BlackBerrius Maximus - Part X - Our "15 Minutes"

It was pop icon Andy Warhol who is credited as first saying that we all get "15 Minutes" of fame in this world. Now, some of us get a little more than our allotted "15 Minutes" and some of us get a little less.

Very recently, my friend and colleague, (our beloved CrackBerry Kevin) met me in New York City for what turned out to be our "15 Minutes." Now, Kevin is pretty famous and has gotten more than 15 minutes of fame - but this was a pretty cool thing we did for CrackBerry Nation - so watch the video above for the end result and read on for the details behind it all after the jump!!

In December, we released our joint venture "CrackBerry: True Tales of BlackBerry Use and Abuse" co-authored by me, Kevin and my partner at Made Simple Learning - Martin Trautschold. The book got some nice reviews from you all - the CrackBerry faithful - but we needed an even bigger "push" to bring the important message of "responsible BlackBerry Use" to the masses.

We got our break earlier this month. Brett Larson, the Tech Reporter for Fox News in New York called us to New York to tape an interview for his story on BlackBerry addiction. It seems that some guy in the White House has made a big deal about his BlackBerry and so "BlackBerry Use" and attachment to our beloved "Berrys" is getting national play.

Now, I have written a book with Kevin, written for CrackBerry.com, talked with him on the phone on numerous occasions and sent hundreds of emails back and forth. But, I had never met Kevin before - so, this was kind of cool- I get to meet Kevin and go on TV!

I took the train into New York (I had stayed at my sister's house in Connecticut) and I took out my copy of "CrackBerry: True Tales of BlackBerry Use and Abuse" to refresh myself on those 12 steps that I had written.

I was in a train car with about 35 other people and I started to look around. I was reading our book (so, maybe someone would notice) and checking email on my 8900 with the other hand. No one made eye contact; in fact, no one made eye contact with anyone. As I looked closer, I saw that 25 out of the 35 people on that car were packing BlackBerry Smartphones. Most, were typing away completely oblivious to anyone else on the train. I saw about 5 iPhones and just a few "plain vanilla" cell phones in the group. "Perfect," I thought - here is the target audience for this book, but no one will lift their head long enough out of their own BlackBerry long enough for me to get their attention!

I arrived in Grand Central Station and once again was overwhelmed with BlackBerrys everywhere - I felt like I was in Waterloo!

I met up with Kevin and it was great to finally put a face and voice (not that I hadn't seen those before on line) with this guy I had communicated with so much over this past year.

We talked strategy and made our way to the studio. There we were - Fox News, New York City. We walked into the lobby, signed in and our interviewer, Brett Larson came to get us. We made our way through the maze of hallways and corridors and came to an empty conference room. There we were fitted with microphones (no makeup - thankfully!) and we were ready to go.

Then, the cameraman stopped and reported that he was getting feedback in the camera - "Does somebody have a BlackBerry in their pocket?" he asked with a sheepish grin. Kevin and I looked at each other - I went first. Out of one pocket came my BlackBerry 8900, then, out of the other....my iPhone. Martin and I are working on a new book for the iPhone and I was using the trip to get to know the device. Everyone had a good laugh.

Now it was Kevin's turn, he checked his pockets...clear. Then he opened his bag, not one, not two, not three, but at least 4 BlackBerrys were spotted - a Storm, an 8900, his Bold with that nice CrackBerry Coveroo on the back, the secret 9630 (which I got to hold) and then his iPhone and God knows what else. Well, that was all anyone could take. Here we were, on National TV, telling people to moderate their BlackBerry use and between us there were no less than 7 (and probably more) devices to be seen.

We had a blast - we talked BlackBerrys, iPhones, addiction, the book, about CrackBerry.com - we were a bit nervous in front of the camera, and we didn't know which of our fabulous quotes they might use - but, all in all, it was a fun experience. Now our "15 minutes" begin - about six minutes when it aired at 8:23 this morning, about 6 more minutes when it airs on the 5 O'clock news tonight and about three minutes for you to read about it here.

Well, its been fun - now our 15 minutes are over - but hopefully we brought some exposure to CrackBerry Nation and Made Simple Learning and we helped some people begin to manage their BlackBerry Use and Abuse. Check out the Video and make sure to pick up your copy of the book by going to www.crackberrybook.com.

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