One of those days...

June 29th, 2005 was certainly not a fun day for me. I thought about describing in chronological detail each thing that went wrong - but instead got tired just thinking about it. Here's the summary: 14 hours - All but 3 hours spent in ALL THREE New York city area airports, 4 car service rides in traffic, 3 cancelled flights and a 3:30 AM wake-up to be in Minneapolis for a 10:00 meeting in front of 40 marketing executives at a Fortune 100 company.

So - let's just chalk it up as "one of those days..." What I'd like to focus this post on, however, are 2 positive things I took away from the experience.

First Lesson: Everyone needs a little sympathy sometimes...
- I probably called Amy 16 times throughout the day, in hind-site for no other reason just to vent about what hell I was going through. Although I don't like to think of myself as a complainer (or a "hater" like my boy, Felch), I just needed a sanity check. Luckily, I have a great girlfriend who not only was mad supportive all day, but came to be with me for the 4 hours I was home.
(Side note: for all you peeps keeping track, today is the 2 year anniversary of Amy and I being together)

Second Lesson: 90% of customer service people are miserable people...but... the other/best 10% tell it straight, offer all possible solutions, and do it with empathy and sincerity.
- I must have interacted with 20 customer service employees throughout my experience and 18 of them were rude, non-solutions oriented, and flat-out bad at their jobs. There were 2 people, however, who weren't - and I can't tell you how nice it felt to deal with them at the time... And it's not like these 2 people necessarily just gave me what I wanted (cuz a direct flight to Minneapolis, regardless of price was apparently not possible). It was the fact that they were empathetic and actually helpful. They outlined the 3 or 4 options I had and let me decide. No "company lines" like, "I'm sorry sir we can ONLY..." (fill in the blank). This bodes the question ... Who am I more frustrated with for the other 18 dip-shits... The actual people or the companies that employ them? Well - as much as I want to say both, it's the companies. If you are in the service business, then you have the responsibility to actually SERVICE your customers. If you fail to do this, you should - over time - fail as an organization.... But it's like all the airlines and hotel companies got together and said "let's just lower the bar as much as possible, and sooner or later customers will just get used to it .... AND WE HAVE!
It's for reasons like this that I try and fly JetBlue as much as possible. It's for reasons like this I try and get status at hotels so employees are mandated to kiss my ass... (well - maybe not).

Anyway - quick shot out to Amy and the 2 cool customer service peeps who helped me during "one of those days..."

Anyone in Philly on Tuesday?

In case anyone is in Philly on Tuesday (6/28), come to the DoubleTree hotel to hear me speak to the Philadelphia American Marketing Association (AMA) about Search Marketing. Click here for the event agenda and details.
Also, if anyone knows of a good spot to get CheeseSteaks while I'm there, please let me know.

My Bitterness with the NBA

Last night, the 2005 NBA season came to a close with Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs claiming the NBA title. I was actually very interested in the 2005 NBA season, until the play-offs really annoyed me.

Yes,– I am quite bitter because my beloved Miami Heat were ousted by the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals, but there were things throughout the whole play-offs that rubbed me the wrong way (and yes, there is a right way to rub me). Anyway...I propose that next year 2 new rules are put in place for the NBA:

1. No players other than the captain is allowed to speak to the refs. If a player speaks to a ref, regardless of what is said, it should be a technical foul. It seems nowadays ANY player (other than Shaq) has something to say to the ref on every call. Not every player does it every time (i.e. Kurt Thomas who has never committed a single foul according to him), but at some point I have seen the majority of players turn into cry-babies. Now clearly these players don'’t believe that by them arguing, the ref is going to reverse the call... BUT... What they do hope is that they guilt the ref into the next call or the one after that. So not only is it painful to watch, but I think it has some un-natural effects of the flow of the officiating.
2. Technical Fouls for all flops. For those that don'’t know what I'’m talking about, anytime a player over-exaggerates the impact of contact, it i’s called a "flop"”Players flopping is beginning to become a worse and worse part of the game and there needs to be a penalty for it. Players cannot believe that there is no harm in doing it and the only thing I can thing of to get this point across is an immediate technical foul. I'’d even go as far as having a committee reviewing game tapes and fining players after the fact, even if the refs miss the call during the live game.

I have often believed NBA games were way to controlled by referee’s. It is for this reason, there is always up and down flows in most games…It is also the reason why David Stern is consistently being accused of having control of the outcome of games. Although this conspiracy theory is quite interesting, I don't buy it. If this was the case, the boring San Antonio Spurs would not have been playing the boring Detroit Pistons in the Finals… However, David does have a lot of power and control. I like to consider him a smarter, more successful version of Vince McMahon. Just as much a bully, but with his brain rather than brute force. And he, too, prefers his organizations'’ single personalities to be the face of the entire league. Will he face the same fate as Vince and his Organization? No, I don'’t think so, but he is endanger of his league becoming more of a soap opera than a competition, and that is just not cool with me.

The "Create-your-own" concept

Growing up, I was taught that if I wanted something at a restaurant a certain way - that I should ask for it. If I wanted chicken instead of turkey, my fries well-done, or a lime with my iced tea instead of lemon (and in my dads case - "LIMZE-AH" - to emphasis the desire for multiple pieces of lime) that it was my right as a consumer to ask and receive that.
In some parts of the world, this is seen as a rude or pushy thing. Now, I agree it is all in HOW you ask, however, I firmly believe that a paying costumer should get what he/she wants, as long as it is in reason AND asked politely. Furthermore, if the requested change goes beyond what the menu offers, we should be willing to pay for it.
In New York and LA, I feel like most waiters expect to write a paragraph per customer on their pads rather than 3 words - but outside of these 2 cities, I feel like you are viewed as "that guy.
It is this belief that I propose to ALL every-day restaurants nation-wide (sans fancy places) to begin adopting the "create-your-own" concept. In New York, I have become hooked on the make-your-own salad. I give the servers a bowl of lettuce and pick-and-choose what vegetables, proteins, cheeses, dressings or whatever I want. The server then mixes it all up, puts it back in the bowl and charges me $8.00 MINIMALLY. But, this is fine with me - I'd much rather pay $9.00 for something customized exactly what I want, than $6.50 for the standard.
So, my question is why can't every place do this? Charge a base amount for the main ingredient (chicken, pasta, sandwich, omelet, sushi, whatever) and corresponding variable costs for all of the possible toppings or ingredients. If you wanted tomato, but not lettuce, you wouldn't have to pay $0.50 for "lettuce and tomato" you would just pay $0.25. It's truly a simple concept. I can't seem to think of financial reasons, inventory drawbacks, or anything else...so why don't places do this now? I have no clue. If someone knows why, please leave a comment. If you agree - then continue to ask your favorite restaurants for this. We are consumers and we are who decides which businesses succeed. If we want it - they will offer it!

Iced Coffee Mark-up

In case anyone living in New York didn’t notice … Summer is here! The clear signs of this are: City being empty on the weekends, the feeling of needing another shower within 2 minutes of leaving your home, and the prevalence of Iced Coffee.

The burning question in my mind, though, is what makes the price of regular hot coffee at $1.00 versus the price of iced coffee at $1.75? Is it the cost of ice? Do these places use freakin bottled water to make their ice? Is it the fancy clear plastic cups? Is it the shelf-space within the refrigerator? Although it certainly doesn’t make sense to me, the most logical explanation I can think of is that due to the ice, in order to fill up a 12 Oz. cup – 75% more coffee is needed. (I’m sure the local corner coffee stand guys have done thorough scientific measurements on this in case you doubt the system)

Just as we have decided that good ol’ H20 packaged in a fancy bottle is worth $1.50 (Rant for another post), it seems as consumers, we have also decided that the mark-up from hot coffee to iced coffee is worth $0.75. And the truth is that if you tried to “beat the system” by buying hot coffee and pouring it over ice – it just doesn’t seem to do the trick.

Speaking of not doing the trick – I firmly believe that 75% of Iced coffee drinkers use artificial sweetener rather than sugar. Although using sugar makes the last few sips of that iced coffee damn good – the fact that sugar just doesn’t seem to dissolve equally throughout the cold liquid versus the hot liquid has made me go back to using sweetener after a 3 year absence. (I’m on a Splenda-yellow kick right now…)

So anyway - Enjoy the empty city on the weekends, make sure you wear an undershirt, and bring some extra quarters for your coffee (with sweetener) this summer!

Google now most valuable media company

I definitely love the company I work for, but, by no means want to consistently write blog entries about it. That being said, I was reading this article, and the first paragraph just made me say "wow" outloud, while I am unfortunately alone in a hotel room. (Thus ... I thought I would share):

(Reuters) - Google Inc. took over the top spot as the most highly valued media company this week, surpassing Time Warner Inc. in just 10 months of trading as a public company. Google's share price on the Nasdaq rose another $2.18, or 0.75 percent, to close at $293.12 on Tuesday, an all-time high.

Peace.

Sportscenter-aholics Anonymous - Not anymore...

It is safe to say that 4 years ago, I watched at least 1 full hour of Sportscenter a day. It has taken quite some time to pull away from my addiction, but thanks to 2 things in particular, I have been able to successfully halt most of my Sportscenter watching :

1. The invention of Digital Video Recorder (I’m a Tivo loyalist)
2. Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser from PTI

First, the DVR...This is definitely not the last time I will include my love for the invention in a post, but I believe it is the first. For those of you who don’t have it, GET ON IT! Beyond the reasonable price and ease of use (even my consumer-electronics-challenged father knows how to operate it – sorry PG), my TIVO has truly made my day more complete. It allows for more efficient television watching, which means no “filler”. I’ve learned over the past few years that Sportscenter was just that for me … A time-passer in between TV programs. This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy watching the program, as I certainly would rather watch sports than the Lifetime movie of the week – but now I have a multitude of saved programs to chose from. One of these programs is PTI, which gives me the Sports fix I need in about 22 minutes (thanks again Mr. Tivo).

For those that do not watch the show, PTI is a sports opinion show of 2 Washington Post writers, Mike Milbon and Tony Korheiser. These two guys are old friends and have been compared to an old married couple who bicker about everything. The format is clear and concise with the topics of discussion displayed on the right hand side of the screen - each given a strict time limit. Once that limit is hit, they move on to the next topic, as not to spend too much time on one topic throughout the show. This enables a complete wrap-up of the major sports stories, along with the entertainment value of Sportscenter. Although the show cannot cover everything, I find that the internet can certainly provide the box scores, etc that are missing from PTI.

So that's it. I still appreciate Sportcenter, but I'm no longer an addict. Thank you PTI. Thank you TIVO.

Google Homepage

For those of you who don't follow internet news, you can now customize your Google homepage if you so desire. You can now have the Google search bar, as well as your Gmail account, weather, stocks, and other customized material. Click here and click on "Personalize your homepage" to sign up.

If you need a Gmail address -- email me.

Taxi cab dilemma

I was on a business trip this week in Minneapolis. The last time I was there, the cab that took me to the hotel asked me where his "big tip" was after I paid him-- and he was serious... (think I tipped him $5 on a $25 fare). This time - the cab driver exited the airport without turning on the meter. Which begs the question -- what do you do? Do you strategically wait as long as you can, thus in theory, making your ride less inexpensive? Or do you fess up and tell the guy right away avoiding the conflict that is sure to erupt past the point of no return?

I opted for telling the guy - but only because I believe that cab drivers have a distinct stereo-types - similar to the profession of the "used car salesman," but not exactly... When talking about "fares" they almost always raise their voice and instantly become confrontational...I mean why shouldn't they? The chances of them ever seeing you again (on top of either of you remembering each other) is like 1 in a billion...
So, yes, instead of negotiating the difference or to have the second cab driver in Minneapolis think I was a cheap tipper...I made the comment "is the ride a fixed fare or meter"? Turns out that after I told him he ended up apologizing for 5 minutes, which obviously got annoying - so - I did what anyone would do and put on my headphones of my new XM Satellite Radio...

The Bathroom Attendant

Here in New York City, many bars and restaurants are trying their best to help the economy by employing people to watch you use the facilities and "help you wash your hands." I have never met one person that actually thinks this is a good idea...

First, let's look at it from the consumer's point of view: Sure, people may love the convenience of having a pseudo candy shop waiting for you in the same room you relieved yourself, but other than that - I cannot think of any positive attribute of this so-called job. The incredible pressure to tip the "attendant" merely for supplying you with a hand towel makes it so uncomfortable that sometimes one may just avoid washing his/her hands altogether - which - in it's own right makes the world a much worse place.

Now, from the actual employee's standpoint: I mean, is there really a job that is lower on the totem pole? Confined to a room in which the entire purpose is to host and then dispose of human extrament seems more like a method of torture rather than a way to earn money. Furthermore, the only interaction you have while in that hell hole is either with slurring, drunkin fools or people who are trying to avoid you. If you can seriously think of a less desirable job - please elaborate in the comments below.

And finally, from the employer's point of view: Do these people actually believe that costumers value these services? Can they seriously not think of a more valuable way to dedicate resources towards? And what is the job description and interview process like? "Um...stand there for a few minutes, I'm gonna fart constantly, and I'd like to see how you react..." In all seriousness, a few months back there was some "industry controversy" over the way employers compensated these folks. This article explains that some owners were literally pimping out their restrooms to bathroom attendants...I mean - is the market in that much demand?

I don't get it - and I don't think I ever will. There are certain services out there, which may or may not seem like such an extreme inconvenience - such as valeting your car, serving your meal, or setting up chairs on the beach at a resort - but, I truly don't mind someone making a living that way (I've actually worked as all of those, personally). When it comes to washing my hands after using the restroom, however, please just leave me alone.

Congrats DooDoo and Jamie

Quick shot out to Doo Doo Brown and his new wife Jamie! They got married this past weekend in New Jersey. The wedding was a blast with a great mix of cool peeps and the "happy-family" vibe. (both have large family's and Jamie's family is known to be rival's with Swiss Family Robinson). Much love among everyone, except for maybe the guy who completely thought he was Bruce Springstein/Mic Jagger combo while on 4 hits of speed...

Highlights of the night were:
a) Great band - which played several crowd pleasers. Even I was dancing to the non-hip-hop...The one tease of the band was that the guy singer (big black guy) kept saying "Remix, Remix, Remix" after every song - which got me thinking there was gonna be a hip-hop jam coming up next... but it didn't happen.
b) Great peeps - Between Scotty Marks, Andrew Fried, and Greg March - I had my fill of drunken entertainment and laughs.
c) Not having to baby-sit Colediggy. Colediggy likes to think he could be a professional wedding dancer ... And all this leads to is him getting quite intoxicated, while scaring 16 year old girls like the first time watching Michael Jackson's Thriller video...It was good to not have to see the pathetic display for once.

All in all - Amy and I both had a great time.
Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Doo Doo Brown.

The Fattening Salad

Living in New York City, I've often got a front-row seat to many hot new trends. Obviously not all trends start here - for example - current trend of "Poker" or the beyond annoying previous trend of trucker-hats were both started somewhere else. However, one trend I have witnessed come of age recently was the "Fattening Salad." Eating healthy isn't anything drastically new, however, the PERCEPTION of eating healthy is...

And...I am certainly a culprit. Whether it's the "fixins" such as cheese, bacon, or avocado or the dressing alone - plenty of salads are NOT ideal in almost all diet scenarios. Yet, when your friend/significant other asks you "what did you have for lunch today?," there is something satisfying about saying "a salad." No questions asked - the belief is that you ate healthy that day, yet in reality, you probably had more calories and fat than if you would have had if you ate a burger... (I have no idea if this is true, but it sounds good).

So, check out the menu's of many of your favorite restaurants and you will find plenty fattening salad options. Especially with summer approaching this trend is clearly in full swing. Keep you eyes out for it - and beware of the mirage...

Side note and start to a future post: I firmly believe that a salad is always better when it's "chopped." I don't know why ... it just is.

The Backwards Invite

About a week ago, my girlfriend was venting to me that she received a “backwards invite” to something and that it annoyed her. I listened to what she had to say – and definitely agreed with her side of things. At the same token, I’ve thought about it since and believe that it truly is a catch-22. Here’s what I mean….

For background sake, a “backwards invite” could go as follows:

B’iatch #1: So, what are you doing tonight?

Biatch #2: Going to dinner with Tanesha and Ray Ray.

B’atch #1: Oh – where are you going?

B’atch #2: Where going to John’s Pizzeria…

B’atch #1: Oh…..

B’atch #2: Why, what are you doing?

B’atch #1: I’m not sure yet … kinda wanted to do something similar to that.

B’atch#2: Well – you can come if you want to….

So what do I mean by a catch-22? Well, I understand how B’atch #1 would get annoyed. He/She pretty much had to invite themselves to hang-out with their friends…

At the same token…. (being a somewhat social individual with varying groups of friends)… I understand the quandary of B’iatch #2. Not all people get along and just because 3 different people call someone specific their friend does not mean that the group of 4 is in everyone’s best interest. This is especially true for the one “common denominator” among the group. So selfishly, why should that person have to worry about making sure that everyone gets along? In my life, I have had friends from different worlds not get along…. This certainly is not fun and extremely difficult to manage….Which will ultimately lead to either backwards invites OR no invites at all. So, what do you think? Is it better to give a half-ass invite or not give an invite at all?

Good Times...

No, I'm not talking about the classic 1970's show. I'm talking about a blog post that isn't about COMPLAINING. Feedback from a newbie blog reader inspired me to occasionally avoid writing about things that annoy me, but also to include things that I enjoy. So here goes:

Last Sunday night I went out to dinner with a group of 6 people... It wasn't truly a planned event, just moreso a "hey - you wanna go to dinner tonight" kinda thing...2 girls and 4 guys. We sat outside, shared 3 or 4 boxes of wine (ok - they were "carafes") and just had a really good time. After almost everyone called me the next day to tell me they had a really good time at dinner - it got me thinking a little bit... I have dinner with other people a few times a week - so - what made this dinner a recognizably better time than the other times... Well I think it was a mixture of things:
1) Expectations - It was a Sunday night, low-key, non-hyped-up restaurant... This means that none of us had any preconceived expectations of having a "better time" than usual. When you go to a nice restaurant on a Friday night - there is a certain expectation of having a good time, thus (IMHO) making it more difficult to exceed expectations (This was actually a brief conversation during dinner).
2) Good mixture of peeps - All quality people involved, but I think there was a good mixture of personalities. Previously mentioned newbie blog reader didn't know everyone, but that didn't hold the conversation back from reaching various "comfort levels" around topics. Needless to say "lots of laughs" (That one was for you Salis.)
3) New audience for good stories - I don't know what it is about hearing a story for the 5th time around new people that makes everyone who has heard it before laugh (even harder) again - but it does. (Example - This story is usually a crowd pleaser)
4) Dinner was cheap - Definitely not a big factor, but certainly the cherry on top. When you can get a good buzz and are completely full for less than $25 a person in New York City - that is a plus. Makes you almost feel like a big baller tipping 25%+ and being happy about it...

I guess I can't leave out the fact that I'm getting older. Gone are the days I suppose where you could sum up your amazing evening by "I was fuckin' wasted" and leave it at that... Good peoples, good weather, and (yes) a little alcohol can certainly amount to an amazing evening as well...

Sorry for the rain, my dad is in town..

Sorry for the rain, my dad is in town... Yes, good ol' P to the G is in the NYC - which means it WILL rain at some point this weekend. Although he doesn't like to be associated by this label, *without fail* when he's in town it either rains or snows. His most acclaimed visit would probably be the Nor'easter of 2003. Him and my step-mom were stranded here in NY (and in my apartment) for 2 days longer than they had planned...
So, yes, it does look like the streak will continue. Check the weather (by typing in "weather 10021" into your Google Search box) to see that it should rain tonight...Sorry.

To Leave a Message...

I CANNOT STAND the stupid woman instructing me how to leave a voicemail message. I mean – it’s not like the entire “voicemail community” was in shambles before there was a woman to tell them to leave a message after the tone! And what’s with the “for further options, press the pound key” -- What “further” options can there REALLY be? You either leave a message or you don't....
Although these are all very god questions, no question is more bothersome to me than: Who do the phone companies think they are fooling? We all know that these companies put that annoying bitch in there just to prolong the calls so that voicemails can all be over 1 minute. These add up over time which makes us (the consumer) reach our allocated monthly minutes in a quicker fashion....
So what can we do to combat this? Not much, but here are 3 things that could help:

1. People should know to say on their outgoing message: “Press pound (or star…depending on service provider) to bypass the bitch”
2. Give up leaving Voicemails altogether and just rely on the fact that someone will see a “missed call” (this is risky as someone may have their phone turned off, etc)
3. Write your phone company and complain (repeat several hundred times and tell a friend)

For all of my friends out there, I will probably be going with a combination of all of the above. So if I don’t leave a message, please don’t be offended – I am merely trying to beat the system.

Madness

Yesterday was very tough for me… There were 16 NCAA Tournament games going on (starting at NOON and continuing into the wee hours of the morning) on a THURSDAY. Today – I will go through the same torture… Having to work, while this event is going on is more tortuous then some of the worst stressful days on the typical job….

Thought: You know how most companies have the “2 religious holidays rule” (although most companies don’t promote this) where you are allowed to take 2 days off for religious holidays not included in the typical schedule (in addition to the typical allotted vacation and personal days)... Well, can’t these 2 days go towards that…? I have the same energy towards my work today – as I would had I come into work on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, where we fast until sundown….

I guess if I was REALLY passionate about it I could take 2 of my “personal days” allotted, however, this year that’s not an option…. I’m off all next week – going on a cruise with my family and Amy. So I guess … who I’m I to complain … Peace. I’m out until next week.

Happy Green Day

...and no, I'm not talking about the band....
I'm talking about the aspect of American culture that has us associate almost every holiday with a color... Whether it's wearing red on Valentine's Day or decorating your house Red, White, and Blue on July 4th, etc. I am all for being festive - but I can't help but think that the ancestors involved in these original days of celebration (or despair) would be satisfied in knowing that the mainstream method of acknowledging this day is by associating it with a color and dressing accordingly. I have no clue as to who "Saint Patrick" was or why we celebrate him - but I do know that I would be doing the socially expected thing by wearing green (and drinking Green beer) on this day in particular. (If anyone knows the real background here - please post a comment)

What I find a bit annoying is when I have co-workers who are far from Irish - approach me today and say "where's your green?" (as if they're disappointed) Again - I'm all for being festive, but don't try and make me feel guilty because all of my green button-downs were dirty...Besides, I'm saving up my "festiveness" for Halloween 2005 (BC are you wit me?)

So that being said - Happy Green Day. Holla!

Is anonymity a good thing?

Recent events amongst friends has prompted me to think about the concept of being "anonymous." Since the inception of the internet, one of it's biggest consumer selling points has been the ability to participate without a name. Chat rooms and email aliases were the begining - but now we are progressing onto blogs.

In thinking about the POSITIVE attributes of anonymity online - I can truthfully only think of a few:

• Combat shady marketers from gathering your name and other personal info without permission
• Minor "piece of mind" that a belief or thought today does not become a documented regret in the future.
  

In terms of NEGATIVE attributes, there seem to be a bit more powerful points that tip the scale for me:

• Promotes over-aggresive expression without consequences
• Promotes mis-representation (think old man in teen chat room)
• Birth of SPAM (Consider the recent post in Seth Godin's blog (a marketing guru who writes books, etc).
  

All in all - I'm pretty against anonymity online. If you believe in something - stand by it. Do not give cowards a mechanism to hide.

Move B*tch, Get Out the way!

Pet peeve #11: When boarding an airplane, there is a very distinct protocol... The first people to board are either "people who need extra assistance," "First-class passengers," or "Elite status frequent fliers"... From there, airlines typically board from the rear of the plane. VERY BASIC!

So why do people who are clearly sitting in the front of the airplane (but not first-class) feel obligated to stand in front of the gate entrance waiting for their rows to be called... It's like the announcer will suddenly get confused with their night-job as a BINGO-caller and start calling out random seat numbers: 11B! 7A! Everyone knows approximately when your row will be called.

So - as the title of this blog states - MOVE BITCH - Get out the way! Wait your turn and stop making it difficult for me and every other passenger on the plane to get our over-sized roller-bags onto the plane before you do... Thank you!