Vy Blog

Election day head gravel

This blog is drifting.  Do you feel it?  I do.  I know it is and I'm conciously not doing anything about it except adding thoughts here and there when it appeals to me.  That's not how I want to run the blog, but it's what I have capacity for now -- to make room for the blog, the way I want it to be, would be to penalize other areas I'm not willing to penalize at the moment.

So, changes coming.  I know what I want it to say and look/feel like.  Just not yet.  Stay with me. 

Meanwhile, Election Day thoughts:

1) I'm glad the election is almost over, and that's saying something when a political junkie is talking.  I'm interested in both politics and government, and my instinct is that the former has nearly consumed the latter.  Interactions in the government are defined politically, and the political camps today are not just different, but openly hostile.  That's what's making the election cycle such a mess, and I'll be glad when tomorrow arrives because I won't have to listen to, "I'm Jack Toothpolish, and I approved this ad becuase Mike McWeatherwax is [earnest look added here] just too extreme and deserves to lose."

I don't necessarily have a quarrel with either party.  But if either party has a big day, I'll hate it if it gloats.

2) For unusual reasons, I've had the occasion to consider the ego.  If you look it up, the definition (under the context of my thoughts) is this:

An inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others

You may pick up from my tone that I despise any kind of self-importance.  In fact, I'm not sure I hate anything more.  I firmly do not believe that a "healthy ego" is a prerequisite for success.  Confidence may be, but confidence and egoism are entirely separate.  Examples abound, but here's one: Warren Buffett, the most successful judge of business, the most successful investor, of any time or age -- and he's a normal human being.  The fact of the matter is that unhealthy ego is a shortcoming all its own, and my amateur psychology would guess it's a defense covering another shortcoming, which is lack of confidence, or lack of regard for others.  If you're good at what you do, that's impressive enough to me.  If your ego starts crowding the room, you're losing my respect.

Andrew Woolard pointed to a good post at Brand Builder about commitment and desire.  It was worth reading to me, because it hit me right between the eyes with the reminder to cut the crap.  At the end it asks if "brand you" is a happy brand -- in other words, do you love what you're doing and dedicate your energy to it?  That's a great reminder about how to orient your time, energy and effort.

3) If you're in the Portland area, you need to do some hiking in the Columbia River Gorge.  I went with three friends last week to do the Wahkeena Falls loop, a 5.2-mile round trip that starts at Wahkeena Falls, takes you up to Devil's Rest, over to Multnomah Creek, and down the creek to Multnomah Falls.  It's about a 1,400' gain in altitude.  Spectacular hike, one that I haven't done for several years.  We did it in two hours -- unanticipated consequence is a workout of muscles I apparently haven't worked in a while, even though I've been running regularly.

All cynicism aside on the election issue, if you haven't, get out and vote.  It's the most critical thing you can do in the life and operation of our country.

Pro's don't know how to use the apostrophe

More from the world of apostrophe annoyances:

Learn from the pro's how to plan events of all types and sizes just before the holiday season kicks off and with 2007 just around the corner.

The author of that line?  PRSA.

Come on, people.  Basics.

Friday roundup

You get your head back under water, and it gets harder to breathe.

I miss discussions on the issues of marketing and PR.  I think there are a couple of reasons for this --

1. I'm busy.  (But that's just me.)
2. There's not a whole hell of a lot to write about at the moment.

So here's some head gravel:

Journalism:  Mike Arrington links to a strong post from Philip Kaplan about his recent experience with journalists covering a CEO change at the company he founded.  As is my general rule, I'm not going to slam journalists, but I will point out there's good and bad in everything, including that profession.  Is it just human nature for a story to be tricked up to heighten interest?  Maybe that's not even relevant -- I've been on the receiving end of that Kaplan experienced and it's unpleasant.  If you're a PR practitioner, it's a good reminder of the fact that you're not usually in any kind of control of your story.

PR and spinach:  Anytime there's a crisis of some kind, I'm always a little amused, if not annoyed, at its description as a PR problem.  Let's sweep that out of the way -- what this industry has is a problem (and a temporary one at that, one would assume) with its product.  It's not safe at the moment.  No one wants to buy it anyway.  Before long, it will get figured out and it will be safe to buy, and we'll start eating it again.

The challenge between now and then is the one of restoring trust.  What do you communicate, to whom, and how, to restore trust in the product and help induce purchasing of the product?  That's what I would want to focus on.  For plain-spoken wisdom on this, smarter than what you just read here, see John Wagner.

Fitness:  My summer fitness goals had to do with getting in shape for triathlon events.  It worked -- I'm in good aerobic condition.  However, thanks to a week of barbecue and throwed rolls in the midwest in August, I'm not particularly, uh, svelte.

I'm much more motivated to work for results when I have a goal to aim for.  So, my wife and I just learned we have an opportunity for a beach trip in January -- there's the new goal, thank you.  This time I'm going to take some time to learn about nutrition, about which I know little, and focus that along with a revamped workout.  I'd like to see what kind of shape I can really get into. 

Ollabelle:  Have you heard this group?  Roots-influenced music that is hard to categorize.  Some bluegrass, some folk, some rock, some gospel, some country.  Really great harmonies.  They're second album, Riverside Battle Songs, is well put together.

One other thing, please:  When you could not care less about something, don't say you could care less.  If you could care less, then you actualy could care less, not that you could not.  I'm begging you.

Midweek head gravel

JULY 17:  Somewhere this post from last week got lost.  I found it in the draft pile -- I have no idea how it got there.  But it's not midweek, so never mind the title.

• Andy Woolard has a good post about the role of conflict (and I would say that even if he hadn't lauded this blog...thanks Andy).  He's right, conflict can be constructive, and the fine line between constructive and destructive is maturity.  I hope Andy doesn't mind my breaking that maturity point down further:  Constructive conflict must have mutual respect and shared, trustworthy, good intentions.  Otherwise it's destructive.  That's the content of that maturity line, I think.
• My wife and I are training for the Mid-Summer Triathlon.  We did the Blue Lake event in June and had a great time, save for the fact I got a flat on the bike course.  This is still sprint distance -- maybe we'll shoot for Olympic sometime, but one step at a time.
• The older I get, the more time flies. 
• I surfed YouTube in depth last night because I was looking for a specific music video.  It's a lot of fun to be able to find stuff you liked 15 years ago but haven't seen since.  What I really like about YouTube, though, is the fact that it exposes so quickly what's in peoples' minds -- and so fast.  Check out this one on Zidane-ing your problems away.
• Is it true?  One door closes and another opens?
• On the PR front, Dell's new blog is causing quite a furor.  My thought is that if Dell had launched this before their huge tiff with Jarvis, it would have been received sans rancor.  But because Dell is a big company, and big companies maneuver like cruise ships, and Dell thus lagged in handling the Jarvis situation before it got out of control, the blog has a lot of snarky distrust to overcome.  To its credit, Dell is handling it graciously.  As much as I thought their handling of the Jarvis situation was bad, my vote is to give them a frigging break as they get into the blog water and get used to swimming.
• Speaking of Jarvis, good post on journalism and telling secrets here.  I love journalism -- always have.  I am distressed at how journalism is reacting to its own changing (dwindling?) identity.  Journalists, and those who study them, seem to think that their only legitimate role is to ravenously uncover secrets, in the guise of "informing the public."  Be clear, I'm not scoffing at that role -- it's valuable -- but as Jarvis I believe correctly points out, it's coming at the expense of good judgment about news. 
• Sub to the immediately above: I would argue it's also making some news outlets look plainly ridiculous.  You know....Live!  Late-breaking!  Investigative!  This...is Channel 5 News!  And the furrowed-brow anchor says, "Tonight, a scandal in our city.  A city contractor has overcharged for asphalt by more than five percent.  We tracked a worker down at his residence to get the real story."
• 20 years already?  Sorry to miss.

Why do you do what you do?

In March, I was having dinner after an industry event, and Brandon, one of the very smart guys behind ICANN Wiki, asked this question of us at the table:

Why do you do what you do?

Most people, in the U.S. anyway, immediately hear this question:  "Why do you do what you do for a paycheck?"

That's not what he was asking.  The question is purely literal:  Why do you choose to spend the time you have doing what you do?  Working, playing golf, traveling, having children, living where you do, commuting, playing computer games, seeing friends, reading, drinking, watching TV, water skiing....whatever.

It's wildly revealing because it makes you realize the kind of rut 99% of us live in.  A rut is very good at desensitizing you to the constant freshness and opportunity of the broader world.

It's sort of related to my favorite marketing question, which goes like this:  So that what happens?  I ask that of people all the time.  "This company needs to create buzz!"  So that what happnes?  "So people hear about us and we 'create awareness.'"  So that what happens?  Keep asking that and you get to the desired outcome, which is the critical ingredient in informing your actions.

You spend your time doing something for a living.  So that what happens?  You watch TV.  So that what happens?  You play a round of golf.  So that what happens?  You drink four beers a day.  So that what happens?

I'm not suggesting everything must be oriented to some kind of quantifiable end.  To the contrary -- sometimes just giving in to a lazy afternoon of watching the game and taking a nap is good for the soul.

The point is that many of us lose perspective on life, or go through the proverbial motions, or otherwise get dragged through life by our impulses.  As horribly fallible as I am as a human being, I'm of course guilty of this too.  But I do try every now and then to live more proactively, because that proactivity nearly always leads to something more satisfying and rewarding.

More and more, lately, I've come to believe rewards -- the best rewards in life -- come to those who put positive energy into the universe around us.  The dregs in life go to those who lurch from one thing to the next, merely reacting to what happens to them.  This goes for human beings and organizations alike, in my view.

Bonus reading:

Jeff Risley:  Time for a Cool Change
Gretchen Rubin: The Happiness Project

I'm considering a blog sabbatical

I was talking with my friend and regular workout partner Gerry this morning about this blog, and I mentioned  casually that my blogging has tailed off lately because of 1) time and 2) I've run out of stuff to say, at least for now.  I need to think about how or why I want to keep doing this.

John Wagner took two weeks off and says he realizes how it can eat you alive if you're not careful.  No doubt.  I started doing this for no one other than myself, and that really hasn't changed.  It's been productive for me -- I've recorded a lot of what I hope are good thoughts and satisfied my writing itch.  Most productive has been what I've learned from others.  I'll keep that up no matter what.

Nonetheless, I'm considering a brief sabbatical myself.  I truly have run out of productive things to say for now, and I have no interest in trying to half-ass this thing along until my schedule improves, which it realistically will not, at least for a while.  I also would like to resign all my feeds, start over and get some new perspective.  And finally, this blog needs a new look and feel. 

I haven't made a final decision on timing or, for that matter, what I'm actually going to do, but will shortly.

Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice:

• This is a funny post from Mike Arrington about his trip to Spain, and it's good to see him writing in his natural voice. 
• John Wagner again....I agree that PR is not dead.  I'm inclined to believe there indeed is a constant market for practitioners who help distill words and ideas to make them clear for others.
• I just had this discussion the other day with a guy who thought the right PR strategy might be to flood editors with "a release a week."  If for some reason you needed proof that this is, to put it more politely than it deserves, unsound, read this from Scoble.
• If you're in Oregon on Mother's Day and need a place for brunch, you want to have it at Timberline Lodge.  You're welcome.
• Still think press releases are magic carpets?  Read this from TheStreet.com and think again.
• I like the new look of TechCrunch.

Share thoughts, please, on the issue of a sabbatical.

The creeping monoculture

More on/from Chouinard, because it coincides precisely with something I observed over the holidays:

"More and more I'm just fed up with the world," he says. "No matter where you go, there's this creeping monoculture. People in yurts in Mongolia watching Baywatch on television. Pizza Huts in Santiago, where there used to be little empanada shops."

Yeah.  I've noticed too.  I was driving through Independence, Mo., land of endless strip malls, ten days ago and saw, in a row, a bunch of restaurants facing the interstate that had different names but were exactly alike.  One was Mexican food, one Italian, one Australian, one sushi, one a big salad bar.  This is an example of what passes for diversity and perspective in our culture now.

It is so hard -- very hard -- to find authenticity.  If I want Mexican food, what I'd really like is to go an old neighborhood that's been inhabited for 120 years by people of Mexican heritage, in old buildings, serving authentic food that you could find either there or, say, in Mexico.  I don't want to go to T.J. Tijuana's, home of the 44 oz. bubblegum margarita and the Mucho Nachos appetizer, which is probably located in the CenterPointe Lakes Plaza next to the Dress Barn, and listen to idiots at happy hour go "Wheeeeeeewwww!!" when one of them orders a tequila shot.

Wow.  Happy New Year.  I'll look for something more positive on which to rant.

Nice move, Monarch

From CNN:

An unruly passenger was dumped on the remote Atlantic island of Porto Santo after becoming abusive to cabin crew and other passengers on Tuesday. The Monarch Airlines flight was flying from Manchester in the United Kingdom to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, but made an unscheduled stop at the Portuguese island to offload the rowdy drunk, according to The Times of London. Porto Santo is described by CNN as an isolated volcanic island just 10 miles long with a population of about 10,000. The man was stranded on the island for about 36 hours until he was able to find a seat on a German charter flight to his ultimate destination. A spokesman for Monarch addressed the situation with the following statement: "The action was taken in the interests of all the passengers. That sort of behavior is not acceptable. He was given the chance to calm down, and he declined it. He was given a form, a caution for his behavior, and he refused to sign it."

Too bad they took the time to land when they offloaded him.

We need another Sputnik

Says Brad Feld. 

On the mark. 

Notes to others

Some notes (rants) after a week of travel:

Note to Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt:  There are no fewer than eight porn shops on I-70 between St. Louis and Kansas City.  I'm all for live and let live, believe me (and I'm not sure there's anything you can do about it anyway), but these make the state look cheap and trashy when it most assuredly does not need that image.

Note to Soutwest Air:  Thanks for keeping pillows.  You're right in thinking you can be profitable by operating a great airline, not by endlessly adding fees and taking away passenger perks.

Note to Chevy:  Your Cobalt is a terrible car.  It's like driving a go-cart and it quaffs gas by the drum.

Note to city of Kansas City:  I am very tired of all your bullshit fees.  When you have a city with little reason (other than being centrally located) to attract tourists or convention business, you're idiotic to bend visitors over for all these fees on rental cars and hotels.  You may think this is smart.  It is a sterling example of stupid.  The only reason I pay them is because I need a car when I'm in town visiting family.  If that reason didn't exist, and especially if I were an event manager, I would avoid your city like a bad dream.  (P.S.  You should update the "Stay safe" part of this entry.  Too much wishful thinking.)

Note to Enterprise:  Thanks for not charging me a bullshit $10/day for my wife to be on the rental contract.  I appreciate being treated reasonably.

Note to anyone:  Notice how Christmas starts on November 1 (merchandising, music, big in-your-face signs) and then slams to a close on December 25 at about 10 p.m.?

Note to terrestrial radio:  Get your affairs in order.  Not much longer on this current model.

Note to Missouri wine producers:  Improving, I'm pleased to see (and taste).  Keep it up!

Note to drivers everywhere:  The left lane is for passing.  The right lane is for driving.  Get it straight.