Evernote touts itself as the “remember everything” service that lets you store all kinds of information and access it anywhere. Now you could do what I do when I am working a room at a networking event and snap pictures of business cards using one app, and then have that app export the cards to Evernote. Or, you can try out Evernote Hello for iPhone that lets you build a quick profile of people you meet so you can remember more about a person other than just how cool you think their business card looks.
In short, EN Hello helps you remember people you meet by adding an image or two of the person, contact information like phone #, email & Twitter handle, and a location where you met, or pull contact info from a meeting scheduled on your calendar. All this information is stored in Evernote and you can choose to send your contact information when you meet someone. Keep reading to find out how to use this great new service.
Setup
Before you get started, you will need to build a profile of yourself. You can add a greeting & thank-you message, your 3 ways people can get in touch with you (email, Twitter, and phone), and link one of your phone’s calendars. You can also snap four quick pictures of yourself as well. All that info can be sent in turn when you start adding connections in EN Hello.
Exchanging Info
Speaking of which, when you meet people (you actually want to remember, let’s be honest). You have two options to store their info.
Do it yourself:
Add basic info like email, twitter handle, and phone # and/or add more detailed info by adding them to your phone’s contact list. Hello also is using Google Maps in the background to pin point your location. You can name the location (event name) for specifics, add notes about the person and pics so you can actually remember their face.
Let them do it:
Hand them your phone and the app gives them an easy to use interface to add basic info (Name, quick snapshot, Twitter, email, and phone). It’s pretty straightforward, so anybody you hand your phone over to can use it to build their own profile (techie or not).
“Meh…”
Profile photos:
In order to add an image to your profile, EN Hello offers a slick snapshop feature that automatically takes four quick shots using you phone’s camera and picks the best one. That’s cool and all, but it would nice if I could upload an image from my camera roll as my profile pic; But, I guess the point is to take a “right now” picture of yourself to exchange with others so they can remember you as you were when you met, instead of some professionally shot and edited headshot that shows you in your best “I get money” pose.
Greetings:
Your Greeting & Thank-you message have to be short, or else they will be cut off in the actual app. I’m assuming when the app sends your contact information to your new contacts, the messages will be seen in their entirety, but it looks weird seeing the “…” that cuts off your clever & witty “Hey, let’s hookup, but not in a creepy way” messages. Also, when you hand your phone over to let people add their own information, It would be nice if they could see your personalize greeting, versus a random message from the app.
Outro
I definately like the idea. Working a room to make contacts & connections when you’re at a networking event is already tough enough for some people. Add the task of organizing and remembering those folks after the fact is a whole ‘nother story.
EN Hello has the potential to be that tool you use to at least get to cut out that awkward, “Hey…you” interaction when you link up with somebody you’ve met before, but can’t place their name, where you met, and why they are all up in your face like you two have been besties for a while. (do people still use “besties”?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8MIX-iTFVJk
Download Evernote Hello for your iPhone for free and let us know what you think in the comments section.