Greetings and Happy Christmas from the Mother Country! I had the distinct pleasure of being invited to Buckingham Palace again this year. My last time was for the beautiful Diamond Wedding Anniversary of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. I met the Duke, Prince Philip when he was in the Royal Navy. He was investigating new Ship to Ship communications technology being offered by a company that I was consulting for. We struck up a great conversation about classic naval battles after I brought a book about the British Navy for him to sign.
He invited me this time to help with another communication event: Buckingham Palace was launching a YouTube channel. The first video was to be the Queen’s annual Christmas Day message and the Duke asked if I could attend to ensure that there would be no last minute snafus. Leading up to this, I had been advising his staff on the best approach. After having compared deleting an incorrect video on YouTube to putting toothpaste back into the tube, everyone felt it would be best if I was within arms reach of the Duke when it goes live.
The video went perfectly, despite three different people asking me to click the final upload button for them!
Happy holidays to everyone! Have a great 2008!
The video went perfectly, despite three different people asking me to click the final upload button for them!
Happy holidays to everyone! Have a great 2008!
12/13/07: Now get email...from your car
As the Internet adoption expands outward from the middle 20-50 somethings to go both younger and older, you see people go through a predicable cycle with email. First they are excited to get email, any email. They sign up for newsletters and leave those pesky ‘send me spam’ check boxes checked when ordering online. A sure sign of someone being in this phase is when you get the chain emails and jokes from them. Luckily, this doesn't last very long.
The next phase is when the person deletes unwanted messages and signs up for less, but still happy to get mail. Finally, the person begins to hate the inbox, quick to delete and angry about repeated attempts to unsubscribe. I am in this phase.
While trying to stay out of the presidential politics, I’ve been in Iowa to hear the voice of the voters and the politicians. Iowans take their vote very seriously, asking tough questions. They also get a lot of snow and ice.
I’m snowed in the Cedar Rapids Marriott, with little desire to brave the ice. So I took the time to go through my old email and begin deleting, unsubscribing or labeling as junk the messages. I came across one that turned out to be from, of all senders, my car.
It turns out that my new truck for my Aspen chalet is connected to OnStar. Every month, the car provides a diagnostic report, complete with estimated oil life and tire pressure. I found it very interesting. In the past, I always forgot to schedule a service appointment because once I left my vehicle, my mind went to other things. Now, when I get this email, I can click or call on the closest dealer noted in the email to schedule an appointment.
Interesting enough, the report also includes mileage. Looking back at a few emails and matching up to which of my friends were using the Chalet and truck, I quickly was able to see interesting activity by my guests. It looks like my buddy Matt Damon must have driven to Tahoe to ski based upon all the miles put on the truck when he was there.
The next phase is when the person deletes unwanted messages and signs up for less, but still happy to get mail. Finally, the person begins to hate the inbox, quick to delete and angry about repeated attempts to unsubscribe. I am in this phase.
While trying to stay out of the presidential politics, I’ve been in Iowa to hear the voice of the voters and the politicians. Iowans take their vote very seriously, asking tough questions. They also get a lot of snow and ice.
It turns out that my new truck for my Aspen chalet is connected to OnStar. Every month, the car provides a diagnostic report, complete with estimated oil life and tire pressure. I found it very interesting. In the past, I always forgot to schedule a service appointment because once I left my vehicle, my mind went to other things. Now, when I get this email, I can click or call on the closest dealer noted in the email to schedule an appointment.
Interesting enough, the report also includes mileage. Looking back at a few emails and matching up to which of my friends were using the Chalet and truck, I quickly was able to see interesting activity by my guests. It looks like my buddy Matt Damon must have driven to Tahoe to ski based upon all the miles put on the truck when he was there.
Its that wonderful time of year when you reconnect with long lost friends, even if it is only a Christmas Card with a short note. My favorite christmas ‘card’ will always be the video I received from FOX executive and longtime friend, Brian Graden. Brian had two young animators created a raucous animated short entitled ‘Jesus vs Santa’. The two young animators were Matt Parker and Trey Stone, who went on to create the similarly raucous ‘South Park’.
This year I got a box of cards as a gift from a dear friend, John Mayer. John and I met in Decatur, Georgia at the classic music bar, Eddie’s Attic. If you are ever in the area, I strongly recommend you go, if only to say that you heard the next top act before they were big. Bar owner, ‘Fast Eddie’ Owen called me a few days before John was to appear and demanded that I come see this magical musician.
After the show, John, Eddie and I went to Atlanta’s Buckhead area to shoot some pool and wind down from the night. John and I stayed in touch, even after I sent him a box of Ipods filled with his music and asked him to autograph the Ipods as gifts for friends!
The boxes of cards from John were more than fancy holiday cards. John had hooked up with the company ReProduct to create recyclable gift cards. The cards and envelopes are all perfect for recycling, which alone isn’t all that exciting. What I liked about John’s cards were that the envelope was a two way envelope like Net-Flix that allowed you to easily send the card to Shaw Industries, who will then use the cards to create the backing for new carpet tiles.
In the box was a note from John saying, ‘Bob, please autograph these and send on to your friends!’
This year I got a box of cards as a gift from a dear friend, John Mayer. John and I met in Decatur, Georgia at the classic music bar, Eddie’s Attic. If you are ever in the area, I strongly recommend you go, if only to say that you heard the next top act before they were big. Bar owner, ‘Fast Eddie’ Owen called me a few days before John was to appear and demanded that I come see this magical musician.
After the show, John, Eddie and I went to Atlanta’s Buckhead area to shoot some pool and wind down from the night. John and I stayed in touch, even after I sent him a box of Ipods filled with his music and asked him to autograph the Ipods as gifts for friends!
In the box was a note from John saying, ‘Bob, please autograph these and send on to your friends!’
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