Uncle John on Sports, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Ideas, Music and Barbecue

U2 in Lansign

2011-06-27T14:57:00.001-07:00

What a show. And I am not even a big U2 fan. But taking your 15 yr old son to his first concert is a big deal and even though my arthritic hip hurt, my head ached and my ears drums were pounding, it was a good time.

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5 Super Simple, Introductory Classroom Exercises

2011-03-31T07:17:00.001-07:00

I'm always interested in simple exercises and activities that add value to classes that I teach. I am especialy interested in opportunities to introduce technology (tools, platforms, etc.) into the classroom that the students can immediately use in their workplace or to add to their professional profile.

The majority of these exercises can easily be added to existing curriculum with minimal disruption.

This outline represents some very simple ideas for classroom activities, the targeted skills, classes and student benefits. All of these activities leave room for customization and several of them have potential (and need) for further development (extended project).

I am very interested in your feedback. What have you used to introduce these platforms into your classes? How could you improve these activities? Do you think it is even important?

1. LinkedIn

Snapshot: LinkedIn is a professional networking site. It's been described as Facebook for professionals, at least that is how I describe it to students.

Suggested Exercise: I use this as an extra credit assignment at this point but am considering making it a core assignment in my business classes (200 level)

1) I walk through the LinkedIn site, using my portfolio and highlight the different functionalities and compare and contrast to the traditional resume.

2) This leads into a discussion of the dangers and opportunities of social media (I tactfully suggest to be careful with Facebook profiles) and how many H.R. departments are reviewing these sites prior to interviewing/hiring.

3) For the assignment, I have students create their LinkedIn profile that includes: name, picture, work experience, education and a brief summary of their personal brand (this is an optional field in the LinkedIn profile).

4) To complete the assignment the students need to invite me to "link in" with them which includes writing a personal reason-not the default invite. They end up writing a short memo on their experience with developing this site (via discussion board)

This assignment is very simple but has the potential to be expanded upon and be very powerful. For example, there are multiple touchpoints in the site: company information, groups, portfolio downloads, Twitter integration, etc. All of these could be used for additional exercises.

Targeted Skills/Classes: business writing, communications, marketing, organizational behavior, market research, entrepreneurship

Added Benefits: Most importantly, for the students that complete the assignment, they will have a start of a professional portfoilio and networking tool to advance their careers. As mentioned previously, this site also opens the door for discussions on interviewing, resume development, social media and 21st century job skills.

2. MailChimp

Snapshot: MailChimp is an email marketing service.

Suggested Exercise: MailChimp has over twenty MailChimp Guides in the resource section of the site. Very detailed and business oriented. For this assignment, I have the students work in groups. I then assign a specific guide to review and then present back to the class on the whiteboard. During their presentation the instructor can reinforce key marketing and writing concepts.

Targeted Skills/Classes: Business writing, writing ad copy, marketing, customer analysis, trend analysis, technical writing, design, marketing strategy, sales, customer service.

Added Benefits: Almost every organization has some sort of email marketing campaign. With MailChimp, a student can become profiecient on their own and highlight this skill when applying for a job.

3. Evernote

Snapshot: Evernote is a terrific tool for online research, idea management and content management. The site is very robust with a ton of tutorials, mini-case studies and is very user-friendly.

Suggested exercise: Introduce the site the in class (ideally using your own account) before any research-heavy assignment. Using the discussion board function on Blackboard, have the students write a succinct outline of how they could use this site at school and/or at work.

Targeted skills/classes: online research, content management, analyis, professional development

Added benefits: Evernote is a modern, tech-savvy way to manage research projects.

4. Google Reader

Snapshot: Google Reader is one of many Google products and it creates a personal library of specific content for the user.

Suggested Exercise: This assignment needs to be part of a larger project, typically a research paper or a semester-long blog.

1) I demonstrate my Google Reader with students and discuss how I use it stay current on industry specific topics.

2) I have students create an account (they need to have a Google account) and then set up their feeds. I typically require them to get 5-10 feeds that relate to their project.

3) Once they have this complete, I have them a take a screenshot or send me a link to their site so I can verify their portfolio.

Targeted Skills/Classes: Market research, business/information analysis, marketing, management. This assignment can be used in any class that has a semester-long research component.

Added Benefits: This is a great starter exercise to introduce students to the world of Google: Google Scholar, Google Apps, Google Analytics, Google Documents, Google Maps, Blogger (a Google project). This also leads to great discussions on the importance of reading, staying current and how to become "the expert" on various business trends/skills.

5. Survey Monkey

Snapshot: An online survey tool.

Suggested Exercise: This is a straight forward assignment that I used in entrepreneurship and marketing classes.

1) This is either an individual or group project that has an element requiring consumer feedback. Typically I require 20 responses from either a target market (likely users) or "experts" in an industry.

2) Student(s) create an account with Survey Monkey and go through tutorials. Good discussion on "writing" and target market(s).

3) Create a survey and send out

4) Students are then required to analyze results. I also require a written document: what they learned from the research and also what they learned about wording the questions and distributing the survey.

Targeted Skills/Classes: Market research, research, target market analysis, marketing communication.

Added Benefits: This is a fairly simple tool to use, but the advanced features require some mastery. Being profiecient with SurveyMonkey is a skill that can be added to a resume or LinkedIn profile.

Under Development.

The following are other platforms and tools that can be used for exercises ranging from a simple introduction to a semester-long project. I have used each of these at one time and am working on creating a template that I can use with future classes.

Blogger

Snapshot: A Google product for bloggers. Very simple to use and can be integrated with other Google tools.

Proposable

Snapshot: An online tool for writing, sending and evaulating proposal. Very creative.

Basecamp;

Snapshot: 37Signals product. Terrific for teaching collaboration and product/program development. Used in many industries. There is a charge but they have a special program for schools.

Twitter

Snapshot: A micro-blogging site, very popular and increasingly being used in business. Many college instructors are using Twitter successful in classes

Mindmeister

Snapshot: Online mind mapping and collaboration tool.

I intentionally left YouTube and Facebook off the list because they are becoming more commonly used in classrooms. However both offer terrific opportunties.

That's all folks!

I am very interested in your comments, ideas and similar exercises. Please comment! Thanks

You can reach me at:

John at JohnRumery.com,

Twitter @JohnRumery

LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrumery

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Vision for a Smokier Grand Rapids

2011-02-11T07:21:00.001-08:00

One of my "jobs" is being the Innovation and Jobs Editor for Rapid Growth Media.

I recently had an opportunity to write a feature story about grilling and barbecue. (It was a masterpiece)

Besides my obsession with barbecue, I've been inspired by all the cool-BBQ things coming out of Motown. I recently read an article in the Free Press about the 2010 Restaurant of the Year: Union Woodshop.

Maybe not your quintessential barbecue joint, but certainly smoky at it's cure.

Prediction: Within the next three years, there will be a barbecue renaissance in Grand Rapids.

ps. the pic is my lonely Weber kettle tucked away in snowbank.

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test

2011-02-07T11:06:00.001-08:00

test

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initial feedback

2011-01-17T04:45:00.001-08:00

Great weekend. Enough said.

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Random Acts of Marketing. Compromising Sincerity

2010-12-19T04:26:00.001-08:00

According to Trendwatching, random acts of kindness will be a marketing force in 2011. Companies "spontaneously" reaching out to customers with surprise gifts.

It sounds good on the surface, but it is the motive I question. I love business and marketing, but shouldn't "random acts of kindness" be more subtle? Doing something good without any expectation of "quid pro quo"?

On the other hand, it

Here is an excerpt from the Trendwatching:

Social networks also enable acts of kindness to spread far beyond its recipients, as they will gladly tell their friends and followers about the unexpected good news (see SOCIAL-LITES). Two fun examples to copy or improve on in 2011:

Flower delivery service Interflora has launched a social media campaign in the UK designed to brighten up the lives of Twitter users by sending them flowers. As part of the campaign, Interflora monitors Twitter looking for users that it believes might need cheering up. Once found, the users are contacted by tweet, and sent a bouquet of flowers as a surprise.

Dutch airline KLM’s ‘How Happiness Spreads’ Foursquare-based campaign employed a ‘Surprise Team’ to give passengers tailored, unexpected gifts at the airport. Throughout November 2010, as soon as someone checked-in at a KLM Foursquare location within its network of airports, the Surprise Team went online to find more background information about the person, decided upon a suitable gift and gave it them before they flew. For instance, one traveler tweeted he would miss a PSV Eindhoven football game while he was in New York. The Surprise Team, accordingly, gave him a Lonely Planet guide book of NYC with all the football bars highlighted in blue.

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The Detroit BBQ Scene

2010-12-09T17:40:00.001-08:00

http://www.metromodemedia.com/features/bbqdetroit0189.aspx

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Very interesting....

2010-11-05T17:55:00.001-07:00

THIS WEEK'S TIP
AUGUST 16, 2010

Start-Ups on a Shoestring

The tales of three entrepreneurs who launched companies—for less than $150

By COLLEEN DEBAISE, SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN and EMILY MALTBY

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C.J. Burton

You don't have to break the bank to start a business.

For many would-be entrepreneurs, money is the insurmountable hurdle. They hunger to strike out on their own, but don't have a big pile of cash to invest in a start-up that might not churn a profit for years to come. And they're reluctant to stake what cash they do have while the economy is still shaky.

Journal Report

Read the complete Small Business report .

WSJ.com Podcast

Hear Small Business Editor Colleen DeBaisediscuss some entrepreneurs who were able to start their venture for around $100 dollars and what you should keep in mind if you want to take on your own endeavor.

We decided to see if you could launch a venture for less than people think. A lot less. We set out to find bootstrapping business owners who started companies in recent years—without shelling out more than a couple of hundred dollars.

The ground rules: The entrepreneurs had to be either paying themselves a salary or reinvesting substantial profits in the business, as well as planning to continue down the entrepreneurial path for some time to come. We also nixed people who opened consulting firms in fields where they had already built careers. While that's certainly entrepreneurial, we wanted people who were truly starting from scratch.

What did we discover? With creativity, commitment and resilience, an entrepreneur can turn even a small investment into an impressive business.

The stories we found contain several common threads. Hard work is one. If you don't have a lot to spend, expect to put in a lot of time and energy. As Jeff Swedarsky of Alexandria, Va., put it, he started his food-tour business for "$100 and 100,000 hours."

But the bootstrapping entrepreneur can also get help from lots of technological tools. For instance, professional-looking websites and automated phone-answering systems can speed sales and make a start-up look more impressive to potential customers.

Technology, in fact, is a big reason it's possible to launch a business so cheaply. Thanks to the proliferation of the Internet and the accessibility of once-costly technology, start-up costs "have plummeted in the last 10 years," says Bo Fishback, vice president of entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a Kansas City, Mo., nonprofit devoted to entrepreneurship. "It's gotten so much easier to reach mass markets and test out ideas. This is something that's becoming accessible to anyone with an idea."

Of course, there are limits to what hard work and tech savvy can do. Babson College has estimated that on average it takes about $65,000 to start a business, a figure that can include everything from buying equipment and inventory to paying employees. Some industries come with even higher price tags, according to the Kauffman Foundation—$82,000 for construction, $98,000 for retail and $175,000 for manufacturing, to name just a few.

And even if you get your business off the ground for pennies, there's no guarantee that you'll keep rising. About half of all start-ups close within five years, and most research indicates that's usually due to lack of capital.

Those are the risks. For a look at how three entrepreneurs are navigating them—and finding rewards along the way—read on.

Kael Robinson
Live Worldly LLC
Started with: $40

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Matt Slaby/Luceo for The Wall Street Journal

Starting a Company off the Cuff: Kael Robinson parlayed a $40 investment in bracelets into a business with customers around the world.

In 2007, Kael Robinson received an unusual gift—a flimsy cotton bracelet with Portuguese lettering on it and instructions to make three wishes while tying it on. She didn't wish that the wristband would lead her to a successful business venture, but that's exactly what happened.

The good fortune didn't arrive immediately. Six months after she received the gift, Ms. Robinson got laid off from her public-relations job and was putting in a few hours a week as a lacrosse coach at a Denver high school. During this stretch, she took a family vacation in Argentina, where she made an interesting discovery: Her bracelet was a hot item there.

"I saw everybody wearing them," the 27-year-old recalls.

Ms. Robinson, who had gotten a taste of entrepreneurship in college selling handmade jewelry, had a hunch about the accessories. After she returned home she bought 100 of the bracelets for $40 from a wholesaler in South America. Wearing five of them herself, she offered them to her student athletes for $2.50 apiece and quickly sold out, prompting her to invest in another 100 units. "I thought about what would be my target market and how high school is where trends start," she says. "The girls immediately hopped onto it."

Ms. Robinson soon had more orders than she could fill—at a new retail price of $5 per bracelet—giving her enough confidence to purchase another 1,000. She then began cold-calling local businesses and several agreed to resell her product on a consignment basis.

Gradually, retailers throughout the state and beyond began calling and emailing her to place orders. But she also took on some big expenses that cut into her profits. She donated 20,000 bracelets to charities, retailers and others to get the word out, for instance, and committed 20% of her sales to the nature nonprofit Plantabillion.org—a pledge she says helps drive business.

By the summer of 2008, Ms. Robinson had earned enough to pay for a professional website and logo for the company, now known as Live Worldly LLC. She also hired a publicist friend who helped her write and distribute press releases. CosmoGirl became the first of several magazines to publish a blurb on her company.

Ms. Robinson says the press attention inspired her to contact high-end boutiques: Barneys New York, Fred Segal and Kitson. She sent each of them a copy of the short article and 50 bracelets in a "really cool glass bowl so they could take it out of the box and display it," she says.

The stores sold out of the free samples within a week and began ordering more. The following winter, Ms. Robinson says, she started asking foreign buyers—individual consumers and retail shops—if they'd be interested in distributing her product in their respective countries, and many agreed. She also began expanding her catalog to include jewelry and apparel from around the globe, all with special meanings or cultural value, she says. For instance, she now offers necklaces, bracelets and earrings from Tibet that have been blessed by monks.

These days, her products are for sale in more than 500 stores world-wide. The company has a more sophisticated website and two full-time employees who handle order fulfillment, new-business development and bookkeeping. Last year, Live Worldly racked up $60,000 in profits on revenue of $160,000, compared with $10,000 in earnings on revenue of $50,000 the year before.

Ms. Robinson says she made some mistakes along the way that ate into her totals. For example, she says she wasn't asking enough for shipping; at first, she charged $8.99 to ship 20 or more bracelets to stores in the U.S., and now she charges $12.99. She was also paying printing costs of 35 cents per bracelet tag; about six months ago, she switched to a cheaper printer and now pays 20 cents per tag.

Ms. Robinson says she hasn't yet begun paying herself a salary and is continuing to put her earnings back into her enterprise. She says she lives frugally and relies on savings and income from coaching to make ends meet. She advises others looking to follow in her footsteps to create a list of objectives with deadlines when starting out. "That helped me a lot," she says. "It made me work hard to get those goals."

Jeff Swedarsky
Food Tour Corp.
Started with: $110

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Eli Meir Kaplan for The Wall Street Journal

A Hunger for Entrepreneurship: Jeff Swedarsky's food-tour company began with "$100 and 100,000 hours" of work outside his day job.

By day, Jeff Swedarsky is a self-described paper pusher at the Department of Homeland Security, where he works in ship acquisition for the U.S. Coast Guard. But by night and weekend—pretty much the rest of his waking hours—he's the director of Food Tour Corp., the company he created that offers culinary excursions of Washington, D.C., neighborhoods.

"I'm huge into food," says the 29-year-old Mr. Swedarsky, who runs Food Tour out of his Alexandria, Va., home. "I've traveled to 41 countries now—and every time I go someplace, it's all about food and doing it the local way. Food is one of those things that brings people together, no matter where you go."

Mr. Swedarsky got his first taste of entrepreneurship during a post-college stint in Slovenia, when he helped to develop a now-defunct smoothie company. After finishing his M.B.A. in 2006, he was ready to start a business, inspired by a newspaper article about culinary tourism, but he lacked the dollars he needed. The solution, he soon realized, would be to take a 9-to-5 job to pay his bills and build Food Tour organically.

In 2007, Mr. Swedarsky outlined the Food Tour concept in a brief written presentation, and used that to hook local restaurant owners' interest. The plan: He would bring in small groups for special tastings, during the slow period between lunch and dinner, and restaurants would make them smaller, customized dishes that weren't on their usual menu and that reflected local history, such as Virginia ham.

"Once [restaurants] understood that we were going to pay them and bring in folks, they were on board," he says.

Mr. Swedarsky then paid $100 in filing fees to register his business with the Commonwealth of Virginia and $10 to buy his online domain name through GoDaddy.com; he created a website himself. "I had free Web-design software and Photoshop that had been given to me years ago," Mr. Swedarsky says.

Mr. Swedarsky gave his first official tour in May 2008 with just two people along for the ride, "cute ladies who must have been in their 50s, from New York," he says. "They did a Google search and found us."

After that, "it started to pick up speed," he says. Food Tour garnered a mention in the Express, a free newspaper that's given to commuters jumping on the Metro. After about six months, Mr. Swedarsky hired his first part-time employees to lend a hand.

"I knew I was getting burnt out," Mr. Swedarsky says.

These days, Mr. Swedarsky employs 23 part-time staffers, primarily tour guides, and he rarely gives tours himself. Instead, he focuses on expanding the company, which now offers several tours, lunches and pub crawls in Washington and Baltimore, and is preparing to acquire a competitor in Annapolis, Md. Generally, tours are limited to about 12 to 14 people, and tickets cost about $50 to $60.

Mr. Swedarsky hopes the company will clear $300,000 in sales this year, though he's not yet paying himself a salary or quitting government work anytime soon. "Keeping the day job has ensured I don't have a life," he says, but the steady paycheck allows him to reinvest profits into the company.

He advises other wannabe entrepreneurs to pursue their ideas but "make sure it's something you absolutely love." Count on needing to finish projects at "11:45 on a Sunday night—you are going to have to push yourself," he says. "If you can do that, the money will eventually come."

Marc Ringel
Floor Works New York
Started with: $145

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Lauren Fleishman for The Wall Street Journal

Laying the Groundwork: Marc Ringel spent just $145 to launch a flooring business—by partnering with an established contractor.

Marc Ringel says that he was "really scared" when he first started his flooring company in July 2007. "The thing that freaked me out was that I had no margin of error," he says. "I had no money."

Before he struck out on his own, Mr. Ringel, who is now 32, had never been able to build up savings. For several years, he was a math teacher in New York City, a job he landed after struggling to find openings suited to his computer-science degree. He enjoyed helping the students and "doing something good," but he was barely making ends meet.

So, he jumped at the opportunity to work for a colleague who ran a flooring company on the side. The job, which entailed finding new clients and marketing for the company, wasn't terribly lucrative. Mr. Ringel made only $2,000 in commissions his first year.

Still, he was so discouraged at his teaching job that he moved to the flooring company full-time in 2005—and took the chance to learn everything he could about the business. He observed how a small enterprise operated and watched the contractors to better understand the trade, even helping them occasionally.

At the time, sales were booming, and Mr. Ringel thought the company had the potential to soar even higher, if it implemented systems and processes that would better organize and dispatch the contractors. But the owner didn't have the same vision.

"I could see fundamental differences in our philosophies," Mr. Ringel recalls. "And I wasn't moving forward."

Against the advice of friends and family, he decided to start his own flooring business in the summer of 2007. It was a risky time; many contractors were feeling the impact of the housing-market bust. Mr. Ringel had to act fast to get his own firm up and running while it was still a busy season for repairs and renovations.

The problem: He didn't have the licenses or insurance that contracting companies require—nor could he afford them—and he had only a cursory knowledge of how to lay a floor. He did, however, have a solid network of contractors and he knew how to attract new clients. So, Mr. RIngel says, he approached a licensed and insured freelance contractor and asked to solicit work for him, in exchange for a cut of the profits. The contractor agreed.

Mr. Ringel set up a phone line, with a voicemail system that left callers thinking that they had dialed a fully staffed company, he says. It cost about $20 a month. He also bought new business cards for $25. Finally, he spent $100 for the hosting and domain name of a new website, which he designed himself.

Within days, Mr. Ringel had signed three jobs for the independent contractor, most of them referred from Mr. Ringel's clients at the other flooring company. And he was careful with the cash that came in.

"I constantly reinvested" earnings, Mr. Ringel says. "I would take money out of the company only if I really needed it."

By August 2007, the Astoria, N.Y., start-up had $7,000 in reserves. Mr. Ringel spent the money on formally incorporating the business, as City Works New York Inc., which does business as Floor Works New York, and filing for his own proper licenses and insurance. He also partnered with a number of other flooring contractors.

With all that in place, he was able to land a large job with an 8,000-square-foot art gallery in September 2007.

"The pitfall was that a big influx of money can make you think, 'Oh, I'm rich now,' but that's when you need to be careful," Mr. Ringel says. "Winter got very slow."

To push him through the season, Mr. Ringel decided to try for free advertising, encouraging the public to rate Floor Works, on sites like StreetEasy.com, UrbanDigs.com and AngiesList.com. The good reviews attracted new clients, and Mr. Ringel made a point to be present at the jobs, to increase his understanding of the business, he says.

By the middle of last year, Mr. Ringel had started paying himself a regular salary. And when winter rolled around, he was ready for the slump, adding painting to his services to supplement the flooring work. He declines to disclose his revenue.

Mr. Ringel's career jump wasn't easy, but for others who strive to do the same, he suggests having the safety net of a secure job, the way he did when he was making the transition.

"Making a mistake—or a string of mistakes—doesn't mean you're a failure; it's part of the learning process," he says. "There's no magic formula for building a business, you just need a willingness to do lots of hard work and a high tolerance for agita."

Ms. DeBaise is The Wall Street Journal's small- business editor, and Ms. Needleman and Ms. Maltby are staff reporters in the Journal's New York bureau. They can be reached atcolleen.debaise@wsj.com, sarah.needleman@wsj.com and emily.maltby@wsj.com

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Extreme Butchers..

2010-11-02T18:17:00.001-07:00

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/battle-of-the-butchers/

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Hi Gerry

2010-10-22T07:23:00.001-07:00

This is a test

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Detroiter hits road in mobile restaurant | detnews.com | The Detroit News

2010-10-17T21:15:00.001-07:00

Last Updated: October 17. 2010 4:47PM

Donna Terek: Donna's Detroit

Detroiter hits road in mobile restaurant

The Pink FlaminGO! is Detroit's hit-and-run restaurant on wheels. It serves fresh, organic food, cooked right wherever the Airstream Land Yacht is parked. And it's a toss-up which draws more attention, the flavorful fare or the gleaming silver bullet of a trailer.
"So far the response has been amazing," says Kristyn Koth, 45, of Detroit, who cooked up the idea for the meandering meal wagon. "People walk up and say, 'Oh my God, what year is this?' Or, 'I want it; can I buy it off of you?'"
Koth has worked with metal all her adult life, as a student at College for Creative Studies and in her work, welding side by side with partner Taru Lahti in their Detroit fabrication and design business, Parallel Studio, and with their mentor Billy Cusmano of Starlite Restaurant Equipment, making commercial kitchen equipment.
So it's no surprise she would be attracted to the sleek steel of a 1956 Airstream or that, about a year and a half ago, when an artist friend decided to sell his, she felt compelled to snap it up and begin work on her dream of creating a mobile restaurant.

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Then she and a group of nine other North Corktown neighbors got involved in the restoration of the abandoned, century-old Spaulding Court row houses. The Friends of Spaulding Court offered the project's courtyard as a temporary campground to some of the more adventurous visitors to the U.S. Social Forum that met in Detroit in June, installing toilets and a shower for the campers. But where would all these folks eat?
Koth speeded up the process of outfitting the Airstream and brought The Pink FlaminGO! to the rescue, feeding 100-plus campers each day for a week.
After the Social Forum, Koth continued to park the Airstream at Spaulding Court at least two days a week to feed restoration workers and call attention to the project.
Then she began haunting the Recyle Here! recycling center on Holden near West Grand Boulevard on public drop-off days and got a great response. Soon a body shop on Michigan Avenue near Trumbull asked her to park nearby one day a week for its employees. In between she drove her mobile kitchen to other spots she felt a connection to, like Green Garage in Midtown.
It occurred to her that many bars might want to serve food to keep patrons sober enough to drive home safely, so she started midnight forays on the saloon circuit.
It was all a little confusing for customers hoping to become regulars, Koth says. "This guy would call my cell phone and go, 'Where are you today? I just have to have some of your tacos.'" She launched a Facebook page and sent out Twitter feeds announcing where The Pink FlaminGO! would be parked each day.
This ran under the radar until someone a city health department official paid Koth a visit and informed her the city of Detroit doesn't have a licensing ordinance that covers a business that prepares food on-site. Under current law, mobile food vendors must prepare their food at a stationary, licensed commissary kitchen. Then they can transport the precooked food, keeping it warm in steam trays.
"So you could have something prepared at 7 a.m. and not eat it until four in the afternoon," Koth says.
Koth's concept is different. She prefers to bring fresh food, uncooked and refrigerated, to her customers and cook it to order on the spot. So she and close friend David Malik Muqaribu founded F.L.O.C.K., Friends for Lucrative Opportunities in City Kitchens. They hope other area chefs who want to prepare food on-site will join them in lobbying the Detroit City Council to create a license that covers such operations.
Koth is committed to serving fresh, organic food and gets her produce from North Corktown gardens. Her salad greens are grown and harvested a block from Spaulding Court at Brother Nature. Her vegetables come from the Hope Takes Root and Spirit Farm.
"I'm trying to serve food that is healthy, fast and inexpensive," Koth says. "Nothing is processed." Her menu changes according to what's in season. One day it's zucchini flower quesadillas, another it might be black bean burgers, tilapia tacos or Thai curry.
"People tell me all the time that they can tell immediately it comes right from a garden rather than from a processed environment," Koth says.
At a recent Home Slice benefit at Eastern Market for the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, April Woodard of Hamtramck was savoring Koth's Brazilian dishes. "I like that it's very flavorful and it's organic," she said. "It gives the community healthy, delicious, organic food."
"Our food runs around $3 for pretty much every entr" Koth says, though some specialty items might go for $5 or $7.
"We're not really out there trying to get rich," Koth says. "It's really all about just being able to get people good food. It's a love — a passion and a love."
The love shows when friends chip in to help in the kitchen on wheels. "If we have a night where we're cutting our costs so close, we're just covering our food costs, they don't even ask for any money," says Koth. "It's really about everyone enjoying themselves around the whole thing."
One person who seems always to be at her side is Muqaribu, 33, another Corktowner who works out the logistics of getting the Airstream where it needs to go and handles public relations.
The day they were working the MOCAD benefit, Koth's truck broke down. Muqaribu recruited the owner of a pickup off the street to tow the trailer to Eastern Market. They arrived an hour late, but through it all Koth displayed her usual calm. "I don't know how we're getting there," she said into her cell phone, "but I know we will. Malik tells me he's got it handled." And he did.
Mobile food services like Koth's have been sanctioned in other cities such as Chicago and Portland, Ore. "I'd like to bring it to Detroit," Koth says, "and change the way food is brought to people — in a unique setting."
The concept is a little ahead of its time for Detroit, just as the Airstream was once on the cutting edge of industrial design — and that's what she likes about both.

via detnews.com

OK...what is it with the food truck craze????

Posted via email from john rumery's in search of the secret sauce

Johnny Appleseed

2010-10-17T19:18:00.001-07:00

Not sure where I was at when Joe Strummer was making such great music. Asleep at the wheel if you ask me. Good news, is that catching up is a blast.

Posted via email from john rumery's in search of the secret sauce

John Rumery wants to stay in touch on LinkedIn

2010-08-30T18:13:00.001-07:00

John Rumery requested to add you as a connection on LinkedIn:

Arjun,

I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

- John Rumery

View invitation from John Rumery

DID YOU KNOW you can conduct a more credible and powerful reference check using LinkedIn?
Enter the company name and years of employment or the prospective employee to find their colleagues that are also in your network. This provides you with a more balanced set of feedback to evaluate that new hire.

Posted via email from johnrumery's in search of the secret sauce

The Three Types Of Entrepreneur: Which Are You?

2010-08-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

The Three Types Of Entrepreneur: Which Are You?

Mike “Zappy” Zapolin on where social media is evolving next

2010-05-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

Niche . another word for target market.

Mike “Zappy” Zapolin on where social media is evolving next

25 Essential Google Chrome Tips for Digital Learners

2010-04-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

25 Essential Google Chrome Tips for Digital Learners

Google Reader

2010-04-13T10:59:00.001-07:00

https://www.google.com/reader/view/?tab=my#overview-page

6 Ways Brands are Using Social Media For Real-World Action

2010-04-12T03:38:00.001-07:00

6 Ways Brands are Using Social Media For Real-World Action

Posted using ShareThis

How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media for Real Results

2010-03-29T05:10:00.001-07:00

How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media for Real Results

Posted using ShareThis

Austin Equation

2010-03-26T05:07:00.001-07:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Austin Equation

View more presentations from Bijoy Goswami.

NBA working on high-tech innovations like those in Avatar - Ian Thomsen - SI.com

2010-03-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

Very interesting article on technology meeting professional sports. Can you imagine what else is coming down the road for all sports? Fantasy sports freaks will be ruling the world! Very cool

NBA working on high-tech innovations like those in Avatar - Ian Thomsen - SI.com

Gary Vaynerchuk: Do what you love (no excuses!) | Video on TED.com

2010-03-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

Check this out. Read the comments. His style doesn't always go over to well with Tedsters.

Gary Vaynerchuk: Do what you love (no excuses!) | Video on TED.com

Staying Immune to the Hype Virus at SXSW

2010-03-12T11:57:00.000-08:00

I am not an early adopter, but often have a hard time discerning what hype belongs in the sh_t heap. Pretty basic rules to follow. Amazing what common sense can do to decision making.

Staying Immune to the Hype Virus at SXSW

Smoke on the Water Productions - Michigan State Barbecue Championship

2010-03-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

Team Grilladelic has this date blocked out.

Smoke on the Water Productions - Michigan State Barbecue Championship

Vonn's crash derails unlucky teammate Mancuso - Tim Layden - SI.com

2010-02-25T04:26:00.000-08:00

The human drama of athletic competition....

I miss Wide World of Sports.

Vonn's crash derails unlucky teammate Mancuso - Tim Layden - SI.com

From TechCrunch

2010-02-16T09:51:00.000-08:00

The Importance of Fear, Risk and Hacking

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 09:40 PM PST

Last week I met Gever Tulley, author of the provocatively-titled “Fifty Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do.” The book grew out of a 2007 TED talk about why embracing and exploring danger ultimately lessens it. (See! Good things do come out of TED. Let the TED-TechCrunch healing begin!) The book doesn’t advocate playing in traffic, but it does extol the virtues of things like super-gluing your fingers together, boiling water on the stove in a paper cup, and putting metal in the microwave.

He talked about the decrease in “tinkering” in America and linked it to Americans seeking an appearance of affluence, i.e. only poor people would try to fix their own sink, anyone else would call a plumber. Tulley is a big believer that this is bad for kids and by extension the country. I’ll take it a step further—I think it’s bad for American entrepreneurship.

There’s something about that tinkering, playing, hacking ethos that is core to what makes Silicon Valley, and entrepreneurship in general, exist. Nearly every tech visionary landed in trouble at some point for hacking, cracking video game codes, or phreaking– everyone from Steve Wozniak to Max Levchin. It’s the same mischievous curiosity that gets so many people excited about each year’s Maker’s Faire and the same desire that causes someone to jail-break a several-hundred-dollar device to see what’s inside or even toss one in a blender. It’s a core curiosity that adults have or they don’t, but almost all kids naturally have it. It can have risks, sure. But it also encourages creative problem solving, how to work within constraints and what rules can be broken and which shouldn’t.

I met Tulley because he was a guest on NBC’s Press:Here yesterday. He found it a nice change from The BBC, where interviewers excoriated him for encouraging kids to do something that could hurt them. And, well, that’s not surprising when you consider the British stereotype of restraint and aversion to risk and failure. Similarly, last November, when I was in India several Indians told me a big advantage the United States has enjoyed in business is that parents let their children fall down when they were young, encouraging an acceptance of set-backs and failure. In India there are protective bubbles of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who keep any harm from coming to kids.

Clearly, the important thing here is the line. There’s a difference between doing something unethical or harmful to another person and (literally) playing with fire because you wonder how quickly something might burn. But in an America that’s increasingly fear-based and protectionist a little danger, risk and failure might be just the thing the younger generation needs.

Tulley himself seems to practice what he preaches. He showed up to the set on crutches. How’d he hurt himself? Not skydiving or running with the bulls—he was just walking down the street.

Big Think Interview With Saras Sarasvathy | Saras Sarasvathy | Big Think

2010-02-14T11:20:00.000-08:00

Big Think Interview With Saras Sarasvathy | Saras Sarasvathy | Big Think

Blind Pig

2010-02-12T17:56:00.000-08:00

In my top ten "quotes"of all time is the Russian proverb:

Even a blind pig finds an acorn once and a while.

For the last five years I've enjoyed discussing (and hopefully inspiring) entrepreneurship with hundreds of young students at Grand Valley State University. Not everyone is ready (or interested) in doing what it takes, but occasionally..it really clicks. The following is note I received from an ex-student tonight.

If you get a chance, make sure you check out his open house!

I’m not sure if you remember me or not but in the winter of 2007 I was in one of your entrepreneurial quest classes. I wanted you to know that class played a major role in shaping my life over the last three years. My final idea was for an auto detailing business and I have essentially followed the same fundamentals that I set in your class and turned my idea into reality. With all that said I wanted to invite you to the open house celebration for our new facility. We are moving for our 3rd time in 3 years into a 35,000 Sq Ft factory that we have renovated into a state of the art detail shop. We are having the open house next Thursday, February 18th from 2:00PM – 8:00PM with the Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting kicking it off at 2PM.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=317981173199&ref=mf

I can’t wait to show you my final presentation board which I will have on display and how similar it is to what Crystal Clean has become. If you want to stop by anytime I would love to show you what we are all about. I really believe that your class laid the foundation for what has become the largest detail business in Grand Rapids and I think you should be a part of it. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Ross Timyan
www.CrystalCleanAutoDetailing.com

Why Google Buzz is brilliant and deadly to social media 1.0 : Christopher S. Penn's Awaken Your Superhero

2010-02-12T04:09:00.000-08:00

I think this guy works for Google. I also think he might be right.

Why Google Buzz is brilliant and deadly to social media 1.0 : Christopher S. Penn's Awaken Your Superhero

Can Sports Save a City? | Tal Pinchevsky | Big Think

2010-02-10T04:37:00.000-08:00

What do you think?

Can Sports Save a City? | Tal Pinchevsky | Big Think

2010-02-08T04:30:00.000-08:00

This is a great step-by-step guide for small businesses.

http://mashable.com/2010/02/04/social-media-helps-small-business/

Lessons From a Blue-Collar Millionaire

2010-02-07T12:27:00.000-08:00

Interesting management lessons. Always wondered if it was possible to create a unique workplace culture in the food industry.

Lessons From a Blue-Collar Millionaire

All things Agriculture

2010-02-05T16:59:00.000-08:00

A good example of building trust. All brands/movements/ideas need a foundation of trust.
What the heck is happening with our food?

All things Agriculture

The Fine Line Between Madness and Genius

2010-02-05T16:23:00.000-08:00

Cupid comes to GR for Free Hugs. from Spearia on Vimeo.

Madness? Genius? Street Smarts" You decide.

(but everyone can use a hug...)

Social Media and Management

2010-02-03T06:02:00.000-08:00

I found this through @HarvardBiz Twitter account. A great source to follow (you just need your Twitter account started)

The Über-Connected Organization: A Mandate for 2010

8:54 AM Wednesday November 11, 2009
by Jeanne C Meister and Karie Willyerd | Comments (19)

Think about your organization and ask yourself these two questions:

Are external social media sites restricted or blocked while at work?
Is the use of social media in the workplace inhibited or frowned upon?

If you answered yes, then your organization is one of the majority of firms with over 100 employees that have yet to embrace the use of social media in the workplace for the average worker. In a study conducted by Robert Half Technology entitled "Whistle But Don't Tweet At Work," many organizations are struggling with how to integrate social media into the workplace.

However, there are a growing number of firms such as IBM, Toshiba, and Cerner Corporation that are becoming über-connected workplaces. Using social media tools such as wikis, blogs, microblogs and corporate social networks, they are connecting employees globally and are fostering mass collaboration. As a result, these companies are seeing improvements in communication, cross-functional collaboration and creative approaches to problem solving. More companies are discovering that an über-connected workplace is not just about implementing a new set of tools — it is also about embracing a cultural shift to create an open environment where employees are encouraged to share, innovate and collaborate virtually.

Recent research provides evidence that there are business benefits to becoming an über-connected organization:

Access to social media improves productivity. According to Dr Brent Coker from the Department of Management and Marketing at University of Melbourne in Australia, workers who engage in "Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing" are more productive than those who don't. "People who surf the Internet for fun at work — within a reasonable limit of less than 20% of their total time in the office — are more productive by about 9% than those who don't," he says. "Firms spend millions on software to block their employees from watching videos on YouTube, using social networking sites like Facebook or shopping online under the pretense that it costs millions in lost productivity, however that's not always the case."
Millennials will seek jobs that encourage the use of social media. Those born between 1977 and 1997 — the ones you need to hire to replace the retiring boomers — are networked 24/7 and expect the company to accommodate pervasive connectivity. An Accenture survey of Millennial preferences for various technologies at work found that they prefer to communicate via instant messaging, text messaging, Facebook and RSS feeds. What's more, they are prepared to bypass corporate IT departments if these tools are blocked. One Millennial MBA, typical of those we meet, says, "I need to access my Facebook in order to do my job." Has blocking Facebook today become the equivalent of denying an employee access to a phone at work 40 years ago or email 20 years ago?
Companies that provide access to social media create a more engaged workforce. Take the case of Cerner Corporation, the health IT firm. In 2009, Cerner implemented uCern, a corporate social network. In 2010, it will extend this social network to its customers and suppliers. Why? Because uCern has demonstrated significant business benefits to Cerner such as allowing employees to have increased access to experts across the globe, reducing the cycle time from discovery of new products to launch of new products, and increasing employee engagement and satisfaction in the workplace.

As we scan the workplace of the future, we see that everything we know about work — where we work, how we work, what skills we need to stay employable, what technologies we use to connect with colleagues — is changing. And these changes will only continue to accelerate as we move toward 2020, as the Millennial Generation will comprise nearly half of the workforce by 2014.

Companies who want to attract and recruit the best talent will realize becoming über-connected will be a business imperative. The journey starts with asking yourself three questions:

What business benefits are you trying to solve? Will an increased ability to collaborate across the organization yield faster time to market, increased innovation, improved productivity, and increased collective intelligence as people are able to find knowledge and experts quickly? Will engaged employees reduce your turnover rate and subsequent expenses related to hiring new talent?
Who needs to be involved in the coalition to become über-connected? This is not an HR, IT or Learning initiative. Rather becoming über-connected is really a new way of working. Consider forming a coalition of executives from Human Resources, Corporate Learning, IT, Legal and Corporate Communications. These are the ones who will plan, monitor and agree to a set of social media guidelines to ensure responsible use.
What type of change management plan needs to be put into place? Recognize that the biggest hurdle is your culture and internal processes — not the technology behind the adoption of social media. Focus on finding ambassadors and influencers, then make it easy for them to share and participate in a social media pilot. Recognize that in the web community, status is built upon making meaningful contributions; so be sure to include recognition and incentives for participation early on.

Can your organization really hold on to policies that do not support the 24/7 hyper- connected lives employees are living outside of the workplace? Increasingly they are bringing digital expectations with them to the workplace. We do not think companies that compete for global talent want to continue with outdated policies. Do you?

Jeanne C Meister is an internationally recognized workplace-learning consultant dedicated to delivering competitive advantage, innovation and improved business results for organizations. Jeanne is the host of the blog, www.newlearningplaybook.com. Karie Willyerd is the Chief Learning Officer of Sun Microsystems and has been the Chief Talent Officer or head of executive development for three other Fortune 500 firms. At Sun Microsystems, she has led the organization to win over 20 awards for innovation excellence in learning. Jeanne and Karie are the authors of the book The 2020 Workplace (forthcoming in Spring 2010).

Social Media and Management

2010-02-02T12:45:00.000-08:00

Interesting article on using social media for "reputation" management

5 Social Media Tips for Better Corporate Social Responsibility

from Mashable | The Social Media Guide » Business Feed by Ann Charles

Ann Charles is Founder and CEO of BRANDfog, an NYC-based company offering Social Media Branding and Corporate Social Responsibility Strategies for C-Suite Executives.

In December, I read a story about social scientists who believe that humans have evolved to become more compassionate and collaborative in our quest to survive. This was called “Survival of the Kindest.” The theory states that sympathy is our strongest human instinct, and helping others is critical to the survival of the whole species. These days, corporations are starting to have the same realization.

Thanks to a social media culture that reveres transparency and demands accountability, companies today are seen through the critical lens of the Triple Bottom Line: People, planet and profit. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) states that businesses should act as stewards of society, the environment, and the economy. The social media spotlight brings accolades and new business for companies that give back, while brands behaving badly are pilloried in online communities like TwitterTwitter and FacebookFacebook, followed by the mainstream press.

Creating a CSR strategy has become a primary challenge for CEOs. Fortunately, social media can be an invaluable resource for companies willing to commit to becoming better corporate citizens.

Here are 5 steps to develop a CSR culture using social media.

1. Commit & Lead

A CSR strategy begins with a long-term vision and commitment from the top of the executive food chain. The CEO’s vision should be shared through social media channels so supporters can engage with the brand, provide feedback, and become evangelists.

Jeff Swartz, CEO of Timberland is the embodiment of CSR leadership. As the CEO of his family’s business since 1998, Swartz has been a long time activist for social and environmental issues. Swartz leverages Twitter and other social channels to engage communities and rally support for social justice on many fronts.

2. Listen & Learn

It’s important to assess the needs of the communities where you do business to determine which social issues to address. Employees that live and work in the community know the areas of greatest need. Many companies provide assistance to neighborhood programs like school breakfasts, books for libraries, or food banks, and reap the community rewards. The work humanizes the brand while strengthening the community.

For more CSR ideas, search Twitter hashtags #CSR, #sustainability, and read Business Ethics, the Magazine of Corporate Responsibility. You can also follow CSR news on Twitter, leading CSR blogger David Connor and Social Giving pioneer John Wood from Room to Read.

3. Innovate

Some companies leverage social media to encourage spontaneous and innovative ways to help others. Last month, Meg Garlinghouse, Senior Director of Yahoo For Good wrapped up a successful campaign called Random Acts of Kindness.

Users and Yahoo employees were asked to update their status with stories about helping others, which were then shared across the Yahoo network. The CSR campaign received over 300,000 status updates and global participation from 11 countries. Other companies showed their support for CSR by giving employees the time to participate in volunteerism. Patrick Vogt, Chairman and CEO of digital marketing technology company Datran Media, provided 3 additional days to employees specifically for volunteerism this year, for example.

4. Communicate

Talk about what you are doing with CSR. CEOs can use social channels to tweet, blog and post updates about CSR initiatives. Make it a key topic at board meetings, employee meetings, press briefings, and trumpet it through all marketing channels. It’s critical to communicate CSR positions on your website to encourage brand enthusiasts to get involved. As Tim Sanders stated in Saving the World at Work, studies show that when you witness or hear about an act of compassion, you are more likely to emulate it.

The CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, Ben Verwaayen, communicates his vision for CSR on his website. “It is vital for all companies to act in a socially responsible manner and to be good corporate citizens. This involves more than ethical behavior; it means that all employees must become involved and demonstrate the company’s concern for society.”

5. Invest

As it turns out, doing good is good for business, and more companies are realizing the benefits of Socially Responsible Investments (SRIs).

According to the Social Investment Forum (SIF), a trade association advancing the practice of socially responsible investments, about two thirds of socially responsible mutual funds in the U.S. outperformed industry benchmarks during the 2009 economic downturn, most by significant margins.

Conclusion

Social scientists believe that we are wired to be kind. It would seem that they are right, especially in light of the recent outpouring of generosity to Haiti. In today’s world, admiration is bestowed upon companies that look beyond short-term financial goals to engage in long-term commitments for the betterment of society.

As John D. Rockefeller once said, “Think of giving not as a duty, but as a privilege.”

http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15350928

2010-02-02T07:15:00.000-08:00

Hey management folks...what do you think this does to the workplace?

Marketers...is it going to be a mess?

http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15350928

Leadership

2010-01-27T18:59:00.000-08:00

OK...it is easy being cynical, but I like this video.

Tim Tebow risking NFL draft stock with Senior Bowl appearance - Andy Staples - SI.com

2010-01-26T18:15:00.000-08:00

The Tim Tebow brand. Unlike anything we've seen before?

Tim Tebow risking NFL draft stock with Senior Bowl appearance - Andy Staples - SI.com

Five Reasons Why Mobile Marketing Is Prime for B2Bs—And Five Key Questions B2B Marketers Should Be Asking : MarketingProfs

2010-01-26T08:41:00.000-08:00

This is certainly a market that doesn't generate a lot of buzz for it's use of mobile marketing (or social media) but these are all great insights.

Five Reasons Why Mobile Marketing Is Prime for B2Bs—And Five Key Questions B2B Marketers Should Be Asking : MarketingProfs

Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

2010-01-23T04:41:00.000-08:00

Great BBQ starts with great meat. I've been on a mission to understand the issues with farming and meat production. Here is a start

Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

5 Social Media Lessons the NBA Can Teach Businesses

2010-01-21T18:34:00.001-08:00

Jalen has got a handler. He's the face, someone else is the voice.

This is OK info. Look great, but not too filling.

(I do like Jalen though...)

5 Social Media Lessons the NBA Can Teach Businesses

Posted using ShareThis

2010-01-21T18:22:00.000-08:00

We just keep piling on. Poor Mark McGwire.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/seeing-is-disbelieving/

Putting the Rapids Back in the Grand

2010-01-21T07:05:00.001-08:00

Putting the Rapids Back in the Grand

Posted using ShareThis

Tiger Woods in a clinic for sex addiction? Not a likely sentence, but real life has a way of playing tricks on you - Tours & News - Golf.com

2010-01-21T06:57:00.000-08:00

Can this guy's brand and career recover? Of course:

Signed,

Kobe Bryant
Charles Barkley
Bill Clinton
Marv Albert
James Lofton
Mark McGwire
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Michael Phelps
Mike Vick
100's others

Tiger Woods in a clinic for sex addiction? Not a likely sentence, but real life has a way of playing tricks on you - Tours & News - Golf.com

Twitter Marketing Seminar

2010-01-20T07:52:00.001-08:00

marketing, management, entrepreneurs....it doesn't matter. Figure a way to leverage this tool.

Twitter Marketing Seminar

View more presentations from Kyle Lacy.

John Mackey and Whole Foods: newyorker.com

2010-01-20T04:33:00.000-08:00

Great (but long) article. What happens when David becomes Goliath?

John Mackey and Whole Foods: newyorker.com

10 Twitter Tools for Your Classroom

2010-01-18T18:44:00.000-08:00

10 Twitter Tools for Your Classroom

MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog

2010-01-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

What do you think?

For Sale: Business Culture

from MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog by Ted Mininni

1 person liked this

A recent Business Week article, “Zappos Retails its Culture” offered a tantalizing proposition. After all, if an entrepreneur creates a successful business, why not sell the concept to other entrepreneurs interested in starting up new ventures?

So thought Tony Hsieh, Zappos Chief Executive. So, beginning last summer, Zappos began offering two day seminars at $4,000 a pop to share the successful Internet retailer’s recipe for recreating “the essence of its corporate culture”. Now, there are plans to offer these seminars once per quarter in 2010.

There’s no doubt that Zappos is a successful online shoe retailer. In fact, in spite of the challenging retail climate of the past year, Zappos enjoyed a double digit sales increase. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos was suitably impressed and purchased Zappos this past November for shares worth $1.2 billion.

It’s obvious the company represents a strong, viable retail brand, when a great many heritage retail brands are in trouble. So why not share the formula for success by offering seminars?

Hsieh’s seminars center on his culture where the topics of hiring, employee compensation, customer interaction and creating a positive work environment are top of mind. Hsieh himself, as well as a couple dozen members of his staff conduct these seminars.

Some of Zappos employee policies, as outlined in the article:

Call center operators’ initial salary is $11.00 per hour.
There are no employee bonuses.
There are no 401K matching contributions. Hsieh believes productive employees derive the most satisfaction from helping their customers.
Customer service employees enjoy plenty of freedom—and latitude in doing their jobs. They can spend hours servicing one customer—even directing them to competitors’ web sites. Whatever it takes to satisfy the customer’s needs is job #1. Having fun while doing it is part of the job.
Over 95% of Zappos transactions occur online, so phone calls to customer service reps are viewed as opportunities to connect with consumers and “wow them” according to Hsieh.
Top priority: to establish emotional connections with the customer.

In reading all of this, a number of questions came to my mind, and I’m sure, to yours, too.

Do you think the Zappos culture can be easily replicated in other companies? Do you think it should be?
Does it make a difference if an entrepreneur who is starting up a new company tries to replicate the Zappos model, versus an established company trying to change an existing culture?
Do you believe each company has its own, unique culture based on its mix of executives and employees? Why or why not?
Lastly, do you think Zappos’ employee policies would work for most companies? Why or why not?

I’d love to hear from you.

What Local Small Businesses Need to Know About Foursquare

2010-01-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

What Local Small Businesses Need to Know About Foursquare

Just another natural extension of social media. There is an opportunity to help "laggards" get on track...

Zappos and Corporate Culture

2010-01-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

A fascinating post for anyone who finds management interesting. How would you run a company? How would you hire people. Micro-managers beware, the end is near!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/business/10corner.html

Notes on This Week’s Column: Tiger Woods’s Travails

2010-01-14T06:11:00.000-08:00

Notes on This Week’s Column: Tiger Woods’s Travails

I think this is a great analysis of the Tiger Wood's brand. I admire him as a great golfer, the greatest ever probably, but as a spokesperson...maybe for casinos, strip clubs, beer and viagra.

Uncle John on Sports, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Ideas, Music and Barbecue

U2 in Lansign

5 Super Simple, Introductory Classroom Exercises

Vision for a Smokier Grand Rapids

test

initial feedback

Random Acts of Marketing. Compromising Sincerity

The Detroit BBQ Scene

Very interesting....

Start-Ups on a Shoestring

The tales of three entrepreneurs who launched companies—for less than $150

By COLLEEN DEBAISE, SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN and EMILY MALTBY

Journal Report

WSJ.com Podcast

Extreme Butchers..

Hi Gerry

Detroiter hits road in mobile restaurant | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Donna Terek: Donna's Detroit

Detroiter hits road in mobile restaurant

Johnny Appleseed

John Rumery wants to stay in touch on LinkedIn

LinkedIn

The Three Types Of Entrepreneur: Which Are You?

Mike “Zappy” Zapolin on where social media is evolving next

25 Essential Google Chrome Tips for Digital Learners

Google Reader

6 Ways Brands are Using Social Media For Real-World Action

How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media for Real Results

Austin Equation

NBA working on high-tech innovations like those in Avatar - Ian Thomsen - SI.com

Gary Vaynerchuk: Do what you love (no excuses!) | Video on TED.com

Staying Immune to the Hype Virus at SXSW

Smoke on the Water Productions - Michigan State Barbecue Championship

Vonn's crash derails unlucky teammate Mancuso - Tim Layden - SI.com

From TechCrunch

Big Think Interview With Saras Sarasvathy | Saras Sarasvathy | Big Think

Blind Pig

Even a blind pig finds an acorn once and a while.

Why Google Buzz is brilliant and deadly to social media 1.0 : Christopher S. Penn's Awaken Your Superhero

Can Sports Save a City? | Tal Pinchevsky | Big Think

Lessons From a Blue-Collar Millionaire

All things Agriculture

The Fine Line Between Madness and Genius

Social Media and Management

I found this through @HarvardBiz Twitter account. A great source to follow (you just need your Twitter account started)

The Über-Connected Organization: A Mandate for 2010

Social Media and Management

Interesting article on using social media for "reputation" management

5 Social Media Tips for Better Corporate Social Responsibility

1. Commit & Lead

2. Listen & Learn

3. Innovate

4. Communicate

5. Invest

Conclusion

http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15350928

Sponsored Tweets = Spam with feathers

Leadership

Tim Tebow risking NFL draft stock with Senior Bowl appearance - Andy Staples - SI.com

Five Reasons Why Mobile Marketing Is Prime for B2Bs—And Five Key Questions B2B Marketers Should Be Asking : MarketingProfs

Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

5 Social Media Lessons the NBA Can Teach Businesses

Putting the Rapids Back in the Grand

Tiger Woods in a clinic for sex addiction? Not a likely sentence, but real life has a way of playing tricks on you - Tours & News - Golf.com

Twitter Marketing Seminar

John Mackey and Whole Foods: newyorker.com

10 Twitter Tools for Your Classroom

MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog

What do you think?

For Sale: Business Culture

What Local Small Businesses Need to Know About Foursquare

Zappos and Corporate Culture

Notes on This Week’s Column: Tiger Woods’s Travails