Kick in the Pants

Published
by
James
on August 19, 2008
in business and technology
. 0 Comments

Yesterday I was “let go” from my job at Bonneville Phoenix.  Not because I was bad, not because I don’t know what I’m doing, but because of the economy.  Which I find particularly offensive since I only have said Good Things about The Economy.  I never called it’s baby ugly.  I never even flirted with its’ whiny wife, The Government.

Seriously, though, I am really sad about this, but I’m not angry.  Bonneville is the best company I’ve ever worked for, and it will not be easy to find another company like them.  No other media company contributes as much to their community as they do.  No one treats their employees as well.  They give you a 401k and a pension for crying out loud.  Plus, they are arguably the most innovative company in radio, practically giving birth to HD Radio themselves despite representing only a blip in the industry.  Of course their New Media initiatives are innovative as well, easily more than any other radio group. (it seems the only other innovative New Media initiatives in radio, take place in Canada.  I have no idea why.  Must be the clean air.)

KTAR has the finest journalists in Arizona, possibly the entire United States.  And of course The Peak, the best radio station in Arizona, hands down..and some of the coolest people you’ll ever meet.  I am so proud to have worked with them all.

One thing I will say is that if it’s about money, I wish I had the option to take a lower salary instead of losing my job and benefits.  I’m not rich by any means, but I’m not all about money.

A Startup Story

I worked for a startup in the 90s where our boss came to us one summer, and said, “look, I have to be honest.  Times are hard.  In a few weeks, I’m not going to be able to pay all of you.  So, you have two choices:

  1. We shut down today.  I pay you each for the next few weeks pay, and we close up shop.  No questions asked, no pressure.
  2. You each take a cut in salary, approximately 1/2 of your pay, or however much you can afford to cut.  We keep working on making a sale, and if we do, we probably won’t be able to pay you back.”

What happened next..

We sat in a conference room, about 10 of us.  Generally people said they wanted to bail.  But I stood up and I said “look, we are this company.  We make it what it is.  We know we’re the best in this business, so why go work somewhere else that, at best, will be mediocre?  Most likely it will be one of our lame competitors, with their shareholders and Wall Street goons.  So I’m not saying I’m not going to freshen up my resume, but I for one am taking the pay cut.”

The Result

Everyone stayed.  In about a month, we got a new contract and our doors stayed open.  The next spring, we all got a huge check out of the blue.  The boss called a meeting and with a tear in his eye he said “you guys make us what we are.  You took a risk and believed in each other, in our sales department, and me, and not one of you came to me about those wages.  Therefore I have repaid you all today plus an additional $2000.  Thank you.”

The company is still in business, in a larger facility.  It’s a little smaller these days, but the soul of the company is still there.  I left for other reasons eventually, but I’ll never forget the lesson I learned: companies are people, and the future of a company is in the hands of those people. So… treat them right.  If not because it’s the right thing to do, because it’s good for business.

Can Microsoft Be Cool Again?

Published
by
James
on May 14, 2008
in technology
. 0 Comments

I think an even better question is, were they ever?

Just read an article in Fast Company about how Microsoft just took another “$300 million risk” on a new campaign from Crispin Port + Bogusky.  The really have their work cut out for them… how do you make a nerdy narcissist lovable again?  These are the guys behind several genius campaigns like the Burger King turnaround, and Bogusky is famous for his anti-smoking Truth campaign.  I think Bogusky is more likely to pull it off than anybody else in the business, but I think he’s likely to fail.

There’s only one thing that can make Microsoft cool again: more death.

Think about it - the vastness and arrogance of Microsoft is the very thing that the hip world loathes.  Most people like to root for the underdogs, not the bureaucrats.  Yet the xbox division is doing quite well despite the loss to the blu-ray standard in HD optical discs.

Microsoft should focus on Enterprise solutions and Office, and splinter everything else into separate brands.  Take the name Microsoft out of it completely.  Did you know Boston Market is owned by McDonalds?  I didn’t.  Totally different industry, I know, but the point is… there’s a reason I didn’t know that, and you probably didn’t either.  

Why not make a separate, consumer OS (xbox OS?) that’s fast, slick, and breaks new ground in UI?  ”Start” over.  Create a compatibility layer, like Apple did in OS X to transition operating systems and then processors - if Apple can do it, why can’t Microsoft?  Arrogance, that’s why.  They truly think they have the best product because they are stuck in a world of numbers - most desktops, most dollars.  That doesn’t necessarily translate to best products.

Don’t get me wrong - I don’t want Microsoft to completely fade - the worst I’d wish on them is to become an Enterprise only provider of software. As much as I love and admire Apple, their “genius bar” attitude pisses me off too.  I have to pay $100 a year for the right to “schedule” dropping off a faulty product to be fixed?  You have to be kidding…but I digress.  I hope the new Microsoft is one that embraces innovation while not wielding it’s power in an almost Communist way to crush competitors.  Monopolies are not good for technological innovation.

Cooling, Coagulation, and Beyond: the Five Phases of the Web

Published
by
James
on April 27, 2008
in futurism, posts and web
. 0 Comments

We are seeing an unprecedented period where large net companies are gobbling up smaller ones or merging with other big players.

There have really been three phases of the net, and I believe we are witnessing the fourth, which, in a few years, will lead to a fifth that will span a century or more.  Before I go into the fourth, let’s first briefly cover the first three:

  1. 1980s & early 1990s: Invention and Discovery. Ethernet, email, and other key technologies were invented in the 70s, but it was in this time period when we first starting putting it together.
  2. Mid 90s to early 2000: Build Up and Speculation. Once Wall Street caught up with the power of the net, and companies started seeing significant savings from networked applications, everyone wanted to get in early on this great new technology.  At the time, many thought it was a greater invention than practically any other.  Y2K spending also drove late century investment.
  3. 2000 to 2003: Adjustment to Reality. Since Y2K didn’t end the world, the world woke up to the reality that we had other problems to solve, and that the profits weren’t really there.  To some degree, I think there was an over-adjustment, but it was very necessary.  There were a few great technologies invented in this time period, but generally it was a period in which paper millionaires became paperboys (and girls) again.

The new buzzword is “social networking” (actually that’s two!) and suddenly investment dollars are flowing that way, almost to the extent that it did in the second phase. It’s no surprise to me or anyone who’s paid attention to the growth of the Internet over the last 20 years - of course social networking is big!  That’s what the frickin’ Internet was (largely) created for!

After years of observation, I believe that this is just a part of the thing that is the Internet.  There will always be a “latest thing,” but there is an important difference: now, the “latest thing” is just a normal part of the business.  It’s like any other business - new products come along, and either they survive the market or they don’t - but regardless, they get a lot of press up front.  So, no, the fourth stage isn’t about social networking.

The fourth stage I call the Cooling and Coagulation phase.  I call it this because I liken the metauniverse of the Internet to the creation of a new place, like our precious Earth or Moon.  The creation of cyberspace; whatever you want to call it, this thing that pervades our culture…it’s here to stay.  The corporations and civic leaders who shape our history, our safety, and our future, know this.  It’s becoming a part of our daily lives, and investors are simply claiming their flag on the moon like everyone else, with a serious eye for the future. One of the best ways to grow that stake is to simply combine your assets with another.

Continue reading ‘Cooling, Coagulation, and Beyond: the Five Phases of the Web’

The End of “Listeners”

Published
by
James
on April 27, 2008
in articles and published
. 1 Comment

This article appeared in Inside Radio on April 27, 2008.

If there is one thing you can do today to survive the future of radio, stop thinking of your cume as listeners and think of them as users. With the arrival of PPM this will be even more apparent, because PPM is all about cume.

Why is radio so late to the New Media party? It’s astonishing to me that radio is so far behind. As a guy with 13+ years of experience in the web industry, I’ve seen so many industries adapt and even transform themselves. There are a lot of reasons, but some of the most obvious are:

1. Radio web site advertising is still largely “value add” instead of being a significant part of non spot development.
2. Fear that the web will take listeners away from the core asset, or hurt ratings.

Listeners are engaged only when the radio is on. Radio users connect with you in other ways, strengthening your brand and encouraging loyalty with each touch. They access your content whenever they want, however they want.

Many of our listeners - ahem! - users, return to our sites every day. Pictures, video, and more get posted on the web to supplement the on-air message. When the show is over, users go online and discuss it or pass it on. News junkies get timely text alerts, and hundreds of captive radio users stream our music station in their offices. The interesting thing about this is that new media, used effectively, propels users to listen to the radio more, not less.

Research has show again and again that web users are not particularly loyal. However, that changes when users are also engaged in broadcast media, particularly when there is additional, compelling content available there.

The Importance of Cume Applies to the Web, Too
Cume, when applied to the web, is called uniques or unique visitors. You may have heard about another web metric, the page view, which is the number of times a web page is delivered in a given amount of time, usually in a month. However, as web sites become more like applications, page views aren’t as important any more; in fact, in 2-3 years this metric will be practically irrelevant. Instead, it will be all about the size of your web audience (uniques), how much you know about them (database), and how well you serve them (return visits). Sound familiar?

Ad impressions are important, too, but as Google discovered some time ago - it’s not just about quantity, it’s about the context and quality of the referral.

It’s no secret that advertising is getting more personal. Targeted marketing works as well for consumers as it does for advertisers. If you engage your users outside of their cars and offices, you’ll get to know them better. The better you know them, the more you can help your advertisers sell to them, and the stronger your relationship with both will be.