Monthly Archives: September 2010

Moron Hall of Fame

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See this bus driver enter Moron Hall of Fame. Wow.

Are you kidding me?

This stuff is getting out of hand.

I have been in a car in NYC and we stopped at a red light and a man who was texting literally crashed into our car, fell and then started to yell at our driver. Everyone around him - after showing some initial concern - ended up just laughing at the guy.

Last week at M and Wisconsin in Georgetown, I saw a student literally fall into a traffic horse as she typed on her iPhone and walked right into a huge pothole. She fell hard and was cut and was crying.

Two weeks ago, a driver next to me literally almost pushed my car off into the Potomac River. I had to jam on the brakes. When I drove past the offending driver, she was texting as well as looking at her make-up in the rear view mirror all while driving on the George Washington Parkway.

I attended a board meeting last week and one presenter was quite nervous; had all these charts; and was stepping us through the deck. I looked around and honestly 9 of 11 board members were looking at their handheld devices under the table. I felt really bad for the exec who was presenting to us.

I made a promise that I would put my device away which I did and show respect to the folks who were presenting to me for the entire three hours left in the meeting.

I have seen people watching videos in their car as they drive.

And now this bus driver and his Kindle.

6,000 deaths reported so far.

A million little accidents.

A gazillion hurt feelings as people are offended by our lack of attention.

We are addicted. We are rude. We are off the chart focused on the wrong things.

I think this driver should be charged and sentenced.

Are you kidding me?

Disastrous?

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First Team All-Star. Again. As in every season that he has played.

Tied for second in the NHL in scoring.

Tied for second in goals scored.

Tied for second in plus/minus.

Voted best player by his peers at the NHL Awards.

Best player on Presidents’ trophy winning team during regular season.

Captained team to 121 points.

Every game a sell-out.

The bar is set high nowadays.

I think 99.9 percent of the league would kill to have a “disastrous” season like Alex had last year.

Just saying. ”Disastrous?” New York Times is a tough judge and critic.

(Shakes head. Wishes now to move on.)

The Right Tenor? The Right Words?

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So what should we do and say as this new season starts?

Should we be humble? Of course.

Should we be defiant? Not sure what that even means?

Should we just shut up? Wish we could but the media won’t let us. We must feed the machine.

Should we just play and see what happens? I wish we could but we have a long season ahead of us.

Several people have said to me that the regular season is meaningless. I believe that is a very dangerous notion. If you don’t qualify for the playoffs, you can’t compete for a Stanley Cup. The regular season means a lot. The playoffs don’t start for 9 months. We shouldn’t be talking about playoffs. We should be talking about first game. 

So – we are at that point - where nothing that we say will be the right words chosen for some. Nothing that we do will be looked at in the right way. We know what happened to us last season in the playoffs. Wow can we forget?

But that was another team and a different year.

Should we look back for motivation? Yes and no.

Should we talk about last season? I guess we have to but it is a new season a-coming; new data and new situations to face. New players.

Should we look back or forward? I believe both if we can.

I know we have to perform better.

I know we have to continue to improve as a franchise.

We will do our best. We are focused and aligned as a team and a franchise and a fan base.

I apologize ahead of time – right here - for all the words and pixels that will be generated and quotes and comments and sentiments that aren’t exactly delivered in the manner that you want, expect or how you would say it.

I know some folks just hate everything. I know some folks just love everything. I know many people wish us the best. I know some people wish us a curse on our house. It all comes with the territory. ”This is the business that we have chosen.”

I hope we say the right things. I hope what you read or hear is acceptable to you.

But right now, I am more focused that we play the right way and we get results and we improve and we meet our goals.

This is the time where there will be a lot of talk and a lot of words. I guarantee you that you will hear something and you will wince. I will say something dumb and someone will generate a comment and it will spiral into the web for days. It is that time.

But soon the natural rhythms will return. We have a camp, a pre-season and a long regular season about to begin. Hockey is in the air. Words don’t really mean that much. The players will soon be in their bubble.

Drop the puck. Let’s have some fun. Let us now look forward to present day experiences and enjoy today. See you at camp. Go Caps!

Victims?

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That is a pretty strong word, isn’t it?

I believe that small businesses are the life blood of our economy. They mostly serve local consumers in neighborhoods and it is tough to compete against big companies if you are a small business.

One of the barriers of entry to success has always been the cost of advertising and trying to find customers.

If you are a small business, you have to spend money in the yellow pages and then you have to find creative ways - mostly through media – to reach your audience and let them know you are open for business.

For decades, the only options available were print; TV and radio advertising and sampling; and direct mail. The risk is all in your hands as a small business as to expenditures.

Most of these outlets were more mass and expensive than desired or needed by small businesses. They also weren’t very accountable. Many times a small business would run a set of ads and wait for the phones to ring. When that didn’t happen, the money spent felt like it was wasted; and the business suffered.

In the last ten years, two new methods have emerged to help small businesses become successful: Targeted search marketing from people like Google where you bid and pay for targeted search words and clicks and now social shopping sites a la Groupon.

Both methodologies are accountable; are focused on geo-served audiences; can be used creatively; and can drive traffic into stores or make the phones ring. And best of all small businesses only pay when the programs work.

And more and more these programs really do work. Your neighbors want to support you. They want to sample your wares. They want to come in and buy from you. Group couponing is a powerful tool and a positive breakthrough for small businesses. You get customers for free; no up front media buy; and you get to keep the customer after they come in to your store. You also get to build your brand and you get data about who purchased. And best of all, you get to control what you offer; how many customers you want; and the like.

This new set of tools is a big breakthrough for merchants.

From time to time, a program will be too successful. Read here. But truly - as a small business owner - you must become expert at how to market on the web via Google and how to harness the power of group couponing. Literally millions of local merchants are growing and thriving now using Google and Groupon per se. It is amazing to me how accountable these programs are and how successful these programs are. These kinds of articles will spur usage of the medium. As small businesses say, “Wow - how can a program be too successful? I must learn how to use this tool to my advantage.” Don’t be afraid. Accountability is good. Geo targeting is good. Test it. Learn from it. Grow with it. This social shopping phenomenon is the future. It is the most positive development I have seen in decades for small businesses.

I am proud of the way Groupon has handled this set of articles about programs being too successful. The people of Groupon truly are focused on serving merchants and neighbors in a friendly manner.

“The Town”

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To start, I must confess that I know and like and admire Ben Affleck. I met him about ten years ago and we have remained friends. He loves sports. He is very charitable and he is just a smart and talented media exec and artist.

If you come into my office sometime at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, you will see a very funny photo from Ben to me. Read the note sometime - it will make you laugh.

My wife and I went to see The Town last night.

I am always skeptical about a movie when a “hyphenate” is involved - you know - directed by and starring when it is the same person.

Ben directed this film. He stars in the film, too.

And the film is fantastic.

Taut. Tight. Great acting. Very authentic to Boston. Very genuine.

I think this is one of the best films of the year. Ben did a great job in leading a wonderful ensemble cast. They all play their roles in an understated and focused to the script manner. Great stars - all on a team on this one.

You will really enjoy this movie. I was very impressed. Ben has certainly matured as a director and it is just first class work. Well done.