BIZ BITS

The latest essential buys for business travelers

ARC Wireless Freedom Antenna www.antennas.com • $40 Losing your cell phone connection in the middle of an important deal can be infuriating— especially when it happens over and over.

The Freedom Antenna—the world’s first portable personal antenna with broadband capability—provides clearer reception for cell phones and other wireless devices by extending range and reducing the number of dropped calls.

Aviator Laptop Stand

www.keynamics.com • $20 Increase your productivity while working on the plane. This stand, made from three interlocking pieces of lightweight plastic, can be used on a flat surface like an airplane tray table so you can sit back and work in comfort. And it even comes apart for easy packing. (If you buy the pink version, $2 will be donated to breast cancer initiatives.)

iLuv i1155

www.i-luv.com • $270 Who says traveling for business has to be all work and no play? Make some time during the flight to watch a movie on this portable multimedia DVD player for your iPod. You can also enjoy your favorite video files in several media formats on the 8.4-inch screen. Charging as it plays, your iPod fits securely into an integrated dock on the front of the player.

SANYO SV-RX10

www.sanyo.com • $100 Charge this lightweight cordless shaver for nine minutes and it’ll be juiced up and ready to go—making it the world’s fastest recharging electric razor—for a week’s worth of three-minute shaves, dry or wet. You’ll get a close, clean shave thanks to the 4.8-volt motor and four-blade head (two main blades and two trimmers).

FUNNY BUSINESS

You may have been told—in both your personal and professional life—to lighten up.

Turns out, this is advice you should heed. The Levity Eff ect: Why it Pays to Lighten Up by best-selling author Adrian Gostick and Scott Christopher, a lecturer, actor and workplace consultant, includes interviews with CEOs and HR managers at Yamaha, Nike and Boeing, among others, to give you strategies for keeping things upbeat in the office. Doing so can earn you more money, get you promoted and help you retain employees. Here are the basics:

NO SOURPUSSES ALLOWED

Screen out job applicants who don’t know how to have fun. Ask candidates how they showed humor and creativity at their last job to get a sense of their levity capacity.

TALK THE TALK

Those office-wide memos don’t have to be so formal. And that carries over to meetings and the phone, too. Just speak like you would to a friend.

GET ONLINE

Social networking sites are a good way to bring out people’s lighter sides. People who may be shy in person can feel more comfortable cracking wise in cyberspace.

KEEP ON TRUCKIN’

There will always be people who don’t think work and play should ever mix. Overcome their objections by getting results; you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank. Allentown, PA (65 miles from Philadelphia)

THE CLOSING BELL JACK GUINAN

JACK GUINAN

Those office-wide memos don’t have to be so formal. And that carries over to meetings and the phone, too. Just speak like you would to a friend.