Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Today’s a quick post sharing some of my first impressions after having picked up a new Kodak Zi8 camcorder.  A number of you are in marketing, use Flip cameras already, or are just considering one of these new devices.

Chris Brogan, over at www.chrisbrogan.com, was one of the first folks to create any sort of ‘spark’ for me with this new class of device.  Sure, by now we’ve probably all been to events with Flip cams.

They’re neat, cool, but the ‘value’ wasn’t quite there.  Part of that I attribute to having a ‘good’ digital tape camcorder and being put off by the overall process hassles (record an hour, take an hour to download, then process, then encode, then…).  Odds are, if you’re not a video aficionado you’ve had the same dying desire to repeat the experience. Not.

It wasn’t until I started paying attention to Chris’ vlogs and some of his various experiences (Flip, Zx1, Zx6…) that I really appreciated their value.

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Meetings.  They were romantic notions at some distant point in my past.  Boy! I can’t wait until I’m important enough to attend meetings, to lead meetings.  That’ll be the day!  Ever have a similar thought yourself? Ever<g>?

Then, somehow, reality found you, captured you, and enveloped you.  Guess what? You’ve found yourself the victim of meetings.  The silly things that seem like they’re designed to waste your precious time, ways of being ‘busy’ yet not accomplishing a darned thing.  And, not even the least bit romantic.

Problem is, if you’re in the corporate world, I think a lot of this comes down to having had someone teach us, mentor us, on what a meeting should be like.  Meetings are (or should be) important events.  They’re invaluable for the face-to-face time we need, for getting a group of people to communicate in one time, in one place, what they’re thinking.  What they’re agreeing to.  At least that’s the notion.

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Ever wonder why customer service just plain sucks in so many cases?  Ever wonder why?   Perhaps you’ve been just so amazed, like ‘made your whole day’ amazed, when you actually receive good customer service?

A lot of it just plain comes down to a pure desire for the provider to care, passionately care, about the job they’re doing…for you.  After all, it isn’t about ‘where’ the service came from, or ‘who’ provided it, or ‘what’ they were providing it on.

Here in the U.S. it can be popular sport to gripe about the latest ‘terrible’ customer service experience.  All too often we blame it on some poor sap in India, sitting amidst 4 b’zillion other reps, that can’t speak ‘my’ language, and hasn’t gotten a clue.  Hey, I’ve been there, got the shirt, sure you do too.

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By now, almost all of us have encountered an electronic book, or ebook. In simplest form, an ebook can simply be a multi-page document available as a plain text file. More often, you’ll find them as Adobe PDF files you can view on your computer which, when displayed, look exactly like they would if printed out. Even I am experimenting with them as part of this blog.

Recently I came across a question, asking, what the difference may be between an ebook you can download, versus one accessible online? At the same time, what might it mean to the publishing business? An interesting question as I look at my favorite recliner for doing reading.

There are two subtleties here and they are tied to the ‘type’ of ebook in question. The first are what I think of as ‘informational’ ebooks. Examples might include white papers, case studies, academic efforts, and other ‘informational’ type ebooks. Many Harvard Business Review publications might fall in this category for instance. Some are free, some are not.

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This week, my family celebrates Christmas.  Our faith traditionally recognizes December 25th as the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Many of my friends around the world recognize other religious traditions, dates, and beliefs.  Regardless of whether you are Christian or not, please accept my heartfelt appreciation for the relationship we have, and let me simply wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!

Earlier this week, I came across a discussion where the author stated, “something You Should Know: Job losses are probably permanent” Building on this, the M&A consultant stated there will be an, ‘…increase the number of people trying to buy businesses and drive bids up.” Certainly his claims were provocative and the resulting premise a little bit challenging for me to accept.

Here are the two sources cited in support of the ‘buy businesses’ claim:

• http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33384835/ns/business-stocks_and_economy
• http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/12/robert-reich-confirms-permanent.html

These largely struck me as stereotypical media talking heads mush. For instance:

“…I think the unemployment rate will be permanently higher, or at least higher for the foreseeable future,” said Mark Zandi…” Self contradicting, in the same sentence, doesn’t know. Read the rest of this entry »

Now that Windows 7 is available to the general public I decided it was time to introduce it to my environment. In years past, I was typically eager to live on the bleeding edge. Now, I’m a little more relaxed, willing to learn from other’s teething pains, and avoid adopting features that might significantly change or be dropped by the time the final version popped out. Even so, adopting Windows 7 the week it came out might still cause others to feel I’m on the bleeding edge. Let’s just say I’ve allowed the edge to dull…a tad.

If you want an in-depth review of every Windows component, along with myriad opinions, I’d encourage you to check out someplace like TechRepublic. My following observations are directed toward those of you with a more casual affair with your PC. Read the rest of this entry »

Motorcycling can be an incredibly social activity. The experience, as an individual or group, provides innumerable life experiences. One of my favorites is sitting on the veranda, enjoying a cool beverage, after a long day’s ride. Over the years, I have collected a number of great motorcycling quotes and wisdom. What’s interesting is how well they cross over from a largely recreational activity into the regular world.

200 mph, no hands. Damn that’d be cool right before the part where you die.” A. Duthie

When was the last time you ran at the speed of light? When was the last time you thought about what you or your organization might achieve? When did you last allow yourself to day dream and think, ‘…what if…’ Read the rest of this entry »