Twixt Christmas and the New Year

Today in this part of the country, the muffled stillness of deepening snow emphasizes the quiet pause after Christmas and before the commencement of the new year. Here's a timeless description of these between days from a collection of essays by British historian Hilaire Belloc. He talks about the importance of ceremony during this week to "modern men" in a "terribly changing time." This is part of that essay, first published in 1928:

"Now, you must not think that Christmas being over, the season and its glories are at an end...

In the midst of this season between Christmas and Twelfth Day comes the ceremony of the New Year, and this is how it is observed:

On New Year's Eve, at about a quarter to twelve o'clock at night, the master of the house and all that are with him go about from room to room opening every door and window, however cold the weather be, for thus, they say, the old year and its burdens can go out and leave everything new for hope and for the youth of the coming time...

While this is going on the bells in the church hard by are ringing out the old year, and when all the windows and doors have thus been opened and left wide, all those in the house go outside, listening for the cessation of the chimes, which comes just before the turn of the year.

There is an odd silence of a few minutes, and watches are consulted to make certain of the time, and the way they know the moment of midnight is by the boom of a gun, which is fired at a town far off, but can always be heard.

At that sound the bells of the church clash out suddenly in new chords, the master of the house goes back into it with a piece of stone or earth from outside, all doors are shut, and the household, all of them, rich and poor, drink a glass of wine together to salute the New Year.

This, which I have just described, is not in a novel or in a play. It is real, and goes on as the ordinary habit of living men and women. I fear that set down thus in our terribly changing time it must sound very strange and, perhaps in places, grotesque, but to those who practice it, it is not only sacred, but normal, having in the whole of the complicated affair a sacramental quality and an effect of benediction: not to be despised.

Indeed, modern men, who lack such things, lack sustenance, and our fathers who founded all those ritual observances were very wise."

Here's to a fantastic New Year in 2010.

Ten Breakable Habits (for a remarkable presentation)

Here's an excerpt from this week's TechRepublic with a preview of my new book on presentations, coming out on February 12th. If you're looking for an easy way to get your next presentation to the next level, these are the first five of my ten recommendations for do's and don'ts:

1 - Stop: Being an information resource.

Start: Being the funnel, filter, and guru.

Put away the teleprompter. Presenting is more than giving a speech. You're changing data into information, knowledge, and with a little luck, wisdom.

2 - Stop: The train - there's no track.

Start: With the end in mind.

Invest the amount of preparation time in your presentation that will make it a winning experience for you, like an athlete whose first goal is self-improvement.

3 - Stop: Trusting the human ear.

Start: Polishing your shoes.

Don't keep it simple; make it simple. Transform a complicated thought or process into something that is easy to see and appreciate.

4 - Stop: Explaining your slides.

Start: illustrating your ideas.

The images you use will create lasting impressions if they connect with your words. We're a visual culture and need the combination of content and visual emphasis.

5 - Dont: Focus on everything.

Do: Build around a unique value proposition and an unrefusable offer.

The ability to define your message in terms of a UVP and UO is the central piece of making your presentation remarkable. Keep your other points ancillary to these two.

For a list of all ten breakable habits, see the article in TechRepublic's "10 Things" column here.

You can find more details on the book at www.tenbreakablehabits.com.

Christmas Cheer and Marketing - Good, Bad and Ugly

In the early darkness of the morning after Thanksgiving it begins. The promotions leading up to Christmas are a harbinger of the general economy and the December campaign can bolster those lagging year-end figures, particularly in retail.

So effective marketing in the competition for those final discretionary dollars of the year is critical. Although the zeitgeist is one of generosity, the board of directors is looking up from the balance sheets and saying "You know that last dime? We need it." Are there marketers out there who are successful in appealing to both the rock and the hard place?

Some companies have seized the opportunity to be Christmas-friendly. In a recent survey of that category by John Stossel, the pole position is held by Bass Pro Shops, followed by Cabela's, Lands End, K-mart and Sears. Other businesses are more inclined to be snowy, frosty, wintry, festive, etc. in hopes of appealing to Obama's "no longer Christian" nation. Retailers will have all of January to figure out whether they offended the right people.

Here are some other pre-12/25 strategies you may be seeing out there lately - see if you think they're effective:

Good
- Megabus is giving away 100,000 free seats on their Facebook page on trips booked for 1/6-3/20.

- Apple has a free Christmas music download set (20 songs) on iTunes.

- ELF Cosmetics is offering free shipping on any purchase.

- Joseph A. Bank is offering $550 suits for $180.

- Cepia's hot new "Zhu Zhu Pets" are under $8.00 each (and the rumors of toxicity are false).

Bad
- Verizon doubled its early-termination fee for smartphones last month.

- Joseph A. Bank evidently clears at least $370 on its normally $550 suits.

- Today, stores sold out of Zhu Zhu Pets within minutes of getting a shipment, pushing the eBay price up to $35.00.

Ugly
- The girls in Gap's seasonal ad saucily tell their parents they won't wear that (old stuff) anymore, and if they don't like it, they can "talk to the moose." (The only sign of seasonal cheer at the brick-and-mortar store reads, "Do the moose. Shake your caboose.") The moose video has already generated some spoofs on YouTube.

- Mitsubishi is running ads with the jingle, "We wish you a Mitsubishi."


On that note, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. God bless us, every one.

______________________

Some of you have asked about the Discovery Channel's "Everest: Beyond the Limit" with John Golden's amazing summit climb described in my 10QatAtime interview with him in October. The update is that the episode was delayed but is now scheduled for Sunday 12/27 - see the link here.

Marketing Obama's Noble Steps

Since the Nobel Prize committee's surprise decision in October to recognize President Barack Obama for the 2009 peace prize, a great deal of discussion has ensued around the reasoning in the decision. The arguments revolve largely around the timeline and general requirements for accomplishments, rather than plans or intentions.

Interestingly, the peace prize is an anomaly among the thirteen Nobel Prizes. It doesn't carry the "tested by time" caveat for qualification, so there is plenty of room for interpretation by the committee on what ought to be considered. The formal award statement describes the decision as recognizing Obama's "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," primarily through work toward nuclear anti-proliferation and a new international political climate. Also cited is his role in "meeting the great climatic challenges" in the world, echoing the 2007 award to Al Gore and his climate-change (formerly "global warming") panel. The Peace Prize is again unique among the thirteen Nobels in its presentation, as the only prize given in Oslo rather than Stockholm at the specific, and somewhat enigmatic, request of the dynamite inventor himself.

Curiosity about the field of nominations in which President Obama competed will have no doubt waned by the time nomination records are unsealed in 2059, but the field of past recipients into which he has been inducted is certainly a distinguished cast. Among the honored peacemakers are the Dalai Lama, Kofi Annan, Desmond Tutu and Mother Teresa. Notable achievements from the Cold War days came from both Mikhail Gorbachev's Glasnost and Lech Walesa's Solidarity. For his part, Mr. Walesa has been bold to note that on the basis of actual contribution, his award was harder earned. Critics also point out the absence of any recent Republican presidents, whose peace dividends have evidently not made the cut.

The next of what civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson called President Obama’s “noble steps” in the process is to travel to Oslo today to formally receive the award. In addition to the medal, the $1.4 million cash prize has already been promised by Obama to an unnamed charity. Based on the widely-reported costs of up to that exact amount for the President’s recent trip to Copenhagen, the cost of the Oslo trip might be better offset by a “donation” back to the taxpayers who are funding the trip, rather than another perceived federal redistribution.

Seth Godin's Top Ten for Business Laggards

Is your business running on all cylinders in terms of new media? If so, you can bypass this one.

Author and internet übermarketer Seth Godin has written up an intriguing list of ten recommendations for businesses (and organizations or clients) that are web laggards. (It's the sick who need a doctor, right?) Those who qualify have:

- No real website
- No social media
- No permission assets
- No real cash

All ten of them are good, but these are my favorites:

- Use gmail to give every person in the organization that can read English an email address.
- Start an email newsletter using Mad Mimi or Mail Chimp. Give the responsibility for the newsletter's creation and performance to one person and offer them a bonus if they exceed metrics in sign ups and in reducing churn.
- Offer a small bonus to anyone in the company who starts and runs a blog on any topic. Have them link to your company site, with an explanation that while they work there, they don't speak for you.
- Start a newsletter for your vendors. Email them regular updates about what you're doing, what's selling and what problems are going on internally that they might be able to help you with.
- Get a white board and put it in the break room. On it, have someone update: how many people subscribe to the newsletter, how many people visit the website, how many inbound requests come in by phone, how long it takes customer service to answer an email and how often your brand names are showing up on Twitter every day.

Here's a link to the rest.

Thanks, Seth.

Ten Questions on Practical Technology Transformation with Antonio Hylton

Any idea where the largest county* in the US is? You might expect it to be in the state of Texas, but that's not it. The number two county on the list also edges out Harris County, TX by just a bit, and that distinction is held by Cook County, Illinois.

The CIO of Cook County's massive infrastructure is the founder of Broadband Technology Associates, Antonio Hylton, and he is transforming the technology throughout a complex set of layers in the organization with his "Vision 2010" plan, including the city of Chicago and a total budget of more than three billion dollars.

In this interview with Antonio, which just came out in TechRepublic magazine (you really ought to be a subscriber), he talks with me about the dangers of technological procrastination and what it has taken to reach the point where he can get the ball rolling.

You can always download the PDF version of these articles from the TR site, as well as add your comments and perspectives to the list.

*the largest county is Los Angeles County, CA

Bravery and Honor - A Veterans Day Story

This story was sent to me by my friend Rudy Rust, who was conscripted into the German army when he was fifteen years old, during WWII. It's about the way men think about bravery and honor, particularly in wartime. See if you think it is relevant to us today.

Bravery & Honor We Don't See Anymore

If you look carefully at the B-17 in this painting, you'll see how shot up it is. It was ready to fall out of the sky. You'll also see there's a German ME-109 fighter next to it. Here's the story behind this picture:

B-17 pilot Charlie Brown (yes, that's his real name) was flying his Flying Fortress with the 379th Bomber Group from Kimbolton, England. His plane, nicknamed "Ye Old Pub" was badly damaged by German FLAK and other artillery. The compass was damaged and they were actually headed in the wrong direction, deeper into enemy territory. As the plane flew over a German airfield, German pilot Franz Stigler was given orders to take off and shoot the British bomber down.

As Stigler neared the Flying Fortress, he couldn't believe what he saw. He "had never seen a plane in such a bad state." The tail and rear section were severely damaged, and the tail gunner was wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes throughout the entire plane.

Although he had plenty of ammunition, Franz flew over beside the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, who was clearly scared and struggling to control his damaged and bloodied plane. When he became aware that they had no idea where they were heading, Franz waved at Charlie Brown to turn 180 degrees around. He then escorted the stricken plane out to and slightly over the North Sea toward England. He saluted Charlie Brown and turned back toward Europe. When he landed he told his commander he had shot the plane down over the sea. He never told the truth to anyone. Charlie Brown and his remaining crew were debriefed and told their story, but were ordered never to talk about it.

More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who had saved his crew. After years of research, he found Franz Stigler, who had never spoken of the incident, even at his post-war reunions. The two pilots met in the US at a 379th Bomber group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive because Franz never fired his guns on that day.

When asked why he didn't shoot them down, Stigler said, "I didn't have the heart to finish those brave men. I flew beside them for a long time. They were trying desperately to get home and I was going to let them do that. I could not have shot at them. It would have been the same as shooting a man in a parachute."

Both Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler died in 2008. Both will be remembered as brave and honorable men.

(l to r) German ace Franz Stigler, artist Ernie Boyett, and B-17 pilot Charlie Brown

Franz Stigler / Charlie Brown

Berlin - The Capitol of Freedom Twenty Years Later

Today marks 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the precursor to the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War.

As a veteran of the occupied city of Berlin in the end of the 1980's, I would like to salute all of my colleagues and the many who went before us in preserving freedom within the Divided City and ultimately extending it to the East German Capitol and into all of Eastern Europe, liberating millions of people who had lived for decades behind the Iron Curtain.

After 20 years, the Cold War is to my children what WWII was to me growing up. It is history. But it remains a very real history to anyone who drove past the Soviet guards and winding concrete barriers at Checkpoint Charlie, through the "protective" wall that Walter Ulbricht declared "no one had any intention of building." It is a very real history to the many Eastern Europeans who were born during those years and knew nothing else.

By November 9, 1989, almost ten percent of the East German population had officially applied for exit visas. And on that date, they were all granted. After watching West German television (three channels were received by about 80% of the East Germans) for almost 40 years, the contrast of the black-and-white version of life gave way to a colorful reality beyond the ten-inch screen in the corner of the apartment.

Seven years earlier, the Great Communicator, President Ronald Reagan, presciently declared that Marxism-Leninism was headed for the "ash heap of history," and two years before the wall fell, he made his now-famous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" speech at the Brandenburg Gate. As one of the thousands of people in the audience along Unter den Linden that day, I must say that although it was powerful, its effect was still unimagined by most.

The wall came down in a quiet revolution, without a shot being fired. But in truth, many shots had been fired prior to November 9, 1989. The American forces in Berlin numbered under 10,000 in the face of 350,000 Russians and 150,000 East Germans. There were 382 American soldiers killed during the Cold War, one of whom, Major Arthur Nicholson, was shot in Ludwigslust by a Soviet sniper the year before our group arrived in Berlin. That same year, the LaBelle disco in downtown Berlin was blown up by Libyan terrorists. While 5,000 people successfully escaped into West Berlin in the 28 years the wall divided the city, almost 1,000 were killed in the attempt along the entire Iron Curtain.

In 1990, the year after the Wall fell, Senator Bob Dole made a speech at Capitol Hill that dovetails with Ronald Reagan's of three years before: "You have won the Cold War. Your underappreciated valor helped topple the Berlin Wall, and bring down dictators the world over... For the past four decades the world behind the Iron Curtain... looked to Americans for hope, and America looked to you to get the job done. Today, the free world says thank you."

And now, twenty years after the fall, Checkpoint Charlie remains a museum. May it stay that way.

(Here's a link to a great slideshow from Google.)

- I've added this excellent five-minute tribute video sent from one of my Field Station colleagues.

The Art of the (Amazon/Zappos) Deal

Here's a memo out today from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh about his commitment to keeping his business-as-usual approach, and at the same time using Amazon to take Zappos to the next level.

The deal between the two online retailers was finalized over the Halloween weekend. If you missed it earlier last month, here's a link to my ten-question interview with Tony in TechRepublic.

Ten Questions with a Driven Climber: CIO John Golden

My newest IT leadership interview with CIO John Golden is out today in TechRepublic. Along with driving the technology decisions behind insurance giant CNA, John also went through 23 surgeries to allow him to walk. Then, instead of just walking, he decided his rehabilitation also ought to include an expedition to the top of Mount Everest, and a couple of the other significant peaks in the world along the way.

I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did. Thanks to John for sharing his inspirational story and for creating the LiveActive Foundation. Watch for the full version to come out on the Discovery Channel next month.

VW is having fun with video marketing

In "The Illustrated Man," Ray Bradbury describes videos and beer becoming the new ersatz for books and wine.

A year after its debut, YouTube was acquired by Google. Three years later, traffic is at over a billion videos - per day, that is. At the top of the list is: Charlie the finger-biter (here's an article with a complete list of the top ten).

What does this mean for business? The world's biggest company (VW) has undoubtedly made some significant investments in marketing distribution, but what about a shift toward content? What if, instead of investing a much smaller amount in creating a one-page ad (paying the graphic designer, photographer, and copywriter) and then paying Car and Driver to print it, the distribution were free? The savings could go toward a more elaborate message like "we are all about using 'fun' to influence people's behavior," and then depend on the viral spread to get over three million views in its first week at no cost.

Good idea.

The Newspaper Museum

Back in the day, I was one of those entrepreneurial urchins with a burlap sack over my shoulder taking a daily walk through the neighborhood to unload sheets of inked paper on people's doorsteps. I still see a paper on the sidewalk every once in awhile but those days are likely numbered. As Conde-Nast sheds 68-year old Gourmet Magazine this week, Jim Tyree's solo bid appears to be the last hope for the Sun-Times.

Is that kind of shift in the crystal ball for phone carriers as well, to what David Pogue calls "the right thing?" AT&T has announced it will allow VOIP as a service on its iPhones, which will certainly spread to Palm and other smartphones faster than a gps app. Even more than GoogleVoice, this development promises at the very least to change the way we think about minutes and calling plans.

Ten Questions with Tony Hsieh of Zappos

OK, let's dig in our heels and get Q4 off to a great start. Tony Hsieh of Zappos has some valuable insights to offer us that point to his success with Zappos as a result of a simple focus on great customer service, and not being distracted by comparisons.

Whether or not you're selling millions of pairs of shoes and partnering up with Amazon, delivering customer happiness is a goal all of us in business ought to be shooting for. Frankly, this economy demands it. Link here to read the full interview in today's TechRepublic.

Do you trust the mob?

One of my son's (jr. high) teachers told him he wouldn't be able to use Wikipedia as a reference source for his term paper.

The footnote was substantiated with citations, but an open-source reference couldn't be considered entirely legitimate for pedagogical purposes. OK, I can understand where this thinking is coming from, but the truth is I'm tending to trust mob-sourcing over traditional sources on some topics.

It does seem cheatingly easy to have such ready access to information and answers on any imaginable topic. When I was a kid I had to bike to the library (ten miles each way in the dead of winter!), head for the card catalog and start writing down the shelf numbers. Now the question is whether to look it up on your laptop or your phone.

What about the general legitimacy of "crowdsourced" information? Depending on what kind of information you need, there's a litany of different venues popping up where you can get a decent answer very fast, even if you still can't use it in your doctoral thesis.

Especially on questions where you are specifically looking for consensus or a majority vote on the "best answer," the web comes through in a pinch. How to decide when you need new tires? What dogs are good with kids? How do I simplify this equation on my homework? Sources like Yahoo! Answers, Aardvark, or even throwing it out to your twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook network may get you a better answer than your first pair of searches on Google or Bing. Write and tell me if you agree.

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Top 10 Twitter Rules

Speaking of twitter, if you're a twitterphile/twitterholic with half a million followers, you already know what works for you. If you're still skeptical that there's any real value in conversations made up of 140-character sound bites, here are ten rules that will help you to keep it real in both your "following" and "followers" columns.

10 Rules for the Twitter Neophyte

(don't follow the white rabbit.)

* does twitter stand to gain from a "Facebook Exodus?"

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Healthcare and Twitter

If you've been watching the news, you've seen a kind of grass-roots approach to politics in the recent proliferation of "town hall meetings" on healthcare. Rather than just a platform for lawmakers to describe their positions, these are advertised as forums for discussion. Healthcare is a perfect topic as it resonates with so many people on different levels, especially the notion of adopting a federal "one-payer" system, but the number of people taking the time to attend an open meeting in August is still remarkable.

With the new hyperindividualism of the web, especially the rise of social networking sites, we think differently about who's listening. Just a few short years ago, there was much more "rational indifference" to this part of the political process. Showing up at the polls or watching a primary debate were still a duty and privilege, but with no expectation that your voice would stand out from the buzz. Enter Twitter, where you can have anywhere from hundreds to hundreds of thousands (in short order if you're @Oprah) listening in at a given moment to whatever you can fit into 140 characters or less.

It isn't even that surprising that if we stand up at one of these meetings it may show up on youtube or even national news the next day. (Jewel thieves in London this week burst out onto the street and were immediately being recorded on cell phones of passers-by.) Better get used to it. Everyone gets their ten minutes of fame - anytime.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayinslee/ / CC BY 2.0

That footprint in the moon-dust

Forty years ago today, when the Cadillac was undisputedly the best mass-production automobile on the planet and Woodstock was still a place and not a thing, the United States pulled off the coup de grace of the space race by planting a human footprint in the shallow moon-dust of the Sea of Tranquility. A popular colloquial phrase to come out of this achievement was, "Yep, we can put a man on the moon, but we can't... (make a car that doesn't rust out in five years or insert your favorite pet-peeve of technological shortcomings)."

This was before anyone had cell phones, the internet, cheap handheld calculators, microwave ovens, digital watches, and yes, even before post-its or velcro. We don't talk so much about the shortcomings of ingenuity or the lack of technological marvels designed specifically for mass consumption anymore. The free market and the global flow of goods and capital since the 60's and now, even more importantly, the free flow of information, have made you and me some of the most fortunate people to live in any time or any place in the history of the world.

As if that weren't enough, here's another bit of recent news: When Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the moon forty years ago, mid-life for the babies being born was right about now, in 2009. But a new study puts mid-life at 50, so you who are 1969 babies will now have to wait until 2019 to get that shiny red MLC Corvette. And those of us born in the ten years prior to that have no longer officially reached middle age. Nice!

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The new transparency

Being a web 2.0 business has become synonymous with using the internet to become more "open and transparent." Does transparency in commerce mean that your community discussions are live, spontaneous, interactive and accessible?

For a hyper-individualized, billion-dollar company like Zappos that is built on service and also happens to sell shoes (and other neat stuff), it seems to come with the territory. For other businesses, it may still be safely diluted down to discussions that are recent, honest but controlled, and filtered by qualifying criteria.



What about the federal government? Can it follow a business-collaboration meme? In this C-Span clip, White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs weighs in on how questions coming from Facebook and Twitter give the new Town Hall meetings a sense of openness and transparency. (Chip and Helen are not buying it.) I have a feeling Helen Thomas wins the transparency award no matter which side of the aisle you're on.

Video Marketing (Evian)

Does this make you want to go out and get some Evian water or what?

Changing the rules

Have you ever gotten directions from someone with descriptions of one mile, two left turns, three stoplights, but no street address? And the ending address is what you really need to plug into your map application or GPS. The rules about giving directions have changed.

In business, you can adapt to the new rules like Verizon is doing with its rollout of 500 downloadable applications for their phones, (although new iPhone apps like copy & paste or a radio player came loaded on Verizon's Palm Centro last year). You'll also see the new rules about using your database to create most-popular and recommended lists, as well as offering text updates.

Or (sometimes) you can change the rules. Amazon changed the way we think about customer data, reviews and feedback. Now they're changing the way we think about books, as Adam Penenberg points out in the latest Fast Company, to adapt to the kind of rules Apple has already introduced for music.

The other option of course is to ignore the rules, as in the company formerly known as GM (of which you are now part-owner) and the major newspapers.

Skiing In July (not just in the Alps)

If you're a summer skiier, get ready to save your plane fare to Zermatt this year. Briton Engineering has already built several of their "Snowflex" runs in Spain, France, Scotland, England and Denmark. Now for the first time in the US, you can ski or snowboard year-round at this new synthetic-surface slope in Virginia. (It's also pretty cool that the guy promoting it in this video is my son Axel.)

photo credit: plasticsnow aka Kat

Inflight Wi-fi - still disconnected?

Last year I wrote a piece for TechRepublic about wi-fi on domestic airlines. I'm still suspicious that encroachment into this last haven of being disconnected may not be welcomed across the board, but inflight web access continues to expand its reach every day.

The Gogo Inflight offering by Aircell is at eight dollars for mobile access and ten for normal wi-fi on flights of three hours or less. American Airlines and Delta have this now. United has a plan in the works. Here's a link to the corporate video from Aircell's CEO.

Tip: you can also save 25% by using promo code "wifi25" through 7/3/09.

Making IT visible at Accenture

Here's an interview I just did with Bob Kress of Accenture that was published today in TechRepublic. Bob is a very interesting guy and has streamlined their technology at the same time the company has been going through phenomenal growth. His philosophy of showcasing the efficiency of his IT operation at Accenture is a model other companies should (and Bob says they can) emulate.

A Nation's Gratitude

"Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from his honor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan."

- General John A. Logan, from the general order proclaiming Memorial Day on May 30, 1868.

Logan echoed Abraham Lincoln's words of three years earlier calling on our divided nation to "to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan," of which there were many at the time.

Earlier this month, the three young men below died in battle near the village of Nishagam, in Konar Province, Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. William D. Vile, 27, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas
Specialist Ryan C. King, 22, Dallas, Georgia, Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas
Sgt. James D. Pirtle, 21, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas

As a soldier and the son of a soldier, I salute you and your sacrifice on this day of remembrance.

The Price of Security

This three-part "free security suite" is touted by Consumer Reports as being "on a par" with the ones that will cost you, and better than last year's versions. 

(links to free downloads)

1. Avira - Antivirus Personal 

2. MS Windows Defender
(If you're running Vista, this is already included.)

3. Spamfighter Standard

Beats complaining about it.

Unthinking Marketing

OK, so the KFC Grilled rollout on Oprah didn't work out so well.

Many locations were quickly out of any kind of chicken, and now that it's back, it's for paying customers only. (Is this the best path to new customer acquisition?) Your coupon is still good for about another week, you just have to mail in the accompanying form.

Wow. Grilled chicken is just not that revolutionary for me, and a form to fill out is the wrong response. If you're thinking like I am, you're unthinking KFC. A bad marketing plan has the potential to leave your business worse off than you started.

On the other hand, how about this deal: would you move up your scheduled plan to buy a new car if you had a chance to get it free? What if whether you pay or not were entirely dependent on the weather?

Weld County Garage in Greeley, CO is giving away their cars and trucks if it rains more than an inch on Memorial Day. If they do end up giving away cars, you can bet the publicity will be enormous, maybe even better than a spot on Oprah. There's something fundamentally intriguing about the outcome being based on the weather - kind of like the Spanish Armada.

Is it likely to happen? Better odds than the lottery - or free grilled chicken.

Before there was Zappos there was Ben Stein

Ben Stein recently wrote this New York Times piece about the art of sales. I personally think there's actually more here about marketing than sales.

He writes about his first job in shoe sales which, as he says, "entailed selling shoes." It's not always glorious is it? But the way Ben describes it, he remembers it with a certain penchant for getting back to the drama/ballet/high-wire act of selling those shoes.

Interestingly, along with being a lawyer, writer, actor and economist, Mr. Stein is also a highly regarded commencement speaker.

Intentionality - Pointers and Filters

The transformation is all but complete. Ten years ago, for a given network's broadcast there were a certain number of viewers watching at any one time. Some were watching intentionally and for some it was just channel surfing. In some cases a show might be replayed again later and get a small second wave of viewers.

Now think about the huge change going on not just in the technology at work but in the social element and the reduction of randomness. A piece comes on somewhere in the world like Susan Boyle in this Britain's Got Talent from last Saturday, gets posted to youtube in various forms and has five million hits in three days. A posting of the same show's Paul Potts video from two years ago has over 43 million views. Most of the new viewers didn't watch the original airing, and almost all are watching it intentionally.

The link for a viral video gets sent to you (like it was to me), someone e-mails it, finds it in a Google search, or sees it in a school, club meeting or a church (i.e. the Jason McElwain basketball video). I probably wouldn't have come across Penn Jillette's videoblog about sincerity in your beliefs and being a "good man" if someone hadn't pointed me to it. The pointers, blogs, twitter, facebook, social bookmarks are ubiquitous (and they're all over the place too), and they have all but replaced cold-callers in qualifying an audience.

Whether it's the design of your car, the news you watch/read, or your presentation next week, there's a lot more intentionality involved - and expected in the details. "Leave nothing to chance" has taken on a new meaning. You get to choose, and with freedom comes... yes, responsibility.

Adapt, or be ignored.

Your audience expects it.

Technology and the 2016 Olympics

If you're interested in what kind of part is played by technology in the 2016 Olympics, and specifically the bid by the city of Chicago against the other contender cities, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Madrid, here's an interview I did with Ellen Barry for TechRepublic.

Ellen is the CIO of the MPEA, which includes McCormick Place and Navy Pier. The level of technology, overall space and versatility Chicago offered to the International Olympic Committee in their recent visit is astounding. I'd say we've got a good shot at it. Be sure to check out the photo gallery link for some great shots - nice screensavers for Chicagoans (or former Chicagoans).

Apropos government, happy day between tax days! Today falls between Tax Freedom Day and Tax Day (the regular IRS one).

International Leadership at Siemens - Interview with David Edelstein

Overseeing IT operations for a global company in a flat world brings some unique challenges.

Here's a new interview that just came out in TechRepublic with David Edelstein of Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics with some interesting insights and experiences.

David took over as CIO in 2007, following Siemens’ acquisition of Dade Behring, where he had served as CIO for nine years. He is responsible for leading the development of the advanced information and eBusiness systems that support the worldwide organization.

Idiosyncratic Marketing

When it comes to marketing (and general business) strategy, there's unique - and then there's idiosyncratic.

And the idiosyncratic can continue to be that way because they wouldn't be where they are if they didn't know what they are doing.

Classic: Spike Lee fires back to his more-than-gracious interviewer, "Hey, did you make 'Do the right thing?' Well, just how many movies did you make anyway?" For celebrities, automakers, bailout recipients, tenured professors, NEA bosses - success becomes its own hemlock. There are special rules for me because, well, I wouldn't be here if I weren't special.

With success, you can insulate yourself from the voices you don't want to hear. And there are always other voices seeking to curry favor. Don't fall for it Spike. Don't surround yourself with sycophants. If someone tells you you're still running your 5000-customer business as if it were 500, or that this kaizen thing is something you may want to look into, don't get miffed. Maybe you're just the last one to realize it.

If your marketing looks like General Motors "best resale value of any domestic truck!" because you get rid of the Jim Harbours (barred from GM property in the 80's) and surround yourself with people who tell you "sure, that resonates," get ready for the ode to the CEO.

It may take a few years. It took fifteen years at $7 billion a year being spent on GM pensions and retiree healthcare until CEO Rick Wagoner said before Congress in December, "If we had the $103 billion... it would enable us to be even farther ahead on technology or newer equipment in our plants, or whatever." (Pardon?) No, zero percent financing is not a sustainable marketing plan.

Being able to carry on with boatload of idiosyncracies can be the mark of someone who has enough success to insulate themselves from their critics, but it's not necessarily a badge of honor.

Hard Times

A lot of people are suffering these days. Not only because of unemployment and the troubled economy, although those are certainly a part of it for many. Responses to the suffering of others seem to fall into three major categories: 1.) the tabloids, 2.) the government and 3.) the widow with the mite.

The tabloids sensationalize the suffering of people we don't know and won't have any real response to, other than the consolation that other people are suffering too. It could be a sort of schadenfreude, but mainly it's just knowing we all have suffering in common, and some possibly even more than we do, and that some who don't seem to suffer really do after all.

The government sees a purpose in suffering. There is opportunity waiting when people are in difficult circumstances. The government can help. Of course, the government is ultimately not a benevolent creature - its motives are votes in the next election or an increased sense of dependence on its liberal largesse.

Then there's the widow in the New Testament with her coin. She gave all she had. Why? Well, the story doesn't say but it wasn't just her tithe because it was everything she had. It would make sense that she gave it through the vehicle of the church's coffers to help those less fortunate; the ones who were suffering. And she did it anonymously - no receipt, no tax deduction, no name on a plaque, no quid pro quo. She just quietly dropped it in the box.

Do you know someone who's suffering?

Three Steps In Your Job Search

Are you one of the 12 million Americans now working on a job search (a 25-year high today)? Here are three things to help you get started:

1.) After you take your best shot at making it simple but powerful, get a free professional review and recommendations on your resume from Executive Career Services courtesy of longtime resume expert Steven Provenzano (send it to careers@execareers.net).

2.) Take the information in the new version of your CV and update (or create if you need to) your profile on LinkedIn. Be sure to look at how it appears to the outsider as well as how your name comes up in Google/Yahoo/Altavista.

3.) Next Tuesday, take advantage of Fedex/Kinko's offer to print 25 free copies of your new resume.

- bonus tip: remember to go to sleep an hour early tomorrow and set your clocks to spring-forward this weekend, so your interview doesn't look like this.

How recession-proof are you?

This month the Illinois Chamber of Commerce is co-hosting a half-day seminar called "Recession-protect Your Business: strategies for survival and growth." If you're part of a small to medium ($500K to $20M) business digging in for the long haul in 2009, mark your calendar for this executive level event in downtown Chicago on Friday 3/20.

Presentations from Melissa Giovagnoli, Founder and CEO of Networlding, and Don Paullin, CEO of Hiring Firing Experts, Inc., will cover recession strategies and ways to build business in challenging times.

The cost to attend is $85 and you can see the agenda, invitation and speaker bios at this link.

Do you have a corporate slapper?

Back when I was working for one of the world's more bureaucratic organizations, there was a certain manager who was a walking bad attitude, obstacle to any progress other than her own, and certainly a candidate for a good slapping.

HR policy being what it is, she remained somewhat confidently insulated and managed a good deal of swagger up until the day she was finally ousted from her position as the team's resident paterfamilias. What we needed was Malcolm.



Malcolm Fry - the corporate slapper. Here's a video to explain exactly how this works.

Just how important is a smart healthcare IT executive?

Not many issues approach the universal concern over the healthcare situation (crisis?) in this country.  The changing role of the CIO at a hospital or other health service provider seemed like a great topic for a few questions.  

So I asked Patrick Moroney, who is among the best authorities out there in this area, for his candid opinions.  Here's the interview with Patrick that came out in TechRepublic today.  (Add your comment and/or vote if you like it.)

Thanks!

Have IBM and Google noticed the $20B ERP market?

If you haven't seen it already, I hope you'll take a look at my interview with Jeffrey Carr on ERP in TechRepublic.  If you like it, be sure to click on the "worthwhile?" voting button at the top right.  It's also portable in a free PDF download (link right below the intro).

* Speaking of free downloads, you can get a free sample of Starbucks new Via instant right here.  Not in time for this month's survey, but give it a try.  (thanks Jon -)

Detroit in the crosshairs at the auto show

Japanese steel was a different story than its car manufacturers. Under the Marshall plan after the second world war, the allies (mainly the US) rebuilt Japan's steel plants with the result that our own aging mills couldn't compete. 

In the auto industry on the other hand, Detroit started by ignoring Deming, then ignored Japan (and Korea), and now is looking for tax dollars to finance the effects.  With their very existence in the balance, looking only slightly more viable than Joaquin Phoenix's rap music career, you might expect they would emphasize a good showing in the annual auto show circuit, like the one going on in Chicago right now.  Not necessarily that they would make a record financial investment, but a smart one.

You might expect to see Saturn distance itself a bit from parent GM and its $30B request to the US taxpayer this month.  You might expect to see some vision for hybrids or electrics that trumps the competition.  Most importantly, you might expect a different presentation of new ideas and products than you could find on the internet ("this vehicle has six cylinders and has sunroof, leather and automatic transmission options").  No.  None of the above.

An expo is not a giant television ad. TV is more or less a scripted visual storytelling for the masses, punctuated by zero-interaction advertising that is increasingly blaring and increasingly ignored - or tivoed out entirely.  The internet makes a huge leap by providing more interaction, customization and selective content.  If you enter the right keywords, you can find it.  But a live event offers dialog and personal experience and should highlight the strongest presentation points you have to offer.  A car I can see in the parking lot outside the show is not extraordinary enough to be in the auto show.  Seeing a vehicle from behind a ropeline is not necessarily extraordinary either.  A display of a vehicle where you can't sit behind the wheel, or where the sales reps can only repeat the factory specs might as well be online.

There were a couple automakers with impressive concept cars you won't see on the street and reps who could compare different vehicles and knew enough about cars in general enough to ask you questions back, but they weren't from Detroit.  VW and Acura were the standouts in my book.  Saab's replacement of the Aero-X with a beautiful concept convertible was a show-stopper, and the rep had a wonderful Scandanavian accent while most of the reps were clearly hired guns.

I still enjoyed the auto show of course.  I'd just like to see the automakers, especially the ones in Detroit, make better use of our tax dollars with their marketing.  Only two companies asked for my e-mail address.  Auto marketers should be at least as good as the US Army's impressive display at the same show.  They did an outstanding job by comparison.

note: If you plan to make it to this year's show in Chicago, be sure to stop by a Shell station to fill up on your way and get their half-price tickets for admission.  If you have a couple people with you, it will pay for your parking.

Mark Cuban's Open Source Funding Rules

Feeling Mavericky?  This week's offer by broadcast.com billionaire Mark Cuban to provide stimulus funding for entrepreneurs offers a few guidelines that the public sector might do well to imitate.  

As the federal job-creation stimulus package rolls out with $30 million taxpayer dollars earmarked for Nancy Pelosi's favorite kind of mouse, Cuban's open source funding offer lays out a few ground rules worth noting:

- Your plan must be posted publicly - transparent and imitable

- 60 days to break-even

- 90 days to show a profit

- Flat organizational structure

- No guarantees of continuation

- Cash flow is monitored

- No Multi-level marketing

- (best of all) Any agreement with Mark will be published openly

Want to take a shot at the cash (no minimum and no maximum) for your current or startup business? You can see the full details of Cuban's offer posted in his blog here.

Ironic Choices

There's a certain irony in offering silly choices.  Does anyone press the "No, I don't want a receipt" button at the gas pump, or press 9 when they want to hang up the phone?

Then there's the irony of offering a choice that doesn't really exist.  A proud union member is issued his obligatory bumper sticker "Union - Yes" with a picture of a check box.  Of course "Yes" is the only vote there is.  If you want the job, you're in the union.

This kind of irony has left Detroit in a bad way these days.  The UAW, in its upward-ratcheting need for self-perpetuation, call the shots like Rod Effen Blagojevich's wife screaming vulgarities in the background of his now famous phone calls.  "Labor demands" are not balanced with any "labor accountability" for performance.  The CEO's are up in front of Congress, but the shrewish-wife union bosses are in the wings telling them why they can't make those concessions.  

This situation is aggravated by a poor economy, but the latest reviews of the big three show a continuing lack of competitiveness.  Depending on blind patriotic loyalty from your customers more than competitive excellence in a free market is rather unpatriotic.  

So is pretending there's a choice where there isn't.

Caribou Bumps The Brand Owner

Americans drink more coffee than any other country in the world.

So it's a big deal when the current brand owner (here's a little word association - coffee: ______ ) shows up as an also-ran. At least one reason Starbucks is closing stores and locking up for an afternoon of re-training is Caribou, a little company out of Minneapolis with stores in 16 states.

The atmosphere at every Caribou I've ever been to is great, and wi-fi is free, vs. a charge of about $4 for two hours at Starbucks, down from the old $10 rate. But those are the perks (ha!) - the core product is still the coffee right? While I've always thought Caribou's product was competitive, I'm no connoisseur, so take the results of the March Consumer Reports coffee survey. Caribou's Columbia Timana comes in second only to Eight O'Clock's 100% Columbian for flavor, and for you coffee-achievers, it's highest among the top four for caffeine content at 195 mg/cup. (Starbucks top brew comes in at #4, but that puts it in the "good" category, down a notch from the "very good.")

For the long haul, build your brand on a quality product and customer service (and a little caffeine helps too).

SEO Expertise

If you need some technical advice on optimizing search and making it work for you (and who doesn't?), Kelly Jones is an SEO specialist at Plexus Web who is remarkably good at what she does. I'll bet you won't be able to ask something she can't help you with.

Will "complications" with outsourcing serve to stem the tide of domestic job cuts?

Companies that are immune to the latest labor cuts don't seem to fall into any particular categories. Even stalwarts like Caterpillar, Sprint and Home Depot added to the more than 40,000 layoffs announced this week. There's some hidden pain in these numbers as well. Cuts in overtime hours and part-time or temporary workers don't show up.

Apropos hidden numbers, what if companies were required to state how many of their layoffs are domestic vis-a-vis offshored positions as a percentage of the total? Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of the free market, but only when minimum standards for business practices are met. Somalian pirates do not qualify, for example. Nor does Satyam Computer Services, where State Farm is cutting 400 jobs because of fraud, which has also complicated things for PriceWaterhouseCoopers as two of its auditors responsible for Satyam's books were arrested in India over the weekend. Early last year, Moira Herbst was prescient in pointing out other risks and conflicts of reckless outsourcing in her Business Week article about the then half-million H1B-visa workers.

It may be wishful thinking, but the numbers of outsourced jobs being cut could actually become a statistic companies would be pleased to have splashed across the FOX News business page. My friend George Moraetes is a displaced State Farm consultant who would like to see that.

Ten Questions on Risk and Compliance with Joe Degidio

Got risk?

If you're a small (or large) business looking for new ideas and some prognostication on risk and compliance over the next few years, here's an interview I did with compliance expert Joe Degidio in TechRepublic today.

You can post a comment or add a question below the article. (FYI - they are going to ask you to do a one-time registration to make a comment, but this is a great publication and you should be registered anyway.) Thanks!

Synchronicity 2.0 (mashups)

Is it CNN or is it Facebook?  To quote the inimitable Bo Jackson, "Both."  

It's a cool mashup of CNN's video coverage of the inauguration with all your friends' simaltaneous discussion in a live forum. Apparently the idea went over fairly well as the site was maxed out on user-spots shortly before the ceremony started.  It's been unmashed again now, but bookmark the link for the next memorable event that comes up.

It was a good day for Twitter too.  The growing deluge of the world's most transient blog posts had about five times the normal amount of "tweets per second" during the ceremonies.  Of course, depending on who's in your "following" list, these might be anything from, "I just ate a bagel" to "Watch my new life-coaching video."  But here's a new twist on it - again with an interesting mashup.  Yahoo! has gotten together with the folks at Twitter to create "Tweetnews," which matches up the latest headlines and their sources with the related "tweets." This adds a bit of authenticity to the frivolity (and immediacy) of newsflashes on Twitter with a measure of mainstream corroboration.

Remember when the future was in plastics?  Now it's in mashups.