Thank You Tim Berners-Lee

Not too long ago the World Wide Web celebrated its 20th birthday!  With how dependent businesses, students, families, governments around the world have become it’s hard to believe it’s only 20.

The ability to gather information, educate, distract (lots of distraction) and travel to distant places and cultures without ever leaving your home.  The Internet breaks down walls as never before and can bring to life places and people in ways that books or magazines can’t.

Learn more about the Civil War, see pictures of cats with silly captions, see the world’s great thinkers explain weighty matters, calculate how many micrograms in an ounce, watch art being made, brush up on your geometry, look up the box score of the 1927
World Series – you name it and there’s a good chance it’s available.  The only requirement from you, the user, is a bit of imagination (how to find things) and a discerning eye (recognize what’s fact and what’s fiction).

Much to the chagrin of some that are close to me, I find myself wandering in and out of the Internet from time to time searching, learning, crying and laughing.

Maybe it should have been named the World Wide Time Suck, but I suppose that’s not too scholarly.

Yesterday I found myself a bit off the beaten track and in the course of 30 minutes there were tears in my eyes – tears of sorrow and tears generated by some of the funniest improv comedy separated by just a few mouse clicks.

I double dog dare you not to cry during or after watching these two videos.

First the tears of joy…

Then the other kinds of tears…

Click here – CNN

So, despite being a complete vortex into which time disappears, as Warden Norton said in Shawshank Redemption, “like a fart in the wind”, (thank you IMDB.com)  I embrace the Internet and all it has to offer.  It can never replace human interaction, but it can be an enlightening, educational, virtual encyclopedia that can bring our world closer together.

Of course, it can also teach us those life lessons that you used to be able to only learn from the “older kid down the block”.

Like the time my son wanted to build a potato cannon and I had no idea where to begin.  Without the Internet we would never have had that time together launching russets.

Give Credit Where Credit is Due

Too often we are quick to judge mistakes companies make without always knowing the complete story. I do try and hope I hope I am more than willing to give credit where credit is due. Today, credit is due.

The tragic events in Japan may have impacted Seattle as much as any other city in the United States. We have a huge Japanese-American population that is a hugely important part of the fabric of our community. In addition, the Port of Seattle (airport and water port) is one of the most important gateways to tourism and business to and from Japan. The earthquake and Tsunami are of great interest and importance to many families in Washington from Ichiro to students at the University of Washington.

News is readily available on-line, but with events such as this it’s hard to beat live TV. CNN and others are focusing a great deal of resources on the event and its aftermath, but for local knowledge and reporting Japanese TV would be the source I would want to listen to if I were Japanese and here in Seattle.

Little did I know but TV Japan is available on our local cable system – for an additional monthly fee. Today Comcast announced it will make TV Japan free for the next week and has removed the encryption for all its customers in Washington.

As I said, give credit where credit is due – great move Comcast.

Here’s A Thought…

Recently I read an article in the Seattle Times about another candidate running for political office contributing a sizeable sum of their personal wealth to their own campaign.  This is not a new trend, is rampant on both sides of the aisle, the sums can be enormous (John Corzine) or reasonably moderate (if $250,000 falls under the definition of “reasonably moderate”).  It’s not illegal  if done properly and I am sure my political consultant friends will tell me I’m nuts, but I’m tired of this practice.

The message I get from this financing tactic is, “This job is so important for me I am going to spend wildly so I can taste the power associated with being (insert office here).  I have no respect for a budget or spending within my means and if I face a revenue shortfall while in office, I’ll just look for ways to boost revenue (taxes etc…) so I can continue to spend.”

For once I’d like to see a candidate who we know has the money to write a sizeable check to their own campaign say, “I am running on the merits of my message.  I will contribute to my own campaign, but to the limit that my supporters must adhere to as well.  I will only spend on this campaign what I bring in from those who choose to support me and my platform and my campaign will end on Election Day, win or lose, with a positive bank balance and all bills paid.”

I’m dreaming aren’t I?

Elevator Pitch

Thinking through and developing a clear, concise elevator pitch for yourself, your business or product is a valuable exercise. Recently I spent time re-thinking my pitch and how it could better reflect my experience, creativity and ability.

Out of curiosity I did a Google search to see what was out there and might be of some use. As expected, there are many articles written by business speakers, PR professionals and venture capital experts on the ins and outs of an elevator pitch. One tool, however, stood out as an effective conversation starter for anyone interested in developing or re-thinking their pitch. Not too surprisingly it was developed by Harvard Business School and can be found here.

Spend 30 minutes working through the five steps in the HBS elevator pitch builder. It’s a great way to examine and refine your pitch to increase its effectiveness.

Just don’t hit the backspace button – it will delete ALL you hard work! I know, my first pitch disappeared into the ether…

Pride

I am extremely proud of my three children.  They are great kids who do well in school, complain rarely, are competitive and excel in almost everything they do, so it’s hard to single one out.  However, this summer I published a collection of poetry and art by our middle daughter Isabelle.  What really impressed me was her writing.  Her poetry is meaningful, fluid, creative and fun to read.  From time to time we will find pieces of scrap paper where she has written another poem and I ask myself, ‘Did she really write this?  This is good.’

The following is a link to the book, including a preview where you can see samples of her art and read a few of the poems.  Many are great, but this poem is one of my favorites.  I love the end.

Great job Isabelle!

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/881983

Glassblowing

The molten glass gathered

Upon a metal rod

A drop into the bucket

Then you have enough

The metal tweezers

Poke and prod

A bubble inside

Then off with the top

A small vase

Or a cup

If you want

Get some more glass

And make a flower

When the kilning finishes up done

Put the vase with the flower

And when you get home

You’ll have an undying flower

And a pretty vase just for that flower

Go take a shower!!!!!

P.U!

Impressive Ideas or Why Didn’t I Think of That…

I am impressed with simple businesses that deliver for customers that for which they paid, as well as for the business (profitability).  I firmly believe both can be achieved. There is no shortage of non-web 2.0 businesses (billboards, construction, specialized manufacturing) in addition to well known companies like REI, COSTCO, Zappo’s etc… that lead by example.  I am also impressed by the one or two person entrepreneurs that developed a business based on an idea or their passion that is so simple or so fun that you watch and wish it was your idea or why didn’t I think of that?

For the last year I have subscribed to a daily free email service called HARO or Help a Reporter.  The concept is simple – reporter’s send their requests for experts or story ideas to HARO which in turn distributes a simple text based email three times each day to over 100,000 subscribers.  In all I receive anywhere from 60 – 100 story requests from media outlets that I would never have known about if it wasn’t for HARO.  Most do not apply to my clients because of the are of expertise the reporter is looking for or the part of the country they are targeting, but if I have a client or prospect that fits the request I can contact the reporter directly and if the two match the reporter will follow up with the source.  It is extremely targeted and efficient and what started as a Facebook page is now its own successful business.   While I sometimes roll my eyes with his style and self promotion, kudos to Peter Shankman the founder.

Rick Steves is another.  Host of a well known travel show on public television, Rick has travelled the world for years with a videographer and audio person to highlight fun and out of the ordinary places to go, accommodations that are off the beaten path and interesting things to see.  It’s a bit of work as he needs to write and produce each episode, but calling it work isn’t fair.  How is filming eating dinner and drinking wine in a small town on the Amalfi Coast work??!!  Over time he has turned his little venture/passion into a highly successful series of travel books, luggage and DVD’s.

There are others that have captured all of the available free tools available on the Internet to market an idea, business such as the guy who wears your t-shirt for a day and charges for the privilege.  January 1st costs $1.  December 31st, $365.   December is a good month.  Fail Blog or I Can Has Cheezburger have also become Internet sensations with business models that appear to be sustainable and profitable.

Even more impressive to me are guys like Matt who have combined a bit of luck, their passion and a business model.  Matt began doing his own really bad dance in interesting places around the world in 2004 for fun.  A few years later someone found the video on the Internet and sent it to a friend, and so on and so on…  Eventually the video of Matt dancing became a YouTube phenomenon.  

Following his first video, the folks a Stride Gum asked if he would be interested in having a sponsor and doing another tour.  How long did it take to say yes???!!!

In 2006, Matt took a 6 month trip through 39 countries on all 7 continents – badly dancing along the way.  In 2007 Matt went back to Stride Gum and suggested a new video of Matt dancing in places all over the world with people from these places in the video.  

Surely his now rabid community of followers would show up at the appointed time and place to dance with Matt.  He was right.   Matt not only has travelled the world several times, twice on Stride Gum’s dime, but he has a string of videos on YouTube, writes a blog on his travels and has his own book that was recently published called “Where the Hell is Matt?”.

Just watch the videos and the places he’s travelled then try to convince me that this isn’t the coolest idea yet.