Steve Dotto has a made a career out of being a geek. And now he’s offering his inner geek to help small businesses and individuals become more productive.
Dotto, one of Canada’s most recognizable geeks after a 15-year run with his television show Dotto Tech, is coming to Victoria to hold a seminar focused on helping people get more out of their smartphones and software applications.
Calling it Protechtivity, Dotto will hold two 90-minute seminars at the Victoria Advanced Technology Council’s Accelerator Centre on Thursday.
“It’s all about being proactive and getting technology working for you by choosing good tools, showing you how to engage with them and putting them into a system that works for you,” said Dotto.
He said many of the tools that are designed to make work easier and people more productive can often have the opposite effect when people don’t know how to use them or choose the right ones.
“I think people often get lost and waste a tremendous amount of time in not putting together tools that will help them and fit them into a system. In some cases, the pursuit of productivity gets in the way of getting things done.”
That’s where Dotto’s productivity seminar comes in. He said it’s not tailored for any one sector or any one kind of smartphone user, and it has to be broad given the changing face of the business world.
“Now companies are allowing individuals to bring and use their own devices,” Dotto said, noting that means IT departments no longer control security and no longer have the responsibility for making systems work for the user.
“The responsibility for being productive now falls on your shoulders,” he said. “That’s the price paid for the freedom to bring your own devices.”
Dotto’s seminar will take people through a variety of applications they can use to improve their productivity, and for those already using them he offers insight on how to maximize the impact those applications can have.
He said he can cover between 10 to 14 apps in a seminar and tries to ensure they cover apps that work on all platforms.
He hopes it will also help break down the barriers people perceive when choosing either hardware or software. “There are an overwhelming number of options that are presented to people when they look at technology or apps, and that sheer volume can cause paralysis,” he said. “And people are often reticent to dive in and are afraid of ruining or breaking something.”
A seat in the seminar is $99 and can be reserved online at protechtivity.ca. The seminars are set for 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday.
Dotto now hosts a weekly radio show on CISL AM 650 in Vancouver.
