Welcome baby Charles Allan Shaw!

The Shaw/Tuck family had a wonderful new Christmas addition this year - baby Charles Allan Shaw. My brother and his wife Valerie are the proud parents of a healthy, beautiful baby boy weighing in at 7 pounds 15 ounces; And I am a proud new Auntie. He's a cool 21.5 inches long and apparently he's got GI-normous boats for feet which should bode well for him in manhood haha :-)

The name Charles comes from our granddad Charles Shaw and Allan comes from Valerie's granddad Allan Tuck - so he's got the best of both worlds. He came a little early and popped out on Christmas day (but we figure he won't feel the pain of that until he's a little older - ;-). Doh!

Welcome baby Shaw!

Are You an Entrepreneur?

Just a short blurb today...

I had a fun conversation with a friend of mine today and she told me she was thinking about starting her own business. She has an idea for a product and she believes it’s a market winner in a niche category. Okay, I added the niche. Anyway, I was thrilled for her and insisted she start putting together the details, draft a business plan, patent her product, do some research and start shopping around for potential 3rd party vendors. I got so excited thinking about all the pieces of the marketing plan that if she weren't in San Francisco or I weren't in Colorado - I probably would have hopped in my car, drove to her place, and sat her down to get the ball rolling.

After our conversation I started thinking about some of my other friends who have that entrepreneurial spirit and it got me thinking – about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur in today’s bustling marketplace. As for myself – I don’t think I have that fundamental ‘just do it’ quality when it comes to starting my own business...

• I like having stability and certainty in what I’m doing
  
• I like taking risks but with a relative amount of caution
• I like knowing when that paycheck will come in and for how much it’s going to be
  
• I love thinking creatively but I can’t create something from nothing
  
• I love my independence and being in control but I fear I would languish under the pressures of being the end-all/be-all between success and failure

And all that’s okay with me. Some people are built for creating a business and others for sustaining a business.

Which one are you?

Not Legal? Solly Chawlie...See Ya!

Speaking of Immigration reform…there’s been some debate lately between myself and a friend of mine (you know who you are~!) about whether or not it’s a key issue for the upcoming 2008 elections. Realistically it’s a key issue for more Republicans than Democrats but I’d say it’s likely in the top 5 for both parties.

Now my views on illegal immigration are extremely conservative so I was all cheers this morning when I jumped on my computer and saw this article detailing Arizona's new crackdown on businesses that hire illegal workers. As of January 1st, 2008, businesses caught employing illegal workers will suffer up to a 10-day operating suspension; Repeat offenders (meaning one time-repeaters) will have their operating licenses revoked.

Yikes.

So what makes this any different that what many states have in place today? The AZ law effectively removes the role of the federal government, an action-less third party that has been the roadblock to progress anyway. The process of determining which employers knowingly hired illegal immigrants lies directly in the hands of the state and the state's attorney's.

If this law really does go into effect, no one really knows what impact it will have on local businesses or the state's long-term economic growth particularly since, according to this NY Times article, Arizona's illegal immigration populatoin is one of the fastest growing in the country. Having said that, I give my personal kudos to AZ for being a leader and having the balls to take that risk. And this is a state that has long been divided on the subject of illegal immigration and how best to handle it. My sincere hope is that bordering states will follow their lead and those efforts will eventually lead to a domino-effect crackdown across all states.

The 2008 "Internet" Elections

How important will internet marketing be for candidates during the primaries and general elections? Can a candidate win at the polls without ‘a win’ on the web?

It was just over a year ago, while blogging on Forbes.com about the 2008 elections, that I first heard the name Barack O’bama and the words presidential candidate in the same sentence. At the time I thought wait, who the heck is Barack O’bama? I did some web research and found that he was a junior senator who hadn’t even served two years and yet there were more internet sites devoted to ‘O’bama for President’ than I ever would have expected for an unknown political player with no real congressional achievements.

So how did an unknown junior senator suddenly spring to the forefront of politics during the race for the presidential seat? Genius Marketing and smart [aggressive] use of the internet.

Over the last year we’ve seen campaign trails sprout a number of candidate sponsored YouTube ads, one-on-one candidate forums on MySpace and MTV, candidate profiles on Facebook, campaign stop-shops in Second Life’s virtual world, and now voter submitted YouTube questions seem to be driving the contexts of presidential debate forums.

A year ago I might have said that successful internet marketing was a supportive factor to building awareness but not "the" factor for winning at the polls (think Howard Dean). Today, it's half the battleground.

Six months ago Barack O’bama and Ron Paul both had laughable leads over all other candidates in their number of MySpace friends and YouTube channel views. And yet all the polling data concluded that neither Paul nor O’bama were front-runner candidates for their respective parties. In fact Paul barely registered on any poll. Flash-forward to recent weeks where O’bama (the candidate who’s harnessed the internet most effectively and most aggressively) is a serious contender for the democratic nomination with Clinton recently losing significant lead points to O’bama in several key swing states. And while Ron Paul is still in the bottom percentages of republican polls - his candidacy and general popular support has definitely gained spotlight attention and he’s risen quite quickly in just the last few months alone.

I don’t know if the web is the new ‘campaign battleground’ but I do know two things: 1) the democrats are harnessing the internet far more effectively as a campaign tool and 2) younger-generation voters are watching far more political YouTube clips than they are televised debates. At the end of the day, candidates who do not aggressively tackle the internet arena will be doing a serious disservice to their campaign strategy and their overall chances for winning the top seat.

** Hint, hint Republicans….**

On election-day eventually it might even come down to "vote for your candidate at the polls...OR vote online at myvote.com"

How to Effectively De-motivate Your Employees

So I get these weekly newsletters from BNET online - a sort of “go-to” place for management & strategy stuff (trends, whitepapers, etc.). Usually the content takes on a more serious tone and some of it is interesting read but today’s video of the day is just too comedic not to pass on.

It’s a de-motivational video tutorial created by Despair, Inc. – a company devoted to offering satirical management advice and demotivational products for the pessimists, underachievers, and chronically unsuccessfull worker-bees of the world.

AT DESPAIR, INC., we believe motivational products create unrealistic expectations, raising hopes only to dash them. That's why we created our soul-crushingly depressing Demotivators® designs, so you can skip the delusions that motivational products induce and head straight for the disappointments that follow!

Spend some time navigating the website. It is hi-LAR-ious.

For an exceptionally funny read: check out their FAQ's section here.

Funny BNET Videos of the Day:

"Battle Bureaucracy with Fake Crises and Caffeine"
If your company is at all established and successful, it's probably already become a bloated, uninspiring workplace. Here's how to take back your company by over-caffeinating your workers, limiting their contact with the outside world, and teaching them that the need for "fairness" is petty and weak.

"Problem Employees? It's Not You, It's Them"
Dr. Kersten shows how to manage three types of problem employees. Whether you're dealing with the "perpetually offended employee," the "aggrieved superstar," or the "egomaniac," the answer is simple: they need to be grateful for what they have.

Get an ‘A’, Get a Happy Meal

Ad Age had an interesting article last week detailing McDonald’s latest strive to market itself to pre-adolescent tykes by plastering Ronald McDonald and a happy meal coupon on the front cover of report cards. According to Ad Age, kinderpoops who earn all A's and B's, have two or fewer absences or exhibit good behavior are entitled to a free happy meal at a local McDonald's -- so long as they present their report card.

While not an entirely novel idea - I say Kudos to McDonald’s for having the guts to do it. I mean, if it were Healthy Choice soups, parents and children's advocacy groups probably wouldn't have much gripe about it.

I never had free meal coupons on my report cards for doing well or behaving well but I do remember the ice-cream and pizza parties sponsored by the teachers. And wow was that a treat - both times (usually, I was tossed out of the running on account of bad, er aggressive, behavior). Frankly, I don’t understand why every company vested in the teen and pre-teen category doesn’t attempt to do the same thing. For pricier items – say new shoes, a backpack, school clothes, or school supplies – for every report card you get ‘X’ number of dollar credits for good grades and good attendance and at the end of the year if you’ve accumulated a certain number of points..it’s free! That or you get a good student discount. What kid doesn’t need these things and what parent wouldn’t be happy to have the help. Besides, I thought coupons were a staple of American living….

Now, I understand that it’s McDonald’s – far from being a member of the healthy foods category and I also understand the perspective that advertisements should steer clear of kids – period; But come on, if we can advertise cell phones to tween toddlers ‘just because’ – I think we can advertise a free kiddie meal for good grades and good classroom attendance. After that, it’s up to the parents to exercise those parenting skills and make their own judgment call.

Really though, at the end of the day, are 4 Happy Meals a year so bad if your kid excels in school and refrains from exhibiting violent behavior? Hmm,...me thinks yes.

Wednesday Night's Republican Debate - Ack, Cough, Tears.

So how many folks watched the Republican CNN/You-tube debate Wednesday night?

*Here’s where 1 out of 10 people raise their hand*

Not to worry; Take it from me - it was disappointing, disappointing. First off, the debate was premised on voters submitting questions in 30-second you tube clips. Obviously intended to shake things up and bring a smidge of creativity to the debate format but as far as I’m concerned - where time is of the essence and debate time is limited to only two hours – listening to youtube clips that included personal introductions and even background overviews is a significant waste of my viewer time. If you submitted a question, I don’t care to know who you are, how many kids you have or where you live. Just ask the question.

I also think that the questions should have been a mix of voter submitted and panel submitted questions.

Second, each of the candidates were asked to put together 30-second spots which ran throughout the two hour debate. Now really, do we need to see more campaign advertisements? What's the point? Campaign spots have no business being aired during debate time. That’s 30 seconds for 8 candidates which is the equivalent of between 5 and 8 additional questions.

Two thumbs down.

After the last two debates and in particular, that of Wednesday night, here’s where I stand with some of the 8 candidates

Ron Paul: Wow. Where do I even begin? This nut is a joke as a presidential candidate and, for me personally, a disgrace to the Republican party. His delivery makes me want to change the channel and his politics make me want to boot him off the podium. Any presidential candidate who believes that pulling troops out of Iraq will resolve our threats of terrorism and the relationship we have with radicals in Afghanistan and Iraq – is not only seriously deluded but if he were to ever to make it to the White House his politics and wounded sense of reality would pose a serious threat to the safety of this country. To Ron Paul – do the right thing; Get off the podium and go home.

Rudy Giuliani: Overall I think he had the strongest “performance”. He answered questions well and spoke well, got in a few crowd chuckles and somehow managed to shake-off those ominous overtones that seemed to follow him on the campaign trail.

Mitt Romney: Romney was the guy to upstage on Wednesday and clearly his politics and changing position on key issues was a target for many of the other candidates. He handled questions well in the beginning but eventually his holier-than-thou, back-off attitude was a real showstopper for me – not that I ever really liked his politics to begin with anyway. On his changed pro-choice position, I felt he defended himself well however it seemed that he spent much “too much” time defending himself and his accomplishments as governor during the latter half of the debate. He failed to come across as charismatic and confident but rather as a candidate on edge and on the defensive. Fortunately for him he’s not too bad to look at so his antics were more bearable than they had any right to be.

Fred Thompson: great on TV and perhaps even an occasional doer in the senate but he has no business running for president. I was overly underwhelmed by his attitude and responses Wednesday night and I think he lost a lot of supporters. Too add, his 30 second spot attacking Huckabee and Romney showed the limits of his presidential potential.

Mike Huckabee: clean conservative credentials and quickly moving up the list in my opinion. He gives the illusion of being informed, calm, rational, and of a man who plays offense, not defense. And let’s face it illusion is half the trick. He answers clearly, and directly to the questions asked and he does it with a calm but firm demeanor showing that even a conservative can yield Clinton-esque charm; Bill Clinton that is. I don’t agree with all of his politics and I don’t agree with giving sons and daughters of illegals even a glimpse of opportunity at winning college scholarships but he seems to have the creditability and compassion necessary for today’s heavy political dealings. His experience may not get him to the big seat but I think a number of candidates will put him at the top of their VP-list.

Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo: they seem like good folk but like Ron Paul I think it’s time they do the right thing and follow in the footsteps of Sam Brownback. They both need to bow out and go home.

John McCain: a very strong performance but not enough to saddle Giuliani. He “mostly” answered the questions that were asked but too often he went off-topic and too often he just rambled on and on and on, completely disregarding the moderator’s attempts to wrap things up. Yikes.

All in all, a big win for Giuliani and Huckabee, no gain for Tancredo, McCain, or Hunter, and a loss for Romney, Paul and Thompson. And not a good day for Republicans in general.

Can You Say, MOO?

In the quiet serenity of the country-side miles away from signs of civilization, finally, I'm sitting down gauging my thoughts about what to post next. For all of about 60 seconds, I had the country music station on the radio (which as it turns out is the only station I get this far out) but now it's just me and my laptop communing in silence. Fortunately my laptop has wireless internet access for the rare occasion that I happen to be near a wireless network (like, now) since my apartment does not currently have internet access of any kind. I expect that my posts over the next couple of weeks will continue to be few and far between so I apologize in advance. BLECH.

After my two and half month cross-country road trip, I went back to my apartment in Philadelphia and stewed over what to do next. Some family prodding and two interviews later, I finally decided to go back to school. I packed my belongings, just last week moved to the stix of Colorado and in two weeks time I'll be going back to school full time.

Now, some don’t believe me when I say that, out here, a moving vehicle other than my own is really a welcome sight but the truth is, I’m so far in the stix I’ve got deer for backyard buddies and cows for next-door neighbors.

Can you say MOO?

It’s nearly 10 miles to the nearest small town with nothing but pine trees and open range for miles in between and it’s roughly 15-20 miles from Colorado Springs – a bigger not-so-quaint- town that falls strikingly short of providing that luxurious zest of big city feel. I miss Philadelphia and oddly enough, when I was in Philadelphia, I missed New York; Funny how it works that way.

I did however move into an apartment that is 250 square feet larger than my former loft-apartment. Oh yea…we’ve got over 1000-sq ft of cozy, country living with just the right touch of big city feel. It comes fully equipped with laundry room, kitchen, an enormous front deck and a redonkulously large 3-4 car garage. Always a huge bonus is that I’m closer to family than I’ve been in several years and closer to my dad than I’ve been in, well…..14 years.

So friends, this will be my new home for the next 2 years...winters blanketed with fluffy snow, warm dry summers and mild springs. If ever you're out here, get lost, or need a break from the big city - come on over!

Who’s Your Candidate for Vice President?

Here’s my vote on the who the VP candidates look like depending on nominations for the top seat.

THE ASSES (giddy-giggle)
If Billary wins:
Bill Richardson: He’s not threatening, “feels” Caucasian but is actually Hispanic – a big benefit for attracting both middle-upper class whites as well as the growing Hispanic voter segment which Hillary will need to win in 2008.

It will NOT be:
Barack O'bama: A woman president AND a black Vice President? Hmm..I’m not sure this country is ready for such diversity in the white house. We talk a big game but in reality, we’re still fairly conservative compared with our European counterparts. Besides, are they even on friendly terms still? Last thing this country needs is the President and Vice President duking it out between the ropes while deciding the fate of the nation between rounds…

John Edwards: Although I think this would be a winning ticket, Edwards isn't likely to give up his very solid shot at the top seat.

If Edwards wins:
Barack O’bama: What does he bring? Polling Diversity. Plain and simple. I don’t think O’bama can bring much else to the table. Sorry folks.

Bill Richardson: I think Bill Richardson, generally speaking, is a solid choice for any of the democratic presidential candidates. He brings diversity and middle-of-the road politics that balances out the extreme of Hillary and the clean-cut preppy look of Edwards.

It will NOT be:
Hillary Clinton: for the same reasons John Edwards won’t be her VP

THE MIGHTY REPUBS
If Guiliani wins (which I think he will):
Mike Huckabee: We all know his chances for winning the big seat are slim[mer] (some prefer non-existent) but he’s a strong candidate for the second seat particularly for Guiliani who’s weighing in a little on the light side when it comes to winning favor from the “right side” (Christian-base et al)

Mitt Romney: Not my favorite by far but he just might pull in the right base that Guiliani is missing. That and he's much better looking than Huckabee. ;-)

Fred Thompson: The least likely of the three. Frankly, I think his campaign is sorely lacking and if it doesn't pick-up soon, he'll go down quickly and quietly.

It will NOT be:
John McCain: They both tend to lose favor with the same crowd so a Guiliani/McCain ticket doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. That said, I don’t think McCain – coming in third at this point – would be willing to cede his nomination as the republican candidate for president.

Since I think strongly that Guiliani will win the Republican nomination, I won't bother posting any other candidate options. Sadly, lack of strong options is our biggest problem.

The Blackberry versus the iPhone

Techies just love to have pow-wow over this one. So which one is better?

Obvious answer: well it depends on what you want to use it for. Some people feel that the not-so-new-anymore iPhone has some serious potential to ruin future sales growth of the blackberry. Nonsense. What we really have is a non-compete situation here because these two products target completely different markets (with some overlap but not enough to impact sales performance of one over the other). The Blackberry, like the iPhone, is still a niche product but unlike the iPhone it’s expanded it’s reach to garner mass-market attention.

The Blackberry is for business professionals on the run; the iPhone is for consumers that want flashy, fun multimedia capability from their phone. The multimedia functions of the blackberry cannot compete with the iPhone but they’re also not selling points for the market either. Folks don’t buy a blackberry for the audio/video features similarly to the way iPhone users don’t buy an iPhone to check/send email and keep their contacts lists up-to-date.

For folks that own a blackberry and have little use for push technology, GPS and calendar/contacts synchronization – the iPhone might very well be a better option. But until the iPhone locks-in these capabilities, you simply can’t compare the two.

And as for me, until the iPhone has basic cut and paste features, you can count me out for sure. I'd die without cut and paste.

Who's Your Presidential Candidate?

Okay - here's another fun little political test (thanks Aunt Pattie). Based on your responses, the results will show how closely your positions line-up with all of the presidential candidates (both democrat and republican) on hot-button platform issues. It's a short test (11 questions); Obvliously not comprehensive but interesting.

Click on the following link for the test:
http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460

My results: Mitt Romney was my closest match (a bit of a surprise). I knew of course it would be a republican but I expected him to fall farther down the list. How many times has he changed his position? I consider Romney to be a political "side-winder" so he won't definitely won't get my vote. But the good news: Obama was third to last. *Whew. Can wipe the brow*

You Can't Knock High-Hopes

I got a good chuckle out of this businessweek article covering this years LA auto-show design challenge. The topic - where will auto design and functionality be in the year 2057.

Some of the concept themes (I highlighted the key words I thought were most interesting)

• Fluid designs and materials that can be reconfigured into different
"modes" (i.e., compact and maneuverable when commuting/sleek and aerodynamic so you can zip right through that L.A. traffic)

• Artificial Intelligence to allow vehicles to be operated with little or
no input from the user;

• Advanced fuel systems using multiple energy sources to achieve excellent
economy and power while minimizing or indeed reversing environmental damage;

• "Organic" design that mimics and responds to natural forms;

• Omni-directional drives instead of simple forward/reverse wheels.

These are all great, forward thinking ideas. But I say, let’s be realistic. In the year 1941, Chrysler came out with the Thunderbolt - an “idea car” that was vastly ahead of it’s time in 1941 and only six were made. Interesting from a time-warp perspective is that some of the most advanced aspects of it’s design included a fully retractable hardtop that was electronically operated from pushbuttons on the dashboard, power windows, and retracting headlamps. Flash-forward to present day where countless vehicles still don’t include power windows (fortunately not my car), you pay extra for the automatic convertible top (if it’s even an option for your convertible) and most headlamps don’t retract. Not because this technology doesn't exist obviously but for many mainstream car manufacturers, it's just not cost-effective for the offering. And the avaibility of these features has come about in a manner that I call gradual technological evolution, natural evolution.

In looking at the historical developments of our fine auto-industry over the last 50 years – I really don't think we've come 'that far' when we're talking about what's available in the mainstream. What have we really achieved - Speed? "torque-age"? fuel-efficiency? When you consider the cars that are the most innovative in design and functionality – those that truly create that divide between themselves and the cars of 1950 – you'll also find they are in the top 1% of affordability (think the Bugatti Veryon which, priced in 1999, was sitting with a pretty pricetag of 1.3 million; check out this video - thanks Michael).

If I could predict functionality of mainstream cars in the year 2057 - I could believe the use of A.I. - to a degree (i.e., like cruise control on auto-pilot - built-in movement sensors that detect moving objects in front of you and behind you, relative to distance and direction - to slow down or increase speed. That to me seems like natural technological evolution as evidenced by the last 50 years). That said, cars with an organic design that can mimic and respond to natural forms, change from compact to aerodynamic...? Sounds like technological advancement from some parallel universe - somewhere in the realm of nuclear fission; An idea car for the year 2057 - of which perhaps six will be made.

Cost-effective? Doubtful. Mainstream? Not.

Are You a Liberal??

My sister in-law Valerie sent me a link to an interesting political website last week (http://www.dennisprager.com) and on it was a fun little questionnaire to help "the lost and confused" (or the plain curious) decide whether or not they lean liberal. I took it and well not too surprisingly - confirmed that I am in fact NOT a liberal.

Take the test and see where you line-up (Here's the link to the actual website questionnaire: http://www.dennisprager.com/areyouliberal.html)

Are you a liberal? YES If you believe the following (my responses are italicized):

1. Standards for admissions to universities, fire departments, etc. should be lowered for people of color.

DISAGREE
Maximum - admissions might be lowered depending on public school funding or lack thereof (i.e., the poorest school districts without proper means of delivering "quality" education might get lowered standards for an allowable percentage of say the top 1 or 2% of students. This might inevitably target people of color but I don't feel that race (like, sex or age) should be a direct criteria. I'm also not opposed to applying addtional entrant criteria (i.e., voluteer work, additional essays) for selection of those 1 or 2% of students

2. Bilingual education for children of immigrants, rather than immersion in English, is good for them and for America.

DISAGREE
As if our public school systems could afford it. There should be ONE common language. One guess as to which language (and no, it's not Spanish). More than one common language would lead to a disintegration of national unity and further divide the races/racial classes

3. Murderers should never be put to death.

DISAGREE
Ted Bundy's and Charles Manson's of the world - fry em. My tax dollars will be better spent elsewhere

4. During the Cold War, America should have adopted a nuclear arms freeze.

DISAGREE
In a simple, naïve world - sure!

5. Colleges should not allow ROTC programs.

DISAGREE
Students should have more options, not less

6. It was wrong to wage war against Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War.

DISAGREE
Another detailed blog for future post I'm sure

7. Poor parents should not be allowed to have vouchers to send their children to private schools.

AGREE
I believe that if private schools want to open up their doors for greater diversity, it's their right to do so. If not, sorry!

8. It is good that trial lawyers and teachers unions are the two biggest contributors to the Democratic Party.

HEH?
I don't understand the question; A jab at us repubs no doubt. People will contribute to the party they stand with. If you're a dem - support the dems! We (republicans) probably don't want you anyway.

9. Marriage should be redefined from male-female to any two people.

AGREE
I'm a VERY weak YES. My previous voting record has always been NO on this one (for reasons having nothing to do with religion) but my position is weening. At the moment - yes but depending on my mood - I'm a flip-flopper for sure

10. A married couple should not have more of a right to adopt a child than two men or two women.

DISAGREE
Undecided. I do believe that families exist and can exist in all different shapes and sizes. If a child is loved and that child 'feels' loved - who can argue that that's a bad thing? If this is a question of married couples vs. unmarried couples in general - then I believe married couples should have more rights to adopt. If this is a question of married man/women couples vs. married same-sex couples then I'm undecided. I'm still struggling with the same-sex marriage so this - as children are involved - would be a stretch for me

11. The Boy Scouts should not be allowed to use parks or any other public places and should be prohibited from using churches and synagogues for their meetings.

DISAGREE
Seriously, who cares?

12. The present high tax rates are good.

DISAGREE
We (me, myself and I) hate taxes.

13. Speech codes on college campuses are good and American values are bad.

DISAGREE
I have to research this one further but my gut reaction is to believe that anything ending in 'American Values are bad' - has to be 'not good'

14. The Israelis and Palestinians are morally equivalent.

AGREE
I have to answer YES to this one simply because I'm not in a position to generalize

15. The United Nations is a moral force for good in the world, and therefore America should be subservient to it and such international institutions as a world court.

DISAGREE
Subservient - no; collaborative - yes

16. It is good that colleges have dropped hundreds of men's sports teams in order to meet gender-based quotas.

DISAGREE
An utterly rediculous position. I defer to an earlier comment - students should have more choices, not less

17. No abortions can be labeled immoral.

DISAGREE
I am emphatically pro-choice but I do believe in setting boundaries

18. Restaurants should be prohibited by law from allowing customers to choose between a smoking and a non-smoking section.

DISAGREE
Not that it seems to matter these days as more and more cities are instituting smoke-free policies but I believe it should be up to the business-owner. If customers don't want to choose - they can go where their preferences are better suited

19. High schools should make condoms available to students and teach them how to use them.

AGREE
I laugh at the notion that condoms are a prelude to sex. Has anyone noticed the number of teenage pregnancies going UP???

20. Racial profiling for terrorists is wrong -- a white American grandmother should as likely be searched as a Saudi young male.

DISAGREE
Fine line here; we should tread carefully. Beyond the standard airport-type security measures, I think anyone 'suspect' should be searched but I don't think there's anything wrong with adding extra layers of caution based on historical incidence. However, if the process is deemed completely ineffective then we should look to other alternatives rather than clinging-on to ineffective policies as a 'safety crutch'

21. Racism and poverty -- not a lack of fathers and a crisis of values -- are the primary causes of violent crime in the inner city.

AGREE
Along with a good dose of lack of education and discipline (from a father or a mother)

22. It is wrong and unconstitutional for students to be told, "God bless you" at their graduation.

DISAGREE
Unconstitutional is a stretch

23. No culture is morally superior to any other.

AGREE
Indisputable in my opinion. You can't generalize about other cultures that you know so little or nothing about (particularly if your own - i.e., ours - is rooted in a morally questionable past)

Goodbye Advertising, Hello Social Media!

Or not. Lately, I’ve been getting my self embroiled in conversations with people that prat on and on about how advertising in the new marketing age is dead. The future of marketing is CGM and Social Media. As many already know, I’m a big fan of Social media, web2.0 and new emergent technologies but as for advertising being dead – well I just poo-poo that notion..

A couple of schools of thought that some of my marketing colleagues and I tend to disagree about:

Q: What is advertising.

For them it’s a 1-1 communication; It’s me as a marketer communicating to you as the customer. You don’t communicate back, you just (hopefully) pay attention and then (hopefully again) respond as a new customer.

For me, advertising is about putting your brand/marketing message in front of an audience. It’s about getting their attention; and getting them to respond. Having said that, why would social media ‘not’ fall into the category of advertising? Traditional advertising it’s not but whether you call it community word of mouth, social media, or interactive dialogue – your objective is still the same. You’re getting your message out to your audience in hopes that they’ll “get it”. And I’m not necessarily a believer that advertising in social forums (however good or bad the response is) is a bad thing.

If we’re talking about traditional advertising then it’s true; It’s “in flight”. In a world where consumer control is heading straight for the helm of marketing efforts (be it TIVO, Youtube, or circumventing online click ads), people aren’t going to listen to the things they don’t want to hear. The trick is to make it relevant, make it meaningful. Traditional media will only die if marketers refuse to give up control. What marketers need to do is find a way get traditional advertisements in on the consumer-control action. Think Tide detergent's new 'Crescent Heights' ads that interweave traditional advertisements with online and social media (Thanks James). Be creative. Stop talking "at" them and start talking "with" them (as with the ever popular Secret deoderant 'What's your secret' ad campaigns).

If you can connect and engage with your target audience then bravo. But whatever the ad-road you travel: Good marketing plans are like strong investment portfolios. What does that mean? Diversify, diversify, diversify.

Advertising in the traditional sense, is here to stay. We as marketers need to get off our butts and start looking at how we can utilize traditional advertising in a "non-traditional" way.

Blog or Bust

"What is the value of blogging?"

Should companies in the financial/investment services industries blog on their websites? I’ve had this discussion with folks many times and from where I sit the answer is pretty simple (and applies to any service company regardless of industry). Breaking it down into far simpler terms:

YES, If…
- the intent is to build meaningful and engaging relationships with consumers

NO, If…
- the intent is to increase the bottom line

Businesses that want to extend their brand reach, want to develop stronger customer relationships, and want to achieve a greater depth of customer insight to deliver quality products and services – should have a blog. There is tangible value there – it’s called ‘the customer experience’ and it’s measurable by the interaction you achieve. It's a conversation between people and when providing a valued service, having that interaction builds trust and humanizes your organization. As social networking sites, blogs, consumer review sites and other CGM-centric corners of the web continue to increase, financial companies will have to get on board or they risk slow brand erosion.

But (there is always a but)... if you're going to blog keep it interesting, keep it updated and keep it relevant - to your industry, your brand message, and your audience. Keep it real. Blogs are heavily viral so assuming you keep to the rules eventually you'll attract a vast community to your company. And for a nice little bennie, a well-trafficked blog can also help generate better results on search engines. Now that can't be bad for any organization. ;-)

Marketing in the Virtual World: Yay or Nay?

I had an interesting conversation recently with an executive at a large SF-based financial/investment services firm about marketing outreach in the web2.0 world and in particular, interacting with consumers in the virtual space. Web2.0 marketing has been a big topic over the last year and the subject of virtual-world interaction is increasingly gaining discussion ground in many of the marketing forums I’m involved with.

My question to this executive: how relevant is the virtual space for reaching potential customers and what’s the opportunity? And honestly, I was surprised at how quickly the idea was scoffed.

Her take on emerging technology or new marketing vehicles is: it’s only relevant for a brand like Apple - known for (and rather expected to be) innovative and trendy in their marketing solutions – to jump on the bandwagon of emerging technology but the question other companies need to ask is “how relevant is that space for our company and how does it mesh with our brand”.

Hmmm…interesting position and not without valid points but it seems to me to devalue the potential for connecting with your audience in a new way, not necessarily pushing products or services mind you, but rather interacting in a community-minded way (er, a virtual way) in an environment that they’re comfortable with. What’s so innovative and trendy about that?

The virtual space still has significant growing room to go through and it’s still very unfamiliar territory for many marketers and users (particularly as I’ve found in the financial services arena) but here’s my take: if the objective of today’s marketer is to “connect” and “engage” - emerging technology shouldn’t be relegated to the idea-bucket for only those brands whose message resonates with innovation and “coolness” but rather the question should be asked:

Where is our audience going and how can we build a presence and engage them in these places intelligently and “comfortably”.

Companies like Pontiac, IBM, and even Sears have put their brands out in Second Life and with now nearly half a million Second Lifers logging on weekly and roughly a million logging on each month – such a new possibility only has upward growth. The average age of users is 32, and the median age of users is 36 – for most financial and investment services firms, that’s very relevant.

In a world saturated by direct mail, email and online advertisements, I think it’s necessary for marketers to at minimum consider it’s possibilities. Your marketing approach and marketing message needs to be carefully addressed but ignoring these emerging vehicles seems to me to be sticking your head in the sand by way of enslaving yourself to traditional outreach methods that are already overrun.

Update: I'm not devaluing the use of traditional marketing tactics; Not at all. They're invaluable and their effectiveness is measurable. However, diversification of your marketing plan is essential if you want to keep up with your consumer-base (what they're doing and where they're going) in order to expand your brand reach and remain engaged.

2007 Roadtrip Pics

Well, after incessant pandering from a few folks I finally got my pics uploaded.

**Yikes.**

Over 700 photos in all. Not to worry I selected the ones that best represented key points of interest along my trip and broke them out into groups for easier viewing. Now, I do occasionally lapse into moments of forgetfulness and hindsight so unfortunately there are a number of amazing places I explored but came back without pictures (i.e., Victoria, BC where I forgot to charge my camera battery ahead of time. Doh!).

Of course, since this blog in total consists of over 200 photos - I'm sure they won't be missed haha.. Note: Best slideshow speed - fast! There is also an options link in the lower right hand corner of the slideshow to see/hide comments. To return to the main blog page, use your browsers 'back' button.

Enjoy!

Set 1: On the road to CA and 4th of July at Mom's (25)
The start of my 9.5 week cross country roadtrip! Unfortunately I didn't make too many stops heading to CA; just St. Louis and CO primarily to visit with family. Of course - did I get any pictures? No.

View photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/deanna-l-shaw/sets/72157601883705840/show/


Set 2: Up and down the California Coast (30)
The start of what I call "the second half" of my roadtrip. I spent two weeks tootaling up and down the CA coast visiting with family and friends, checking out wine country, and getting in some scenic sightseeing.

During those two weeks I spent a few days in Monterey Bay visiting my brother and his wife Valerie, I stayed one night in Half-moon Bay as well as Bodega Bay (beautiful beaches and sunsets), Napa Valley (making stops at my favorite vineyards - yum!), and Saucelito (highly recommend Casa Madrona for it's location, roomy bathrooms and amazing views overlooking the bay). After that, it was off to San Fran for some fun with old friends.

View Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/deanna-l-shaw/sets/72157601883747786/show/

Set 3: Yosemite and Lassen Volcanic National Park in CA (24)
This part of my cross-country roadtrip begins "the solo-journey" - just me and my cat tootaling around. These are pics from my stops at Yosemite and Lassen Volcanic National Park (CA).

I took my first dip of the trip in Yosemite's Merced River. And I highly recommend it. There are plenty of private, quiet spots along the river where the currents are mild and the waters deep enough to frolick and soak for hours.

If you're one for riding hard on tight twisties - Lassen will bring you oodles of smiles! It's all S-, U- and 360 degree-type turns throughout this small gem! It's a small place to visit but definitely worthwhile - a couple of large campgrounds, a few very scenic hikes, and all-together yields signficantly less traffic than any of the other National Parks I visited (which explains the 'pay on your honor' entrance fee).

View photos: http://flickr.com/photos/deanna-l-shaw/sets/72157601883820322/show/

Set 4: Traversing through Oregon, Washington, Iowa and Montana (34)
Leaving CA and heading North through Oregon, Washington, Iowa and Montana. I did a lot of touristy things in these states like taking a heli-tour over NE Oregon and going horseback riding. The biggest sightseeing trips: I took the ferry from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, British Columbia, and went to Glaciar National Park (MT). Montana btw: has the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen - hands down winner in my opinion (my photos don't do it justice).

I made my way through Oregon via the town of Bend - an old logging town with a decent historic downtown district and a few interesting sights however, if I had to pass that way again, I'd stay in the town of Sisters instead. Sisters is very small (you can drive through it in under a minute) and all the buildings have the"Wild Bill" theme going on which just makes the town POP. It's totally touristy, but it's tons of fun mashed into a quarter of a quarter of a square mile and the bbq-ribs are to die for.

After Bend, OR - I made my way up the Oregon coast along highway 101 stopping off at a few quaint fishing towns for fresh oysters and uh, cheese (don't ask). Mmm good. I spent two nights in the town of Astoria (where Kindergarten Cop was filmed) and actually went to a movie theatre where you can lounge on a couch, order pizza and drink beer. *must lobby for one of those in PA* After a long night of lounging and "hydrating" I made my way into Washington, going around the Olympic Peninsula before taking the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, British Columbia.

Interestingly...On the way to Port Angeles, I stopped for the night along the outskirts of Hoh National Rainforest - it was very late, very dark and my little dirt road was draped in layers and layers of dense fog. Imagine my shock factor when I woke up at the crack of dawn and found myself parked less than 20 feet from the water. Hahaa...YEA. A little extra tap of the gas and my "frolicking in the water" stories would have taken on a whole new meaning...

Oh, and there's a pic in here of a can opener. My mom (bless her heart) gave it to me for those long nights when I'm stranded with nothing to eat but canned goods. Look closely - what's wrong with that picture...(?)

View photos: http://flickr.com/photos/deanna-l-shaw/sets/72157601885028082/show/

Set 5: Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons (42)
I camped out in Yellowstone for 3 days and made the most of it. What can I say...it's awesome! And look at some of the views...just breathtaking. Initially I thought I could do it in a day. Ha! Silly me...

Staying in Yellowstone was by far and away my favorite string of days going solo. Yellowstone is a must see if you've never been. Lots of good trailheads, fun waters to play in, great sightseeing and fun campgrounds to boot. All together...Wyoming is tops for scenic driving.

View photos: http://flickr.com/photos/deanna-l-shaw/sets/72157601890127163/show/

Set 6: "It's Hog Time!" - Devil's Tower & Sturgis During Annual Harley Rally (24)
"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". Best to apply this mode of thinking when tootaling about in Sturgis during Harley week. ;-)

What can I say. A lot of fun and uh, definitely a "unique" experience ;-)

View photos: http://flickr.com/photos/deanna-l-shaw/sets/72157601890427327/show/

Set 7: Mt. Rushmore, Cave of the Mounds and Niagara Falls (28)
The last of the roadtrip photos. These pics cover the last real sightseeing stops I made between Sturgis, SD and Bar Harbor, Maine: Mt. Rushmore (SD), Cave of the Mounds in Wisconsin, and Niagara Falls (NY).

Sorry, no "skunky" photos... ;-)

Trivia question: Which Presidents are represented in Mt. Rushmore? No googling!

View photos: http://flickr.com/photos/deanna-l-shaw/sets/72157601890661845/show/


Well, That's all folks! Lots of photos to peruse but hopefully you're able to some good insight into my trip and some of what I experienced. If you have any affinity for roadtrips - some "mini"-version of this is highly recommended to cool your head, unload some stress and just have fun. ;-)

Roadtrip Across America

In the last few years, I've done quite a bit of traveling - some abroad but mostly domestic. In fact most of my travel has been done on the road. There is something about being on the open road that, for me, equates to a sense of absolute freedom and there are few things that give me more pleasure than being on a roadtrip; It's having the freedom to throw the rule-book aside, go where I want to go, do what I want to do, and more importantly, it's having the freedom to change my mind at any given time. I love not knowing what I'll see next, who I'll meet or where I'll end up.

Now, I've always wanted to do the full-blown "see everything and do everything" cross-country road trip but the work-vacation schedule never allowed the time. Finally, after being on the road for 9.5 weeks, traveling through 26 states and putting on 16,142 miles...I'm happy to say that it's something I can now cross off my to-do list. :-)

Not long after my 4-year run with JPMorgan Chase ended in May (uh, new info for those of you who didn't know) I packed my bags, picked up a few on-the-go necessities, loaded-up the cat and hit the road. My travels, initially intended to take only 4-weeks, brought me from the East Coast to the West Coast, up through the Northwest regions of Oregon and Washington, down through the backbone of the Midwest, and as far Northeast as Niagara Falls and Bar Harbor Maine.

One of the great things about road trips, and traveling in general, is of course meeting all different kinds of people and having cool and unusual conversations. During my travels, I ran into quite a few folks who asked me whether or not traveling by myself and cross-country is at all boring. At the time I simply said "No." however, I do actually have a better answer.


The Highlights
During my 9.5 weeks of being on the road, I visited with friends and family from Philadelphia to the California Coast. I reconnected with old friends and made a slew of new ones. I met folks from seven different countries and from all spectrums of the economic ladder. I roomed in some luxurious resort hotels, a couple of quaint bed and breakfasts, and an historic hotel that takes you back to the days where motor-cars were innovation, cigar-bars were luxury and flapper-girls were the beginning of the end of the ultra-conservative fashionista. I slept on National Park campgrounds and camped on lake and riverside beaches hidden deep in the serenity of the mountains with views overlooking the spectacular beauty of the mountains. And ok, I also crashed in a dozen or so (ahem) very scenic interstate rest stops with views overlooking the picnic tables, and vending machines and pet exercise area. ;-)

I took a helicopter tour over the Northwest region of Oregon; ferried over from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, British Columbia; and went horseback riding on the beach at Sunset. When the sun was blistering, I frolicked in the cool waters of glacial lakes and riverbeds and in the evenings soaked in the warmth of the hot springs. I watched sunsets that lit up the skyline with hues of hot pink, deep lavender and burnt orange and awoke to spectacular sunrises and the sounds of nature.

In Yellowstone, I had a close encounter with a grumpy bison and saw my first full rainbow. In Sturgis, South Dakota I went to a phenominal ZZ-top concert and partied with the Harley Davidson crowd (true and new) till the wee hours of the morning while donning my new Harley Davidson "GENDER CANDY" t-shirt and hot pink biker bandana. haha! My dad would have just loooooved that! Of course, I still represented the ultra-yuppy, "non-biker" who clearly stood out of the crowd. **Most folks thought I was just lost**

There were so many things I experienced, things that would take hours to write-about. In all honesty, it truly was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and one filled with memories I will never forget; the people or the places. So back to the question: was traveling cross-country by myself boring?...

Ha! "No."

And besides, I wasn't alone - I had Chompurr with me, my furry one-eyed "guard-cat" (though admittedly she tends to be more of an attraction than a deterrent).


Bloopers and Mishaps
Even the greatest road trips are not without their mishaps and I definitely had my fair share - though fortunately none that involved roadside accidents or breakdowns. Here are just a few:

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While driving through the Midwest, I bought two jackets and a vest...then lost two jackets and a vest all within a span of 48 hours. So much for new memorabilia...

**insert Homer Simpson head-scratch**

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Leaving Sturgis, South Dakota I knew that my next stop would be Mount Rushmore so I hopped on I-90 Eastbound and drove 310 miles (~4-4.5 hours) before I suddenly thought to myself "self: what exit is Mt Rushmore?". I pulled off to the side of the road, whipped out my trusty Atlas and doh(!)...much to my chagrin realized that Mt. Rushmore was in fact, 60 miles south of Sturgis.

Stop. Reverse. Backtrack.

I left Sturgis at 9:00 that morning, maximized my time in Mt. Rushmore within all of 45 minutes, and by the time I pulled over for the night at 11:30 pm - I was in fact 45 minutes west of where I was earlier in the day when I stopped to turn around...

So, If you ever want to know how one puts on 1,000 miles without ever actually going anywhere...that's one way.

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I was mistaken for a homelss person living out of my car (of course I did have all kinds o canned goods stockpiled, a pillow, blanket, clothes strewn about and all my cat's worldly goods); I was mistaken for a trucker (have no idea - presumably because I'm scarier in the morning than I thought); and a hitchhiker (because apparently doing your make-up at 4 a.m. at a truckstop in the sticks of the midwest looks "questionable")

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Speaking of the sticks... I got lost in the sticks of Wisconsin looking for Cave of the Mounds and drove around in circles for 3.5 hours on unmarked roads, using a 5 year old Atlas that had incomplete markings. My annoy level was nearing an all-time high but, not to be defeated.. I finally stopped at the Blue Mounds grocery store and in a bit of a huffy state, asked the cashier "where, for the love of god, is Cave of the Mounds.?.?" Imagine my surprise (and embarassment) when she says to me "Pull out of the parking lot and go left. Stop when you come to the big sign that says 'turn here for Cave of the Mounds'." **of course. how stupid of me.**

'Thank you'. Head down. Exit quickly.

Cave of the Mounds was pretty cool and definitely an attraction I think worth visiting. But beware of leaving the sticks of Wisconsin. On my way out, I crossed paths with a skunk doddling on the wrong side of the road.

Question: Why did the skunk cross the road.
Answer: Presumably to get to the other side but now we'll never know ;-)
**insert Homer Simpson nose-pinch**

The smell that rocked the car was pretty unbearable to say the least. The windows stayed down for two days straight (hence the 18 mosquito bites), we made “a lot” of stops, and we got “a lot” of looks.

Maybe I should have had a sign that read “sorry. hit a skunk. my bad.”

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After several years of speed racing across interstates without incident, I finally came home with not one but two(!) speeding tickets. The second was not only costly but also more painful on a personal front. While driving through Monterey Bay, not only was I ticketed for doing 96 in a 65 mph zone but to make matters worse - i was tootaling around with my brother and... my dad. Yea.

*ack. cough. tears*

The only upside to this incident - and yes there actually was an upside - the statey's radar actually clocked me going 117 mph. (hahahaha. weee!) Fortunately for me - the statey, in all of his 13 years, had never seen a car go near that speed on that particular stretch of road and thought his radar was malfunctioning. By the time I was in his line of sight, I had already spotted him and slowed down to 96. The kicker: Had I been ticketed for going 117 in a 65 mph zone I would not have passed go; My car would have gone straight to jail and with me right along side it.

It goes without saying that me being handcuffed in the backseat of a statey's police cruiser would not have been my ideal end to an otherwise stellar vacation.

**Knock on wood (or dashboard plastic)**


Special Thanks
While this trip in and of itself was pretty phenomenal, it would have been slightly lacking had it not been for a few folks that made it extra-special. Special thanks go to the following peeps:

First I'd like to thank my family for supporting my decision to 'run away from home', travel by myself, and disappear for an unspecified period of time. I'd like to thank my dad for teaching me to drive a stick shift in his beloved new car (a feat I thought would never actually happen - despite my incessant groveling). I'd also like to thank my mom - for a great many things - but also for watching my cat Chompurr during the two weeks I spent trekking up and down the California coastline. I know how much she detests pet hair running amok in her ultra clean house.

Special thanks to my cousin Cathy and her husband Bill for putting me up last-minute and - for sending me packing with a few bottles of travel wine! Gotta love that...

I'd like to thank my buddy Michael for accompanying me on a mini road trip through Central and Northern California, and for sporting my ride with some ultra-high performance Toyo's for the ultimate experience in handling. I love those tight twisties!

A big Thank you to my good friends Kevin and Becky Cubba for hosting me in San Fran for 3 nights and for showing me such a terrific time (despite some of the 'next-day' repercussions) ;-)

My thanks to Albie Bjornberg the bar manager of the Hotel Elliott, for introducing me to some of the fantastic local winery and for tuning me in to all the best local attractions (i.e., my heli-tour and horseback riding adventures)

And last but not least a special thanks to Peter Dorley of Victoria, Australia for making my visit to Sturgis so memorable and for sending me packing with a comfy pillow (so key for those necessary roadside pullovers), a detailed map of Sturgis (since getting lost is apparently my thing), and my very own Mt. Isa Harley Davidson t-shirt (especially handy when I ran out of clean clothes. haha!)

Soon to come: a link to pics, travel tips, tidbits and roadtrip stats.

Cheers!

Ad Effectiveness: When Less is More

As I'm making my way through the first 25 pages or so of my latest issue of Businessweek magazine I start to notice an interesting little trend. There are "a lot" of advertisements. From the front cover to page 25 there are 11 full page ads; In it's entirety - 88 pages, 33 full page advertisements. **insert homer simpson head-scratch** Airbus, Canon, Movado, Cingular, Samsung, Nadurra, Ebel... and this doesn't even include all of the many quarter-page and half-page beauties.

Yikes.

I toss the magazine down on the desk, walk over to my little “mag hanger” and start looking through the last 4 BW print editions. Is this a new phenomenon or have I just been completely oblivious. Answer: I’ve been oblivious.

The realization of all these intrusions has got me thinking about the effectiveness of magazine ads - the mad ad flops versus those that engage readers to stop, look, read, and remember and the rare gems that actually move consumers from the "reader" category into the "buyer" category. What makes one print ad more effective than another(?) particularly when readers are forced to scroll through so many in just one sitting...

Measuring Ad-effectiveness
I did some research on the web and came up with a short list for measuring impact and reader engagement:

· Ad awareness
· Brand awareness
· Recollection of elements in the ad
· Recollection and comprehension of the brand’s message
· Feelings about the ad: liked, amused, believed, etc
· Brand images, perceptions
· Emotional “involvement”
· Persuasiveness

So with these in mind let’s take a look at some of the ads and see how they measure up..

Principal Financial (page 7)
“Think Big” - two words that resonate with me so I look. There’s a little cartoon pictorial with Principal shining it’s light on a short, balding simpleton with his big, big shadow projected in the background.

Hmm. I don’t get it. What’s a little man with a big shadow got to do with investment and finances? This can’t be what they mean by “Think Big” - or is it? The picture should reflect the brand's message but this one requires too much thinking; to understand the message - you have to read the fine print. Ack. Maybe if the little guy was at least staring at the enormity of his own shadow the image might be more meaningful from a personal front. Some version of this would have, at minimum, evoked the sense that to invest in Principal means to invest in your future; to visualize your growth potential. But the ad fell short and the marketing message was lost.

*THUD*
Someone dropped the ball.

Invest in Macedonia (page 9)
Beyond the obvious - I don’t know what this page says and I don’t care. Too much text, too many maps and graphs and way, way too many bullet points. Information overload.

Next!

Huawei (page 10)
What is that a picture of - a million tiny people crammed into a stadium?...town square?...grassy knoll? Are the people attending a concert?...a festival? Please for the love god - what is going on in this picture!! Beyond Frustrating. I stare a little harder and study the images but quickly find myself getting annoyed and decide to move on.

How relevant is the ad for me as a consumer? Actually, I have no idea because I couldn’t figure out the message or, more importantly, the product that was being represented but considering the ad inflicted so much mental anguish I have no doubt that I will remember the name. Score one for Huawei? Maybe.

Movado (page 13)
The ad is simple, sleek, sexy; And yes - just looking at the hot, hot Mikhail Baryshnikov makes me want to go out and buy one. He's looking ultra sexy, cool and sophisticated; And the way he’s looking back at me I feel sexy, cool and sophisticated too. Oh yea, me and Mikhail and our matching Movado’s. MMMmmm...wait- head shake. Reality check! Damn.

This ad definitely resonated; Because of the product pitch or celebrity endorsement - more likely the latter. Does this mean I'll go out and buy a Movado? Well actually, I already own one. Does this mean I'll think of upgrading the next time I'm out shopping for shoes? No.

Well, maybe. *me and Mikhail...me and Mikhail*
Yea ok I'll buy that.

Nadurra (page 17)
Very dark (perhaps intended to invoke feelings related to those exclusive, uptown boy cigar-clubs). Almost immediately my eyes are drawn to the tiny paragraph next to the bottle; the story behind the product. Yikes. The print is too tiny to read, the page is too dark for the text and there's too much print to read through anyway. My eyes feel strained just looking at it. I'm not a scotch drinker but I might, on occasion, have a need to buy someone a bottle. Will I remember this brand? Not likely.

Ebel (page 19)
“The Architects of Time”. Major eye candy. Very nice. I don’t need an adventure watch but the "zoom-in" on all the details of the clocks, gizmos, dials and numbers have me salivating. *maybe I do need an adventure watch* Of course, if I see a hot guy wearing this bad baby – hot diggity! This ad was by far the most effective for me. Very "in-your-face" cool.

Less is More
OK, so what does all this mean. "Ad Saturation". Considering that I've never noticed these ads in previous weekly issues (and I've been a subscriber for almost two years now), perhaps it's evidence that the increasing number of print ads in magazines has devalued their effectiveness. From a print perspective, I don't have the time or the inclination to look at every ad. If you want my attention, your marketing message needs to be creative but bold enough to capture my curiosity within one glimpse-over beit through images or words. The ads that got my attention and had the most impact for me were those that kept the message short, "in-your-face" simple.

Marketing messages that are too long or leave readers scratching their heads might leave on impression but a) it's likely not the one you want to leave and b) frustration rarely moves readers into the buyer category.

That said, from a consumer standpoint and being that I'm an avid mag reader, here’s what I say – ditch the ad proliferation. If there was less brand marketing crammed into just a few pages - I might very well be inclined to stop, look and read.

Financial Services, Innovation and Web 2.0

"It's not a channel; It's technology"

As a member of the ISF (Internet Strategy Forum), we’ve had some discussions of late around web governance, obstacles surrounding internet strategy development and relevance/adoption of Web2.0 technologies. I was recently engaged in a Web2.0 study by another ISF member (and CTO for IBM.com) and it got me thinking...about how it relates to my business area, the financial services industry and the key issues we face in adopting Web2.0 technologies. You can find I’m sure a thousand and one definitions for Web2.0 but here’s my high-level take coupled with thoughts pulled from the web:

Web 2.0 is the result of an internet technology movement involving multi-dimensional collaboration (social networking, open standards, b2b/b2c/c2c relationships). It's the result of a technological movement where the web replaces the PC as the platform not just from a business operating standpoint but from the consumer standpoint as well.

Due to recent progresses like pervasive Web connectivity, faster bandwidth, growing numbers of online users, increased trust of online software and general cost-to-buy difference…eventually I believe that web software will replace PC software in measurable numbers.

That said, internet strategies in this area and within the financial services sector are far from where they should be and our adoption of new web technologies trails that of most other business areas and by a long shot. In order to move forward with the times and drive efficiencies in customer-centricity we need to make some sweeping changes in how we drive the business. First stop: we need to ixnay leveraging the internet as a communication “channel” and start viewing the internet from a technology perspective so that we can maximize our offerings, visualize the opportunities that lie in those technologies, and focus on "harnessing" and "developing".

What does all this mean - simple: We need to revamp our business models to incorporate internet as technology. Period.

Obstacles we face today
Policy
- Ensuring the applications and offerings don’t expose the business to regulatory or legal action. An obvious caution that needs to be carefully addressed.
- Application access control levels: Most large financial corporations are mired in hierarchical, complex authorization schemes across data repositories and web functions (understandably to keep folks from accessing things they shouldn’t) but folks across business verticals need to be able to leverage [all] the data that's available internally and externally.
- Risk (reputational and/or business risk). The kiss of death. Have someone from legal or operations say the words “there’s risk involved” and people won’t move for boo. It’s stifling. While risk is necessary to review and measure – it shouldn’t be the roadblock that halts innovation.

Technology Strategy
- Like I said, right now the internet is viewed as “just another channel” to reach our customer base but really it should be considered from a technology perspective in that it presents a fundamental shift in how we offer financial services to our customers. It means separating Internal/industry/and functional technologies from Internet Technologies.

Performance-based Goals
- Measuring ROI, prioritizing monetary returns: The requirement to address quarterly performance targets gets in the way of strategic investment period. The Web2.0 environment centers on multi-dimensional collaboration and thus carries with it a soft ROI. When dealing with innovation and new technologies such as Web2.0…we should focus on measuring information relevancy and value prop to our customers. Measurable ROI will come in time.

Sponsorship
- The internet champion. I put this one last because I feel it’s the most important and I wanted to discuss it a bit further since it impacts corporate governance and organizational structure. The industry needs to have people at the top of the corporate ladder sponsoring internet activities so that we can realize the opportunities behind the technology.

Organizational Structure
Most large corporations have some rendition of the following governance structure: They have a CMO (Chief Marketing Officer); an IT executive (or CTO focusing primarily on internal or industry-specific technologies, network infra-structures, etc.); a Legal executive; and a Customer Service executive to manage all customer level communications and interactions (think call-centers, etc.). This list might be a missing one or two but it’s pretty much the bulk.

What the structure is missing (and what it needs) is a CIO (Chief Internet Officer) whose primary focus is to drive internet technology innovation and internet technology adoption across the business while addressing the smaller needs of other business areas as they relate to the internet. All things internet should fall under the CIO; All business areas should liaisons with functional areas within the internet department to achieve their respective business goals.

An independent block that stands on it’s own and not as a sidearm to (or blended-in with) other marketing teams creates "business focus”. Blend the internet function with all other marketing areas and you end up with what we have today – function and focus gets blurred, ideas serving different needs get thrown into the same prioritization bucket, soft ROI loses and innovation gets lost.

"Innovation and the consumer" - that's what's key here. Web2.0 means a shift of power from the business to the consumer; it means a change in the way we communicate with our customers and how we service our customers. We need to harness what’s out there and we can do that if we change the way we view the internet.

It's not a channel; It's technology. Say it again...it's not a channel; It's technology.

Now... let’s start by getting ourselves a senior sponsor. CIO’s sign here please!

M.I.T. Dean Forced to Resign: Appropriate?

She falsified her credentials and lied about it for 29 years. Yikes. In the case of a Dean of Admissions falsifying a resume are university officials wrong to ask for their resignation? Certainly not. But in Jones’ case - as Dean of Admissions the last few years and holding an exemplary service record for the last 29 years, as a positive change agent for the school and it’s students, as a mentor and respected member of the education community - her long history of accomplishments should have given M.I.T. a moment of pause when considering appropriate next-steps.

She knowingly made a choice. Was it the wrong choice? Maybe but wrong for who – M.I.T. was elevated quite a bit during her tenure, the faculty and students love her and what she's done for the university, her role in changing the face of the education community has been and continues to be highly respected among same-seat colleagues. Had she come clean about it 15 or 25 years ago for certain she would not have received accolades for her honesty - she would have been booted and booted quickly. And the state of the university, it’s future entrants and alum would have suffered. Would any of this justify her actions - no but what she should have been asked to do was give a public apology and offer her resignation if it's the will of the school and it's students. At that point, M.I.T. should have stood behind her.

My mom sent me an article from Time Magazine and I wholly agree with Kinsley’s recommendation. Instead of asking for her resignation, M.I.T. should consider giving Jones an honorary degree. Heck, Ray Romano got an honorary masters or something and he’s just a sportswriter! And a fictional character on T.V. but that’s beside the point.

M.I.T. owes a great deal to Marilee Jones and the school should have used this opportunity to show unwavering support for it's Dean while shedding light on a muddy subject – what to do when you don’t have the right credentials and the right education. M.I.T. could have turned it into a learning lesson, something most of us could take advantage of btw, and how apropo it would be coming from an institution of higher learning. The end result very well could have bolstered the university’s image for future alums, and it would have held-up the pride of current alums and the present student body. Rather than hide behind resentment and a different kind of pride and taint a long career of accomplishment and purpose, M.I.T. could have led by example – one that reached for a positive end; the right end for the school and it’s students.

She gives a public apology, accepts her honorary degree and we all move on. The school benefits, the students benefit, and the people see once again that in the end real merit is measured by accomplishment and 'action' and not their artificial substitutes: test scores, degrees and academic accreditations.

Branding the West Point Brand

The typical West Point cadet is a white male. He’s in the top decile of his high-school class; he’s a Jock. Middle-class; middle-American. He came to the academy for the free top-ranked education but he’s also patriotic on some level.

My slightly less-genius older brother (ha! sorry Jimmy) is a Captain in the army and a West Point alum, graduate of the class of ‘98’. We recently had a lengthy discussion about West Point’s student diversity numbers and their difficulties in increasing ethnic diversity and, in particular, student representation from within African-American communities.

Some have suggested that in order to attract more eligible African-American students - reducing entrant and test score criteria is a necessary first step. To this - many (myself included) say “nonsense”. West Point is among the academic elite for a reason and frankly, I think it’s a demeaning proposition for incoming students who don’t make the standard cut. The objective isn’t just to increase the African-American student base but to do it without sacrificing their quality of applicants and entrants. That said, leaders of the future don’t necessarily come from affluent backgrounds or middle-America and students might be inclined to go elsewhere if the West Point brand gets mired in the image of life-long military service.

Marketing the offering
The university world has reached it’s comeuppance and they’re realizing that the world of entrant applicants is a very competitive arena. If you want more students, you need to give more point of difference. For West Point, what better point of difference is there than providing the highest quality of education for a pretty price tag (it’s free), a notable career upon graduating (5 years required service in the military to pay back the 250,000 education - starting as an officer) and the promise of leadership excellence within and beyond the military (you’ll likely find that the greatest percentage of graduates saddling the executive-level seats in corporate America are West Point alums).

So with everything West Point has going for it, why are African-American numbers so low? Without question, internal brand management isn’t an issue – every cadet wears the brand 365 days of the year, 24-7 and USMA grads are the brand when they leave. But what about brand management outside of West Point...what's the perception? Likely the typical association is with that of uniforms, marches, up at dawn down at dusk…”yes sir” and “no sir” - the military. If the brand message doesn't engage a broader audience high-school students and/or African-American students with less patriotic affinities might not be inclined to send in an application.

The allure of the institution from an outside audience perspective has to stem not from a factual knowledge of the university's strengths, but from a received understanding of what it stands for --- its prestige, ideology and reputation. West Point needs to leverage it’s brand equity beyond the perception of being a rigorous "military" academy and beyond the traditional academic arena – particularly since most low-income communities don’t offer as rigorous an educational curriculum when compared to middle-income public schools or private schools for the more affluent families. They need to market the skills students will acquire to succeed in corporate America.

The question: How do you weed out the desireables and increase diversity without sacrificing the academic reputation of the school by resorting to modified score cuts?
1: Leverage the Prep Academy
2: Target non-traditional audiences/focus on the experience not the product
4: Market through multiple channels and consistently across all bases

The Prep Academy
To be sure, many of the cadets at West Point still come from affluent families. But thanks to the prep school and the fact that West Point is free, it's doing far better at attracting low-income students than some of its elite rivals. All prep cadets who successfully complete the program are eligible to go to West Point and typically more than half the eligible student body moves on to attend the university.

To achieve the objective, the Prep school should have a mandatory entrant cut based on income and ethnic diversity; and it’s required numbers each year need to be far higher than what they are today. High school students who typically haven’t made the grade will have one year to prove themselves.

Non-traditional audiences
Recruiters need to target their audience more effectively in reaching out to youths of all races and ethnic backgrounds from all income-areas; they need to market West Point’s brand promise in a manner that communicates and connects on an emotional level.

Giving You The Responsibility And The Opportunity To Go Out And Achieve.

This is not their tagline (and to be honest I don't even know what it is) but to attract students who may not have a strong patriotic affinity, promoting leadership skills and the bevy of skills acquired that are marketable outside of military service is a must. They need to focus on the experience, not the product. And alongside all West Point marketing communication should be information and applications for the West Point prep school.

Marketing Opportunties
MySpace – West Point could take a cue from the Marines who put up a profile on MySpace.com to attract fresh blood. This would give the academy the opportunity to reach a younger audience base freely and early-on in order to build "brand mindshare". The Marines were given sole control over what advertisements (none) that are posted to their profile and Friends are rigorously screened. Detailed information and communication is provided in the profile as is a link to apply.

Viral marketing – multiple variations should go out in circulation – all speaking the same language and sharing one voice. Giving You The Responsibility And The Opportunity To Go Out And Achieve. You can do this by having versions that emphasize patriotism and service and others that show how skills acquired at West Point are marketable in the civilian world (i.e., an ad that follows the West Point cadet of yesterday and the leader that he is today). Focus on the West Point experience and the by-product of that experience.

General marketing efforts - When was the last time you saw a marketing message for West Point? How many people have heard of West Point but don't know anything about it other than it's a military academy? I rarely see the West Point brand in or around the university towns I live near (but I’ll admit I don’t actually tootle around these places very often - it's a little under my age criteria ;-) ).

Point being - they need to increase their general marketing efforts, pull together a coherent brand message that emphasizes the marketable skills students will acquire and then market across all income communities with the objectives being to attract strong candidates, increase diversity among applicants - and in turn, increase adiversity among entrants.

To build diversity you need to go where diversity lives and breathes, and you need to be able "connect". Students have to believe that West Point offers more than just a military life - academic excellence, a deep-seeded sense of brotherhood within the West Point family, top-notch career opportunities, leadership, success, etc.. And if your audience believes - they'll apply.

Not everyone has a penchant for life-long military service and leadership "in the military" isn't the only benefit West Point delivers to it's student body.