Tipping

Hey Folks ... sorry for the delay in posting ... been crazy-busy at work AND preparing for my 4 upcoming fantasy football draft ... more on that in future posts) ... ANYWAY...

This past weekend Amy and I went to Montauk. It was really nice! Perfect weather, we could throw a pebble into the Ocean from where we were staying, we ate great seafood...NO STRESS .... well, that's about 99.9% true. The weekend was perfect, but there was something I noted as a standard annoyance with resort-type hotels. This is the expectation of the staff of the hotel that you not only have the dough to fork down on a pricey room, but you've got plenty to pass their way as well. And I want to be clear - my issue isn't with being CHEAP or knowing WHEN to tip ... it's "how much"?

Working in the service industry during my teenage years, I certainly learned quickly that people who don't tip are almost better than those who tip way too little. It's almost like someone not leaving a tip genuinely forgot - and sometimes that just happens. Someone tipping too little was saying "I know I have to tip, so I will, but... F-U!"

Which brings me to my issue with resort-type tipping situations. What do you give someone who sets up your chairs on the beach? What about the guy who drives you during your "complementary transportation from the train?" $2? $5? $10?

Truthfully, I really wasn't stressing about this decision, but I can't help but almost physically feel these employees hands in my pockets when I approach them. I would rather pay one fee with ZERO expectation that I was to tip again while I was there, even if it ended up being more than I spent in aggregate with tipping. I guess I just believe that it would be the cherry on top of a truly "no stress" weekend. (Fresh Direct does this for grocery delivery. They charge you a $4.95 delivery charge with a strict no-tipping policy)

Finally, one last off-topic note on the weekend. Montauk is a 3 hour train ride each way. It's certainly not close, but Amy and I both agree that it really didn't seem long at all. Her and I watched a total of 5 West Wing episodes on DVD (there and back) and the time flew. I highly recommend the DVD while traveling...

An example of why blogs are great

This Sunday, I read a New York times article on how Register.com sold for a lot less than Mark Cuban thought it should go for. (Cuban owned 13% of the company, which was sold for $202 Million)

As you know from the link portion on my blog, I read Mark Cuban's blog regularly.
In a post today, Cuban posted the entire interaction between him and the NY Times columnist on his blog...

First of all, I love the fact that Cuban now has a platform to counter the old-school journalism of the likes of the New York times. Secondly, I find it beyond interesting that the NYtimes wrote an interview-type article based on 2 brief email exchanges...
Again, I think the fact that there is a platform to bring this to light is awesome.

Redefining "Bathroom reading"

Have you ever gotten a random text message at 10 AM on a Tuesday from a buddy who works in corporate America? Do you get emails from friends during the normal business hours that say "this email was sent from my blackberry"? If so, chances are, your friends are talking to you on the toilet.

Today's "young adults" (myself included) are all about efficiency through multi-tasking. It's everywhere, whether it's scrolling through a cell phonebook to see who to call on the way downtown in a cab or random women putting on their make-up on the subway to work...

I got a Blackberry 2 weeks ago for work. I think it's great, but not because I think I'm so important and hence needed to be connected to the job every minute. I think it's great because it makes my general lag times (commuting, waiting in Doctor's office, etc) so much more fulfilling and efficient. And it's not only from a work perspective. I'm hooked on this Texas Hold'em game that I downloaded. So now, yes, when I go to the stahls in the bathroom at work, I bring my Blackberry fully equipped with Texas Hold' em. And the sad part is that I hear the same clicking in the stahl next to mine...

What used to hold people back from talking on the phone while doing their business was the possible noises, sounds, grunts, or whatever that would make a phone call turn uncomfortable real quick... With email or instant messaging - that risk is gone. So keep your ears open in your work bathrooms... the clicking and communicating toilet-talk revolution is here (at a bathroom near you!).

Restaurant Review: Mainland

Quick neighborhood restaurant review... Last night, Amy and I went on a double date with friends in the neighborhood to a place with a location that seems to be a revolving door of failed. Mainland is located on 3rd Avenue and 64th Street. All in all, I am happy we went there... Highlights of the evening go as follows:

• The reverend Al Sharpton was dining with his wife 2 tables away. He was unavailable for comment, although Amy did the inconspicuous walk-by 2 times...
  
• The last page of the menu consisted of particular important employees, one in which included the "MIXOLOGIST". After a "smart-ass" inquiry of my own, our table learned that this was just a fancy way of saying a bartender. The waitress, or should I say the "Servoligist" wasn't sure if there was special training or schooling in order to gain that title
• An old Chinese man who didn't speak English came over to cut our full duck in front of us. What's with that? I still don't understand why this happens, but whatever...

In terms of what the place needs to work on...It was certainly trying to play "Manhattan trendy" in an area with plenty of strollers and walkers (although is getting younger). Amy was quick to point out that we were some of the last to leave (at 10:45). Although we had a reservation, they still did the typical "it will be about 10 minutes" routine - just enough time for us to spend $40 at the bar...(I looked and did not see anyone leave the place before we were seated).

In a 5 star rating system, I'd give it a 3. A little on the pricey and it certainly didn't need to be. The food was good, although I have come to the conclusion that duck makes a much better appetizer than it does a main course. Wait staff was pretty on top of things, although they took a little bit to warm up.

That's a rap on my first restaurant review blog post. Let me know if you think I should do more of them. Peace.

Rockin my Rolley

...And I'm not talking about a Rolex.

I'm talking about my preferred form of luggage. When I first started working at Google, the leader of the National Sales meeting used to ask all the “Nooglers” one or 2 questions on the spot… It can range from “What was you’re your first concert or What is your hometown,” etc.: One of my questions was, “Shoulder bag or Roller bag?” and my answer was “Roller bag” – much to the dismay of most of the men in the room. Now – I am a fairly masculine dude, and as many of you know, I do a pretty decent amount of traveling….and I fully support male use of the rolling bag. Why? You don’t sweat half as much when you’re wheeling a bag around versus carrying it. You don’t have a huge wrinkle is your shirt or suit from the heavy, shoulder handle pressed accross your body. And most importantly, you don’t get a sore shoulder from wheeling a bag…

This all being said, there are some “no-no’s” to consider regarding wheel-bags.

1. NO backpack-turned-wheeley-bags allowed! That’s just being lazy, plus you look like a big weenie.
   
2. NO “wheeling your bag down the stairs so that everyone here’s the 20 thuds with every step” Pick it up if you’re walking down stairs – there is a handle for a reason.
3. NO talking on the phone when wheeling a bag in New York City. When you’re wheeling a bag – it’s the equivalent of 4 people walking as a pack, and for some reason when people are on the phone, they forget this… Be respectful and concentrate on getting from point A to point B with your luggage.

Other than that, I think you should be fine. So, fella's, don't buy the hype around wheeled bags lessening your masculinity... Rock em without stress and watch the too-cool-for-school fellas sweat, wrinkle, and ache.

Cool Blog post

Anyone who likes both college football and hip-hop music will appreciate this blog post, which compares different college football programs with particular rappers and gives some rationale on why. It's pretty cool, and wanted to share.

BG

New Marketing Vehicle

I am a big fan of inovative marketing tactics, but I am not quite sure how I feel about this one: Branding cows with URLs and painting them purple and pink.

The owner of the cattle sold the "real estate" of these animals to an online gaming site. Who said Sarasota, Florida wasn't a marketing hot-spot??

The part of love best about the story, is that the owner sold the bovine advertising space on eBay.
How awesome are internet marketplaces?!

It took a six-person team two days to color the cattle and paint the casino's Web address in six-inch letters on the bovines. With cow-safe paint, of course.

The HEAT is on!

It's August 3rd, which means I have 2 main sports interests (in order):
1) Fantasy Football preperation
2) Fantay Baseball final run

This being said, I'm taking my attention today briefly to my favorite sports team of all time, The Miami Heat. Over the last 2 days, GM Pat Riley has been quite active. He resigned Shaquille O'Neal for 5 years, $100MM (worth every penny) and he completed the largest NBA trade of all-time.

Of course no one knows how it is going to turn-out, but I must say - I like it! Putting all the financial variables on the side, the Heat get 3 quality ball players, and give up 1 fading player in Eddie Jones and a couple of "possible talents". Don't get me wrong, I totally appreciate Eddie Jones as a quiet leader, as the guy who plays great defensive and knows the system.....but I can't say the tears are about to flow...

Of the 3 players the Heat get... The "Haters" (you know who you are) will be quick to sprinkle the bitterness on Antoine Walker and Jason Williams. Both of these guys have had somewhat troubling pasts, but I'm honestly not worried that this will be an issue. With Shaq as the regulator and D. Wade being the clear "go-to-guy" - I think it can really work.
I certainly have never liked the way Antoine Walker plays defense (if you can call it that) or how he goes into convulsions if he doesn't shoot the ball every 24 seconds .... but again ... I honestly believe it can work. Shaq may need to lay the law down once or twice -- but if there is ANYONE who can check these guys egos .... it's the Diesel.

James Posey has tons of upside.... A little banged up the last 2 years, but the talent is certainly there. A new scenery should do him nicely...

With regards to who the Heat gave up .... Eddie, Rasual Butler, Quintel Woods, a Spanish rookie I never heard of and 2 second round picks......... Enough said. Great move Pat!

OK - that was enough of that .... Now back to Fantasy Football research.

Tonight's Specials are...

Is it me or is this what you hear when the waiter comes over for the first time at a restaurant these days:

Waiter: Good evening, can I get you some sparkling or flat water this evening?
BG: No thanks, tap water is ok.
Waiter: Can I tell you my specials tonight
BG: Sure
Waiter: OK, tonight for an appetizer we have a "skamsdkly with tomato and a sheshmatrodkdsoai with a side of hurmskufrums". For our main course we have chicken with krulitsdlskj einejkhsnki as well as yusduhsdkjkash."

Bottom-line - I NEVER can de-code what the guy is saying,. I usually pick up words here or there, but it's never fully clear. And after once or twice asking "I'm sorry - what was that?" I feel bad, because they obviously memorize it and I am clearly messing up their "flow." And it's not like this only happens at authentic Italian restaurants or other ethnicities - I feel like lately it happens everywhere!

I suggest that specials are printed out and given with the menus. If the server wants to recommend the specials - that's fine - but before I even consider it, I want to actually understand what it is. Another benefit of it being printed out is seeing the price. I'm certainly not cheap when it comes to food, but I once made the mistake of ordering directly after the waiter explained the specials (not looking at the menu at all) when I was out with Amy one night. The meal was great, but the bill was over $300! Lesson learned I suppose.

I'm a big fan of "specials" especially at authentic restaurants in New York City. Apparently, restaurant owners like them too... So what I suggest if every owner is only going to hire employees who speak as little English as possible - is to print the specials out every night. It's really not that hard.

The NHL finally did something I agree with

For those that do not know, I have never been a major hockey fan.... (besides brief stints in 1995 and 1997, when the Florida Panthers went to the NHL finals and Michigan won the Frozen Four) This is mostly because I didn't grow up with the sport, but also because I thought it was run by a bunch of idiots. During the 1998-99 NBA season, there was a strike...and I am a huge sports fan, which means that I was virtually begging the NHL to market to me and get me to watch it's sport.... Did they? No! They stuck by their laurels and didn't do anything to attract the sports-thirsty NBA fans (the blue-light puck on Fox does not count)...They literally claimed that they were happy with their established fan-base...

Anyway - for the first time ever - I think the NHL did something good recently. Upon agreeing to a new deal, the league announced a slew of rule changes. I like them all, especially the "no tie" rule. Next season, there will be no ties! If a game is tied after overtime, the game will go into a shoot-out. Finally!

What was most interesting to me is that a few of my hockey "purist" friends seem to embrace the new rules as well... Perhaps they are just happy that the NHL didn't announce that it was going out of business, but regardless, I have to take my hat off to the league for finally doing something right. I'm not saying that I'm joining a NHL fantasy league just yet - but - perhaps this upcoming season I will not fast-forward through all the NHL PTI segments...

Sean "P, Puff Diddy Daddy" Combs

Amy IM'd me today the following "news" brief:

Diddy, formerly known as P. Diddy and Puff Daddy, has agreed to host MTV Networks' MTV 22nd annual VMAs, scheduled to be held in Miami on August 28.

My first reaction was one of annoyance. After thinking about it for about a minute, I came to the conclusion that I really don't think I like this guy as a "celebrity"...however ... I definitely respect him and root for his success as a businessman. In his world, I suppose the two one in the same...but...is this a good thing? I am not sure...

I think there are good and bad examples of both scenarios. Those who rise in the business world and then become a celebrity and those who are celebrities that rise in the business world afterwards.

What annoys me about the P. Diddy instance is that he is perceived as an "expert" in so many fields (Music, Fashion, Politics, Marathon training, you name it...) but I question if he really is an expert. I doubt it ... But I don't doubt that he surrounds himself with experts and then uses his "brand name" to sell whatever the product is.

Regardless, I definitely will not be watching the VMA's because he is hosting (or for any reason at all). I hope he finally decides on one name AND one (or 2) business focus(es) - but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Another Google Service Announcement

Well - I can't help it. Periodically I will write a quick post about some cool Google technology. I have told many of my friends about it, but Google SMS is really an awesome, helpful tool.

Bottom-line, for all of you text messagers, say good-bye to 411. Text message the number "GOOGL" (46653) your message text should be f

Well - I can't help it. Periodically I guess I'm going to write a quick post about some cool Google technology. I have told many of my friends about it, but for those that haven't gotten the memo yet -- LEARN ABOUT GOOGLE SMS! It's really an awesome, helpful tool.

Bottom-line, for all of you text messengers out there, say good-bye to "411." Here's how it works:

If you text message the number "GOOGL" (46653) with your message text being a local business (restaurant, store, etc.) along with the city name (New York, NY) or close zip code (10021), Google will promptly (10 seconds) send you back a text message with the appropriate address and phone number of your query. Sometimes, it will send you a few results if it's not 100% sure it has the right one - but, to date I have been satisfied almost every time.

Try it - you'll thank me later.

Click here for an online demo if you are still confused.

Family Announcement

My blog posts are typically "here's what I'm thinking" oriented, however, this post is merely to announce that I'm scheduled to be an Uncle in late January of 2006!

Jill, Fred, and the entire Goffin and Stern families are very excited!

Regardless of gender - I'm already preparing my "Fantasy Football guide for 2010 " (I think 4 years old will be a good age to start). Congrats Jill and Fred! I can't wait to get my "Best Uncle" award in the form of a mug or t-shirt...

My Solution to Summer Subway Misery

In the middle of summer, one could confuse walking down the stairs of any New York City subway station with entering the depths of Hell. Well, maybe it'’s not that hot, but it easily could be compared to a your standard sauna. Anyway, the other day, I was standing on the platform when a train going in the opposite direction darted by. Usually, I would have a sense of disappointment because I was tricked that the train going in my direction was coming, but in this case, I didn't care. The trains entrance into the station supplied me with a very nice breeze… Yes, there was still sweat dripping down my face, but it was a such a good feeling… This got me thinking…

Why don'’t NYC Subways have air-conditioners? Well, as we learned a few months ago with the fare increase, the MTA claims that they are broke. With this being the case, I cannot imagine that installing air conditioning is on the top of the budget priority list…

This brings me to my idea. My first thought was to have air conditioning companies supply their products to particular stations and in return they would receive sponsorship or naming rights of the station. But when I thought about it some more, truth be told, the air conditioning industry isn'’t necessarily the most aggressive when it comes to ad spending - so this wouldn'’t necessarily work. This being said, there are several other industries that DO. For example, the beer industry which in many cases promotes "“cold"” as a key marketing message. I believe there is even a current Coors light commercial that has images of a frozen subway car… I would have no problem with taking the F from Coors Light station on 63^rd to the Miller Genuine Draft station on Houston. Would you if it meant air conditioned platforms?

I suppose realistically, the Beer industry cannot single-handedly subsidize the air-conditioned platform project… What about supplying portions of select, high-trafficked stations with a "“(Submit advertiser here) Cool Zone”," similar to the airline lounges at airports. Customers willing to pay more would get access to "“the cool zone."” Between the advertising dollars and the additional passenger payments, I think this could definitely happen. It won'’t -– but I need something to think about while I'’m sweating my ass off on the platform...

No Sports Day

I believe that July 11th and yesterday, July 13th, were supposed to be the two days of the year, where there is no activity within the 4 major sports* (and sorry Bryan Spellberg - the Tour de France does not count as a major sport). This year, obviously, is a bit different as the NHL is non-existant. Ironically, on this day of no sports, Hockey has finally agreed to come to terms and agree to have a season in the fall. (Foreshadow to a future post: Why the NHL is stupid).

Anyway, I seemed to have survived the 2 days without sports just fine, but did find myself watching 3 hours of batting practice and the same commercials over and over again on Monday. The Home Run Derby is smart in practice, but I'm over it. The funny thing is that to fill the sports void the past 3 days, I have found myself talking more fantasy football with my friends ... I have to slow down and not get too excited, though. There still is 54 days until the BigTime Fantasy League draft...

Speaker-phone

In my opinion, there are only 3 legitimate reasons to utilize the speaker-phone function of a phone:

1. If you are truly doing something else important with your hands (i.e. Driving)
2. If there are multiple people you want to include in one room
3. You have no arms

…And that’s it!

My office is an open environment, with no employees having offices. (It’s seen as “Googley” for no one to be more important than others…Larry and Sergey have their own offices, but they share it with random engineers….) Anyway…For some reason, all of the people who THINK they should have their own office are lashing out to the rest of us by making us sit through their voicemails and other annoying crap. It’s like their way of trying to say, “I’m important” is by using speaker-phone. To me, it’s their way of saying “I’m a loser.”

Although the concept around the speaker-phone is to make people more efficient, I am not convinced it actually does this. How many times on a call with speakerphone is the question “What?” spoken?? Between the volume quality and the fact that people are multi-tasking and not focusing – I would argue that speakerphone actually makes calls much less efficient!

So, in the future, I’m giving everyone 10 seconds on speakerphone – either to explain why it’s on speakerphone – or for them to finish up whatever they are doing with their hands. After that, I’m hanging up. Don’t waste my time. Don’t disrespect me. And don’t make other people around you miserable. Bottom-line: Say NO to Speakerphone!!

7-Eleven Coming to Town

Just a short post to my NYC'ers to drop knowledge that 7-Eleven has landed. Fitting - considering that today, July 11th, is the 78th birthday of the convenience store (It is also my mother's birthday - but she is much younger than 7-Eleven).
Here is a NY Times article discussing 7-Eleven's expansion plans. Click here to see is the first location.

I don't know if any of you are excited about this, but I think it's certainly a value-add to the city. If for nothing else, the chain is well known for their Slurpee and I think their coffee is under-rated.
If you want to read about random facts about the company, such as how many millions of gallons of soda they sell, click here.

F-Duane Reade

If you live in New York City and you don't hate Duane Reade then you will need to explain yourself. There is no doubt that the customer service industry in general is at an all-time low, but this company takes the cake for THE WORST. New York Magazine did a great piece on how the stores are messy, the prices are far from discount, the employees are bitter individuals - yet somehow it still is in business. The article points out that there is a group of ex-employees who have started a site: www.duanegreed.com. That's interesting, because I'm thinking of starting the site: www.duaneNEED-to-get-new-employees
For those that haven't had the pleasure of witnessing the horror known as the Duane Reade check-out line, don't feel bad. Here is a synopsis:

• It's like YOU are burdening them by actually wanting to buy something.
  
• They are offended when you ask them a question (kind of like when someone gives Colediggy their finished drink at a club, thinking he's the bar-back)
• It's like they play a game: how big can we make the check-out line before someone gets too frustrated and leaves. To them, this is better, because that's one less person they have to ring up.
  
• The Pharmacy is "that place" that will tell someone their prescription will be ready in an hour, then claim some mix-up, and tell you, "it's ok - the bottle said to take 2 per day, but you can just take 4 tomorrow..." (TRUE STORY)
  

The ONE redeeming quality about the store is that they are open 24 hours, but without fail, there seems to be only one employee working late night, and that is usually the security guard who doesn't speak English.

In closing, I would estimate that over 75% of blog entries are complaints, rants, etc. And my blog posts aren't any different. TO justify this, though, when companies like Duane Reade are actually in business and making money - I think it's up to consumers to do something about it and this is what I'm doing. (I mean - it's not like I'm going to stop going there, it's ON my corner...I do find myself, however, ordering more items from Fresh Direct that I would be buying at DR).
Peace.

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.