Happy Holidays

Shout out to all our friends and family for your support and friendship over the last year. The holiday season often allows one to reflect on the good things in life and why you should be thankful. Here at the Pacific Northwest Rainmakers, we take a lot of pride in the work we have done for our exceptional clients this year. Our clients are the class of their prospective industries and truly deserve the success they have gained. To my partners, hats off on a brilliant job of "doing the right thing". I know that sounds trite, but often in our business you can make a lot of money by not doing the right thing. Finally, to my family, a loving thanks for all the support in starting a new venture that has been time challenging to the rest of my family priorities.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannakuh, Great Festivus, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year.

Privacy and Smartphones

New WSJ article on information that is shared from your smartphone.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704694004576020083703574602.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEADTop

Pandora was one of the mobile apps that would appear to be offending the privacy rule. It is clear that privacy is not top of mind, rather gathering that all important consumer info. I am not saying that I don't undertand the use case for the information, but then again I should have more obvious control over where it goes or whether it goes at all.

Will it take a label like "Smartphone Apps may be hazardous to your Privacy" to bring out the smoking like fear in the consumer?

Territory Sales Plan

My colleague and I were discussing a sales strategy for an inside sales team the other day. We were talking about call volumes, qualification techniques and closing over the phone. Then he mentioned the importance of a business plan, ie the territory sales plan, for each territory and each sales rep. Many sales organizations work hard with their field reps to determine key prospects and deal focus, but they fall down when it comes to inside sales people. It is no less important for an individual sales plan whether you have a $5M quota or $500k. Just as a reminder, here a few things to remember to put in that sales plan: Objectives, Call plans and volumes, Integration with Marketing Campaigns, Distribution of key accounts in the Territory, and Personal Goals. Everything in the plan should be tied to a timeframe and reviewed on a weekly, monthly and/or quarterly basis depending on the goal. Don't let your sales reps wander the desert like a nomad without a compass, work the plan!

Not so Yahoo

It is really hard to be third in a three way race, but that where you find Yahoo these days. Google and Facebook are exploding while Yahoo is burning another 5% of its workforce.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703727804576018184166348462.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews

How could it come to this? Well, the failure to innovate is the prescription to detonate. Yahoo long touted its ad business and easy to gather information as the backbone to a new information revolution. Unfortunately, Google popped in with a information gathering process that was more logical and dynamic and the ad revenue followed.

Are there some good assets at Yahoo, absolutely, they still have one of the best job search sites and their regionally specific information is excellent and unbiased. They spurned Microsoft earlier which tells me they still want to fight the fight. In the end, I always said you can't cut your way to profitability and survive. Yahoo needs to pivot and be very good a one thing (something) again.

A and P

The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, once the largest grocery chain in the US, declared bankruptcy today.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-12-13-ap-bankruptcy_N.htm

This is not news for anyone in the grocery industry, A&P has been bleeding for quite a while with poor acquisitions (Pathmark) and musical chair executives. They have several store formats in the NY, NJ area, most of which have been hammered by the economy and competition from upscale stores (ie Wegmans) and tighter merchandising from competitors like Shoprite.

There are 41,000 employees working in the stores today that probably deserve a good recovery plan. But, A&P is sitting on some bad real estate, a bad economy, and bad management. The holiday season doesn't look bright.

Pop ups, Pop overs, and Pop Tarts

OK, I have had it. I realize most web sites are funded by well designed ads that are touch sensitive to the mouse over. But, enough is enough, most of my favorite sites are completely cluttered and you can't get to the articles you want to read without smashing 4-5 ads that you had no intention of looking at. Here is the typical scenario, you go to your site and a full page ad runs for 15 seconds with a button the size of a molecule in a hidden corner that allows you to leave earlier. If you could find that button, and that's a monster if, you can go to the original splash page. But wait there's more. The splash page is a top down half page ad with an imbedded video that blows out my laptop speakers and can't be stopped for another 10 seconds. Now finally the original home splash page. I read a couple of headline articles and then try to go to my favorite tab to hit the sub pages. Dohh! I accidently ran my mouse over a picture on the side of the page and immediately transferred to another page that tells me what I can do about my erectile dysfunction. My wife doesn't even know I have the problem, and neither did I. Well now I am in another tab, which I need to close to get back to my original source and lo and behold that video is playing again. This morning I timed the whole exercise and it took me 4 1/2 minutes to get what I originally went to the site for, so much for the speed of the internet.

Right now I am enjoying the newspaper in real paper form and eating a pop tart.

Inside Sales Teams

An old new trend is emerging in a lot of tech and marketing companies, the inside telesales team. It is a great way to penetrate a broad geography or a specific vertical market. With the maturity of online materials and free conferencing tools like Skype, demonstration of your solution becomes a lot easier. Many times a prospect will be will to take a look online at a product, then want the deeper dive during an online demo. All this is great, but here are a few things to consider if you are headed this route

1) If you expect the inside model to increase sales velocity significantly, your product/solution must be very close to turn key.
2) It is critical that you have a no nonsense, easy to review, possibly click wrap contract
3) Finally, inside sales people are a different breed from traditional face to face reps, get someone who has experience in the role and has demonstrated success.

Good luck and give us a shout out if you need more information

Oracle wins round 83 against SAP

SAP was hit with a $1.3B judgement it must pay Oracle
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704369304575633150256505376.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews

This is the latest chapter in the long running fight of Larry vs. the Germans. It started with Larry realizing in the late 80's that his company could not rely on relational database revenue alone to get the the lofty position he expected, so they jumped into financial and manufacturing applications. The early versions were weak on functionality but strong on the technology framework. He then took on the SAP chairman on the waters with the first of his high tech designed super yachts, later winner the America's Cup. The 90's saw the two duke it out in the applications world with SAP still being the big winner worldwide.

In 2000, Larry started a new tact, buy all the competition, Peoplesoft, JD Edwards, and old pal Tommy Boy at Siebel. By all measurements Oracle has gained the market share to compete and beat SAP in the global market. But if you know Larry, to quote and old Bond phrase, "The World is Not Enough". He not only wanted to cripple SAP, he has always dreamed of taking them down. This judgement will go a long way toward getting the tap out Larry wants. Let's face it, SAP has made some blunders in strategy in the past, but this one will haunt them financially.

I could go on and on, but then I would ruin the end of this wonderful saga. Stay tuned.

Weather in the NW

We have been a little bit under the weather this week. Oh no, we are fine from a physical standpoint, but the weather in the NW US is ridiculous. Seattle, snow, high of 15 degrees. Tri Cities, 9" snow, 30 mph winds, high of -2. Boise, wet snow, 40 mph winds, 12 degrees and dropping to 5 tonight. Well you get the picture.

Just a thought, stay safe, don't drive unless you have to and maybe you should check and make sure you have flashlights and provisions in case you lose your power. Oh yes, we lost our power last night. And most of all, remember 4 x 4 SUV's don't help you brake on ice.

Privacy

There are new concerns about personal privacy to the point the Obama administration is looking into something akin of a personal privacy czar. Recent troubles at Google and Facebook add to the problem. But, the problem may be much bigger than anyone can imagine. Social networking by its nature is social, allowing people to share conversations and ideas through the chosen medium. When a social media discussion is happening, very few if any people are worried about privacy. (Tell that to the guy that got fired for a Facebook post about his boss). Personal privacy was a cornerstone of our Constitution in the US and that is what makes this tricky. I see in the near future where the social media behemoths will be challenged in the Supreme Court about what and how they treat personal information. I don't have a cure all answer for the problem, but I do have some advice. If you are really concerned about personal privacy, then be careful about what you say and to whom you say it. By the way, that's basic common sense talk for talking to anyone, not just a Facebook conversation.

Referral base Leads

I am going to write a lot more about referral based leads going forward, but take a look at this article. If you are an entrepreneur or SMB, here are a couple of very helpful hints.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704635704575605020072004894.html?mod=WSJ_SmallBusiness_LEADNewsCollection

If you are looking for software that might automate referral based leads, send us a note.

Bad Management: The Perfect Cure

If no one had a hamster-brained sociopath for a boss, who would start new businesses?

Scott Adams of Dilbert fame just did a brilliant article on the effects of bad management. He obviously took a lighter vein than most, but his lesson was well taught and worth a read. Please enjoy the article.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704353504575596372042140924.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_11_1

NASA

It is hard to understand all the politics around NASA cutbacks, the last flight of Discovery and our space program in general. But, I hope we keep the investment in going to space. Many of the technologies that spurred the US technology foundation in the 60's, 70's and 80's came out of the NASA incubator. It is very ironic to me that as we spend less on space exploration, we are considered to be lagging behind China and India in the overall tech space. Anyway, here is a neat article that is worth a read.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2010-11-04-deep-impact_N.htm

Maybe we will find the answer in a comet.

Captain Hook

George "Sparky" Anderson died yesterday
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=kurkjian_tim&id=5765088

Once again showing my age, people may not remember the manager of the 1970's Reds who won five division titles in the NL and two World Series. It would be hard to argue that the Big Red Machine wasn't one of the best teams to ever play the game. With players like Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey Sr., Tony Perez, Johnny Bench, George Foster, Davey Concepcion, Bobby Tolan and Cesar Geronimo you would very hard pressed to put a better team on the field. He got his second nickname "Captain Hook" because he was quick to change pitchers and when he got out of the dugout he usually pointed to his arm for a righty or lefty as needed.

That could have been a Hall of Fame career by itself, but Sparky went on to coach the 1980's Tigers and led them to a World Series sweep in 1984. Only one other manager, Tony LaRussa, has managed world champions in both leagues. That's it, the list, two people. He once described his managerial technique this way: “I got good players, stayed out of the way, let ’em win a lot, and then just hung around for 26 years.” Great advice for today's managers in business and sport. RIP Sparky, we lost a great one yesterday.

Plan for the Holidays

For companies that are on a fiscal calendar, it is crunch time for sales. It's the time of year where you are asked every day what the status of your big deals is. It's the time of year that puckers up every sales manager. It is also the time of year to have a plan that addresses all the potential things that can go sideways. Here are a few that come to mind. Have you ever had a key meeting planned for December only to find out you can't get to your destination due to weather in Chicago? Have you ever had a deal on the threshold of signing only to find out the key decision maker is out with the flu? How about the company that puts a temporary freeze on all discretionary spending starting November 15th? Does the company (or their legal) close down from Christmas to New Years?

You get my drift, Have a "plan to close" now, run it by your potential customer and work on potential roadblocks with thought out alternatives. Better yet, get it closed by the first week of December

Decisions

What's worse; a bad decision or no decision? Most bad decisions can be corrected, I am speaking broadly, but in general most bad decisions can be changed or mitigated. Making a bad decision early in a process is obviously better than later. Now, I am not saying you should run your business on a series of bad decisions, but let me take the next step.

How do you correct a non or no decision? You can't. Often, many decision makers will wait until they have all the perfect information before they make a decision. If that is the case, is it a decision or inevitability? Leaders lead and waiting until something is inevitable is not leading. Take the best information for a key decision, run it by your trusted inner circle, gather some alternative opinions and make decisions. Then, be nimble and correct or fine tune the decision/outcome as necessary.

5 Reasons to block Facebook and Twitter in the office

Provacative article, but there are some really good points.
http://venturebeat.com/2010/11/01/5-reasons-to-block-facebook-and-twitter-at-your-office/

There are reasons to use both Facebook and Twitter as part of your marketing strategy, but you need to keep a lid on extraneous chatter.

Trick or Treat

Little ghouls and goblins will be out this weekend, so beware. There are some religious groups that wanted the holiday to be celebrated on Saturday instead of its actual holiday Sunday. Now let me get this right, religious groups want a holiday that is wrapped in witches, ghouls and demons to be moved so their kids can go out and grab some candy from the neighbors, priceless. I truly enjoy the little ones dressed up in costumes, not so much the teenagers. But, let's face it, the only winners on Halloween are the dentists!

Election Season

There is a another serious mood for change in American politics as we near November 2nd. It feels like 2 years ago, only in reverse. No doubt, many incumbents will be unseated as the dissatisfaction for the current economic struggles hammer mainstream America. Change is good and often necessary to flush the system of "business as usual". Let me add this thought to the process, just make sure the change you seek is in the candidate you vote for. The stream of dirty unsubstantiated campaign ads makes it very hard to know what the truth is. All sides are guilty, so I am not taking sides. If you want change that sticks, then look under the covers, check the voting record of candidate and take a hard look at what they said before they got steered into positions by their party controlled campaign manager. My real concern is that when you look under those covers, you may find that the choices you have are very limited.

Sales Process

How often do you sit down and review your sales process, I mean seriously? You probably review deals in the process, but not the process itself. My personal recommendation is that as a sales manager, you should shut the doors and take a hard look at this every 3 months. One of the first critical steps is to see if your sales process and marketing messaging are aligned. Both of these processes evolve but are oftened not in sync. Are the reports from your CRM system telling you enough about how you want to view your sales process? You probably focus on how long deals are in specific stages, but do you track it back to how and where you got the lead? Different types of leads (ie Cold Calls vs. Marketing Events) will have different incubation periods in the sales process. Finally, is the process your most successful reps using the same as the process your underachievers are using? The best reps innovate and extend the sales process, take the hint and integrate the best practices into the norm. Oh, by the way, you need to really do a good job of communcating the changes made to your sales team; this seems trivial, but believe me it is often the most skipped step in the process.

Those are just a couple of ideas, let us know if you need some more.

2 Billion and growing

There are some staggering statistics on the adoption of the internet, especially in developing countries
http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=12200F0VUPM2

This may not be new news, but the growth curve is amazing. If I was to look into a crystal ball, I believe the biggest issue in the future will be security, both personal and cyber. I also predict that some great application will evolve in personal communication world. And it is going to be very hard to play hooky from work or school in the future given access people will have to your location! Here's a clue, leave your cellphone/PDA at home.

Cold and Flu Season

You are asking what's up with this topic. Well, I was reading about how devastating to businesses it is when their people our out sick. The lost productivity is staggering; if 25 people are out for 2 weeks, you lose a whole man year of productivity. So, if your company sponsors a flu shot program, get it done. If they don't, take the time off to get it done. If you are sick, stay home. You have a myriad of options to work remotely. Many managers come into work sick to show they are tough, this habit becomes contagious, literally.

Social Media Sifters

I will keep it short this morning, but I will guarantee you that the first company to crack the code on determining behavior from Social Media posts will become a behemoth in the industry. Read this and see if you agree:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_44/b4201020317862.htm

Executive involvement in Sales cycle

We are often asked, "when should the VP of sales get involved in a deal?" Let me give you a couple of thoughts. Traditional wisdom would say that the VP is the guy that can come in and close the deal, play either good guy or bad guy, rescue or resuscitate the sales rep. I believe that when you do that, you will lose some value on your deal. It is often seen by the buyer as a sign of weakness and a chance to gain additional discount.

My view is that your sales executive should be involved early in the deal (and then again later). If your VP can gain an executive level relationship with the customer early in the sales cycle, he opens up future dialogue to find out the status of the potential deal and hppefully remove any roadblocks to finalizing the deal. Introduced early in the cycle, a VP can open the door to invite the customer to events or share key industry information with his counterpart. Finally, if it comes to closing the deal, there is so much more credibility if there is already a relationship in play. It lessens the feeling of "Let's make a deal" and furthers a trusted advisor role. The only concern with a "VP in early" approach is sometimes the chemistry of the executives involved is caustic and may prematurely end the deal. My view is that is better done early in the cycle than when the VP is at the closing table.

Apple vs IBM

In an earlier blog, I posted about some of the traditional rivalries of technology past, ie Oracle vs SAP. Yesterday I looked closer at the earnings release of Apple and subsequent release of articles. A WSJ article caught my eye:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304410504575560510623029090.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews

Apple actually had more profit in the previous quarter than IBM, WOW! Who would have thunk it. While traditionally people look at Apple's big competitor as MS or Google, they might start thinking about what influence Apple will have behind the doors of corporate America. They have won many of the hearts and souls of the consumer and believe the iPad will give them the entree to the glass house. If you would have asked me 5 years ago about Apple inside the corporation, I would have coughed, laughed and then sputtered some kind of cult related expletive. If you would have asked me 5 months ago, I would have probably just had a puzzled look on my face. If you ask me today, I would tell you to take a hard look and listen, they will find a way. As for IBM, they will continue to be a major player in corporate IT infrastructure, but they had better not take Apple lightly.

Productivity and Smartphones

Just read a survey from Cisco talking about productivity outside the office.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2010/10/cisco-survey-show-workers-are-productive-outside-of-the-office/1

No real surprise in that 60% of those polled felt productive outside the office environment. The fact that only 37% were using smartphones was a bit of a stunner. I thought the number would be well over 50%.

60% felt IT should allow them to connect from any device they own, now there is a nightmare of connectivity and security.

Website redesign PNWR

Folks, we relaunched our website this weekend.
www.pacificnorthwestrainmakers.com

We are extremely excited about the depth of our offerings that can help businesses, large and small, scale to the next level. I would encourage you to take a look and let us know what you think. We appreciate your interest and look forward to talking with you.

Thank you from PNWR - Pacific Northwest Rainmakers

Teens and Texting

The title of this article reads "Average teen sends 3,339 texts per month", that's 6-7 texts every waking hour. Females average 4,050 per month.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/10/15/teen.texting.mashable/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

It's stunning to me, even thought it shouldn't be, I saw it with my own kids and it has accompanied them into their twenties. There are social implications, but I can't help but wonder if these kids won't have something akin to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome when they get older.

Leadership

Leadership, how important is it? It will save your life. I, as were many, was struck by the scene in Chile, where 33 miners were rescued after being a half a mile underground for 69 days. The scenes of joy brought tears to many an eye, including mine. There were a lot of lessons to be drawn from this experience, but the one that stuck with me was the power and conviction of the foreman in charge of the mining crew. He immediately determined a rationing plan for there critical resouce food and worked with his team to find a source of water. Morale was key and he spent a lot of time reinforcing the team and encouraging a "can do" attitude amongst all the members. The foremans name, Luis Alberto Urzua, is not only an exceptional leader but also was the last miner out of the mine. When the details of this disaster turned success become available, I look forward to reading more about the man, he is what leadership is and should be.

Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become one of the largest growth areas of application technology development over the last decade. Companies like Siebel started the hypergrowth area and now there are hundreds of companies taking up the mantle, Salesforce being one of the most popular. There are literally hundreds of defined areas of business processes that can be defined within the CRM window. Let me focus very simply on one area, the customer.

The relationship between the provider and customer has matured beyond the trusted advisor role sought by the ERP companies of the last decade. Many firms restrict their technology buy to 4 or 5 key suppliers. My experience has taught me that customers expect you to keep them informed of advances in technology, industry trends and in some cases competitive information. A lot of this can be provided via technology links and email, but it is incredible what a face to face meeting can do. Instead of being restricted to an email template or a web link, the conversation can move from personal to professional and back in a matter of seconds. The insight of seeing a face respond to what you are saying is priceless. I could go on and on, but let me leave you with this. Make sure you bring your best information to your customers and make sure you deliver the best of the best in person.

Taking more time

Increasingly, executives are finding themselves in a time crunch. They are scheduled for more hours in a day and are bombarded by up to ten times more email, texting and social communications than they ever have been. But, I am going to make the case that they need to spend more time on communications. Mobility has increased our access to email and other social technology applications. It is amazing how easy it is to send a quick update by phone or network device. But, I am seeing a propensity of making many of these communications very short and even more cryptic. Now a quick response is great and sometimes necessary, but if it is confusing or misunderstood it cause more interaction and, with the usual 3-5 responders on an email, eats more time. So, make sure you respond in a manner that is complete and understandable.

The second area of bother is when people respond to a communcation after only reading the first bit of the email. Often times you are asking for more than one response or input on more than one question/thought. (You could just use one thought emails, but that too could add up to time wasted). Take the time to read the whole email before responding and even more importantly, you don't have to respond to every email unless asked to. It's OK not to respond to everybody and every email, people appreciate honest thoughtful responses. So, in the world of communications at a fingertip, take a little time and you may save a whole lot more.

Self Service Kiosks

The airline industry has been a leader in developing self-service kiosks to replace the human factor:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2010-10-11-airportcheckin11_ST_N.htm

While I applaud the technologies being applied and the fact that customers actually want to use the kiosks, I can't excape the real reason as to why this is gaining traction. I believe that the reason these people initially started to use kiosks was due to their incredible dissatifaction of the people working behind the counter. Airlines spent more time focusing on machines that humans. To the frequent traveler it makes total sense, they know the drill, they print their tickets the night before and in most cases never take more clothing than can fit in a carry on bag. But, the recreational traveler is really getting a hose job here. When you have questions anymore, you are forced to first use the kiosk before approaching the same gruff understaffed counter personnel. If you were confused by the kiosk, which a lot of elderly people are, then you don't appreciate the attitude usually shown by the next line of defense. If you are a first time traveler, or are unfamiliar with the airport you need a kind person to help you through the daunting task of checking in and getting through security. The kiosks are great, just don't forget the personal touch.

iPhone vs Android

It rings like the main event at a WWE venue. First it was IBM vs. DEC (remember that one), then we had Oracle vs. SAP, Windows vs. Linux, Yahoo vs. Facebook, and lately Microsoft vs. Google. Competition drives innovation. Apple's iPhone drove phone innovation to a new level and the ability to shop for cool applications on the phone went the next mile. But, Apple watch your rear view mirror. Android is gaining traction and the announcement that Amazon will be selling Android apps through its online market is huge for Android phones. The Amazon channel is the most mature form of online shopping ever and it has been rationalized by millions of buyers. Watch this horserace and see who moves into the dominant position; it is hard to believe but I think RIM will be the last horse to the wire.

Thinking like Amazon

First of all, kudos to Kevin Coupe of the Morning News Beat for reporting this yesterday. I believe that retailers are finally getting the picture. To run with the big dog Amazon, they are adopting the tactic of a $79 loyalty card that will give the consumer unlimited two day shipping which will encourage shoppers to buy more to get a return on their investment. They key here is that this loyalty card will work with multiple retailers: Baby's 'R' Us, Petsmart, and GNC to name a few. Shoprunner which is the program name, will even offer free returns to cardholders. Not sure there will be enough affinity for the brands in this program to outweigh the loyalty that Amazon has already amassed, but it was imperative that brands like Borders did something like this to survive. I will be interested to see the numbers post holidays.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703843804575534062509989530.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_RightMostPopular

Creative thinking in business

USA Today had a superb article on the power of creative thinking. It comes from a source most people would think of, not Tony Robbins but Chris Peterson, coach of the Boise State football team; the winningest Div 1 program since 2000. He gathers ideas from a group of very different folks, from a computer programmer to a ballet dancer to the sheriff. The message is powerful, get out of the box and realize how many different ways there are to approach and solve a problem. People get hung up on Boise State's blue field and forget that Peterson beats many teams with his approach and execution. Enjoy the article and Go Broncos
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/wac/2010-10-06-chris-petersen-creative-coaching_N.htm?POE=click-refer

Technology Bum

Lately, with the economic crisis in this country, many street corners are populated with folks holding signs asking for monetary help. Today, I saw something unique. One of the homeless (at least that is the assumption, knowing there are some scam artists), was on a corner this morning huddled behind the street light post. There he was, texting away on his phone. Now maybe he was checking his stocks, or maybe he was communicating with his family. Anyway, it struck me funny. Given it was raining, just maybe he texted a friend for a ride. On the positive side, at least he wasn't texting and driving!

Microsoft sues Motorola

I just read an article that completely echoes my feelings on the news that Microsoft is suing Motorola over Android patents:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2010/10/microsoft_sues_motorola.html

It seems that Bully Ballmer is trying to promote his Windows Phone 7 release, but covering the backside of his incredibly late entry (after the great Kin) to the market. He got his bonus whacked last year because of his missteps in the mobile marketplace, while the iPhone and Android devices were seeing double/triple digit growth.

I still believe Microsoft has a huge impact on the technology market as a whole, but I am not so convinced anymore that Mr. Ballmer is the man to lead them, just my opinion.

Texting in a car NOT

Anyone who knows me is aware that I believe distractions while driving are going to be the scurge of the earth. Texting while driving is highest on my list of dangerous activities. It appears there may be an answer coming in the technology world, take a look at this article:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2010/09/starttalking-lets-drivers-send-texts-by-voice/1

Hands free voice and texting, now that is something I can live with (probably because I won't get hit by a driver texting with their hands)

Green Energy

I will keep this short today, but why is it that countries like Scotland and France can be totally independent from oil for their energy needs and the US can get within a solar system of independence? The stranglehold that oil bearing countries has on the US is ridiculous and as long as gas is below $4 a gallon, the outcry is silent.

Our ability as a country to snap out of recessions/depressions is limited by our energy needs and sources. It is time to get an aggressive stance on renewable energy and alternative sources of energy. If your congressman is not active or knowledgable about greeen energy, alternative or renewable energy, fire them. If they take money from oil companies or garbage companies (ie Waste Management), fire them. If they visited Saudi Arabia under the guise of visiting our troops, yet met with Saudi or other OPEC officials; fire them. If you love $4+/gallon of gas, then fire me!

George Blanda

Most people won't even know who George Blanda is or was. Unless you were alive in the 50's, 60's or 70's you probably wouldn't have heard his name; but let me tell you he was possibly the fiercest competitor who ever played the game of professional football.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5622590

Let me take you back to 1970. My father and I used to always sit in front of the TV on Sunday and watch the "boys play ball". I usually played my high school games on Friday night or Saturday, so Sunday was a rest day for me and my dad who worked long hours 6 1/2 days a week. To add, the Seahawks weren't around so the only feed we got was either the Raiders or the 49ers with John Brodie under center. I had a 49ers jacket, so I thought Brodie walked on water.

The scene was Alameda County Stadium, middle of the season and Blanda was the place kicker and back up quarterback for the Al Davis' Raiders. Daryl Lamonica, the "Mad Bomber", was the starting quarterback for the Raiders. Lamonica gets hurt and Blanda steps in throwing three touchdown passes in a 31-14 win over Pittsburgh. The following week he kicked a 48-yard field goal in the final seconds to give the Raiders a 17-17 tie against Kansas City. Blanda was just getting started. He threw a tying touchdown pass with 1:34 remaining and then kicked the game-winning 52-yard field goal in the final seconds the following week in a 23-20 win over Cleveland. In all, as a 43-year-old, Blanda led the Raiders to four wins and one tie with late touchdown passes or field goals. That's right, he was 43 years old! He was named the AP Athlete of the Year.

The reason all of this resonates with me is because my dad was 42 years old. He was proud as a peach that the old man was showing the kids how it was done. Blanda would waddle out on the field, throw some soft passes to get his team close, then kick a field goal from the 40+ yard line (conventional style, not soccer style) to win the game in the last seconds. The most important thing George Blanda did was make my dad smile the whole day Sunday, and I truly thank him for that.

Pilots and peril

Some mornings I will admit I struggle to come up with a new idea to blog about, not this morning. If you have seen any news in the last 24 hours then you are probably aware of the Delta commuter flight that could not get its right wing landing gear down and was forced to land at New York's Kennedy airport instead of White Plains.

First and foremost, the pilot and crew were magnificant, landing the plane safely and everyone walked away unhurt. Given the right wing fuel tank was full of fuel, this is nothing short of amazing. When you compare the stories of the passengers to the survivors of the US Air flight that landed in the Hudson, you get the same picture; the crew was exceptional at handling the scariest of situations.

I have been in a couple of hairy airplane situations and in all cases the crew remained cool, professional and supporting. In the past, I have been very critical of customer service at airlines. I probably will be in the future as I often see disinterest from the very people that hold my life in their hands. But, when it comes to safety, they do their job and in case you forget, it is the only job they are required to do on an airplane; not serve drinks or salty snacks. So here is an open apology to the flight stewards/stewardesses that I have taken issue with in the past, the bottom line is you kept me alive.

Finally, one burning question; do they get extra frequent flyer miles for travelling the extra distance to Kennedy airport to land?

Tech Spending

Several reports have IBM, HP and Oracle predicting increased technology spending over the next year
http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=113007FDPQ4R&nl=5
It couldn't come at a better time. The US economy hums when tech spending is up, we tend to reclaim our edge as the innovative giant of countries. A lot of spin is being put on business intelligence. With all the data being accumulated by enterprises the ability to analyze and pick trends that will take your business to the next level is now a critical business process. Tech giants have followed suit; HP buys 3Par, IBM buys Netezza, and Oracle announces their latest analysis engine.

The lesson here is that all companies, big and small, should jump on this bandwagon of tech spending, as long as it is where your business needs it. Small businesses often don't do the same level of spending on what they perceive is "big company" technology. Business intelligence often falls in this category. My belief is that business intelligence and analysis is more important to a small business than many large corporations. Finding an important business trend or anomaly is the difference between making it or not in a small business.

Healthy Eating on your phone

I just had to plug my old company for a new release of software. Aisle7 just released a mobility product that provides healthy eating suggestions for retailers who can then provide their clientele with shopping lists for those recipes. The solution also provides healthy living recommendations via vitamins/supplements for different health conditions such as diabetes and obesity.

Read the full article and congratulations to Aisle7
http://www.drugstorenews.com/story.aspx?id=152689&type=web

Blockbuster now lackluster

Well it looks like video rental behemoth Blockbuster is about to file for bankruptcy. There is a lesson here that touches both the retail market and technology in general. Just like when Barnes and Noble couldn't pivot when the Kindle surfaced, Blockbuster missed the boat when Netflix and Red Box appeared on the horizon. Now I am not saying that brick and mortar retailing is dead, but you are in a retail business that is so dependent on rapidly changing technology, you'd better be running with the lead dogs.

Blockbuster's response in earlier in the decade was a hostile takeover of Hollywood Video at a ridiculous price. It lost out to Movie Gallery who was effectively shut down earlier this year. Then came the purchase of Movie Link, a download service that was positioned against the Netflix' of the world, too little too late. Blockbuster also was in the process of deploying a Red Box like kiosk for video rental, again late to market. Brick and mortar has been replaced in this scenario by metal kiosks and internet downloads.

There was a time when you could see a Blockbuster on more corners than Starbucks. Video stores in general were like weeds popping up after a spring storm. The ride was great, but instead of changing the game and looking to new deployment strategies and new customer interaction models; Blockbuster did what most companies do that owe their life to the quarterly profit machine, they milked the current model. I guess that is not too surprising given Blockbuster was originally started and owned by two Waste Management executives, you see garbage isn't as dynamic as the video industry.

Apple Customer Service

Just read a good CNET article on the wide margin Apple enjoys over its PC Hardware rivals in customer service. The full article:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20017064-260.html?tag=topStories2

There are a couple of interesting observations in this article. First, Apple uses the interaction/feedback it gets from its Apple stores for input into the whole customer experience. This is a great idea. Many retailers who don't have a brick and mortar presence are limited to the information they receive from an angry phone caller. They often don't know what they are doing right and instead of building on strength, focus on weaknesses.

Secondly, Apple openly got its eyes opened about the iPhone "Attennagate" scandal. It was obvious that the cult following Apple enjoyed was miffed by the issue and was not going to follow the piper Jobs blindly into the sea. They responded eventually with what has been perceived as a moderately successful solution, the free case. My guess is that the often volatile Jobs rolled some heads and set a standard for future releases.

The real story here is that Apple appears to actually listen to its customers; genious!

Back in the saddle

Well folks we took a few days off to recharge our batteries and look for new topics to work on. The next few weeks you will see a new focus on Green Energy and fresher focus on topics that effect the technology executives of today. We might throw in a sports story........

Board of Directors

Great article regarding boards of directors -
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/krantz/2010-09-07-boards-of-directors_N.htm
The article points out that boards are in general clueless, but not criminal when it comes to corporate fraud. My experience would indicate that this is pretty spot on. Now, I am not saying that a board shouldn't be more involved given the trust the public puts in them, but it's not a full time job and in most cases, a corporation is looking for leadership advice, not fraud detection. What do you think?

Technology Competition

Note: this blog will date me, but what the heck.

Remember when there were just a couple of technology giants? The dual was between the hardware guys; mostly IBM and Digital Equipment commonly known as DEC. There were others, DG, NCR, and Prime to name a few. There were a couple of software players, MSA, M&D and D&B; part of the all acronym team. The reality was that you knew who to call when you wanted a solution, the problem was that innovation was slow and not consumer driven.

Let's take today's world. In the world of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) there are hundreds of players. This software didn't really exist until the mid 90's. Names go from SAP to Oracle (ex Siebel) to Microsoft to Google and then a myriad of other credible players like the new giant Salesforce. Well, the good news is that innovation and collaboration is at its peak. You are either moving ahead in this space or you're gone. The bad news is trying to figure out which solution is best for you. You can do an RFP, educate yourself, and possibly get the right fit. Or, I recommend you find a professional to evaluate your needs and help pick the best solution for your firm. You see, life was a lot easier in the old days.

Ban on Boobies Bracelets

Folks, I didn't make this up. Several schools have banned the bracelets that say "I love boobies". Now before you go off on some wild soft porn theme, the bracelets are a support mechanism for breast cancer awareness. The school officials that banned them feel they are offensive. I may be wrong on this, but both superintedents quoted were male. Read the article and tell me what you think.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-09-01-bracelets01_ST_N.htm

Smartphones for travelers

About 1/3 of all phones used by travelers are smartphones, so says this article:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2010-08-30-smartphone-travel_N.htm
It is no wonder. The airline industry alone should take a tremendous amount of credit for this technology transformation. Where else can you get more accurate information on a phone than talking to an agent? Where else can you get cheaper fares on a phone than going to the airport and purchasing a ticket? The list goes on and on.

Many years ago, air travel was some kind of treat. When I travelled around the world, people used to ask me about all the glamorous places I had flown to; Buenos Aires, Santiago, London and Singapore to name a few. They pictured white tableclothes under an exquisite meal with champagne or a fine red wine framed by real silver. The service was great and the airline people actually enjoyed their jobs. After flying in todays airline environment, the expectations are: paid for water, paid for snacks, snippy stewardesses (all of whom are 1 year from retirement), and the latest paid for - carry on luggage.

Maybe we can get a smartphone to run the airline.

Paul Allen

Paul Allen seems to have gone rogue. He is sueing everyone except his grandmother, although I am sure if she doesn't work for Microsoft or Amazon that may also be in the works. It seems that he feels companies like EBay, Google and Oracle have violated patent laws. He had a small think tank company in the last century that filed a bunch of patents on various baseline technologies. I am not struck by the fact he wants money especially given the most recent performances of the Blazers and Seaturkeys. But what does surprise me (NOT) is that he excluded behemoths Amazon and Microsoft. Oh that's right, he still owns a butload of MS stock and Amazon just recently rented immense space in his south Lake Union complex. Too bad, Microsoft has been batting Ofer on lawsuits lately.

Back to school

In my neighborhood, the buses are rumbling by on practice runs for the start of the school year. In my youth, it was a bittersweet time of year. I enjoyed getting back into football pads and sweating out the two a days, but I missed the simplicity of just waking up, eating, working and sleeping. I wonder if kids today even go through those emotions. With the connected society, there is very little of the "haven't seen you since last spring". And, certainly, there isn't any of the "what did you do last summer?" No, those days are gone. I am positive that every marginally eventful minute is tweated to friends or posted to Facebook.

We often took "vacations from hell" with my parents in my very young days. Trips to Idaho, Yellowstone and the Washington coast are still vivid in my mind. Mostly, because of the driving my father felt was necessary to justify a vacation. Without major freeways, the trips usually took two days to and from those locations; long, hot (no air conditioning) sweaty days. So if we got 7-10 days of vacation, we inevitably spent 5-8 of those days driving. The pictures my father took were transposed to slides he shared with the neighbors in the fall, part of the annual tradition.

Anyway, all that has changed. There are no slides to share because all the pictures are online for anyone to see. There are no stories to tell the first day of school because you shared all of them at the very moment they happened with social networking technology. The trips are all time shortened by the advent of freeways criss crossing America. I think the summers seem a lot shorter any more; there are year round schools and year round football practices. The break in the routine for summer seems to have gone by the wayside. Maybe that is why it's hard today to get fired up about the first day of school.

Walmart and Elmo

Check out this story about the Muppets mission of helping out military children dealing with the fear and loss of a loved one
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704868604575433983044941308.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5

Walmart gets a bit of a bum rap for its Nascar/Goober mentality and for the way it crushes it's competition. But, they also are tops in donations and sponsoring some great programs like this. The boys from Bentonville are years ahead of most retailers in merchandising, real estate and research. They also are years ahead in doing the right thing for children.

Little League World Series

If you want to see sport at its purest, then you should sit down and cable up ESPN this week. On most of the ESPN channels, you will be given a chance to see games in the Little League World Series or LLWS as some note. Teams from all around the world compete to get into a one game final to determine the best Little League team on the planet. The 12 and younger kids play a fundamentally sound brand of ball. There is no arguing with the umpires, the hot dogs and cold drinks are only $2 and the admission to the park in South Williamsport, PA is free. Yes you heard me free, and they fill it up.

No doubt, the best part of each game is watching the intensity of the players and their coaches during the game. It's hard to imagine they are only 12. Every once in a while you will see one of those great innocent kid smiles that brings you back to a day where a ball and a mitt were the most prized possessions you ever had. Then there is the sportsmanship; at the end of each game both teams line up and shake hands, one team holding back the explosion of a hard earned victory and the other team holding back the tears of an unresolved loss. In the end, there are no losers here. The world is much better for this event and every year it brings a tear to my eye to watch young kids playing ball in the sun.

Kids on Planes

A recent survey indicated over half of fliers would like to limit where kids sit on planes.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2010-08-25-familyflying26_ST_N.htm

Count me in. There is nothing worse than just about getting to sleep in one of those luxurious toilet sized seats, when little Jeffrey starts kicking the back of your seat. Or, you are just about to enjoy the mini cocktail when two year old Justine blows her lunch all over your suit. Or, maybe it is just like my son Mat who was totally enamoured by the airline bathrooms so he felt the requirement to go visit them every 20 minutes.

This brings me to another point, hopefully when cell phone usage is allowed on all airlines they will limit where people who want to use cell phones can sit. Because as bad as the kids are, most people who want to use cell phones on planes are more obnoxious and immature.

When to close the sale

There was an old adage, "Close early and often?" Has that ever really worked for you, that after the first call you got a significant size deal? I am betting not. The truth of the matter is that you should be qualifying early and often, mainly so you don't get sucked into a resource drain rat hole that goes on for a millineum. The steps to close a deal have never really changed, who is the buyer with the money, what is the need, what is the urgency, can your product/service fit the need, is your price competitive, and are there major contract showstoppers? The earlier you find the accurate answers to those questions (and many more), the sooner you can go for the real close.

In the technology world, we have created a set of technology buyers who are very savvy to the ways of the tech salesman. They will get every piece of flesh they can. But, sometimes they forget that if they weasle down the price to the point of little or no profitability, then how important of a customer will they be to your company? Many times you are not competing against another company, you are competing against doing nothing. That is the worst scenario because the value of the equation is lost on the buyer. Some times it is better to know when to fold em, not close them.

Labor Day

The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City. In the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the US military and US Marshals during the 1894 Sameer Khan, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with Labor as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike. Cleveland was also concerned that aligning a US labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair. All 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday.

And I bet you thought that Labor Day was just marked the end of summer.

Intel buys McAfee

You saw this coming, didn't you. Intel is continuing to find companies to add to their portfolio that will allow them to add much more functionality to their chips. This one makes a lot of sense. By natively embedding security features on a chip, it should make it faster and less likely to be breached, well at least in theory. But, I wonder how they would update all the latest threats to the computer? Also, this puts Intel directly in the firing line with Microsoft. Maybe we will see some innovation as these two giants duke it out. I hope so, every time I fire up my Windows 7 netbook, I download anywhere from 15 to 50 new updates, mostly security focused. Any help in these arena is welcome.

RIM job

News today in the WSJ that RIM is trying to buy a mobile ad network.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703649004575438073621361124.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

In the past few years, the once titanic Blackberry, has lost a lot of its cache and a fair amount of its global market share. It has had to pay millions to countries like Saudia Arabia and Indonesia to keep its model afloat. You see there is a lot of information stored on those servers in Canada and many of the Muslim countries want to have exclusive access to it. So with major business issues like that facing the company, they go this route.

I don't know about you but I have no interest in any more ads on my phone. It is bad enough that most software is free and only supported by ad models, but a free form ad machine on my phone is not innovation. It appears as a short term fix to the RIM revenue stream. Come up with a better phone, not a more obnoxious service.

Focus

One of the most pervasive behaviors we find in today's business is the lack of focus by key executives. Many of them are off fixing everything instead of delivering the vision and values a company needs to run on. They often feel they are the best answer to whatever the problem is, and they probably are. But, instead of growing the rest of their management team, they take the easy route of "I'll take care of it". Empowerment is a very hard concept for these fix it freaks. Most importantly, if their team isn't growing, in most cases neither is the company or the executive with the focus problem. Try this, take one week where you try to fix and/or run everything. Take another week and empower others to do the necessary deeds. Measure at the end of the two weeks and see what was actually accomplished. Then check the morale of your staff. I bet you will be surprised.

Carbon Footprint

Read a great article this morning about the carbon footprint of the internet
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/12/carbon-footprint-internet

It pointed out that it is estimated that the internet puts out as much CO2 as all the coal, oil and gas burned in Turkey and Poland in a year. That is simply amazing. My thought would be to use the internet to come up with all the ways we can reduce this footprint going forward.

No More Golf

Did you see Dustin Johnson get the hose job yesterday at the PGA championship? He was penalized 2 strokes for grounding his club in a bunker. The bunker had been trampled to the point where is was no longer a bunker, but what the heck. There was NO advantage to what Dustin did, none. The PGA has just one championship a year and they blew it. First of all, they pick a course with over 1000 "bunkers" which in a Pete Dye couse could be where the cat scratched the ground. They had terrible crowd control and the "bunker" had been flattened by thousands of specatators. Then when he was hitting, they couldn't keep the crowd from getting right in his face. The lane he had to hit throught was lined with idiots gamming for the camera and was, at most, 4 feet wide. He flipped the shot wide of the green and then took a 5 which was later changed to a 7.

All of this could have been managed by the organization who runs the championship, but the stuffed jackets of the PGA did nothing. They are so worried about Tiger this and Tiger that. They forgot that this young man could be the next great golfer who doesn't live on the 19th hole. I will not watch a PGA event on TV again. Phil's hurting, Tiger isn't getting layed regularly and you screwed over a guy just trying to compete.

Friday the 13th

I am not a real superstitious person, but this day always gives me the willies. Anyway, I will lay low today and hope nothing significant happens in the world that moves me toward the dark side.

Android Applications

I just upgraded my old Palm 700 to a new Droid X. I am not a fan of the iPhone (well I am, just not a fan of AT&T Worthless), so I went with the Motorola kinda lookalike. Anyway, I thought I would just check out all the available free apps in "The Market", the android apps market. What I was specifically looking for was an app that would tell me where the cheapest gas was in my area.

What I found amazed me, the Android apps marketplace was incredible. It may not match Apple's but it there was incredible depth of applications and most of them were free! Anyway to finish my story, I found the "Fuel" app. But, sorry to say, it was designed for Western Australia, specifically Perth. So, if anyone out there in Perth is listening..........

Wanna bet on your college grades

This article is really a mind shaker. You can wager on your eventual grad outcome. This one has me going in many directions from "are you kidding me?" to "this might be a great motivator." Anyway, take a read and let me know what you think.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2010-08-11-gambling-grades_N.htm

Legend of Steve Slater

By now you may have heard the story of Steve Slater, flight attendent with Jet Blue airlines. One of the passengers on a flight he was working got up during the taxi out and tried to get something out of the overhead. Steve asked him to sit down, he didn't and during the exchange the bag in the overhead hit Steve on the head.

What happened next will probably become legendary. Steve proceeded to get on the intercom and fill the cabin with an expletive laced tirade directed at the misbehaving passenger. He then opened the door, popped the escape chute and was on his way. But not before grabbing a beer from the beverage cart. He calmly grabbed an air taxi to get his car and drive home to Queens. He was apprehended before he could leave the airport.

I am going to root for Steve, not because he endangered people on the plane, but because I am sick and tired of self centered dickheads that think the airline rules don't apply to them. You know who you are. Steve will lose his job of over 20 years, but grabbing a beer and popping the chute sounds like a fun way to say, "Take this job and shove it".

HP

Mark Hurd steps down from HP after it concluded that he did NOT violate the company's sexual harassment policy. What???? Under his tenure the stock price more than doubled. He re-energized a company that had been brought to it's knees by former boss and wannabe senator Carly Fiorina. He got the company out of many questionable lines of business. So, why is he being let go? There is obviously more to this story than has been reported to date. Rumors are flying about expense reports that were falsified, but I can't believe Mark Hurd actually filled out his own expense report.

The HP board has been in the news twice in the last decade. First, they totally botched the exit of Queen Carly and now they are giving the boot to a guy that put them back in power as a major technology player. Can you say shareholder lawsuit?

Depression in teenageers caused by the Web

Read an interesting article about how overuse of the Web by teenagers lead to depression.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-08-05-online-depression_N.htm

The article is very eye opening and should be read by every parent with a kid in their teens. It is obvious the the Web has replaced TV as today's medium and now we are finding the possible side effects of this shift in behavior. Interesting thought, I have never heard of anyone getting depression for fishing too much.

Retailers have to change

I just finished an article in a retail trade blog about how Barnes and Noble is on the ropes and either will go private or under. This will absolutely crush my wife and will cripple me as far as buying her last minute gifts, specifically her last birthday. (I told her to use that gift card quickly). What is interesting is that she may have been the cause of this downfall, well not her specifically but the thought that she is glued to her Kindle whenever and wherever we travel. She does buy hardback books, but the bulk of her reading is in electronic form.

The lesson is simple, Barnes and Noble felt that traditionalist would not jump on the Kindle bandwagon early on. Unfortunately, they found out that by the time they realized the trend was in full swing, their response (the Nook) was weak and more of a me too product without the pizazz of the Kindle. This follows the same line as many of the iPhone wanabees. They may look and function great, but they aren't the iPhone.

Technology is the great equalizer in this case. It is still more fun to go into the mammoth Barnes and Noble store and browse through all the labels, I specially like the buy 2 and get 1 free table. But the convenience of getting the latest Dan Brown novel with a click instead of waiting in line has fundamentally changed book buying. The price is usually half of what you pay for the hardback. But, Amazon beware, my wife noticed that your prices are sneaking up to where the convenience may not be worth the cost. Could we see another technology take over, say the book exchange?

Yellowstone

Just got back from a couple of days in the nation's first national park, Yellowstone. We go there every year, and have really started to notice the subtle things that change. First of all, it has been a real wet year and the park was as green as it normally is in May/June. That led us to notice that all the animals looked as healthy as ever. We had never been to the park at this exact time, so we got to see the bison being very frisky as the females started to go into estrous. Several of the young bulls were butting heads in an attempt to land the holy grail of mating with a female. Another noticable visual was the higher level of activity in all of the geysers in the western half of the park, while Mammoth Hot Springs in the north was visibly dryer in most areas. Finally, it was very apparent that the park was full and that there were no available campsites to be had. People are definitely taking to driving again amidst $3 a gallon gasoline. While it was a little bothersome to have that many people piled up on the roads in the park, I was pleased that so many folks were able to enjoy a true wonder of this world.

Time Management

What ever happened to being on time. I believe enough productivity is lost waiting for others in the US economy alone to make up the national deficit. How many times have you been in a room with 5-6 others waiting for the prima donna to show up to only have them show up and dictate a faster meeting tempo because they were late? How many times were you in a meeting when the same prima donna was either checking phone or pc email and/or texting while important topics were under discussion. And the worst, how many times did prima donna stop the meeting to take a call from "someone important". Good thing we don't count.

This has become the scurge of the American executive. I was once in a meeting when the VP stood up during the meeting to say he just saw a great internet article on the topic being discussed. What he didn't realize was that the meeting organizer was discussing that same article when he stood up. Doh! I find this abuse of other people's time as the most insulting behavior in business today. Don't give me this idea that people can work on seven different mediums at once, most people can not pay appropriate attention to one medium at a time.

Pre- Judging potential clients

I read a great article this morning about how dangerous it is to pre judge clients.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/edmunds/2010-04-07-judging-your-customers_N.htm?csp=obinsite

It is worth sharing. The bottom line in my mind is people who look rich, probably are not: and people who look average: probably are not.

Self boarding on airlines

Continental Airlines announced that they are testing self-boarding at the Houston airport. Now this practice has been in place in other countries for over 10 years, so it is appropriate that the antiquated US airline system would finally get around to trying it. It has the potential to reduce more headcount for the airlines. But, I have a few questions. Who will check to make sure that someone doesn't try to bring a 54' TV as carry on baggage? Who will check that the crowders (you know who you are) don't board before their row is called? Who will frown at you when you present your boarding pass? And who is going give me the last first class seat? These are the questions that will determine success or failure, do you agree?

Newspapers going, going, gone!

Most people don't subscribe to the paper form of a newspaper anymore and I am one of them. It's interesting to see folks on Sunday mornings at the coffee shop. Browsing through the pages of the paper has been replaced by surfing on your pc or smart phone. You don't have to hassle with late or no deliveries from the underpaid delivery boy and most of all you don't have to discard a bunch of recycling material when your done. Is the old newspaper dead as we know it, what do you think?

Lance Armstrong

Seems like I am fixated on sports lately, but a lot of the big news is coming from the sports page. It looks like the final chapter is being written on Lance Armstrong as he finishes his last Tour de France. Not so fast (as Lee Corso would say), Lance will be in the news for years to come as steroid accusations finally go before a federal review. It seems that based on Floyd Landis' statements (and we know he always tells the truth), there will be a federal investigation. Even 3 time past winner Greg Lemond has jumped on the Landis testerone infused bandwagon. If Lance did break the rules, then he will pay the price. He has a huge following and his Livestrong foundation is truly one of the neat organizations in this world. His public profile helps him raise money for cancer cures and treatments; that will most certainly take a hit if he is found guilty. I guess I am tired of the whole steroid thing. In fact, I think steroids should be allowed. Why don't we see the feats of man at its most extreme level? The reality is that sport, outside of little league baseball, has really become entertainment not sport; so let it ride.

Is Microsoft a leader or a follower

Lately, it seems like Microsoft has fallen into the Number 2 position in many of its core technology areas. The behemoth used to command attention with every suggestion of a new technology. Today, the new Windows Phone 7 is not much competition to many of the new Apple or HTC products. Kinect is being presold on 360 boxes, but the real competitor to Wii won't be available until Christmas, we've heard that one before. The Microsoft CRM will now be updated to compete with Salesforce, I think that may be too late except for true Microsoft cult followers. Maybe the story that really got me thinking was the end of life announcements for Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP2. Windows XP might still be the best and most stable product Microsoft ever made. Vista really came up short, but then again it didn't need to be best of class because it's the only one in class. Maybe Windows 7 will stand the test of time, but then again we've heard that one before

Sweet Lou

I have mixed emotions this morning as I read about Lou Piniella's retiring at he end of this season. He said he just wants to spend more time with the family; the wife, kids and grandkids. Who can argue with that. But, I can't imagine baseball without Sweet Lou. His 20+ years of managing baseball were filled with fire and expletives, but mostly with succinct descriptions of how his team played, "We stunk out there tonight". People remember the great run his Mariners team had to get to the AL Championship game only to lose to Cleveland, but often forget the Reds team he managed won four straight games in 1990 to crush the "Bash Brothers" Oakland A's in the world series. They also forget he played 18 years in the majors as the pudgy outfielder that had a career .300 batting average and won 2 WS rings with the Yankees, who he later managed.

All that said, the thing I will miss the most about Lou was his maniacal tirades that put the fear of God in every umpire in the league; his base throwing, his spitting as he screamed at the umpire, his dirt kicking and most of all the stream of curse words that spewed from his mouth like a sailor in the brig. Some people thought he set a bad example. Not me; his passion for the game is what made his teams play up to the next level. The day of the fiery manager will be gone in baseball, replaced by statistical geniouses that are baby sitters for the multi million dollar crybaby players. So, at the end of the season, Lou take a break; you're only 66 with life to live after baseball. I am sure some team will offer you a front office job, because the one thing I know for sure is that as much as I will miss Sweet Lou, he will miss baseball more.

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