Wrong time zones - Major glitches in launch time announcements - Example: Butterfly Marketing 2.0

[JazzOscar]

Hope this will not turn out too sarcastic;

Are many US citizens totally confused about their own time zones and what they are called, especially when it comes to the differences between standard time and daylight saving time? Or worse; Do you think that the current time on the US east coast is some kind of "world time" that the rest of us should intuitively know what is and refer to whatever you might call it in in writing?

The reason I ask this is;

This is the second time this week I've seen problems with time announcements.

The first one was with a not so gigantic launch, where a deadline was set at 10pm Eastern Standard Time (EST). What the launcer really had intended to express was that the deadline was at 10pm in the current time zone on the east coast, which, as far as I know, is Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

Today we have Mike Filsaime's great launch of Butterfly Marketing 2.0.

In his video, on the site where he's promoting the launch, Mike Filsaime states that the launch is at 1pm Eastern Time. I think that might be a correct way to express the time on the east coast whatever time of the year it is. The clock at the top of the page is also counting down to a launch at 1 pm current time at the east coast. So far so good.

The problem I see is this;

• The header on the page states that the launch is at 1pm EST
• The time showing on the video says it's at 1pm EST
• I think all the emails I've gotten about this launch states that it's at 1 pm EST

As far as I can understand the above is totally wrong.


*The launch is not at 1pm EST. It's at 1pm EDT.*


This might not mean that much to the launcher. I suppose all those copies will be gone before long anyway.

What it might lead to though, is some annoied, potential, European customers that haven't followed the launch that closely, and who are not on some kind of VIP notification list, turning up for the launch at 1pm EST, which is 2pm EDT. They will not like to be one hour late to the party because of an error like this.

To express what I've tried to say above in another and somewhat shorter way;

• As I understand it, the launch is in about 5 hours from now.
• As most of the marketing states it, the launch is in about 6 hours from now.

Please correct me immediately if I'm wrong. It's just my maybe not so humble opinion as an European used to dealing with the intricasies of converting to and from US time zones.

[stevenh512]

Even worse, different autoresponders and web hosts are in different time zones too. The BFM 2.0 launch is a good example of this.. I got an email from one JV partner saying "BFM 2.0 is LIVE!" at 9pm (PDT) on the 23rd. I don't know what part of the world his autoresponder is in.. lol

[DavidCarter]

I'm not confused at all

The launch is at 1pm Eastern unless you are on the advance notification list where the launch is at noon - in about 45 minutes time.

In the UK these times will be 5pm and 4pm respectively, although at most times of the year that would actually be 6pm and 5pm

[Tyson Faulkner]

I may be one of the uninformed then hah.

I always thought that EDT and EST were the same time zone,
just a different way of wording it.

So...what's the difference?

Isn't there only one east coast time zone? or is there another line
I'm missing?

-Tyson

[mjbmedia]

its crashing all over the place anyway, so dont bother about it, cant believe its the same old stuff, surely they can have enough servers or is it so we can all get loads of emails saying saorry it crashed for the next 4 weeks

[JazzOscar]

Originally Posted by DavidCarter

I'm not confused at all

The launch is at 1pm Eastern unless you are on the advance notification list where the launch is at noon - in about 45 minutes time.

In the UK these times will be 5pm and 4pm respectively, although at most times of the year that would actually be 6pm and 5pm

I understand that you're not confused. Neither am I nor anyone else that follows this closely.

My point was the confusion that could come from the launchers giving the wrong launch time on their site, on Ustream and in their email marketing.

They give the launch time as 1pm EST.

As I see it;

1pm EST = 2pm EDT = 2pm in the time that is used on the east cost this time of the year. That's not when the launch is.

12pm EST = 1pm EDT = 1pm in the time that is used on the east cost this time of the year. That's when the launch is.

Interesting that launchers living in the time zone are not able to get this right.

[JazzOscar]

Originally Posted by Tyson Faulkner

I may be one of the uninformed then hah.

I always thought that EDT and EST were the same time zone,
just a different way of wording it.

So...what's the difference?

Isn't there only one east coast time zone? or is there another line
I'm missing?

-Tyson

There is only one east coast time zone.

The time used in that time zone during the winter half of the year is EST (Eastern Standard Time) to the rest of the world.

The time used in that time zone during the summer half of the year is EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) to the rest of the world.

These times are one hour apart, so 1pm EST = 2pm EDT.

So when they tell the world that a launch is at 1pm EST, they tell the world that the launch is at 1pm using the time that are used during the winter half of the year. That's the same as 2pm using the time that are used today.

So EST and EDT are exact ways to express time, one hour apart. Confusing EDT with EST like they do can cause some people trouble.

[Tyson Faulkner]

Ok so is Eastern standard time the same as central daylight time in the summer?

Daylight savings makes things so confusing.

I never even thought about that daylight savings
would make things so different to other countrys
trying to figure US time out.

Do other countrys change their times in the spring
and fall?

[Michael Oksa]

Originally Posted by Tyson Faulkner

Ok so is Eastern standard time the same as central daylight time in the summer?

Daylight savings makes things so confusing.

I never even thought about that daylight savings
would make things so different to other countrys
trying to figure US time out.

Do other countrys change their times in the spring
and fall?

Yes, in fact a lot of countries make some changes. This map may help...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Da...bdivisions.png

Still, they may make different changes on different dates from other countries.

Don't even get me started on Arizona and Indiana.



Seriously though, time zones can get a little confusing; with some places changing their clocks at different times of the year, some not, and some time zones are set at 30 minute intervals instead of 1 hour ones.

At least if you're working with someone on a personal basis you can ask what time it is, but for a major launch with a timed deadline (yawn) it can be next to impossible to communicate the time the servers are going to crash.

All the best,
Michael

[sublime-products]

but for a major launch with a timed deadline (yawn) it can be next to impossible to communicate the time the servers are going to crash.

ROFL! Michael, that is SO funny! Almost makes up for the wasted time trying to get this.

Amin

[Chris Lockwood]

Oscar, right now "Eastern Standard Time" doesn't really exist, since we just switched to Daylight Savings Time (which starts in March).

So the current time in a place like New York is Eastern Daylight Time. It makes no sense to refer to EST while EDT is in effect. However I think most Americans would still realize "1 pm EST" really means "1 pm EDT" right now, or just see that as 1 pm and not realize it should say EDT.

It would be much more clear if people just said "Eastern Time" which is always correct, and explained how far that was from GMT or universal time.

But it could be that the copy was written before EDT kicked in and the person didn't realize daylight time was about to start.

[Tyson Faulkner]

Well I was planning on doing a countdown script for my product launch,
so knowing all this definitly helps. I guess I'll have to do some testing
to make sure the timer shows right to everybody.

Maybe I'll throw up the current time up there too so everyone can be
sure we're on the same page.

Thanks for the info,
Tyson

[Michael Oksa]

Another trivial tidbit: There are 40 different world timezones.

If it's a countdown script, then current time zones don't matter as the countdown timer shows how much time is left.

However, if you are saying what the time is and not using a display of remaining time, then you should let people know what your time is (or whatever time the timer is based on).

~Michael

[JazzOscar]

Originally Posted by Tyson Faulkner

Ok so is Eastern standard time the same as central daylight time in the summer?

Yes, I think it should be.

Originally Posted by Tyson Faulkner

Daylight savings makes things so confusing.

I never even thought about that daylight savings
would make things so different to other countrys
trying to figure US time out.

Do other countrys change their times in the spring
and fall?

We have the same changes as you, but, to add to the problem with converting times, we Europeans change at a different time. I think the US has been on daylight time for about two weeks now. Here in Europe we do the change the coming weekend.

So, for the most part, the time here in Norway is 6 hours ahead of the time on the east coast of the US. But, for a few weeks now, we're only 5 hours ahead. There's a similar difference for a few weeks when we change back to standard time on different dates.

But all this wouldn't have been so much of a problem for us foreigners if New Yorkers had been more accurate and knowledgable about the exact name of their current time.

[JazzOscar]

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

Another trivial tidbit: There are 40 different world timezones.

If it's a countdown script, then current time zones don't matter as the countdown timer shows how much time is left.

However, if you are saying what the time is and not using a display of remaining time, then you should let people know what your time is (or whatever time the timer is based on).

~Michael

I think that's what I wanted to express too.

It's OK with just a timer, but if you start using time names like EST or EDT you ought to know what you do.

[JeffreyM]

There was obviously some confusion with this launch, is there any word of something new happening for those who were inconvenienced by this confusion?

[George Benson]

lanuch window changed to 3 to 7 PM EDT. Mike said he'd print more if necessary. I didn't get the whole story but looks like server overload.

[James12C]

Ummm - it was a disaster!

[Steadyon]

I just checked in on his site and as I predicted everything is going to plan.

I am interested in trying his software out but I am waiting for Butterfly Marketing 3.0 which will be released in a few days time as a special bonus to appease everyone due to the extraordinary circumstances that led to the "unexpected" server problems.

Thankfully, I got an insider tip off telling me that the servers were being turned off by the cleaner as all other sockets were in use and only the server's socket could be used by the vacuum cleaner.

Thankfully I just finished reading Mark Eting's WSO all about how to crash your launch server at the right time to maximise results.

The report was quite technical and does involve having to buy a vacuum cleaner but anyone can see results in less than 7 days.

He used to sell it for $1,997 but Mark Eting is giving it away for the ridiculous price of $zero, but there is a download admin fee of $39-95