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Thoughts and things I care to shareLots of talk about social media and corporations
Must be because of some of the news coming out of TechCrunch40, or just a coincidence. There seems to be two current conversations, one on corporate involvement in social media, and one on social media in the enterprise.
Meanwhile, I’ve been thinking on the idea of what I call the corporatization of society. I’m hoping to get that finished yet tonight and posted for tomorrow, because I’ve got a few ideas on the previous two conversations I mentioned above.
Hmm, almost too much thinking… 🙂
Not so irrelevant opinion: Premium Coke
It seems to me there is an opportunity out there. I’m going to turn a twenty-two year grip into a suggestion and an idea.
Here’s my problem. In many things we have the chance to have our say and don’t choose to – that’s our fault. In some instances we don’t have a chance to voice our opinions – at all.
Let’s go back to 1985, when Coca-Cola changed the formula of it’s namesake soft drink. Welcome, New Coke. Ugh. Nobody had a chance to really change the course of history on that one – even to this day. No you didn’t. Yes, I know Coca-Cola ‘Classic’ was brought back – I drink it often, but it’s not the original.
Personally, I think it was a staged event to make the switch from cane sugar (expensive) as a sweetener to the high-fructose corn syrup (cheap) we all know and love today. Don’t believe me? Fine, I have no proof to back it up, but there is a difference in the flavor from the true original, and what a great way to make the change and cut costs than to take away the real product for half a year and then bring it back slightly altered, but most people unable to really tell the difference.
At any rate, my point is that there is an opportunity for Coca-Cola (or any beverage manufacturer who has a similar opportunity) 
here to tap into a great new product. I want my old coke back, and I want it BAD. I’ll pay extra to have that original taste back – I’ll pay for a ‘premium’ beverage that is true to the 120-year old formula. And I want it only in 12oz. returnable glass bottles. Yep, old school all the way.
Hey, what a great twist of PR. Create a new (old?) product, package it in a ‘green’ (I hate that term) reusable (and recyclable) container, reach out to their oldest and most loyal customers (an already established market), and charge extra to do it.
Am I in the wrong here? With the custom, gourmet, and premium beverage markets that abound today, how hard would it be for a company like Coca-Cola to do this?
I know what my problem is
It’s time. No, not what you think – I have the time available to do what I need to do, it’s just application of that time to the discipline of writing. I’m absorbing a *lot* of information lately, but have not made myself sit and write a list of topics, or to take those topics and flesh them out.
I was brainstorming last night on some Happiness posts and realized that when I simply sat down and did it that I could pound out about a dozen without thinking much about it. As usual, this was another DOH! moment where I got to re-learn a lesson that I’d forgotten. Typical. One of these days I’m going to learn it for good.
So today is a discipline day – I’ve got an afternoon meeting and will spend this morning working on more idea generation (continued from last night) and to get a start on some content generation. Just simply going to sit down, probably at Dunn Bros. Coffee this morning and write without worrying about what it looks like. Kind of a brute force approach, but that has worked for me in the past.
links for 2007-09-18
- Are you ready for mobile web ads? Google is.
- Nice roundup of affordable laptops.
- Need to present? Try Google’s option – accessible anywhere you have ‘net access.
- Congratulations to Josh Bancroft – 4 years on his TinyScreenfuls.com blog!
- Steven Hodson comments on the “trendy” TechCrunch40 conference. Uber elite and uber expensive.
- Om’s take on the Thunderbird open-source project by Mozilla.
- More ammunition in the web software services world.
- Since most are using Office 2003, the latest service pack is out!
- WTF!? A tri-core chip? Why? This makes as much sense as the original Intel 386SX chips. Build a fully-functional chip and then disable a portion of it just to sell it at a discount? No wonder AMD is falling behind.
Unhappy with the latest Logitech QuickCam Drivers
Here is an example of when the automatic update feature that is increasingly being enabled on software and drivers is a headache. Driver stability.
My "new" laptop (I bought it in May), has a built-in 1.3MP WebCam that utilizes the Logitech QuickCam firmware. That’s great because it’s recognized by the Logitech drivers and all the advanced functionality that their software brings. Now the bad thing about it is that the latest Logitech software seems to be less then perfect.
The camera picture will lock up and the camera will "turn off". This sometimes will be accompanied some time later (minutes to hours) with a complete, spectacular system crash, complete with blue screen (yes, it still exists) with dual outputs for both cores since it’s a Core Duo.
Pretty neat – hadn’t seen the dual-core dump, but I’d rather have the camera function like it should. This event simply underscores the necessity of stable drivers for any operating system, and that there are enough possible combinations of hardware that it will become nearly impossible for a hardware company to be able to completely test them all.
I’ll be checking into rolling back to older software to see if that solves the problem. It just shouldn’t happen in the first place though. One more reason I’ll be checking out a MacBook next.
links for 2007-09-17
- Be careful of what you read about Vista and DRM – it’s not all as bad as some would have you believe. FUD is running thick, and the Geekzone is out to clear some of it up.
- Ha!
Weekend off
Just in case anyone was wondering, I took the weekend off blogging as it turns out. I’ve had a case of blogger’s block for close to two weeks and I simply turned off the laptop sometime on Friday and just didn’t touch it until a few minutes ago.
Has a day or two not trying to think, not trying to write helped? Not sure. I know I needed a little time to do other things and let the mind wander to it’s other corners, if only to just relax. I believe that I get too anxious to do things and it get’s counter productive to what I’m trying to do.
Anyway, I’ll probably get cranking again tomorrow, but am going to try and go and do some other work yet today. Possibly write some more "happiness" quotes – I’m starting to run short on them. 😉
Rick
links for 2007-09-14
- Chris Brogan takes an in-depth look at how he is a marketer and his ideas of how to effectivley be a social media marketer (my description).
- Might as well get that Windows Live Messenger update done at your convenience rather than Microsoft’s.
Where is our edible heritage?
Since I’ve been having a hard time writing things in my genre of topics I usually try to post on here I thought I’d let myself go off in a different direction.
While I’m not a hard-core foodie, I do like to eat good food. I’ve got a few favorite shows on Food Network and a number of things are starting to really bother me more and more.
When did we allow our food preparation to be outsourced to a growing industry of bland, mechanized, "individually sealed for your safety", corporations that get to dictate taste to us?
Why do we feel the need to make it taste the same in Los Angeles as it does in New York?
I’m not faulting any of the companies that cater to our desire and perceived need for quick, easy, meals. They’re just businesses trying to make money and grow market share. Yes, the national chains can offer good coffee, breads, ice cream, noodles, cheesecake, pizza, etc… but what about our cultural heritage that brings so many different regional ideas, experience, tastes, and ingredients to the table.
Alas, the modern interstate has rendered our palates comfortably numb with it’s rolling miles of paved pablum.
One last thing: portion size. WTF!? The food from all fast food, chain restaurants, and so on is soooo mediocre that one wonders why we need to super-size any of it. Even when going to a "sit down" restaurant, the servings are too big. And experts wonder why we have a obesity problem in our country!
I’m ranting here, and for good reason. Most cities have lost what culturally significant foods and dishes that were developed because of their geographic location and the unique combination of nationalities that had settled there. It’s sad to loose these dishes and flavors that have melted into the bland fabric that is American food today.
Don’t know the answer to any of this except to suggest you seek out the local mom & pop restaurants and frequent the ones that have keep to their regional specialties. Encourage them to continue doing what they do best and look for more that keep our regional specialties unique and special.
In addition, don’t forget that the cultural makeup of our country is changing. With larger numbers of various ethnic groups, the idea of food, flavor and ingredients are and will change. This is OK, because this brings fresh ideas and new techniques to our kitchens and our palates. And that is a great thing too.
Social media and the corporate perception
I’ve been talking with a number of people in differing areas of companies while drumming up consulting or contract gigs, and something is becoming very apparent. While there is a huge amount of misunderstanding regarding social media, there is also a growing interest in online professional networking.
What intrigues me is how the growing interest in social networking can’t address the biggest problem facing these tools in corporate settings. That is, the need to provide a business case that is benefited by these tools and technologies. Fine, sure, yeah, I know that there are many business situations that simply do not require new ways to do their jobs, but there are many other situations that do.
Communication is one of the obvious ones, but I remember a number of individuals who could not look past the continuing arguments of “its a time waster” or “it’s a security hole”. Sure, they can be that – but no worse than email. This problem and these arguments are as old as technology itself. No matter what the new idea/tool/concept is, it requires a new generation to prove it’s worth.
What we need to do to help foster corporate uptake of social media is to provide learning opportunities. This might be by sending articles addressing the professional and productivity aspects to key decision makers. It may also be done by providing “brown bag” lunches with an agenda of exploring online and hosted social tools. One could also use themselves as an example of how to use social media to leverage their personal brand within an organization – I think many of us are already doing that.
At any rate, I’m going to continue to look for those opportunities for companies to leverage new media/social media tools to their advantage.
Have you discovered innovative uses for social media in your organization?
@MAC_Arms Pay taxes when you make your money, pay taxes when you spend your money, pay taxes when you successfully invest your money, pay taxes when you save enough taxed money to afford a house, pay taxes to live in your house, pay taxes when you sell the house that you paid taxes on to
Yup, taxes are criminal and we need serious reforms. I've always said that if you want to see a tax revolt, make withholdings illegal and have Americans write a tax check every payday. They'll revolt for sure. You don't miss what you never had.
I think it’s safe to say that @GovEvers should stop blocking audits in Wisconsin and open the books…
“Only AMERICAN citizens should vote.”
Sen. @berniemoreno says voter ID and proof of citizenship are simply common sense.
“We’re talking about a very low threshold — identify who you are and prove you’re a U.S. citizen when you register to vote. I think we’re getting closer to
Wrong. Democrats are solely responsible for hours-long airport lines.
They voted to defund TSA three times and won’t even entertain a conversation about reopening it. Why?
They’re using it as leverage to stop enforcing immigration laws.