Yahoo! Finance put together a great list of things kids born this year will never use. Among the list are the usual suspects: CDs, video tapes, corded phones, watches, paper maps etc. In addition to the tangible items there is one intangible item: “Hiding” Which is the most intriguing to me. [Read more...]
What I Remember About 2010
January 6, 2011 By
There is nothing that can go in this space that will top the 2nd day of the year last year. That’s the day Millie and I got married. More than a year later the excitement of that day hasn’t waned.
The year since then has been so amazing to think back on. You can’t fathom what it’s like to be married until you’ve done. Moreover, her two best friends, my two best friends, my brother and her cousin all got married in the six months preceding our wedding. So here we are a crop of newlyweds all figuring it out together. The sharing of stories and firsts has made the last year that much better.
Professionally I think I grew as well. My career track was quite erratic after leaving Oxford. I made pit stops in Dallas and Birmingham before coming to Chicago. In the last year I’ve taken on new challenges and feel that I’ve taken ownership of my role at NorthShore. I’ve spoken at conferences in Chicago and Las Vegas all while learning more and more about marketing both online and off.
Personally I stayed level with my fitness, something that I aim to improve this year. Bouts of fitness were derailed by illness, injury and general laziness.
It all comes back to the wedding though. That was and will always be the best day of my life.
In 2011 I stare 30 straight in the face. If the 20s were all about becoming an adult, then my 30s will be all about living like one. I look forward to taking on new challenges and defining my role in this world. In the new few weeks I’m going to come up with my take on ESPN’s recent 30 for 30 series. It will be a list of 30 things I want to accomplish in 2011. Stay tuned for that.
So maybe customer service isn’t dead
September 9, 2010 By
Just a quick note about two amazing customer service interactions I had today.
1- The Comcast internet service at our apartment has been a little sluggish lately. I’ve gone back and forth with Comcast via Twitter over the last few days. This morning I reached out again when our Internet service was nearly unusable from Wednesday night into Thursday morning. A DM to Bill on the Comcast team netted a phone call from customer service and a followup call from the tech who says he located and fixed the problem. No long hold times and no days waiting for a tech to show up. The problem appears to be fixed. Thanks Comcast.
2- I prepaid my baggage fee for an Airtran flight I was supposed to take last Friday. Had to cancel the flight last minute (another maddening story) but the baggage fee wasn’t refunded. I just called Airtran Customer Relations. A nice woman picked up on the first ring, I explained my problem, she asked my name, confirmed the non-refund, apologized and issued the $15 refund. Total time on the phone? Maybe two minutes.
These are two companies that get a very bad rap when it comes to customer service who seem to really be trying to fix things.
So kudos to them!
Did you think it all the way through?
September 1, 2010 By
You did it all by yourself. You finished that huge project, you made those plans, you didn’t need help from anybody else.
Absolutely nothing is wrong. It’s bulletproof. Pure perfection.
Are you sure?
How Foursquare could help win an election
August 27, 2010 By
The 2010 elections will be contentious in many big races across the nation. With so much attention being paid to major offices like governor and senator, the channels will be clogged with messages and analysis of those major offices. So what if you’re running for a random office that the general voting public is unfamiliar with? How do you get people to vote for you on election day? Why not Foursquare tips?
Think about it. You can’t campaign in the immediate vicinity of a polling place. But what if the moment right before somebody voted, as they checked in to a polling place on Foursquare they got a tip that said “Vote John Smith for County Office X!”
If I’m a campaign manager in a race where a handful of votes can make a huge difference in a race people are not familiar with I am making sure I (or volunteers) visit every poll in the days leading up to the election and checking in with a tip to vote for my candidate.
Surely there is no law on the books against this right now.
Is Google testing a search results page?
April 13, 2010 By
