Tradeshows

My God, what a world. If you have never done a tradeshow you probably don’t want to. Imagine shopping with your mom for 9 hours a day for 5 days straight while work just piles on your desk. And then you get delayed at the airport. Arrive home for one day before leaving to do it all again. Shopping with your mom, for your mom.

The real issue here is if tradeshows work.

Sure back in the good old days stores buyers flew to the big show for there industry because “everyone” was there. There were a lot of small independent stores which had very little time to research their industry. New sellers/manufacturers had to meet customers and test the marketability of their product. Buy a booth, make signs, write orders and hopefully decide that you have a viable business that you want to invest your life in.

Cities bid on tradeshows. Billion dollar complexes are built.

Then one day out of nowhere the Internet comes along. All of a sudden you can IM China, find distributors in Chile through email and test your product by investing $400 in Monster Commerce. Someone is left holding a potato.

A big potato.

There is still some obvious value. Some of the buyers don’t have Internet or email and are thinking of getting a car phone soon. Meeting people and networking are of a huge value as well as seeing what the competition is doing. But I would bet that the best bang for your buck does not mean standing at a tradeshow for four straight days.  there has to be something better.

The technology that is hurting the tradeshow business is also the technology that helps make change happen. With this technology you don’t have to pay your dues. And that is exactly what tradeshows are, paying your dues.

Where is my Wifi

I don’t want to sound like a cheap bastard, but c’mon airports we can do better.  I can understand when my flight is delayed for safety or weather reasons that are really out of anybody’s control, or at least well intentioned.

What infuriates me is charging for Wifi in airports. (The sign at right may in fact be for free Wifi – it was the only picture that I could find)  Traveling over the last few weeks I have found that airports such as O’Hare and Atlanta will post signs that make it look like there is free wifi, but in fact there is a charge.

I’m not sure about you, but I don’t hang out in airports.  I like to get there just in time to make my flight.  Usually I have 20 minutes to spare.  Is that the customer that the airport is targeting with their $7.95 charge for Internet access.  I doubt it.

Airports would never think that anyone at any level of digerati(ness) would pay $8 for a half hour of Internet.  The airports are clearly targeting pissed off customers with delayed flight that need to be productive since their travel plans have changed.  Talk about kicking someone while they are down.

Not to mention the margins that airports are making.  Iwould guess that to Wifi the entire airport it can’t cost more than $100 a day.  Shouldn’t the airlines pick up this tab? They are the ones creating this demand.  I view this as an incentive for airlines to delay flights, although I don’t believe this is policy necessarily.

As a country we are making great stides in technology and communication accessability.  Hell, as taxpayers I’m sure all of us pay for wifi for many school children and the poor that use libraries.  Can we start with the airports?

Part II

Of course there is followup to the previous post.  I emailed Bernie early in the day and told him to call the police immediately.  Then I called Bernie last night and spoke with him.  The situation seemed in control.  The other “roomate” got on the phone and the situation didn’t seem too bad.  More of an arguement between two roomates that were disagreeing on rent and terms of a short lease.

Then I got this email.

Dear Mike,

I should have acted sooner as Mark turned quite violent last night when I told him he would have to leave by Saturday. He grabbed me, then grabbed the phone when I tried to call the police and began choking and punching me. After he calmed down we went to a restaurant where two policewomen were. I asked them for help.

They arrested Mark and he resisted so they hit him on the head with a nightstick, They drove me to the station to fill out forms and take pictures of my bruises and torn shirt. They charged him with assault and resisting arrest and put him on a peace bond to have him stay away from me.

Although he robbed me and did not pay me, he brought several thousand dollars worth of new furniture here, which I will keep in lieu of payment.

He had no intention of leaving, figured he could control me. I don’t know how I let that happen. It was a nightmare.

Anyway, hopefully we’ve seen the last of him. When you get here, we will change the lock.

If you pass though Oil City, stop at (a bar he owns) and tell whoever is there that you are my roommate and not to charge you. It’s about 95 miles east of Cleveland. My daughter-in-law, Tammy , is managing it.

I’m looking forward to you coming here.

All my best,

My first apartment in New York.

Does anyone know this scam??

I found an apartment on Craigslist. I move in 8/1 and I’m out of town until then -> can’t look for another apartment. Not to mention that I put money down to hold the place. My future roomate is 72 and seems like a pretty good guy. Has anyone seen anything like this before?

This is the email I got this morning -

Dear Mike,

I may need your help when you come here. Two weeks ago I told a man, M__ M____, that he could stay here til the end of July for $500. Mark has an apartment in Queens, but prowls the Village and is seeing a doctor at St. Vincent’s Hospital for cancer.

He never gave me a cent, instead “borrowed” over $300 “for a few days,” all the money I had left.

He then threw out much of my furniture, while bringing other furniture in. He has taken my keys, making me a virtual prisoner in my own house.

I have held off going to the police because he promises to pay me back every day. I don’t know which way to turn, but will try to have him out of here before you arrive. I am rather afraid of him.

He is a hustler, and spins one lie after another.

Fortunately he knows nothing about computers.

Can you advise? Should I go to the police now or wait a few days in hopes he will repay me?

Best,

Does anyone know if this is a scam? or what the angle is?

Anyone have a room to rent?

The World Cup Sucks (Sorry very late)

At marketing that is..

To start off, I watched the world cup. Well 2 or 3 games, but I sort of liked them; the shootout was good. But basically I want to talk about the world cup teaching us how not to market.

**discalaimer – I know, the World Cup is the biggest sporting event worldwide. If you happen to be in the global market with a 15 digit market cap, entrenched at the top of three billion peoples conciousness – stop reading now.

Now that we are alone.

**disclaimer 2 – Sure, the world cup was awesome you watched 30 of the games. Are you going to be talking about it next year, let alone, when NFL training camp starts? That’s what I thought. Which brings me to the first point of

How not to Market – Soccer Style

1.Sporadic activity with long breaks – and I’m not just talking about the game play itself, I’m talking about the actual world cup. Whatever reason there is behind playing every 4  years this schedule is irrelavent in today’s world. It doesn’t dilute the value of the championship.

Think about the best bands with loyal fans that have really built a brand. They are the ones that come to your city every summer, build a fan base, release new albums regularly. What if Ford only changed their models every 4 years? Where would they be? Well bad example.

2.Very little objective measures – A 90+ minute event with 1 or2 goals. How long can you talk about that amazing shot that just went wide? Sure baseball is long and boring (and ratings are falling) but it least it has stats. A million of them.

Products need statistics. You don’t sell a computer by saying that it is fast on the internet, you say the size of the processor, the amount of storage, the programs it runs.

3.Uncool sounding names – there is nothing that the sport can do here. You should know your audience. Use the correct verbaige and the correct medium.
4.Fake it – I know its just gamesmanship, but the stretcher theatrics are ridiculous. How did this start? Get up and join the play.

Is there really any difference from the guy jumping off the stretcher running back in the game and Verizon customer service telling me they will try and help. If you don’t truly want to make your customers happy, if they are just revenue, you have to hire someone that does really care. EVERY customer is smarter, more cynical and talks to more people than has been the case in the past. And they are talking more about you good and bad. It will catch up to you.

Time Keeps on Slipping

It doesn’t make much sense to write a post apologizing for the lack of posts when your blog doesn’t have any readers.  Then again, having this little time doesn’t make much sense either.  If someone does read this post please check out OKdork.  It is one of the best blogs that I have read in a while.

Thanks for filling in for me for these crazy weeks, Dork.

Must The Show Go On?

So Syd Barrett died a few days ago. They just announced it today. So now, and again, he wasn’t really there.

I don’t know the story, but I like the band a lot. If anyone does know what happened, let me know.

From A to B

There is a little controversy surrounding the event, as with anything that wasn’t caught on video, (or having to do with the procurement and consumption of infinate amounts of oil for that matter) but the story goes that Gottlieb Daimler created the first four wheeled combustion engine automobile on March 8, 1886. Four years later Daimler built another automobile from the ground up that could travel up to the unbelievable speed of 10 mph. Conventional wisdom of the time believed that if you traveled faster than 16 mph your face would melt off.
This story has no relavence to your commute everday except it was the first time that we could get from point A to point B without having to look out for horse shit.

Today we can move much faster than 10 mph. Not just our physical bodies and possesssions, but more importantly our ideas, money, and emotion.

When I see something like the video that follows (and there are already a million of them) I can’t help but think that we are just at point A and right now it is impossible to even imagine point B. And our faces are going to melt off.

Shit, I can’t even drive yet – here is the link.

It has gone viral

Don’t believe the Philip Seymour Hoffman/luck thing?

Not only is it real, it is spreading.
Just from hearing the story – I din’t even meet him – I was blessed with the good fortune to have an absolutely killer day in the city. Seeing celebrities, bartenders hooking up drinks, resolving longstanding complicated lawsuit issues and topping it off by finding the greatest apartment in the city. $1000 a month on the quietest street in town, throw in an extremely large kitchen and utilities are free.

Philip, we raise our glass to you… wherever you are.

4 Leaf Clovers and Philip Seymour Hoffman

A friend bumped into Phillip Seymour Hoffman (PSH)yesterday and he asked for directions to a hip coffee house in the East Village. Later that day she met a jewelry maker at a bar that complimented her ensemble and offered her an interview in the coming week. Not only that, but she was also asked out by a guy (get this) that also bumped into PSH.

Not many people may know this but bumping into an A Lister (He’s an Oscar Winner- as she pointed out several times) brings better luck than a four leaf clover, rabbits foot and knocking on wood… combined.

Keep your eyes open.