Being Peter Kim

Grant McCracken was right

I was in New York today and had a chance to peek into the Conde Nast cafeteria.  Why did I do this?  Because I read a post on Grant McCracken's blog about a year ago about the Frank Gehry-designed space, where he described it like this:

"It's a slightly anxious place, because a) everyone looks fabulous, except of course your devoted anthropologist and, b) they are engaged in the activity that threatens their fabulousness, eating.  This is a world in which a carrot stick counts as calorie loading."

Your devoted marketing analyst has this to say about the place - confirmed, it's full of beautiful people.  Last summer I visited the Google cafeteria in Chelsea - full of smart people.  But the corporate New York cafeteria I'm most familiar with is the the ConEd cafeteria, where I spent quite a bit of time a decade ago.  It's full of...cafeteria food.

Reflections on Istanbul, or don't get punkd like me

Usually when I travel, especially outside the US, I try to squeeze in some personal time to check things out.  This can be critical to maintaining sanity when your job requires a lot of travel;  I'm scheduled to travel 22 out of the first 26 weeks of 2008.  Thankfully I'm not gone four days a week like a management consultant, but it adds up after a while.

I was in Istanbul last week.  I was looking forward to the trip, given that my last time there was January 2000.  However, what happened to me on the first day clouded my desire to explore any further.

I was with my colleague Shar and we were walking back to the hotel after taking a ferry over to Kiz Kulesi.  We were walking up a large hill between the Besiktas football stadium and a large park, towards a group of hotels including the Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton, and Intercontinental.  Mid-way up, some boys catch up to us peddling travel-size tissues.  Which later seemed odd, given that it's rude to blow one's nose in public.  But for some reason, they're just too close.  I didn't understand what they're saying, but they're shoving the tissues at us, so close that I had to push one kid away.  He comes back undeterred, we keep walking, and they suddenly give up.

Shar and I had been discussing the workshop we were going to deliver the next morning, so I reached into my pocket to send an email to our client...and my Blackberry is gone.  I still have my wallet and my Nokia N95 8gb (which I've been loaned from Nokia, it's a more expensive phone) - but the Blackberry is nowhere to be found.  Neither are the tissue boys.

OK.  It's Sunday, so getting help back in the US might be tough, especially because we're seven hours ahead and it's only 8 am there.  After calling the regular AT&T 800 number for customer service, which I already know is closed on Sundays, I find that AT&T has another number:  866-801-3600.  So the SIM is deactivated.  (Later our IT gurus tell me that Blackberry administrators can send a "kill" command - we reactivated my SIM and tried it, but the phone didn't respond.)  Suddenly, I feel disconnected from the world - unable to send a quick text message to my family or browse the latest in Google Reader.

Lessons learned:

• I was a victim of social engineering.  Being in a foreign country, I didn't want to be outright rude to these beggars peddling tissues - but I let them get too close to me.
• Don't carry anything of value in easily accessible pockets, e.g. the sides of your jacket or your back pants pockets.  I've heard of people's neck wallets being robbed...
• Activate the security features on your phone - device and/or SIM lock, including PIN and PUK codes.  It only takes a second to input a 4 - 6 character password to get into your phone.  Now I know why the Europeans I worked with were obsessive about this.
• All states have laws in place where you can place a security freeze your credit file, so only you can permit access to the information with a PIN or password.

In the twelve years or so that I've owned a mobile phone, I've never lost one so I was lazy about device security.  But hopefully you can learn from this before it actually happens to you.  If you have ever been in the same unfortunate position as me, I'd like to hear what you've learned and are now doing differently.

Wanted: Your tips on Istanbul

I should've posted this a while ago, but I've been crazy busy. 

I'm heading out to Istanbul later today.  Have you even been?  I have once, but it was eight years ago.

Can you recommend the best places to eat, things to see, activities that must be done, etc.?

Your advice is appreciated! 

4 x 4 things about me

I received this meme via email and thought I'd give it some bloglegs instead - renaming the meme 4x4.  Interesting to see the "n things" make its way around in a different channel.  I was also tagged by Shiv Singh a while back but dropped the ball. (sorry!)

The list I received had nine groups, which seemed odd to me for lists of four - but let's roll with it.  So here's my 4x4:

Four jobs I've had in my life:
1. Ice cream scooper at White Mountain Creamery.  First paid job ever.
2. Tennis instructor for Louisville Metro Parks.
3. Firewood broker.  Arbitrage in the community, buying at $30 from one side of town and selling at $50 on the other.
4. Stockbroker's assistant.  Called inactive clients all summer long.  One lived in Hawaii, who I woke up at 5 am.  More than one was dead, which explained the inactivity.

Four TV shows I DVR:
1. Prison Break
2. American Idol
3. Lost
4. 24 (despite its growing y/y plot ridiculousness)

Four places I've been:
1. New Iberia, Louisiana (on a July 4th weekend - hottest place ever)
2. Mobridge, South Dakota (due diligence on a warehouse)
3. Pyongyang, North Korea (its a long story)
4. Providenciales, Turks and Caicos (nothing better than a free Spring Break trip)

Four favorite foods:
1. Chipotle burritos
2. In-N-Out burgers
3. Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches
4. Korean fried chicken

I'd like to hear about from these four bloggers: Chris Brogan, Josh Hallett, Brian Haven, and Jeremiah Owyang.  Come to think of it, would love these four as well:  Ann Handley, Toby Bloomberg, Becky Carroll, and Marianne Richmond, too!

(If you prefer to substitute, the other groups were: people who email me regularly, places I'd rather be right now, people I think will respond, things I look forward to next year, and music artists I'm listening to right now.)

Business travel can be hazardous to your health

The next time a subordinate or significant other insinuates that business travel is a perk, refer them to this post and let them know what's up.

If it isn't the [rodents], then it might be the [bed bugs]; or perhaps a lack of [security] ...oh, and don't use the [hotel glasses]!

Many people also advise to remove the rarely-washed comforters from beds.  One time I also discovered that the cap on my $7 water bottle lifted off, no doubt refilled from the tap, not from Fijian volcanic rock water.  Take care out there!

Resolutions 2008

Dear Universe,

I have three main resolutions for 2008.  Please feel free to suggest ways to facilitate their accomplishment and check in during the year to see how things are going.

1.  Be more green.
[Any suggestions on how to measure this?]  I did not own a car in 2007.  That may not seem strange if you live in New York, London, or Tokyo - however, I live in Boston.  Unfortunately, externalities require that I buy a car this spring (but I'll still take the train to work).  So I'll compensate by trying to be more green in other ways.  For example, we've piloted a coffee mug program at work, where I've been told we use over 5,000 paper cups a week.  I may never go as far as my childhood friend and wind power guru Dave, but it's a start.

2.  Lose some weight.
Metric: 10 pounds - what I've gained over the past two years.  Okay, I may not need seat belt extenders when flying, but I haven't exercised on a regular basis since joining Forrester in December 2005.  Thankfully, my analyst picture was shot the month I started.

3. Save more money.
Metric: break-even cash flow.  You may find this silly, but I got some great ideas from watching Oprah.  I think for the past five years it's been easy for any self-directed investor to think that they've made good choices.  A 60% gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average...doesn't take much skill to buy an index fund and forget about it.  But life has become more complicated with 401(k)s, 529s, and a global credit crisis looming - time to find a good financial adviser. 

That's some of what being me will be like in 2008.

Sincerely,
Pete

What Is Love, GooTube style

Over the past year, Google has handled a majority of web searches - over 4 billion queries and about 60% share, according to Nielsen Online panel data.  For people querying the Google for advice, no question was more popular than "what is love."

If those people had searched directly on YouTube, they'd have found answers in music.

And they're not alone. For example, there are others, foreigners perhaps, that wanna know what love is and they want you to show them.  Others are somewhat timid; they ask what is love and ask that you don't hurt them.

Answers abound, but not without disagreement.  Love is real.  Only a feeling. Alive. Dead. Color blind. Blue. Orange. Pink.  Here. Gone. A killer. Like oxygen. Heavenly. A bitchslap.

My favorites:  Love is all around.  It's a battlefield.  It's all you need.

Happy 2008!  I hope you find all the love you want/need this year, whether eros, philos, agape - or just some geeky link love.

Reflections on Toronto

  Toronto 
  Originally uploaded by Pete Kim.

I was in Toronto last week.  Some thoughts on the trip:

- I went to Tim Horton's for a coffee.  In my change, I got a US penny.  Oddly enough, this is on the border of getting stiffed like getting Canadian change in the US, now that the currencies are about equal.
- People don't jaywalk.
- Some of the handlers working the YYZ customs queue are complete control-freak idiots.  Not what the world needs at 6 am before a 6:20 am flight.

5-year-old bear killer; it's red again; W+K shows off digital acumen?

Hi everyone who came here looking for posts on Twitter.  Those are further down.

I read this story last night - bizarre.

The bear theme carried through to the graphic from today's Ad Age Daily (it was a late night).  I decided to create one of my own, you can too.

Which reminded me that W+K posted about different campaign executions for Starbucks, including a link to "the interactive work" i.e. banners and a microsite.

If that's their best digital shot, seems like a weak cup of joe...maybe Starbucks should ping the agency that did their guerilla work a couple of years ago and get a double-espresso idea instead.  After the highly publicized Running to CP+B deal, I'd think W+K would want to be stronger than this.

Seeing green in London - how about online?

As someone from the US, it's hard not to notice the overwhelming focus on energy conservation when visiting Europe.  It's not just messages on napkin backs or food containers.  Mainstream media seems to run related stories frequently and strong educational program(mes) exist.  One that struck me in particular was the Energy Gallery that I saw during a revisit to London's Science Museum.  I've never considered myself an "environmentalist" by any means, but I'm thinking it's time to start...

Marketers are doing a lot of good deeds by rallying fellow bloggers - Age Of Conversation and The Ultimate Marketing Bookstore among others.  Hopefully we'll see more green initiatives in 2008.  I stumbled across a report from Umbria that says we're talking more about it - now let's do something...

Family-friendly Paris and London

I'm heading to Paris tomorrow.  Last time I went was January and got some great suggestions on family-friendly activities, which I'll repost here.  Then on to London, where the dollar is worth even less than last year.  Any additions to the ones below - especially places to go without going broke?

- Seine boat tour
- France miniature
- Parc Asterix
- Disneyland
- Playmobil Fun Park
(thanks to former Forrester colleague Michelle Bouquet!)

- Le Bois de Boulogne (e.g. jardin d acclimatation)
- L'Entrecote
(thanks to Eric Kintz, HP!)

Reflections on Barcelona

  Las Ramblas 
  Originally uploaded by Pete Kim.

I was in Barcelona last week.  Some thoughts on the visit:

- The weather was colder than I anticipated.  The Spanish people however were warm and friendly.
- Tapas were delicious - I especially enjoyed Ciudad Condal.  For a cozy experience, visit Can Paixano.
- Good souvenirs at Art Escudellers, in an alley off Las Ramblas.  They carry art from every region of the country.
- Sagrada Familia is starkly different from traditional cathedrals.
- The smaller the store, the more interesting the name.

And I would really appreciate if anyone could tell me more about the children's song behind this shirt from Nanoniano!

Panwapa

This is a good thing.  Sesame Workshop and Merrill Lynch have created Panwapa, in their words:

"A multimedia, global initiative that is designed to inspire and empower a new generation of children, ages four to seven, to be responsible global citizens.  In the Tshiluba language, spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa, the word "Panwapa" means "here on this earth."

Panwapa has five objectives for kids:

1. Build awareness of the wider world
2. Appreciate similarities and value differences
3. Take responsibility for one's behaviours
4. Participate in community and be willing to take action
5. Understand and respond to economic disparity

Kids can create global connections through the site.  The environment is safe as no personal information is ever exchanged - nobody types anything. 

This is a much more important form of social engagement than finding friends on Facebook.

Turn a kid you know on to Panwapa today.

Reflections on New York

  times square 
  Originally uploaded by Pete Kim.

I was in New York this week.  Some things I noticed:

- The weather was hot and humid. More like July than September.
- Three people reading TIME magazine.  Not in doctor's offices either.
- I didn't see many people wearing Yankees caps.  Where's the pride?
- Subway ads are mostly educational.  Learn English, public health info.
- The Airtrain rocks.  $7, no stop-and-go traffic.
- New Yorkers talking on the phone walk like tourists with cameras.
- Heads of state prefer the Intercontinental or the Waldorf-Astoria.  Their entourages stay in the W and the Marriott.

Reflections on Rio

  Palms on Copacabana Beach 
  Originally uploaded by Pete Kim.

I was in Rio de Janeiro last week.  Some thoughts on the trip:

People
- On the flight down, there seemed to be three types of travelers.  Brazilian families (most common), outdoorsmen (as evidenced by their t-shirts with pictures of bucks and bass), and businesspeople.  The outdoorsmen turned out to be involved in the oil industry, working on pipelines and oil rigs.  On the way back, the flight seemed to be primarily oil workers and U.S. business and leisure travelers.
- Yes, even in "winter" people wear very skimpy stuff on the beach.
- Everyone I met was very friendly.  My clients were gracious hosts and worked a lot of hours.

Being a tourist
- Set fares are ripoffs.  Go by the meter.  (1) At the Sheraton Rio, a staff member offered a car service to Corcovado and back for R$170.  I politely declined and started walking to get a cab.  They dropped the price to R$100.  I kept walking.  One way for R$50.  I said OK and think I took a bad deal.  (2) Leaving Corcovado for Pão de Açucar, I got in one cab and the guy said R$25.  I asked him to use the meter and he refused.  I got out and he said he would.  The fare ended up being R$12. 
- On my day as a tourista, the morning was quite cloudy.  I visited Corcovado in the afternoon under the premise that the clouds would burn off like in San Francisco.  They did and the views were amazing.  Totally worth it - walk up the steps after you get off the train for some exercise.
- I went up Sugarloaf (Pão de Açucar) at night, given that I had already seen the city from above by day.  Don't forget that there are two peaks.  Christo Redentor illuminated at night in the distance is pretty cool.
- One night I walked from one end of Copacabana beach (Leme) to the other (Ipanema), around 10 pm.  There was plenty of activity on the beach; a lot of football games, some just getting started.  Tons of people walking and jogging.  Very well illuminated.
- The shops at GIG have standard tourist fare.  Many stores price in USD and charge 2/3x more than what you'll find in the city.

Logistics
- I found some of the information and advice in my Frommer's 2004 Brazil guide to be either badly outdated or far off point.  For example, "later at night drivers start to look on red lights as optional."  Not that I saw.  Most of the prices on tourist attractions were still the same.  Average prices at restaurants were double or triple as listed in the book.  Other advice was spot on, like hold on to as many small bills and coins (i.e. R$1/2) as possible so others don't have to make change.
- Verizon Wireless?  Total letdown.  My colleague's T-Mobile device wasn't so hot either.  The best off were those traveling with AT&T/Cingular.
- Delta Air Lines?  No complaints.  The only thing I'd suggest is that Delta disable the touchscreen on their seat back TVs.  A middle-aged man jabbing at channels over an entire flight is like a two-year old kicking your seat.  And both have no clue.

Food
- If I ever do the Atkins diet, I will move to Brazil while doing it.
- Warm pão de queijo for breakfast is delicious.  A little bit like pierogis.
- Pastéis are tasty as well.  Kind of like crab rangoon.
- Farofa - great addition to a meal.  Very unique.  Kind of like corn meal.  Kind of like grits.  But really neither.
- Caipirinhas are deceptively strong.  Like a wave's undertow.
- Restaurants that made an impression:  Porcão and 00.
- There is a McDonald's on Copacabana beach.  I didn't eat there.
- Great fruit.

YouTube helps me remember

As I get older, certain events of cultural, social and political significance become etched in memory, along with where I was at a specific point in time.  Aka a lot of "where were you when"-type moments.

Most recently, this was when Barry Bonds hit his 756th career home run.  I had just gotten off a JetBlue flight from Long Beach to Oakland and had watched most of the game on the way up; then happened to stop by a bar in the airport to see the historic at-bat.  There were a lot of people standing there watching who cared; there were about the same number who didn't, just having a pre-flight drink.

Speaking of baseball, there was also that 2004 ALCS Game 7.  Late night, had to go to work the next day.

Another moment was the 2nd tower being hit on 9/11/01.  I was in Phoenix and awake around too early for local time - normal for someone from the east coast.  An indulgence actually, to be able to sleep in.

But the first time this occured to me was September 1995 - I was at a hotel near the Philadelphia airport for a training class when the O.J. Simpson verdict was returned.

For those of a different generation, it was when you heard about JFK or Reagan being shot.  Or even the day the music died.  Maybe for Gen-Y it's when you heard Paris was going to jail.

I'm no psychologist - any thoughts on why an event does/doesn't stick?

Most amazing to me is how YouTube helps us remember.

Wanted: Your tips on Rio de Janeiro

Hi - I'm down to Rio de Janeiro next week on business.  Pretty busy schedule, but I'm hoping to squeeze in as much interesting stuff as possible.  Any advice on:

- Things to do?  i.e. advice on things that must be seen/heard/felt/eaten?
- Security?  (especially beyond common sense tips for any big city)
- Other general dos and don'ts?

Thanks for your help!

Thomas and Friends recall: Lead Paint

If you have kids, or friends/relatives with kids, and they play with Thomas the Tank Engine trains, please read and forward this information:

1.5 million 'Thomas & Friends' toys recalled (MSNBC)

The RC2 website has specific information, including a poster with pictures of the recalled toys, in case you can't remember everyone's names.  Looks like items with red paint in particular are involved.

First dog food, then toothpaste, now toys.  What's next, sneakers?

Creativity: Lobotomize your rational mind

At the In-House Agency Forum Spring 2007 conference today.  On the tail end of Tom Monahan's opening was this way to come up with some great ideas.  Say you're a designer or product developer.  Tom's example - let's say you do stoves.  For cooking.

- First, think of all the ways it could be designed impossibly wrong.  Get crazy.  No door?  No off switch?

- Then, build off of those and think about how to make the stove better.  Fix what you just created.

- Now:  would you have thought of those new ideas if you hadn't first thought about how to make it bad?

That's a way to start a 180 degree shift in thinking - first forget about what you know.

Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard

  the Flavor Graveyard threshold 
  Originally uploaded by Pete Kim.

Hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend.  (for readers outside the U.S., click here for an explanation.)

Take a walk with me through Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard...hope your favorite's not in there.  If so, R.I.P.!

Toronto, land of hot dogs

  hot dog stand 
  Originally uploaded by Pete Kim.

I'm visiting Toronto for the first time ever this week.  One takeaway - there are LOTS of hot dogs stands.  They're everywhere.

So 11% of Greater Toronto is on Facebook...I'd bet that the ratio of hot dog stands to people is even higher.

Wellness brand dog food - not recalled

For the past couple of months, my marketing research has intersected with the pet food industry.  As the pet food recall has progressed, I've been lucky that Wellness, the brand that my dogs have used for six years, hasn't been affected.  If you're looking to switch brands, you might want to give this one a try.

That being said, in the interest of full disclosure, my dogs prefer hamburger or BBQ chicken over any brand of dog food ever produced.   I'm guessing it's the same for yours too.

Road rage - behind the numbers

You may have heard about a recent poll regarding cities with the most/least amount of road rage.

OK so why does it matter?  I think most people would assume that road rage has two types of negative influences - emotional and physical.  For the former, a bad incident would create a chain reaction of ill-will.  For the latter, a bad incident would result in a different kind of chain reaction, like a 3-car pile up.

So let's cross-reference the cities from the 2007 AutoVantage Road Rage Survey with a list of cities with the most accidents - most recently from Allstate's America's Best Drivers 2006.

Most Courteous Cities by Safety Rank:
35: Nashville
53: Minneapolis
89: Portland
124: St. Louis
143: Pittsburgh
152: Atlanta
165: Seattle
183: Dallas

Least Courteous Cities by Safety Rank:
75: Phoenix
139: New York
176: Miami
184: Los Angeles
196: Washington DC
n/a: Boston (I don't think Allstate insures drivers in Massachusetts)

The numbers appear to be directionally correct: more road rage = more accidents.  However, watch out for those drivers in Dallas - they're nice, but they'll hit you!

The wisdom of crowds and Street Sense

The 133rd Kentucky Derby was run last weekend, as always on the first Saturday in May.  The winner, Street Sense, wasn't the pre-race favorite, but that changed by race time (in the morning he was 4-1 and left the gate at 9-2).

I've heard that "real bettors" don't actually bet on the Derby because of all the hype and "dumb money" being put on the line.  More fuel for the wisdom of crowds?

Maybe not, considering that this is only the 3rd time in the past 25 years that the Derby favorite won.  Maybe it was just the horse's post position - lucky number 7.  Either way, I'd probably just keep the $2 and buy myself a coffee on Sunday morning.

Business traveler? Watch what you eat on the road.

If you travel on business, however in/frequently, you know that finding "good" dining options can often be a challenge.  For example, look at Joseph Jaffe's fatblogging chronicles (good thing your SL avatar never gets fat, right?)  I've done about 800,000 miles over the past decade or so; early on, it used to be steaks and sit down meals, but now it's whatever I can get.

Funny, I had just read an article in American Way about Austin breakfast tacos. I was about to grab a burrito last week at DFW but went for McNuggets instead.  When I'm on the road, I'm a fast food connoisseur and gravitate towards Chipotle, In-N-Out, Chick-Fil-A, and Jamba Juice when available. 

But sometimes it's not about how tasty the food is - sometimes its about how safe instead.  There's a great article in today's WSJ about staying healthy on the road.  I'm not a big fan of potty humor, but reading euphemisms in the Journal like "Montezuma's Revenge, Delhi Belly, Hong Kong Dog, the Aztec Two-Step, or the Trotskies" is a great way to start a Tuesday morning.

Stay healthy out there!

Don't fall asleep under a durian tree

Have you heard of durian?  People have a love/hate relationship with this Southeast Asian fruit.  Most people hate it. 

Seth has posted a durian analogy on brand essence and loyalty.  I've found that Seth is like durian to many marketers.  If you love his writing, you can't get enough.  If you hate it, the mere mention of his name is repulsive.  Most people love him.

I had some roommates one time who loved durian (the fruit).  It's on my list of foods titled, "Tried once, never again."  Black pudding is on there.   Chicken feet too.  Anyway, there are a couple of sayings in Laos about durian (h-among many):

1. You always know when you're walking by a durian grove.  Garbage dump?  Durian grove?  Hard to tell.
2.Don't fall asleep under a durian tree.  You may never wake up.

Strange how surströmming doesn't seem to have these problems...(and is quite tasty).

If you've never heard of these things, follow the links.  You'll be a better educated citizen of the global marketing village.  But honestly, nothing compares with the live experience.

Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day

Public service announcement.

Ben & Jerry's free cone day is Tuesday, April 17th.  So turn in those taxes and get something back for a change.

Find a store near you.

Video iPod - am I missing something?

Last weekend, I saw the one thing on my screen that no iPod owner ever wants to see:  the sad iPod.  I've had the folder icon before, but there's something a bit more depressing about the sad icon.  Despite my best efforts, I couldn't revive or reset my 4th gen ipod and was haunted by the *click* of a broken hard drive.

So I resigned myself to selling the old one on eBay for parts (where they actually fetch pretty good prices), then bucked up and bought a new 5.5th gen video ipod, the 5th one I've owned.  Slimmer form factor, better screen resolution (color!), way fewer accessories than the first ipod (where's the dock?  headphone controls?  carrying case?).

I jumped on to the iTunes store to download some video.  The shows I want to watch are already on DVR - why would I want to pay $1.99?  I figured news would be free - nope, $1.99.  Isn't this stuff highly perishable?  So what am I missing?  Why would I want to pay $1.99 for video that I probably already have on DVR, is already yesterday's news, and plays on a screen smaller than the size of a business card?

Is there something I'm missing about why the video part of the video iPod is so great?

So long, Earthlink. It's been a long 12 years.

I canceled my Earthlink dial-up account last night.  After 12 years of paying a monthly fee for a primary, then backup, then last resort internet access option, I closed my account.

The main reason I finally closed it?  Because after 12 years of being a monthly recurring payment for the company, I felt zero affinity for the Earthlink brand.  Their communication to me was never more than a monthly email invoice and as a customer, I didn't feel Comcastic or that I got more or that anything was really being delivered.  Present value aside, I've spent over $3,000 in payments for dial-up.  Maybe Earthlink didn't want to bring this to my attention, as if the reason I was still subscribed was because I had forgotten about it.

It hadn't always been this way.  I actually started out as a Mindspring customer back in 1995.  There was AOL, but I needed access to the "real" internet to supplement my research tools as an analyst at Coopers & Lybrand.  The internet wasn't key to the business at that point - we had a limited internal system called REACH and used "colybrand.com" as our domain.  I was issued a briefcase that held a two inch thick laptop on one side and a portable HP printer on the other.  Yes, I was expected to take a portable (albeit color) inkjet printer on the road with me, 5 days a week.

Anyway, Mindspring was a pretty cool company.  Their customer support people were smart and friendly.  I liked the company so much, that in Peter Lynch style, I bought stock in the company.  It started around $38 and ran up into the $80s during the dot-com boom.  I eventually ended up with some Earthlink stock and sold it to help pay for an engagement ring.

Over the years, I always kept that dial-up account.  I think it began at $6.95 a month for 5 hours, then I went to $29.95 for unlimited, and was a quite a few price points in-between, even when I got Verizon DSL and then Charter Cable, and finally Comcast Cable for the past four years.  But that wasn't the only technology that killed dial-up:  I think the emergence of wireless was the tipping point.  Not only can you get cable speed at home and T1 or better at work, but now you can get high speed in almost any hotel, airport, or coffee shop in the U.S.  Funny that we didn't care so much about coffee shops period ten years ago.

So farewell, Earthlink/Mindspring.  Your biggest fault was a bland brand that used to be something special.

10,000 views on Flickr

I passed a milestone on Flickr recently - my photostream just passed 10,000 views.  I was thinking that would be a cool number to hit by the end of 2007, but it happened much sooner.  Some highlights:

Most "interesting"    Most viewed    One of my favorites

If you have some spare time, would love if you stop by for a visit.

Frank151

I got the latest (I think) issue of Frank151 in the post yesterday:  Upcoast, Chapter 26.  Great features on Seattle and Portland.  They've also got a nice blog.

[does this make up for my recent sci-fi geekout?]

The best business school - a rankings mashup

I've always been part skeptical, part mystified, and part influenced by MBA rankings.  They played a part in my decision-making process, but the difference in standings still seems strange to me, given that major publications are pulling from similar data sources.

The FT recently released updated their figures and after my ranking of Super Bowl ads plus time to kill in Vegas, I got around to mashing up the numbers on business school rankings:

1. Chicago GSB
2. Wharton
3. Tuck
4. Harvard
5. Stanford
6. Columbia
7. Kellogg
8. Michigan
9. Haas - Berkeley
10. Yale
11. MIT Sloan
12. Stern - NYU
13. Darden - Virginia
14. Carnegie Mellon
15. Fuqua - Duke

Raw data published here.  Sources were Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, BusinessWeek, US News, Forbes, and The Economist.

This seems right to me - the top 5 are always in demand, despite oddball low rankings by some publications.  What do you think?

UPDATE (12 Feb 07): A couple of things I should've mentioned.  I earned my MBA from #13 Darden; I went to undergrad at Penn.  I believe that the most important thing about choosing a business school is personal fit and what you want to get out of it.  I have a lot of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who attended these schools and here's my take:

1. Chicago GSB: for the quantitatively-minded.  Things have improved greatly after students routinely panned their alma mater in polls during the late '90s.
2. Wharton:  for future Gordon Gekkos of the world that have great global focus.  The campus has gotten a lot safer and a lot nicer - but it's still West Philly.
3. Tuck: smart people, great place if you love skiing.  Lots of bonding from the ridiculously cold weather.
4. Harvard: best place to build your network of classmates to rule the world.
5. Stanford: only know a few grads; if HBS is a fraternity, Stanford's a [west coast] eating club
6. Columbia: Great place if you want to stay or relo to Manhattan
7. Kellogg: If you want to be known as a marketer
8. Michigan: Only know a couple of grads, undifferentiated to me
9. Haas - Berkeley: [can't remember anyone]
10. Yale: lost touch with people who went here, they decided on Yale because of the non-profit focus
11. MIT Sloan: all-around smart people
12. Stern - NYU: If you want to stay or relo to Manhattan but prefer downtown to uptown
13. Darden - Virginia: Best academic program out there; best buy if you can finagle in-state tuition
14. Carnegie Mellon: [can't remember anyone]
15. Fuqua - Duke: Not much differentiation to me.

One more thing - if you're trying to decide whether an MBA is worth the investment or not, again it's a matter of personal fit.  I blogged about this back in March 2006.

Advice on family-friendly Paris?

I'm in Paris through the weekend - any suggestions on family-friendly attractions and restaurants?

Google maps adds waypoints

Google maps has added the ability to insert waypoints into directions.  Word has been out for a couple weeks, but it's been a low-key launch; the only "official" announcement I came across was a mention at the end of the December Google Friends newsletter.  So why blog it?  Because I stumbled across the functionality serendipitously and have blogged about the need for this before.

OK, so what does this mean?  Assume you're driving from Boston to Philadelphia.  However, you're not particularly interested in experiencing Manhattan-area traffic which means taking the Tappan Zee bridge.  The default directions don't help - in the past, you'd have to create two maps.  Now, you can add a destination like South Nyack which gets you to where you want to go.

The difference?  5 hours 48 minutes vs. 5 hours 27 minutes, but in reality you know that rather than adding 21 minutes, you're probably saving a more than an hour!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you're reading this on the new, super-l33t computer that you had asked Santa to deliver!  Enjoy your time online today with some history, pictures, and video.

Sucrology and game mechanics

Max Kalehoff wrote a post in June about "Game Mechanics Applied to Marketing And Brands."  The idea has recently gotten some mainstream attention highlighting a framework of five key tenets explaining why people enjoy games - and how the same principles can be applied to marketing (more on this in a second).

On an Aer Lingus flight in November from London to Shannon, I read an interesting article in Cara about sugar collecting.  And given that the sugar packets in Europe tend to be different than those in the US, I figured it was a good place to start - with pictures.  (Otherwise, I'd probably be collecting a bunch of insects somewhere in my house as well.)

Little did I know there was an actual term for this practice - sucrology.  And by creating a group on Flickr, there's a way to make it a more interesting experience as well.  It's a place for:

1. Collecting:  posting pics of packets I run into
2. Points:  members, page views, discussion threads
3. Feedback:  comments on member pictures
4. Exchanges:  sharing pics with others
5. Customization:  Editing the group page and related properties, like the wikipedia entry, future blog, etc.

That's the best part of social computing - IT'S FUN.  (Ever think about why you blog?)

BTW - if anyone can help get a copy of that article, it would be very much appreciated!

Purple Cows: Good for marketing, bad for babies.

Babycenter has released their top 10 names of 2006.  Seth Godin's advice for creating great marketing?  Create a purple cow.  This means something that's outstanding, remarkable, unforgettable.

You'd think that parents would want this for their kids - unless you've read Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner.  According to their research, today's most popular "high-end" names are the next decade's most popular "low-end" names.  So don't turn your baby into a purple cow, lest you brand her/him for unintended bias.

BTW, I had to go back to the 1960's to even crack the "most popular" list.  I think I'm due for a comeback at some point this century.

Sunrise to sunset in 6 hours

A funny thing happened on the way to London yesterday.  I'm over here for Forrester's Consumer Forum EMEA.

I've traveled to Europe a lot over the past five years, but always via red-eye (and usually to Frankfurt!).  BA has a flight that departs in the morning and arrives in the evening - which means that you go from sunrise to sunset in about six hours.  Practically speaking, I assume it's for making connections to Dubai and Bombay.

Kind of like living in Stockholm during the winter, I suppose.  If you lived in a metal tube, that is.

Keep an eye out for Flickr pics as we proceed.

Deconstructing Borat

Marketers are deconstructing Borat the same way a college student would deconstruct Winston Smith or Bartleby.

Lessons learned so far:
- Why Borat goes where SoaP could not (Marketing Profs Daily Fix)
- How Borat's MySpace page is better than the average marketing shill (Adrants)
- Borat proves that WOM marketing really does work (Jaffe Juice)
- Borat shows that if you want success today, create something good (Lefsetz Letter)
- Borat's lesson: don't underestimate the competition (CNBC)

And I thought it was just a movie by a British guy who appears to be making fun of Kazakhstan when he's really making fun of the United States.  Why didn't Ricky Bobby get this kind of attention?

Being me during October

Departing from marketing and advertising content...October was a good month to be Peter Kim.  Some highlights:

• Won Forrester's "best research" award for Q3 2006: Reinventing The Marketing Organization