Big Ben London

Big Ben London, originally uploaded by wr_downing33.

It is rainy and windy today in London. We did manage to grab a few great picks, which we will post on flickr when we get to Athens tomorrow night. Here is a snapshot of Big Ben today.

Even with all the rain, there are tons of people out and about in Central London.

Arsenal Football Grounds

Arsenal Football Grounds, originally uploaded by wr_downing33.

Not much to say - saw Arsenal play today at their new stadium. English Football is sick. The fans are awesome, and it is by far one of the best sporting events I have ever attended. In addition, Jessaca loved it. She was totally into the game, and it was really fun to see someone new to the game really enjoying it. More photos and videos to come. Final score was 1-1.

Adidas Jose + 10 Full Version

Maybe the greatest soccer commercial ever.

Old Blogs; Still Pondering

I wrote the below blog posting back in Nov 2006, but for some reason I have been thinking a lot about Globalization and how the USA economy is struggling...

Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Globalization

I have always prided myself as being someone who is savvy with the new globalized world that we all live in. However, it wasn’t until a recent trip to Europe that the effects of our globalized world began to truly transcend upon me.

I was sitting at Heathrow Airport, waiting for my connecting flight to Athens. There I used my Apple laptop to connect to paytrust.com, a website that allows you to manage amd pay your bills online. One by one, I paid my mortgage, credit cards and car lease. While I was there, sitting next to me was a German woman sipping Italian coffee, eating a ham, cheese, and tomato croisant while talking on her Samsung cellular phone. The era of globalization was running around me at light speed, and it seemed that I was finally starting to get it.

Three hours later it felt good to be back in Athens. It had been almost a year since my last visit, and it was clear that the Olympics had been a positive influence for the city. Despite leaving an enormous debt on the economy, the infrascture had improved, the metro system was clean and fast, and modern architectural improvements made to the airport gave you the feeling that you were in Singapore or Munich.

For me, these trips have always been twofold – an opportunity to see friends and family, but more importantly it give me an opportunity to revaluate my point of view. In the United States we take for granted, oftentimes, our wealth. As a country, our prosperity trumps developing nations in Eastern Europe by a freighting level. In the day to day grind, it is easy to get locked into what I call the CNN version of the world; leaving the United States helps to put everything in place for me. The rest of the world has a different lens from which they view current events. No single perspective is entirely right or wrong, but seeing the full spectrum has always helped to focus me.

While Greece has remained an anomaly of sorts – a country that has sucessfully left one foot stuck in the past, keeping close at hand the traditions and culture that has come from its rich history, and yet still striding forward with one leg trying to grab hold of the new, fast-paced globalized world. Greece is very much a dichotmy of culture; old versus new; macro versus micro.

Sitting at the Monistiraki, where once the ancient Greeks traded their crafts, you can’t help but look around and notice changes. Now the area is lined with restaurants, tourists, shops, and peddlers selling bootleg cd’s. The smell of Americana and old Europe combine together and travel throughout the district.

Spending the day with my aunt, we were sitting at a Turkish bistro, eating Kabob and catching up with family news. Then it hit me.....Globalization is now here too.

I was sitting in Downtown Athens, in a Turkish restaurant, eating and drinking with a 72-year-old Greek woman who was sending a text message to her son asking if he wanted to join us for lunch. Over the radio blarred Madonna, as waiters quickly ran between tables trying to handle the overflowing dinning area. One of the bus boys had Nike tennis shoes. The owner was sporting a new blackberry. Globalization Greek-style.

Later that evening, I was meeting my youngest cousin for dinner at Cafe Zoe inside the Intercontinental Hotel. From the moment you walk in you are almost thrown off guard – The massive hotel lobby is more like a Vegas-style Casino than a hotel in Greece. English, Turkish, Farsci and Mandarin can all be heard as we made our way through the smoke-filled seating area where hotel guests were sipping on Russian Vodka, Greek Wine and American Beer. When Tom Friedman wrote in his book, “The World is flat” I had my doubts – but not now. The world is not only flat, but it is now shrinking.

It seems that no matter where you go – there is a global culture – one single global brand. While this may be a bit of exaggeration, you wouldn’t know it by spending some time at the Athens Intercontinental Hotel. We sat down to dinner, and the waitress very promptly came over and asked if we wanted to have anything to drink. She didn’t ask us in Greek, she asked us in English! We responded in Greek, and the waitress seemingly had to fight for words to reply. She admitted to us later that she was not Greek, but Bulgarian, working in Greece for a short time to earn extra money. She spoke Greek, but said she spent so much time speaking English at the hotel that it had become second nature.

Two days later I was on the road again. This time headed to Faraklada – a small village in the Peloponnese nearly three hours by car from Athens. Here my mother was born and raised before she came to the United States. The town of maybe fifty families is stero-typical of most villages throughout the country. The homes, many of them built in the late 1800s are made of stone, and have not seen significant improvements since that time. Walking up the stairs of my mother’s home always had a familiar feeling. The concrete steps have seen many years of family reunions, birthdays, and weddings. At the top of the stairs my uncle was waiting for me with open arms, his mustache and beard just as I remember. His pants and shirts torn, his hands rough from the day’s work in the field, and his deep laughter that bellowed throughout the house. It was good to be home.

Later that afternoon, we went out to olive orchard to inspect this year’s crop. Things had not changed since I last visited two years ago. The old, worn tractor still sat in its place next to the work shed, the concrete road still not finished ran along our property before turning into a dirt path. In the distance, the corn stalks were larger than ever.

The weather was chilly. The clouds began to creep though the valley. My uncle looked at the sky in disgust, hoping that the weather would hold for another week or so. He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, and began typing. I was shocked. “What are you doing,” I asked. He indicated that he was sending a text message to a farming collague in the village approximately ten miles away to see if the rain had come there. In what he called a growing competitive market for olives, he had to stay ontop of the weather patterns more precisley in order to make sure that weather didn’t negatively influence his crop. He said that within twenty five minutes he could text 13 workers from the village to come to the orchard if he needed help to protect the crop from the storm.

On my way back home, again I was sitting at Heathrow. This time my lens was altered. I didn’t have to look for signs of globalization. It had been cemented in my head that everyone and everything around us is a part of the new world order. There are some in this world that fight change, and see Globalization as a way for the rich to get richer and the poor to stay poor. It is true that this point of view has validity, but if there was one thing I learned on my trip it was that if we embrace this new found connectabilty, even the most unlikely of people can impress you with their ability to navigate this new world.

2008 Election

Bush endorsed McCain today. Anyone else feel like that was a mistake?

I overheard someone at lunch the other day:

"If the democrats can't win this year, then they should close shop."

Not an original thought, but it is interesting to think about what would happen to the Democrats if they lose this one....

Your Brand = Your Employees

Today I was at my dad's Toyota dealership where I often meet my students in the board room. Most often we are never bothered by employees, and so I never have any interaction with his staff.

This morning was different. One of his employees walked into the boardroom quietly, unplugged our space-heater and walked out with it. At the time, Frankie and I were in discussions about the critical reading passage we just read so I said nothing.

After my session, I walked over to the employee and asked if I could the space-heater back (I bought it for the specific purpose of having it there for when I met with students). He proceeded to ask me a lot of questions and telling me that it was his space-heater blah blah. He, at the time, had no idea that my dad owned the dealership and that I owned the space-heater.

Long story short, after my encounter with the employee I walked away wondering how he treats my dad's customers. It has been bothering me all day, so I decide to blog about it. At the end of the day, your employees are the best representation of your brand for they are the ambassadors of your company on the front lines. They deal with customers, prospective leads, other employees, and academic tutors like me who just rent the conference room on Sundays.

Java City - Midtown Sacramento

Java City - Midtown Sacramento, originally uploaded by wr_downing33.

As I stood in line at Java City today for my hot chocolate (I don't drink coffee) I couldn't believe that there was such a line at 8AM.

I started to then think about how each of these folks must come into Java City everyday and get their standard order.

I remember reading a blog posting by Seth Goodin where he asked a really interesting question, "When was the last day you went a whole day without buying anything?"

I can't remember a day like that.

Not sure what made me think about that at Java City, but it would be interesting to see if you took the $3 you spent on your morning drink, and just 10 days a month put that money into a money market. $30 a month for say 25 years. I am not a math guy, but I got to believe that if you did that on a regular basis for 25 years you would have saved up some nice bank.

Vasili

S5000275, originally uploaded by wr_downing33.

When my cousin told me that he was entering his one year of mandatory service for the Greek Military Service, I thought he would have a lot of horror stories to tell. Thus far, his first four months have been pleasant and he speaks about how much time off they are given, and he often has the opportunity to return home for weekends.

The really interesting part of this story is the fact that he has embraced his military service as part of his nationalism. This is a great feat because, like so many of his peers, Vasili has developed a growing discontent with his government for providing a lack of education and jobs to the youth of Greece. For him, however, the opportunity for him to serve, like his father and his grand father, et al has reconnected him to why he loves his country so much.

Reading Starts When You are Young...

IMG_0165, originally uploaded by wr_downing33.

It is never too early to start finding your passion through reading. This is a great picture of my nephew Ryan. Thanks Steve for the photo.

Priceless.

Simul-Scribe

I use the voicemail service called Simul-Scribe. The caller leaves a message, then it is transcribed and emailed to me on my blackberry. I get to read the entire message instead of listening to it. (I like that a lot!) I am curious if any of you out there use this service, and how accurate is the transcription in your opinion?

College Only Blogging....

I finally launched my college-only blog......

www.TheAdmissionsEdge.com

I will be updating it daily with news and advice about the college admissions process. Feel free to check it out and pass on the link to those who are interested.

Send me your feedback and comments.

Gizmo5

My business partner James Chen turned me onto a cool new feature on Gizmo called Gizmo5. (For those of you who use VOIP services like Skype, you probably have heard of Gizmo.) Increasingly, more and more people hace switched from Skype to Gizmo for a variety of reasons.

Gizmo5 is pretty awesome because it allows you to make VOIP calls via your blackberry device saving you a lot of money on international calls.

Check it out for yourself at: www.gizmo5.com

San Francisco

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by wr_downing33.

It was a very clear day in the city today. Great weather makes me think of summer.

Apple TV or Netflix?

I woke today thinking a lot about Apple TV vs. Netflix? Also, I thought about Comcast's On-Demand feature. The more and more I thought about this, I couldn't decide what I liked more. On one hand I love Netflix. You just que up your movies and they come each week. Apple is pretty sweet, but the box set up is timely and you need a hard connection (even with the best of routers the quality lags). Comcast is the easiest to use, but lacks depth in titles. (I can only watch Transformers so many times).

What I was left thinking about as I went to work was: wouldn't it be cool if you could text or email your movie que, and be able to schedule your movie time showing on your TV or Laptop. Maybe I am getting on board a red-eye tonight and know that I want to watch a movie on my laptop as I wait by my gate from 10-11:30PM. I simply email my que, and as soon as I flip open my laptop, my movie launches! Same thing if I know what time I want to watch a movie at home.

This race is just starting, so it is going to be fun to watch what happens next.

Random thoughts that I have learned while traveling...

I travel about 200 days a year. I like being in new places, but I hate the effort it takes to get there. I started blogging when I started traveling more for work. My brain doesn't work when I am sitting at a desk or in my office. My brain works when I am out and about. Here are some things I have learned:

*American Airport Security is a joke. This is a no-brainer. Frequent business travelers can tell you account after account about how weak the security system really is in our airports. No one really listens.

*My blackberry is way better than my iPhone. I like playing with my iPhone, but when I am on the go and business needs to get done, the blackberry wins hands down.

*Renting a car could be so much easier. Why are rent-a-car companies stuck in the middle ages? Why can't I have a credit card specifically for renting a car so that I don't have to deal with paperwork, waiting for the security guard to let me out of the parking lot, etc...? I should get off the bus, know my space #, get in the car, drive to the gate, swipe my card, and go.

*All rental cars should have navigation. No extra fee.

*Southwest has a new boarding protocol. It sucks. It is way more confusing. Why can't they just issue seats like jetBlue?

*Why don't all flights have internet?

*When it comes to customer experience US Airlines have no clue how to win and keep business. Fly on Virgin, British, Luftansa, Emirates, etc....They go above and beyond to keep you happy and pleased. The industry is very competitive, but US carriers treat you as they don't care and that you owe them. Very similar to the US Automobile industry. GM and Ford have been taught a real lesson by Toyota. If American, United and US Airways don't pay attention they are going to get a rude awakening from non-American rivals.

*Traveling makes you appreciate being home with friends and family.

*My iPod Classic 160GB is the single greatest electronic I have ever bought. I can't understand how I survived without it. No matter where I go, I take it with me. (I can't believe Strati was right.)

*I find myself wanting to use my laptop less and less. Instead I take pictures from my iphone and upload to flickr. I twitter things via my blackberry.

*Pizza is still my favorite food.

Paesano's

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by wr_downing33.

On Friday we had dinner at Paesano's. All I can say is that Jess and I are going to start eating there a lot more.

The College Blog

After everyone has emailed me asking for it - I am launching a blog specifically for the college admissions process....

esmgrp.blogspot.com

I will start posting tomorrow....

Thanks for your great feedback.

Kings Game

Kings Game, originally uploaded by wr_downing33.

Jess and I went to the Kings game on Friday night. Thanks to SKK we had great seats. It was my first Kings game in probably two years. I will say that I remember going to the Kings games in the early 1990's to watch Joe Klein, Spud Webb and of course my favorite Jim Les. Those games were exciting; every player for the Kings was a hustler and despite losing almost every game, the crowd was totally into supporting their team and trying to help them pull off a win.

Friday's game was sad. The stands were empty. The crowd was quiet. The game lacked any sort of real passion. Don't get me wrong - we will take a King's win anyway we can get it - but it just seems to me that the whole dynamic of professional basketball has changed here in Sacramento. I am not kidding you, but the fans didn't get really excited until the little kids who dance hip-hop came out and got the fans totally pumped. If the players had the same sort of energy, we'd be winning a lot more games - or atleast keeping some of the matches interesting.

The bigger issue for me, as I thought about my NBA experience, is how does a brand (in this case The Kings) continually try to exceed customer's expectations in a world where everyone wants everything for nothing. Take me for example, I had a great time going to the game with Jess, and I had no problem paying $8 for a beer and $5 for a hotdog, but I can't say that I am going to run out and buy season tickets for the Kings. The experience left me saying that I'd rather go watch an intense high school game or a college game at Stanford or Cal. How can the King's improve upon their brand and create a better customer experience for their ticket holders? At the end of the day, its not so much about whether they win or not, its about the transformation that needs to happen once you enter Arco Arena. In the 1990's we knew that the Kings were going to lose, but we didn't care because we knew that we were going to have a great time for the next 2 hours and our team was going to bust their butts.

Flickr

Who really cares about who owns Yahoo!? The answer is: not too many people in the "real world".....

What we want to know is what is going to happen to Flickr (Yahoo's really popular photo sharing website) now that the corporate giant Microsoft is going to take over it? Where will the loyal Flickr fans go?

Microsoft to Buy Yahoo!

The big news for today is the fact that Microsoft has offered to buy Yahoo!

Some questions, no particular order:

1) what is going to happen to @yahoo.com email?

2) What does Facebook think of this?

3) Should Google be scared? (I doubt it)

4) Will this encourage NewsCorp to jump into the game? Could they potentially be a better fit for Yahoo!?