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Whiskey Notes and Parachuting Fish
the ups-and-downs and sides-to-sides of the little things that make up life
Easy vs. Worth It
This is how I feel about everything at the moment. I hope it’s true. I think it’s true. With all my heart, I want it to be true. I have to believe it’s true. Why? Because if it’s not, then I don’t know what I’m doing or fighting for.
Posted in Creative, Personal, Photography
Linkfest #9
Wow. I haven’t done one of these in awhile. Below are some old and new goodies.
- The Allison, an 85-key hotel uses Google Wave for pre-shift
- Great report on Android vs. iPhone
- Sharing vs. Chatting. Cool infograph showing how social networking has turned from creating to sharing
- A-Loft Pilots Smart Check-In using RFID
- Foursquare takes over Vegas. Does anyone else feel like Foursquare is being forced down people’s throats?
And what would a linkfest be without a video or infograph? (Click the picture to enlarge)
Posted in Linkfest
7 Ways to Create Culture
Listening at a conference this week, I heard some great tips on hiring, managing and creating culture:
- Hire only 9’s and 10’s. The 9’s are awesome. The 10’s are also awesome, but think about the five other steps you didn’t think of without being told. And the 8’s, well sometimes they can be coached.
- Don’t try to train the un-trainable
- Hire based on personality and attitude. Motivation and attitude can’t be taught. The rest can.
- Empower. Empower people to make decisions. If they make a mistake, they’ll learn from it.
- Eliminate “No” from your team’s vocabulary
- Walk around. If you’re sitting in your office all day, every day, you’re worthless. Get out. Walk the floor. Talk to your customers. How many raving fans did you create today?
- Be a zealot. Make a big deal out of everything, both the negative and positive. Celebrate all the victories.
Posted in Work
20 Interactive Stats
Not early as engaging as the Socialnomics videos, but nevertheless a fun one:
JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.
Posted in Social Media, Video
Crawling for Inches
Day two of the new job. There’s the part of me that loves being ten feet under. There’s the part of me that loves looking around and saying, “This is MINE. All of it. Down to the door tags and on-hold messages. Mine, mine, MINE.” And, then there’s the part of me that loves the inch by inch madness. Because, at the end of the day, it’s that extra inch that makes a winner.
For as long as I can remember, Al Pacino’s speech in Any Given Sunday has inspired me to crawl just a little harder.
Get Up
I love Nike commercials. Once again, they nail it with the soundtrack, lyrics and visual imagery.
How quickly will your brand get back up? Personally, I think this epitomizes the Southwest vs. Kevin Smith example. Southwest got back up quicker and more graceful than any company I have yet to see. And yes, that whole saga is another post in the making 🙂
Posted in Advertising, Video
Alone, But Rarely Lonely
I have a lot of friends getting married. I also have a lot of friend getting divorced. They ask me what it’s like to be single, to live alone… Here goes:
The Pros:
It’s great. It’s everything you imagined about being autonomous. It’s always about you and your choices. Just remember not to become so selfish that you forget what others want and need (Sometimes, I’m guilty of this).
You can work or stay out as late as you want. You can walk around your house naked and no one will say a word. You can eat (or drink) whatever you want, whenever you want with no nagging.
Want to go to the movies? Go. Want to take a take a quick ski trip? No problem.
The Cons:
On really great days, you don’t have a built in person to come home and celebrate with. However, there’s always a friend or coworker who’s willing and ready to celebrate your good fortune with you.
But, then there’s the really bad days. On those days, there’s no one to come home to either. There’s no one to hug you or or get drunk with or hold you til you fall asleep. You learn a different “strength” in order to hold yourself.
Yes, every once in awhile, the eerily silent nights get to you. No amount of going out changes that, in fact, it makes it worse. It’s like being alone in a crowded room. But, again, you’ll learn a new “strength” to handle the eerie nights beautifully.
And every once in a blue moon, you’ll yearn to be held so badly that it will take every muscle in your body to make it through the night alone. Then, if you’re lucky, you’ll spend a day at the park (or wherever) with kids and you’ll know… everything’s gonna be alright.
Posted in Personal
Superbowl XILV
Post #500. Wow. Ok, now that that’s out of the way, onto talk of Superbowl commercials and my three favorites.
The thing I found strange and interesting? Where was the paid search? The mobile calls to action? The url? The “become a fan on facebook” and “follow us on twitter”? Almost non-existent. Maybe the years of mobile and social still aren’t ready for the masses. Maybe last year’s social campaigns proved to be too much work for not enough positive return. So, yes, in a year, nothing about Superbowl commercials has changed. In fact, I look back at last year’s Superbowl post and I can basically repost and call it Superbowl XILV.
But enough lamenting, onto the fun. You can view all the others here.
This kid is so freaking cute. Extra points for Doritos for adding commenting to their YouTube video.
And everyone’s favorite… Granted, I enjoyed it too, but these debuted online back in November on one of Google’s YouTube Channels. All the ones featured are fun.
10 GDW’s: Week 6 – Popping Bottles
I’m always experimenting with something. This post happens to be part of the 10 Guys, 10 Drinks, 10 Weeks experiment. You can see the others here. Enjoy the laughs, I sure am!
Guy #6. Drink #6. Week #6. I have a confession. It’s not really Week #6. Somewhere along the line, I blurred the weeks together. Technically, this is Week #4. Technically, Guy #6 was literally the night after Guy #5. And technically, this project is way easier than I ever thought it would be. Also known as, I’m a bit bored. By the time I got to Guy #6, it finally hit me that I go out way more than I realized, I’ve just never blogged about it. Who knows? Maybe I’m bored because I pick all the wrong guys. You know, the guys that I have no intention of either taking on a second date or home.
Nevertheless, the night was short and oh, so sweet. And yes, the night included lots of Dom Perignon. What else would you pour for the launch of a new magazine? The locale? Eve Nightclub. Another new venue courtesy of CityCenter. The feel? Very CatHouse like minus the European bordello. The guy? A real estate investor. Needless to say, I learned a lot about real estate. It was very interesting (honestly). The best part about the guy? He didn’t need a babysitter. As I floated around and mingled, he was quite content to chat with others. The next best part? Whenever I returned to his side, he always had a full glass awaiting me. Now, that’s what I call a good date 🙂
Posted in 10 Guys