Iowa Creativity Summit Press Release

Best selling author / speaker, Matthew E. May will be in Des Moines March 1st for the Iowa Creativity Summit. He will be engaging 250 people in two 90 minute back to back workshops built to equip them with creative tools to change their life, job and the state of Iowa! The Iowa Creativity Summit will start at 5:15p in Drake University's Olmsted center. Anyone interested in the movement can acquire tickets at www.iowacreativitysummit.com or follow @IowaCreativtiy on twitter.

Hy-Vee... for real?

My wife and I, living in Minneapolis, are quite used to Lundss | Byerly's, so the bar is pretty high when it comes to grocery experience.  After a lack-luster experience with grocer here in Des Moines, my wife and I started shopping at Hy-Vee. Specifically, the Hy-Vee on East Euclid in Des Moines.

Hy-Vee does have some issues they can improve upon to offer Lund's | Byerly's like service, but if they keep up their devotion to top notch service, they will get there soon. There are two separate Hy-Vee experiences I would like to cover in this post:

Swing By Delivery?
After visiting Hy-Vee and discovering they lacked a few items we were looking for, rather than complaining, I figured it would be a great idea to send an email to their general manager, Mike Kueny. I sent him a list of things we were unable to find, and his response amazed me. Within minutes I got a personal phone call from someone at the store, telling me a few of the items I had requested had not been put out, and the other item was simply not in a section I was familiar with. As if a personal phone call is not enough, he then offered to bring theses groceries, TO MY HOUSE. Yes, you read that correctly, he offered to bring me my groceries to my door because he was getting off soon, and would be happy to do it. Are you kidding me?

Special Order!
Again, after visiting Hy-Vee and not finding an ingredient, I emailed Mike. Like the first time I got a response apologizing they did not have what we were looking for but offering to stock it in the future, hopefully in the next two days. Of course, I thought that was a nice gesture, but didn't actually think they would do it. Imagine my surprise when I got a phone call two days later informing me they now had the Thai Curry Paste, and they even mentioned, "I heard you were in the store today, sorry I didn't catch you". How on earth did they know I was in the store!?

This kind of devotion to the customer and top notch service is what has made Hy-Vee who they are today, and what has earned them their #40 spot within the top 100 privately held companies in the nation. Sure, there are a few things Hy-Vee can improve upon, but with service like this, it's not going to take them long to meet grocery perfection.

Thanks, Hy-Vee for your amazing customer service. It hasn't gone unnoticed.

Don't Feed The Birds...

I just got done reading a funny NYT article* about how Glenn Beck's comments are causing people to make "violent threats" toward Frances Fox Piven. Obviously, the NYT does their very best to stay neutral [insert sarcastic laugh] by pointing out there are always uneducated people on both sides that make stupid death threats and accusations. So, bravo to them. [insert patronizing comment about NYT here] 

My main reason for writing this post is in response to this whole Welfare, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security issue. We need to nationally adopt a process that forces people OUT of the system. It's for their own good, and for the good of the country. (Similar to Rudy's system for New York.)

It reminds me of something I was told my an ornithologist. Don't feed the birds! Like any animal or living creature, when you put out food it creates a dangerous habit of dependency. Any living thing is pre-wired to do these least amount of work for the highest gain. It's a natural survival tool. When you feed the birds, you are creating a new dependency they adapt to. They start to forget to hunt and live on their own. This is why living creatures have such difficulty adapting to the wild when released from captivity, if they adapt at all.

Humans, although more intelligent, will act the same way. Once something is provided for them, they forget how to hunt on their own. The flesh is strong and prefers the easy option. Once someone is on Welfare or food stamps there is little chance they will try to get off them. (1/6 families are on food stamps right now!**) 

Obviously there are "sick birds" out there, that cannot provide for themselves; they are physically or mentally unable. Even though it is NOT a right to be taken care of by your government, I do think the care is what makes America great. It's obvious the majority of people getting paid by uncle sam is absurd and getting more people into the system is not the answer. (I am reminded of this every time I go get groceries and some person uses my money [food stamps] to pay for their frozen pizza and chips.)

These people need to understand the government is NOT paying for their food and medical coverage. It is their neighbors and friends that are paying for it! Why can't they make this connection? 

As hard as it may be, there is a point they must be released into the wild. Like a mother eagle shoves a baby eagle out of it's nest, they too need that little push. Failure might happen, but we can't save everyone....

* http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/22/business/media/22beck.html

**Food and Drug Administration; MoodysEconomy.com

"Send A Call From Santa" Isn't Illegal… Yet.

The other day I got a call from Santa! It was a very clever automated message where Santa talked to me, and was even able to tell me (at least vaguely) details about myself, and what I wanted for Christmas. It was funny, but one thing about the call concerned me.

When I got the call, my caller ID showed my brother's number (who was present in the room at that time). His phone went off as well, with a Santa call too, with his phone showing my number. Yes, you read that right. We didn't initiative the calls, someone else did. (I still have no idea who it was, but I have my suspicions… you know who you are)

On the call, Santa identifies the organization doing the prank calls as Google voice and fortunately, lets you opt out of any future calls be pressing "2".  Obviously I had to check this service out, so I went to www.sendacallfromsanta.com and filled in my own message. I filled in all the silly mad-gab style information, but instead of being truthful, I entered my fathers cell phone and name under "sender". Sure enough, when I finished, Santa called me from my fathers number!

I started wondering how that was even possible, and after quite a few Google searches. (Irony!) I was led to research caller ID spoofing. The technical process of caller ID Spoofing is a bit complex, but without going into detail, it's easy enough for someone like Paris Hilton to pull off. I am no tele-communications specialist, so this is news to me. I always thought that caller ID was accurate, but apparently anyone can trick it for the right price.

Now you would think this type of activity, which is obviously possible, would be illegal. Right? It's not. At least, not right now. On June 27, 2007, the House passed the Truth in Caller ID Act, but the Senate never ended up voting on it! On January 7, 2009 however, it was again introduced and later passed by the House (for a 2nd time) on April 14, 2010. The Senate is expected to pass the bill in February, and hopefully Obama will sign it.

The good news here, is that any spoofing in the future would be considered criminal activity. The bad news? When Christmas rolls around next year Santa's calls might put him in the slammer.

Picture used from SendACallFromSanta.com

Daylite (by Marketcircle) unlinked my tasks from my contacts!

Oh No! Daylite (by Marketcircle) unlinked my tasks from my contacts!!

Let me start this post by saying that I LOVE Daylite by Marketcircle. It is intuitive, and has some amazing options. There is one problem however that has been a thorn in my side since day one.

This post serves two purposes.

1. Help others in resolving an issue in Daylite's software. 
2. Bring this issue to light, so Daylite fixes it (there is a minor reference here but they still have NOT resolved the issue).

The Error / Bug:
Daylite will erase the link between tasks and the contacts they reference.

Why This is a Problem:
This is obviously a problem because if you don't know who the task is linked to, you may have no idea who this person is, what the history is, and any relevant contact information.

Who is Affected:
This issue tends to happen to users with sync turned on AND MobileMe to sync contact information between laptops / iphones / ipads.

How Daylite's Sync Works:
Daylite establishes a dependent link to your iCal & Address book. What this means is, anything that changes outside of Daylite via iCal or Address book will also change the data in Daylite. When contact, calendar, or even task information outside of Daylite is changed, Daylite maintains it's own link between contact and task internally. This is a good thing.

How Daylite's Sync Fails:
Daylite's sync fails when MobileMe comes into the picture. When MobileMe accesses your data, in rare cases, it notices inconsistencies in your calendar. In these cases, Mobile Me finds it best to erase the calendar data on your computer and replace it with the updated file. This is also ok, because now your information is accurate and consistent.

The PROBLEM comes in how Daylite interacts with the mediator. In this case iCal. When iCal's events and tasks are "erased and replaced" Daylite does the same thing, by erasing all events and tasks. At this point you essentially have a brand new task and calendar list. This is a problem because your contact's were still linked to the data that just got erase seconds ago. Even though the data has been replaced, Daylite doesn't understand it is the SAME data. (It does seems to be smart enough however, to keep the link between actual appointments. Odd, I know)

This is the problem, and this is why ALL your tasks are no longer linked to their contacts.

THE FIX:
Until Daylite fixes this issue, this will probably continue to happen. BUT take heart dear reader, I did not want to write this post without the workaround to fix this problem.

Fix Process:
Daylite IS smart enough to keep the old tasks information in what it calls the trash. So your data that was perviously deleted IS still there. It is actually an easy process to set things back to the way they were earlier. Here's how.

Your first option might be to simply restore from a backup. I can't do this, because my information changes to quickly for this to actually help. It would restore very old data. (perhaps I need to backup more) If like me, this is not an option for you, the steps below WILL work. They have worked for me flawlessly.

1. Wait 10 Minutes: Wait ten minutes from Daylite failure to do this process. We need to separate deletion history by time frame.
2. Backup Daylite: File --> Database --> Quick Backup
3. Erase All Tasks: Tasks --> [all] Tasks --> CMD+A --> Delete. (Important: Note the time of this deletion)
4. Wait... this deletion process make take a VERY long time
5. Open Trash: Window --> Trash
6. Sort By Deletion Date: Click on Deletion Date, and this list will re-sort. (Arrow should point up)
7. Find Old Data: Scroll past all the data you deleted seconds ago, it may span over just a few minutes. (remember, we noted the time we deleted it)
8. Find Old Data: Select the first task that was one of the original tasks deleted. This will be time stamped more than 10 minutes earlier than time you wrote down.
9. Find All Old Data: Keeping that first task selected, scroll down until you get to the end of the accidental deletions. You will them all on the same time stamp (or at least within a minute of each-other). Obviously ALL erased data is in here, and we don't want to restore the stuff you just deleted on purpose.
10. Select And Restore Data: When you come to the end of the task deletions in questions (the ones we want to restore). Hold down Shift and select that last task. Now all the good tasks we want to restore are selected. (They should all be highlighted) Verify all the correct info is selected.
11. Restore: Click the restore button. Wait. Now your correct task information is restored!!
12. Verify your information is back to the way it should be. 

If you data is NOT restored. Restore Daylite to the backup we created before we started this process and go back through the above list to see what you did wrong. (File--> Database --> Restore Backup)

If this process did not work for you, there is a chance you have experienced a different bug entirely. If that's the case, make sure to contact MarketCircle and plead for their assistance. (Note: If you are respectful and nice, they are quicker to help you)

McDonald's automated up-selling, a new low?

For a while now I have been completely put-off by the automated up-selling done at the drive through window at McDonald's. For those who have not experienced this, it is a pre-recorded voice that mentions the daily specials before the employee can take your order. Not only is it mildly irritating, but it shows complete distrust for their staff. The ironic thing is when you tell someone you don't trust them to do their job, they typically want to do it less. (By the way, I ask every employee what they think of that thing, and they unanimously hate it)

As my wife and I went to McDonald's last night for a cone, the automated up-selling assistant hit an all new low. We came only to order two ice cream cones, and like clock work, the up-sell assistant asked if we wanted to get a hot apple, pumpkin or cherry pie, 2 for a dollar. I declined, but as I pulled up to the window my wife and I agreed that an apple pie would be really good. As the employee slid open the drive-through window, I mentioned to her, that I would love to add 2 apple pies for a dollar. Her response astounded me.

Employee: "I am sorry sir, we are all out of Apple pies, but we have cherry available."

Me: "But wasn't I just offered to purchase some only a moment ago?"

Employee: "Yea, that thing has been saying that all day, and there is nothing I can do about it, I'm very sorry"

The one time the automated up-sell assistant actually interested me in a product, it was still a complete failure, because it was up-selling me to inventory that wasn't available. The automated up-sell assistant doesn't have a brain, and therefore didn't understand that inventory was lacking. My brief exchange with this employee is a picture perfect reason that up-sell power should be kept in the hands of REAL people. After the automated error, obviously this employee was intelligent enough to offer me an alternative, and intelligence is what this system lacks.

If employees are not up-selling the solution is better training, and better care for employees, NOT automated computers to do their job. Stop insulting me and your employees, treat them better and let them do their job.

Don't understand social media? Talk to grandpa.

If you had a grain of sand for every time social media is mentioned today, you would have a private island by this point. There are training sessions, focus groups, news stories, marketing campaigns and dinner table discussions. (If you don't have a pulse, I am speaking of Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, Wordpress, Delicious, FriendFeed, Viddler, YouTube, etc.)

So what is all the hype REALLY about? It turns out Granpa might know best. If using social media for business or personal gain, true experts will tell you it is all about reaching your target market through transparency, openness, education and being a general resource. Of course they are correct.

So what is my discovery? What does Grandpa have to do with social media? It is quite simple. Social media avenues actually turned the business practice clock back about 50-60 years. Let me show you the three sales ages I've noticed to illustrate my point.

1. The Age of Character: 50-60 Years ago when companies were smaller, sales were made through listening, transparency, openness, education and great reputation. It truly was about a relationship!! Character played a big role.
2. The Age of Shut Up: We then moved into the advertising age, where the company with the most money won. Companies got bigger and started to flood their markets with tons of advertising that would silence the neigh sayer. If you had a bad experience your voice wasn't easily heard. Selling via "relationships" & "character" was merely tradition NOT actual practice.
3. The Next Age of Accountability: AKA, the new Age of Character. With our connected-ness and social media avenues today, grandpa's sales techniques are coming back into practice! It is again about the relationship and not flooding the industry with your marketing. It is again about listening to the customer.

My discovery isn't about the correct use of social media avenues, experts have been preaching that for the last 2 years. My discovery is that with this new technology, we have actually stepped backward in the way we sell. If your company doesn't care about the relationship with your customer or your own character, you won't survive. Your grandpa would be happy to know "the relationship" is making a comeback in business.

In addition new websites like SmartyPig.com and Mint.com also believe in Grandpa's way of not spending what you don't have. I turns out Grandpa knew best all along.