Author Archive
A recent sour experience with a car rental company
A recent sour experience with a car rental company put my reptile brain into over-drive. The dispute is over a small amount – about $220. The reptile brain doesn’t have complex emotions. It thinks in simple terms: fight or flight. My reptile brain wants to fight. Maybe post a video of their shoddy customer service [...]
Beating Circuits into Packets: How to Approach Unified Communications Implementations
Here’s a recent article I wrote for CDW… Now it’s the phone’s turn. Once the only way to initiate and conduct a spontaneous, real-time interaction with a remote person, telephony has become just one method among many for initiating and conducting a dialog. And, when compared to the other, mostly data and web-based methods, it [...]
UPDATED:Review of SugarToad
I normally don’t write about my love of food but Wednesday’s Winemaker’s dinner at SugarToad (www.sugartoad.com) was fantastic. If you are located in the Chicago area, don’t mind driving the suburbs and haven’t tried this treasure, I highly recommend it. Bring your appetite. The next winemaker’s dinner is August 4. For more information, watch Chef Jimmy [...]
Veteran Benefit Link Collection
Below are web-sites that provide information on Veterans benefits and how to file/ask for them. Accordingly, there are many sites that explain how to obtain books, military/medical records, information and how to appeal a denied claim with the VA. Please pass this information on to every Veteran you know. Nearly 100% of this information is [...]
How would a product manager fix higher education?
By Robert van der Hooning and Ben Bradley The recession has taken aim at higher education. It’s too late to hide, the carnage is everywhere. Even Harvard feels the pain. It offered buyouts to 1,600 employees after suffering an $8 billion endowment loss. In California, the situation is ugly – a $97 million cut for [...]
A great new creative approach for a 419 scam
The scammers just keep getting more creative. Here is a 419 spam I recently received. Very clever. I am Mrs.Ruth Madoff, wife of Bernard Madoff. I am actually going through some kind of difficult time with my family right now, as my husband is at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City. My [...]
How big is your rolodex and does it matter?
Had a great conversation with a job hunting friend. He’s a tried and true sales guy – always beating his quota. A great rolodex, healthy w2s and all the trappings those things bring. He told me recently about an interview where the VP of Sales wanted to actually see his rolodex – wanted to see [...]
Do we really want to understand the sex lives of our grandparents?
We talk about the value of transparency. On paper, transparency seems like a good idea. But sometimes transparency can go too far. Don’t ask how the sausage gets made. As communicators, we believe that rational people appreciate a look at the inner workings of a process or a negotiation. We think this transparency helps others understand [...]
Digital Darwinism
S+B writes about the HP’s recent marketing campaign, and the ways digital platforms are transforming the ways in which consumers experience advertising. The entire article is available here… http://www.strategy-business.com/resilience/rr00069?cid=rr20090511 Here’s a quick exerpt… This shift, which has become increasingly apparent in the last few years, has been confirmed by “Marketing & Media Ecosystem 2010,” a [...]
Twitter squatters creating brand confusion
Now what? A Twitter land rush? Fantastic article here by Julian Lee. http://business.theage.com.au/business/squatters-creating-twittering-confusion-20090429-andk.html Trademark Twitter identities are being snapped up. Some companies such as Billabong have been quick off the mark, snapping up names. Billabong spokesman John Mossop said: “Billabong has a strong online presence and that includes three official Twitter addresses — billabonggirls, BBgirls [...]
