I watched a fascinating presentation from the TED conference (aren't they all!) by Susan Blackmore. Her bio says:

Susan Blackmore is dedicated to understanding the scientific nature of consciousness. Her latest work centers on the existence of memes -- little bits of knowledge, lore, habit that seem to spread themselves using human brains as mere carriers. She's exploring the existence of a new class of meme, spread by human technology. It's temporarily named the "teme."

As I watched her explain memes in terms fashion, trends, etc., it occurred to me that our job is essentially to turn a brand -- logo, concept, experience -- into a meme. This presentation takes it a step further, exploring the notion that technology has enabled a new kind of self-replicating entity, which she dubs "techno-memes" or "temes" for short.

If you have 20 minutes, check out this video. It's mind expanding.

I'm reading today on Wal-Mart's blog about their success in getting all the laundry detergent manufacturers to concentrate their products so they come in smaller bottles, use less fuel to ship, use less plastic and cardboard to package. Obviously, this will affect the products offered in all retailers, not just Wal-Mart. Great achievement.

It makes so much sense not to dilute the detergents because it's just extra water in a bottle that you have to package and ship. So, extending the logic of this... I want to go on record as being the first person to think of this revolutionary idea: instant bottled water.

Yeah. Here's how it works. You go to Wal-Mart (or other participating retailer) and look in the bottled water aisle, down toward the end of the aisle on the bottom shelf. Buy a whole case of what appear to be empty bottles -- but don't worry, they're not empty; they contain the instant water. Just take them home, open the lid and add ordinary tap water, and voila, you have a bottle of water, suitable for dropping in your bag, taking on the go, and quenching your thirst.

Since instant water has negligible volume or weight, shipping costs will be vastly reduced, saving lots of fuel and reducing our carbon footprint. Try it today!

The art of customer service has become somewhat obsolete in this day and age – we are at a place where good behavior is hard to find and on-brand behavior is rare. So when you encounter good customer service, it makes you feel all warm and mushy inside and you want to tell everyone you know. Hello, everyone.

I’m not a very tech-savvy person. My last computer was a hand-me down from my brother and it resembled one of those computers the military used in the 60s – large, bulky and slow. I decided to embark on the scary journey of buying a new computer. Like any good consumer, I started doing preliminary research. I needed a very simple computer – something easy to use, easy to maintain and easy to carry. (Did I mention it needed to be easy?) I looked at all of the major websites – Sony, Dell, HP and with each site, became more and more discouraged as the options I wanted either became astronomically expensive or limited me to computers that didn’t seem to fit my needs. Then on recommendation from our entire design studio, I went to the Apple website.

Continue reading "Deliver What You Promise and People Will Like You"

For my first 360 blog I thought I’d take the opportunity to talk about a few of the web services I use every day and why I think they’re important. Web 2.0 (I guess we should stop calling it that pretty soon: it’s just the Web now, eh), has given birth to an explosion in interesting and innovative interactive services. The three I’ve highlighted below are all a little older in Web terms, each having been around for a few years and each having been acquired by a larger more established corporation, but all three are widely adopted and among the best services out there.

Continue reading "Killer Web Services"

Mobile technology is certainly changing the way we communicate. It is also changing the way we socialize and entertain ourselves. When my friends at LocaModa invited me out to see their new Wiffiti/BarCast screen in action, I looked forward to a few drinks and geeky conversation about technology. Instead I found myself in a heated word-scramble game.

Welcome to Jumbli, a multi-player boggle on steroids. The object of the game is to find words within the letters scrambled on the screen before time runs out. Once you find a word, you put it into a text message and send to a specified number. Highest scoring word wins.

I’m a fairly competitive person –well fairly may be an understatement - in any case, the scene became a shouting, texting, laughing experience. So you can imagine my excitement when I learned that this was only a mini-Jumbli.

Jumbli! actually lives in Times Square on a giant HD screen (corner of W 47th and Broadway). When a round starts you are playing against people in NYC. If a round isn’t live, you’re playing against others on the web.

We’re going to see more and more of these type of public multi-player experiences, especially as our mobile devices improve. My advice, start practicing.

"New York City Waterfalls", Olafur Eliasson's massive public art project officially opened yesterday. I'm happy to say that my subway commute takes me right between two of the 4 waterfalls..and it is gorgeous. I can't describe it quite as eloquently as others or as lovely as the artist himself when he said:

"Water has this fantastic ability to be everything for everybody."

Continue reading "NYC Waterfalls...commuting over history"

By Sandy Sites VP, Director. Jack Morton Training

This week on July 4th the United States will celebrate its birthday. Do you know exactly what it was that happened on that day 232 years ago? Was it:
A. The completion of The Constitution
B. The Boston Tea Party
C. Samuel Adams opening the first brewery in North America (Now that's cause for celebration!)
D. The convening of the First Continental Congress
E. The signing of the Declaration of Independence

For the correct answer, click on Continue reading below.

Continue reading "Why is this guy writing this?"

As VP, Director of Production Procurement I am some times called upon to mediate "issues" that have developed between a production team and a supplier. My first responsibility is to carefully listen to both sides of an "issue" to truly understand it and then see if I can help lead both sides to a meaningful and equitable solution. All too often I find myself trying to mediate a situation that has formed through poor communications. Emails have been fired back and forth and quick phone conversations have been had and yet nothing has been placed in formal writing and signed by both parties. I'm sure you can see that whatever the "issue" might be it is based in an honest miss-understanding between parties. The fact that there hasn't been anything placed in formal writing which shows the resulting "understanding" means there can't be an "oh, that's what you meant?" moment!

Continue reading "Talk it out, write it down and sign it"