Find Me
Anal Organization
Oldies But Goodies
More Stuff
Nonsense Notes
Whiskey Notes and Parachuting Fish
the ups-and-downs and sides-to-sides of the little things that make up life
10 Memories, 100 Experiences: Memory 1 – Chocolate Fish
Huxley said, “Memories are a man’s private literature.” Memories are private and you never know which ones will be picked up, stored away and treasured. In 1 Year, 10 Projects, 100 Discoveries, ten of the discoveries are memories- fun, sad, happy, I’m not sure what types there will be, but I do know that they will all be treasured. This post is part of that project. You can see all 10 memories here and the entire project here. Enjoy the memories, I am!
This year, I’ve been traveling often for both business and pleasure. When you travel for business, you often travel alone (at least I do). I’ve come to enjoy it. I’m learning how to discover new restaurants, places within cities and connect with the locals. Doing these three things makes every trip memorable.
On my first long trip to Columbus, Ohio I discovered Le Chocoholique. It’s an upscale chocolate boutique in the heart of Short North (Columbus’ downtown). The chocolates there are all made on the premise and unique. There’s even one called the Velvet Elvis made of chocolate, bananas, peanut butter and bacon. Although odd sounding, it tasted amazing. Another favorite was lemon flavored and shaped like Nemo.
In this shop on the corner, I got a real taste of Columbus, midwest hospitality from both the shop owner and customers. One customer even though he was in a rush stayed to talk with me for over ten minutes!
This is one boutique that I’ll be going back to for not only the chocolates but also the people.
Posted in 10 Memories, 100 Discoveries
Try
Where there’s a will there’s a way. Where there’s passion, there’s a way.
Posted in Fun, Photography, Thoughts
Silos Only Hurt
I’ve been thinking a lot about silos lately. In my new role as a consultant / agency person, I get a clear outsider’s view of the silos in a company. It’s amazing and mind boggling to me. Half the time, my “clients” have never interacted with departments outside of their marketing realm let alone know the leaders of those departments.
To me, it’s eye opening. It also makes me realize how truly lucky I was to work at the places and with the people that I did. While it took time, the organizations I worked for had few, if any silos. The call center supervisor who had the graveyard shift knew my name and I knew hers. She also knew what to route to me and I knew what to route to her. In my naivety, I thought that was a standard practice. Low and behold, most brand marketers haven’t even met the person that runs corporate internal communications (yikes!?).
It’s part of why I love to watch companies embrace social media. If they’re doing it the right way, then brand marketers discover that they need to break down a whole lot of silos to be successful. Ultimately, it’s helping to make stronger marketers. It’s also helping to make others better at their jobs.
The piece that I’m even more grateful for is my experience with embracing and including other departments. Mention PR or IT to a marketer and the reaction garnered is more often than not a groan and a face twisted in dread. These three departments are usually battling each other. In fact, when I tweeted at a conference that IT should be a key stakeholder in a successful test and learn culture, I started a mini revolt. All too frequently, we’re fighting internal battles vs. coming together to fight and solve for external ones.
While we’d like to think so, we as marketers aren’t experts at everything. We haven’t been in the IT or PR day-to-day trenches for 10+ years. We don’t nor do we have the experience (yet) to see the world through their eyes. It’s why I think it’s integral to have them at the marketing roundtable from the get go.
Today, I came across this article and the below chart. Coming from a direct response, data laden organization, I’ve been touting some of the metrics on the left (and more similar to those) for over three years. Why? Because I’ve worked at companies where IT, PR, Database/CRM and Marketing all had seats at the same table. Over the years, they’ve taught me to start seeing the world the way they do and vice versa. Together, it’s made us all stronger in our own areas and as a whole, it’s allowed the company to excel well past its competitors. I think if we all did more sharing and including of other departments we’d come to the conclusion of charts like the below a whole lot faster than we’re doing today.
Posted in Interactive Media, Marketing, Social Media
10 Lessons, 100 Discoveries: #4 What You Make of It
Are you ready for a secret? Promise not to tell anyone? Okay, here goes… don’t tell… I’m naive and still have many life lessons ahead of me, both big and small. In essence, 1 Year, 10 Projects, 100 Discoveries is actually 100 lessons. But, this project of 10 lessons is about ones that hit me over the head, ones that maybe others already know and ones that will impact my life on a semi-daily basis. You can see all 10 Lessons here and the entire project here. Enjoy the learnings, I am!
For the fourth of July holiday, I’m spending five days in Mexico with a friend. He planned (and paid for) the trip and thus, the accommodations and things we’re partaking in are his choice, his speed. He warned me that where we were going would be “authentic” Mexico. It would be rustic. I thought, “cool.” The pictures of Mexico I had seen from other friends’ trips were so gorgeous that I figured the beauty would far outweigh however rustic things might be. Plus, how bad could it really be?
I was wrong. With no AC, bugs everywhere and rock hard mattresses, among other calamities, it’s a little too rustic for me.
When I visited the Bahamas for the first time, while beautiful, I wondered why people just didn’t go to Florida instead. Growing up in Florida, I know there are places there where the water is just as blue, the sand is even whiter and the sunsets are breathtaking. As a bonus, the water is safe to drink. Being in Mexico, I’m reminded of that thought. Why come to a place where it’s unsafe to drink the water when there is just as much, if not more beauty in Florida?
Alas, the adage, “life is what you make of it” comes to mind. For the trip I can sit, pout and cringe over being sick OR, I can put a smile on my face, dive into the waves, come up with a bikini full of sand and end up having a great time learning how to surf.
In every situation, what you put in is what you get out of it. And, more importantly, it’s what you make of it. For me, Mexico can be the worst vacation ever or I can pretend it’s a daring adventure 🙂 For now, I’m working on going with the latter.
Posted in 10 Lessons, 100 Discoveries
10 Experiences, 100 Discoveries: E9 – Hearts
Albert Einstein said, “the only source of knowledge is experience.” With that in mind, as part of my adventure, 1 Year, 10 Projects, 100 Discoveries, ten of the discoveries are about experiences I’ve always wanted to have. This post is part of that project. You can see all 10 Experiences here and the entire project here. Enjoy the moments, I sure am!
Out of all my trips and experiences this year, Mexico wasn’t exactly my favorite. I like to remind myself of the bad along with the good so I don’t romanticize it or yearn to go back again 🙂
Nevertheless, my first night in Mexico was a special one. The sunset was perfect. The locals kept saying we looked like the happiest honeymooners. The candlelight dinner was right on the beach.
After a day of exploring, walking the beach and sleeping in the sand, we stopped to have dinner at Amapa Sunset. The place looked romantic, they claimed the best margaritas in town and the tables were set directly in the sand. Leading up to the trip, I had steeled myself for the big question, “Can we be in a Facebook relationship?” I thought that’s what he was waiting for this trip to ask. But, what I got at dinner was so much better. He gave me “his” heart on a silver string.
Fireworks ended the night after a day that was straight from the movies. Every once in awhile, it’s nice to believe that what happens in the movies can really happen in the real world as well.
Posted in 10 Experiences, 100 Discoveries
Virtual Stores
There’s nothing that I don’t love about this initiative from Tesco. This is an example of what I wish all marketing could be like this. By understanding the local market, Tesco was able to fundamentally change how consumers not only interacted with the brand but also how they viewed it. Without adding any stores, Tesco became #2 in the market and grew their online sales by 130%.
Posted in Interactive Media, Marketing, Mobile, Shopping, Video
10 Commitments, 100 Discoveries: #4 – Dave
Hi, I’m a self proclaimed commitment-phobe. But, I’m also one that is working very hard to change. Honestly, it’s one of my toughest struggles. But, I am proud to say it is one that I am chipping away at slowly but surely. One day, when I tell my kids of my fear of commitment they will just laugh and say, “No way, not you!”
With the commitment, 1 Year, 10 Projects, 100 Discoveries, I’m working to show myself that commitments are like trains; it doesn’t matter where they’re going. What matters is deciding to get on. Discoveries “#60-69″ are about commitments and plans. This post is part of that project. You can see all 10 commitments here and the entire project here. Focus on the plans, I sure am!
One of my close friends had an extra ticket to the three-day Dave Matthews Caravan Tour in Atlantic City. Thinking I was the coolest girl he knew who could hang with five guys for the weekend, he extended an invite. With the commitment to travel, experience new things and spend more time with friends, I jumped at the chance.
To say the weekend was an experience would be an understatement. A few of the highlights:
- Drinking from noon to 2am for three straight days
- Sleeping in a standard hotel room with five guys and two double beds
- A concert in a field of dirt
- Breaking trees and chasing cars barefoot
- Dancing in water fountains
- Discovering new musicians including Bobby Long and Ray Lamontagne
I’m not sure I lived up to my “coolest girl” title – drinking all day and sleeping in a room with five guys is a little different when you’re 28 vs. 20, but the trip sure was a commitment and a memory to look back on and laugh about.
Posted in 10 Commitments, 100 Discoveries
The Future of Music Distribution
This idea by a UK band, the Kaiser Chiefs, is genius. In a world of unique content creation and curation as well as more “illegal” music downloads, this is a brillant idea to help drive sales.
They are inviting fans to participate in — and profit from — the distribution of their new album by creating customized versions. Visitors to the site are invited to select 10 songs out of 20 recorded by the band for the new release, design the cover, and pay £7.50 to download the album. For those fans that want to profit from their unique version of the album, the site offers unique landing pages where album creators can subsequently earn £1 for each copy they sell. Not only is the idea radical, but it provides increased fan engagement, a much larger and stronger distribution network and a better understanding of the types of songs fans want to buy. And, the website is fun as hell to play with 🙂 Personally, I had no idea who the Kaiser Chiefs were. But, I spent a good 30+ minutes listening to their music and designing my own personal album.
Posted in Interactive Media, Marketing, Social Media
Why Google’s +1 Will Fail
Google’s +1 button arrived almost 90 days ago to lots of fanfare and speculative blog posts. I sat and I waited and I watched. I read the opinions. I watched Google search results evolve. And I clicked a few +1 buttons on articles I liked. Oddly enough, in all the opinions I’ve read, my take hasn’t appeared and thus I wonder if I’m off kilter. Nevertheless, here it goes…
Google’s +1 cannot succeed without the support of the mainstream sites. Think Yahoo, Yahoo News, MSN, USA Today, etc. If I must, I’ll add Facebook too, but this is really about “traditional” mainstream sites. In my mind, the mainstream sites are never going to integrate a +1 button into their articles. Why? Because they all have alliances with other search providers (ahem, Bing, Yahoo Search, AOL).
In a very broad perspective, and taking out all the deal sites and cute kittens, the articles that are most commonly shared on the web are from news sites – New York Times, HuffingtonPost, CNN, etc. In addition, if you’re not on the bleeding edge nor is your homepage Google, then it’s probably Yahoo, MSN or AOL. In those articles, while there may be a “Like” and “Tweet this” button and even a “Share,” there is certainly no +1.
Sure, you can +1 anything within Google’s search results, but you can’t +1 them on the actual site. How many are +1’ing things based on a snippet of text or finding something they want to +1 via Google search results? I have a feeling it’s a small majority.
Unless Share This integrates a +1 option into their offerings AND the mainstream sites don’t notice nor remove the option, then I have a hard time envisioning sites larger than personal blogs hoping for an SEO leg up integrating +1 into their site offerings.
What do you think? Is their +1 functionality that I’m missing? Is their an incentive for the mainstream sites to ever add a +1?
Posted in Interactive Media, Social Media
10 Lessons, 100 Discoveries: #3 Traveling Alone
Are you ready for a secret? Promise not to tell anyone? Okay, here goes… don’t tell… I’m naive and still have many life lessons ahead of me, both big and small. In essence, 1 Year, 10 Projects, 100 Discoveries is actually 100 lessons. But, this project of 10 lessons is about ones that hit me over the head, ones that maybe others already know and ones that will impact my life on a semi-daily basis. You can see all 10 Lessons here and the entire project here. Enjoy the learnings, I am!
A year ago, a friend wrote a blog post and ended it with the quote, “Find yourself a navigator. It’s no fun traveling alone.” The quote has stuck with me, so much so that I didn’t have to look it up to remember it verbatim. At the time, I scoffed. I had traveled alone plenty of times. But, this past year, I have realized more than ever how true the statement is. It’s similar to my – “it doesn’t matter what city you work in as long as your friends are near” philosophy.
In reality, it’s no fun to travel alone. The lights are just lights; they sparkle a little less. The sights are just sights; they’re a little less breathtaking. And the memories? Well, they’re only captured in your camera and when explained, you end the story with, “I guess you had to be there…” But, the sad part is, only you, alone, were there to remember.
30 days. 5 countries. $8,000. The lesson learned? Find yourself a navigator. Traveling alone isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
[Caveat: I wrote this post while I was sick in Amsterdam. Maybe I was a little people sick (vs. home sick) too. My Couples Trip post is almost the exact opposite of this one. I suppose for me the jury is still out on whether or not I want a navigator.]
Posted in 10 Lessons, 100 Discoveries