Frontline Perspectives

We’re moving into a new facility at the end of this week. As I write this, I can hear at least three box tape dispensers screeching (this has got to be one of the worst sounds known to mankind). There are cardboard boxes in every corner of every office. I’ve tripped over containers marked “Trash” and others marked “Move.”

There have been meetings about time lines, seating charts, conference rooms and general logistics. Questions about what to take with us and what to just get rid of. What gets moved to storage and what doesn’t. What do the movers move, and what should we take over ourselves. Read more »

Kevin Coe and I teamed up today to challenge Tom Barg and Tim Cook to a game of “Adverteasing” (the game of slogans, commercials and jingles). While I admit I missed this game when it came out in the 80s, it caught my eye on a recent trip to our local Goodwill Store. For $1.98 I got an unopened box and brought it into the office. (If you haven’t been in a Goodwill Store you need to go sometime…there are treasures to be found and you can consider it part of your green commitment to recycle more.)

Anyway…Tim and Tom are well known in our office as great trivia buffs. Particularly TV trivia. I thought this game would be a good test of just how good they really were, and maybe take their smug little behinds down a notch or two. Read more »

Yes, I mean vooks and not books.

I am a big reader. A couple of years ago, I got a Kindle as a gift (from my husband and two girls for Mother’s Day- good job guys!) For me, my Kindle is as addictive as chocolate. At any given time there are 4-6 books that I’m reading (most of them work-related these days). It goes on every trip with me, and for any appointments where I know I’ll be kept waiting. I am feeling a little outdated since I have version 1, and version 2 is really sweet. But I might wait a bit longer to get the next version because of something better that is coming out. Read more »

This past weekend I attended my grandfather’s 99th birthday party. As I listened to him talk with my husband about the current business climate, I found myself amazed at the sheer magnitude of changes he has seen in his lifetime.

Grandpa started working in the 1920′s, in the mail room of The ACB Company (Advertising Checking Bureau). Their business model included rooms full of people scouring page after page to make sure that retail ads that had been placed were actually being run. They had offices across the US, and employed hundreds of people. By the time he retired as Chairman of the Board, computers were doing much of that work, and the ads they were checking were on the “world wide web.” Read more »