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November 30, 2004

Coffee, Tea, or...

I had an unusual surprise on my way back from San Francisco to New York yesterday, 8 month old in tow: Friendly faces and decent service. It's no secret that virtually every airline is on the edge of going under these days, thanks to 9/11, fuel costs, and various management messups. The employees have piad the steepest prices, in the forms of layoffs, and for the lucky ones, dramatic salary reductions. It's hard to imagine how these folks keep going as their jobs get harder, the pay gets lower and their pensions disappear. Traveling lately, I've expected bad service, and I haven't been disappointed.

But these American Airlines stewardesses, harried as they seemed, someone how managed to seem as if they liked their jobs yesterday. The gate agent managed to find the last available seat and let my baby on in her car seat for free--saving me from 5 guaranteed hours of hell (and everone else on the plane, too!). Another held my purse for 20 minutes while I got things adjusted. Still another appointed herself the ambassador for a very old woman who needed to be practically carried to the restroom every hour or so.

None of these things would have been shocking in the olden days. They all go with the job description. But it got me thinking: how do you keep the game face on when working in a demoralized industry? How do you provide service with a smile when you're crying inside? Ideas?

Posted by Jennifer Reingold at 3:10 PM | 9 Comments

Pro-Am World

In October, as Heath mentioned earlier this week, Charles Leadbetter kicked off the magazine with an opening essay on the Amateur Revolution. "The 20th century was marked by the rise of professionals," he said. "Now that historic shift seems to be reversing... we're witnessing the flowering of Pro-Am, bottom-up self-organization." Leadbetter was onto something.

Earlier this month, the New Yorker's James Surowiecki made his own case for the amateur when he laid into the "principal-agent problem." His essay, which touches off on the price-fixing and corruption scandal at Marsh & McLennan, describes an "economy in which knowledge is increasingly specialized and deferring to the judgment of experts makes sense." Problem is, those with the know-how (the professionals) are in a position to take advantage of those without (the amateurs). While scandals like those at Marsh are the exception, the author illuminates a couple of the darker corners of commerce (see the bit about real estate agents). Surowiecki's conclusion: "If the middleman offend thee, cut him out"... Become the professional-amateur.

Continue reading "Pro-Am World"

Posted by Lucas Conley at 1:30 PM | 1 Comment

Taking the Day

In the past, we've taken a look at sick-day excuses. Recent research in the UK indicates that business people have no excuse not to take sick days if they need to.

University College London scientists found that workers who drag themselves into the office when they have a cold may have a greater risk of heart disease. 30-40% of those in the study experienced 200% the chance of heart disease.

Lesson learned: If you're sick, stay home. Now it's not just so your coworkers don't get ill, too. You'll live longer.

Posted by Heath Row at 11:09 AM | 1 Comment

November 29, 2004

Kidults and Controversy

Jon Gertner's story in The New York Times magazine yesterday about the Geppetto Group, an advertising agency that exclusively works on kid-oriented campagins, didn't really offer the new insight into the marketing-to-kids debate that I expected. Chief Creative Officer Chris McKee, formerly of Saatchi & Saatchi, talks about marketing to "kidults" (those over-thirtysomethings who thrive on Harry Potter and Monsters, Inc.) and the need to market responsibly and fairly to kids. Indeed, the story focused more on the innovative restaurant concept Ozon, a kid-friendly eatery in Staten Island, N.Y. that uses a sandwich press to create concoctions like the "Wafflo" and the "Macocheese," than the responsible kid-marketing struggle. (I must admit, however, that I was interested to hear more about the firm's anthropological research on the "eight kinds of fun." There's only eight?) Who do you know that's doing innovative, responsible work when it comes to youth marketing? Where do you stand on the debate?

Posted by Jena McGregor at 5:57 PM | Add Comment

How NIMBY Becomes BIO

In Tullytown, Pennsylvania, Waste Management Inc. quietly resolved opposition to the building and operation of a local trash dump by paying residents a per-household fee each year. This year's holiday-time check: $2,000 for each of roughly 600 property owners. A town official says the checks, which vary in size and have been distributed since 1988, dramatically cut protests over the dump, trash trucks rumbling through town, and the occasional unpleasant vapors. A case of cash turning "not in my back yard" to "bring it on!" Tullytown residents also get free trash pick up. Still, the practice is not uncontroversial, with municipal and environmental officials worrying that the money placates citizens into not thinking about future health and environmental impacts. Could this be the solution to other NIMBY problems?

Posted by Charles Fishman at 5:48 PM | 2 Comments

Piggybacking on Other Brands

Here's a novel shot at a new restaurant concept: An eatery devoted to serving breakfast cereal. Cereality, a Boulder, Colorado, company this Wednesday opens its first full scale, sit-down restaurant, near the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The Philly location will serve 33 kinds of name-brand cereal, along with Cereality-created cereals, and specialty items like cereal bars. The basic menu item is a blast from Saturday mornings before mom and dad woke up: any two cereals, mixed in a bowl, with milk and one topping for $2.95. How about Captain Crunch and Lucky Charms with blueberries floating in chocolate milk?

Cereality servers wear pajamas. The restaurants are starting out near college campuses, because as the New York Times reported several weeks ago on its front page, cereal is all the rage as the latest college eating trend. Cereality, which already has a cafe operating at Arizona State in Tempe, has all the air of a clever idea that will run its course. Still, I don't think I can recall a restaurant that specialized in serving branded food from other food companies...

Posted by Charles Fishman at 5:41 PM | 9 Comments

The Revolution Will Not Be Professionalized

Expanding on Charles Leadbetter's Amateur Revolution essay in the October issue, Leadbetter and researcher Paul Miller have published The Pro-Am Revolution, a PDF book that you can download online. I've yet to be able to download a copy today, but Miller emailed me to say it's available for free as of today.

Posted by Heath Row at 4:35 PM | 1 Comment

Brands with Personality

Karen Post, a contributor to the Sales & Marketing resource center, recently met with the San Francisco chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. Here's what she had to say.

[Thanks, Diane!]

Posted by Heath Row at 1:00 PM | Add Comment

Fast Company... on the Air!

Fast Company deputy editor Keith Hammonds will appear on ABC World News This Morning, Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 4:40 a.m. He will expand on our December feature "Offshoring Creativity." (Access code required.) Tune in if you can!

Posted by Heath Row at 12:31 PM | Add Comment

Christmas Gifts for Billionaire CEOs

What to get for Christmas for the man who has everything--namely, the super-rich CEO of your favorite technology company? That used to be a problem that plagued millions of well-intentioned American consumers this time of year. But now it's easy thanks to Amazon.com's "wish list" feature, where even our greatest business luminaries reveal their secret desires. At this moment Amazon's own founder and CEO Jeff Bezos begins his 19-item wish list with a boxed set of DVDs of the four Alien films. A certain Steve Jobs of Palo Alto, California, wants only one item: a recording of Duke Ellington's Blues in Orbit. (Presumably it's not available to be downloaded on iTunes). And someone named Michael S. Dell of Austin, Texas, has registered for a Segway scooter, which at $4,495.00 is pricey even for a multi-billionaire. These guys need your generosity!

Posted by Alan Deutschman at 9:22 AM | 3 Comments

November 24, 2004

So That's Julie - Got It!

Today, on one what is traditionally the busiest day of the year for Amtrak, thousands of passengers will call to make sure their train's on time and hear, "Hi, this is Amtrak. I'm Julie." The automated system at Amtrak has a name as well as a lively personality. If you're a regular, you know that she responds, "Got it!" to each request, and that she even apologizes, "I'm sorry, I didn't get that."

More companies are opting for a casual script when it comes to automated service. By handling routine questions, these computerized reps ease the load on flesh-and-blood reps. Julie's 5 million calls a year save the financially-beleaguered railroad about $13 million. And because the automated system seems less impersonal, the voice becomes memorable, another character that customers associate with the brand. I confess, since moving from Baltimore to Chicago this year, I kinda miss calling Julie.

As for the real Julie, she's Julie Stinneford, a voice professional in Boston, whose friends will ask her to recite Amtrak Julie's lines.

Which computerized personalities do you think are charming or annoying? Which help a brand and which hurt it?

Posted by Chuck Salter at 2:11 PM | 10 Comments

November 23, 2004

The World's Most Respected Leaders: Do You Agree?

The Financial Times and Pricewaterhouse Coopers has just published a list of the ten most respected business leaders today. And the envelope....

• Bill Gates (Microsoft)
• Jack Welch (GE)
• Carlos Ghosn (Nissan)
• Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)
• Michael Dell (Dell Computer)
• Hiroshi Okuda (Toyota)
• Jeff Immelt (GE)
• Carly Fiorina (HP)
• Steve Jobs (Apple)
• Fujio Mitarai (Canon)

Gates won for the third year in a row, while Welch came solidly in second place even though he left GE in September of 2001. Do you agree? Who would you put on this list? Who would you take off?

Continue reading "The World's Most Respected Leaders: Do You Agree?"

Posted by Editor in Chief at 6:31 PM | 14 Comments

Design, Worldwide

The Design Council in the UK recently issued a report entitled Design in Britain 2004-2005. One of the UK's biggest business surveys, the study analyzes 1,500 companies -- and links the use of design and bigger profits, higher share prices, and improved competitiveness.

In the June issue of Fast Company, we identified who our team considers the masters of design in business. How do you use design to gain the competitive edge?

Posted by Heath Row at 5:57 PM | Add Comment

nocaB niveK

If you're still at your desk but you've already "checked out" for Thanksgiving, check out the Wiki Game. As a born researcher and chronic time-waster I can't help but admire this exercise. Think Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, played backwards. On the world wide web. With a time limit.

For those unfamiliar with Wikipedia, it's a free online encyclopedia with entries that grow and evolve by virtue of a large network of preapproved authors who make regular contributions. (The Six Degrees link above is actually a Wikipedia entry.) Kind of hit or miss, really... but when it hits, it's a gas.

Posted by Lucas Conley at 1:24 PM | Add Comment

The Flutie Effect

20 years ago today, an undersized quarterback named Doug Flutie improbably threw a 48-yard touchdown pass in the waning seconds to beat Miami in what is arguably the best play in college football history. (A BC grad myself, that play still gives me shivers everytime I see it.)

Much more than just winning the game, it also helped catapault Boston College from a regional school to a national university, bringing with it increased attendance, funds, and academics.

Where else have you seen the Flutie Effect in action?

Posted by Michael Prospero at 12:51 PM | 2 Comments

November 22, 2004

Rest in Peace

Norman Rose, the voice of the iconic advertising character Juan Valdez, died this past weekend. As Valdez, an imaginary Colombian coffee farmer, Rose pledged to select "only the ripest beans."

Posted by Heath Row at 2:09 PM | 1 Comment

The "Trimultaneous" Release

Straight to video. There's no worse insult in Hollywood. But not to Neverland Films. The independent film company released the feel-good holiday flick "Noel" in select theaters on Nov. 12th. The following week, Amazon started shipping the DVD on Flexplay discs, which expire 48 hours after the package is opened. In addition, the movie will air this Sunday on TNT.

The company that recently acquired Flexplay Technologies, The Convex Group, is billing this as the first "trimultaneous" release of a feature film, "designed to offer consumers multiple viewing choices while also generating awareness about Flexplay," according to a press release. It should also generate awareness for the film: Despite its star-studded cast (Susan Sarandon, Penelope Cruz, Alan Arkin, directed by Chazz Palminteri), the film is being released in only about a dozen theaters. Convex Group, interestingly, is owned by Internet wunderkind Jeff Arnold, the former CEO of WebMD, who also owns LidRock, which distributes promotional CDs on the lids of soda drinks at movie theaters and fast-food chains. (Trivia: Arnold's company recently designed the web site for the Clinton Presidential Center.)

Roger McNamee -- Silicon Valley visionary, business partner with Bono, Flying Other Brothers guitarist, and author of the just-released "The New Normal" (Portfolio, November 2004), an idea first formulated in our pages -- highlighted the "Noel" launch as one of the most interesting moves in the entertainment industry these days when he stopped by our offices last week. Indeed, Neverland's move follows the trend of letting the consumer control how, when and where they want to view their content (think TiVo, MP3 downloading) rather than being trapped by the content producer's rules. It's too soon to tell how well the movie will do, but it's fascinating to think what this sort of bold and innovative move could mean for the future of independent film and perhaps, Hollywood in general. At the very least, someone's finally thinking beyond the traditional blockbuster weekend launch.

Posted by Jena McGregor at 1:55 PM | 2 Comments

Era of the Millionaire

The annual survey conducted by the Affluent Market Research Program has found that there are now 8.2 million households in America claiming a net worth of more than $1 million. That's a 33% increase from last year -- and the largest year-to-year change in the program's history. The AMRP's manager says that most of these millionaires are merely investors -- who've stuck with the market through ups and downs for the long haul.

Posted by Heath Row at 9:57 AM | Add Comment

November 20, 2004

Setting the Record Straight on TiVo

Thanks to all those who so passionately responded to Thursday's blog on TiVo and the company's evolving approach to advertising. I spoke with a member of TiVo's outside PR this afternoon - here's what we discussed:

• TiVo will be serving up advertisements.
  
• The advertisements will appear on recorded programs when you fast forward through commercials.
  
• Advertisements will take the form of "small tags."
  
• These tags will appear for about four seconds, or however long it takes to fast forward the commercial.
  
• Users will be able to click the ad to learn more about the product or service.
  
• Once they've clicked through, users can opt in and pass on their contact info.
  

Continue reading "Setting the Record Straight on TiVo"

Posted by Lucas Conley at 4:31 PM | 3 Comments

November 19, 2004

Super-What?

I remember the first time I stepped into the great blue van: I had just graduated from college and on a whim, my sister and I took a spontaneous trip to San Francisco. Landing in this unfamiliar city at some ungodly hour of the night we were saved by SuperShuttle, the royal blue van with gold lining that for a mere $19 would take us door-to-door to our destination. Perfect for two twenty-somethings jet-setting on a tight budget.

Fast-forward some five years later, and SuperShuttle has become this New Yorker's lifeline when it comes to getting to the airport. That is, until they left me stranded on my doorstep a rainy day this summer, almost forcing me to miss my flight to Portugal.

After waiting outside for 45 minutes amid a torrential downpour, I finally called 1-800-BLUEVAN to find out when my ride would arrive. "They already came and you're a no-show." "A no-show?" I retorted in disbelief, "I've been standing here for 45 minutes and clearly there's been no van." "That's not what the driver said," the customer service rep replied coolly. Despite my shock over their allegiance to the driver's word over the customer's, the clock was ticking and I needed to problem-solve more than argue. Surely we could work together on this. So I asked when the next van could come pick me up. "There's no one who can pick you up, you're a no show," he reiterated. "Well I'm going to miss my flight - what do you suggest I do?" "Catch a cab," he muttered snarkily.

Continue reading "Super-What?"

Posted by Danielle Sacks at 10:37 AM | 9 Comments

The Geeky Oscars

I had the chance, earlier this week, to attend an event called "The 8th Annual Industry Hall of Fame" dinner at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. This is an event that used to be held at COMDEX, the Vegas tech tradeshow that ceased to exist after last year's edition, and in the past they've inducted luminaries like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Michael Dell.

This year, the inductees included Alvy Ray Smith, co-founder of Pixar; John Seely Brown, onetime director of the Xerox PARC technology lab; and Jim Clark, a founder of Netscape and Silicon Graphics. (Interestingly, the Computer History Museum is based in nifty building right off the 101 freeway that was built for Silicon Graphics, but never occupied. The company simply shrunk too fast.)

Continue reading "The Geeky Oscars"

Posted by Scott Kirsner at 9:53 AM | Add Comment

November 18, 2004

TiVo: Where Duplicity Spells Dividends

Here's a great business strategy: Ask your customers what they love about your product and then take it away! Beginning in March, TiVo will begin showing ads during recorded programs. And no, your remote will not save you; pop ups and company logos (see clarification below) will actually appear when you press fast forward. (That means you'll earn yourself a 4-second TiVo banner ad for every 30-second commercial you eliminate.) Opt in (then confirm your interest a second time) and the advertisement will download your contact info. Options to buy products directly ("couch commerce") will follow later in the year.

No doubt many TiVo users are likely to see this transgression as a form of betrayal. After all, selling ads represents a fundamental shift in the customer relationship. For years TiVo built its reputation and customer base on convenience and an ad-free environment. The company even ran commercials showing a TiVo maverick throwing an ad-funded network exec out the window. "See," they implied, dusting their hands. "This is what to do with money-hungry suits!"

But it seems those mavericks liked the view from that corner office. Or maybe it's just that those execs came climbing back in.

Further Clarifications! [11/20/04]
Just got off the phone with a member of TiVo's outside PR. Here's what we discussed:

• TiVo will be serving up advertisements.
  
• The advertisements will appear on recorded programs when you fast forward through commercials.
  
• Advertisements will take the form of "small tags."
  
• These tags will appear for about four seconds, or however long it takes to fast forward the commercial.
  
• Users will be able to click the ad to learn more about the product or service.
  
• Once they've clicked through, users can opt in and pass on their contact info.
  

This information represents two clarifications to the original blog.
A) Rather than banner ads, as I mentioned above, "small tags" will appear. Granted, not a big difference here, but worth noting.
B) The opt in process requires an additional step of confirmation.

With any luck, I'll follow up with another blog once I've spoken to TiVo headquarters next week. Got any questions for the folks at TiVo? Post them here and I'll be happy to pass them on... Meanwhile, follow the links for more on the public reaction to the news. And thanks for your responses!

Posted by Lucas Conley at 8:21 PM | 7 Comments

Next-Gen Latchkey Kids?

A school district in Spring, Texas, is forging ahead to "1984," thanks to RFID technology. It's planning to equip some 28,000 kids with computerized ID badges so their parents can track their whereabouts to and from school, as reported by The New York Times. For anxious parents, it's peace of mind via high tech. But for critics -- high-schoolers with a penchant for playing hookie, perhaps? -- this sort of virtual leash will protect at the expense of privacy.

It'll be interesting to see how effective this will be. Sure, it can locate where astray children were before they went missing, but I'm skeptical of how helpful it can be when it comes to actually finding them if they are indeed lost or were kidnapped or insert worst-case scenario in here. So when it comes right down to it, is this technology useful in helping us manage our "dangerous" world, or does it only increase our paranoia?

Posted by Jennifer Vilaga at 4:44 PM | 2 Comments

Blog at Your Own Risk II

Two days ago, I wrote about a Flight Attendant that was fired because of pictures she put on her personal blog. Now there's the case of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who was (once again) fined by the NBA for posting on his blog that the league was foolish for starting the season on Election Day.

We'll put aside the idiocy of the NBA for now--I'm sure Mike and the Mad Dog have that covered-- But Cuban raises some good questions, which I'll quote:

"Do the customers and fans of the NBA or other leagues, feel it makes the league appear stronger, weaker or unaffected when a player, owner, coach, GM, or executive publicly criticizes the league? Are you as a consumer more likely to purchase, watch, recommend our products, or are you more likely to reduce your attachment and purchase of our products? How does it affect how you interact with us?"

Posted by Michael Prospero at 3:51 PM | 2 Comments

Coming to a City Near You

New York City submitted its bid yesterday for the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in the finals with Paris, Moscow, London, and Madrid. My question to you today, dear readers, is a two-parter:

For those of you from Los Angeles, Atlanta, or any other city that has recently hosted the games, was your Olympic experience as a resident of that town a positive or negative one? Did the games usher in increased development afterwards, or were you saddled with a huge bill after the torch went out?

For those of you living in New York, do you want the Olympics here? Will it push the city to even greater heights, or are you dreading the thought of even more tourists in Times Square?

Posted by Michael Prospero at 1:25 PM | 2 Comments

ROI Luck Club

Last year, Dan Pink spent time with psychologist Richard Wiseman to learn about the role luck can play in business and work. Now, two professors at ESADE, a business school in Barcelona, have published Good Luck: Creating the Conditions for Success in Life and Business.

When asked whether they believed in good luck, only 15% of B-school students said yes. 85% said no. Further research identified characteristics that combine to help further good luck. Here are five of those characteristics:

• Responsibility
• Learning from Mistakes
• Perseverance
• Confidence
• Cooperation

Reviews indicate that the book is one of those slim allegorical fables, but it's an interesting concept. Are you lucky? Why? Can you become more lucky?

Posted by Heath Row at 12:21 PM | Add Comment

Deadline Approaching: The Fast 50

Fast 50 applications are due Dec. 1, so there's not much time left to enter.

Fast Company is looking for remarkable people -- it could be you or someone you work with or admire.

We're looking for courageous leaders, energetic innovators, problem solvers and troubleshooters, trend and agenda setters -- readers who are fueled by courage, integrity, passion, and a commitment to results.

What did you accomplish in the last year? What did you learn? What story would you like to share?

Apply to be included in the Fast 50 by Dec. 1, 2004 -- only a couple of weeks to go! -- and you could be featured in the pages of Fast Company magazine.

Posted by Heath Row at 11:57 AM | Add Comment

November 17, 2004

Question of the Week

Do the highly visible antics -- and entrepreneurial activities -- of Paris Hilton have a positive or negative effect on the Hilton Hotels brand? Some people think it has no effect -- while others no longer stay at Hilton hotels because of the heiress. What do you think?

Posted by Heath Row at 3:06 PM | 6 Comments

Lou Dobbs, Actor?

CNN has introduced a terrific ad campaign with the tagline, "The power of CNN under your command." In the 30-second spots, demanding viewers enjoy intimate, hilariously controlling relationships with CNN heavies Wolf Blitzer, Paula Zahn, Anderson Cooper, and others. It's a really effective use of humor. Best moment: the woman who, while eating her lunch, flirts with Dr. Sanjay Gupta while half-listening to Lou Dobbs.

Posted by Keith Hammonds at 2:28 PM | Add Comment

The Coming Age Wave

Are marketers finally getting wise to the purchasing power of the over-40 consumer? If the crowd gathered for the "Mature Market Summit" at the Roosevelt Hotel this week was any indication, it seems something has subtly shifted in the past six months to make midlife consumers, if not exactly hip, then at least sexy enough to warrant some advertising attention.

One of the most compelling presentations of the conference was delivered by Denise Waggoner, VP, Creative Research, at Getty Images, the big photo supply shop. If a picture's worth a thousand words, then the raft of ads that Waggoner clicked through, from Target to Dove, to Eileen Fisher, to HSBC, to American Airlines, was a veritable Encyclopedia Britannica of proof that the Boomer consumer has at last landed on Madison Avenue's radar screen.

Continue reading "The Coming Age Wave"

Posted by Linda Tischler at 2:19 PM | 1 Comment

Lock up That Corner Office!

I got a huge chuckle this morning reading the WSJ account of Michael Eisner's testimony in the lawsuit over the severance paid to ousted Walt Disney President Michael Ovitz in 1996. The entire thing would be hilarious if it weren't so sad: a clueless board somehow approving $140 million in severance for 14 months of work, the petty fights in the office, Ovitz throwing a fit at Eisner's mother's funeral when he believed a car was blocking the hearse.

But the piece de resistance, in my view, was Eisner's testimony that after the hearse incident, the CEO of this public company actually took the time to write what amounts to a non-succession plan. "If I should get hit by a truck," he wrote to two directors, "the company simply cannot make him CEO or leave [him] as President with a figurehead CEO. It would be catastrophic!"

The irony is just lovely. Eisner is the man who, since taking over in 1984, steadfastly refused to work on succession planning until this year, only after he narrowly avoided getting the axe. Despite the fact that succession planning has become an accepted, indeed expected, part of good governance, Eisner never had the time or interest in looking for someone to back him up should something untoward happen to him. Some said he actively thwarted any attempts to do so and made sure that no No.2 ever got close enough to get a whiff of the corner office. But when it came to making sure who wouldn’t succeed him, he hopped right to it, penning this panicked note and shooting it off to his board. If he'd spent as much time thinking about who might actually be good for the job, Disney might have become a role model for good corporate governance rather than a poster child for the opposite.

Posted by Jennifer Reingold at 11:12 AM | Add Comment

Air-Speed Record

An experimental NASA jet dubbed the X-43A established a new world speed record when it accelerated to about 7,000 miles per hour -- 10 times the speed of sound. The jet's supersonic combustion ramjet, or scramjet, uses the bottom of a plane's body to collect and compress air. Traditional jet engines use rotating fan blades to compress air for combustion. Congratulations to all involved!

Posted by Heath Row at 9:39 AM | Add Comment

November 16, 2004

It's in the Cards

Continuing my interest in work-related card decks, I was pleased to learn about Idea Champions' Free the Genie cards. The deck of 55 creative thinking cards can be used as an oracle -- or a card game. You can use the cards to seek counsel, clarity, and insight, and teams can use them to brainstorm, solve problems, and accelerate innovation. They seem a bit steep at $24.95, but they're still an intriguing idea.

[via Innovation Weblog]

Posted by Heath Row at 7:04 PM | 2 Comments

To India with Love (and a PC)

Leave it to Conan O'Brien to find the hilarity in a topic as complicated and controversial as outsourcing. In a recent segment, staff writer Andy Blitz answers the question, what it's like to visit one of those tech-support centers located halfway around the world? He lugs his monitor and hard drive to India to track down Sharon, a help-desk technician for NBC, so that she can eliminate the pop-up ads flooding his PC once and for all. He wanders the streets looking for the NBC office, his computer balanced on his head like a water jug. He whines about pop-up ads to his rickshaw driver. He joins in a game of cricket. Finally, he arrives at the call-center cubicles, meets Sharon and promptly falls in love (a common reaction after being rescued by an IT specialist).

Silly? Sure. But there's something undeniably satisfying about putting a face to that disembodied voice on the line.

Posted by Chuck Salter at 4:29 PM | 2 Comments

Blog at Your Own Risk

Ellen Simonetti was fired last month as a flight attendant for Delta after posting, on her mildly amusing personal blog, what the New York Times calls "provocative pictures" of herself in uniform draped over airline seats. Regardless of what you may think of the photos, what lines should be drawn, if any, between your work and personal life? Considering how the two seem more enmeshed than ever, do you think Delta overreacted? What would you have done?

Posted by Michael Prospero at 2:22 PM | 9 Comments

November 15, 2004

Are You There God? It's Me Your Pharmacist

Saturday morning my mother and I spent an hour on the phone relishing in post-election blues. As we swapped frustrations across 2,000 miles (I'm in the blue state of New York; She's blue in the red state of Florida), she informed me of an infuriating article she read in USA Today. Evidently, pharmacists have the right to "refuse on moral grounds to fill prescriptions for contraceptives."

One CVS customer was denied refills of her birth-control pills because her pharmacist doesn't believe in birth control. Another woman (who claimed she was a victim of rape) was refused contraceptives in an Eckerd drug store for the same reason. According to the article, the American Pharmacists Association has a policy that arms druggists with the right to refuse to fill prescriptions "if they object on moral grounds." Mississippi, South Dakota and Arkansas all have legislation that protects a pharmacist's God-given right to insert their conscience into a consumer's decision.

Continue reading "Are You There God? It's Me Your Pharmacist"

Posted by Danielle Sacks at 12:35 PM | 28 Comments