Comcast Oopsie!

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These stories are always somewhat funny, but hit really close to home based on the fact that the volume of my career’s work has been in telecommunications. I have been in situations like this (albeit not nearly as drastic) where you have to manage through all of the snowball that happens as a result. While it is so incredibly complicated, I think we are all starting to better learn how to navigate these scenarios and remind ourselves how easy it is for the 0.1% of people to derail the boat which is otherwise navigated by the 99.9%.

The one thing that shocked me though? 2 years of service was the alleged reimbursement offer (and 2 subsequent years of free service)… What’s that, a little less than $10k? I know if I were a customer I would be looking for WAY more than that. Right? What do you think – what’s the price on ’embarrassment’ or ‘agony’ now in a digital age where it’s so easy to smear a company and have it go viral?

Til Next Time,

Michael

Ebates

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Am I the last person to the Ebates party? In case I’m not, anyone who isn’t familiar and shops online should absolutely use it. It’s free to use and gets you actual cash back (well – in my case it’s virtual since I have it dip back into my PayPal). I’m amazed at how this program is structured, as I imagine the back end is extremely complicated. These sorts of third party loyalty/rewards programs that offer real money always seem to be difficult to orchestrate. How does Ebates get the money back from the retailer? Do they provide a monthly report to retailer XYZ that says “We sent 247 customers to your site who ended up spending $3,602, meaning you therefore owe us 3% (2% we gave back to customers and the 1% we keep)”? I know that’s a gross oversimplification, but I always wonder how these sorts of negotiations go when it comes to big box/massive retailers and third party sales/campaign crews. It’s just crazy to think someone like Amazon would give up to 8% cash back via Ebates for particular product categories. It’s a direct cut into their margin, right?

But I won’t complain – as I did cash out pretty nicely after the holidays all cleared up!

LINK TO SIGN UP (selfish disclosure – this is technically a referral link although I think I only get $5 if you actually sign up and use it)

Til Next Time,

Michael

Pocket Synthesizers

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I know I have continued to shout the “kids should code” argument a lot over my time here on the blog… But here’s a unique way to teach kids the fundamentals of things like code without necessarily making them feel like a computer programmer. I think the more kids we can get into things like music (especially the meticulously constructed kind rather than the passive listening kind), the more we can open up both the right and left brain. And the more we can get kids tapped into the left brain, the more doors open down the road because of their ability to critically and logically analyze any situation (be it in band practice or in the board room) to drive the best possible outcome.

Not saying every kid needs to become a DJ – but hey – it would at least give a pretty solid foundation in something that requires detailed planning and execution rather than letting them Instagram their lives away.

Til Next Time,

Michael

$100k Jobs

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A couple weeks back, I was reading Yahoo Finance and one of the side stories caught my eye. It was a story about jobs where you can earn $100k. Now, I’ve always been intrigued by any resources like this story, sites like The Ladders, or any job postings in this elusive income bracket – as it often amazes me how much (or how little) it can take to get to this basically irrelevant level. I call the level irrelevant as there is really no difference between $99k and $101k. Sure, your W-2 has 6 digits to the left of the pennies columns, but it’s not like that puts you into uncharted territory or into some new tax bracket. I guess it’s all psychological maybe?

Either way – I was a little frustrated with Yahoo (via US News & World Report) to have three of those jobs be ones that require significant graduate schooling (Physician, Dentist, Lawyer – duh). However, the other two jobs it mentioned are near and dear to me either because of past work I’ve done or the jobs of some of my most respected colleagues and friends. Those jobs are Marketing Manager and IT Manager. If I have said it before, I’ll say it again. Fields like these are on FIRE right now. And, in my opinion, the barriers to entry are fairly limited. So – if you have any opportunity to adjust your focus area or start to plan for the next phase of school, career, or life in general – please consider these areas!

Til Next Time,

Michael

Vamo

Stumbled across a pretty unique travel application/site the other day that I wanted to share. The site is Vamo, and their technology allows you to do a myriad of functions, offering you the ability to do highly-customized trips across different geographies with different travel modes, even accounting for layovers or stops along the way. I think we are starting to enter a golden era where the proliferation of customizable search engines (leveraging standardized data such as ITA Software to pull aggregated flight data from reputable carriers) will start to make travel easier/better/more affordable and that is always an exciting “pro” of innovation and technology in my mind.

As an avid traveler and someone who is always looking for my next big trip, I’m very intrigued by what Vamo has to offer. I wonder, though, whether this may prove to simply be an overfunded startup that doesn’t really live up to the hype…  We shall see!

Til Next Time,

Michael

MLK Day

Martin Luther King Day is a huge day where I live (Atlanta), so I wanted to take a chance here on the blog to pay some respect to a very important figure in our national history. What he stood for and the eloquence with which he spoke are something we can all admire, and I am happy that there are people like him that still make up the fabric of this country.

Til Next Time,

Michael

Smoothies

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On Wednesday, I shared a link to the American Express Tumblr page. I’ve already found one of my favorite posts and it is an ode to making a great smoothie. I don’t make smoothies nearly enough, probably for fear that I would mess it up (or, more likely, I would buy a bunch of fresh fruit of which I will inevitably waste 90%). But seeing this has definitely energized me to give it another shot. Fortunately, my office is a place where I think I can easily get away with keeping/storing a blender. And, we get fresh fruit delivered every Monday and Wednesday. So I really have no excuse not to…

Til Next Time,

Michael

American Express Tumblr

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I was perusing the internet the other day and stumbled upon a great site that aligns with a lot of my interests and presents relevant and timely information that helps motivate people to live life to the fullest. The site is actually the Tumblr Account of American Express. Odd, I know, but definitely take a look. I’m sure I will be featuring a good portion of their content over time, as I believe it is a good reminder to stay healthy and focused so that we can give our best when it comes to work and life alike. They load their Tumblr up with solid infographics, great recipes (as well as step by step GIFs in many cases), and all-around good content from a bunch of qualified and creative third party sources (who, by the way, are often independent contributors who have become successful in their own right through blogs or their own endeavors; AMEX has long supported small businesses which is another reason I’m always a proponent). Cheers to them for doing something other than just being a conduit to a mile long credit line with massive interest rates!

Til Next Time,

Michael

Quote of the Day

Late last year, I wrote a quote on my whiteboard that I decided is a new rule to live by. As I cleaned off my board to start the new year, I knew I needed to keep this quote handy so that I could recall the wisdom it evokes.

“Poor Planning On Your Part Doesn’t Constitute An Emergency On Mine” -Adapted from a Proverb, via My Boss

This quote, for me in my role, isn’t so much about being a naysayer or trying to be the anti-team-player. It is really about reminding everyone that proper planning prevents poor performance (that other overloaded alliteration related to planning). As much as others may need the reminder, I know I need the reminder myself. Far too often, myself or my team, or our partners come up with last minute requests and then handcuff ourselves to “ASAP” as the rule for how soon we “need” to get it done. There is a time and a place for everything, and a sense of urgency is many times supremely helpful in time-sensitive communications or implementations. But we have to break away from the idea that this is the new norm. It all comes back to proper determination of what’s really important. I think a lot of us have a long way to go before we truly understand what’s important. And maybe it is only then that we will really start to be able to take this quote to heart.

Til Next Time,

Michael

Travel Rewards

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While I’m no longer a “frequent” traveler, I do still travel with some regularity. As such, I’m always on the lookout for great travel deals and the best ways to optimize my points. I wanted to share with you a couple resources I use to scour the internet for these one-of-a-kind deals that can get you anything from $300 flights to Europe to free nights at luxury hotels.

A few of my favorites:

What do you use to optimize your travel rewards?

Til Next Time,

Michael