 80’s, my Dad would probably have less gray hair right now.  It allows you to save your favorite restaurants, and it will alert you about exits along your route that feature your restaurant selections. Genius!  I use it for coffee and snack stops along the way.  A good road trip is always about the snacks, right?

If anyone has any great travel apps they use, I’d love to hear about them!  I’m always searching for new ones.

Most companies these days have some sort of internet policy.  Every company expects their employees to limit their personal internet use during business hours to a minimum and to not frequent any questionable websites.  Many companies have implemented programs to block certain websites (such as sites that deal with sports and entertainment) they feel could be large time wasters for employees - more often than not these will also include social media sites.  Lately I’ve been thinking that this seems to be an old school mode of thinking.

The internet is just another form of communication and the most efficient form of gathering news and information. So why are so many companies afraid?  Maybe some companies are worried that their employees will damage their brand by saying something negative online?  These employees can post the same thoughts a couple of hours later from home, so that doesn’t seem to be logical.

Along those same lines, if an employee happens to see a damaging comment on a social media site, they can draw the proper department’s attention to it and the company can be more proactive in dealing with the issue.

Some companies may have a fear of viruses or spyware or other malicious programs that an untrained employee might accidentally acquire.  While this is a valid concern, there are steps to take that can protect their systems.  They should already have those in place anyway.

If it’s a loss of productivity that they are concerned about, many people these days own smart phones, and they have the means to waste time right there in their pockets. If you can’t trust an employee to do his or her work, you may have hired the wrong person.

Many years ago, any personal phone calls at work drew this same sort of criticism.  Now they have become an accepted part of the work day as long as the calls aren’t excessive.  My hope is that one day companies will feel the same way about allowing internet access to all their employees.

We all know that magazines have been in trouble lately. Many shut down production in 2009, including one of my favorite home decorating magazines, Domino. In the recent months, Lonny Magazine has gained popularity. It was created by a former editor of Domino and has the same design feel to it that many Domino fans came to love, including me. Lonny Mag is a completely digital, online magazine and the “flip book” layout makes the site easy to navigate. My favorite part about it is if I see something I like, whether it’s in an advertisement or in an article, I can click on that particular item and it will take me to the retailer’s website or it will tell me where to buy something similar.

I’ve always loved reading magazines. There is just something about curling up on your couch when you have some free time and leisurely looking at the glossy pages.  However, like many other people, I am finding myself letting my magazines and newspapers build up while I receive most of my information on the internet. Digital magazines don’t have the same aesthetic feel to me as print magazines, but I still have grown to prefer the digital. They give me the best of both worlds. I love the fact that if I’m interested in an item, I can instantaneously go purchase it. I’m sure that the retailers will also benefit from this sort of spontaneous shopping.

When I read print magazines, I might “dog ear” a page or rip it out, but rarely do I ever actually find the item in stores or even get around to shopping for it. This makes it so much easier. Now that I think about it, it might even be too easy, since my checking account seems to be suffering from this ease of shopping. Is this the future of magazines? I sure hope so!