Collateral Damages at Allstream

The past few weeks has seem some pretty significant folks leave the Allstream ranks in search of greener pastures.  It’s like spring cleaning for the career, perhaps. It’s  a little bit odd, considering the good feedback I’m hearing  externally about  how Allstream is  performing with customers. They’ve had  some great wins in the marketplace, and good announcements in the press. I had thought the ship was turning. Perhaps externally, the skies are blue, but internally the outlook remains stormy?  Whatever the case, at this rate of change, the re-greening of Allstream is progressing rapidly.


Technorati Tags: Allstream

Participatory Consumerism

Almost daily I'm encountering situations that are blog worthy - if only from a "consumer - give some feedback or warn others" kind of way.  Whether it's the jerk sales guy at a vw dealership who (shall remain nameless) completely insulted me when I told him I'd just gotten a Toyota Matrix instead of another Jetta, to the amazing service at a local restaurant.

There are quite a few "local" participatory consumerism websites, alas, very few of them are related to Canada.  Techcrunch has just highlighted streetadvisor, but that's still not Canadian specific.  Linked In has another add-on for references and feedback in your area, but still, that's not highly visible to the publc at large....

The last thing I want to do is invest time in an application that no one else is using to get/give consumer feedback.  Maybe that's the reason why no single application has really taken off?


Mark: is there anything Canadian on its way that resembles what I'm looking for?




Technorati Tags: participatory consumerism, Techcrunch, LinkedIn, streetadvisor, Mark Evans

Why Local Search is Going to be HOT

On Monday I had to get my Jetta to "any" local VW dealer as the lease was minutes away from expiring. I did my homework the night before, had emailed myself the closest dealership, and the map to get there, just in case. Lo and behold, the leasing manager wasn't available at that particular dealership, and I was sent away.
 "No problem", I thought. I popped open the browser in my Blackberry, and went to the VW Canada site to find out where there were other dealerships. Uhoh. Too many scripts on the VW website, it wouldn't load in my berry browser. Plan B: Google VW dealerships. BAD news, I got 97 results.Even Google Local didn't work very well in the berry browser. I was panicked. I had to resort to Plan C, and no one likes Plan C: Return to the original dealership and ask them for information on where the *other* dealerships were.  Oh, and could they give me the phone numbers as well? How 1996.

Michael O'Connor, over at Uninstalled is raving about a nifty new local search too. ZipLocal is hoping to quell that nauseous feeling you get when you need to find something within a proximity area.  It's brand new, so don't be surprised if there are still a few bugs to work out (it couldn't tell me about Toyota dealerships in Aurora, but I'm not giving up hope.)

As local searching becomes more relevant and focused, it's going to be THE must have app on a mobile browser. I swear.

PS The pain and anguish of trying to surf and search for something important in a mobile browsers is significant.  What happened to the good old days when web masters created shadow sites that could be viewed with ANY old crap browser?  On Monday, I couldn't get to vw.ca but nor could I use the Toyota Canada site either.  Sure, sites can be optimized for a specific browser platform, but by geeze, i should be able to see a bare bones rendition in the most basic browser, even if it's only text.  As local search grows, mobile browsing demand grows.  Web masters need to remember that mobile browser users are people too ;-) 



Technorati Tags: Local Search, ZipLocal, Uninstalled

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Violence and Blogging - Cyber Bullying of the 21st Century?

I’ve been following Kathy Sierra’s remarkable account of the harassment, threats and unbelievably bad behavior she’s had to dodge over the past few weeks, and in some of the comments left around the blogosphere, it sounds like she’s not the only one who has become a victim.

Cyberspace is abuzz. Matthew Ingram takes an interesting anonymous angle.  I don’t think that the freedom of anonymity allows people’s basest cruelty to emerge. There seems to be an ever growing trend of adult cyber bullies emerging from the darkness. Folks who enjoy sharing caustic commentary at the expense of others. Folks who are entirely too smart, folks who could be doing so very much more with their time and their brain cells.  Unfortunately, on the ‘net there are roaming gangs who feed off each other’s commentary, and are addicted to the adrenaline rush of creating drama out of nothing, usually at the expense of others….

Take a look at Ed Lee at Blogging Me Blogging You - he touches on the bully aspect as well, but encourages folks to not be afraid of the “Morlocks”… that wading into the proverbial blogging soup is worth the risk. The folks at IP Democracy are also talking about cyber bullying.

It sounds so grade 10, it’s disappointing that these people are all *growed up*.


Technorati Tags: cyber bullies, Kathy Sierra

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Proactive Blogging

Holy Cats, this is something that I think about all the time; usually when I find myself in situations where I should be doing something more productive (like when I'm sitting in traffic).  I find myself writing articles in my head, waiting for lights to change. Of course, the ideas and words and images are out the window by the time I get out of the car. I need a voice recorder to capture all the ideas you guys are missing out on ;-)

But it looks like the Blogger Lounge has got it all figured out! George has 300 articles all ready to go!!  I need some of what he's having. :-)

An Entire Year of High Quality Posts | Blogger Lounge

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Technorati Tags: Blogger Lounge, Proactive Blogging

Korean Grillhouse

Korean Grillhouse
Originally uploaded by julebule.

Nothing says love like taking your honey to an all you can eat bbq….


Technorati Tags: Korean Grillhouse

The Ill-timed Automated Sat Survey

It’s been a hard day today.
I mean, it started out ok, coffee, good weather - gorilla on driveway (see below posting).

It was 7:30 am - I was ready to go. Booted the trusty work DELL, triggered the VPN - trigger, trigger, trigger…. Nothing. I connected to Vancouver. Nothing. I connected to Calgary. Nothing.  But this point, I’m a little exhaused from my cross country jaunts, and a little tense about all the work I need to do today.

Helpdesk - I’ve got to call the helpdesk. The standard reboot won’t do today. This isn’t one of those days where I can futz around with the settings in hopes of coming across the fix myself. Helpdesk will know what to do.  I call, I press the appropriate buttons to get to the correct queue. I wait.  I take another conference call on my cell phone.  I wait more… 3 hours later, an exhausted helpdesker apologizes, acknowledges that there’s a widespread problem, but there’s no eta on the repair. I resort to the Blackberry and gmail to try and get things done.

And now…. the punchline: An automated message from the helpdesk just hit my berry inbox - asking me to fill out a sort satisfaction survey. Hmmmm…. My VPN is still down.  How satisified should i be? And how can I answer this email, without my VPN working? Shrug.

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Can You Tell if it Sucks?

Dave, over at Touch You Last, has found a new can't live without gadget....Sucks/Rocks

Can't decide of Nickelback sucks or rocks?  This innovation will help you make up your mind. But I won't spoil it - go see what Dave's saying.....

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Pledge: 10 Comments a Day

I'm still an insular blogger.  I'm terrible with comments. I'm also terrible with interrupting people at parties, and there are times when adding comments feels just like that.
But, everyone has to start somewhere.
I'm pledging 10 comments a day. I'm also going to link more. So there.

What are YOU doing?

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Birthday Gorilla

Birrtday Gorilla
Originally uploaded by julebule.

Somehow a gorilla showed up on the driveway this morning.

As far as I can tell, neither of them look 40. One looks warmer than the other. Both are stopping traffic on the street.

Google's New Personalized Homepage Themes Add Joy to My Life

I am a voracious user of Google's Personalized Homepage.
All my reading, all my fun bits, all my organization is centered around this handy application.  Say what you want about Google Reader, it's the Personal Homepage that floats my boat.

This morning, when the day looked bleak, a new, innocuous link on the Personal Page caught my eye. What.... NEW! Select Themes. I had to... select... a... theme.  There aren't too many available right now: Classic (ho-hum), Beach, Bus Stop, City Scape, Sweet Dreams, Tea House and Seasonal Scape.

I went for the Tea House on a whim.  I was asked to input what time zone I was in, in order to customize the theme to the movement of the sun. Curious, I thought, but what the heck.

Imagine my delight, there was a wee fox, and his activities corresponded with the time of the day. At one point he was eating a picnic lunch in an orchard, then he was rowing across the lake in the afternoon.  Now he's doing his laundry in the lake.

I agree - it sounds a little cutesy and perhaps a little too over-produced, but damn, that wee fox has made my day.
Nicely done Google!!

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Wireless Services for the Young Generation - Amp'd Canada

Imagine: games, entertainment, videos, audios, and interactive applications. In the palm of your hand. Created especially for YOUR generation, with YOUR interests and what is current in mind. It’s a niche market, but sometimes it’s the niches that end up being the sweetest spots.

Amp’d Mobile launched last week.  It’s the first MVNO [Mobile Virtual Network Operator] that TELUS has escorted into the marketplace. Their schtick is all about handheld, wireless entertainment and content.  Custom content, for that matter, specific to the Good, Canadian Kids. They’ve let TELUS do the heavy EVDO network bits, so they can concentrate on getting the right content to the kids.

Chris Houston, Amp’d Canada’s president has some really good insights into the differences between Amp’d and TELUS’ Spark offerings. Amp’d has a much narrower, specific focus. Spark appeals to a much broader audience.  (I’m on the Spark side of the fence, and not just because I’m 35 30-ish. Well, ok, maybe that has something to do with it.

Their packages aren’t cheap, and the content isn’t free, but the quality and variety looks impressive.  Their target audience is between 19 and 30, with gobs of disposable income to splurge on digital joy.

I only feel the slightest bit aged….


Technorati Tags: TELUS, Amp’d Canada, EVDO, MVNO

Suburb at Sunrise

Suburb at Sunrise
Originally uploaded by julebule.

For a few minutes this morning, it was beautiful on the morraine…..
And now…. grey.

Still, the potential is there…. 

10 Things I Can't Live Without

There are certain things you pick up along the way, that you realize you come to rely on.  Things, that the idea of giving up, send shivers down your spine and make your forehead sweaty…… Of course, this list excludes people and animals.  Those entities are designated list proof ;-)

My list:

1. Chapstick: really any lip balm/moisturizer. I have emergency lip balm stashed away everywhere in my house, car, coats, bags.
2. Coffee: I’m not even particular any more. Once I discovered the Maxwell House singles, I keep an emergency pack in my bag.
3. My Blackberry.
4. Coke: the backup to coffee.
   
5. Newton’s Telecom Dictionary.  You never know when you need to know what  a DNIS is.
6. My Canon Digital Elph. This wee guy comes with me all the time.  Just in case.
7. Hair Elastics. Elastics follow the same migratory pattern as lip balms.
8. Slippers…. wnter, spring, summer and fall.
9. Hand Cream. Also follows the path of the lip balm.
10. Music: be it portable radio, MP3 player or CD based. Let there be sound.

Your List?
I tag: Rain of Frogs, Barking Space, The Idea Dude, Zazzafooky,Kill The Goat,and Technology Evangelist


Technorati Tags: Things I can’t Live Without Meme

Corporate Responsibility In the Age of Public Participation

How does one define politically correct corporations?  How does a corporation become loved by the public? How does a company move from being “one of the bad guys” to “revered by all”? What companies are considered “the good guys”? Sun? Saturn? Dove? The Body Shoppe? Tim Horton’s? Is it all about perception and mis-perception?
I work with very cool, very smart, very dedicated people. I work on teams where the member participation ranges from Vancouver to Rimouski… Those Rimouski guys are ridiculously smart!! :-) Teammates that have families and interests and compassion. At the executive level, the passion and intensity is even more evident. The laughter, sharing, support and recognition of individual and team contributions is contagious. I’m in a small microcosm of “good guys”. Does that traslate into an over-arching goodness?

Still, as I work internally with groups to determine corporate blogging strategies, it makes me wonder if there is much more at stake than a marketing answer to a web 2.0 initiative. A corporte blog strategy has got to take into account the mandate to improve external relationships, even with folks who are not customers, and folks who may never become customers. It’s a fine line between the perception that the guys on the left have, and the rest of the community.

Companies have got to expect that if one person has a “bad guy ” perception, there’s got to be more. The only way to change that perception is to provide content and context that allows folks to get a better look inside companies. To challenge corporate PR, if you will… To challenge the whole public conversation.  I know - it sounds a litte nutty for a big company to think of such innovation.

The irony? In this day and age, companies can’t help but have this conversation on their radar. It needs to be a conversation that includes highlighting the little people, working like berserk, making things and caring about customers and the community. The Million Dollar Question, how does an organization change perceptions?  Can it be a fast road or a slippery slope?

Can one take such a naive position as this and make it acceptable? Can naivety and corporate optimism be joined to create something better? 

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Reflections of the Internet

It's one of my secret enjoyments - days when Dooce publishes some of the hate e-mail gems that she gets, and then colourfuly responds to each in her own Dooce-y way. 

Somehow the internet continues to amaze me.  The silly people, the nutty people, the flat out mean people. Dooce's hate mail and subsequent commentary is a giant plant sized microscope on humanity.  And really, the closer you look at something, the grosser it likey is to get.

You tend to forget about the pettiness, the ignorance and the intolerance of the human species. And then Dooce shows it to you, in all its hideous glory.

:-)

The Pitfalls of Corporate Email

There’s been a bit of a buzz on the goings-on inside the NHLPA (NHL Players Association) on the “email scandal”. Michael Geist has a worthy commentary on the implications of email surveilance at the troubled organization. He too questions the legal implications, and asks whether or not surreptitious monitoring crosses the line, when the players weren’t made aware of the possibility.

The NHLPA is a corporate union organization, right?  The NHL Players essentially are employees (union menmbers)…. in EVERY other corporate organization, the email belongs to the corporation, and it’s very clear that your email will/can/could/might be read/stored/used against you… and to govern yourselves accordingly. Why would this missive be any different for hockey players?
If you are going to talk/share/collaborate, and it’s about subjects you really don’t want your employer to have any knowledge about, why wouldn’t you and your friends get gmail or hotmail accounts?  Why would you use your *work email* ?  Oh… right, they are hockey players. Gotcha.

Ottawa Senators defenceman Chris Phillips said: “If something was goin gon like that, a lot of guys are going to be upset. There’s an assumption that our email accounts are private.”

I’m betting that there’s a corporate email policy, and that the contents of email on the NHLPA servers are owned by the NHLPA. If there isn’t such a policy; then shame on the NHLPA. If there is, shame on the players who are complaining that their digital rights are being violated.
If your email isn’t secure, it’s not like there’s not 13 different alternatives.

Now that the NHLPA Executive Director, Ted Saskin has been placed on paid leave,
it makes me wonder what sort of corporate policies there really are at the hockey union. In this day and age, the NHLPA should have a standard corporate IT Policy, if only for security and disclosure.


If one warning comes out of this situation, it’s the highlight that corporate, work email is just that - corporate. If you are discussing topics that have corporate implications, it’s best to take them off the corporate servers. It really is that simple. Welcome to the 21st century, hockey guys.


Technorati Tags: NHLPA, email monitoring, privacy, Ted Saskin

It Smells Like Spring

The first coffee of the new year, on the deck, sans warm coat. It *must be spring*.
Hearing birds that had been absent for over 4 months. It *must be spring*.
Seeing bits of lawn that had been previously blanketed with white. It *must be spring*.
Realizing my dog has been off the deck 3 times a day, every day, for the past 4 months, and I haven't. It *must be spring*.  Knowing that I've soon got to find a shovel. Shrug, it must be spring.
:-)




Technorati Tags: spring cleanup

Let Your Numbers Be Free!!

It’s here. Wireless number portability. I don’t feel different, and my phone still looks the same. Nonetheless it’s the dawning of a new era in Canadian Wireless communications.  Aside from a whirlwind of activity in the papers this past week, it’s been pretty quiet up to now on the significance of March 14th 2007 as to the impacts for Canadian consumers. It hasn’t been obvious that freedom was going to arrive at12:01 am.

Bell refused comment on the impact of number portability,Rogers said it will be “business as usual” while Telus called the change a “positive” opportunity.

I camped outside a Bell Mobility store at christmas, handing out WNP leaflets to unsuspecting folks, suggesting that they should postpone that new cellphone purchase for a few more months…. no, wait, just kidding. I considered the implications and then headed off in search of a Booser Juice;-) Unless you were really paying attention in the past 6 months,chances are that if your cell phone was ready to be replaced, or your service was ready to be renewed, you went ahead and recontracted for 2to 3 years. Sorry about that. Catherine McLean,from the Globe and Mail, has a great series of questions and answers on WNP.  Questions sent in from the pubic indicate a VERY wide gap in understanding cell phone service. Mark Goldberg mentions that most folks aren’t fully aware of the all the changes and potential upside/downside to number portability.  He had a great idea tho - move your cell phone to your VoIP provider, and get funky with the follow me features…. great idea Mark!!!

I expect the next few months are going to be quite lively.

globeandmail.com: Number portability

Tomorrow,cellphone users in parts of the country will be able to transfer their current phone numbers from one provider to another.

Technorati Tags: WNP, wireless, canada, Booster Juice

My Fingers are Tingling...

And not in a good way.  After months of continuous sitting at a laptop and working 10 to 12 hours a day, something has finally cracked. My fingers feel like they are constantly on pins and needles. Of course, I couldn't possibly have a more inappropriate office space.  There are NO ergonomics for miles around.  Depending on who is working where, some days I get the kitchen table, and some days I get the office. That being said, elbows are always resting on the tabletop, on the laptop. Usually I have a resonable chair.

So - can I attribute the tingling - it's just 2 fingers right now, on my left hand - my baby finger and ring finger to the fact that i'm typing and working and being ergonomically incorrect for extended periods of time? It's not even my mouse hand!!  Any suggestions?  I think that just by installing a lowered keyboard, that could solve everything.  That, and maybe resigning and going into the interpretive dance field.




Technorati Tags: ergonomics, tingling fingers, owerworked