The harBLOG

Are You Still Paying Full Price?

2011-09-25T09:14:00.000-04:00

Over the last 18-24 months, it has become very obvious that only suckers still pay full price for just about anything. Coming out of the '08 economic crisis most retailers were focused on maintaining consumer interest by offering steeper discounts, loyalty programs and 'always on' promotions. Once things 'rebounded', the advent of group discounting/buying sites became more prevalent, leaving consumers with multiple options on securing many items and services.

If you want to save more on your consumer spending contributions, let's review some of your options..

Promo Codes:
On most every retailers checkout process, there is a data field option asking to 'apply promo code'. You can either grab the code at that moment (by opening another browser) or begin your shopping experience from a coupon site.

Free shipping, % off discounts, dollar-off discounts and loyalty point rewards are the common discounts/promotions that can be found prior to or during any shopping experience.

Start at couponcabin.com, retailmenot.com or bradsdeals.com. You can find these discounts for just about any brand you often shop. These sites also promote in-store coupon options as well.

Private Sales:
These sites satisfy the consumers need to feel like they belong to an exclusive club. Exclusive, because many are invite only. But models are shifting since the daily deal landscape has become very saturated. From OneKingsLane for furniture, to GiltGroupe or RueLaLa for fashion, to Zulilly or BabySteals.com for kids clothing. I'll put it this way, whatever your category, just Google "[your favorite category] daily deal site" and you will most likely discover yet another one.

Group Buying & Daily Deals:
The future of the group buying model is still unfolding in front of our eyes. What seems like a great deal to the local customer, may be putting your favorite mom-and-pop shop out of business.
Plus for the estimated $577 million of daily deals that go unredeemed, a new market for reselling those unused deals is beginning to flourish as well.
Keep an eye on BuyWithMe and LivingSocial for the group based, daily deals.

SMS/Mobile Programs:
The increase of mobile/smartphone usage will only help increase a consumer's ability to gain discounts. Many retailers will provide a sign up prompt, promising exclusive discounts if you provide a mobile number and opt in to the program. More and more retailers will leverage your physical location to target you with these exclusive offers. Mobile proximity marketing is projected to be a $6 Billion market by 2015.

Think twice the next time you're about to pay full price for something. There are options out there to help save you money.

4 Considerations When Running User Generated Ads/Commercials

2010-07-29T15:09:00.000-04:00

Doritos or Pepsi may be the first brands that come to mind as ones that did it well. IceHouse Beer is a brand that came off as desparate. At their core, these are sweepstakes executions that leverage video as the end delivery product (vs trivia, simple sign up, etc).

When inviting your customers (or people you believe to be your customer) to drive your creative strategy, consider these four things...

1. Are you sure this is a good idea?
Research. I'm sure there are several companies that thought this was a great idea, but when digging deeper they realized that their expecations would not resonate with their customer base. Having a target demo of 18-49 does not always automatically equal prime audience for user generated ads. Demo is one thing, your brand is another. Does your brand fabric align with existing social ecosystem?

If you are setting up your facebook page the same time you're planning to execute a UGC campaign...you may want to hold off. Do not force the execution, rather, invest in research time and effort to ensure traction among your target.

2. Beware of the Vacuum.
Your brand may be ripe for a UGC campaign...but how does that overlap with other brand messages/campaigns that are in the market? Setting up a landing page, minisite, facebook tab dedicated to your 'submit your video' idea -- independent from other strategies, tactics and executions -- may confuse and eventually detract customers from staying engaged and caring. Some of the most successful UGC campaigns are well planned and executed across all consumer touch points (often inclusive of product packaging).

However, some UGC campaigns have gained traction virally; almost void of any promotion other than leveraging a few influencers/evangelists.

Don't get sucked into the 'this idea is good enough on its own' mentality. This is when your brand becomes unmistakably desparate in the eyes of the public...primarily your (former) customers.

3. Commit To Measurement.
Successful UGC campaigns are often the ones that get the most press/coverage/buzz..but I wonder if any of these ever moved the revenue needle. When you clarify your success metrics during the planning process, all 3rd parties/vendors/stakeholders involved are on the same page...there is less finger-pointing or spotlight-hogging when the press picks up on your initiative.

4. Share the losers.
Sure, you want to reward and promote the smartest, most clever brand enthusiast you have...but the majority of those that participated or simply watched from the sidelines want to see the train-wrecks. This is human nature and customers will love you for it. Let everyone vote for the 'worst of the worst' if the campaign is worth extending. Ever hear of William J. Hung?

Some other recommended tools/tactics that can help with your UGC campaign..

* Enlist a social monitoring tool (socialradar.com, scoutlabs.com, peoplebrowsr.com): keep tabs on impact, sentiment and buzz around your initiative

* Vanity URLs : capture your catch phrase (yourtagline.com) or extension from your brand (brand.com/submityourad) to determine demand spikes during and after your promotion

* QR codes : expand your touchpoints and empower the smartphone generation to engage and share.

FREE social listenting tools

2010-06-28T10:06:00.001-04:00

situation : you are someone looking for quick/easy/free tools to scour the social landscape.
you already use google trends, technorati, digg and search.twitter.
you are looking for enough hi-level data to make assumptions, trends and surface level recommendations.
you are not ready to pay monthly fees/per query costs.

solutions: try these free social listening tools (remember to keep realistic expectations...these are free)

icerocket.com

pb.ly

socialmention.com

backtype.com

life-stage vs life-cycle marketing

2010-06-27T10:18:00.002-04:00

over the past 4 years, i encountered several life changing experiences..a relocation, a new job, a new house, got married, bought a house and became a father (two yrs apart). each of these has a series of post-event marketing opportunities.

now that the dust has settled (somewhat), it became apparent one day at the tremendous missed opportunity by advertisers/brands that could've become exclusive partners (and recipients of my hard earned money) over this time.

most of my brand engagements were proactive and self selecting based on standard operating procedure of day-to-day 'consumer-ing'...using an affiliate coupon here or there, or receiving a special 'thank you' coupon for signing up to an email program.

enter the age of the ubiquitous shopper, liquid content and the expanding gap between consumers and a brands ability to 'connect' at a real and meaningful level.

seems like this article was on the right track, but it was in the stone ages..circa 2003

is there a need for a focused resurgence around the idea of lifestage vs lifecycle? does one feed the other?

there is/has always been a focus on CRM, but now SRM (social) requires more smarts around modeling of customer behavior. there will always be CPG cycles that refresh every 30-60-90 days...

but what about the missed opportunity that overlaps consumption need with emotion (now have two kids and could use some time saving offers/solutions), location (recognize that i moved to NE from SE.seasons are more pronounced) and power of influence (leverage expanded social network).

i would argue that if a reputable company were able to offer lifestage consumer opportunities (market to me when you know i'm entering a pivotal stage, dont make me find you), then there could be a way to pioneer a stronger brand/consumer relationship and maximize revenues (premium customers) based on real relevancy.

not sure if any model like this exists, either via an affiliate network, iphone app or other means...if not, i certainly smell a business plan cooking.

can banner impressions be more accountable?

2010-06-25T19:47:00.001-04:00

first, there was a concept of banner blindness; site visitors ignoring banner ads due to the overwhelming volume (of irrelevant offers, images, etc) that one is exposed to.

next, the display ad landscape evolved quickly, frantically, strategically...but not necessarily in the future interest of the customer.

retargeting and behavioral targeting became must-haves. cookie my visitor, serve them ads when they leave the site, assume that browsing=buying and charge the advertiser a % for every sale delivered.

the model supports networks in serving as many ads as possible, in order to cookie as many potential visitors...in order to re target them...in order to make money.

this means that if an ad is served below the fold (or as long as the code is fired), someone is still cookied..forget about whether or not the ad is relevant, it is just a matter of getting them to the site.

enter solutions like a RealVu.net and mediaforge.com that allow for accountability and paying only for 'viewable impressions' or when there has been a deeper engagement (hover, scroll, etc) than just the ad being served.

interested to see what effect/affect may be caused due to these sort of solution.

i would expect premium pricing within ad networks for this above the fold (ATF) inventory..but can it be done via networks with scale as well?

does it mean that BTF inventory begins to shrink even more?

overlay this into social and mobile applications (that can track this today)...does the smartphone/ipad app then help eliminate the ATF/BTF conversation?

we shall see

first date at 30,000 feet? a good thought, but...

2010-06-25T09:53:00.001-04:00

for anyone that is a frequent traveler, there is (was) a service that allows you to connect with like-minded, industry, etc individuals on your flights...enter airtroductions.com; part match.com, part seatguru.com.

while the initial value prop was geared towards 'making professional contacts', it appears that the user intent favored a more 'ashley madison' type biz model.

while there has not been much activity/press since 2006, but you thought with the recent press/buzz around clooney's "up in the air movie", this may have re-gained some traction.

other providers that may help the premise stick include : hitchster.com and flyertalk.com

minivan = swagger wagon?

2010-06-25T09:19:00.000-04:00

the popular YT video is toyota's attempt to (a) refocus the public eye away from the re-calls and (b) attempt to rebrand the overall image, and stigma, of the minivan

http://bit.ly/doxv0p

initial thoughts...it may take more than the investment in a YT channel, clever lyrics and well produced 'video' (commercial)..but it's a good start. anything phrase with 'wagon' in it is tough to convey as 'cool' or 'not like a station-wagon'

being in the target minivan market (fam of 4, struggling with gas mileage of the 3rd row SUV), i must say that the video was enough for me to reconsider during my next purchase cycle..but found myself going back to thinking...'im sure these vehicles are being cranked out at the same plants where the other faulty brake installs were...seems too risky...i'll be a slow adopter on this'

an 80's cult movie source?

2008-07-07T15:11:00.002-04:00

stumbled upon this site that focuses on 80's cult movies....www.80scultmoviesource.com

the poll of "who was the biggest 80's movie stoner" was entertaining. they seemed to have missed coverage on some of the bigger/better movies like Friday the 13th series, Footloose, Porky's and Zapped.

there seems to be a resurgence of 80's movie actors in the new-found 'reality' series circuit...

c. thomas howell from Red Dawn and Soul Man stars in Celebracadabra on VH1

scott baio embarrassed himself on 'Scott Baio is 46 and pregnant'

Happy Holidays 2007

2007-12-22T19:35:00.000-05:00

three days before christmas and i'm done all my shopping....first time in a few years. this year i did 90% of my shopping online. it only took one saturday trip to target to direct me to the web.

last week saw a host of holiday parties (both work and friends) and little sleep. today was a great day for catching up on some rest and gift wrapping.

one of the coolest gifts received so far (work exchange) was a flip video recorder.

so far it seems very functional, easy to use and delivers high-quality video...best of all, allows for quick/easy upload and makes it easy to house all video clips for use on youtube, revver, google video, etc.

back to work for a few days next week, then off to the beach for new years.

Crocs - Believe The Hype?

2007-06-16T12:31:00.000-04:00

with great suspicion and some anxiety, i decided to see what all the hype was about and get a pair of crocs. not the trend setting 'clog' style, but one that i could see getting some long term use out of...the athens (flip flop) model.

bottom line, are they as comfortable as they look and as what everyone has been saying? yes they are. granted, i have another pair of flip flops that are slightly more comfortable, but they certainly are not as resilient to odor and wear and tear.

i was also shocked to see what the crocs company was doing on wall street (CROX). for a company that cranks out footwear in various rubber molds, they recently hit a high around $90 then executed a 2:1 stock split. huh? believe the hype? guess it's hard not to at this point. just do a search on youtube or the web 2.0 engine of your choice.

however, with every footwear retailer cranking out knock-offs, give it a few months to see if this can sustain momentum...while you're waiting, you may as well get yourself a pair.

Phillies Phever

2007-06-10T12:35:00.000-04:00

decided to get a Phillies sunday ticket plan this year. aside from the dismal start, they seem to be turning things around...but trying not to get too excited. history will most likely repeat itself and the phillies will start dropping games right after the all star break...and end up one game out of the playoffs.

seats are fairly decent left field, and provide a great view of the action. to make it more enjoyable, we're seated behind a crew a college-aged season ticket holders. they provide a different kind of comedy (in addition to charlie manuel's coaching decisions) in the form of heckling the visiting left fielder...and sometimes, deservedly so, our own pat burrel.

a day at the ballpark is always entertaining and provides opportunity to experience some age old traditions; ballpark hotdogs, overpriced beers, smell of roasted peanuts, and in the case of citizens bank park, a schmitter sandwich.

if the phillies can't at least remain at .500, i'm not sure if even the environment will be enough to get us down there on a summer sunday. we'll see.

Retail Karma...Consider Yourself Warned

2007-04-28T10:46:00.000-04:00

few months ago, my wife and i visit Target first thing on a Sunday (highly recommended if you want to miss the crowds) to purchase our necessary batch of consumer products. we also end up getting a well-needed tv/entertainment stand. we get home and after assembling said tv stand, decide to look at the receipt to confirm how much we spent on the project that just took us 1.5 hours to assemble.

to our surprise, favor, it looked like Target failed to charge us for the stand. even thinking back to the check out sequence, we recall positioning the stand SKU panel so the cashier could scan...guess it was too early for her. at this point we decide to chalk it up to an oversight and continue to enjoy our new purchase.

a few weeks back, we revisit again for a few more things (new house always needs something). included in this trip was a 3-pack of v-neck t-shirts - size L. when i get home and open the pack, realize that somehow the pack of "L" t-shirts includes 1x size L and 2x size MEDIUM?

granted, cost-benefit ratio still favors us, and that we expected Target to get its revenge somehow, but found it eerie that of the piles of packs of T's, i grabbed the one mislabled or mis-packed.

keep in mind the next time the cashier misses a sku scan or that pack of soda underneath your cart.

So Far, So Good...

2007-02-14T17:32:00.000-05:00

getting settled in to the new house, new job, new neighborhood, new commute, new co-workers. the first six weeks of 2007 have flown by. is it spring time yet?

i can say with 100% confidence that my next home move will include hiring a moving company. we moved ourselves thinking we didn't have much stuff...we were wrong. boxes seemed to have multiplied when it came time to unload the truck.

in getting used to our new surroundings, we've had the pleasure of discovering the nearest WaWa, foodstore, gym, beer distributor, etc.

the greatest find had to be the local diner. we lived for years in our old area where the closest place for a half-decent breakfast sandwich was a 20 minute ride. this place is classic. open at 5am. closed by 2pm. max occupancy around 20. family owned. milkshakes from scratch. great diner meal for two under $15. if you haven't found one like this by you yet, start exploring. it's worth it.

Year End Free Time

2006-12-22T10:22:00.000-05:00

i recently resigned from my job. the reasons are not worth getting into, but i'm excited for my next career strengthening opportunity.

i didn't realize until today how timely this decision was. i basically have three weeks (two of which are paid) to decompress, catch up on holiday shopping, prepare for my next job and enjoy time with family and friends.

my wife also has off next week (she's a teacher), so we will also be able to prepare for our big move in mid January.

so let's see....in the coming weeks, i'll be experiencing a new job, settlement on a new house, moving/settling into the new house and my 30-something birthday.

think i'll take a nap.

Dogs On A Plane

2006-12-08T19:26:00.000-05:00

on a recent 4-hour flight back east, i had the pleasure of being on the same plane as, not one, but two screeching lap dogs.

based on recent policy changes by the airline related to traveling with pets, having tinkerbell flying in business class with the everyday business traveler, vacationer and crying baby is now status quo.

at first everyone thought the noise was a defective engine part or extremely whiny child, but after a few minutes it became clear that we were all in for a joyous flight.

after several passengers asked the stewardess what her 'plan' was, she emphatically encouraged us to 'write a letter'. she went on to explain that the passenger should have been made aware that her dogs had to be tranquilized for the flight...well, clearly she either missed that message or failed to pay attention.

once i realized that we were all in it for the long haul, i began wondering a few 'what ifs'...what if the dog had to 'go'?....what if one of them died?...what if they never stopped barking?

thank god for noise canceling headphones.

Home Search - Update

2006-12-08T19:13:00.000-05:00

Since the last post, a lot has happened. Our townhome is sold and we've found a new house. We've put in an offer and are in the post-home inspection phase. If all goes well, we'll be able to settle on both places on the same day...which means logistics are key to make sure all necessary parties show up.

I can honestly see why 'buying a home' is on the list of the top stressful events in a person's life.

Next up, finalizing the mortgage, coordinating the move, buying the furniture, meeting the neighbors.

The Joys of Selling/Buying a Home

2006-11-12T11:25:00.000-05:00

we've had our home on the market for the past three months. let's just say things are in line with what analysts are calling a 'slow market'. a slow market that benefits the buyer. a slow market that is tough on the seller...both of which we qualify for.

on average, i check about 120 home updates per day online; including new listings and updates to existing ones (usually a notification of a price reduction).

the objective is being able to sell at a reasonable price where we can still make a solid profit. then, put on the 'prospective buyer' hat and find an ideal house at an ever more reasonable price.

after reducing our price three times and hosting numerous showings, the 'interested parties' are starting to appear. we should have an offer in the next few weeks. but trying not to get too excited until there is something in writing and the inspection has passed. it will be a joyous day when the house doesn't need to be in staged condition 24/7. stay tuned.

Howard! Howard! Howard!

2006-10-26T20:40:00.000-04:00

in an effort to reach more of the masses, sirius radio offered free service Wednesday and Today. Aside from access to 70+ of commercial free music channels, the big push is for the uncensored Howard Stern show.

Stern isn't for everyone. But if you thought his show on commercial ('terrestrial') radio was funny, it only gets better when there is no FCC to worry about.

Love em or hate em, you have to resepct his ability to monetize his raw talents in a much censored media world.

Interesting to see the relationship between Google searches/news references on 'Howard Stern' and 'Sirius Radio' over the past few weeks/months. Will be interesting to see if there are any increases once October data is updated..

Easy Web 2.0 Directory

2006-10-15T20:28:00.000-04:00

Online music storage. Open source blog platforms. Online calendars. Live, group note-taking wiki. Other tools for mashups. Find all your resources, tools and platforms here.

Give yourself plenty of time when visiting this site. You may be aware of some or all of these applications, but probably never had them all easily consolidated in one location.

Cool Web Tools

2006-10-04T19:27:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wanted to build your own search engine? Want to only scrub sites that pertain to certain queries? Check out Rollyo.

Did you have a better name for Google than...Google? Rename your own 'Google' search engine. It's always good to dream...

Three school shootings in the past 10 days. I'm sure there was an impact on web searches, but the question is 'how much?' Yahoo's Buzz Index has some pretty interesting stats. Whenever a celebrity provides some watercooler fodder, The Buzz Index is a good reference to see what the world deems search-worthy.

On that note, if you want to see how the "buzz" correlates to search volume over time, check out Google Trends. Check out results for Google vs Yahoo. For US based comparisons, it also provides breakout of popularity by city.

Know of any other cool web tools?

Survivor - What Next?

2006-09-14T20:21:00.000-04:00

the thirteenth installment of the 'reality' show pioneer begins tonight. unless you've been living on Mars, you've heard that producers have decided to segment contestants by race. while the media is largely responsible for making this decision 'news-worthy', i'm still trying to figure out why all the hype and criticism; claiming the decision was supporting segregation among various races and communities.

watch any cbs morning news program on sept 15th, and you're guaranteed to hear from the first contestant voted-off and from your local asian/african/latino support group on how cbs played the race card to expose their 'people.' i can only imagine that cbs executives are patiently waiting for one race to refer to another race (or to one another) as something other than the PC version..or referencing/suppporting certain stereotypes. i'm sure the producers will be able to bake up a controversial situation to help spurn some animosity...i'm sure the media can't wait.

let's be honest, the name of the game here is ratings...which equates to ad revenue. last season contestants were segmented by age (young / old) and gender...apparently this wasn't enough to gain/maintain the ratings that make producers happy.

what's next? i guess it would be more like what's left? how about gay tribe vs. straight tribe. convicts vs. lawyers. probably a matter of how far can they push the FCC.

in another few days, this whole hype surrounding the idea of segmenting contestants by 'race' will be long forgotten and the show will most likely see ratings that fade over the coming weeks...forcing producers to think of how they can draw out the 'live finally' with some other twist.

in a fast evolving media consuming society, i don't see how this decision was seen as so controversial. if producers tried this sort of segmentation back in season two or three, it never would have made it passed the brainstorm session. i'd like to think that the other real life 'reality' news bits (teacher raping student, student shooting spree, that thing happening in iraq) help put things in perspective.

how long before we're watching a real life execution similar to the Schwarzenegger movie The Running Man?

What Ever Happened To...

2006-09-06T22:07:00.000-04:00

...that show on comedy central, 'shorties watchin shorties'?

some of the most classic stand up bits, by up and coming comics, animated.

just finished watching dane cook's vicious circle stand up act...if you 'get' his act, i strongly recommend it.

..which got me thinking that he had a few bits animated on that show...here's one of em..

Penn State vs. Notre Dame - The Rivalry Continues

2006-09-06T21:25:00.000-04:00

in a little over two days, penn state football will revive their rivlary with notre dame for a home and home series. the last game played was back in 1992...which was a battle in the snow that ended with some last minute pass. hope this one is as exciting, but ends in favor of the nittany lions. timing couldn't have been better..cause lord knows if this game happened in the last six years, it wouldn't have been worth watching since PSU was struggling at the hand of zach mills.

with 1 in every 700 pennsylvania residents being a PSU alumni, i would expect a strong showing in south bend. after next year's game, i expect each team to enter a re-building phase..regardless of casey clausen's little brother taking over for the mighty quinn.

here's to a good game...

Rainy Saturday = Starbucks

2006-09-02T11:02:00.000-04:00

what better way to start a saturday..tall regular venti and a wifi connection. sound serene and relaxing? it was until some woman decided to let us ALL involuntarily hear her cell phone conversation(s) about her trip to philly, how much she hates rain, how her carpet installation is going at home, her sump pump issues, what her kids think about grandma, and on, and on...SHUT IT!

forget about banning drinking during gametime at PSU, how bout getting a grasp on the 'cell yell'.

Are You Kidding Me?

2006-09-01T20:54:00.000-04:00

Penn State recently imposed a ban on drinking DURING the football game OUTSIDE the stadium. As a PSU alumni, I never thought I'd hear the words 'ban', 'drinking' and 'football' in the same sentence. Officials claim that this is in response to an increase in underage citations, destroying of property and an overall 'big drinking problem.' This is college. The atmosphere almost requires drinking as a habit. I don't get it.

So if you prohibit drinking DURING the game, I would assume that drinking consumption would increase BEFORE and AFTER? This situation creates a 'necessity' that will become the mother to the college kids 'invention'. Back in the '90's, kegs were banned...that led to buying cases. Then they passed a 'ban' that required all tailgaiting to shut down one hour after the game was over. Regardless of the attempt to curtail drinking, fans always found a way to have a drink (or seven) and enjoy themselves.

Tailgaiting is a religion at PSU. It's part of the overall experience. Imagine the thirty-something professional being told to 'dump that beer' while enjoying the game on a tv outside of his/her RV during the game. Regardless of the fine, I'm sure they'll be able to afford it and won't care.

Despite what officials claim that this is positioned to clean up the drinking, I can't help but think that this is another means to an end of generating more 'revenue' from the student body and the already cash-cow football program.

Here We Go....

2006-08-31T22:17:00.000-04:00

If you too are a fan of college football, today marks the start of 16+ weeks of starting every Saturday with College Gameday (anyone know where Trev Alberts is nowadays?). It also means checking bodog or sportsbook religiously for the right parlay, resulting in an occassional 8+ hour binge of watching espn2, tbs and even cn8 to see if your big east, c-usa or pac10 team covers the spread.

Every year I like to make things interesting by joining a season long college football draft , a weekly college football pool, and an placing an 'occassional' online bet. Thus, I care more about the MAC, WAC and SunBelt teams than the average fan.

May you enjoy the time you spend watching Chris, Lee and Kirk...and your favorite teams do battle.

Bugaloe Beach Bar - Aruba

2006-08-30T21:30:00.000-04:00

Recently came back from a week long vacation in Aruba. I thought i've experienced some pretty cozy beach bars in my day, but nothing compares to Bugaloe Beach Bar in Aruba. Located on a pier by the 'high rise' hotels, it is THE king of all beach bars...mainly because it's not even on the beach..but resides on a pier... Friendly bartenders and waitresses. Cheap Happy Hour prices. Great sunset views. Relaxing cross breezes. It's tough to not spend an entire day hanging out at this place. If you ever get a chance, stop by for a few Amstel Brites.

A Few Good Reads...

2006-08-29T21:47:00.000-04:00

If you have any interest in knowing how Google became...Google, I would recommend John Battelle's "The Search...How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture." For those of who familiar with the rise/fall/rise of the Internet landscape, it provides a great perspective on what helped evolve the Search Engine Marketing sub-culture. It's interesting to learn more about just how close Yahoo! was to becoming what Google is today.

The other is Bo Burlingham's "Small Giants." When it comes to selecting a new employer, or evaluating your existing one, bigger is not necessarily better. Once finished, you'll find it hard to not want to downsize, break off to start your own company or re-evaluate how your company views profits or employee benefits.

Tour de Shore - 2006

2006-08-29T08:41:00.000-04:00

What is Tour de Shore? I'm sure there are many other events that share this name, however, I am referring to the one that takes place every August in Avalon, NJ.

It's part scavenger hunt, part bike race, part costume party, part bar tour. Individually, each of these is fun. Roll them all together in one day, and you have yourself one hell of an event. Check out the clock in the background of the second pic...it's only a little after noon on a Sunday...and the bar was packed and the drinks were flowing. There is always a mass of Philadelphia area professionals that call out 'sick' the Monday following.

I believe this year marked the 20th anniversary. I've done it for the last six years. To get a better sense of what the day entails, check out pics from the 'un-official site'.

...And So It Begins

2006-08-26T16:31:00.000-04:00

here we go. after months of contemplating and years of procrastinating, it is now time to start my own blog. tons of things to say and post. stay tuned...my primary inspirations for this venture include stumpy p and mr burton.