A Holiday Reminder For Every Day

2012 brought the usual ..and the extreme ...ups and downs to many. We usually take the time to reflect around New Years, and usually say we'll do better at our efforts to stop and smell the roses.  But sometimes we are stopped before we can do just that.

Illness is another time of ups and downs in the life of the patient, and of his or her loved ones. It's often the patient who then has time to reflect and experience the epiphanies to which we all aspire.  Yet, just as we each have to learn by doing and can't take the growing pains away from someone else, my friend Peggy never stopped trying to share the beauty she discovered throughout her four-year journey with cancer. 

While this may be sentimental for a primarily business blog, I haven't had time to write much recently. So I think it's especially important to divert from strictly business and add a personal touch, especially since one of Peggy's greatest realizations was that she needed to slow down and work less.  And smell the roses.  She did that remarkably well right up to this past springtime.  I was so moved by her love and encouragement of EVERYONE in her email updates and observations I asked if I could share some of thoughts.  She agreed, so in the spirit of giving and and reflecting here are thoughts, from my loving friend, Peggy Goff Bottger, who said it better -- and lived it better -- than I ever could:

At Christmas of 2009 she wrote:
"I was once asked what Christmas means to me, and I've never felt that I did my beliefs justice in the answer I gave.  So here's where I am right now.  Christmas is a time to stop and focus.  On another year gone by: what, of real meaning, did I accomplish?  Did I find joy?  Bring joy to others?  On family: a time to get joy fully out of the act of giving and providing, to honor the memories and traditions established by my own parents, and to hear the kids squeal with happiness at gifts they've long dreamed of (yes, my kids still squeal!).  On spirit: this time symbolizes for me the reminder of light and love and hope.  While I don't prescribe to any specific religion, I have a deep and beautiful connection to God and Spirit, and this time of year reminds me that everything we need is already here, and everything we dream for will come if we just close our eyes and open our hearts."
And at Thanksgiving of 2010 Peggy wrote:
"...I wish for you all a beautiful week with your family and friends, and may all your dreams come true!"So my dear ones - I hope this finds you all healthy and centered.  Don't forget to take care of yourself during this busy season - if you give it (yourself, your energy) all away, there will be nothing left for you! Another thing I've learned since diagnosis.  It doesn't all have to be done a certain way - no one will really notice if the pie is store bought, or if the Christmas tree isn't decorated just so, or the bathroom sink isn't polished when guests arrive.  It's the most impactful lesson I've learned from my studies in A Course in Miracles: "I am under no laws but God's."  It's crazy when we think through all the laws we have created in our minds, which we then accept as true law, and then we get stressed out when we don't live up to those crazy and twisted laws.  We created them, we can release them!  And God's laws are so simple: give love, choose joy.  You can't imagine the burden that was lifted off my shoulders when I learned this. I'd been driving myself to the brink of destruction all those years, and why?  Anyway, that's my loving lecture to you all today; stay with what's true, live from your heart, and give thanks for the many amazing things in your life."

Best (way to) Buy?

In the same edition as a story on President Obama's woes about stagnant job growth, and a story on the irony of social sites not offering personal customer support by phone, The NY Times had a small piece today about Best Buy laying off 1.4% of its job force.

The reason is what I find interesting:
"Best Buy is trying to combat showrooming at its stores, as consumers test out products there, then go home and buy them cheaper online or at discounters."

 What are the options for keeping the customer satisfied, and competing in a groupon-tinged bargain-based world? Seems to me that we all want to still see and touch the goods. And we all want customer service to understand the goods. And we all want a bargain...and are empowered to find one or risk buyers remorse.

So where does that leave a retailer like Best Buy? What's in it for them for providing the venue and the service and missing out on the sale if the cost of bricks and mortar means not competing on price with online retailers?

Well, we could look at Horn and Hardart... If you could browse the goods on a basic display level and buy at a competitive price...but to touch and feel and actually get customer support and interaction you paid an up charge would you do it? Think of the automat with people. Insert a little more and the helping comes out. Make it easy to comparison shop, too.
Maybe add the virtual mall touch that the Japanese have created, where we all go to a wall of online images and select from there?

All I know is something's gotta give.  There has to be a happy medium for a better way to buy.

A Valentine to Every Day Events

Where does time go? The age old question...but a year since my last blog post still seems remarkable and something of a shame. It just feels that I haven't had the time to write even simple musings on every day life.

Until today gave me 'the shame on me' impetus.

It was not a smooth afternoon. Missed connections. Missing loved ones. Missing buses. I needed to just let go and have a simple pleasure...and avoid filing receipts or cleaning my apartment and just hop a train to spontaneously have dinner with my BFF in NJ. I scanned the open seats left on the subway and made a strategic choice to sit a little closer to a woman reading her book and a little farther from the questionably dressed man with a somewhat rank odor who, thankfully, seemed preoccupied with chatting up the unlucky  woman on his left. I mentally thanked heaven for her keeping his attention off me so I could burrow into Angry Birds unpestered.

But, at the next stop, as the car filled up, a woman holding a baby got on, and a man nearest her got up to offer his seat. She demurred, but was clearly unused to riding NYC rails, and a couple of us were poised to spring to action to grab her elbow...or the baby, as she wobbled. My homeless-looking neighbor called out to her to go ahead and take that open seat and she sheepishly did.

Then my somewhat shabby seat neighbor turned and looked straight at me with amazing clear blue eyes and said, 'I just love kids.'

I, with just a second of trepidation, knowing a response he would mean engaging in some unsolicited conversation, decided to be in the moment and dive in. "Do you have any kids?" I asked. "No," he said, "but I have nieces and nephews that I love."
"Me too," I said.

I realized then he was he was anything but offensive and I was chagrined.  He was pretty decently clothed, I was relieved to notice, on a cold day. His nails were black, and his beard may have had some crumbs parked in it, but he had a hat and earmuffs, and a warm looking, if dirty, parka and sturdy boots.

Over the next three subway stops, we kept chatting. He explained that he appreciates kids because they are so open, while so many adults see him and automatically recoil, even with fear.  "I'm just a panhandler," he said, "and I'll just be sitting there, shaking my cup a little and I see women clutch their purses tighter and practically run. I mean, if I'm asking I'm not taking. But if I'm taking I'm not asking.'

Meaning, he is not taking without asking, like a thief does.  He's just politely asking for help.

I asked him if he is judgmental about how much people give, because things have been written about how people are judgmental of some panhandlers: we'll scrutinize them and  in an instant, decide if or how much they will give, based on things like even how 'worthy' -- aka needy -- the person appears. He said "even if a guy in $150 boots gives me a penny I'm as grateful for that as a dollar, and always say thank you."

I asked his name.  "Brett," he said.  "Are you in need of some cash now, Brett?"  "Always" he said, and I gave him a little and he said thanks.  I asked if he was hungry.  He said he gets so much food, which he's always grateful for, that sometimes he has to find a homeless person to give some to.

Then his blue eyes lit up when he described how someone recently gave him a coupon book for $10 a month for a YEAR at Steak 'N Shake. He goes in, he said, gets a burger, fries and a shake. I could just envision him loving every minute of that monthly treat, totally in the moment, savoring every bite...and I only hoped the people working there and serving him withhold judgement better than I had at first.

Like the Picture the Homeless site says, "Don't talk about us; Talk WITH us."
Thank you, Brett.

It had to happen...Less Green for More Green

Yesterday I got a solicitation in email to purchase the new study from Natural Marketing Institute on the Mainstreaming of Sustainability.

 It has been nine years since NMI conducted the first... research study on the Lifestyles Of Health And Sustainability (LOHAS) marketplace. In 2002, only a few companies were talking about sustainability. [Now] most Fortune 100 companies have C-level sustainability staff and have infused sustainability throughout the organization so that it is everyone's responsibility to consider the environmental and social impacts of their products and operations.

Today I received an solicitation in email to purchase a Green Deal of the day.  Now, I'm a big fan of Groupon, LivingSocial, ideeli, you name it.  I know, I know: higher consumption... but less gas when buying daily deals online vs at brick and mortars! But check out the Green Deal rationale, which makes sense to ME:

You want that big coupon for that local restaurant or that online retailer that makes you call all your friends because you can't believe what an amazing deal you just got.  But you don't want to get great savings at the expense of your commitment to taking care of people and the planet.

Now you can get a great deal AND support the companies who share your values.

  So, I love that now, instead of all our early cries about mainstream companies jumping on the green bandwagon, now the green guys are going mainstream.  At this point, I'm all for things moving both ways, and finding a good, green middle ground. 

Multi-tasking too much? SITT with it...

It has to be said -- OFTEN, since most of us still don't get it (or at least ignore it) myself included, and I wrote a damn blog about this same topic two years ago and called it MT Brains (get it?): multi-tasking is not efficient.  It FEELS like it is; we get smugly proud of looking/acting busy and managing tasks, putting out fires, and juggling three screen lifestyles all at once.  But the micro-seconds it takes our brains to recalibrate when we jump from one task to another actually SETS US BACK and sucks time and focus for the worse.  And it's physically affecting our brains, and the brains of the up and coming generation.

Check out the story on kids and tech addiction, in the NY Times.  This is startling, but not surprising. Prognostications for the future of our society, anyone?   

There's scientific proof that our attention and comprehension skills are negatively impacted by multitasking, so we need to counteract it...even with focused breathing for a few minutes. Think of it like a counter-stretch during a work-out.

This is why I'm taking advantage of SITT training with Dr M.A. Greenstein  -- Somatic Intelligence Training Technologies.   

Also known as “mindfulness practice”  S.I.T. (sm) trains users to embed the practice of mindfulness in an embodied way, grounding it the emergent science of contemplative brain/mind/body studies.   

insula portion of the brain

Dr G is amazingly generous with her time for a pittance of a fee, and with her honey-smooth voice talks us through the art of healthy, cleansing breath.  Think about it for a second:  where are your shoulders right now?  Up by your ears?  How is your breathing?  When's the last time you took a slow, deep, luxurious inhale?  She taught me about the insula, and how focused breathing helps expand that portion of the brain.  It's a fact, jack.  She wrote her thesis on it and spoke at TED.  So, I'm here trying to evangelize something that costs nothing to do but could cost us a lot if we don't:  Take some time each day to do nothing but observe your breath, or, as she says, "Be aware of your awareness."

And now back to our regularly scheduled frenzy.

Tearing down the Walls to Good Customer Service

Call me a princess, but I had to return or exchange a bunch of damaged or bad quality things in the past two weeks.  From a third try at getting my eyeglass prescription filled correctly to a keratin treatment re-do to a mattress that smelled like mildew (eeww!).  The good news is that all three of those companies redid or replaced the items without much hassle and with decent customer service.  (Thank you, Loft 26, Cohens, and Sleepys!) 

The bad news is that I'm nostalgic for a time when workmanship was excellent and important to begin with.  (Of course, I only HEAR about those times from older relatives or movies on Turner Classics.)

Back to the good news.  Customer service.  We're in a time when consumer goods are a dime a dozen and Miss Manners is rolling over in her grave.  We just don't seem to care as much.  BUT, now with more people out of work, companies can be more discriminating in the workers they hire, and bad employee attitudes may put bad workers at bay.

Danny Meyer, whom I've long respected for his conscientiousness about sustainability as well as creating quality restaurants from Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Cafe to the hot new Shake Shake phenomenon , just added a brand extension to Union Square Hospitality Group all about customer service.  Today on the Wall Street Journal Report he explained how his new HQ -- for Hospitality Quotient -- is new company to help those who are already the best at what they do or make, make their stakeholders even happier with good treatment and good customer service.

In a way, we can also thank social media for influencing this potential trend:  Let's look at what Frank Eliason set out to do with @comcastcares on Twitter.  Knowing people can say and write exactly what they want about a company he and others, like the classic examples of Zappos and Dell, helped inspire them to make good customer service a mandate on the social web. It's all tied together.  The walls are down, companies are bare naked, and even Cohen's Opticals knows I can write something good or bad so maybe, just maybe, companies are erring on the side of better workmanship, better customer-facing employee training and better HQ overall.  And better customer service can actually help stimulate the economy!  I like this post on it from last year: http://www.goodexperience.com/2009/04/on-hospitality-in-a-t.php

Now, there are still the places like Bard Graduate Center, which has ignored my pleas and emails to begin their construction on Saturday mornings later than the 7A start they have had in place for the past weeks.  So, I can take it to my blog, and at least feel I had a place to share my pain...and hope they will remember that the walls between public opinion and good customer service are as thin as the walls between our physical buildings.
ARGH!!

Happy Synchronicity

I LinkedIn with David, after meeting him at a trade show a few years ago and our professional paths continue to cross here and there. This week he sent me a friendly email  letting me know about an upcoming "Broadway on Broadway" event at TImes Square. Apparently, his client's tech product - Aerva's Pic2Screen application - will be make it a consumer-controlled billboard - enabling tourists to upload their photos on the jumbo Kodak screen. Super-sized social media.

Cool.  I like Broadway. I like new consumer tech applications.

So, I clicked on the link to read more on David's blog, Eat Media, which featured an article on Aerva that he included. His blog included his Twitter feed where I happened to see his interesting tweet about how that Kodak screen enabled more awareness for a Diabetes event, featuring pictures on the big screen of kids with juvenile diabetes who were working to raise research money.

Cool.  I like cause marketing.  I like new tech that helps consumers raise their consciousness.  AND, I am working with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on some of their chapter's social media efforts. So I clicked on THAT link from Twitter and read more about that case study.

That led me to a terrific story about 9 year old Noah, The Diabetes Dude.

And that is where this story ends...and begins:

The story is REALLY about Noah, and HIS combination of charisma and a good idea to help leverage star power, media, and social media to get people thinking and acting. 

Noah The Diabetes Dude, and his parents have set out to do their version of the traveling garden gnome, but using blue flamingos as a pop icon of diabetes awareness..."flocking" people with the plastic birds to create engagement and interest. 

They have a nice little site, a blog, videos, photos, a donation button...even an interactive Google map to track the growth of their flock!

The value of sharing good content, across multiple platforms, and the joy of synchronicity led me to learn more about this inspiring little activist, so I hope you'll read about Noah from here, and decide to do your part to "flock someone" and spread the word and donate some dough to help eradicate this terrible disease.

Cool?