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Tag Archives: Blogs

5 Reasons Why Ignoring Negative Social Media is a Career Ender for a VP of Customer Service

01 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by Paul Kiser in Business, Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Public Relations, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Blogs, Facebook, Foursquare, Netflix, Twitter, United Airlines, Yelp

USA PDT [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype: 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Despite the overwhelming evidence of the impact of Social Media on the perceived public image of a business, many Customer Service (CS) and Public Relations (PR) executives still handle negative Social Media (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp, etc.) by ignoring the bad publicity. One can only marvel at the rationale of an executive team in the 21st century, which believes that avoidance behavior of PR problems in the Social Media environment is the best policy.

I would suggest that there are four reasons for this philosophy, which are as follows:

Bad Social Media PR is Bad for Business

  • An outmoded understanding and/or denial of Social Media and its long-term impact on the company’s public image.
  • A belief that negative statements in the Social Media have no cumulative effect and that they will disappear over time.
  • An arrogance by the executives of a corporation that they control their public image by what they say and do and by the money they spend on advertising, not by what individuals outside the company say about them.
  • A belief that by giving attention to someone with a complaint about their company will cause more problems and possibly force the company to admit to their stupidity.
There are five reasons why ignoring negative Social Media is a bad idea and why the CS and PR executives who follow this policy have an expiration date on their careers:
  1. A negative Social Media comment is forever. It doesn’t fade and it doesn’t go away.
  2. A negative blog can and will be found by any Google search of your company. Why would a CS or PR executive let people who search for their company be exposed to everything said by the people who hate you?
  3. Bad comments on Social Media are cumulative. When someone is mad at your company they will search to find other people who feel the same way, and then you have a movement of people who are united against your company.
  4. Waiting to address bad publicity only makes a company look like they are hiding something when they finally do publicly address the issue, which is a lose, lose, loser in damage control.
  5. Once a company wakes up and realizes that ignoring bad PR is a stupid idea, how long will the implementor of that policy have before the company seeks someone who is smarter about handling negative Social Media?

A negative Social Media comment about a company is an opportunity. Everyone knows that major corporations are monitoring the Social Media, so when someone makes a negative comment they know that someone in the company is reading it. A company that contacts the author of the complaint to show concern will, at the very least, prove that the company appreciates its customers. By, 1) addressing the reason for the complaint and, 2) making some tangible effort to offer a reward to the person for bringing the issue to the company’s attention, the complainer will likely become a positive voice for the company’s public image and may even delete the negative blog or comment.

Companies, and their executives, who fail to address negative Social Media comments are risking their future. Netflix and United Airlines are just two examples of corporations that have done too little too late to address public image issues in the Social Media and they are paying the price. How many companies have to become a joke to their customers, investors, and the public before they realize the mistake they are making by ignoring Social Media?

Does FINRA Prohibit Social Media Activity for Investment/Financial Firms?

19 Thursday May 2011

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Ethics, Information Technology, Internet, Management Practices, Public Relations, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Blogs, Financial industry, FINRA, investing, Investment agencies, Regulations, Rule 10-06, SEC

USA PDT [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype: 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Last year I managed to offend some investment and financial professionals when I said that their industry would have to engage in Social Media, including blogs, if they were going to stay competitive. They told me that their firms and industry regulations prohibited them from using Social Media tools in their business practices. They also said that some firms that prohibited personal involvement in Social Media. The reaction during and after the meeting was one of a strong denial of the usefulness of Social Media in their industry mixed with a ‘kill-the-messenger’ attitude. It was a typical response by business people who have been blindsided by Social Media.

…Professionals that rely on personal contact and personal relationships are finding that effective use of Social Media is key to maintaining and growing their business.

It is hard to start a dialogue with business professionals on how to use Internet tools such as blogging, Facebook and Twitter when the attitude is that Social Media are an encompassing evil that must be avoided, or at the very least, ignored. The problem, and opportunity, is that business professionals who can use Social Media to engage with others will have an advantage over those who are mystified, or more typically, scared by the power of Social Media. Professionals that rely on personal contact and personal relationships are finding that effective use of Social Media is key to maintaining and growing their business.

The fact is that since that meeting many investment related firms have changed their positions by at least 90° and some have done a 180° shift in their attitude about Social Media in business. That is not surprising considering that their future is at stake; however, investment firms do have strict guidelines on advertising and investment advisement, so using Social Media is not the ‘anything goes’ environment for which most of us are accustomed.

Both the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)[1] are charged with protecting investors by establishing rules to govern investment-related activities. Among those rules are requirements for firms on educating, monitoring, supervising, and document the activities of brokers representing their company. In January 2010, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 10-06 titled Social Media Web Sites – Guidance on Blogs and Social Networking Web Sites. This notice did not prohibit firms from engaging in Social Media activity, but rather offered common-sense guidelines for investment firms on how Social Media tools could be used to meet FINRA and SEC requirements.

(End of Part I)

(Note: Part II will be posted by 5 PM PDT, Monday, May 23rd)

[1] FINRA is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA’s mission is to protect America’s investors by making sure the securities industry operates fairly and honestly. All told, FINRA oversees nearly 4,550 brokerage firms, about 163,500 branch offices and approximately 631,110 registered securities representatives. (From About FINRA at www.finra.org.)

(This article is advisory in nature and the author does not represent the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA,) the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), nor any federal or state regulatory authority. The opinion expressed should not be considered as a legal or official position regarding the use of Social Media tools in industry practices.  The author has sought out publicly available relevant documents and information as the basis for the opinions expressed; however, final authority on the issues discussed in this article rests with the appropriate government, regulatory, and/or company division that oversees the area of concern.)

5 reasons why you shouldn’t title your blog with numbered reasons

03 Friday Dec 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Communication, Information Technology, Random, Social Interactive Media (SIM)

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bloggers, Blogging, Blogs, Internet, Social Media

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype: kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Article first published as
5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Title Your Blog with Numbered Reasons
on Technorati.com

It seems that bloggers are discovering that using a blog title with a number in it attracts attention.  Here are some that showed up in an email alert from SocialMediaToday:

  • 9  Points on Why…
  • 8  Tips to Get More…
  • 14  Situations When You…
  • 16  Tactics for Building…

I guess that readers want to know that there is a limit to what any given author is going to say.  There is good historical precedent for this practice.  The 10 Commandments is one example. People can’t name them, but they seem to find comfort knowing there are only 10. Still, I think there are five good reasons not to number your reasons.

  1. You could be wrong about the numerical count…and you probably ARE wrong. You may think there are 50 ways to leave your lover, but then Lorena Bobbitt comes along and bam! there is 51.
  2. It makes you sound pedantic (pedantic defined: ostentatious in one’s learning, ostentatious definition: look it up.)
  3. It lacks originality. Just because every other blogger is jumping on the numerical bandwagon doesn’t mean they aren’t eventually going to jump off a cliff…I need to work on my metaphor a little.
  4. It’s silly. I can’t look at a Social Media blog that starts out with a number in the title without chuckling.
  5. A number in your blog title doesn’t make your blog more authoritative. Anyone can come up with a number. For this blog I picked five as my magic number and made my reasons fit the number.
  6. You could miscount…and then where would you be?
There you have it; five reasons not to list your reasons. Any questions?

More Articles

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Sandoval/Reid campaign money not a stimulus for Nevada

24 Wednesday Nov 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Branding, Communication, Consulting, Ethics, Government, History, Honor, Management Practices, Politics, Pride, Print Media, Public Relations, Traditional Media

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Democrats, Governor, Management Practices, Nevada, New Business World, Newspapers, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Republican, Republicans, Rory Reid, Sandoval

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Article first published as
Sandoval/Reid Campaign Money Not a Stimulus for Nevada
on Technorati

We endured relentless political ads on television and radio, but Nevada didn’t hit the jackpot in campaign dollars flowing into the State from the Governor’s race. Despite the fact that almost $3.8 million dollars was spent by the Sandoval for Governor Campaign in the months leading up to the election, 80% of the money was payable to recipients outside the State. Rory Reid’s campaign also spent a significant portion of its money to out-of-state firms with MSR Media Strategies, LLC in Fairfax, Virginia netting almost $2.8 million from the Reid campaign.

Sandoval Campaign Expenses
(Spreadsheet listing all campaign expenses through October 21, 2010)

In a detailed review of Governor-Elect Sandoval’s campaign reports, 63% ($2.4 million) of campaign expenses were made payable to Strategic Media Services, inc. in Washington, D.C. for advertising. While some may argue that money spent for advertising comes back to the State in the form of purchased television and radio air time and newspaper ads, one Nevada media consultant pointed out that most media outlets in Nevada are owned by out-of-state media corporations, so political ads that ran on many local stations were payable to non-Nevada interests. The one exception is the Intermountain West Communications Company that owns several television stations including in the western United States including KSNV-Las Vegas, KRNV-Reno, and KENV-Elko. 

David Neal, President of Strategic Media Services, inc. (Sandoval’s leading campaign expenditure) and Kyle Osterhout, Partner of MSR Media Strategies, LLC (Rory Reid’s leading campaign expenditure) were not immediately available; however, two media experts with campaign related experience said that the standard fee for media agencies is 15% of the advertising purchase. In some cases a campaign may negotiate rebates from the media agency based on volume of business; however services such as the production of the ad are typically not included in the 15% fee.

The Las Vegas area did benefit from 19% (over $720,000) of the campaign funds with over $400,000 paid to political and media consultants.  Almost half a million dollars went to the three Las Vegas firms of October, Inc., Autumn Productions, and Autumn EMedia. The latter two are subsidiaries of November, Inc.

The Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Carson Valley garnered only 1 percent (less than $30,000) from the Governor-Elect’s campaign and rural Nevada received less than $10,000.

NEXT:  Where the money came from in Sandoval’s campaign

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  • Rogue Flight Attendant shows his arrogance, Airlines dislike for the customer
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Nevada Best Kept Secret: #1 in Crime

05 Friday Nov 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Crime, Crisis Management, Ethics, Government, History, Politics, Pride, Print Media, Public Relations, Rotary, Taxes, Traditional Media, Travel, Violence in the Workplace, Women

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

auto theft, Blogging, Blogs, crime rate, crime statistics, Employment, Executive Management, HR, Management Practices, Nevada, New Business World, Newspapers, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, rapes, robbery, Rotary

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Article first published as
Nevada #1 Crime Rate Not Acknowledged
on Technorati

On a late October morning a Wal-Mart employee was ‘disgruntled’ and he decides it’s time to take action. He smuggles a gun into the store and buys ammunition for it in the Sporting Goods department. He then goes to the restroom where he hides in the handicapped stall mulling his decision. He makes a final commitment to confront his bosses and leaves the restroom, straight toward the manager’s office. Once there he confronts the manager, the one he likes, and, at gunpoint, orders him to call two other managers to the office. When they arrive they find an angry man with a gun. At some  point the three managers make a run for it and all three are shot. All three live, but their lives will never be the same.

Last week’s shooting of three managers in a Wal-Mart in Reno (Nevada, USA) should not be surprising in a State that has the worst crime rate in the United States. Nevada has been ranked as the Most Dangerous State for the last four years (2006-09) by Morgan Quitno’s (morganquitno.com) annual crime rate report.

Nevada’s Crime Story

  • Nevada ranks #1 in women being killed by men (1)
  • Nevada ranks #1 in stolen cars per capita (2)
  • Nevada ranks #1 in robbery per capita (2)
  • Nevada ranks in the top 10 for assaults per capita for the last 4 years (3)
  • Nevada ranks in the top 10 for forcible rape per capita for the last 4 years (3)

What is a surprise is the deafening silence about the State’s notorious ranking by local media. The top 50 hits of a Google search of ‘Nevada High Crime Rate News Media’ offer no mention of the issue among the State’s primary television and print media resources. It also was not an issue discussed in most of the major political contests this year despite the fact that Nevada’s #1 status in unemployment, foreclosures, and bankruptcies were all fodder for candidate mud-slinging.

It should be noted that Nevada’s crime rankings are not an artifact of the 2007-09 Recession. The State has been a leader in crime independent of the economic environment. It is unknown if Nevada’s out of control crime issues are effecting tourism because for over half a decade the State has experienced a steady decline in gaming revenues because of increased competition due to Indian gaming in California and other States. Any impact of Nevada’s high crime reputation would be masked by the larger trend; however, as there seems to be little awareness of the State’s crime issues, it is unlikely that it has had an impact…yet.

Nevada’s gaming industry would likely suffer more revenue losses if the crime woes were widely publicized and lower gaming revenues would have a trickle down effect on newspaper and television advertising revenue but, there is no evidence that the local media intentionally avoids the subject to risk offending their advertisers. Gaming also plays a significant role in Nevada politics but, there is no evidence that politicians avoid discussing the issue for fear of offending potential major contributors to their campaigns.

However, the lack of discussion seems to only be feeding the problem. If any effort is being made to turn around Nevada’s position as the Most Dangerous State it is being done without fanfare ….and without success.

NOTES:
(1) – Statistic for 2008 (from crimeinamerica.net)

(2) – Statistic for 2009 – #2 in 2005-08 (from disastercenter.com)
(3) – Statistic for 2006-09 (from disastercenter.com)

More Articles

Business: Public Relations, Management, and Social Media Related

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  • HR/Security Hot Topic: Should you watch your employee’s personal Internet activities? (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.)
  • Relationship Typing: 3 factors that affect the quality and depth of friendship (Part I)
  • Starbucks Re-Imagines the business … again
  • Your Privacy Rights on the Internet: Read before you write
  • Social Media 3Q Update: Who uses Facebook, Twitter,LinkedIn, and MySpace?
  • Richmond Embassy Suites: The best at true Hospitality
  • Dear Business Person: It’s 2010, please update your brain.
  • Selling watered-down beer: The best spin campaign in advertising
  • Communication: Repetition of message does not increase awareness
  • Is it time to fire yourself?
  • Millennium Hotel: Go away, spend your money elsewhere
  • Rogue Flight Attendant shows his arrogance, Airlines dislike for the customer
  • 2Q 2010 Social Media Tools: Facebook/Twitter sail on, LinkedIn/MySpace don’t
  • War Declared on Social Media: Desperate Acts of Traditional Media
  • Pay It Middle: The Balance between Too Much and Too Little Compensation
  • Mega Executive Pay Leads to Poor Performance
  • Relationships and Thin-Slicing: Why the other person knows what you’re really thinking
  • Browser Wars: Internet Explorer losing, Google Chrome gaining ground
  • WiFi on Southwest Airlines: Is it ‘Shovel Ready’?
  • Starbucks makes a smart move: Free WiFi
  • Foul Play: FIFA shows what less regulation offers to business
  • The Shock of the McChrystal Story: The story is over before the article is published
  • Tony Hayward: The very model of a modern Major General
  • Epic Fail: PR ‘Experts’ don’t get Twitter
  • King of Anything: Social Media vs Traditional Media
  • Twitter is the Thunderstorm of World Thought
  • Signs of the Times
  • How Social Interactive Media Could Transform Higher Education
  • How to Become a Zen Master of Social Media
  • Death of All Salesmen!
  • Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
  • Social Media:  What is it and Why Should You Care?
  • Social Media 2020:  Keep it Personal
  • Social Media 2020:  Who Shouldn’t Be Teaching Social Media
  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
  • Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
  • Who uses Facebook, Twitter, MySpace & LinkedIn?
  • Fear of Public Relations
  • Dissatisfiers: Why John Quit
  • Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…Oh My!
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  • What most non-Rotarians don’t know about Rotary
  • Rotary@105: Making Rotary Sexy
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  • How Rotary can..must..will plug into Social Media
  • Rotary PR: Disrespecting the Club President is a PR/Membership issue
  • Rotary Membership/Public Image Challenge
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  • Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
  • Rotary Magazine Dilemma Reveals the Impact of Social Media
  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
  • Rotary@105:  What kind of animal is Rotary International?
  • Rotary:  The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
  • Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win
  • Rotary: All Public Relations is Local
  • Best Practices:  Become a Target!

Science Related

  • Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophesy a Scientific Possibility?
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know

Personal Experience Related

  • Knowing when it’s over or beyond over
  • Dear Teresa Laraba, SVP of Southwest Airlines Customer Service
  • Things I didn’t know about being a Father to a four-year-old boy
  • Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
  • Up in the air down in Texas
  • I mow my lawn because…
  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service

Our Country and History Related

  • The Vultures Start Circling on Election Day
  • The Quality of Mercy: Tea Party seeks its pound of flesh
  • I’m not angry, nor am I stupid … and I voted
  • Point of Confusion
  • What I’m not buying this year
  • Nevada: State of Disaster
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico

The Vultures Start Circling on Election Day

03 Wednesday Nov 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Communication, Crisis Management, Ethics, Government, History, Honor, Politics, Pride, Print Media, Public Relations, Respect, Rotary, Traditional Media, US History

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Let Freedom Ring, Newspapers, Public Image, Republicans, Tea Party, USA Today

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Article first published as
Vote Brings Out the Vultures
on Technorati

Tuesday’s vote put the Republican Party back in charge of the House and significantly reduced the Democratic majority in the Senate. The polls prior to Tuesday had already signaled that the Democrats would face near historic losses and that news brought out the vultures (hawks is too nice a metaphor). A full-page ad in USA Today by Let Freedom Ring used the opportunity of a Democratic blood-bath to promote their fear-mongering agenda.

The unknown author(s) titled the ad with: “When will President Obama Accept Reality?” They use the recent incident of two printer bombs (not to be mistaken with any products sold by Hewlett-Packard) addressed to synagogues in Chicago to argue that we “..clearly remain under attack.”

The ad proclaims that they:

…will seek out candidates that a not afraid to praise and defend America. We will elect those who are not afraid to put a strong America first.

Who is the terrorist?

Clearly the fact that we did not respond with a nuclear bomb in Yemen last weekend has offended these people. I say these people because they seem to wish to remain unknown. Not only do they avoid listing any names in the advertisement, their website is absent of any responsible party.  As typical with this type of propaganda, the people behind this effort don’t stand behind the statements. The anonymous statements have the same value to our country as gang graffiti on a dumpster.

However, this ad is a big win… for those who are responsible for shipping the printer bombs from Yemen last week. A handful of criminals who wanted to make a name for themselves could not hope for a better result from two failed bombs that never came close to a target. They got a full-page ad in USA Today and they didn’t have to pay a penny for it. They are now the toast of every other criminal out there who wishes people would pay attention to them.

Who is the real terrorist? The nameless person who made the bomb, or the nameless people who try to take an incident and use it to promote fear for their political agenda?

I know who has my vote.

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A Question of Ethics

02 Tuesday Nov 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Crisis Management, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Employee Retention, Ethics, History, Honor, Human Resources, Management Practices, Passionate People, Pride, Public Relations, Relationships, Respect, Rotary

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Employment, Ethics, Executive Management, Management Practices, Public Relations, Rotary, Seminars, speakers

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Business ethics have waxed and waned over the centuries, but recently we have observed a severe lack of ethical conduct on a large-scale in recent years. The most recent world-wide economic crisis was triggered by years of unethical business practices that nearly put the United States in its first depression in almost a century. In hindsight the questionable business practices were often created by a subtle system of pressuring employees to take actions that were demanded by executives and managers in order to improve earnings for stockholders. This type of ethical dilemma often leaves no one person to blame, and even those involved sometimes do not realize that they are participating in inappropriate and/or unethical acts.

I have been caught in ethical dilemmas that created a moral challenge for me and in one situation I lost a stream of revenue in a seemingly no win scenario.

For a time I assisted a seminar speaker who was considered to be an expert in his field. He hired me to participate in group activities during his seminars.  Occasionally, he would ask me to update or write scenarios for his seminars. In one case I based the scenario on someone I knew, but I added the possibility of suicide.  The scenario was also combined with a possibility of doing harm to someone else.  We used the scenario in one of his seminars and it went very well.

Bigger horns make the bull seem smaller...just like some consultants

A few weeks later we used the same scenario, with minor revisions, with another client. Interestingly enough, the night before the seminar, the speaker  told me that someone else had just written the scenario. However, when I read it I realized that it was the same one I had written for him a few weeks earlier. When I mentioned to him that I was familiar with this scenario and tactfully reminded him that I had been the original author he quickly acknowledged it and moved on.

The next day exercise went well and afterward the participants were given the opportunity to discuss the activity. Participants began asking him about what happened in real life to this person.  Instead of explaining that this was a fictional scenario based on a combination of multiple real situations, the speaker began explaining that in the real life situation that the person did indeed kill himself.  He continued to answer more questions that were also fabrications, but passed off as his ‘research’.  Afterwards I did not mention anything to him about his handling of the post-activity questions.  He was hiring me to assist him, not criticize him and so I did not pursue it with him.

He had already hired me to work with two more clients in the next few weeks and at both he insisted that I stay out of the room, except during the group activity. He stressed that it was not good for his clients to ‘get to know me’ too well.  He also did not schedule me for any more work with his clients.

Later I tried to understand what I might have done to cause an abrupt end to our relationship. He and his clients raved about my work. I then realized that the sudden changes occurred after I witnessed his unethical handling of questions in the previous seminar. Apparently it had a significant impact on him that I observed his breach of trust with his client and that earned me a permanent seat on the bench.

Perhaps I should have confronted him, but I think that would have just made him mad, with the same result.  It was a good lesson: A lack of ethics by one person…sucks.

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The Quality of Mercy: Tea Party looking for a pound of flesh

29 Friday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, History, Passionate People, Politics, Pride, Respect, Rotary, Taxes, US History

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

2007-09 Recession, Blogging, Blogs, Democrats, Ethics, GOP, Illegal Immigrants, Political Parties, Recession, Republicans, Sharron Angle, Tea Party

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Article first published as The Quality of Mercy on Technorati.

William Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice, tells the tale of Antonio, a wealthy merchant who can’t lend money to a friend in need because his money is leveraged until his ships return to Venice. To help his friend, and having no other options, he goes to a moneylender named Shylock who despises Antonio, but surprisingly he agrees to lend the money without interest. The only condition is that if the money is not paid back in full by a certain date, Shylock will be allowed to take a pound of Antonio’s flesh.

In Act V, Antonio’s ships have apparently been lost as sea and he is arrested and brought before the Duke of Venice and Shylock. The moneylender is adamant that the contract is valid and he should be allowed to collect on his debt by taking the pound of flesh ‘nearest Antonio’s heart’. The root of the issue is not about the loan contract, it is about the long-standing conflict between Antonio and Shylock.

The Tea Party is playing the role of Shylock in American politics. Feigning some fictitious abuse in order to convince others that something horrible has happened to them, when in fact the Tea Party doth protest too much. Next Tuesday they seek their pound of flesh from the rest of our country and unfortunately they will likely get it. Sadly, the village idiots have told their lies enough that many people are starting to believe them.

It strikes me that our political uproar caused by the alleged ‘anger’ of the Tea Party and other extreme conservatives has nothing to do with the state of the economy, healthcare reform, higher taxes, immigration, nor government regulation. Like Shylock, it is the desire to destroy that drives the Tea Party, not rational thought. No rational person would accept:

  • That our economy is worse today because of a Democratic majority.
    • We were on the brink of complete economic disaster 18 months ago. Through brilliant use of tax money and government intervention disaster was averted. Ironically, we are making interest from some of the money invested.
  • That the 2007-09 Recession was caused by government regulation.
    • The 2007-09 Recession was caused by unethical business men and their practices, NOT because of a lack of government regulation.
  • That healthcare reform is bankrupting businesses.
    • Most of the reforms passed will not even take effect until 2014 and no one can offer a rational argument to support the doomsday prediction.
  • That the Democratic majority has increased taxes.
    • Wow. Taxes have been lower for 95% of Americans in 2009 and will be again in 2010, if the Republicans stopped holding the rest of us hostage unless the richest Americans are allowed to only pay tax equal to the poorest Americans.
  • That illegal immigrants are destroying our country.
    • Where’s the proof? I have heard the same ‘incidents’ used over and over. Undocumented workers lead a quiet, low profile life in this country… they have to. Yes, there are a few incidents that involve undocumented workers, but when a 21-year old, white, male attacks a woman in Denver because he ‘thinks’ she’s a Lesbian it is obvious we have bigger problems with stupid white men.

      Angle: Manning up in stupid

I don’t mind a good debate and reasoned argument, but there is nothing I have heard out to the Tea Party rhetoric that is based in reality. US Senate candidate Sharron Angle runs from the media. She and her supporters make baseless and absurd accusations of voter fraud, puts out flyers saying her opponent voted for death panels, and send out fake emails saying that her opponent’s great Uncle was hanged as a horse thief. It’s as if Richard Nixon’s ghost has returned.

At the end of Shakespeare’s play a character makes a plea to save Antonio with a speech known as the ‘Quality of Mercy‘ speech. Shylock is unmoved, but in the end Antonio is saved and the moneylender’s plan is thwarted by rational people. For us, not so much.

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HR/Security Hot Topic: Should you watch your employee’s personal Internet activities? (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.)

28 Thursday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Consulting, Crisis Management, Customer Service, Employee Retention, Ethics, Government Regulation, Honor, Human Resources, Information Technology, Internet, Management Practices, Pride, Privacy, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!, Recreation, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, SEO, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, Violence in the Workplace, Website

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

background checks, Blogging, Blogs, case law, Employee evaluations, Employee privacy, Employer liability, Employment, Employment Law, employment verification, Executive Management, Facebook, HR, Human Resources, Internet, lawsuit, LinkedIn, Management Practices, monitoring employees, New Business World, performance reviews, Privacy, Privacy on the Internet, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Rotary, security, Social Media, Social Networking

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

One of the hottest topics in the world of employment is whether or not an employer should monitor his or her Internet activities. This is a subject I’ve written about before, but it is an issue that is still emerging and has yet to have any significant case-law to provide guidance to employers.

It is well-known that a large number of employers perform a ‘Google’ search on the Internet before they hire an applicant, but now companies are feeling the need to continue to monitor an employee’s Internet activities after hire. Many experts, especially those involved in employee liability prevention support an employer’s right to monitor an employee’s Internet activities even when those activities occur off-duty and offsite. The logic is that it is prudent to aware of anything an employee might say or do that could embarrass the employer, or any indication that the employee might take an action that might involve the company and its facilities.

These are rational arguments, but I believe that monitoring an employee’s activities is opening the door to bigger liability issues. Sound odd? Here’s the scenario I see happening in three Acts.

Should the Employer be Big Brother?

Act One: A busy-body employer or manager casually checks his or her employee’s Facebook, MySpace, and/or Twitter accounts. The employer might even do a Google search on an employee from time to time. When the employer or manager finds something that they see as objectionable they confront the guilty employee and take the proper action. It becomes known throughout the company (and the employee’s family) that the employer monitors its employee’s personal Internet activity.

Act Two: An employee has been reprimanded for content they have posted on the Internet. Six months later the same employee posts information on the Internet that he  is considering suicide and describes in detail how he is going to kill himself. Two weeks later the employee carries out the suicide as described. The family is aware the employer monitors the employee’s Internet activity and sues the employer claiming that the employer should have reasonably been aware of the planned suicide and taken action.

Act Three: Companies find themselves with two polar opposite choices. Either the company does not monitor their employee’s Internet activities or the company assigns resources to constantly monitor the Internet on every employee to insure they capture any relevant data for which the company should take action.

I was trained in Human Resources under the policy that what the employee did on her or his own time was off-limits to the employer unless it had a direct impact the job performance. That policy has had to be adjusted in a world where work and off-duty time can often be hard to differentiate, and where drug testing, researching credit scores and background checks have become standard operating procedure for many companies. However, an employee’s personal Internet activities is almost impossible to track in a society that is increasing involved in hours of daily online social networking. The question is whether an employer wants to be liable for monitoring its employees 24/7/365 and being held responsible for taking the appropriate action, or whether the employer would be better served by not being sucked into liability issues that can be avoided by simply not playing the role of Big Brother ?

I know which strategy I would recommend to my clients.

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  • Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
  • Rotary Magazine Dilemma Reveals the Impact of Social Media
  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
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  • Rotary:  The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
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  • Nevada: State of Disaster
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico

Rotary@105: 7 Relationship types that affect membership retention (Part II)

27 Wednesday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Club Leadership, Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Employee Retention, Ethics, Honor, Human Resources, Information Technology, Internet, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Membership Recruitment, Membership Retention, Passionate People, Pride, Public Relations, Relationships, Rotary, Rotary@105, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, The Tipping Point, Women

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by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

NOTE: This article is a secondary article to
Relationships Typing: 3 factors that the affect quality and depth of friendship

As mentioned in the first part of this article, I have defined three factors that seem to determine the quality of my relationships. 1) Trust, 2) Common Interests and/or Experiences, 3) Equality.

By using a 21-point scale to rate each factor in various relationship types we can see how Trust (or the lack of), Common Interests and/or Experiences (or the lack of), and Equality (or the lack of) define the relationship. Below are seven types of benchmark relationships and how they might affect membership retention in a Rotary club.

Too much friendship?

The Star
We all have people who we look up to, but there are just a few people that we put on a pedestal. I see the Star relationship as one where the trust level is relatively high (+7 on a scale of -10 to +10) as well as the common interest level (+8 on a scale of -10 to +10), but we feel inferior (a -9 on a scale of -10 to +10) to this person. In this relationship the depth and quality of the relationship is usually shallow. These people are not close friends, but rather an admired acquaintance. A new member in a Rotary club might see the Club President as the Star.

The Mentor
The Mentor is a different version of the Star. The difference is that we trust the Mentor implicitly (+10) and we have a strong common interest (+9); however, we see ourselves as inferior (-6) to our Mentor. The Mentor has achieved a level of success that we hope reach and our relationship is based on a mutual effort to gain an equal level of success in the future. I think it is a mistake to believe that a Mentor relationship can be imposed. The only successful Mentor relationships I have observed are those that have occurred by a mutual agreement of both parties. In over nine years in Rotary have witnessed few successful Mentor relationships. When it does happen it is a win-win situation for both members, but the Mentor must be highly skilled and/or knowledgeable, a passionate person, and a great trainer. In addition, the ‘trainee’ must recognize the Mentor’s superior knowledge and have a desire to learn from him or her. If not, the relationship will fail.

A Partnership is not necessarily a friendship

The Partner
I see the Partner as a relationship seeking mutual benefit for both people, but without the level of trust of a Mentor relationship. In a Partner relationship the trust is conditional (0, not + or -) and the two people usually see the other as his or her  equal (0) or at least they have something of value that balances the relationship, but the common interest is high (+9). I would consider the Partner relationship to be a symbiotic or co-dependent relationship and while the relationship may seem to be a strong bond, the slightest feeling of inequality or betrayal can end the relationship. In Part I of this series I mentioned that the employer/employee relationship might be a partnership, but I also believe that some marriages can start out, or devolve into Partner type relationships. In a Rotary club a member who has established mostly Partner relationships with other members is likely to have no deep attachment to the club and likely to leave.

The Friend
Of all relationships, I think a Friend is the hardest to achieve. A quality friendship involves a high level of trust (+9) and a significant level of common interests and/or experiences (+6), but also a genuine feeling of equality (0) must exist. The trust and equality factors for a friendship are difficult for most people to offer to another person. It is a special relationship and one to be highly valued, but once achieved it is a strong bond that lasts over time and distance. If every member were to have only one other true ‘Friend’ in his or her club most members would never consider leaving.

The Rival or Competitor
A rival is a relationship, even though we usually don’t think of it as one. It is a relationship based on mistrust (-8) of another person and somewhat ironically, a relationship that includes a high level of common interests (+8). I think that while we may feel we are superior to our rival that the truth is that we are afraid that we are not, thus I give an equality rating of (+3) to a Rival relationship. The Rival relationship is one of the worst possible relationships that could develop in a Rotary club. Sooner or later the club is going to be drawn into the conflict or one or more members will leave because of it. Ironically, it is the high level of common interest that seems to set up the Rival/Competitor situation. Without the envy or jealousy caused by the common interest both people would probably ignore each other.

Common Interest can enhance a relationship, or create conflict

The Subordinate or Submissive
Note that with the Subordinate relationship I am talking about someone who sees another person as their subordinate or submissive. This can be an employer/employee type relationship, but it is any relationship where a person sees him/herself as superior (+10) to another person. The trust level is relatively high (+5) as the person with the bigger ego expects the subordinate to obey their wishes and typically there is somewhat of a common interest (+3), but not necessarily a significant level of commonality. The big problem I have seen with this type of relationship is that the target of this attitude may not feel that they should be the subordinate. In a Rotary club it is surprising easy for a club leader to see other club members as their subordinate. Nothing creates a false sense of power like a title and in a volunteer organization titles are meant to assign responsibility, not authority, but not everyone understands that concept.

The Alien or Blank
It seems somewhat pointless to talk about the lack of a relationship as a type of relationship, but the I find it interesting to understand that some people just don’t show up on our relationship radar even though we may see them on a regular basis. I didn’t fully understand this until I was in Rotary, but after a few years in a club you learn the some people can disappear in plain sight. I feel the lack of a relationship, when there realistically should be is a type of relationship and I refer to it as an Alien or Blank relationship.

The quality of Friendship
I would not argue the point that it takes two to make or break a relationship; however, I would argue that the quality and depth of any relationship is determined largely by our own attitudes, in concert with the way the other person treats us. Understanding the factors that influence a relationship is the first step to making positive changes. In a Rotary club, failing to recognize that not all relationships are constructive can have major consequences on membership retention.

In Part I of this series I talked about a facilitator at a meeting who didn’t want to dilute his ‘friendships’ with people in the Social Media. My response to him is this: friendship is more about what we bring to the table and not the method of connection. The Social Media is not a threat to good friendships, just a different way to engage in them.

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  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
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  • Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophesy a Scientific Possibility?
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Relationship Typing: 3 factors that affect quality and depth of friendship (Part I)

27 Wednesday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Club Leadership, Communication, Employee Retention, Ethics, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Membership Recruitment, Membership Retention, Passionate People, Public Relations, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations

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Blogging, Blogs, Club Members, Depth of Relationships, Employee evaluations, Employment, Executive Management, Facebook, Friendship, Internet, LinkedIn, Management Practices, Membership Recruitment, Membership Retention, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Quality of Relationships, Relationship Typing, Rotarians, Rotary, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Several weeks ago I was at a Rotary District Leadership training meeting and I made a comment that the Social Media tools like Facebook and Twitter allow us to have more friends and more connections to other people. I was shocked into silence when one of the facilitators said that he didn’t want that. He explained that his friends were those very close, very special people that he choose to be friends with, and that he didn’t want to dilute his social circle with people from the Social Media.

It was an interesting point and it caused me to start thinking about the quality and depth of the relationships of the people around me. In several decades of business, procurement of two bachelor’s degrees, and almost a decade in Rotary I have learned that not everyone is my ‘friend’ even though I may have frequent contact with them. All of us have people who are important to us and we all have people who we just don’t like, but until now I hadn’t focused on the factors that seem to define my relationships.

Understanding what shapes my attitude is a significant step towards taking an active role in building better and less conflictive relationships with the people around me. For this reason I wanted to explore what determines what type of relationship we have with another person.

I have come up with three factors that seem to determine the quality of my relationships. 1) Trust, 2) Common Interests and/or Experiences, 3) Equality.

Trust, Common Interest, and Equality

The trust factor seems obvious, but I find this to be a complex issue. Trust can be absolute, non-existent, or conditional. For example, I would propose that many employer/employee relationships are based on a conditional trust where both parties are on the constant guard of the other person betraying his or her trust.

The common interest and/or experiences factor may also seem obvious; however, sometimes common interests or experiences can create feelings of jealousy, envy, rivalry, or disgust. Just because two people have a lot in common doesn’t result in a bond of appreciation.

The final factor is not as obvious. My experience is that the level of equality felt by a person is a significant factor in determining the quality and depth of a relationship. In an organization of volunteers like a Rotary club we often mistakenly believe that everyone is equal, but my experience has been that the relationships that form in a typical Rotary club are often shaped, at least in part, by one person’s feeling of superiority over another.

Using these three factors I have been able to better define the quality and depth of my relationships. Because each of  these factors have a positive and negative component, I use an 21-point scale (-10, -9, -8, … -1, 0, +1, … +8, +9, +10) to score their significance. For example a Relationship Type might be low in trust (-7), high in common interest (+8), and neutral in equality (0). While all relationships reflect a continuum of these factors I have defined seven benchmark relationship types and have scored each factor on the 21-point scale.

In part two of this article I will define the seven relationship types and their scoring. I also will discuss how the relationship type might impact membership retention in a Rotary club.

Click on the link below for the continuing article
Rotary@105: Relationship types affect membership retention

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I’m not angry, nor am I stupid…and I voted

25 Monday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, History, Internet, Lessons of Life, Passionate People, Politics, Pride, Public Relations, Random, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Taxes, US History, Women

≈ 3 Comments

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Blogging, Blogs, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Christine O'Donnell, Democrats, Election, Election 2010, Elections, Meg Whitman, Mike Steele, Nevada, New Business World, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Republicans, Sharron Angle, Social Media, Tea Party, Vote, Voting, Wackos

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

I have seen the ads for the Democratic candidates that make the claim that their opponents are ‘extremists’. I disagree with this assessment of some of the Republican/Tea Party candidates. They are not extremists, they are just stupid.

  • When the Nevada Republican candidate for Senate, Sharron Angle, suggest’s that ‘some people’ are angry enough to “invoke their Second Amendment Rights”, in an attempt to scare people into voting for her, that’s just stupid.

  • When California Republican candidate for Governor, Meg Whitman, is blaming illegal immigrants for all the problems in her State, but then it’s revealed that she employed an undocumented worker, that’s just stupid.

    Angle: Manning up in stupid

  • When Delaware Republican candidate for Senate, Christine O’Donnell, uses campaign contributions to pay for her personal household expenses that’s just stupid.

  • When Sharron Angle says her opponent should ‘man up’ as if she is some tough cowboy out on the range, it sounds silly, and it’s just stupid.

  • When Meg Whitman, a multi-millionaire and former CEO, is called a ‘whore’ by an unknown person in her opponent’s party and milks it as if she is some poor, defenseless, innocent Southern Bell, whose honor has been violated, that’s just stupid.

O'Donnell: God's Chosen messenger to the US Senate

  • When Christine O’Donnell, who ‘dabbled’ in witchcraft says that she ‘prays God will open people’s eyes’ so they will vote for her that’s just stupid.

  • When the Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican party, expenses his trip to a West Hollywood strip club to party funds, that’s just stupid.

    Michael Steele: RNC Chairman

  • When Republican party candidates blame the economy on our government, instead of the unethical business men who traded our country’s future for profit for themselves and their investors, that’s just stupid.

Today I voted, and I didn’t vote for stupid. I voted for Harry Reid who serves as a statesman for Nevada and for our country and who will be the best possible representative Nevada could hope for in the difficult times ahead.

I voted for Rory Reid because I believe that Nevada must change direction from the low/no tax strategy (no income, corporate, capital gains, inventory taxes) that we have had for decades and now we are the 1st in unemployment, crime, and foreclosures, and among the worst in education.

I also voted YES on all four State Amendments and two local Advisory Questions.

I voted to have the Governor appoint Supreme and District court judges because I don’t like it when judges campaign. The electorate rarely pays attention to judicial offices and I would rather they be vetted in a formal process, not paraded in public like beauty candidates.

I voted YES to have an intermediate court established. In a conversation with a Supreme Court Justice it became apparent that Nevada’s Justice system has a major bottleneck of cases that could be cleared out if we had a system similar to other States.

I voted YES to allow the Legislature to resolve minor conflicts of our tax code with Federal law.

I voted YES to repeal/revise the knee-jerk eminent domain law. It has problems and it needs to be fixed.

I voted YES to ‘beg’ the State to seek the consent of local governments before raiding their revenues.

I voted YES to encourage the consolidation of the Reno/Washoe governments. I wish Sparks was included. We have three government entities in this valley and it is a ridiculous duplication of services.

This year we will learn whether stupid wins the day or not. John F. Kennedy put it the best: ‘you can fool some of the people all the time and you can fool all the people some of the time’. If stupid wins this year, the fools will be running the village. Heaven help us.

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  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
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  • Rotary:  The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
  • Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win
  • Rotary: All Public Relations is Local
  • Best Practices:  Become a Target!

Science Related

  • Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophesy a Scientific Possibility?
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know

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  • Dear Teresa Laraba, SVP of Southwest Airlines Customer Service
  • Things I didn’t know about being a Father to a four-year-old boy
  • Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
  • Up in the air down in Texas
  • I mow my lawn because…
  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
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  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico

Starbucks is Re-Imagining the business…again

22 Friday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Information Technology, Internet, Management Practices, Passionate People, Print Media, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!, Relationships, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, Tom Peters, Traditional Media, Travel, Website, Women

≈ 2 Comments

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alcoholic drinks, Bars, Beer, Blogging, Blogs, Coffee, Customer Loyalty, Digital Starbucks, Executive Management, Free Internet, Free WiFi, Internet, Management Practices, Nevada, New Business World, New York Times, Newspapers, NYT, Public Image, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!, Selling, Social Media, Social Networking, Starbucks, tea, The Wall Street Journal, Tom Peters, USA Today, Value-added, wine, WSJ

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

This week Starbucks continued to add value to its stores and more Re-Imagining seems to be in the forecast. A few months ago Starbucks did the smart move of offering free WiFi for everyone (see article below) and on Wednesday they took it one step farther with a Digital Starbucks that features free web content if you sign on to their WiFi service while you’re in the store.

(Free WiFi at Starbucks)

Now when you use the free WiFi service in any Starbucks you can also read a digital version of the day’s Wall Street Journal, New York Times, or the USA Today. The New York Times requires software download of a reader, but the USA Today loads up its own reader and retains the exact look of the paper copy. The site also includes Yahoo! news and GOOD content.


In addition to news, the Digital Starbucks offers access to a selection of entertainment, wellness, business/career, and local online resources. There is also a page to access most of the functions found on the Starbucks website. It seems apparent that Starbucks has teamed with AT&T, the WSJ, NYT, USA Today, and several others to offer this value-added service. Recently all Starbucks stores received new labeled newspaper stands with the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today in the top three shelves with the local paper given the bottom shelf. In my October tour of stores in Houston, Boston, Denver, and Reno I have seen more papers sold out than I have ever seen at a Starbucks store. Obviously the collaboration is a win-win.

A screen shot of the DG Wellness page

While some information has been sent out regarding the new online features most people have not caught on to the major remake of the log-in page and the new free media resources. That will change over time and I expect Starbucks will see a positive increase in store traffic as customers become aware of what they can access for free at their local store. I have already noticed high occupancy of the key ‘power’ tables (tables next to a power outlet) in almost every store I’ve visited since the free WiFi service started on July 1st.

Starbucks After Hours
The value-added virtual Starbucks is small change compared to what may be coming to some Starbucks locations. As reported in this Monday’s USA Today, the company has been testing wine and beer service at a Seattle location. The three-month remodel of a standard store resulted in a cafe-type look and feel, moving away from the glorified fast food feel of most coffee houses. The move is designed to generate more late day revenue when coffee sales die down. There is little doubt that local bars may find a Starbucks too much to compete with as it creates a middle ground for those like getting out in the evening, but seek a relaxed atmosphere free of loud music and single men on the hunt.

While I remained concerned that Starbucks is allowing accountants have too much say in store operations, I have to congratulate them on bringing value-added service and innovative ideas into the forefront. The winner is the customer … the only person that matters.

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Knowing when it’s over or beyond over

22 Friday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Internet, Lessons of Life, Passionate People, Random, Relationships, Travel, Women

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bloggers, Blogging, Blogs, Boston, Customer Loyalty, Female, Garmin, GPS, Maps, New Business World, Nuvi, Nuvi 265, Public Relations, Relationships

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

There comes a time in every relationship when you start suspecting problems, and then there is the point when you know it’s over. In the past two weeks I’ve discovered that I’m in a relationship that is not only over, it’s become adversarial. I can’t say I’ve been unaware that there were problems, but I have become dependent on her and it was just easier to ignore the signs than to confront her. Now she has begun a campaign of sabotage and I’m forced to do something.

I’ve played this game before. It’s always the same story. First she is unbelievably helpful and at times she surprises me with her intelligence. But then I begin to rely on her and that’s when things go south..or sometimes north, but it goes wrong regardless of the direction and then you end up alone in the rain somewhere in the Pacific Coastal range with no cell phone signal…but that’s another story.

It was Father’s Day when we met. Her name is Samantha, and she has a clear, well-enunciated voice. I stayed up late with her that first night and I couldn’t wait to take her for a ride in the car. I was impressed with what she knew and it felt like love. Then came the little mistakes. Little warning signs that should have told me that she wasn’t as perfect as I thought. Then she changed. It seemed like she was deliberately misleading me. I became frustrated, but I told myself that maybe I had expected too much.

Then last week came the proof. This time it was intentional. This time it was malicious. I was driving in the early morning in a Nor-easter rain storm to the Boston airport. It was dark, I was stressed, and my plane was not going to wait for me if I got lost. Still, I was 90% sure of where I was going, but I had her there in the car calmly reassuring me that I was where I needed to be. Then it happened. I knew I had to stay on I-90 through the tunnel to get to Boston’s Logan Airport. The airport is basically on an island so there are not a lot of options on how to get there.

The Other Woman

She said it and I didn’t imagine it. She told me to exit I-90 and go south on a road that would have taken me away from the airport. Had I obediently done as she ordered I would have been scrambling for at least 30 minutes to try to get back (you have to know Boston roads to understand why) to the airport. My sweet, innocent Garmin Nuvi 265 GPS device had turned on me and was deliberately trying to make me miss my flight. She is evil!

Now I know that she is out to get me and it makes driving stressful. Did she give me the right exit, or is she just messing with me again? I know it’s all over between us, but I have a hard time letting her go. Damn you Sam!

If you see me driving and yelling when no one is in the car, be cautious … who knows who is in the driver’s seat.

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Point of Confusion

21 Thursday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Communication, Ethics, Government, History, Honor, Lessons of Life, Passionate People, Politics, Pride, Public Relations, Random, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, US History

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

14th Amendment, Blogging, Blogs, Illegal Aliens, LoCOS, Public Image, Republicans, Republicas, Tea Party, undocumented citizens, US Constitution

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Yesterday the USA Today ran an article (by Alia Beard Rau of the Arizona Republic) which reported that Republicans in 15 States were working to change the 14th Amendment to deny U.S. citizenship to children born in the United States if their parents (or parent) could not document their citizenship. That’s correct. If a child is born in the United States of America and the parent is an undocumented citizen the child is without a country.

Now, if that parent wanted to have an abortion these same Christian-loving, God-fearing Republicans would be the first to forbid the medical procedure to ‘protect’ the rights of the unborn child. Apparently they care for the child before it is born, but after it’s born it’s okay to flush the child’s rights as a citizen.

Babies: The great threat to America!

Wow! The lynch mob stupidity just has no end.

The LoCOS (Lack of Critical Observation Skills) seem to have a severe case of ‘Morals of Convenience”. Whatever suits their policy of targeting groups of other racial, religious, or ideological backgrounds is okay in their version of Christianity. It must be a powerful feeling to make up morals as needed. It worked for the Nazis.

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Dear Teresa Laraba, SVP of Southwest Airlines Customer Service

20 Wednesday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Crisis Management, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Ethics, Information Technology, Internet, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Pride, Public Relations, Relationships, Respect, Travel

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Boarding Groups, Cattle Boarding, Customer Loyalty, Executive Management, Internet, Management Practices, New Business World, Open Seating, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Senior Vice President, Southwest, Southwest Airlines, SWA, Teresa Laraba, Value-added

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Teresa Laraba
Senior Vice President Customer Services
Southwest Airlines

Dear Teresa:

Last Friday I felt betrayed by Southwest Airlines and while the outcome of the event was not horrible, the stress it caused me has profoundly effected the trust I place in your airline. I also felt that some of your key people failed in their duty toward customer service.

I have been on 28 Southwest flights since the beginning of August and the one that was the longest was last Friday’s flight from Boston to Reno. I was on the flight for almost eight hours. I knew it was going to be a long flight, but I always pay for Early Bird boarding so that I can get a window seat and settle in. I have relied on this service to make the ‘open seating’ policy less of an ordeal, especially on long, full flights where the last to board are the Big Losers who have to sit in the middle seat.

The Boarding Pass of Shame

The day started out stressful as a major storm hit the northeast and I had to drive through heavy rain, in the dark to get to the airport. After getting to the airport, gassing up the car, and turning it in, I took a sigh of relief as I went to get my boarding pass. I had early boarding, which was critical on a flight that would be five minutes short of 8 hours on the same plane. I finally found the TSA line and as I stood there I looked to see where I would be in the ‘A’ Boarding Group. I was shocked to see that I was in the ‘B’ Boarding Group, and that I was at the end of the ‘B’ Group.

I got through the security line and went to the Gate Counter. I asked the gate agent at the counter, (who seemed like she was in a bad mood at 6:30 AM in the morning,) if this was a mistake. She said that there was a ‘computer glitch’* and that all Early Boarding passengers lost their Early Boarding status. She told me I would be refunded $10.

(DEFINITION: Computer Glitch – One of our computer programmers applied a change to the system that screwed everything up, and while it was human caused, we’re going to make it sound like a mechanical problem, so we don’t have to take responsibility for the error and actually do something to make it right.)

Southwest Airlines doesn’t seem to understand that when you fail to do what you promise, giving back the money you took in exchange for that promise is not making it right. Giving money back for a service not performed is what you are legally obligated to do, it’s not doing me a favor. It is essentially saying, “We’re not going to try to screw you out of your money for our failure to do our job.”…thanks a lot.

So I was going to sit in the middle seat for an eight-hour flight because Southwest screwed up and that was your ‘best’ customer service response. I complained further and the gate agent reluctantly said she would let me board at the end of the ‘A’ group. That was a good half measure at a solution, but I still don’t know why she didn’t offer it when she first admitted the error.

I was still frustrated so I called your Customer Service line. I was met with the same cold, uncaring, “..we’ve had a computer glitch and you’ll be refunded your $10.” When I told her that I was going to be stuck on the same plane for eight hours she acted like she didn’t believe me. I then helped her with the math and explained the three time zones we would be crossing, to which she said, “Oh, yes, that is eight hours.” In her defense she did suggest that I could talk to the gate agent, but I had already done that with little results.

I’ve flown SWA a lot recently, and I’ve come to trust the Early Bird boarding system. I used to try to pull my boarding pass at 24 hours before boarding in order to get a decent seat with limited success. The Early Bird boarding option has made all the hours in a loud aluminum tube where I have no rights, no say, and no real food, … bearable. BUT, on the longest flight of 29 (tomorrow is #29), the system failed me…big time. What I’ve learned from this not only is the Early Bird boarding system unreliable, that when there is a problem, Southwest does not, 1) recognize the significance, or attempts to minimize the problem, and 2) offers no reasonable solution unless you really complain.

I do have three positive experiences to report that kept this flight from being a disaster. First, I was able to get a window seat and that kept me from going over the edge. Second, another SWA employee, (Mark, I think) who actually loaded the passengers on the plane, recognized that the loss of the Early Bird boarding passes was a major problem. He made it clear that anyone with Early Bird boarding would be allowed on the plane at the end of the ‘A’ Group. He admitted that it was a big problem and he apologized several times for it.

That was it! Admitting it was a major problem, apologizing for it, and then attempting to make it right was the key to showing that someone cared. The gate agent and the phone ‘customer service’ showed a lack sympathy or concern. Your ‘customer service’ staff has become too good at minimizing the problem and being ‘professional’ by not caring.

The third positive came from the flight deck. We boarded the plane to sit there for an hour so someone (a professional mechanic) could come and tape up an exit sign that was hanging down. However, the pilot (possibly the co-pilot) came out and personally explained, multiple times what was going on and during the flight he came out and walked the plane explaining where we were in the flight. He cared enough to show his face and give us the news, bad and good.

I don’t understand why your customer service staff is so uncaring, leaving the rest of the employees at SWA to pick up their slack? I will likely continue to fly SWA because we really don’t have a choice anymore, but I will go back to pulling my boarding passes 24 hours in advance, even with my Early Bird boarding fee, just because I can’t trust your system to do what it supposed to do, and because when it fails, your CS staff could care less.

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  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service

Our Country and History Related

  • What I’m not buying this year
  • Nevada: State of Disaster
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico

What I’m Not Buying This Year

13 Wednesday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, History, Honor, Internet, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Politics, Pride, Public Relations, Random, Re-Imagine!, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, Taxes, The Tipping Point, US History

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Christine O'Donnell, Conservatives, Crime, Depression, Ethics, Executive Management, Good Government, Hispanic, Illegal Aliens, Illegal Immigrants, LoCOS, Management Practices, Mexican Nationals, Mexico, Nevada, New Business World, Political Parties, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Re-Imagine!, Recession, Republicans, Rotary, Sharron Angle, Tea Party, Unemployment, Unethical Business Practices

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Tis the season and there are a lot of political candidates out there selling their version of what is wrong with this country/state/county/city and how they are going to fix what ails us. This year is different from most because it seems that a lynch mob has taken over a prominent role in politics and like most lynch mobs they don’t need facts, they just need someone to be angry at and someone to blame.

It would be easy to label the people behind this political lynch mob as ‘stupid’, but that is probably overly harsh. These people are driven by emotions, not a lack of intelligence, so stupid is not the correct term. I prefer to describe the lynch mob as people who have a Lack Of Critical Observation Skills (LoCOS for short.)  This year the LoCOS are trying to sell a lot of garbage and I’m not buying it. For example:

Nevada: The best at doing it wrong

LoCOS:  Lower taxes will improve the economy
To the LoCOS who are selling the load I have one word. Nevada. Nevada has no Income tax. Nevada has no Capital Gains tax. Nevada has no Corporate tax. Nevada has no Inventory tax. Even conservative business groups rate Nevada as one of the most ‘business-friendly’ states. Nevada is to business what the Bunny Ranch was to male ego.

According the LoCOS argument, Nevada should be awash in new business. Nevada’s economy should be booming. Nevada should be the poster child of the low tax concept.

The fact is that the State exposes the Lo Tax/Mo Biz as a myth. Nevada is Number ONE in unemployment (2nd place Florida is over a full point better than the Silver State.) Nevada is Number ONE in crime. Nevada is Number ONE in housing foreclosures. Nevada is consistently among the lowest in unbiased education rankings. Nevada is proof that lower taxes does not make for a better economy.

(Article: Nevada’s State of Disaster)

LoCOS: Business is better at running our government
Let’s remember that it wasn’t government that put us in a recession but business…BAD business. Government was an enabler, in that it stopped regulating and monitoring the unbridled greed of the incestuous investor-run business world, but at the end of the day it was business people who made all the decisions. The corporate executives chose to ignore the obvious result that would happen from their greed and dove head on into unethical practices that doomed our economy.

Greed is inherent in business. Greed is why business exists. There is no ‘care for fellow citizen’ in the business world. Business is based on competition, winners and losers, and often the losers are not the weakest, but rather loser’s are the one’s with morals. Business only keeps to a moral compass when there is an unbiased arbiter oversees its activities. That is the role of government.

This year we are seeing the perversion of investor-run business with clearer eyes. The Chamber of Commerce has abandoned their mission of promoting good business in the community in favor of attacking local governments and promoting only those candidates that will remove the protections for honest business and our citizens. It is ironic that anyone would suggest that business, with its greed-driven motives and proven track record of unethical practices, should replace good government.

Don’t get me wrong, a strong economy needs good, healthy businesses, but good, healthy businesses need a strong government to create and monitor the rules for which guide and protect all. The leap of logic of the LoCOS, that our government should be run as a business, is as absurd as saying that FIFA needs fewer referees on the soccer field.

LoCOS: The trillion-dollar debt is bad
The LoCOS must have Alzheimer’s.

I’m not in favor of a large deficit, especially when it involves sending US dollars to finance the destruction of another country …. but I’m really not in favor of is a Depression. That is what we faced in early 2009. Business had raped our economy through outrageous, unregulated practices and we were on the brink of an abyss that had no bottom. Again, business, not government caused our economy to fail. Initially, our country let big banks suffer the consequences of what they had done, but it quickly became apparent that what was about to happen was the massive collapse of the entire economic system, which would have forced the United States government to take over the day-to-day operations of almost all of our major financial institutions.

Cheney's Folly: The start of our debt problems

The alternative to a nuclear meltdown of our economy was to lend money to those institutions, help initiate controlled purchases of ailing banks, and invest government money in key assistance programs. Was it a bailout? Yes, but it was investing, not buying, which meant we would get the money back in almost every case.

The government also invested money in the mismanaged auto industry that, if not preserved, would have sent us into Depression-era unemployment overnight. Yes, it increased our nation’s debt. A debt that had gone from surplus in President Clinton’s years, to a deficit under George Bush. It would have been better if we had not spent so much money on Cheney’s overseas folly and already been in the hole when the house of cards of bad business fell, but there was no choice. The decisions made in late 2008 and early 2009 were necessary and save our country from disaster.

Have we recovered? No. But the LoCOS rage over a big deficit is being driven and financed by the major corporations that would prefer the citizen forget what really happened. I wish business hadn’t forced us to use trillions of taxpayer’s dollar to remedy their greed, but we had no choice.

LoCOS: Government is bad
Government is really, really good providing it is run by reasonable people who truly care for the citizens … all the citizens. There is one difference between civilization and anarchy and that is government. Every time I hear the LoCOS point out an example of bad government I can think of a hundred ways that government has made our country great. I mentioned to a person that the airlines need to be regulated again and they pointed out how, under government regulation, an airline was forced to maintain a route to a small city that was not profitable. Yes, that is tough, but what about the scores of lucrative routes that government regulation handed that same airline on a silver platter? I’m really weary of the single exceptions to how great government has been in making this the strongest country in the history of the world. Single exceptions do not make an argument for destroying our country.

Government is the foundation of our society and the only people who don’t benefit from a strong government are the greedy and unethical. When we were in school we would have rather had no teachers telling us what to do, but that wouldn’t have made our education better. It’s time we stopped making the argument of a 5th grader…and time we started respecting what a blessing it is to have a government that keeps our society from devolving into anarchy.

The Face of the LoCO People

LoCOS: Electing stupid people is smart
This one mystifies me. A candidate from any other party would be laughed out of politics for saying or doing something stupid and yet candidates for the LoCOS wear their stupidity like a new hat.
LoCOS candidates are avoiding the media, saying one thing, then changing their story. They scream about illegal aliens and how they are destroying our country, then it’s revealed they were employing them. They dress in Nazi uniforms. They steal other people’s work and claim it as their own. They take campaign money and pay their personal bills with it. They have to explain to people why they are not a witch. They threaten violence on people, yell about almost anything, deceive, and often outright lie…and the LoCOS cheer on.

I know that the quality of candidates of the LoCOS is a reflection of the lack of respect they have for our country and government, but isn’t prima facie evidence that the LoCOS can’t really be trying to improve our country when they are represented by the worst of the worst?

LoCO S: Illegal aliens (=Hispanics) are destroying this country
First, let’s remember that a major portion of the United States (California, Nevada, Utah, southwestern Wyoming, western Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas belonged to Mexico until the mid-1800’s. We took the land from them at gunpoint and paid fifty cents on the dollar for the land. I could make a strong argument that Mexican nationals are not really the illegal aliens in Alta California, Nuevo Mexico, and Tejas, but I will let that dog rest.

(Article: America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico)

Regardless of the history of Mexico and the United States, the fact is that a typical tactic of a lynch mob is to find a symbol (person or group) that has little or no opportunity to defend themselves and present them as evil. This is a tactic used by the KKK, the Nazis, and every ultra-right wing, nationalistic, racist group. It doesn’t matter of whether the targeted group is guilty of anything, just that they, or no one else, is able or willing to stand up and challenge the accusations. Mexican immigrants are the perfect target for a group like the LoCOS.

The facts are that:

  • Most Mexican undocumented immigrants lead quiet, peaceful, law-abiding lives in the United States (a fact that the LoCOS lie about)
  • Mexican undocumented immigrants are working jobs that no American citizen wants to do
  • That the United States is the primary enabler of the drug wars in Mexico (we buy the product and sell them the arms)
  • Mexican undocumented immigrants can’t file for Income Tax refunds (which most would get if they were citizens) so the United States collects and keeps all the money deducted from their pay.

But according to the LoCOS, they are pure evil and responsible for our all our economic and societal ills. In Arizona, a sheriff’s deputy called that he was under attack by Mexican drug smugglers and was shot. He became the hero of the LoCOS.

Deputy Puroll's wound

Despite a massive effort, no drug smugglers were found. Now it turns out that the wound was from a bullet fired at close range (not from 25 yards as he claimed) and likely self-inflicted. Almost no one questioned the story of the deputy at the time, despite the inconsistencies in his account. Why should they, blame it on the Mexicans. Naturally, the story has to be true!

To me, the whole issue of ‘illegal aliens’ is a tornado in search of a trailer park. The damning terminology, the use of single examples, and falsified facts all indicate that the LoCOS need to create a threat and it the Muslims are too far away to pick on so the target is Mexican nationals.

The New Testament of the Bible has clear instructions on how a Christian is behave. Jesus said to love thy neighbor as thyself. The Apostle Paul says, “…as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another..” (1 Thessalonians 4:9). The LoCOS often boast of their devotion to Christ and then desecrate his teachings by their un-Christian attitude towards those of Hispanic descent.

I’m not buying it.

LoCOS: Threatening our government and the electorate with armed rebellion
Several members of the LoCOS, including LoCOS candidates have indicated that ‘some people’ may be mad enough at our government to invoke ‘their Second Amendment Rights’. I don’t care how you say it, to suggest that some people are going to take up arms against their fellow citizens (if the LoCOS don’t get their way) is wrong. In this country we vote, and we don’t take up arms to enforce the LoCOS will on the majority. Anyone who suggests this is a threat to our Constitution and to this country. Mad or not, there is a line that cannot be crossed over.

I know that everything I said here will not make any difference to the LoCOS. In fact, they will be outraged that I spoke out against their unbridled illogical arguments. You can’t reason with a lynch mob. But sometime in the future we will all look back on this and say, “What were the LoCOS thinking?” The problem is that they are not.

More Articles

Business: Public Relations, Management, and Social Media Related

  • Your Privacy Rights on the Internet: Read before you write
  • Social Media 3Q Update: Who uses Facebook, Twitter,LinkedIn, and MySpace?
  • Richmond Embassy Suites: The best at true Hospitality
  • Dear Business Person: It’s 2010, please update your brain.
  • Selling watered-down beer: The best spin campaign in advertising
  • Communication: Repetition of message does not increase awareness
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  • Millennium Hotel: Go away, spend your money elsewhere
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  • 2Q 2010 Social Media Tools: Facebook/Twitter sail on, LinkedIn/MySpace don’t
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  • WiFi on Southwest Airlines: Is it ‘Shovel Ready’?
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  • How Social Interactive Media Could Transform Higher Education
  • How to Become a Zen Master of Social Media
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  • Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
  • Social Media:  What is it and Why Should You Care?
  • Social Media 2020:  Keep it Personal
  • Social Media 2020:  Who Shouldn’t Be Teaching Social Media
  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
  • Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
  • Who uses Facebook, Twitter, MySpace & LinkedIn?
  • Fear of Public Relations
  • Dissatisfiers: Why John Quit
  • Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…Oh My!
  • Does Anybody Really Understand PR?

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  • Rotary@105: Making Rotary Sexy
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  • Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
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  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
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  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
  • Rotary@105:  What kind of animal is Rotary International?
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  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
  • Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win
  • Rotary: All Public Relations is Local
  • Best Practices:  Become a Target!

Science Related

  • Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophesy a Scientific Possibility?
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know

Personal Experience Related

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  • Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
  • Up in the air down in Texas
  • I mow my lawn because…
  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service

Our Country and History Related

  • Nevada: State of Disaster
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico

Your Privacy Rights on the Internet: Read before you write.

11 Monday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Crisis Management, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Ethics, Honor, Human Resources, Information Technology, Internet, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Pride, Privacy, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Facebook, Internet, LinkedIn, New Business World, Privacy on the Internet, Public Image, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!, Rotary, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, Your Rights

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

I have had several discussions with people who have a fear of the Internet and Social Media tools. The common issue that arises is regarding privacy, which to me is an interesting concern. Being concerned that you’re giving up your privacy if you use the Internet is, to me, a Homer Simpson moment.

I’m not sure where anyone got the idea that writing something and sending it out over a public system of servers, visible to almost anyone, and recorded for all time would be private, but for those of you who have that impression, let me read you your rights:

Your Right to Privacy on the Internet

  • You have a right to stay silent.
  • You have a right to not participate in Internet/online activities.
  • You have a right to consult an attorney before you participate in any Internet/online activities.
  • You have the right to stay in your house, block up the windows and never go out into public.
  • If you choose to participate in any Internet/online activities, anything you say can and will:
    • be considered a reflection of your public image
    • be available for anyone in the world to access
    • be recorded for the remainder history of the civilized world
    • be used against you now, or in the future
  • If you choose to NOT participate that will NOT prevent:
    • People from talking about you on the Internet
    • People using your image for almost any purpose
The Internet, and Social Media tools like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn allow people to communicate in a way we’ve never been able to communicate before. It is not intended for private discussions, but it is an open forum. That makes some people uncomfortable, and while I understand that, I also have to wonder why people have a need to say something they are not willing to say publicly?

There is still a time and place for a personal, one-to-one conversation to discuss matters between the two people, but isn’t that better to be done in person? Privacy is not what one should expect when using the Internet, but it is the place for ideas and concepts to be discussed in an open environment that values the input of all. Yes, sometimes the stupid people have louder voices and win the day, but at some point people will look back and learn who was behaving stupidly and who was really correct.

Here are four things I try to keep in mind when participating in online activities:

  1. Sometimes I’m going to say something stupid. I’m human and I will have to buck up and take responsibility for it.
  2. Sometimes people are going to ridicule what I have to say. That doesn’t mean they are correct and it may be a reflection of their poor judgement, not mine.
  3. By participating I will learn more than I could if I did not participate. Sometimes the lesson will be difficult, but that will usually mean I will learn more.
  4. Social Media is not the alpha and omega of life, but it is one of the most powerful communication tools ever conceived.
Now you have been read your rights… you can take it from here.

More Articles

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  • Richmond Embassy Suites: The best at true Hospitality
  • Dear Business Person: It’s 2010, please update your brain.
  • Selling watered-down beer: The best spin campaign in advertising
  • Communication: Repetition of message does not increase awareness
  • Is it time to fire yourself?
  • Millennium Hotel: Go away, spend your money elsewhere
  • Rogue Flight Attendant shows his arrogance, Airlines dislike for the customer
  • 2Q 2010 Social Media Tools: Facebook/Twitter sail on, LinkedIn/MySpace don’t
  • War Declared on Social Media: Desperate Acts of Traditional Media
  • Pay It Middle: The Balance between Too Much and Too Little Compensation
  • Mega Executive Pay Leads to Poor Performance
  • Relationships and Thin-Slicing: Why the other person knows what you’re really thinking
  • Browser Wars: Internet Explorer losing, Google Chrome gaining ground
  • WiFi on Southwest Airlines: Is it ‘Shovel Ready’?
  • Starbucks makes a smart move: Free WiFi
  • Foul Play: FIFA shows what less regulation offers to business
  • The Shock of the McChrystal Story: The story is over before the article is published
  • Tony Hayward: The very model of a modern Major General
  • Epic Fail: PR ‘Experts’ don’t get Twitter
  • King of Anything: Social Media vs Traditional Media
  • Twitter is the Thunderstorm of World Thought
  • Signs of the Times
  • How Social Interactive Media Could Transform Higher Education
  • How to Become a Zen Master of Social Media
  • Death of All Salesmen!
  • Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
  • Social Media:  What is it and Why Should You Care?
  • Social Media 2020:  Keep it Personal
  • Social Media 2020:  Who Shouldn’t Be Teaching Social Media
  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
  • Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
  • Who uses Facebook, Twitter, MySpace & LinkedIn?
  • Fear of Public Relations
  • Dissatisfiers: Why John Quit
  • Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…Oh My!
  • Does Anybody Really Understand PR?

Rotary Related

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  • Rotary@105: Making Rotary Sexy
  • Rotary@105: Grieving change
  • How Rotary can..must..will plug into Social Media
  • Rotary PR: Disrespecting the Club President is a PR/Membership issue
  • Rotary Membership/Public Image Challenge
  • Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
  • Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
  • Rotary Magazine Dilemma Reveals the Impact of Social Media
  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
  • Rotary@105:  What kind of animal is Rotary International?
  • Rotary:  The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
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  • Best Practices:  Become a Target!

Science Related

  • Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophesy a Scientific Possibility?
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know

Personal Experience Related

  • Things I didn’t know about being a Father to a four-year-old boy
  • Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
  • Up in the air down in Texas
  • I mow my lawn because…
  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service

Our Country and History Related

  • Nevada: State of Disaster
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico

Social Media 3Q 2010 Update: Who Uses Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, & MySpace:

08 Friday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Consulting, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Ethics, Information Technology, Internet, Management Practices, Passionate People, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!, Relationships, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, The Tipping Point, Tom Peters, Traditional Media

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Age, Blogging, Blogs, Demographics, Facebook, Gender, Internet, LinkedIn, New Business World, Newspapers, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Re-Imagine!, Rotary, Rotary Club, Rotary International, Social Media, Social Networking, Tom Peters, TweetDeck, Twitter, USA Today

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

The third quarter 2010 demographics of Social Media users according to Google’s Adplanner services has a few surprises. Facebook actually dropped from 550 to 540 million users in the third quarter, and Facebook users over age 54 dropped from 16% to 10% in the last six months. Based on the data from the 2nd and 3rd quarters there is a significant slowing in the growth of the major Social Media tools.

Among the numbers are the interesting age group distributions of each of the networking sites. The data gives important clues of what each site is being used for in addition to who is using it.

Facebook’s Fire Cools
No one can dispute Facebook’s impact on the world. It is BIG, and with millions of posts and interactions each day, the influence of its users is the envy of every marketing professional. Traditional media professional and other old people will be tempted to look at the 3rd quarter data and declare that the Social Media ‘fad’ is over and on the decline. That would be a statement of ignorance.

Facebook 3rdQ 2010 DAILY visits

Facebook’s growth could not continue indefinitely and its amazing growth in users from 2008 to the start of 2010 was being fueled by a viral exploration of a new media that allowed people to connect in a way they never had before. Now that exploration has calmed and I believe we are seeing the coming of age of Social Media.

The drop of 10 million users during the third quarter is only significant in that it shows a leveling off of the growth. The average time on the site is over 23 minutes, which is much longer than the other three major U.S. Social Media tools (MySpace 14:40 mins., Twitter 13:10 mins., LinkedIn 9:50 mins.) That is important as more time spent means more interaction and more influence by users and advertisers.

Facebook reaches almost 57% of the people in the United States (35% worldwide) which is a staggering statistic. If USA Today could reach 57% of Americans (without giving the newspaper away to every hotel guest) and know that the readers were spending over 23 minutes looking at their paper they would probably be the only newspaper in the United States… and mega rich. As of March 2010, USA Today has a circulation of only 1.8 million compared to Facebook’s over 65 million visitors (based on cookies.)

3rdQ Facebook Users by Age

1stQ Facebook Users by Age

One statistic that keeps bouncing around in the Social Media world is that “women over 55 is the fastest growing group of Facebook users.” That it is old data. While the over 55 group had climbed to 16% at the end of March 2010, it is now the fastest shrinking age group and Facebook users under 18 years old have been the fastest growing group during the last six months.

Finally, 57% of the Facebook users are women, which is about the same as six months ago. That seems to confirm that Facebook is about ‘social’ networking and making personal connections. Facebook continues to be the place where buying decisions are influenced through small group interactions. Business and Marketing people will find that if they try to manipulate these discussions it will eventually backfire on them. Facebook is where business should LISTEN, not talk.

Twitter 3rdQ 2010 DAILY visits

Twitter Continues to Pause
The biggest surprise in the 3rd Quarter with Twitter was that it did not break the 100 million user mark. At the end of the 2nd Quarter it was at 96 million users, which was up by 16 million from the 1st Quarter. However, Twitter only grew by 2 million and now stands at 98 million users.

Twitter’s daily visits have leveled off for the last six months, and some might see this as an ominous sign for the hyper-fast post Social Media tool; however, this is deceiving as many Twitter users, (like myself,) don’t go to the Twitter site to use the tool, but rather use an application, like TweetDeck, to interact on the site. Thus the visit count would not be recorded as a site visit.

Twitter’s lack of significant growth in the number of users may be do to a continued lack of understanding of the value of the Tweet world and a period of constant ‘Fail Whales’ in the 2nd Quarter and early 3rd Quarter. The service has seemed to address the major problems in system overloads, but lately has had a return of a few service interruptions in the past few weeks. Obviously, if Twitter continues to have problems it won’t be able to survive in an environment where reliability is oxygen to users.

As for the lack of understanding of the value of Twitter, the service will struggle to grow until people can learn that the impact of Twitter is not in the posts, but the conversations and the URL links to other blogs and webpages. Twitter is like Headline News for new ideas and concepts. Often posts reveal a new approach or cutting-edge information that won’t be in the traditional public arena for months. That is why I still see Twitter growing if they can rid themselves of service interruptions.

3rdQ 2010 Twitter users by Age

1stQ 2010 Twitter users by Age

One interesting development in the latest data is the shift in the age demographics. Twitter seems to have made a shift to younger adults. The 18-34 age group is up by 16%, while the 35-64 age group is down by 9% from six months ago. Also, teenagers (under 18) have dropped by 6% since the 1st quarter and now make up only 4% of all Twitter users. The apparent dislike for Twitter among teenagers is a clear age defining characteristic. I have had two separate teenagers say to me “You’re not on Twitter, are you!?”

Apparently Twitter gives you cooties. Who knew?

MySpace Back From the Brink?
I have predicted the end of MySpace for sometime, but in the 3rd quarter it did something bizarre … it gained users. It had dropped 14 million users from the 1st to the 2nd quarter and then it gained one million users back in the 3rd quarter. MySpace now stands at 67 million users. Not earth-shaking, but certainly noteworthy. LinkedIn would sacrifice several interns to have that many users. MySpace also has more women. Female users consist of 64% of the MySpace population.

MySpace 3rdQ 2010 DAILY visits

The reason? Well, no other major Social Media tool lets you search by gender … and age … and height … and race … and body type … and sexual orientation … are you getting the picture? MySpace is a social dating site as much as anything else and lonely people make up a lot of our world’s population. So maybe MySpace has found its niche as a romance network and that will stop the freefall of the past two quarters.

3Q 2010 MySpace users by Age

3rdQ 2010 MySpace users by Age

Yes, there are more teenagers on this site than most (14%), but 63% of the users are between 18 and 44 years old. One caveat. MySpace has limited the ‘find-a-friend’ search function to give the results of people age 18 and over. That is a smart move to protect minors; however, some teenagers have simply listed themselves as an age of 18 or older to circumvent the limitation. I caught a few teenagers that list themselves as 19, but on their main page description they indicate their real age. This is likely why the number of ‘under 18’ users have dropped from 34% to 14% in six months.

LinkedIn Drifting in Niche
The 3rd quarter statistics show that despite millions of people looking work, the business person to business person website of LinkedIn is not growing. It is at 41 million,
which is actually higher than the end of 2nd quarter, but the same as the end of the 1st quarter.

LinkedIn 3rdQ DAILY visits

Like MySpace, LinkedIn has found its niche. Essentially, LinkedIn is a business-oriented website that provides a job exchange service. Most users are using the networking website as their digital résumé in order to attract job offers. In the Tom Peters ‘Re-Imagine’ business world where branding is a key element of survival, LinkedIn is Mecca for self-promotion.

Unfortunately, LinkedIn is not as successful as Facebook and Twitter in two-way interaction. Both of those Social Media tools do not have as much as of an ‘agenda’ by individual users as LinkedIn. Users of the business-oriented network seem to spend more time professing what they know and don’t spend as much time listening to others. This is the traditional media model of one-way communication, which is the style of communication that Social Media has displaced. For some, the self-promotion run amuck style of some LinkedIn users is a turn off that may hurt the site in the long run.

3Q 2010 LinkedIn user by Age

1stQ 2010 LinkedIn users by Age

It will be interesting to see how LinkedIn will fare as the business-caused Recession of 2007-09 eases and people are employed again. LinkedIn could be a key to a sudden labor shortage in 2012 as those companies with the best opportunities will be able to target and recruit candidates through LinkedIn, leaving other employers to either compete or settle for what’s left over.

Age and gender on LinkedIn reinforce the business-world orientation as more males (57%) are users and the distribution of the age groups reflects the working world. Interestingly, while LinkedIn still has more users over 54 years old (15%), this is 7% drop from the 1st quarter. That is offset by an 8% jump of the 24-34 year old users in the last six months.

4th Quarter Predictions?
I believe we are seeing a refinement of each of the big four Social Media tools. Facebook has become the social sharing network, Twitter is the thought-provoking, learning network, MySpace is the social relationship network, and LinkedIn the branding and résumé network. The demographics are settling in to reinforce the existing nature of each of the networks. Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn will likely end 2010 about where they are now unless something viral either cause a rush of new users, or sends people running away. Twitter still has potential significant growth, but I don’t see that happening in the 4th quarter.

The volatility of the Social Media networks have made it difficult to understand what they will eventually represent in our world; however, now that there seems to be a calming of the major networks, the value and purpose is becoming clearer. That will allow the big four to lock in their market; however, it will also open the door for other networks to identify areas of opportunities and weakness. My prediction is that 2011 will be the entrenchment of the Social Media, followed by more competition by other networks seeking to improve or offer alternatives to the established services.

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Richmond Embassy Suites: The best at true Hospitality!

01 Friday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Employee Retention, Ethics, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Pride, Public Relations, Random, Re-Imagine!, Recreation, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, Rotary@105, The Tipping Point, Tom Peters, Travel, Women

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Customer Loyalty, Embassy Suites, Executive Management, Free Internet, Free WiFi, Hospitality, hotels, HR, Internet, Kathleen Lyons, Management Practices, Motels, New Business World, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Re-Imagine!, Richmond, Richmond VA, Rotary, Starbucks, teamwork, Value-added, Virginia

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

In August I stayed in hotels in seven different cities (Dallas, TX; Bloomington, IL; Chicago,IL; Minneapolis, MN; Norfolk, VA; Richmond, VA; and Virginia Beach, VA..) In a previous post I expressed my displeasure with pay-for-Internet at the Millennium Hotel* in Minneapolis, which was slightly unfair as the hotel was a pleasant, although completely expected, experience. As a people warehouse the Millennium Hotel fits the mold that is typical of most business traveler-type hotels. However, out of the seven hotels of which I was a guest, there was one that made a big impression on me, the Embassy Suites in Richmond, Virginia.

(*Millennium Hotel: Go Away)

The main entrance the Embassy Suites in Richmond

The Embassy Suites hotel in Richmond, Virginia is not a flashy, Vegas-type hotel. From the outside it is a modern, yet modest building tucked back from busy streets; however, access to the Interstate is nearby. Like many hotels it is surrounded by a massive asphalt parking lot; however, the entrance is behind a landscaped island of trees. The great thing about the foliage is that it creates the sense from the outside that this hotel is not just a people warehouse like so many others.

After entering the hotel one doesn’t have to hunt for the Registration Desk as it is positioned in such a way that it oversees the entrance area, but it doesn’t intrude into the path of a guest walking to their room from the parking lot.

The Inner Courtyard

The striking feature of the hotel is the inner courtyard. I have seen this design before, but it was a refreshing change from institutional interior designs of most people warehouses. The open interior gives a community feel to the hotel rather than the impression that you just walked into a U-Store-It facility, as is the feel of most hotels. The interior landscaping and flowing water features create a tropical environment. This hotel was number six for me during my August travels and it was a refreshing change from the five previous corporate institutions of I had visited.

My room was also vastly different from my previous guest experiences. This was a true ‘suite’ and not just a room with a bed. There was a clearly defined living space with a television, desk, couch, and bar area. The bedroom was in the rear of the suite with a door that would allow privacy if two people were in the room and one wanted to watch television or work while the other one slept. The bedroom had a counter with running water and its own television. The bathroom was in the transition area between the living room and the bedroom offering easy access from both rooms. The entire suite is a brilliant design.

Of course the Internet was free (my minimum requirement) and I had no problems making a connection. If needed, I could have easily made the suite my home base. It is a comfortable living and working environment. I would have had no concerns about hosting small meetings in my room. I had everything I needed except for my Starbucks Chai Tea.

The Embassy Suite's Dining/Reception Area

One of my issues with most hotels is the assumption that people don’t want to interact with other people when they stay in a hotel. I’m as reclusive as most, but to visit a city and never come out of my hotel room is what creates that ‘warehouse feeling’.

At the Richmond Embassy Suites the open feel of the courtyard was put to good use by encouraging guests to congregate twice a day for a free manager’s reception each evening and free breakfast each morning. The reception offered adult and non-alcoholic beverages along with a variety of choices of snack items (hors devours.) The breakfast was as good or better than the breakfasts I’ve eaten at eaten at most Sunrise Rotary Clubs. Those who have eaten a breakfast at a Rotary Club may think that may not be saying much, but I typically pay $14 to $15 to eat a Rotary breakfast and this was free. The free gatherings were the most ‘value-added’ service I have experienced in a hotel.

From the few interactions I had with the hotel staff it was obvious that the Chief Executive of this property, Kathleen Lyons, and her staff understood the meaning of the word ‘guest’. I was always treated with respect and a smile. It was apparent that they were pleased that I choose their hotel over the other options in Richmond.

Giving great customer service is not that mysterious, but it requires that everyone from the bottom (no offense intended, Ms. Lyons, but in my world that means you) up to the top (the maintenance and housekeeping staff) must enjoy what they do and enjoy working with people. It was clear that the Embassy Suites in Richmond is not run by ‘management’, but managed through leadership. Bravo to Ms. Lyons and her team!

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  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
  • Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
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Nevada: State of Disaster

30 Thursday Sep 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Crisis Management, Ethics, Government, Higher Education, History, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Pride, Public Relations, Random, Respect, Rotary, The Tipping Point, US History

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Executive Management, Management Practices, Nevada, New Business World, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Rotary, Rotary District 5190

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Among our Country’s 50 States, Nevada has been imploding for several years and is on the brink of complete collapse. Nevada ranks:

  • 1st in Unemployment at 14.4% (over a point higher than the next highest State)
  • 1st in Foreclosures (1 in 84 homes)
  • 1st in Crime (2009 – CQ Press)
  • 44th in 8th Grade Math Scores (2009)
  • 48th in 8th Grade Reading Scores (2009)
  • 49th Smartest State (2004, 2005, and 2007 – based on 21 factors)
  • 45th Healthiest State (2009 – United Health Foundation)

Nevada has managed to take advantage of traditional and non-traditional industries to keep its economy viable, but it has typically been dependent on easily exploited, non-competitive markets (gaming, quickie marriage, quickie divorce, and …quickies.) Unfortunately, in the past decade the strategy of taking advantage of human vices and lusts has failed as other States have decided they’re not as moral as they thought. As one might expect, Nevada’s government has been as precariously designed on a Natural Law type framework where accommodation of business needs supersede governing for and by the people.

Clouds on the Nevada horizon

As the statistics show, all that has now caught up with the Silver State and the result is a failing, under-funded, dysfunctional society that is so deep in a hole that they can’t see the way out. But to understand Nevada, a person needs to understand the history of a State that had a premature birth and since then it has behaved like the bastard child of our Country.

Nevada’s Sordid History
Nevada was founded in 1864, not because it met the minimum requirements for Statehood, but because of a marriage of convenience when; 1) President Abe Lincoln needed more political support and, 2) the residents were trying to rid themselves of Mormon control.

The re-election of Abe Lincoln eight days after Nevada became a State was not a coincidence as the political powers in Nevada openly favored President Lincoln. By giving Nevada Statehood, President Lincoln was assured that his Administration would maintain control as the Civil War reached a crucial stage in the last year of the conflict.

Nevada's State Flag

At the same time, many of the residents of the region were motivated by a distaste for the governance by the Utah Territory authorities as it was being handled by the Church of Latter-Day Saints where all positions were filled by faithful Mormons. Fortunately for the soon-to-be Nevadans, the Church was not in good graces with the U.S. Government and the Mormon Rebellion in 1857-8 (a saber rattling affair) led to the Mormons retreating back into the Salt Lake area, leaving the door open for residents to split off the western two-thirds of existing State as the Nevada Territory. They then pursued Statehood ensure a local government free of Mormon domination.

Although initially rejected, Nevada’s application for Statehood became seductive to the Republicans who sought to outmaneuver political opponents in Washington, D.C. Thus, Nevada’s motto, “Battle Born” is probably more reflective of the political games of the time, rather than the State’s birth during the Civil War.

Open For Business
Though it is the nation’s 7th largest State by area, it is in the bottom third of the Country as measured by population. Eighty-five percent of Nevada’s 2.5 million people live in either Las Vegas or Reno and only 14% of the residents were born in the State.

Because Nevada’s population has always been small and transient, it has been easy for the State government to be controlled by business interests. In the early years mining, ranching, and railroad interests heavily influenced the government and while Railroad owner’s power has faded, the gaming industry has stepped in to take their place.

One example of how the State has been run by and for business men is John Sparks, for which Reno’s sister city is named. John Sparks was a shrewd, unethical man who purchased small parcels of land in Eastern Nevada around water sources and then denied access to other ranchers. In this way he could use public land for grazing his cattle but prevent other ranchers from having access to water for their cattle. He and a partner eventually became mega-land owners through shady manipulation of Homesteading laws.

Although he lost most of his wealth when his company’s cattle died in a severe winter near the end of the 19th Century, he was elected Governor in 1902. In political office he became the darling of the Railroad owners who gave him free train travel from his home south of Reno to his office in Carson City. Governor Sparks political legacy is measured by the favorable railroad legislation produced during his administration. In 1905, the City of Sparks was founded soon after his death and to this day associates itself with its ‘railroad heritage’.

The Road Not Taken

The mining industry has the longest association of political clout with the State and even today enjoys an unusually favorable tax status in Nevada as they pay taxes on net profit. Because the taxes are calculated on net instead of gross profit, the mining corporations can avoid paying taxes in years of high revenue by spending more money on equipment and services. Much of the money spent goes to companies outside the State, leaving the Silver State holding the bag, not the money. Mining companies have major lobbying forces in Nevada that not only promotes their interests with State legislators, but also have been rumored to aggressively go after citizens and groups who oppose their favored tax status.

How favorable is Nevada’s mining tax status? This year mining is projected to contribute on 1.4% of the State’s revenue. That is roughly equal to the total tax paid for renting a car in Nevada OR the tax paid on liquor purchases. It is half the tax collected on cigarette and tobacco sales. Mining is a $1.5 Billion dollar industry in Nevada and contributes one of the smallest portions to the States revenue, but is voraciously defended by senior legislators of both parties at both the State and Federal levels.

In the last half of the 20th Century, gaming interests have assumed a share of influence as almost 25% of the State’s budget is financed by gaming taxes. Because of the massive lobbying efforts of mining, gaming, and Chamber of Commerce groups, the State government is run predominantly by and for conservative business interests. Nevada is ranked as one of the top business-friendly States and is a safe haven for wealthy individuals and corporations who seek to take advantage of Nevada’s lack of corporate, inventory, income and capital gains taxes.

The Failed Argument
Conservatives across the nation have suggested that taxes are killing the free market and all economic ills would disappear if not for the evil of a government-created fair playing field. That argument is proven wrong in Nevada. Despite the State’s business-friendly environment, it has the highest jobless rate in America and businesses are not thriving, but dying. There is no spin anyone can put on Nevada’s grand experiment. Government is not the source of our economic ills.

In a recent political debate in California, the Republican candidate for Governor argued that businesses were leaving California because of more favorable business environments in neighboring western States. She even went so far as to name them. Ironically, the one State she couldn’t add to her list, Nevada, has a more favorable businesses environment than any of the State’s named. If her argument were true, why aren’t businesses flocking to Nevada?

The Disaster Brewing for Decades
Politicians have known for decades that the economy of the Nevada was unsustainable and that economic disaster is a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if’. Dependence on only a few industries for the State’s economy has always kept Nevada vulnerable to significant changes in economic and/or business conditions. For years, Nevada’s main source of tourism and gaming revenue have been consistently in decline because of California Indian gaming.

2010 Projected Nevada Tax Revenue

Over reliance on the gaming tax revenue coupled with the lack of traditional tax revenue sources like income taxes have pushed the State to make up for it by having among the highest sales and gasoline taxes in the nation. The lack of corporate and capital gains taxes on wealthier tax payers has pushed the burden on those who are least able to pay.

Epic Failed State
Last year, like many States, Nevada felt the crushing blow of the 2007-09 Recession. Massive cuts (Higher Education was presented with a 36% cut in the Governor’s budget) and a few minor tax increases made it possible for the 2009 Legislature to finalize a budget. But in 2011, the well is dry. No one can predict how the politicians will come up with a budget, but with the Tea Party’s domination of Nevada politics and a hysteria over cutting taxes that don’t even exist it is obvious that any solution will involve gutting programs and shredding the State’s infrastructure. As Nevada is already No. 1 in crime, unemployment, and foreclosures, the continued devolution of the State’s government will mean we can only watch the situation go from worst to Epic Fail.

Poor Role Models: Governor's Dinner in Washington, D.C. - image thanks to 8NewsNow.com

Political Wackos Rule
A rational person would probably look at the current situation in Nevada and determine that this would be the time to find people of high moral character and great thinkers to take control of the crisis. This would also the time to capitalize on those people who are in positions to use their influence and power to act on behalf of the State at all levels of government. Unfortunately, a lynch-mob mentality has besieged the electorate and a blood-hunt by the national Republican Party has poured millions of dollars in an effort that will eviscerate Nevada’s voice in American politics.

There is little reason to believe that anything can prevent Nevada from an economic meltdown along with a catastrophic failure of government infrastructure. The cities and counties will experience the full brunt of the disaster as the Nevada constitution prohibits Home Rule, which means that they cannot take independent action to preserve themselves by isolating and controlling their revenue sources.

There is one positive aspect of this situation. As the nation works to recover from the Recession of 2007-09, every other State in the nation will be able to say, “Well, at least we’re not Nevada.”

More Articles

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  • Selling watered-down beer: The best spin campaign in advertising
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  • Millennium Hotel: Go away, spend your money elsewhere
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  • Signs of the Times
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  • Death of All Salesmen!
  • Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
  • Social Media:  What is it and Why Should You Care?
  • Social Media 2020:  Keep it Personal
  • Social Media 2020:  Who Shouldn’t Be Teaching Social Media
  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
  • Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
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  • Rotary Membership/Public Image Challenge
  • Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
  • Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
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  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
  • Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win
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  • Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophesy a Scientific Possibility?
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know

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What most non-Rotarians don’t know about Rotary

28 Tuesday Sep 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Club Leadership, Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Membership Recruitment, Membership Retention, Passionate People, Pride, Public Relations, Relationships, Rotary, Rotary@105

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Alumni, Blogging, Blogs, Club Members, Community Service, Executive Management, GSE, History of Rotary, International Service, Management Practices, Membership Recruitment, Membership Retention, Paul Harris, Polio Eradication, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Rotarians, Rotary, Rotary Club, Rotary District 5190, Rotary International, Rotary policies, Value-added, Vocational Service

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Most non-Rotarians have little background information on Rotary and when we try to explain what Rotary is about we usually discuss the aspects of Rotary for which we are most familiar. Often a Club will become involved in eight to ten programs or projects each year and Club members know and understand those programs but may be unaware of how many programs Rotary offers at a District level.

Each District has a menu of support services and program opportunities for its Clubs. The goal is to assist and improve Club operations as well as help develop effective local, regional, and international programs and projects. Each of the over 500 Rotary Districts are supported by a staff of Rotarian volunteers to assist in the formation and maintenance of each project or program.

The unique aspect of Rotary is that a single member typically initiates her or his Club’s participation in a new project or program, so a new member can often take the lead in expanding the service opportunities in her or his Club, while also becoming connected to the Club through involvement. When talking to a potential member, every Rotarian should remember that a non-Rotarian might be the person to ignite a new fire in the Club.

The scope of Rotary
In any given year our Rotary District (5190) there are typically almost 150 District positions staffed by volunteer Rotarians representing many clubs.  Among the positions are:

A District 5190 Leadership Meeting

  • 15 Current or Future District Governors and Assistant District Governors assisting the Clubs
  • 2 District Officers (Secretary and Treasurer)
  • 41 District Project and Program Committee Chairs including
    • Membership
      • Development
      • Extension
    • Clean Water
    • Health & Hunger
    • Literacy
    • Community Service
    • International Service
      • World Community Service
      • Partners and Projects
    • Vocational Service
      • Ethics Project
      • Speech Contest
      • Music Contest
    • Youth Services
      • Rotary Youth Leadership Awards
      • Interact Clubs (Ages 12 to 18)
      • Rotaract Clubs (Ages 18 to 30)
      • Rotary Youth Exchange Program (including Safety, Orientation, and Procedure Training)
      • New Generations Exchange
    • Club Administration
      • Club Awards Program
      • Newsletter Editor
      • Visioning Team
      • Rotary Academy
    • Public Relations
    • Rotary Foundation
      • Annual Giving
      • Ambassadorial Scholarships
      • Peace Fellowship
      • Foundation Alumni
      • Major Donors/Permanent Fund
      • Paul Harris Society
      • Group Study Exchange
      • Polio Eradication
      • District Simplified Grants
    • District Assembly
    • District Webmaster
    • District Directory
    • District Conference
    • District Nominating Committee
    • District Finance Committee
  • 80 (approximately) additional Club and District support positions and/or committee members

Each of the functions listed above may have multiple sub-functions, projects, and/or programs. The scope of Rotary is larger than most Rotarians realize, but non-Rotarians also have little, if any, understanding of the dynamic projects and programs that operate under the banner that is Rotary. Our 105 year-old organization has developed highly effective programs that are led by passionate volunteers who invest their time, money, and energy at the Club and District level. The Club and its members are the center of the Rotary universe, but our universe extends far beyond the Club. Rotarians and non-Rotarians should understand the full extend of our organization’s capabilities of service to the Club and to Humankind.

For more information about Rotary visit www.Rotary.org

For more information on Rotary District 5190 programs go to www.RotaryDistrict5190.org

More Articles
  • Things I didn’t know about being a Father to a four-year-old boy
  • Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophesy a Scientific Possibility?
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • Rotary@105: Making Rotary Sexy
  • Dear Business Person: It’s 2010, please update your brain.
  • Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico
  • Selling watered-down beer: The best spin campaign in advertising
  • Rotary@105: Grieving change
  • Communication: Repetition of message does not increase awareness
  • Millennium Hotel: Go away, spend your money elsewhere
  • Is it time to fire yourself?
  • Up in the air down in Texas
  • I mow my lawn because…
  • Rogue Flight Attendant shows his arrogance, Airlines dislike for the customer
  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • How Rotary can..must..will plug into Social Media
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Rotary Membership/Public Image Challenge
  • 2Q 2010 Social Media Tools: Facebook/Twitter sail on, LinkedIn/MySpace don’t
  • Epic Fail: PR ‘Experts’ don’t get Twitter
  • King of Anything: Social Media vs Traditional Media
  • Rotary PR: Disrespecting the Club President is a PR/Membership issue
  • WiFi on Southwest Airlines: Is it ‘Shovel Ready’?
  • Starbucks makes a smart move: Free WiFi
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Foul Play: FIFA shows what less regulation offers to business
  • Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
  • The Shock of the McChrystal Story: The story is over before the article is published
  • Tony Hayward: The very model of a modern Major General
  • Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
  • War Declared on Social Media: Desperate Acts of Traditional Media
  • Pay It Middle: The Balance between Too Much and Too Little Compensation
  • Mega Executive Pay Leads to Poor Performance
  • Relationships and Thin-Slicing: Why the other person knows what you’re really thinking
  • Browser Wars: Internet Explorer losing, Google Chrome gaining ground
  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
  • Twitter is the Thunderstorm of World Thought
  • Signs of the Times
  • Rotary Magazine Dilemma Reveals the Impact of Social Media
  • How Social Interactive Media Could Transform Higher Education
  • How to Become a Zen Master of Social Media
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service
  • Death of All Salesmen!
  • Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
  • Social Media:  What is it and Why Should You Care?
  • Social Media 2020:  Keep it Personal
  • Social Media 2020:  Who Shouldn’t Be Teaching Social Media
  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
  • Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
  • Who uses Facebook, Twitter, MySpace & LinkedIn?
  • Fear of Public Relations
  • Dissatisfiers: Why John Quit
  • Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…Oh My!
  • Does Anybody Really Understand PR?
  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
  • Rotary@105:  What kind of animal is Rotary International?
  • Rotary:  The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
  • Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win
  • Rotary: All Public Relations is Local
  • Best Practices:  Become a Target!

Things I didn’t know about being a Father of a four-year-old Boy

28 Tuesday Sep 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Lessons of Life, parenting, Passionate People, Pride, Random, Relationships, Respect, Rotary

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

behavior, Blogging, Blogs, boys, Child Development, child-rearing, children, Fatherhood, Parent Development, parenting, Public Image, Public Relations, Rotary, Young boys

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

I am a Father three times over, but my first two were girls, which were relatively simple to raise and well-behaved…at least that is what I choose to remember. But the young boys I have known in my life are anything but well-behaved and I was nervous about being the Father of a boy. My son will turn five in a couple of weeks and I have realized that my nervousness was justified.  Here are a few of the things I didn’t expect about being a Father to a 4 year-old boy:

  • I didn’t know I would have to justify which route I took home from Starbucks. When the little guy in the back seat says, “Dad, why do you go home this way?,” you have to either play the ‘I’m-the-adult-and-that’s-why’ card, or you have to try to explain the subtleties of traffic, time of day, and the desire to travel on surface streets with the sunroof open. Wise or not, I usually try to explain things, because I’m a teacher at my core … but I’m rethinking that approach.

    Why IS the sky blue?

  • I didn’t know I would have to answer questions that force me to defend the stupidity of our language, like, “How come we say the alarm is going off, when it is on?” (i.e.; making noise). It’s a great question. Anyone want to field that one?
  • I didn’t know that going to the bathroom is a wait-until-you-only-have-seconds-before-disaster event and under no circumstances is possible upon suggestion by a parent.
  • I didn’t know little boys really did ask, “Why is the sky blue?” and expect an answer that they can understand. Have you ever tried to be the first person to explain the concept of a planet, the sun, photons, the atmosphere, and light absorption to someone? It is worse if someone else is present because it is like making lasagna, everyone has a better way of doing it.

    Alexander with of his cousin

  • I didn’t know that a four-year-old boy could flirt … and he’s really good at it … when the girl is at least three times his age.
  • I didn’t know how well a boy could manipulate …uhm, his Mom. This one happened today. “Mom, could I have another treat…because you love me?” Fortunately, I’m immune to such ploys!
  • I didn’t know a boy could have such joy over catching grasshoppers and bugs. It seems a cliché about a boy and bugs, but the desire to catch and detain anything smaller than him is hardwired in his behavior.
  • I didn’t know I would become aware of every child around me even when my son is not there. Why should I care? These other kids have parents keeping watch on them, but when I see a child about to do something hazardous the urge to usurp the other parent’s authority is sometimes overwhelming.

    Mowing the lawn is a team effort

  • I didn’t know I would have to wait to mow the lawn until he would be there to ‘help’ me. This was a recent quote, “Dad, I’m glad you waited until I got home to mow the lawn because I would be really angry with you if you had done it when I’m not here.” I have my orders.
  • I didn’t know that I could be attacked and beaten on with such zeal. I’m really hoping he learns to pull his punches before he gets too strong.
  • I didn’t know that a boy could change my attitude … about being the Father of a boy. Still, if you’re about to be a Father of a boy, we need to talk.
More Articles
  • Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophesy a Scientific Possibility?
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • Rotary@105: Making Rotary Sexy
  • Dear Business Person: It’s 2010, please update your brain.
  • Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico
  • Selling watered-down beer: The best spin campaign in advertising
  • Rotary@105: Grieving change
  • Communication: Repetition of message does not increase awareness
  • Millennium Hotel: Go away, spend your money elsewhere
  • Is it time to fire yourself?
  • Up in the air down in Texas
  • I mow my lawn because…
  • Rogue Flight Attendant shows his arrogance, Airlines dislike for the customer
  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • How Rotary can..must..will plug into Social Media
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Rotary Membership/Public Image Challenge
  • 2Q 2010 Social Media Tools: Facebook/Twitter sail on, LinkedIn/MySpace don’t
  • Epic Fail: PR ‘Experts’ don’t get Twitter
  • King of Anything: Social Media vs Traditional Media
  • Rotary PR: Disrespecting the Club President is a PR/Membership issue
  • WiFi on Southwest Airlines: Is it ‘Shovel Ready’?
  • Starbucks makes a smart move: Free WiFi
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Foul Play: FIFA shows what less regulation offers to business
  • Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
  • The Shock of the McChrystal Story: The story is over before the article is published
  • Tony Hayward: The very model of a modern Major General
  • Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
  • War Declared on Social Media: Desperate Acts of Traditional Media
  • Pay It Middle: The Balance between Too Much and Too Little Compensation
  • Mega Executive Pay Leads to Poor Performance
  • Relationships and Thin-Slicing: Why the other person knows what you’re really thinking
  • Browser Wars: Internet Explorer losing, Google Chrome gaining ground
  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
  • Twitter is the Thunderstorm of World Thought
  • Signs of the Times
  • Rotary Magazine Dilemma Reveals the Impact of Social Media
  • How Social Interactive Media Could Transform Higher Education
  • How to Become a Zen Master of Social Media
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service
  • Death of All Salesmen!
  • Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
  • Social Media:  What is it and Why Should You Care?
  • Social Media 2020:  Keep it Personal
  • Social Media 2020:  Who Shouldn’t Be Teaching Social Media
  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
  • Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
  • Who uses Facebook, Twitter, MySpace & LinkedIn?
  • Fear of Public Relations
  • Dissatisfiers: Why John Quit
  • Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…Oh My!
  • Does Anybody Really Understand PR?
  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
  • Rotary@105:  What kind of animal is Rotary International?
  • Rotary:  The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
  • Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win
  • Rotary: All Public Relations is Local
  • Best Practices:  Become a Target!

Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophecy a Scientific Possibility?

27 Monday Sep 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in History, Lessons of Life, Passionate People, Random, Relationships, Science

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Brian Greene, Double Slit Experiment, M-Theory, Mathematician, Multiple dimensions, Negative Time, one-way time, Physics, Positive Time, Quantum Physics, Science, Space, Space Time, Spacetime, String Theory, The Big Bang, The Fabric of the Universe, Thomas Young, Time, Time Travel

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

(Warning: This post contains information that may cause brain damage.)

There is a television commercial where an middle-aged couple is watching their son being inaugurated as President, which is followed by a series of scenes working backwards in time:

  • > The ‘President’ is a young boy playing with his Dad
  • > The ‘President’ being born
  • > His parents in their first house
  • > His parents at their wedding
  • > His parents on their first date
  • > And finally a scene where his Dad first sees his Mom on a train that is about to leave and he and uses his phone to buy a ticket so he can meet her.

Positive Time, No-Brainer
This backward view of a series of related events illustrates the concept of negative time, and while the new theories regarding how our micro, micro, micro world works may not yet directly propose it, there is some evidence that time may work both ways. If true, everything we understand about life would be turned upside down.

Time flows only one-way, right?

We take positive time for granted. It is so automatic in our lives that most people can’t even conceive what the opposite of positive time would be like in our universe. It is so basic to our lives that if I were to ask a lay person to define the term ‘positive time’, they might come up with a reasonable definition, but they probably would have to take a moment or two to construct their explanation. If asked for the a definition of negative time, most people would likely be stumped.

Positive time is relatively simple. In our universe time began at the Big Bang, or Big Pop, as I prefer to call it. Theoretical physicists believe that prior to the Big Pop everything in ‘the universe’ was completely ordered and homogeneous. There was no movement, or action, or decay. In essence, no ‘matter’ or substance in the universe, just energy. Time didn’t exist because you must have something changing to measure time, and there wasn’t anything to measure.

At the Big Pop, matter was created out of energy and put in motion. Matter in motion means that it has a beginning point and a direction of movement and that means it can be measured. The moment of the creation of matter was also the creation of Time. From that moment Time moved in a positive direction, meaning that one second follows the next, but in one direction only. We (in our experience of Time) cannot reverse time and go back to a past moment, nor can we figure out a way to have time run backwards. Since we can only observe Positive Time it has been easy to ignore the question, “Why does time always move in one direction?”

One depiction of how time travel might be possible

Time Travel is not Negative Time
Science fiction has toyed with the idea of time travel, but that is not quite the same as negative time. Jumping from the present to the past or future involves skipping over all those seconds between now and then. To be the opposite of positive time, negative time would have to flow backward from one moment to the next, which is how we experience positive time.

So why care about the concept of negative time when it doesn’t seem to exist? Well, maybe it does.

String Theory Shakes Up Our Idea of Space/Time and Dimensions
For most of human history we have assumed we live in a four-dimensional world (three space dimensions, plus the dimension of positive time.) It is all we can observe; therefore, it is fact. But a new view of the Quantum world of the very, very small, called String Theory, we have tangible evidence that beyond the micro, micro world of electrons, muons, and photons is a micro, micro, micro world of vibrating strings, made not of matter, but of energy. Without getting into all the background of the last 30 years of discoveries and theories, the concept of String Theory offers the best and most rational explanation of the raw materials that create the reality we see, sense, hear, and feel around us.

A simplistic view of the 'strings' in String Theory

Along with String Theory has come an acceptance by many in the field that in addition to the three dimensions we know, there must be at least seven or eight additional dimensions that we can’t observe because they are either too small to be detected, or they just are outside our realm of detection by our senses and/or equipment. It may seem odd to have a concept of something outside of our experience and before we can detect it; however, Albert Einstein is only one example of someone who came up with bizarre ideas that were not proven until years after he gave us the theory. In the case of String Theory, mathematicians have used equations to determine what is and is not possible in the micro, micro, micro world and eleven dimensions makes all the puzzle pieces fall together even though we currently lack the technical capability to observe all but three of them.

The Legacy of a 200 year-old Experiment
Note that String Theory does not propose that time works in two directions. In fact, when theoretical physicists discuss the eleven dimensions they often add, ‘and the dimension of time’ as if to reinforce that time is a singular, one-way aspect of reality. The idea that time might flow two ways is not part of the typical String Theory conversation.

The conflicting waves of the Double Slit Experiment

But there is an interesting experiment discussed in Brian Greene’s book, The Fabric of the Cosmos, which challenges our positive time flow assumptions. The experiment is known a the ‘Double Slit Experiment‘ and it was devised over 200 years ago (1801) by Thomas Young. The experiment uses two slits that light passes through to a film that would record the effect of the slits on the path of the light. If the light creates a cluster of points on the film, it is evidence of particle behavior. If the light creates a banded appearance, it is evidence of wave behavior.

The result seemed to prove that light behaved as a wave pattern and for about 150 years that was the accepted point of view, but in the past fifty years light has been proven to be a particle (known as a photon.) So what’s up with Mr. Young’s experiment?

Without delving into Quantum Theory and the Uncertainty Principle, the belief is that a photon travels every possible theoretical route before it travels the only route it is destined to travel and therefore, it shows up as a wave pattern in the classic Double Slit Experiment, but if the experiment is set up to determine the route of the photon it only detects the route that the photon actually travels and all the potential paths disappear…if you head is starting to hurt, I completely understand. The full discussion of this takes up a sizable portion of Mr. Greene’s book, but for now, I ask you to accept this so I can move on to the next concept.

According to Mr. Greene, the detector that identifies the route of the photon does not interfere with the photon reaching the recording film, but because the photon was being observed before it reached the recording film, its behavior changed at the source. In other words, somehow the light sensed the detector and rather than every possible path being recorded on the film, the only thing recorded was the singular photon.

Again, according to Mr. Greene, this was not a case that the detector changed the behavior of the light, but that the behavior of light changed at the source. There are no rational explanations for why this happens, but one possible idea is that time can flow backward, meaning that the photon’s behavior is shaped, not by positive time flow (photon emitted by source, path observed or not by detector), but by negative time (photon observed or not by detector, photon emitted by source.)

Do Final Events Determine the Events that Preceded It?
The concept of negative time is so bizarre and outside our experience that any rational mind has a hard time accepting the possibility of anything that contradicts a world ruled by positive time. But why should time be limited by what we experience? What if our Positive Time experience consists of the result of future events, not of past events?  What if the previously mentioned television commercial has correctly ordered the events? Maybe the boy who becomes President causes all the preceding events all along the timeline? What if our universe is constructed, not by one event followed by another, but by a final event that then construct all the events that led up to the final event?

By now your head may be pounding from trying to understand a concept that is absolutely alien to what we know, or you may decided to reject the idea as absurd, (which it is when taken in the context of our experience,) but if negative time is real then it means that much of what we see as coincidence is not…. and a self-fulfilling prophesy is not just an amusing idea, but a fact of life in Negative Time. It means that what we do now is guided by what we will do in the future.

The ramifications of Negative Time exceed what we can imagine and challenge our foundations of science, philosophy, religion, business, in fact, all aspects of life as we know it. It is a concept that is a long way from becoming provable in our experience of the universe, but the possibility of Time being a two-way phenomenon is exciting…even if it makes my head hurt.

More Articles
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • Rotary@105: Making Rotary Sexy
  • Dear Business Person: It’s 2010, please update your brain.
  • Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico
  • Selling watered-down beer: The best spin campaign in advertising
  • Rotary@105: Grieving change
  • Communication: Repetition of message does not increase awareness
  • Millennium Hotel: Go away, spend your money elsewhere
  • Is it time to fire yourself?
  • Up in the air down in Texas
  • I mow my lawn because…
  • Rogue Flight Attendant shows his arrogance, Airlines dislike for the customer
  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • How Rotary can..must..will plug into Social Media
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Rotary Membership/Public Image Challenge
  • 2Q 2010 Social Media Tools: Facebook/Twitter sail on, LinkedIn/MySpace don’t
  • Epic Fail: PR ‘Experts’ don’t get Twitter
  • King of Anything: Social Media vs Traditional Media
  • Rotary PR: Disrespecting the Club President is a PR/Membership issue
  • WiFi on Southwest Airlines: Is it ‘Shovel Ready’?
  • Starbucks makes a smart move: Free WiFi
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Foul Play: FIFA shows what less regulation offers to business
  • Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
  • The Shock of the McChrystal Story: The story is over before the article is published
  • Tony Hayward: The very model of a modern Major General
  • Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
  • War Declared on Social Media: Desperate Acts of Traditional Media
  • Pay It Middle: The Balance between Too Much and Too Little Compensation
  • Mega Executive Pay Leads to Poor Performance
  • Relationships and Thin-Slicing: Why the other person knows what you’re really thinking
  • Browser Wars: Internet Explorer losing, Google Chrome gaining ground
  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
  • Twitter is the Thunderstorm of World Thought
  • Signs of the Times
  • Rotary Magazine Dilemma Reveals the Impact of Social Media
  • How Social Interactive Media Could Transform Higher Education
  • How to Become a Zen Master of Social Media
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service
  • Death of All Salesmen!
  • Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
  • Social Media:  What is it and Why Should You Care?
  • Social Media 2020:  Keep it Personal
  • Social Media 2020:  Who Shouldn’t Be Teaching Social Media
  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
  • Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
  • Who uses Facebook, Twitter, MySpace & LinkedIn?
  • Fear of Public Relations
  • Dissatisfiers: Why John Quit
  • Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…Oh My!
  • Does Anybody Really Understand PR?
  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
  • Rotary@105:  What kind of animal is Rotary International?
  • Rotary:  The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
  • Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win
  • Rotary: All Public Relations is Local
  • Best Practices:  Become a Target!

Thank you, Mr. President

23 Thursday Sep 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Ethics, Government, History, Honor, Lessons of Life, Pride, Public Relations, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, Traditional Media, US History

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Customer Loyalty, Executive Management, Group Behavior, Jed Bartlet, Loyalty, Lynch Mob, Management Practices, Office of the President, President, President Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, Public Image, Public Relations, Rotary, Thank you, The West Wing, United States of America

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

I happened to catch a West Wing episode while traveling this week, which was one of my favorite television shows. One of the things that I liked about the series is that when a character spoke to the President, no matter what happened in the discussion, before the person left they always said, “Thank you, Mr. President.” It reinforced the respect for the office and for our Country. Regardless of how the person felt about the Jed Bartlet or what he said, they still respected the office of the most powerful leader in the world. It was a fictional show with fictional characters, and yet the concept of respect of our Country’s leader is fundamental to our Great Society…fiction or not.

Martin Sheen as President Jed Bartlet (image thanks to CNN.com)

Today we have some who people have forgotten that part of their citizenship because they have shown disrespect to the Office of the President of the United States of America. This includes people who should understand respect (e.g.; some military and former military), but who show a complete lack of respect, disgust even, for our President. You can debate ideas, you can have contrary opinions, but the moment you speak ill of, forward an email, or in any way promote the idea that our President isn’t really worthy of respect, you have crossed the line. Those who have gone so far as to make up falsehoods (e.g.; he is not a citizen, Christian, etc.) are violating a sacred duty as a citizen of our Country to honor the Office of the President of the United States.

The lack of respect boils down to a few who are: 1) either completely ignorant and don’t care, or 2) intentionally attempting to deceive others for their own purposes. This type of behavior is common for a lynch mob consisting of people who are focused on satisfying their own lust for power. Lynch mobs don’t need facts or reason, because they are driven by emotions. They are the most gullible of all humans and they don’t regain their common sense until they have done something horrible. We have come to a point in our Country where people have to choose whether they wish to be decent citizens who respect our Country and value truth, or become part of the lynch mob driven by lust and hate.

President Barack Obama and the Oval Office (image thanks to acclaimimages.com

If I had been given an opportunity to have an audience with President George W. Bush when he was in office I would have still been proud to say, “Thank you, Mr. President,” when he was done with our conversation…even though I strongly disagreed with many of his policies. Respect for the Office of President isn’t governed by the political whim of the day, but by our love for our Country and all who live in it.

For me, it would be an honor to be in the same room as President Obama, let alone speak to him. In fact, my bucket list would include having the opportunity to stand with him in the Oval Office and at the conclusion be able to say,

Thank you, Mr. President.

More Articles
  • Rotary@105: Making Rotary Sexy
  • Dear Business Person: It’s 2010, please update your brain.
  • Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico
  • Selling watered-down beer: The best spin campaign in advertising
  • Rotary@105: Grieving change
  • Communication: Repetition of message does not increase awareness
  • Millennium Hotel: Go away, spend your money elsewhere
  • Is it time to fire yourself?
  • Up in the air down in Texas
  • I mow my lawn because…
  • Rogue Flight Attendant shows his arrogance, Airlines dislike for the customer
  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • How Rotary can..must..will plug into Social Media
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Rotary Membership/Public Image Challenge
  • 2Q 2010 Social Media Tools: Facebook/Twitter sail on, LinkedIn/MySpace don’t
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  • King of Anything: Social Media vs Traditional Media
  • Rotary PR: Disrespecting the Club President is a PR/Membership issue
  • WiFi on Southwest Airlines: Is it ‘Shovel Ready’?
  • Starbucks makes a smart move: Free WiFi
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Foul Play: FIFA shows what less regulation offers to business
  • Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
  • The Shock of the McChrystal Story: The story is over before the article is published
  • Tony Hayward: The very model of a modern Major General
  • Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
  • War Declared on Social Media: Desperate Acts of Traditional Media
  • Pay It Middle: The Balance between Too Much and Too Little Compensation
  • Mega Executive Pay Leads to Poor Performance
  • Relationships and Thin-Slicing: Why the other person knows what you’re really thinking
  • Browser Wars: Internet Explorer losing, Google Chrome gaining ground
  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
  • Twitter is the Thunderstorm of World Thought
  • Signs of the Times
  • Rotary Magazine Dilemma Reveals the Impact of Social Media
  • How Social Interactive Media Could Transform Higher Education
  • How to Become a Zen Master of Social Media
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service
  • Death of All Salesmen!
  • Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
  • Social Media:  What is it and Why Should You Care?
  • Social Media 2020:  Keep it Personal
  • Social Media 2020:  Who Shouldn’t Be Teaching Social Media
  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
  • Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
  • Who uses Facebook, Twitter, MySpace & LinkedIn?
  • Fear of Public Relations
  • Dissatisfiers: Why John Quit
  • Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…Oh My!
  • Does Anybody Really Understand PR?
  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
  • Rotary@105:  What kind of animal is Rotary International?
  • Rotary:  The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
  • Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win
  • Rotary: All Public Relations is Local
  • Best Practices:  Become a Target!
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