35 Questions
Take a look at Mitch Meyerson’s 35 Questions That Will Change Your Life (pdf).
Back when the Illini were good!
ESPN Classic is showing replays of the best games from this tournament on Saturday, April 9. My Tivo will be set for Illinois vs. Arizona. How about yours?
Some Technology Remainders
I’ve become totally smitten with Onfolio 2.0 as my news aggregator. I used to use Bloglines, and still recommend it to anyone new to the world of Blogs and RSS, but the ability to download my aggregated feeds and read them offline (a la FeedDemon) combined with the ability to clip and save entire websites has really changed my browsing habits. Best of all, for now it’s free! However, when it goes on sale, I’ll buy it — it’s that good.
Hangin' with the Patent Posse
I spent a bunch of Techshow hangin’ with the Patent Posse(tm) a.k.a. Doug Sorocco, Steve Nipper, and Matt Buchanan. I’ve know the guys virtually for quite some time, and was totally amazed to see them hanging out as if they’d known one another forever. In fact, their first face-to-face meeting was at Techshow.
The guys have started the rethink(ip) blog and are really taking the lead in reinventing IP practice. After they make their first million, I hope they remember me as the guy who introduced them (at least Doug and Steve) on my Think Tank Tuesday call.
And if you see Doug in person, ask him about his tattoo.
So, What Don't You Do?
I’m still working on the brain-dump from LexThink, but I had to pass this gem along. At Techshow, I was looking at a product I’ve coveted for a while, and asked if there was show special. One of the people in the booth said no, but suggested that, as an authorized reseller of the product, he could give me a great deal. He handed me his card, and the name of his business was “Generic __________ Solutions.” The tagline under the name was “Choices from major manufacturers.” On the back of the card was a list of over 20 “products and procedures” his business offered. I took the card, and the snarky marketing guy in me almost asked, “So is there anything you don’t do.” I’d love to hear his elevator speech.
I wonder if this will fit in my garage?
That is, if I had a garage. Maybe when my wife and I start building our new home next year, we can make room for this.
In a similar vein, any golfers in L.A. area want to play?
What a great week (except for last night)
I’m still recovering from LexThink, Techshow, and the Illini’s loss last night. Techshow was great as always, and LexThink was amazing. The Illini? Well that’s another story all together.
I have an entire day of LexThink stuff to do today, so look for a recap tomorrow.
New Design Tweaks
As I get caught up on blogging, I’ve made a bunch of minor changes here at the blog. First, I’ve revised the heading to make it a bit more readable. I’ve also taken Dennis Kennedy’s advice and “branded” this blog with my name. Finally, I’m adding a small footer to each post for a while to see how it works. I need to keep a few steps ahead of the RSS bandits.
From Matthew Homann’s [non]billable hour blog.
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More Ridiculousness - Not Family Friendly
Since I’m on a roll posting a bunch of non-nonbillable hour related stuff, here’s a hilarous conversation answering this question:
How many 5 year-olds could you take on at once?
The specifics:
- You are in an enclosed area, roughly the size of a basketball court. There are no foreign objects.
- You are not allowed to touch a wall.
- When you are knocked unconscious, you lose. When they are all knocked unconscious, they lose. Once a kid is knocked unconscious, that kid is "out."
- I (or someone else intent on seeing to it you fail) get to choose the kids from a pool that is twice the size of your magic number. The pool will be 50/50 in terms of gender and will have no discernable abnormalities in terms of demographics, other than they are all healthy Americans.
- The kids receive one day of training from hand-to-hand combat experts who will train them specifically to team up to take down one adult. You will receive one hour of "counter-tactics" training.
- There is no protective padding for any combatant other than the standard-issue cup.
* The kids are motivated enough to not get scared, regardless of the bloodshed. Even the very last one will give it his/her best to take you down.
(Link from alltheseideas.com).
Gotta Have More Cowbell!
When life gets you down, and you don’t know where to turn, just get yourself some more cowbell. (Thanks to Emlyn.net for the link). And if the cowbell doesn’t do the trick, maybe a Schweddy Weiner.
Edit Your Selection
Andrea Learned writes about how women appreciate an edited selection:
Not every laptop known-to-man needs to be available at your consumer electronics store. Rather, do some research and reflect that you know your customers: deliver the top 10 sellers or the ones about which your customers requested most information in the past few years. … If your camera store, clothing store, appliance store or computer store has done its work, you will have discovered the "top 10" of your women customers' favorites and those will be the ones you provide and the products for which you train your customer service staff to know EVERYTHING about.
For me, the takeaway quote for professional service providers:
Sometimes limits aren't bad. In a retailer's situation, narrowing product selection can just reflect an excellent understanding of the store's core customers.
Getting the Budget from a Client
Jason at 37 Signals shares this tip he received from his friend Carlos:
First you should just ask them for it. Be blunt: “What’s your budget or budget range for this project?” If you have a good client they’ll tell you (and trust me, you want good clients — finding the right clients is 90% of this business). If you have a reticent client they may say “we don’t have one yet” or “we’re just looking right now” or “we want you to tell us how much it will cost.” Truth is, everyone has a number in their head. They have a good idea of what they can spend or they wouldn’t be shopping in public. If they don’t then they shouldn’t be asking you to invest your time in writing a proposal — and you most certainly shouldn’t provide them with one.
So, how do you get the number when they won’t tell you? Try this: When they tell you they don’t have a number say, “Oh, ok. So a $100,000 solution would work for you?” They’ll quickly come back… “Oh no, probably something more around $30K.” BINGO: That’s the budget.
This is what happens when you move across the country.
Jeff Beard beats me to the punch and blogs about a great article on networking. Read them both.
What came first, the customer or customer service?
Tom Asaker, at A Clear Eye, asks this question:
Should banks and credit unions try to develop a community of like-minded people by creating a more personal and aesthetically appealing experience, al la Starbucks and Barnes & Nobles. Will customers forgo the percentage points - however small - required to create such an experience? Or should the value innovation be to reduce the emphasis on people and place and focus instead on information, choice, hard cash, and value for time, a la Amazon.com and Progressive Insurance? Perhaps the market could sustain both? Or neither? Something in the middle? Please let me know what you think/feel?
In one of the comments to the post, a woman named Susan writes:
i think its interesting that people discount the need for branches by saying that they "only walk in there once a year." this may not be a cause but an effect. it is the RESULT of bad banking practices not from lack of necessity to speak with a human being related to your financial needs.
Is this the same reason people don’t go to lawyers more often?