December 27, 2007

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!


December 18, 2007

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?

December 14, 2007

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.

December 13, 2007

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"

December 12, 2007

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.