This week’s Under the Hood tour introduces Kimberley Goza: she and her family run a theater company (Act!vated Storytellers) from the back of an RV as they criss-cross the United States. Every aspect of the business is managed with online, mobile tools — proof that you don’t have to be doing technical work to utilize the web’s capabilities.

Background: “I have lived on wheels with my family for the past 15 years, rarely stay in one spot for more than a day. We run our own theatre company, Act!vated Storytellers. We perform on stage and run all aspects of the business from booking the shows to writing the scripts and music, to sewing the sets and costumes. We also produce a travel/folktale podcast Activated Stories. I do most of the bookings, promotion, web site design and driving/navigating. I also manage the web site for Families on the Road — a site, forum and group for families who travel full-time or for extended periods.”

Tools: “TZmove moves appointments in Outlook Calendar to the proper time when we hop time zones. Free download from Microsoft Office.

“A web enabled cell phone. In the early days of touring (15 years ago) we had pockets full of change and payphones on almost every corner to make calls. Not fun! Now I carry the web in my pocket and can make calls and send email from Niagara Falls or rural Arkansas. I have set up alerts on all incoming business email so that I get a text message sent to my phone and can respond to clients and potential clients immediately. We respond to all business calls and email generally within 5 minutes. Our business email account is routed through Yahoo Mail. I can also keep an eye on the forum I manage for Families on the Road. Sprint PCS Vision Service/ Katakana II phone.

“Kall8. Originally, we had a toll-free number tied to a pager. That number is now routed thru Kall8 for a fraction of the cost. Voice mail is sent to our email and we have set up an alert to ping the cell phone.

“K7. We use our free K7 number for incoming faxes and voice mail calls to our podcast. We email contracts to all of our clients. They fill out the form and fax it back to us. We don’t send many faxes but when we do, we do it online. We use FaxZero when we do need to send a fax. It’s free.

“Dry Erase Markers. We keep them by the driver’s seat in the RV and use them to write directions to our next stop on the front window (above line of sight). That way, we don’t have to look down at maps and directions; enabling us to keep our eyes on the road. They come in handy for scribbling notes from phone conversations on the side window. We’ve also used them to solve math problems and study Japanese on the side windows as we are “roadschooling”. And we have a spot on the back of our trailer where we write the location of our next shows.

“Twitter. I keep our website updated with short blurbs about our travels thanks to Twitter. Plus, I use it for networking. Friends on Twitter have helped us out on a couple of occasions, such as when we need flight information and couldn’t get our laptops online to track flights.

“Audacity. Software for editing podcasts that is in every podcaster’s arsenal. Free to download and use.

“MP3 players. For listening to audio books and podcasts on marketing and business. We also use them to record segments in the field for our podcast. We chose Sansa Clips as they are less expensive than iPods and there was no need to buy an armband to take them to with us to the YMCA, grocery shopping or on a bike ride. They already have a clip and are the size of a matchbox.

“DreamWeaver. For designing and maintaining web sites. In addition to our web site, I design a few others on the side.

“Free WiFi. We have not paid for internet in over 3 years thanks to cafes, libraries and campgrounds with free WiFi. I keep www.wififreespot.com and www.panerabread.com bookmarked on the cell phone so we can find a free hot spot on the fly when we need it.

“Google Reader. I do most of my reading on the cell phone (there is never enough time when we are connected to WiFi). To keep up with marketing Blogs and other RVing Families I use Google Reader to subscribe to their feeds and have it bookmarked on the cell phone.

“GPS, Google Maps, and Microsoft Streets and Trips. I prefer the handheld GPS unit (Garmin eTrex Legend) with added on maps for street level details. We can look up information and reprogram our route as we go. Plus it goes with us on bicycle rides, attached to the handlebars. It does need to be supplemented occasionally with information that we can get on the web via cell phone and Google Maps for mobile. For planning and routing our itinerary and scheduling shows I use Microsoft Streets and Trips on the laptop. When I want to see what clients are along our intended route I set up a query with Microsoft Access and open it with the Import Wizard to put them on the map.

“PDA. Not wanting to keep all of my information on one lose-it-and-you-lose-everything cell phone unit, I have a Palm Pilot for keeping contact information, calendar of appointments, copies of faxed contracts (.pdf), directions, to do lists and notes. Also, if I come across website text I want to digest, I’ll save it and read it on the PDA.

“Inverter. For converting DC to AC power in the RV, so we can use computers and sew while we travel.

“Jump Drive (thumb drive). We use one to get information to each other quickly and easily (three laptops) and to take things that need to be printed to the Office Supply store. We carry a small printer but only use it at campgrounds. And since we only stay at a campground about two days a month it doesn’t come out all that often.”

Links:

Bookmarked on Cell: Panera, WiFi, Email (Yahoo and Google), Google Reader, Twitter, YMCA.net

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