Much like any thing resembling a new year’s resolution, I failed. But I still read some great books in 2011.

In 2011 I discovered that, much to my surprise, I really do enjoy reading books on the iPad and iPhone. I have always said that I preferred paper books. But I quickly learned that e-reading (yuk, that is such a lame term) is awesome. For starters, I can read at any angle, without having the pages fall back down on my face. Secondly, I love grabbing a few pages on the iPhone when I want to. Plus, there’s the added benefit of being able to carry a bunch of books with me… and being able to flag and highlight a page or a word… awesome!

Another change in my reading habit this year was the library. You know what those are? The buildings with all the books in them. Yeah, they still exist. And they are awesome. Well, ours are! I can go online and find a book and have it pulled from the shelf for me. Then, I just go to the library and it’s waiting for me to pick up. Easy peasy. And get this, it’s all free! What a concept.

I can’t say that I will get all of my books from the library from now on but I can’t imagine buying another physical book. If I must buy, I’ll just buy the iBook (nah, don’t like that term either).

So, (insert drum roll) here is my favorite of 2011.

The Help – Kathryn Stockett

For the first time, my favorite book of the year is fiction. Yes, I realize it was published in early 2009 but I only heard of it this year. I didn’t know what to expect from this book but was mesmerized by the story from the first page. The opening chapter is written in the voice of Aibileen, one of the three central characters of The Help. Set in Jackson, Mississippi in the sixties, the world she described could not have been further from the life I knew growing up in northern California.

The story is about a young writer telling the story of what it’s like to be an African American maid, from their perspective.

The characters are gripping and so real. The dialog between them is amazing. The pain, anguish and fear jump from the pages to the very core of my soul. I know that’s pretty dramatic, but it was truly a powerful book.

I read the book mostly in airports and airplanes, traveling to Buffalo, Sioux Falls and Memphis. I met so many wonderful people that had read or were currently reading the book. I’ve never been in a book club but it felt like I was in one.

When I boarded a flight home to SFO I met an elderly couple in Salt Lake City that raved about the book. One of the men had just started the paperback and told me how much he, too, loved the opening chapter. The other man, his husband, said he read it on his Kindle more than a year before. The two gentlemen exchanged a look only married couples do and the Kindle husband said “I kept telling him he would love it. He never listens to me”.

When we finally landed just after 2 AM I got off the plane and sat alone in the desolate terminal and finished the last few pages. I sat there and cried my eyes out, stood up, wiped the tears from my face and headed out to catch the bus to my car.

The Help made me laugh and cry. But mostly, it made me think about other groups of people that our society treats poorly. It made me hopeful that someday, we would all look back and realize we were all as foolish as Miss Hilly Holbrook.

I did, of course, read mostly non-fiction this year. One of my favorites was The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk. I didn’t really like his previous book, Crush It, but thought I’d take a chance on this one. It did not disappoint. More than being a book about how smart companies use social media, I read it as a view into what customer service will look like in the future, what it’s starting to look like now.

A few of the books I am looking forward to finishing soon:

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
No Regrets by Ace Frehely
Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick

What was your favorite book in 2011?

Happy reading!

Being an identical twin born on 11-11 means that I was destined to be a significance junky. Ever since I was a small child, I have always looked forward to 11-11-11, and to turning 40. Of course, for most of my life, this milestone seemed so incredibly far in the future.

But not anymore. It’s here. Mike and I are finally 40. Age, as I always remember old people saying, is just a number. But, still, 40 years is a long time!

In November 1971:

• Intel releases the first microprocessor
• Led Zeppelin releases the album that most of us call Led Zeppelin IV, which eventually becomes one of the best selling albums of all time
• D.B. Cooper hijacks a Northwest Orient Airlines flight and escapes by parachute with $200,000 in ransom
• Mariner 9 becomes the first spacecraft to successfully enter Mars orbit

The past 40 years have been a blast. Now here’s to another 40, with my original womb-mate.

Then, there’s iDisk. My own personal thumb-drive in the sky. Or, as has become popular lately, in the “cloud”. iDisk, which came with our mobileMe (formerly known as Dot-Mac) account has always been one of my favorite features of the service. I kept all of my important files there and had no problem accessing it from any computer or iPhone. I liked that I didn’t need to carry a thumb-drive.

But, with iCloud, iDisk’s days are numbered. After June 2012, I won’t be able to use iDisk.

Oh no. What will I do?

Those that know me well know that the only technology I love as much as my Apple gear is Evernote.

Evernote is so much more than a place to keep notes. It’s where I keep everything! Given it’s powerful indexing and searching (text in images is searchable!), it is a far superior place to store documents. You no longer need a premium account ($45 per year) to store all types of files, but the free account does have lower usage limits. There is a 50MB max per note (25MB for free users) so I won’t store my video projects on Evernote, but 99.44% of my files will work just fine.

So, goodbye iDisk. You’ve been a good friend for many years. And thanks for the one-year notice on your shut-down. That will give me plenty of time to move my files over.

Another post about Evernote… Use Evernote to Track Your Accomplishments

drawing by Abraxas579

Last week, Steve Jobs, the most prolific CEO of my lifetime, died. I can’t describe how I felt when I learned of his death. I had never felt this sad from the death of someone I did not know personally.

As my oldest daughter told me so eloquently: in 30 years, we’ll all remember where we were when we heard the news. Just like when Princess Diana or Michael Jackson died, and just like our parents remember so clearly when Elvis, John F. Kennedy, and John Lennon died.

Steve Jobs, through the company he co-founded, had a huge effect on my life and my family. We bought our first iPod nearly eight years ago and shortly after, learned about podcasts, something that certainly changed the direction and quality of my life.

Then came the Macs, iPhones, the iPad, the Apple TV.

Apple and Steve Jobs didn’t just create products, but built an eco-system where we could truly get the most of the things we love. I am able to listen to more music, record more of my own music, and stay connected with my friends and family. The things we can do with our iPad and Apple TV still seem right out of the Jetsons!

As a corporate leader, his drive was famous. My friends and family that have worked at Apple have all told of Steve’s influence. His attention to detail and expectation of perfection is something I admire, both as a consumer and a manager.

Thank you Steve, for the iPod, the Mac, the iPhone, the iPad, the Apple TV, and for encouraging us to think different.

 See all my posts tagged with ‘Apple’

Emily is a college freshman. Again, I am still in shock.

We have always taken a picture of the girls on their first day of school. Somehow, the 2006 picture never happened. Crazy to see how they’ve grown!

(click the picture for larger image)

I am so proud of our girls. They have grown to be such wonderful people!

For those of you that know Mike, I am going to pause there for just a second.

For.

Dramatic.

Effect.

Mike smoked cigarettes for 26 years, two-thirds of his life. On March 13, he smoked his last one.

On his third tobacco-free day, he started feeling anxious and realized he needed something to get him through the craving, something to replace the few minutes he “used to spend with the Marlboro man”.

That something was running.

After work on that third day, he wandered into the mall, purchased a pair of  running shoes and shorts. When he got home, he ventured out on his first run.

“I ran ONE MILE.  It hurt.  It hurt a lot.  I was out of breath and my legs hurt.  With that said, I certainly didn’t feel like having a cigarette then.  The next morning I woke up at 5 am and ran ONE MORE MILE before work.  Yes, it still hurt, but again, it made me stop thinking about cigarettes.”

From that point, Mike was hooked on running. He quickly went from running a few days a week to running nearly every day. With every additional mile, he realized he wanted more and more. His leisure 5k evening runs turned into 5 miles and then 10 miles. In just after a couple of months, he was already amassing 300-mile months. Three hundred miles in a month! As a cyclist myself, I am in awe that he is putting in those kind of miles. Running.

“It became my way to stay a non-smoker.  It then became bigger than smoking ever was.”

Mike spends a lot of time on the road for work. Well, to be more precise, he spend a fair amount of time up in the air as well, but you get my point. Recently he was in Manila, just as he has been many other times. This time was different. This time he was in Manila as a non-smoker. That was new. Everyone in Manila smokes. Not Mike, not anymore. Mike runs. Recently, Mike was in Indiana and he called me late in the day. He said he went out for a run at 6 AM. It was 80 degrees and the humidity was somewhere north of 95%.

The thought of running a marathon, although seemingly an impossible feat, was something Mike started thinking of pretty early in his running days. Can I say early in his running days? It’s still early in his running days. The marathon was a long-term goal. He was more focused on his first “half-mary”. Yes, he quickly started speaking a new language, too.

“I ran my first half marathon in June.  It was the Pillar Point half marathon in Half Moon Bay.  Right along the coast.  It was so awesome!!  While I’ve never tried to be “fast”, I felt great for my first half marathon.  I had no time goal set, but was able to complete it in less than 2 hours.  13.1 miles.  For me, that was quite an accomplishment.  Ok, how much below 2 hours?  Fine.  It was 20 seconds below. I finished in 1:59:40. One of the proudest personal days of my life.”  

After his successful half-mary, he continued to escalate his miles. Distances quickly moved from challenging to easy; what was nearly impossible only a week or two before, became a simple warm-up. A few weeks ago we were all meeting in Manteca for an afternoon of swimming, volleyball and BBQ. He ran. To Manteca. Twenty two miles. Solo.

That was his longest run. Until today.

Mike completed The San Francisco Marathon, his first marathon, in 4:28:52.

I couldn’t be prouder.

Way to go bro!

Check out the pictures I took, here.

Sadly, we missed seeing Mike cross the finish. See, Mike crossed a millisecond after the green guy crossed… and our eyes (and cameras) were fixed on him. I didn’t even realize that Mike was in this shot until well after we met up him. Ooops.

After many, many months of pain on the RapidWeaver side, I am thrilled to finally have this site on WordPress.

RapidWeaver was a great tool for many years, I just wanted more flexibility and the ability to update on the go. Thanks to the fine folks at GoDaddy for upgrading my hosting to a server that is modern enough to handle WP.

Maybe I’ll write more.

As I wrote about before, it is important to track all of your accomplishments in real-time; Manager Tools talks about maintaining your “career management document”.

There are many ways to keep this vital task simple. One great way to do it is to use Evernote, the note taking application. With desktop versions of the software available for iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, and Droid, desktop versions for Mac and Windows, and available on Evernote.com, there is no excuse to not use Evernote. The free account offers plenty of features and online storage space for most consumers.

Set up a new notebook and give it a catchy name like, ‘Master Resume’ or ‘Accomplishments for Resume’. Every time you have an accomplishment, add it to that Evernote notebook. To make it even easier, create an e-mail address to send notes directly to Evernote.

Next time you get an e-mail from your boss complimenting you on your awesome client presentation or when you get the monthly report that shows 50% sales growth in your territory, send it to Evernote. When you call us to have your resume updated, you’ll have a bucket full of accomplishments.

What comes to mind when you hear the word “management”?

When I hear “management” used as a group of unnamed people, I think of toilet seat covers. Specifically, I think of toilet seat covers in public restrooms. Sometimes the packaging says: “Provided by the Management For Your Protection”.

Oftentimes I see signs at retail stores that say things like “No Bills Larger than $20” signed by, of course, “The Management”. Also, I hear things like “It was a management decision” or “I will take it up with management”.

As a manager, I take responsibility for my role and for my decisions.

People make decisions. Managers make decisions.

“Management” provides toilet seat covers.

What does it mean exactly? Well, I’ll spare you the dictionary definition.

I define professionalism as, simply:

Behaving in a situationally appropriate manner

How do you define professionalism?

After Forbes named Stockton the second most miserable city in America, Rod and I had the opportunity to be on KXTV and KCRA (and Rod finished the trifecta with his solo appearance on KTXL.

I helped a friend get his Kickstarter project, The Amazing Fist, funded, by producing the promo video.

To help raise money and awareness of sexual violence against women, I walked a mile in high heels. Ouch!

I joined the Stockton Earth Day Festival committee and served as emcee for the annual event at Victory Park.

Along with my partner in crime, Rod, I co-emceed the SJDC Media Fest. We even found a way to show up wearing nearly identical shirts.

With the help of many great friends, I had the chance to perform Podcast Stockton Live at the Taste of San Joaquin and Way Out West BBQ Competition.

Dressed up as the Mad Hatter, and along with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, we particpated in the Library & Literacy Foundation’s Trivia Bee. We didn’t do any better than my past teams, but due to a rules change, we made it to the second round (the rule change was to allow all teams to compete in the second round).

Wes, Rod and I held our second and third Stockton Tweetups, bringing social media enthusiasts together in real-life.

What a year!

Goodbye 2010. Hello 2011.

I had a lot of fun learning more about my camera and lenses this year. Experimenting with manual shooting really helped me understand the impact of aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

Here’s my personal favorite picture from this year. As simple as it is, I learned that a simple piece of plain copy paper could make a good back drop. Also, because, it meant something to my friends who live Autism as a part of their day-to-day lives.

After going through my favorites from my Flickr friends, it was far too difficult to find one single favorite of 2010. So, here are six of my favorites (again, click each for the original), in no particular order.

Happy shooting in 2011.

I have a lofty goal in 2011: to read 52 books.

I have always enjoyed reading but in 2009 and 2010 I fell off the wagon a bit. Typically, I would start each year with the goal of reading 15-20 books, a goal I accomplished about as much as I didn’t.

For 2011, I want to read more but I needed some inspiration. Along comes Daniel Johnson, Jr., one of the coolest guys I know but have never met face-to-face. His Facebook post about How To Read a Book a Week was just the inspiration I needed.

Since reading his post a few weeks ago, wanting to start a little early, I have read four books. That’s more than I have read in the last six months. I already have my next few books selected. Let’s see how it goes. I do not exactly have a great track record for these types of challenges (anyone remember my feeble attempt at my 365 Flickr set? or when I tried to ride my bike every day for a year?).

So, here’s looking forward to a great year of reading. Have a suggestion for me? Would love to hear what you’re reading.

Want to follow what I’m reading? Check out my list here -http://www.goodreads.com/mattbeckw.

Links:
http://www.facebook.com/danieljohnsonjr/posts/168385256526315
http://inoveryourhead.net/how-to-read-a-book-a-week-in-2010/
http://www.goodreads.com/mattbeckw

Country music made up the largest percentage of what I bought in 2010. This shouldn’t surprise anyone that knows me well. Coupled with Bluegrass, they made up more than half of my new music this year.

Some of my favorite purchases in 2010:

Dierks Bentley - Up on the Ridge – This is one of my favorite records of 2010. I wasn’t a big Dierks Bentley fan before this release but hearing the simple acoustic tunes on this one turned me in to a fan!

Newfound Road - Same Old Place – I only recently discovered this band after perusing YouTube one night. The band is chock full of very talented bluegrass musicians but it’s their great vocals that keeps me listening over and over again.

Orianthi - Believe (II) – My kids downloaded the song, “According to You”, earlier in the year and it made its way to my iTunes. I originally thought it nothing more than a run-of-the-mill pop song. When I actually listened to the whole song I loved it. The guitar licks are unmistakably influenced by 80s rock. The riffs and solo would be at home on so many of the great 80s rock albums in my collection. It was only after I watched the video that I learned that the singer was also the lead guitarist. Orianthi was hired by Michael Jackson for the tour he was planning before his death and can be seen in the documentary, This is It. The rest of the album is pretty “poppy” but I love the guitar work.

Snap Jackson and the Knock on Wood Players - A Breath of Fresh Air – These guys are the epitome of the “newgrass” sound I love so much! Their sound is traditional with a modern twist (whatever that means, right?). This album, released on iTunes on January 1, is full of great songs. My favorite is “She Only Loves Me”. And did I mention they are from right here in Stockton? First time I heard them was when I stumbled upon them playing at a local park. Also, Snap is an amazing photographer.

Bruce Kulick - BK3 – I am a huge Kiss fan. Kulick, whose brother worked with Kiss for many years, was probably the most talented guitarist to play alongside Gene and Paul. This album, his third solo record, has a great edge to it. “Ain’t Gonna Die”, featuring Gene Simmons, is a great track. It’s what I would expect Gene to record on a solo record, just with better guitar work.

Honorable mentions:

Kurt Nilsen. I had never heard of this artist before I came across a video for the song, “Hallelujah”. For some strange reason, I had this song stuck in my head for weeks. One night, I decided to look for it on YouTube. The first video that came up was this one. I didn’t recognize any of the singers but immediately loved this version. I was looking away from my computer screen when, at the 2:04 mark, Kurt Nilsen started his part. I got chills. His voice is so powerful and beautiful. After winning World Idol, he has released pop and country albums.

Michael Seymour / Suddenly Seymour. I met Michael earlier this year when I interviewed him on Podcast Stockton. I got hear a couple of acoustic versions of his songs before they were fully produced. Michael has a great voice that goes perfectly with his music. I recently saw him play an acoustic show with just him and his drummer. They were awesome. Their EP, Searching For, is a great listen! Check him out on Myspace.

What is your favorite music of 2010?

Today, the Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC West (just as the Bleacher Report predicted in May). To get into the playoffs, the Chiefs controlled their own destiny. Win the last two games of the season and they’re in. They destroyed the Tennessee Titans, and remained undefeated at home this year, and as luck would have it, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the San Diego Chargers. Since we were two games ahead of the Chargers, we took the division one week early.

I had a feeling this season was going to be special when we opened up at home against the Chargers on Monday Night Football. What a great feeling to return to MNF and man-handle San Diego the way they did!

Now, they have to beat Oakland at home next week and get ready for the playoffs. Of course, I’m already dreaming of a Chiefs-Eagles Superbowl (my twin brother is an Eagles fan).

Why I think we can do it:

1. Matt Cassel is amazing! This guy has an emergency appendectomy and returns in less than two weeks!
2. The Class of 2010 – Berry, McCluster, Arenas, Asamoah, Moeaki (didn’t we used to have another TE named Tony? I can’t remember.)
3. The running game! Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles have combined for over 2,000 rushing yards and have helped give the Chiefs the best running attack in the NFL.
4. Dwayne Bowe. With 15 TDs, this guy is a big play maker.
5. Todd Haley and Romeo Crennel

For now, number one sure looks great!

Go Chiefs!

http://www.kcchiefs.com/…
http://arrowheadaddict.com/…
http://espn.go.com/…
http://bleacherreport.com/…

Flipboard for iPad was released earlier this year. Billed as the “world’s first social magazine”, its interface is meant to replicate a magazine – the kind you flip through. It is designed to gather all of your social feeds and present it in a magazine style app with full web and video functionality. Its layout is simple and very clean with not overly fancy. With its first release, it only had the ability to display Facebook and Twitter feeds, along with select RSS and Flickr feeds.

With Facebook and Twitter, your friends’ posts are displayed with their avatar. If they posted a link, the text of that page is displayed beautifully in Flipboard.

The most recent update finally gave me what I had been waiting for: Google Reader and Flickr login access. Now, the app truly is amazing! One stop shopping to check in on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and, most importantly for me, Google Reader.

Logging in with your Flickr username and password will attractively display your friends’ pictures.

The best part of Flipboard is its integration with Google Reader. Log in to your Reader account from the app and it becomes thebest interface for keeping up-to-date with your RSS feeds!

Flipboard has quickly become one of my all time favorite iOS apps. At the low, low price of FREE it is a must-have for any iPad user.

Check out the Flipboard video here and then go download the app for yourself.

http://www.flipboard.com
http://www.facebook.com/flipboard
http://twitter.com/flipboard

After years of reading I have learned quite a bit. I enjoy reading autobiographies and other non-fiction books (mostly categorized in the broad genres of Business or Leadership). Reading opens my mind to new ways of thinking. I consider it my greatest source of creativity.

After many years I have determined that reading is analogous with saving for retirement:

▪ Although it has great benefits, and many people want to do it, some just don’t do it.
▪ The trick is to start small.
▪ For best results, do it regularly, consistently, over a long period of time.
▪ After doing it for a week (or a month, or a year) don’t expect to be wealthy.
▪ It’s never too late to start. Start now. Create the habit now.

Happy reading.

I recently met with a consultant and, as many consultants do, he handed me his business card as he left. To be precise, he handed me three of his business cards.

Did he think I would lose them? When I asked why he gave me three he said he hoped I would share them with people I knew.

This consultant and I had just met and I felt like he had assigned work for me to do. Asking me to make a referral after just one brief meeting seemed a bit pre-mature.

If you’re meeting someone for the first time, and you feel the need to give someone your business card, don’t give more than one. Work on building a relationship before asking for a referral.

Really, you do.

I see a lot of resumes. And, yet, I still meet a lot of people that don’t have one. They have many reasons for not having an up-to-date resume. Frankly, none of them are good reasons.

Recent unemployment numbers show California with the third highest unemployment rate in the US (12.4%, higher than anytime in the last 30+ years) behind only Michigan (12.8%) and Nevada (14.2%). Recent reports show Stockton with a 16.6% unemployment rate. Additionally, for every job opening there are 5 unemployed people. I’m sure you don’t need those statistics to tell you that we are in a tight job market.

In this economy, with record unemployment, a resume is crucial. You might think that the only way to get a job is to “know someone on the inside”, someone in your target company that can help get your foot in the door. Your foot is a metaphor for your resume.

An opportunity to talk with a hiring manager may pop up at any time. The last thing you want to be doing is scrambling to put together a resume at the last minute.

A well crafted resume that highlights your accomplishments and how they can benefit your prospective employer is a good first step. Keep in mind, the only purpose your resume serves is to get you an interview.

Links:
http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_unemployment_statistics
http://www.bls.gov/web/jolts/jlt_labstatgraphs.pdf
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/metro_11032010.pdf
http://manager-tools.com/

The Apple TV is awesome! I considered leaving this blog post as just that one short sentence but, alas, I’ll elaborate.

I was never excited about the previous version of the Apple TV. First, until recently, we only owned a very old (and pretty small) standard definition television for almost 18 years. Second, I was always turned off by the on-board storage. We have a couple of computers in the house, and plenty of external storage. I didn’t care to fuss with syncing yet another device. When I first heard that the new incarnation of Steve Job’s pet project would be streaming only, I had to have one.

We picked one up from the Apple Store in Modesto a couple days after they hit store shelves and after a little help from my friend Manny, we were good to go. For the record, it couldn’t be more simple to connect. Just takes an HDMI cable between the device and the TV. My audio setup was a little wonky between the cable box, TV and surround sound receiver.

Ok, that’s enough back story.

Music – this was the primary reason I wanted an Apple TV. We’ve had the iTunes Express for years but lack of TV interface meant we hardly ever used it. On Apple TV, there’s an awesome interface to browse and listen to music from our primary computer in the house.

Podcasts – I listen to a lot of podcasts. The Apple TV allows browsing to the iTunes podcast directory. And what’s even better, I can mark one as favorite and listen just as soon as a new show is released. Having podcasts play on the TV make me wish Stump the Chef would come back; that video podcast is perfectly suited for this device!

iTunes Store content – In addition to streaming all of the content in my iTunes, I can also rent movies and TV shows directly from the Apple TV. I probably won’t be doing that at all, more on that later.

YouTube – Videos, especially those available in HD, look amazing from the Apple TV. Being able to login to my YouTube account is great for keeping up with my subscriptions.

Flickr – Photo slide shows look great using the Apple TV. The only downside is that I cannot sign-in to Flickr from the Apple TV like I can with YouTube. Still great for catching up on my Flickr friends.

Netflix – Lastly, the hidden gem inside the Apple TV! We waited years before getting cable (2005) and we might be the last family in America to get a flat screen television (2010). We don’t watch a lot of television and never saw the appeal of Netflix. Well, not until now. The same day we brought home the Apple TV we signed up for the free 30-day trial of Netflix. I don’t care much about getting a disc mailed to us but for 9 dollars per month, we can stream as much of their content as we want. I know this technology is not new but I am still amazed that we can stream TV shows and movies, in amazing quality, to our TV. Since we usually rent a few movies from On Demand each month, the Netflix option will save us some money.

For all the Apple critics that complain because Apple “forces” consumers to buy content through iTunes, strange how the Apple TV comes Netflix ready. And Netflix is far more valuable than any iTunes offering. Doesn’t seem to bother the Cupertino crew.

As an added bonus, to watch Netflix content from any computer, iPad or iPhone.

The Apple TV comes with a power cable and a very thin remote. Besides turning on the Apple TV, we typically use our iPhones as remotes, using the Remote app. This comes in handy when searching since you can use a real keyboard rather than hunting for each individual letter on screen.

The Apple TV is one of the coolest tech toys we own. If you rent 2 movies (or more) a month, adding an unlimited streaming Netflix account makes it even better! It has worked better than expected and we are getting a lot of use out of it.

I am still in awe that the Apple TV sells for only $99. For that price, I would have bought it just for music and podcast listening. The rest is gravy, and there is A LOT of gravy!

Links:
Apple TV
Manuel Montes blog
Apple Airport Express
Freakonomics Radio Podcast
Stump the Chef
Netflix

I enjoy being part of the festivities during Customer Service Week and hearing what other call center leaders do in their centers. I do my best to show my appreciation to my staff the other 51 weeks every year but find this week a special time.

Even if you don’t have money to spend, there are simple things you can do during Customer Service Week.

How about clearing your calendar (or much of it) and spend time talking with your call center team members. Schedule time to be out on the floor, with your people. If you don’t do this very often you may even find that you’ll pick up some great ideas on how to improve service. Time is a precious commodity for leaders. Want your staff to know you value them? Spend time with them. Listen to them.

Thank you cards never go out of style. Hand write thank you cards to everyone in your organization. This year I wrote out over 100 personalized thank you cards. Hand written thank you cards mean something. Well, to me they do. Hopefully my employees won’t throw them all in a bonfire.

Happy Customer Service Week.

The pilot episode was funny. Although I’ve never travelled overseas for work, I have been involved with vendors in India, Philippines, Costa Rica and Panama. The “cultural immersion” aspect of the show brought back memories of stories my team members would share when they returned to the US after opening a call center abroad.

Running a call center, in any country, is a delicate balance between art and science (to steal a phrase from a very smart colleague of mine). It continues to be very challenging and rewarding work. I am looking forward to seeing if this show gains mass appeal. I know all of my call center friends are watching.

Links:
Outsourced trailer on Hulu