Clean

Having just spent 10 days in Australia, I noticed early on that it's a very clean place. Not much litter, trash or crunk around to catch the eye.  I spent most of my time in a hotel, where initially I thought they were short of trash cans, ashtray-like receptacles, etc.  Then I spent a day in Sydney. Same observation. The streets DON'T have a waste basket every ten feet. I think I have it sorted, the Australians have been well-trained to stay clean.  To put things in the trash right where they stand, especially when eating. Food storage and consumption makes for plenty of litter. The hotel was scarce for waste drops throughout the common areas. What if you were trained to stay in one place and eat, or forced to carry your trash with you until you discovered a place to throw it away? That's what I think is happening over there. In NY, there are overflowing trash cans everywhere, and plenty of junk around them, on top of them or at the foot of trash cans. It's so easy to find a trash can, we are used to doing whatever and making it work. What if we had to think about where that wrapper was going to be discarded, would it make a difference?

We don't have as clean a place as they do in Australia. Maybe it's because Aussies have less options to dispose of junk away that keeps their country so neat?

Momentum!

They will. I know it. Our franchisees in Australia and New Zealand are really digging into our Aussie Expo 2011. We brought so much "out of the box" material, things to discuss, new ideas, it will stick.  They will put many of the things we introduced into their businesses. It's exciting to be a part of it. I don't like the long trip, maybe that would be better if I flew business class!

ShopSIGNARAMA is a topic in need of smoothing over... franchisees here will experience what the USA already lived through last year. I think this year's conference will be a turning point for the material I brought. With Ray, Jim and Evan touting social media use and customer service prior to me rolling through a four-point plan for improvement, the chances are good more will become involved and get engaged. I look forward to more followers on Twitter, friends and such on Facebook, and connections on Linkedin.

The future is very bright for these franchisees. They are isolated from most of the world and they just plow through our program chasing their countrymen, some of the best performers in our system! I'm glad to see the positive impact our trip is making this year.

Farewell, Great Lion

I am sad because someone I've never met passed away. I am not a full-on Apple fanboy, but I know the contribution Steve Jobs made to this world is special, I am sad to see it cut short so soon. 

For someone to redefine as many things as he did with his ideas and actions is incredible. The accolades that I've read online from so many people, both the famous and the masses, are warming and poignant. Add it up, no traditional company has made the global impact that Apple, Inc. has, especially since Steve's "comeback" in 1997. Wow.

I am inspired and driven into brief pauses and pockets of deep thought as I recall my involvement with Apple and Steve Job's products. As a computer science major in the early '80s, the "Apple Lab" in college was a special place to program. It was filled with Apple IIc and IIe computers that each had their own processors, unlike the clunky old IBM 360/370 we also got to dance with on campus. The iPod? An immediate hit with me. Seeing myself and many other folks gravitate to the MacBook series of laptops, especially after the Motorola chipsets were traded for Intel? Very fulfilling. Retail stores where customers could see, try and learn about the newest products? Groundbreaking. Now iPad and the many things we are still discovering it can serve as? Brilliant - and a product concieved out of nowhere! What an array of winners.

To watch in today's age the way in which Steve Jobs led his company was amazing. I am sure Apple will continue to innovate and produce goods of mass appeal even after the Jobs era. His methods have bred many others that churn ideas just like he did. Entrepreneurs and engineers, designers and artists that will use his tools to spring us further into the future. I know there are probably many other products on the drawing board that won't go public for years that were spawned in the mind of Steve Jobs. I can't wait to see how that unfolds.

I am sorry we loose a leader that made decisions that were iconically bold, forward-thinking and many times against the grain. Look at the man who did not call himself a visionary mind, his peers and competitors did. With his own path clear in his mind's eye, he steered his garage startup to be the most valuable tech company on Earth. That's because true visionaries see further down the path than most. Then they act on what they see. 

The final release of Apple's latest operating system is now prepackaged with all new Mac computers. Appropriately named OS X Lion, as in "King of the Jungle," it represents the best effort yet in Apple's OS X lineup. Steve Jobs was the "Lion" in Apple's lineup. He saw the future, engineered simple-to-use devices to his meticulous standards, and reinvented consumer electronics worldwide. His life's work was great for technology buffs, great for America and great for his millions of worldwide customers. Watch now as his greatest contribution spills even more innovation into our lives. He inspired many like myself to chase what they believe in rather than say, "That's good enough." His mark is unmistakeable, his contributions many, his roar heard throughout the land.

Farewell, Great Lion.

The secret is in good hands, cases, jets...

As a quickie follow up to a post from a week and a half ago, here's more info from Fast Company magazine on jsut what lengths Apple will go to in keeping product specifications under wraps until they are ready to give the public a peek...

Fast Company article

Wow!

Planning Ahead. Again.

I'm spearheading our company's efforts at our 2011 Australasian Expo this year, from the USA perspective. Honestly, the heavy lifting is being done by our experts in Australia, my role this year is to mesh what the corporate team needs to see happen with what's really occurring on the ground in Australia.  I love doing these events, I consider it like a chess match. My job is to keep a few moves ahead of the attendees and their conference experience, a few moves ahead of our USA team who will arrive and expect everything to be just right, and a few moves in front of any potential pitfalls or goof ups that could arise. Challenges include: 

• Budgeting, forecasting and paying for the event.
• Arranging the education to match with what our franchisees consider valuable.
• Putting suppliers and attendees (our customers!) needs and wants in persepective.
• Learning about the venue and possibilities from 12,000 miles away. Once I arrive, I'll have maybe a day to make changes if necessary, then it's showtime.
• Filling the event with levity and fun. I fear if I wasn't involved, it would swing to "all work, no play," not what our franchisees are looking for. Allow me to add the sugar.
• Putting together a presentation on social, mobile and trends for our attendees.
• Getting mentor shirts for everyone in our mentor program before the event. And have them arrive in Australia on time.
• Bringing all the proper goodies to make the event smooth: projectors, converters, passport, winter clothes!
• Taking too many pictures, as I'm known to do at these things.
• Arranging pertinent and fun coffee break and intro music.
• Organizing some kind of start up - launch for the event.
• Dinner with our mentor chairpersons once in Melbourne.

These things are not really all challenges, they are things I have to consider, arrange and conquer before the end of the month. Plan Ahead Events is one of our franchise brands, I'm back doing what started this concept in the first place. And I love the prospects of getting it all right.