Branding

If you want to build a powerful brand -- one that is a true representation of the quality and service you provide, what's more important: great employees that live and breathe your brand every day or an infrastructure that allows you to scale your business easy and effortlessly?

Athens - Syngrou Ave

Athens - Syngrou Ave, originally uploaded by wr_downing33.

This has been a great vacation. I feel like Jess and I saw so much, and yet there is so much more to see when we come back (and soon). I feel like this has been a great time for me to re-think about ESM business and how I want to grow our business in 2008 and beyond. Its fun to ponder ideas, read, think out loud, read more, and just spend time doing stuff that's not related work. Often times that is what motivates me to think about new ways to approach my business and how I want to make this firm a positive impact on the youth of America.

Long day of flying tomorrow. Athens to London, London to SFO. Looking forward to being back in California on Sunday.

SoccerProfiles

A couple of months ago we started marketing our soccerprofiles.org website via Facebook and Google. At first I was skeptical. I have always felt that word of mouth marketing is the only way to grow your product on the web. I have been more inclined to focus customer experience than on growing our user-base.

Now, 3 months later we have doubled our user-base and seen our unique visitor per day double. The site is become more user friendly and I think it starting to earn a reputation for being the best "soccer only" recruiting site on the web.

While there are a lot of other sites that roll in all sports under one umbrella, I have always been of the mindset that I want to focus on what I am really good at and be the best at that. Think of it this way, when you want to buy a pair of really good soccer cleats do you go to the soccer shop down the street that specializes in that sport, or do you go to Sports Chalet down at the mall.

Ultimately, our goal is to build the best soccer recruiting site on the web and enable students to connect with colleges and coaches.

View from the Acropolis

IMG_0102, originally uploaded by wr_downing33.

What a view from the top today. It was worth the day's wait to get to the top. Awesome.

Acropolis from a distance...

Acropolis from a distance..., originally uploaded by wr_downing33.

This was about as close as we could get today. These strikes are terrible. Everything today was basically closed to the public. In a country that is so desperate for tourism dollars to help their failing economy, they sure seem to be going out of their way to upset those who have come wanting to spend time and money and learn about Greece.

Its not that big of a deal for me since I am here about 3 times a year, but this being Jessaca's first time, I really wanted her to share in the history and culture that makes Athens such a super cool place.

That being said, we had a great day, and I am going to post some sweet pics on Flickr shortly.....

Tomorrow there is no strike!

More Strikes in Athens Today....

Changing of the guard in Athens, originally uploaded by wr_downing33.

It was a lovely day today in Athens. Getting around was a bit of a pain because of all the transportation strikes and protests. Jess and I managed to make the 20 minute walk from our hotel to the city center, and caught the changing of the guard from afar.

One thing just kept running through my head all day long -- how has the Euro come to dominate the Dollar so quickly?

Seth's Blog

Here is a great quote from Seth Godin's blog. I really appreciate this type of thinking.....

So, there's plenty of bad economic news floating around. From the price of oil to Wall Street to bailouts to the death of traditional advertising.

Which is great news for anyone hoping to grow or to make an impact.

Change (and the fortunes that go with it) is almost always made during the down part of the cycle. It might not be fun, but it's exciting. (Where do you think Google came from?) The opportunity is to find substantial opportunities (in any field) that deliver real value and have a future. Those jobs/investments/companies/ideas are undervalued right now, but not for long.

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.