Grumpy

{Argh. Blogger has been giving me problems and I have lsot some of my work. So a fair portion of really great writing has been lost (and some is not nearly as good in the rewrite). Remember to save your blog before posting.}

What a lousy day.

It doesn't help that I have been working longer hours, and feeling stressed out. Nor does it help that I the morning on what should have been an easy project, but went horridly wrong due to a setting change in how our computers talk to each other.

But then the leaches (a.k.a. consultants) came in. If you know me, you know that I don't think much of these people.

It turns out they want to treat us like cattle, jab a hot metal object at us and brand us. I don't get this banding business, but some people think it is really important.

So they started off by telling me about this over priced hotel that is a great example of living out its branding. It has adopted a set of buzz words (care, comfort, style, flavor, fun) and is living them out. Now at the time I could not understand how a hotel could have flavor, but looking at their website, I see they refer to the restaurants they have in their hotels. Then I had to listen to the concept that anything French is comfortable (apparently the soap wrapper in the hotel is written in French). I am not sure I can begin to understand that logic.

So after losing my temper, I got to hear how my organization is going to change its brand and become a kinder, gentler version of itself. We are going to focus on peoples emotions and community. We are going to stop using acronyms, because that is a stumbling block for our new outreach efforts.

This may all be well and good for some organizations, but I don't see it working for us. We do technical work. The people that the leaches interviewed praised us for our technical trainings and quarterly journal.

There is another point the made that really annoyed me, but I will not describe it here, as I have promised not to give away where I work (once again I praise mini-microsoft who criticizes his company. And I praise Scoble who publicly criticized Microsoft, while working there, and posted a blog listing criticism of his new employer even before his first official day on the job). For those who know me, I am more than happy to give you my thoughts in person.

Then we got to the need to overhaul our logo. In the time I have been with this organization we have gone through a number of iterations of the logo. Amazingly so far they have always been generally the same, which I have found encouraging. We are an organization that always talks about longevity. So much so that we often use the word perpetuity. To me, and organization that find such a concept so important, it should have a little more permanence in its logo. Bass beer has had the same logo since 1876. And yet my organization can not go more that a few years, let alone decades or centuries without changing.

I was not impressed by any of the logos. The second one was the worst. It looked like someone had spilled something and in their effort to clean it up, it had left behind a streak of a stain. It reminded me of Lucent's coffee stain logo. It also reminded me of Brustrokes in Flight, a hideous piece of artwork that is at the Columbus, OH airport. Someone had to tell me what some parts of the logos were before I could understand them.

One thing that caught my attention was that none of the logos were web 2.0. Even more interesting is that fact that our current logo lends itself to web 2.0 style logo much better than any of the new options given.

Now we probably have to forgive them. Consultants are a bit slow on the learning scale, and probably don't know much about the Internet. The Internet (opps, consultants do not want us to use word t-h-e*...let me try over. Internet is not people friendly. It is technical and full of jargon and acronyms. While consultants mentioned Internet multiple times, they never mentioned RSS. As an organization trying to look forward and reach out to people, I can not comprehend how fail to mention RSS.

Now I want to try and fight consultants with consultants. (Just like politics, I think you could probably find a consultant to argue either side of an issue (except maybe the issue that consultants are not worth the trouble)) But guy who wrote Good to Great made a big deal about focusing on your organizations core competencies. Once again, my organizations core competencies are technical (trainings and publications often relating to legal issues and taxes). Community and outreach have never been our strong points, even with multiple people in the leadership role of communications. And yet consultants want us to change our organization and focus much more on these areas. I think we need to focus on what we already do well.

Another day with me feeling less connected to my organization.

* Interesting that at one point consultants said (and I forget there exact words) that it may seem unnatural/awkward to not use t-h-e. I thought this was very odd for a group that wants us to be more people friendly.

Grumpy

What a lousy day.

It doesn't help that I have been working longer hours, and feeling stressed out. Nor does it help that I the morning on what should have been an easy project, but went horridly wrong due to a setting change in how our computers talk to each other.

But then the leaches (a.k.a. consultants) came in. If you know me, you know that I don't think much of these people.

It turns out they want to treat us like cattle, jab a hot metal object at us and brand us. I don't get this banding business, but some people think it is really important.

So they started off by telling me about this over priced hotel that is a great example of living out its branding. It has adopted a set of buzz words (care, comfort, style, flavor, fun) and is living them out. Now at the time I could not understand how a hotel could have flavor, but looking at their website, I see they refer to the restaurants they have in their hotels. Then I had to listen to the concept that anything French is comfortable (apparently the soap wrapper in the hotel is written in French). I am not sure I can begin to understand that logic.

So after losing my temper, I got to hear how my organization is going to change its brand and become a kinder, gentler version of itself. We are going to focus on peoples emotions and community. We are going to stop using acronyms, because that is a stumbling block for our new outreach efforts.

This may all be well and good for some organizations, but I don't see it working for us. We do technical work. The people that the leaches interviewed praised us for our technical trainings and quarterly journal.

There is another point the made that really annoyed me, but I will not describe it here, as I have promised not to give away where I work (once again I praise mini-microsoft who criticizes his company. And I praise Scoble who publicly criticized Microsoft, while working there, and posted a blog listing criticism of his new employer even before his first official day on the job). For those who know me, I am more than happy to give you my thoughts in person.

Then we got to the need to overhaul our logo. In the time I have been with this organization we have gone through a number of iterations of the logo. Amazingly so far they have always come back looking about the same. Fairly simple, no complexity. I admit that I am not in favor of changing the logo. I think an organization needs to have consistency. Especially in an organization like ours that thinks longevity is so important to what we do, that we actually use the term perpetuity. Bass beer trademarked their logo in 1876, and it has been the same ever since. My organization, which again has this long term focus, can't even keep a logo that same for a few years, let alone decades or centuries.

Well, I did not like any of the new logos. The second was the worst. It looked like someone had spilled something, attempted to wipe it up, and it left a streak of a stain. It reminded me of Lucent with its coffee cup stain for a logo, or the hideous "Brushstrokes in Flight" that you see at the Columbus, OH airport. With some of them, I had to be old what was in them to even begin to get it. Can you believe people are paid good money to do this?

I was surprised that none of the logos had a Web 2.0 look to them at all. None of the drop shadows, and reflective qualities that have come to define recent logos. Even more interesting is that are current logo lends itself to be turned into a Web 2.0 logo much more easily than any of the other logos shown.

But let's remember these are consultants. We have to account for their deficient skills. They probably don't know much about the Internet. After all, the Internet (oh, wait, consultants do not want us to use word t-h-e*, let me start over). After all, Internet is not a kinder, gentler version of world. Internet is full of technical jargon and acronyms. Consultants mentioned our website but did not even suggest using RSS. How any organization can expect to reach people without looking toward future with RSS is beyond me.

I do want to add one more piece here, and that is to fight consultants with consultants. (Now just like politics, you can always find a consultant to present the other viewpoint (except maybe the viewpoint that consultants are not worth the trouble), and I am using one just to prove my point). If I remember correctly that guy that wrote Good to Great said you should find your organization's core competencies and focus on that. Once again, leaches want us to go changing from our technical competencies to this more community and outreach organization, something we have never been good at (even over the course of multiple people leading our communications department, it have never been a core competency).

So, that was my day. Becoming more and more discouraged about my organization.

*I forget how exactly they said it, but consultants said it will feel unnatural/awkward to not use t-h-e. For a group that wants us to be more people friendly, that sure seems like an odd statement to make.

Somewhat Offline

I have learned that today is OneWebDay A day to recognize how connected the world is. I feel compelled to post to my blog.

And yet I was more offline than usual. In the morning, I was dealing with a plumber, as was getting my bathroom sink fixed. Plumbing has been a part of life for millennia, and will always have an impact on us greater than the web (unless we learn to live without water). Of course I still had access to email and a Citrix connection to our database back in the office.

This afternoon, I spent most of my time working to set up the computers that would go to our annual conference (Yes, I once made the decision to not disclose where I work, so I can't tell you the name of the conference). So I really wasn't online. But later in the afternoon as we were packing up our IT equipment, I was streaming music from Pandora.

And then I came home fired up the RSS reader and learned that today was OneWebDay. A connection back to the world of the web where I usually spend so much time.

Did I Make the Right Choice?

Do you ever feel like a hypocrite? Like the action you choose goes against the message you were trying to convey?

I seem to get caught in these types of situations all too easily. I got in such a situation today (I can't provide details, as I don't want to impact others)

Maybe it is just part of life. Maybe the fact that the past few months of my life have felt confusing, only makes this more noticeable.

-- Andy

To Tax or Not to Tax

There is trouble brewing in Virginia. People want to improve their and expand their roads. But no one seems to agree how to pay for it. Find already existing money (which would imply to me, taking it from some other program), or a new tax.

Now, the article, as far as I could tell, did not indicate what type of tax it would be. An income tax? That would be one way, but then you are taxing those that don't use the roads, just as much as those that do. A gas tax would mean that those that drive more would pay more into the system, but since driving more means using the roads more, it seems to make sense. Of course it is not a perfect calculation of road usage (the person in the Prius would put less into the system than the person in the SUV that logs just as many miles), but that would be what some of us call the idiot tax.

N.Va. Leaders Lack Consensus on Tax - washingtonpost.com

Inspiration in the Hands of a Child

This past Sunday I was serving as usher at my church.

It is always wonderful to see and greet the people you know. And welcome in the stranger that you don't know.

But this time there was something special to me. A young girl (maybe two or three years old) came in and in one hand see was clutching a Metro smart trip card.

What a wonderful thing for children to experience at such an early age.

McDonald's might think there is something special about a hummer toy in every happy meal. But I think a happier meal would include the metro card.

-- Andy

24/7/52

I remember the old days when the expression was 24/7. Actually the first time I heard it (in college) my friend had to explain it. "Oh, I see it there are 24 hours in a day and there are 7 days within a week"

But somewhere along the way it seems the expression became 24/7/365. And once again someone needs to explain it to me. Following the logic of the first half of the expression it seems to imply there are 365 weeks in a year. That can't possibly be correct.

The way I see it since the first step goes from hours to day, the next step should not be from days to days, but rather days to weeks. Therefore the corrected expression should be 24/7/52

I hope that this is only an United States thing. Since the US is stuck in a vacuum that uses nonsensical measurements, maybe is just flows.

Maybe it relates to the fact that the US tracks dates by month/day/year (medium increment/small increment/large increment) as opposed a more natural progression of small to large (or vise versa).

Maybe people will read my blog and there will be a culture shift.

-- Andy

Good News for the Environment

Since I was told that my blog is too pessimistic, I wanted to include some good news.

The latest news indicates the Ozone hole is healing (http://news.com.com/2300-11395_3-6111282-1.html)

It really wasn't all that long ago that it came to light the ozone layer was depleting, and at a significant rate. The Montreal Protocol was the international effort to address this issue. Some (including someone I knew back in college) studied the Montreal Protocol and dismissed it, being very pessimistic about potential loopholes and issues of international agreement.

Yet, the news suggests that we clearly have made progress. And that is a reason to be thankful and celebrate.


-- Andy

Who Makes the Software I Want

The web has been around for 10 years (yes, the Internet has been around longer, but that's not my point for the night). Web survey software has been around for a number of years as well. Relational databases have been around much longer, as well as the concepts of normalization of data.

So why can't I find a web survey software program that uses a normalized relational database? Is this really too much to ask for?

And no, I am not talking about a perfectly normalized database. I don't need to get to fifth normal form. All I want is the ability to use a second table to capture multiple rows of data from the person/entity completing the survey.

I have seen the power of the web in general, the amazing ability of Google to search and help me find exactly what I am looking for on the web. I have been impressed with the flashy aspects of AJAX and 2.0. I have been entertained by YouTube and others. But I can not find the software to do what seems like it should be a simple task.

Won't someone please build this app?

-- Andy

P.S. On a side note, life is really better after cooking a good meal. If you haven't taken the time lately to set out and make a good meal, you are really missing out. (I only wish my skillet were bigger).

Living Car Free

Since I seem to be doing so well on rants about cars lately, here is another piece of fuel to the fire. Michelle Singletary has a wonderful review of How to Live Well Without Owning a Car (see link below)

I have been living without a car for about eight years now, and I think it is wonderful. My car was great for getting me back and forth from home to college. And in college back and forth to the grocery store in the big city (which would be Waterville, ME). But once I was living within reach of the Metro system, there really wasn't a good justification for owning a car. And now with Flexcar and Zipcar If there really is something that I want to do beyond the reach of mass transit, I have the option (to provide disclosure, I am a member of Flexcar, and have used their services once.)

I have a friend who recently had to deal with the question of investing a lot of money to fix their car or go car free. I have another friend who had their plans for the weekend totally changed because of a broken car (not theirs, but someone who was going to provide transport -- presumably to someplace beyond the reach of mass transit). Their are the direct costs (repairs) and the indirect costs (missed events/opportunities) that need to be calculated into the costs of owning a car.

Contentment Without a Car