So, it happened.  I'm usually pretty careful, but yesterday, I lost my iMate KJam.

I left it on a seat in the Vancouver airport departure lounge (Gate A3) while I went to the bathroom.  Within about 5 minutes, I realized I left it and rushed back, but it was gone.  According to some other passengers, a guy picked it up and walked away.

So, all my data is backed up, and any sensitive information is protected, and there WAS a sticker on it with my home phone number and such, but nobody has phoned me. 

Lessons?

1) Use the new features of Windows Mobile and Exchange to allow your phone to be remotely wiped.

2) Always put some form of contact information on your devices (just in case someone with some integrity finds it.

3) Always back up your data, or better yet, don't store "one-off" data on your phone... ActiveSync allows you to store documents in a folder on your PC that's synchronized to your device.

4) Have a plan, and keep the information in your wallet or purse.  That is, I should have had a list of steps I needed to take, like commencing a remote wipe, as well as the phone number for my carrier's customer support line and phone numbers of key contacts that I have stored in my phone and nowhere else.

5) Try to have a backup phone at home somewhere that you can reactivate quickly in an emergency.  My carrier doesn't have a very good "Lost or Stolen" program.

6) Prepare yourself emotionally.  I loved my KJam.  It was imported (I bought it at MEDC in 2006), so replacing it will be next to impossible in the short term.

7) If you see a situation like this unfold (like the passengers that saw the guy pick it up), intevene... ask the guy where he's going and make him turn it in to someone in authority (in this case, the gate agent).

8) If it's possible, have it surgically attached.

Cheers