Home office, telework and road warrior technology tips from leading home-business and work-at-home expert Jeff Zbar will be featured in more than two million copies of TIME, Fortune and Money magazines and Time Inc. websites beginning this week.

In a unique promotional campaign for Marriott International Inc.’s Residence Inn brand, Zbar provides two dozen tips on remote work strategies, “cloud” computing and online security. The tips are presented on “bookmarks” bound into the magazines and linked to from the websites. View the bookmark here.

“Road warriors, digital nomads and others who work from the road don’t want to struggle or just get by. They want to thrive – no matter where work and life take them,” said Zbar, creator of Chief Home Officer and Home Office Highway, a site focused on extended, working vacations. “Residence Inn’s campaign reveals in simple detail how easy it can be to achieve location independence and to connect and compute from a workspace other than the home or corporate office.”

The Residence Inn campaign, “Master The Long Trip” appears in the October 26 issues of TIME and Fortune, and the November issue of Money. The online tips debuted on CNNMoney on October 19, and will run through November 30. The tips also appear on Sports Illustrated.com. Read More »

Creating an ideal home office on the road is nothing new. And apparently it’s nothing unique either.

CNET News reporter Daniel Terdiman has hit the highway — taking a car full of gadgets to the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains to seek out interesting hot spots for technology, science, military, nature, aviation, and more.

His itinerary is taking Terdiman to a firefighting technology center in Montana, a maker of commuter train engines in Idaho, an innovative wind farm in Wyoming, and much, much more. Check it out.

Home Office Highway always was envisioned as a two-part program. First, a family would travel the highways and byways — and see how technology would keep a business owner connected to work back home, and vacation on the road.

Second, we wanted to share the tools we used on the road. More than 60 people entered the Home Office Highway drawing for a chance to win an Ativa wireless router, surge suppressor, USB flash drive and “Cable Burrito”; a Targus Flare laptop bag, and even a copy of the Home Office Highway booklet.

So watch the drawing and to all those who entered, accept out thanks.

If you live in Jacksonville, Fla., Union City, N.J., Glen Allen, Va., or Orlando, Fla., you’re in luck: Home Office Highway will be stopping by.

ZRV — the country’s first Home Office on Wheels — has set its tour dates. See below for locations, dates and times. In each market, we’ll showcase the technology and tips to creating a balanced workation. And every visitor will receive a copy of Home Office Highway: A Digital Adventure Where Vocation Meets Vacation on the Open Road, a free booklet on virtual officing courtesy Office Depot’s Design Print Ship Depot.

For aspiring business owners in Central Florida, we’ll also be presenting on “Managing the Home Office Experience” at the Disney Entrepreneur Center.

Monday, July 7 (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Office Depot No. 2744 (932 Dunn Ave. @ 8am)
Verizon Evolution (Location TBD, afternoon)

Thursday, July 17 (Union, N.J.)
Office Depot No. 2459 (1701 Morris Ave. @ 8am)

Sunday, July 20 (Glen Allen, Va.)
Office Depot No. 565 (9700 W. Broad St. @ 9am)

Thursday, July 24 (Orlando, Fla.)
The Disney Entrepreneur Center (315 E. Robinson St. @ 830am)

Attendees at the Disney Entrepreneur Center presentation also will receive a free copy of The Chief Home Officer’s Guide to Home Office Design & Set-Up.

Hope to see you at the stores — and on the road!

When I told people I was planning an RV trip, many envisioned Robin Williams’ movie RV. His character apparently drives into uncharted and adventurous highways.

I guess people envisioned similar adventures for the Zbar family’s Z-RV.

“Lola” the GPS warns him he’s “not on any marked road,” has he struggles to find a shortcut back to his family. He gets slathered in “fecal matter” when trying to dump “the rolling turd’s” tanks. He writes an entire presentation on his laptop from an RV camp’s restroom, only to find “No Signal” to transmit the document to his over-demanding boss back home. He then writes it using his BlackBerry, and suffers the same disconnected experience.

Some of the images were striking a familiar cord with me — someone who has worked from the road for years. Short of the fecal matter reference, I’ve frustrated GPS mavens by taking the Blue Ridge Parkway when she wanted us on the Interstate. And I’ve struggled to find a signal to send important emails back to clients.

Then, I discovered John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley: In Search of America, the dying author’s tale of a cross country journey into “America on the eve of a tumultuous decade.” I guess there’s a serious — and seriously introspective — take on RVing.

I found RV Vacations For Dummies and Over-the-Road Wireless for Dummies, both from Wiley. Then I read Marcia Yudkin’s Taking Your Business on the Road, a report on how to take your business on the road — and not have it suffer in the process.

Except for Magellan and Columbus, few “explorers” today find truly uncharted territory. As pragmatists advise, why reinvent the wheel? Or, in my case, the RV adventure…

Coral Springs, FL (May 30, 2008) – Home Office Highway, the digital road show that this summer will showcase how personal electronics and small business technology can empower the digital lifestyle from within the comforts of a recreational vehicle, has signed Verizon Wireless as a presenting sponsor.

“Verizon Wireless is an ideal sponsor because its communications products are vital to any road warrior or digital consumer,” said Jeff Zbar, the tour’s creator and host. “People who work from the seat of a car or a tech-laden V must be able to reliably log on to the Internet or communicate with their wireless hone. It’s essential to working and living in the Digital Age.”

“Home Office Highway is a great new concept that relates to such a large part of today’s mobile society,” said Chuck Hamby, public relations manager for Verizon Wireless in Florida. “We’re glad to have the opportunity to show off a variety of our wireless technologies that meet the dynamic lifestyle wishes to work and play while on the move.” Read More »

Coral Springs, FL (March 31, 2008) — Think you can’t take a month-long holiday and still keep your business or family finances from taking a permanent vacation? Think again. This summer, Home Office Highway: A Digital Adventure – will hit the road to prove vacation and vocation can travel hand in hand.

Setting off July 4th weekend in a recreational vehicle packed with the latest small office technology, Jeff Zbar and his family will showcase just how productive the modern family can be when traveling the nation’s highways. Wife, Robbie, will manage the family’s home finances. Their kids will stay connected with friends. And Zbar, a widely published technology columnist and author, will chronicle the adventure each day in blogs and videologues as the RV travels from up the Eastern Seaboard – and back again.

“We take a family road trip each summer, so I’m used to mixing vacation and work. This year I got the idea to share my experience with others, and show that through technology, you can leave home for vacation and take the office with you,” said Zbar, creator of the site ChiefHomeOfficer.com. “That’s how Home Office Highway was born.” Read More »