Disappearing adverbs

This weekend, my Aunt Gail, brought to my attention the plight of the disappearing adverb. I hadn't noticed and I could possibly be the worst offender. Here are a couple of my most often mis-used phrases:

• Fly safe
• Drive slow

The disappearing adverb reminded me of an article I just read about how the capital letter at the beginning of sentences might be a thing of the past. I have searched again for this article and can't find it, but it makes sense to me. As I type this post, my fingers have to work extra hard just to get the capital letters at the beginning of sentences. why not just keep typing? why reach for that "shift" key? I think in general it will be at least two generations before we completely lose the capital letter, but don't say I didn't warn you...

So, the question on the table is: who's job is it to change grammar and writing? It's the job of the people. If we hadn't taken it into our own hands centuries ago, we would still be speaking old English and the language of Shakespeare. Would not thoughst be difficult to comprehend?

The Supreme Court disappoints

The Supreme Court has let Exxon Mobil off the hook with their recent ruling. According to the Boston.com article, "The Supreme Court on Wednesday cut the $2.5 billion punitive damages award in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster to $500 million." The court divided 5-3. I don't know why at this time in Exxon's history- recording record profits, why they would be dismissed for their part in a disaster that dumped 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound and led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of seabirds and marine animals. Having just been to Alaska for the first time, I am deeply saddened to learn that our highest court doesn't believe in holding people responsible for their environmental impact. I can see why we are where we are...

Is inefficency contageous

I am on a plane at least once a month. And it stresses me out. I will be the first to admit, I am not the person who gets to the airport 2 hours ahead of time. I am the one who rolls in about 45-60 minutes before my flight takes off. I never check bags and I pride myself on being quick through security. I limit my exposure to most airline personnel as a general practice. I am sure these people are perfectly kind, but why bother. I don't need their help and they certainly don't need to deal with another customer.

But, why is it that other people don't do this? Why isn't everything more automated? If I did need to check luggage, why can't I just have a luggage drop-off line. I don't want to stand with all the people that have missed their last two flights and need to update their address and airline reward numbers... I just need to drop off my bags. I planned ahead, I got to a computer, checked-in, printed the boarding pass, and just need you to put a little sticker on this bag. Heck, I will put the sticker on myself, I just need you to give me the printer. I do it at the grocery store in the produce section...

Is it a control issue? Are their regulations around me putting a sticker on my bag and dropping it on the conveyer belt? If so, I have a few suggestions for that.

I will also mention at this point there are different airlines and different airports that run more efficiently than others. I love the Delta terminal at Logan. I get to chose how I want to go through security- with the families and crying children, as a casual traveler, or as an uptight huffy puffy business traveler. It's great to seperate people, b/c families don't want to be stuck in front of a late business exec as much as the business exec doesn't want to listen to crying children longer than she has to.

I might suggest at this point that any corporation that is so closely linked with the government is doomed. Airlines, Energy, Waste Management, etc. If a corporation has to work with government agencies too closely they will never be able to realize or institue efficient business practices, because that would just be too easy...

What people will give up for important information

I was reading an LA Times article about how teens are willing to give out their cell phone numbers to mobile advertisers in exchange for relevant content.

"It may all seem a little bothersome, but teens don't mind receiving messages
about products on their phones, says Nic Covey, director of insights at
research firm Nielsen Mobile. Nielsen said teens were nearly twice more
likely than adults to trust and respond to advertising and pitches on mobile
phones."

This goes back to the question of would you rather be served information or would you rather go find it when you are ready? Based on research in my own industry, people don't make decisions about their ERP system when a vendor tells them it's time to do that, unless the vendor happens to be their best friend. But, I think the fact that I am selling a very expensive B2B product versus a consumer good limits my marketing abilities...

People who are purchasing for work, want to hear about it at work, not on their mobile phones. People that purchase for personal use want to hear about it when it's convenient to them, and where it's convenient, which might be their phones.

I would be interested to see a study about how many of these teens ended up actually making purchases. I am not completely convinced of the ROI...

Walking versus Public Transit

Today I am lucky enough to live within a 35 minute walk of my office. But, because I live in Boston, and I would prefer not to be sick 6 months out of the year, I typically take the bus at least when it's below 50 degrees or rainy. I have a love/hate relationship with the bus. I love that it continues to expose me to the GP (general public). I hear the latest tunes out of other people's iPod's, and I know all about my neighbor's son's hockey tournament this next weekend. I hate the bus because- like all forms of transportation, other than our feet, it is polluting the environment. But, my justification for riding the bus is that it would be going with or without me. It doesn't matter if I am on it or not. At least I am not driving into the office. I might as well enjoy the comforts of the bus, relish in the goings on of my neighbors, etc... But, on day's like today- when it's above 50 degrees and sunny to boot, you will see me on foot, sparing the air and listening to the sounds of birds and passing cars...

Airline Woes...

Does anyone else wonder if maybe these recent "grounding" of flights due to "maintenance" issues might just be a way to curb the soaring operational costs in the airline industry today? For those of us that might just need to hop on a quick day trip for a meeting, we might just host those meetings via WebEx.

I wonder if these costs will lead companies to start outsourcing their sales calls to sales consultants. Example: let's say you live in Ohio, and you can easily get to: Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky and even upstate New York. If you are skilled in one industry or target market you might be employed by multiple companies because they can't afford to keep flying people everywhere...

It's not going to happen tomorrow, but it might just happen.

A recession, really? More like finally...

I understand something my old boss used to say more clearly now than ever, "perception is reality." Bernanke is finally admitting that a recession is looming. It makes sense that the Fed Chairman would hesitate to say something about a recession because of what it would do to the markets. But that's the general problem with the study of economics. We study what happened, not what's going to happen. Economists are some of the most conservative people I know, never wanting to tip the scales in any certain direction because they to understand the phrase "perception is reality." They know the value of letting the market balance itself out, so they keep their comments to a minimum- at least the good ones. But I have to laugh when the Fed Chairman finally says something about it- months after all the minions have been living it...

The last thing the economy needs is to be shoved off this cliff that we stand on with no sense of protection against the fall- I think... The government is working on protections, and it seems that regulations and some corporate/banking process changes have been made, so that we will gently fall to the ground with a "parachute" of sorts. But maybe what we need is to be shoved off the cliff, and fall and see what the disaster looks like at the bottom. Maybe we need to really understand what kind of situation our greed and need to "keep up with the Jones'" has done to our system and our people. We might not be able to understand if we don't just let the bottom fall out.

We Shall See...