JANUARY 26TH, 2010
By LIZ WALZ
In a blog a few weeks back, I told you of my plans to read a new book — “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” by Daniel H. Pink. Well, right now, I’m in the middle of it, and given that its premise is surprising and suggests we should radically change the way we compensate employees, I thought I’d share it. Read more >>
JANUARY 25TH, 2010
By CONTRIBUTING BLOGGER
By Chris Kourtakis, Owner, H20 Limos Marine Service — As the marine dealership community enters a new decade, it will be looking back on the worst year of business in at least the last 50. Looking forward, dealers and OEMs need to share more information so they can do more with less. Read more >>
JANUARY 21ST, 2010
By CONTRIBUTING BLOGGER
Gary B. Druckenmiller, Jr., TheOpenSea.com — Forget the introduction. No more hand-holding. There are default steps you should be taking right now to either dive-in or prep for the onslaught of social marketing in the months and years to come. Many of you are trying to avoid it. You can’t. It’s time to join the party. Here’s a quick hit-list … from start to finish. Read more >>
JANUARY 14TH, 2010
By LIZ WALZ
While I was a Brownie for a year or two in elementary school, it wasn’t my path to a love of the outdoors. I didn’t realize what an incredible impact Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts can have on kids until later in life. In my 20s, when I was dating my husband, I had a chance to attend quite a few Boy Scout ceremonies to cheer on his younger brother, Chad, who would eventually go on to achieve Eagle Scout. Over the years, I learned a lot about what was involved, from wilderness trips and fundraisers to the earning of patches of all colors, shapes and sizes. Most of all, I was impressed with how the program exposed kids to all kinds of experiences they wouldn’t otherwise have had. Read more >>
JANUARY 12TH, 2010
By JON MOHR
With the news this morning that Delta Air Lines is once again raising its fees for checked bags, here is at least a little evidence the company is not completely oblivious when it comes to public perception and customer service. Read more »
JANUARY 8TH, 2010
By LIZ WALZ
My husband and I have been married for more than 10 years, and despite the happy life we’ve created for our growing family, we still have problems. Take, for instance, our mail problem. Like most people out there, we get a ton of mail, most of it junk. And yet since I – the bill payer in the family – have yet to get with the times and pay my bills online, we also get important mail, like our mortgage and car payment coupons, as well as mail we enjoy, like the handful of magazines we subscribe to and a certain percentage of the catalogs we receive. Read more >>
JANUARY 5TH, 2010
By MATT GRUHN
Last week, I stayed at the Rosen Plaza in Orlando. It’s a potential home for the 2010 Marine Dealer Conference & Expo, and we were scouting the site to determine its capability of housing this growing event. We were on a tour with two of the facility’s sales managers when I happened to notice a vacationing middle schooler wearing a t-shirt with the letters “BMOC” proudly touting his claim that he was, indeed, the Big Man On Campus. The happenstance that I noticed this only provided a backdrop for what I had just experienced. Read more >>
JANUARY 4TH, 2010
By CONTRIBUTING BLOGGER
Jeff Scherer, Associate Partner, Callbutton LLC – My 11-year-old son has grown up in a much different environment than I did. Ever since he could talk, he’s had access to a computer screen and mouse of some sort. He’s a gadget freak (OK, so is his dad), and is constantly indulged in PS3, PSP, MP3, DVD, LCD, HD, and all other acronyms electronic. Something surprising has happened to him in the past couple months, however. He has become very interested and (re)attached to his Legos. Aside from Lincoln Logs and maybe those cardboard bricks that they used to have in kindergarten, Legos might be the simplest toys ever made. I wondered what the sales and marketing discussions were in the Lego camps when the video game and Internet assaults started focusing on our kids a few years ago. I decided to take a look. Read more >>