Bird's Eye View

New York's MTA: A Melting Pot of Social Versatility

Hello everybody, my name is Andre, an intern at Wf360. It is definitely not a new subject, as New York City is well known for its versatility, but this is something I want to share in my blog. When I started here, I was asked, “What is different about NYC compared to Germany?” The answer for me was obvious: the diverse people and mixture of cultures in this metropolitan area, especially in the subway.

This is my 5th time in NYC, but the first time I have spent more than 3 weeks here. I am not shocked and big-eyed from all the impressions and wonderful things in NYC, due to the fact that I had more time to settle in and adjust to this city that never sleeps. I love to see different places and observe people. I can just sit anywhere for hours - of course without being pushy – watching their unique forms of communication and the way they go about it. Taking the subway is a terrific way to do this. Watching the different kinds of people that take the train and seeing which station they enter or leave is fascinating to me. 

Everybody seems to ride the subway. It is probably the most magnificent difference from the metropolis Los Angeles, where it seems like everyone drives cars to get around. It’s a lot harder to come across other people this way, while here, New Yorkers have the opportunity to encounter each other every minute of their commute.

In the metro, misery sits next to beauty, success stands next to curiosity. It is so marvelous to see a cross section of mankind in every train. With close monitoring you can see the weather, the time of the year and the state of mind of the passengers on the train. The NYC subway is a place which excited my admiration, which marks the spirit of New York.

What do you think about riding the subway? Is it a joy or a nightmare to share space with so many people you don’t know? Does it instigate conversation with your colleagues or friends? I love to communicate even if it is non verbal, because I feel that this form of communication tells a lot about a person.

The Point Is Not Obama's Beer

I come from a town called Stevens Point.  It's smack dab in the heart of Wisconsin, and there are many memorable things about Point, not the least of which is its brewery.  Like few other towns of 35,000 or so, Stevens Point has had its own brewery since 1857.  We're talking a history of 150 years. In fact I went to grade school with Billy Kurtz, whose Dad owned and operated Point brewery during those years. There used to be signage about Stevens Point, the City of Wonderful Water, and Billy Kurtz used to tell us his Dad said the beer was good because of the water.  The brewers apparently believed this deeply since they located the brewery on, yes, Water Street.

And the beer, unsurprisingly called "Point," is fabulous.  Ask anyone there about Point beer and you'll spot a fan.  They sport Tshirts as evidence of their loyalty, some of which say "It's Not Just for Breakfast..."  and others that say "When you're out of Point, you're out of town..."  (At least they used to; I just checked the Point brewery online store and, sadly, see only ordinary whitebread Tshirt styles.) 

My father was a major Point booster, both the city and its beer.  He traveled a great deal on business and delighted in making arrangements with a hotel bartender where he'd be attending a conference, so that when he and his pals arrived in the hotel bar, he'd ask, "So, tell me, what is the best beer you've got?"  The bartender would dutifully reply "Point beer.  It's the best in the world.  How many would you like?"  And my father would host his friends to a bottle or two of Point. 

My father influenced many things in my life.  When he learned that I'd been accepted at Stanford Law School, he told me, "I hope you'll not be a litigator.  Most arguments are best settled through conversation between the parties, without their attorneys."  He called his approach the "over the backyard fence" style of resolution.

 As it happens, I did become a litigator, turning my back on the "over the backyard fence" model of settling conflict.  But over the years, I eventually saw the light, became a business mediator and learned the power of strategically facilitated conversation in resolving disputes of all sizes and types.  It is magical.

So Boston's Officer Crowley was right in snagging a White House visit today with Professor Gates and President Obama.  Better to discuss this unfortunate fracas about Gates' recent arrest over a beer than in the courts. Perhaps that conversation just might turn the tide from the developing story of racism in America and accompanying implications that it will forever be with us.  I believe otherwise.  Yes, we can do this.  One beer at a time.  I just wish they were drinking Point.

The Kheinz's Transform The Wedding Conversation

It's over.  The way we talked about the format of the wedding ceremony has been changed forever.  Transformed.  At least the traditional walk down the aisle, with sedate bridesmaids and groomsmen, followed by the blushing bride on the arm of her father and the groom waiting dutifully, anticipatorily, at the altar is gonzo.  Noooo more.  Not since the Kheinz's changed all that. 

They apparently decided that traditional treatment of the wedding was old talk and they'd have none of it.  Instead, they replaced that old fashioned scenario with a rockin', thigh slapping parade of their bridal party down the aisle in a choreographed dance routine to the strains of "Forever," sung by Chris Brown.   In their church where the minister waited patiently smiling at the altar.  These people had practiced this routine.  A lot. 

I'm not sure when the video went up on YouTube.  A few days ago, apparently.  It was initially sent to the bride and groom's friends who couldn't make it to the wedding, and one of them put it up on YouTube, where viewers globally are now 12 million and counting.  I'm told by Andre Gordon, our intern from Germany, that it's already become a news item in the German press.  If you total all the versions now on YouTube, at least 14 million people have taken the time to get in on the action.

Just when you thought there was nothing new about wedding ceremonies, the conversation has totally changed.  As someone here on our team observed, "From now on, people will say "Are you doing that St. Paul, Minnesota kind of wedding?" 

Here's the thing to consider: what about your business could you totally rethink and transform, engaging your customers and employees in the process?  What's your equivalent of the Kheinz wedding ceremony?  Sounds like a conversation worth having.  At least it will be more fun than dishing out the same old stuff everyone takes for granted.

The Power Of Conversation In Wartime

I just finished reading a remarkable book, one of those on the summer reading list from the Stanford alumni association.  I belong to an on-line reading group that is fascinating for many reasons, not the least of which is that although most of us have never met one another, the group has--simply form the conversations that take place online--formed into smaller cliques that reflect particular interests, opinions and the like. 

This particular book is entitled War in Val D'Orcia.  It's the journal kept for a two year period, from 1943 to 1944, by an Englishwoman married to an Italian landowner, while living in their manor named La Foce in Tuscany.  She chronicles their day to day life as she and her family cope with food shortages, threats from both the Fascists and the Germans, mined roads, illness, refugees, and much more.  The writer is Iris Origo who is a lyrical writer and able chronicler of life for non-combatants in this particular area of Tuscany that became a no-man's land, surrounded by both foreign invasion and civil war.

Val d'Orcia

What is particularly extraordinary to me is the ability of both Iris Origo and Antonio, her Italian husband to overcome one challenge after another by simply, well, talking with people. They make it a point to initiate and foster conversation with just about everyone, from the German officers whose decisions can determine whether they live or die--much less have enough food to eat, and keep their home to themselves as long as possible-- to the pro-Fascists, to the farmowners who live on their property and depend on them for leadership, and the villagers who can choose to provide them with necessary food and supplies, since everything is in short supply.

They are sincere and surprisingly non-judgmental in their treatment of the many people with whom they intersect.  Origo finds good things to say about the German officers as well as sympathy for the partisans these officers are hunting in the woods.  That her sympathies lie with the Allies is clear,and she doesn't hid that fact.  She's simply not at war; she is living in a war.  There's a difference, and thanks to her ability to project a high level of objectivity, she and her husband are trusted by people on all sides of the battle.  And most of the more than 20 children and other assorted refugees and escaped prisoners of war who find their way to her door survive, thanks to the shrewdness and kindness and generosity of this amazing woman and her gentlemanly husband.

Italian Partisans 

How I wish I could sit and engage in a conversation with Iris Origo.  She was a scholar, author, and woman of high intelligence and authority.  Alas, she died in 1988 at the age of 85. Before her death, one of many honors she received was being made Honorary Dame Commander of the British Empire. 

Talking With Strangers

I don't know Susan and Gene Flores, and suspect we shall never meet.  But I feel I know something about them and am especially attracted to their interest in getting people talking to one another.   Or, more accurately, getting people to talk through writing.  Poetry, to be exact.

Last weekend, we were in Lenox, Massachusetts, awaiting the afternoon lawn concert by the Boston Symphony Orchestra at its summer home in nearby Tanglewood.  If you are in the New York or Boston area in the summertime, make it a point to experience Tanglewood at least once in your lifetime.  It's truly remarkable: world class music in an idyllic setting among the Berkshire Mountains, with great wine and food (you bring that with you)...one of life's good times.

But I digress.  Walking down the sidewalk in Lenox, we happened upon what looked like a kind of cabin.  It is made of rough hewn wood and is more like a rest stop with a roof than a cabin.  A sign outside invites you in, indicating the cabin is a "House to Honor a Request for Poems." 

Inside is a small table with paper and pencils and around the walls in the small space are wires with clips for hanging up your poem, should you choose to write one and share it with strangers.  A sign inside indicates that poems are taken down over time to make way for new ones.  I have no idea what they do with them.  But people do respond to this "Request for Poems."  There were hundreds of them.  My favorite was one that said simply:

 "Affairs are something for other people. 
At least that's what I always thought. 
Until there was you."

The little cabin is a conversation corner of sorts.  A one-way conversation with the world.  Lot of people, apparently, have something to say.  And many others are interested in hearing--or at least reading--those messages.  It is interesting that in this day of on-line communication, there is still interest in taking pen or pencil to paper, writing some lines, and sharing it with the world. 

One could do worse than share in the conversational poems Susan and Gene Flores have initiated. 

Cell Conversations In Cars

Perhaps you've seen the flurry of media activity concerning the dangers of people carrying on cell phone conversations while driving a car.

I hadn't taken this too seriously, figuring as long as there is legislation--and enforcement of it--outlawing driving with a cell phone in one's hand, we could assume this danger would be kept at a minimum.  Boy, was I wrong.  Indeed, wrong on two counts. 

The first is my assumption that most of us who drive a car avoid talking with a cell phone held in one hand while we're steering the car with the other.  Well, apparently there are lots of folks out there--and now that I've thought about it, I'm noticing more and more--who think they can juggle both with little difficulty.  Their optimism is belied, however, by the statistic that are piling up of accidents, some of them fatal, which involve cell juggling drivers.  The distraction of the cell call simply is too significant to prevent accidents.

The second is the big surprise to me.  It's that there is apparently minimal difference in the distraction to drivers who are holding their phone and that of hands-free driver-conversants.  Now, this is serious.  I had assumed that if you used a speaker phone, or headset or some other means to ensure that you had both hands on the wheel, well, that would do it. After all, I reasoned, when I drive and have passengers in my car, I'm frequently in conversation with them, and since that doesn't seem to lower the safety of my driving, then how can handsfree phone conversations be different?

Apparently, handsfree conversations and in-car conversations differ markedly.  And dangerously.  The focus or concentration on the subject matter of a handsfree call is apparently significantly higher than conversations with fellow passengers. 

Which brings me to New York City and our diverse cadre of taxi drivers. Anyone familiar with Gotham habits knows that it is rare to get into a New York cab these days and not find your driver on the phone...and still on the phone during your trip...and still on the phone when you get out of the cab. These guys love their talk!  Most of them are hands free conversations.  But now I see that they're putting my life in danger--according to the stats--and I want to make sure we do something about it.

Add to the taxi-driver-talker the fact that few taxi passengers buckle up seat belts in New York cabs, and things get even scarier.  (It's an interesting thing, this seat-belt business.  I am religious about buckling up my seatbelt in my own car, whether passenger or driver, and I do it nearly as religiously in cars driven by friends.  But in New York City cabs, I am loathe to buckle up what is most often a dirty seatbelt if I can even find it (so few of us use those belts, they are often hidden in the recesses of that dirty back seat). 

Gotta re-think my tolerance of talking taxi drivers.  Looks like silence is golden, even for someone like me who loves conversations, even other people's conversations.  I'm going to experiment with asking the next several taxi drivers I encounter to please hang up on that call.  Will let you know what happens.

I also found these Documents that pertain to the safety of using wireless communication devices while driving from 2003 have not been published until now.

Should companies participate in social media?

Social media sites or platforms with different purposes such as facebook, myspace, twitter, flickr, to name a few, as well as blogs spread on the internet since a couple of years. They all started small but some attracted millions of users so far and their use gained large popularity – not only among IT people.

Variety of social media channels

My name is Adrian, I’m Swiss and I intern at Wf360. Currently, I am working on a project to promote MyVetwork, the online network for all US military-active duty, veterans, families, friends, and supporters. Among the marketing tools, we use social media to talk with our users and the community. Hence, I wondered how other companies make use of these channels. Most companies appear to have acknowledged the presence of these tools, however many seem to just blindly jump on the bandwagon and do not really actively participate. A recent study from wetpaint and altimeter revealed a correlation between financial performance and deep social media engagement of companies. They say it definitely pays out to engage in social media especially if companies use many different channels to interact with their customers.

Report on the engagement of companies in social media

If we look at Starbucks, it reveals that this company is very much and successfully engaged in social media. They deputize people throughout their organization to participate and try to understand how each channel provides a different dimension of engagement with the clients. One activity I came across recently was their event on facebook to get a free pastry if the users printed out a voucher and bought a drink in one of branches. More than 200,000 users joined that event online and hence Starbucks generated considerable attention on facebook, which in the end increases their brand value.

Starbucks's fan page on facebook

I think companies can learn from the first movers, like Starbucks, and should not hesitate to interact with their customers online. However, the commitment must be honest, professional and requires personnel dedicated to that job to interact with the users. Here in New York, I recognize that more companies try to be active in social media compared to Europe. For instance, I often saw a sign to follow their company on twitter - whether it was on a receipt or a poster in their store window. In general, this is a good approach to converse with some of your clients and reach them personally.

I absolutely agree with Alexandra Wheeler, Director of Digital Strategy at Starbucks when she says, “It’s more about the relationships we form with our customers, not only marketing.” These activities will probably increase in Europe as well, so I’d recommend them to start participating actively and professionally now but not blindly.

Coming back to the project for MyVetwork, we engage in social media actively trough a variety of channels with a focus on facebook, twitter, myspace, youtube, and linkedin. We decided to follow a differentiated approach and feed some channels with different content than others. Furthermore, we recognized the importance to establish a dialog with our community and staying away from a one-way conversation. We are hoping to create some great conversation... check it out!

Twitter page from MyVetwork

Are You Protean?

Can you be described as protean?  If so, is that a good thing?

Here's how the Merriam Webster dictionary defines protean:  1: of or resembling Proteus in having a varied nature or ability to assume different forms 2: displaying great diversity or variety. 

Seems to me, especially in this time of high unemployment, it is important to have a protean nature.  Being able to jump into different situations and shine is a big advantage in this world of rapid change.  Think of how many job definitions that are mainstream today did not exist ten years ago...even five.  And as far as "Twitter Consultant" and like career paths, they didn't exist even a year ago.

 

Multi-talented

Years ago, people who went from job to job were described as "hoppers."  Now, people who sit in the same one are often considered stuck. 

Consider the advantages of diversity and variety on a larger scale, for example, in decision making on a team.  The more diverse the representation, the more likely something innovative can happen.  O course, it means things will be less predictable, messier.  Goes with the territory.

Protean.  It's a good thing.

Provocative Conversation

There are many ways to use questions to provoke action.  I'm thinking specifically here of questions that elicit thoughtful responses from which you can learn someone's motivation and how they view the circumstances surrounding the task at hand. 

I'm impressed by Shantanu Narayen's remarks in last Sunday's New York Times, as I mentioned in yesterday's post on a different subject.  Listen to his advice regarding ways to interview applicants for a job with his company, Adobe Systems.

"My first question is always "Tell me what you think this job is all about."  Just allowing them to speak about what they want to do, and what they think the job is about, is actually very useful, because it sheds light on what they think they want to do in the company.  I typically also end an interview with asking them how they can make a difference."  

I follow much the same path in meeting for the first time with someone who is a prospect for a potential partnership or collaboration.  Generally we are meeting because we have been introduced by a mutual friend or business associate.  So I generally ask, "So what has Joseph (or whoever is our mutual acquaintance) told you about us?"   Their answer gives me a window into what they feel is most important--or most problematic--about what I'm proposing.  They generally say something like, "Joseph didn't tell me much, but he mentioned that you have a program for XXXXX."  I build my presentation, then, on whatever the XXXXXX is, and go from there.  Or they may say "Joseph said you are doing XXXXX, but I'm not sure that's applicable to what we do."  This is helpful because it immediately reveals whatever the prospect's objections are, so I'm saved the task of eliciting them...and can dismiss those challenges up front.  So I'd say something like "Well tell me what you do and then we can figure out whether my product/service brings any value to that effort."

Sometimes, the response is something like, "Actually, Joseph didn't tell me anything about what you do.  He just said we should meet."  In those cases, I say, "Terrific.  Tell me the most important aspect of what you're doing right now, and we'll figure out where our interests intersect."  So he/she tells me what's most important about their business, giving me a perfect base on which to build the case for whatever I'm presenting. 

Sounds easy, right?  Actually, it is fairly straightforward.  It focuses on the other person rather than on what I want to get said.  It eliminates the need to sell, and focuses on a shared conversation and things of mutual importance.  It's always helpful to have someone else frame the conversation so you know what's on their mind and what things are of importance to them, rather than having to guess or tease them out in the course of a presentation.

I imagine that anyone Shantanu Naraven hires is psyched about working with him.  Good reason.  He probably asks insightful questions as a matter of course, not just in interviews.

Messages In Your Inbox

OK, take a look right now.  How many messages are in your email inbox?  Do you let them accumulate and then, at some point--like old-fashioned Spring cleaning of your closet--you go in and delete the old ones?  How long do you let them accumulate?  And how about your "sent" box? Same thing?

Piles of letters

I finally had a personal "Come to Jesus" meeting with myself over the proliferation (no, let's be honest, the piles and piles) of emails in both my inbox and sent boxes.  They were each the equivalent of a house that needed serious cleaning.  Not quite like the notorious Collyer brothers who, upon their death, were discovered to have been living in a house where they had stacked so many old newspapers and magazines, they had built tunnels through the mess to get from one room to another.  But close, at least in the sense that this lack of email housecleaning started to bother me.

So I cleaned house and established a new rule.  Every email in which I have even remote interest, gets read and then dealt with quickly: I either file it, answer it, or delete it after reading.  So at the end of the day, I am left with only those things in my inbox that still need attention.  If I've already answered them, I delete them.  Period.   What a relief! 

A clear desk

In Sunday's New York Times, an interview with Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe Systems quoted him saying that he tries to "go to sleep every night with fewer than 10 email messages" in his inbox.  OK, I'm not yet down to 10.  But close.  And a far cry from where I was.  Thank you, Shantani.  I see I'm on the right track.

Narayen said several additional interesting things about maintaining sanity over email.  For example, he says that unless he is the sole person on the "to" line, he doesn't feel the need to respond. 

How about you?

A full inbox