Bedtime Stories...

My mother-in-law is a great reader. She's also a published author.

When she reads stories, she reads with a soft cadence that brings the listener into the words of the book.

For whatever reason, she was my inspiration tonight as I read two books (this one and this one)to the kids.

They have each heard the book dozens of times, but I could sense their focus tonight.

With each word, I imagined-and I know this sounds corny-the word getting implanted on their brains, expanding their vocabularies, and enabling them to picture ideas and images in their minds.

A moment of truly being present...and a gift.

Over a barrel...

is where Paco had me last weekend.

He was the ringbearer at his uncle's wedding and we had to convince him to keep his jacket and bowtie on for the duration.

I'm a big believer in incentives, but I turned to outright bribery to get it done.

And Paco knew he had me. As the negotiations wore on, he extracted more and more from me.
The cost?

An afternoon of:

• 2 popsicles
• 1 episode of Diego
• 1 episode of Dora the Explorer
• 1 episode of Little Einsteins

Usually, they get at most one episode per day, so it was a TV fest for him and he did live up to his bargain.

Then, I looked at Tonka.

The girl did everything she was asked, no bribery necessary.

I told her, "you shouldn't be penalized because you do what I ask," so not only did she watch everything with Erez, but she got 2 whole packs of gum (I usually give her one piece per day) as a bonus.

School Pictures...

Of course, I think that my kids look cute in their school pics, but when I think about the idea of them, it strikes me as something we do because we have always done them. (Well, not always, but you get the idea).

I looked in the pictures folder for each kid. I've got 1,173 pics of Tonka and 678 pics of Erez (and that's not including others where they may be part of the pic.)

Given that, do I really need to pay someone for pics of my kids?

I think not.

Keren says that I'm not sentimental, and maybe that's true, but I just don't see the utility of them anymore.

Book Review: Linked

Originally, I thought Linked would be more thoughts along the lines of Never Eat Alone and the value of networking, but boy, was I wrong!

It was that and MUCH more. An in-depth investigation into network theory running the gamut of subjects from physics to cell biology to terrorism to the Internet.

A fascinating read that, if you really think about it, helps you uncover some of the hidden elements of our day to day interactions with each other and how we may be affected (or able to impact) by persons "six degrees" away.

For marketers, this gives you more ideas on how to change the way you identify and communicate with your best and most influential customers. The same is true for politicians, would-be revolutionaries, or any one who wants to get the message out.

The $1800 Video...

Think that being a "Citizen Marketer" doesn't really work? Is one person really More Powerful Than Microsoft?

Well, I took a video that saved my parents $1800.

It's not so much what happens in the video, it's what happened because of the video.

Backstory:

My mom had made arrangements to host dinner prior to my brother's wedding at a hotel in St. Paul, MN. Despite some requests, she hadn't received a final cost estimate for any fees payable to the hotel (the catering and wait staff were externally arranged)

So, it's Friday morning (dinner is Friday night) and my mom finds out that the fee would be $3000 for the room alone (more than the cost of the food and service staff) because of "union rules" or something like that.

As my mom says in the video, "I feel like you have me over a barrel."

Citizen Marketing...

And once upon a time, that would be the case. The discussion, in the back of the sales and catering office, would have ended up with my mom caving because she really had NO leverage whatsoever.

Not anymore.

As I said to my mom (she thought the video approach was a bit controversial), all I did was "level the playing field."

If the hotel folks wanted to say, "too bad," or "my hands are tied," (2.50 into it) that's fine.

Today, though there's a measure of accountability. You can't pretend later that it didn't happen. You can't expect that the story won't be told. And you can't expect that you can treat customers however you want and that no one will know about it because the conversation took place in a backroom.

As an employee, you are always accountable for your actions on behalf of the company. It's a tough, paradigm shift, but it is the new reality.

On a side note, I happen to think that the employee was trying to do the right thing and listened very well, but didn't feel empowered by her organization to do so, which is a whole different problem. She wasn't rude or offensive, she was just holding up the "party line," when someone else probably gave the order to do so.

Bottom Line

Hilton agreed to lower the fee to $1200.

Video Notes:

Most of the video is my mom talking (0:22 through 2.50). It only gets interesting when the rep says (3.30) that "if I am going to be on film, then there's nothing more to say" [which sort of proves the point of the post, IMHO).

Updated: after thinking it over, I've decided to remove the video. I have no animus towards the particular employee and feel that it's just not worth embarrassing her to further make the point.

Playdate Friday...

After last weekend's travel (and feeling sore from Turkey Bowl), I decided that Friday (parental solo day due to spousal work obligations) would be all about playdates.

Tonka has 2 (AM and PM).

Paco has 1.

Right now, there are 4 kids 4 and under in my house and it is intense.

The high tides are higher, that's for sure and the low tides are shorter.

Worse thing is, Paco is the most challenging of all right now. Not sharing so well and not listening.

Granted, his first playdate, but we've got a ways to go.

Misogyny, Misanthropy, Both, or Neither?

I saw this ad and thought, "how offensive to women, it implies they can be bought." (For more on my perspetive, see the end of misogyny in advertising)

My wife's reaction: "the only way a man can become valued to a woman is through the purchase of a diamond. How shallow."

Either way, another lesson in how your intentions (my hunch is these weren't the feelings the advertisers wanted to elicit) can be misinterpreted.

Of course, I did notice it and it did get a reaction (good), but it didn't want to make either of us buy (not good).

Thoughts?

Future newscasters...

One of the exhibits at the Minnesota Science Museum allows you to play the role of newscaster.

My two co-anchors hosted the 6 o'clock broadcast last week.

Mall of America...

As a student of American history and marketing, how could I not go to the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN?

On the one hand, it represents all that is great about America. Capitalism at its finest.

The opportunity to buy pretty much anything you want (imported Irish Meade anyone?) and engage in all types of activities (roller coaster inside).

On the other hand, it is pure excess. The thought that this island of everything exists in a world where so many have so little makes you wonder if, at times, we have lost our way.

It really is impressive...and expensive (I dropped $30 in 30 minutes...ouch.) But, Tonka was a sport and I made her a deal, "you go on the carousel twice, but you have to go on Ferris wheel w/me once."

I wanted to help her conquer her fear.

And she did.

What's more American than that?

More on the Gift Revolution...

So, apparently, we as a country waste $8bn on gift cards per year.

Another reason to just give cash.

I'm the room parent for Paco's 2 year old nursery...that's what we're doing for Hannukah.

Alternative Energy...

About a year ago, I blogged on the coming wave of Cleantech opportunities as I saw it. Combined with the national security interest, it's critical.

A big shout out to my friend, Mike Granoff who is DOING something about it. And in the biggest nut of them all...automobiles. Good work, Mike!

3 (and 3 quarters!) year old interior designer...

I've mentioned before that Tonka is left-handed, and hence right-brained, a budding artist indeed.



She's since started to deploy her skills in some very creative ways.

Who says they aren't making any more of it?

Everyone says,

"I invest in real estate because they aren't making any more of it."

Well, my brother Asher, disagrees.

Here's some more being created...

On Lunches...

The nameless one asked, "what do you want for your school lunch tomorrow?"

Tonka: "Macaroni and cheese!"

Paco: "Whatever!"

On Football...

In the Minneapolis airport on Sunday, we had an opportunity to watch part of the Colts-Chiefs game.

"Paco, do you want the white team or the red team?"

"The red team!"

"Tonka, which team do you want?"

"Whichever team is winning!"

At least she won't be disappointed....

Great shirt...

I saw this guy at O'Hare, ran up to him, asked if he had time, and asked if I could take a picture of the shirt.

Couldn't resist...

Neckwear...

Stewart, a loyal blog reader, was criticizing me for my Skype profile image. He said that an "open-necked" shirt didn't offer a professional image (since I use Skype, sometimes, for work).

That led to a conversation on style and fashion and 3 months ago, Stewart offered to bring me a first-class shirt/tie combination for my brother's wedding this past weeked in St. Paul, MN.

I completely forgot, but Stewart didn't. Not only did he bring one, he brought 2, lest my better half disapprove.

He told me that I "looked like a million bucks," of course I said, I was about $500k, since my boy took the cake in the male fashion category.

Now, while on the subject of neckwear, I have to relate this anecdote.

In sum, it is "you can take the boy out of Israel, but can't take Israel out of the boy."

My cousin Shai, a Harvard Ph.D and Stanford post-doc in bioinformatics, calls me 45 minutes before the wedding and asks to come down to my room.

He needs help tying his necktie. The two he owns, both permantenly tied, are not with him (he just moved to Palo Alto) and, of course, being Israeli, tying a tie is not part of his skill set.

So, Shai, here's a diagram for the classy Windsor knot.

The Jewish First Baseman...

You gotta listen to this clip from the Boston Red Sox announcers when they
discover that their first baseman is Jewish. Its good stuff.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Midwest observations

Tjada has helped raise my racial sensitivities over the years.

While waiting for the female contingent in the bathroom today at the minneapolis airport, i saw approximately 300 people walk by.
Of those i saw

-8 blacks (don't know if they wreak american or not, hence no african-american)
-4 asians
-4 south asians/indians

Just an interesting difference from what you might see in some other cities

I am emailing from my mobile device, sorry for any typos or brevity.

www.jer979.com

Minnesota science museum

So we are walking through the museum, which is GREAT, and iI start chatting with a woman whose shirt says north dakota.
'visiting?' i ask

'my son is having outpatient surgery tomorrow.'

'good luck with that. What is the procedure?'

'he has hypo ...', somethig i couldn't understand.

'uh, what is that?'

'he has an extra hole.'

'oh. where?'

'on his penis.'



I am emailing from my mobile device, sorry for any typos or brevity.

www.jer979.com