Like To Write Stuff: Why & How Thus Far

This post will have a decidedly different bent than prior ones, but there's some things that will be a benefit for myself as the author (and perhaps others as readers).

There's a three-part topic to cover with the first two thirds discussed here and the final third in a subsequent post.

(1) Why the blog is being written... that can be best done through the blog "title", "header" and "wherefore":

like to write stuff: I genuinely enjoy writing. This isn't a new thing, but something that in the last 6 months or so, I've actually begun exercising again (really for the first consistent time since college). I'm not sure what form exactly it would take, but would like to work in a career where writing is a significant output of what I do.

A bread crumb trail towards the three Rs: reading, writing & really trying to learn new stuff. This header statement is a pretty good description of what I hope the output from this blog to be. The goal is to bring together my writing along with what I read... whether that be from magazines, books or websites (or expanding the universe further, things I view or experience). To state it simply, I hope to tie together in one place things I've found to be... interesting (hmmm... this last statement could have been taken directly from the "wherefore the blog" section).

As this has been written, I recognize that there really is another goal behind the blog. Reference was made earlier to my desire to work in a career that involved me writing... hopefully, this blog can be a vehicle to help accomplish that goal.

(2) The path to current point... this can best be summarized by pulling (in list form) some of the verbiage currently in the "transmogrification of the blog" section.

A. For several years now, I've been a "read and rip out" kind of guy. I'd come across various things I find interesting (mostly magazine articles) and rip out and save the page(s).

B. I created this blog back in mid 2006 and began posting here links to the articles I ripped out along with associated websites from said articles. This was simply in list form w/o much verbiage around what was contained within.

C. Sometime from mid 2006 to mid 2007, I added to the blog lists of both books that I've read (many of which I learned about through the aforementioned magazine articles) over the last few years and websites I've found interesting (yep, many from the same articles).

D. In March of this year I created and began writing http://ahockeyguy.blogspot.com/. Designed to be completely different than this blog in both content and approach, it's about the NHL (and my beloved San Jose Sharks) and contains mostly my original writing and very few website/magazine article/book links.

E. In July of this year I realized I wanted to bring together in this blog my writing with the notes I've taken and things I've come across (non-hockey related) that I've found to be interesting. Since that time, I've posted close to daily (32 posts in close to two months) and have tried to stay true to the goal set out... to write about things I found interesting.

(3) The path going forward... I've reached the point where I'm happy with the content I've been putting onto the blog which takes me to the next step... how to get a readership.

Ideas around this to follow in a subsequent post...

Customer Service: The Good, Bad & Ugly

In a May 2008 special report (which was also it's cover story), BusinessWeek published a series of articles on customer service. It's an interesting and all-encompassing look at what consumers are getting from corporations, and how they're demanding more.

Below is that cover image along with the various pieces published as part of the report:



- "Customer Vigilantes" is the lead story and focuses on how today's consumer world of blogs, feedback websites and access to information (such as contact #s for corporate execs) makes it much easier for consumers to express their frustrations... and publicly
(http://www.comcastmustdie.com/ being one example).

- "Rebel with a Stalled Cause" about the customer advocacy website http://www.gethuman.com/ which has had a mixed record of success, but still provides an interesting service... the ability to look up phone #s and the menu prompts to select to get a live customer service rep at thousands of different companies.

_ "Trader Joe's Recipe for Success" about how the supermarket thrives through a mixture including excellent employees and niche product stocking.

- BusinessWeek ranking of companies on their 50 Customer Service Champs list. The top 5 according to BW are: (5) Trader Joe's, (4) Lexus, (3) Fairmont Hotels, (2) L.L. Bean & (1) USAA.

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This special report reminded me of how in Jan 2006, BW published an interesting article titled "Would you Recommend Us?". It was about the fairly new concept of measuring customer sat using the concept of "net promoter scores" (or NPS) which are derived through asking customers to rate on a 1-10 scale how likely they would be to recommend that company to friends and/or colleagues.

It's an interesting idea in that it seems to to both get to the heart of how a consumer feels about a brand and also ties into a concept from the BW special report... how in today's "information society", the consumer has many new ways to tell their experiences (good or bad) with brands.

Interesting stuff.

"A Sense of the World" by Jason Roberts

In "A Sense of the World", a narrative nonfiction account of blind traveler James Holman, author Jason Roberts provides a fascinating look at this adventurer.

I first heard about Roberts' book in the Time Magazine review titled "Have Cane, Will Travel" by Lev Grossman and was definitely not disappointed after actually reading the book. Tracing Holman's life from his birth to death is an interesting read and Roberts does a very compelling job of describing the travails and challenges faced from the explorer, James Holman.

Definitely recommend this book... particularly for those who love adventurous travel, or at least the idea of such.

My Fancy New iPhone

After pining for one since first hearing word of it's release, I picked up my new 3G iPhone last week (As this photo essay from Time Magazine shows, I certainly wasn't the only one). While it has received some criticism in the press (mostly for trouble with phone reception), I'm thrilled to now have it.

After being asked why I made the purchase, I realized that the cause is probably split equally between the iPhone's features and what it represents.

The features themselves are pretty well documented... phone, e-mail, web browsing, access to the application store; basically a small personal computer that can make and receive calls. Everything for the most part appears to work well (though I do find odd both that the typing screen can't be rotated 90 degrees to make the keys larger and that the phone texting function can't receive attachments), but what the iPhone represents is a story in and of itself.

A Nov 2007 issue of Time put the original iPhone on the cover (shown below) and in the contained "Invention of the Year" story, details it's leap forward in the areas of both design and user interface. Additionally, though, the iPhone is hyped (in a good way) both for it's being a platform rather than just a phone and it's likelihood to shape technology going forward. This shaping would be from other manufacturers designing to keep up and Apple itself introducing new and better generations of the iPhone... which it has of course already begun to do with the 3G intro.



So, while I don't consider myself to be much of a technology early adopter (to use a business lexicon phrase), I'm excited to now own this thing. The functionality is there and maybe just as meaningful, so is the promise of things to come in consumer technology. Very cool stuff.

Prefabtastic: The Rise of the Prefabricated Home

"Home Thoughts" from the August 25, 2008 issue of Time Magazine chronicles a prefab home exhibition currently showing at the New York Museum of Modern Art. This same exhibition was also detailed in a recent BusinessWeek article and made me think of some other interesting mentions I've seen over the last few years of prefab homes.

Back to 2005, this BusinessWeek story shows seven different prefab homes and for several years now, I've seen recurring mentions of designer Michelle Kaufmann and her "Glidehouse" prefab home. Kaufmann seems to be the rockstar designer for this new movement of sustainably built prefab homes and the below You Tube video can also be found along with several others at this link on Kaufmann's website.

Prefab homes... affordable, sustainable and very cool.

More Great Chris Jones Writing From Esquire

The first "official" (non-list) post to this blog was about Chris Jones who writes (I believe) primarily for Esquire Magazine. Titled "Out of Orbit (or "Too Far From Home") & other writings by Chris Jones, the post is about his book ("Too Far From Home" in hardcover / "Out of Orbit" in paperback) chronicling the astronauts and cosmonauts who were on the International Space Station at the time of the Challenger disaster. Additionally, it has mention of the poignant story "The Things That Carried Him" from Esquire.

Jones' book and this Esquire story now duly noted (twice), his other writings from the magazine also deserve mention. His work there can be found through a search of his name at the magazine's site and some of the stories that stood out as particularly interesting are listed below:
- "The Runaway" from Dec 2004 about Ricky Williams and his less than excited return to the life of an NFL player. Very insightful look at the choices a star football player has to make between the sport they play and the league they have to play it in.

- "Barry Zito is Lights Out" from June 2007 about the newly signed (to a $126M contract) San Francisco Giant pitcher. Similar to the Williams piece, it shows a fascinating look at an individual whose vocation places them squarely in the public eye.

- "Into the Void" from Feb 2007 about Chris Snow, Minnesota Wild Director of Hockey Operations. Snow took this role at 25 after previously being employed as a Red Sox beat writer by the Boston Globe. The particulars of this story are amazing in and of themselves and Jones as always does a great job of fleshing out the details.

- "One of Us" written in three installments from August 2006 through March 2008 about the presumptive 2008 Republican Presidential candidate, John McCain. It's a very detailed and intimate look at a one of the two remaining major party challengers to lead the country through the next four years.

"Chill-Inducing Olympic Moments" from Esquire blog

From the Esquire Magazine website, writer Daniel Murphy in the "Blog of Lists" provides his "Five Most Chill-Inducing Olympic Moments" with accompanying You Tube videos.

The list starts off incredibly strong with British track star Derek Redmond being helped across the finish line by his father (video of which has now been made famous by Visa and a Morgan Freeman voiceover) and goes on to cover moments featuring the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team and gymnast Kerri Strug vaulting her way to a team gold on one good leg.

The Redmond You Tube post is below and the other four "chill-inducing moments" can be found at the link to Murphy's post above.

"Politics Lost" & other writings by Joe Klein

Time Magazine writer Joe Klein may be best known for being the "Anonymous" author of "Primary Colors" (a fictionalized account of Bill Clinton's run for the Presidency), but that's by no means all that Klein has written of value.



Klein's book "Politics Lost" is a fascinating look at his view of some of the problems in the American political process. To this end, the sub-title of the book "From RFK to W: How Politicians Have Become Less Courageous and More Interested in Keeping Power than in Doing What's Right for America" offers a good preview of his feelings on many elected officials... and the political consultants and handlers who shape those officials.

One thing of particular interest in the book is Klein's mention of Robert F Kennedy's speech (overviewed and available in this NPR story) the night of Martin Luther King Jr's assassination. Kennedy's unrehearsed (and now famous) speech to a largely black crowd on this extemely emotional and volitile night is held up by Klein as an example of the best that political leaders can and should offer the public.

While Klein has garnered a good amount of attention for his books, he is also well know for his frequent commentaries (named after the famous "Man in the Arena" quote from Theodore Roosevelt) in Time Magazine.

Several of Klein's commentaries that I've found to be of note are those on Merle Haggard returning to the Democratic Party, Tim Russert and his relationship with Klein and Barack Obama's Cabinet choices should he become President. That said, Klein has a breadth of excellent writing and his "In the Arena" work can be found at this compilation list.

Michael Vick's Financial Woes: Buzzards Circle the Pro Athlete

Never would I be a Michael Vick apologist, but Lester Munson's "Bad advice, bad decisions: the loss of Michael Vick's fortune" piece on ESPN.com tells a remarkable tale of one advisor (mostly financial) after another seeming to line up for a (larger than deserved) piece of Vick's money.

Reading a story like this demonstrates why exactly the NFL holds a mandatory multiple day rookie orientation to prepare aspiring stars for everything that comes with the package of being a pro athlete.

Quite the cautionary tale...

Jeff Skoll... Participant Media & Skoll Foundation

I first came across Jeff Skoll in a December 21, 2003 BusinessWeek interview titled "Jeffrey Skoll: Why Delay? Give It Away". The piece was featured in a BW Special Report on philanthropy and reveals glimpses into Skoll's path from aspiring writer, to eBay founder (along with Pierre Omidyar), philanthropist and Hollywood leader focused on social issues.

The result of Skoll's efforts can be found both at the non-profit bearing his name, the Skoll Foundation, and his entertainment company Participant Media (formerly Participant Productions... chronicled in this 2005 BusinessWeek article).

It would certainly be a fair statement to say that Skoll's original idea of being a writer is what stood out to me, but he's a fascinating guy who is involved in a lot of interesting and worthwhile efforts.

"The Blind Side", "Moneyball" & "The New New Thing" by Michael Lewis

It doesn't seem terribly frequent that you come across a non-fiction writer whose books cover a broad range of subjects... well.

Berkeley, California resident Michael Lewis shows himself to be the exception to this norm with three excellent books about the widely disparate subjects of baseball team building, technology company creating and football star blooming.

His most well-known book in the San Francisco Bay Area has to be "Moneyball" that Lewis wrote as a chronicle of Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane and his (highly successful) efforts to build a winning baseball team while spending less money than the opposition. To this end, Beane focused (and continues to focus) on trying to exploit untapped market opportunities (i.e. to draft the best college players if other teams are primarily going after only high-school athletes).




With it's roots still in Northern California, Lewis also wrote "The New New Thing" about Silicon Valley legend Jim Clark. It's an extremely interesting subject to take on as Clark is currently the only person to create 3 different companies (Netscape, Healtheon and Silicon Graphics) that each reached over $1 billion in value. Clark's former hire at Netscape, Marc Andreesen may be the closest to joining him with his past success at Netscape and Loudcloud/Opsware and current effort at Ning, but for now Clark stands alone in this "$3B club".



Lewis' most recent book goes after something entirely different, both in terms of subject and geography. "The Blind Side" is an account of current college football star lineman Michael Oher who went from a poor neighborhood in Memphis, TN to a likely first-round NFL draft pick in the Summer of 2009. Oher's is a fascinating human tale about someone with raw physical abilities and the help then provided to help him reach this current status of potential millionaire.



In addition to these excellent books, Lewis also has published a series of pieces for Slate Magazine titled "Dad Again" which chronicle various stages in the births and lives of his three young children with former MTV VJ wife, Tabitha Soren.

Fast Company Magazine - Sept 2008: Clorox & the Sierra Club... and other stuff of note

Some interesting stuff from the Sept 2008 issue of Fast Company Magazine...




Headlining these was a fairly large piece titled "Cleaning Solution" about the Sierra Club (America's oldest and largest environmental organization) allowing it's logo to be featured on Clorox Corporation's new line of "Green Works" cleaning products in exchange for undisclosed sums of money.

While it's understandable that the Sierra Club would want to maximize revenue (and likely will put said funds to good use), many Club members are raising the question of whether they should be in the product of co-labeling on for-profit products. Additionally, many are concerned about the particulars of this deal (such as what's received by the Sierra Club and how "green" is the "Green Works" line).

Some other things of note out of this issue:

- Update on awards conferred on writer Charles Fishman's 2007 Fast Company expose "Message in a Bottle" on the bottled water industry. This was particularly interesting coupled with a previous post made here about the impact of a Nestle Corp/Arrowhead brand bottled water plant in rural Northern California. Yep, water is good for you... bottled water, maybe not so much.

- Update on former Sierra Club president Adam Werbach who caught a large of "green flak" for consulting with Wal-Mart as chronicled in the 2007 Fast Company piece "Working with the Enemy". Werbach has since sold his consulting company to Advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi where he'll ostensibly ontinue his environmental efforts... while at the same time defending himself about fellow enviros who feel that he has "sold out" to corporate interests.

- "Forces of Nature" about the newly rebuilt California Academy of Sciences in the Golden Gate Park area of San Francisco opening Sept 27, 2008.

- Former Microsoft (and now everywhere tech) blogger Robert Scoble and his "Sky Fighters" piece about competing telescope's available on the web... MS's WorldWide Telescope and Google Sky.

- Article on the popular travel site Kayak.

Marketing of "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

I previously wrote about Stephenie Meyer as now being one of the "blockbuster writers" and have now come across an interesting article titled titled "Harry Potter with Fangs- and a Social Network". Featured in the Aug 11, 2008 issue of BusinessWeek, it chronicles some of the online efforts that have helped her entire "Twilight" series achieve blockbuster status.



Some of these sites include: Twilighters, TwilightMoms, Twilight Guy and Meyer's personal website.

One particularly interesting thing from the article was mention of how other best-sellers such as "Freakonomics", "The Last Lecture" and "The 4-Hour Workweek" have attempted to replicate this type of online community. This illustrates that true impact status is often achieved not just by singular success, but by the impact that success has on the world around it.

"The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein

In his book "The Art of Racing in the Rain", Seattle author Garth Stein weaves a fantastic tale narrated through the inner voice of a dog as he observes the life challenges faced by his intrepid owner. Through this looking in on family heartbreak and challenge, the dog/narrator provides insightful life lessons that in many ways... only a dog could.






While this is probably not a book that will resonate with all, it's lyrical and deep in meaning nature is sure to appeal to many... particularly those who love both wisdom and dogs.

"Against the Gods" by Peter Bernstein

There are a great number of financial sages to be found in print and one of those with an extremely long track record of solid investment wisdom is Peter Bernstein, author of "Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk" among other books.

I first came across Bernstein in a 2004 Money Magazine interview which led me to read the aforementioned title.

The book itself is an interesting look at the concept of risk through the years and the Money Magainze interview had some fascinating nuggets from Bernstein about his approach to investing. Some highlights from the interview are listed below:

“Diversification is both recognition of ignorance and an aggressive strategy because it puts you in position to profit from wherever the next big hit might come.”

‘You can never be sure that today’s market is going to be a replay of the past.”

“Maximizing returns is an investment strategy that makes sense only in very specific circumstances. In general, survival is the only road to riches. You should try to maximize returns only if losses would not threaten your survival and if you have a compelling future need for the extra gains you might earn.”

This last concept around not simply attempting to "maximize returns" struck me the most in that it means you never will know the absolute highest point an investment will reach, so you never attempt to simply maximize, you always balance against risk.

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics: Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay

Amazing victory by the US men's 4x100 freestyle relay team with anchor-leg swimmer Jason Lezak overcoming a huge deficit against a quality French opponent for the win.



While the NBC coverage was a bit annoying with it's focus on Michael Phelps, it was interesting to hear commentators talk about this as one of the most incredible relays they've seen.

The photo above was taken from CNNSI in their "Beijing Games: Day 3" photo wrap-up.

Broadcast of the race itself can be found on the NBC Olympics website.

2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

After great anticipation of the event, the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympics were in a word... breathtaking.

This probably shouldn't be surprising given the government support of these games (to the tune of a reported $300 million USD on the production), but the actual event itself was truly spectacular.

Some coverage and reporting of the ceremonies can be found at the following:

- CNNSI: Beijing Games Opening Ceremonies Photo Slide Show... also the source of the images below.

- Yahoo! Sports: "Opening Ceremonies Memorable Moments" commentary by Charles Robinson.

- NBC Sports: "Opening Ceremony in Review" video. Additional NBC video can be found by browsing the NBC Olympics video site.

- CNNSI: "China's Spectacular Show" slide show with accompanying audio commentary.

"A Few Seconds of Panic" by Stefan Fatsis

In his book "A Few Seconds of Panic", Wall Street Journal writer Stefan Fatsis gives an extremely interesting account of his training camp spent as a 43-year-old journalist going through Training Camp with the Denver Broncos as a field goal kicker. The journey he took was reminisent of George Plimpton's decades ago when he went through Camp with the Detroit Lions as part of his book "Paper Lion".



While the book dragged on at times, I still highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the NFL as it gives a detailed look at what life in the league can be like for the players... a very few of whom are the stars and majority are often expendable parts.

I've for quite a while found fascinating the fact that the NFL is the major league you're most likely to suffer a dehibilitating injury in, and the only one that doesn't have fully guaranteed contracts.

This view I've had of it as a "chew 'em up and spit 'em out" league is reinforced throughout Fatsis' book... particularly in the several sections where he talks about players going through camp knowing they won't make the team and the coaches knowing they won't make the team, but being kept around to the end to "keep other teams from getting them... you know, just in case someone gets hurt."

There's also a terribly interesting observation made in the middle of the book that the league is broken down into two types of players... not by age, race or salary, but by respective love of the game. There's one camp of players that still just love the game and accept that the parts of being a pro athelete they don't like just come with the territory. The other camp probably also started out loving football (as I imagine most college players still do), but now continue on with NFL careers for the money (understandable given how high the salaries can get), and in spite of the berating of coaches and potential for life-impacting injury.

All in all... really good read.

"Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer, "The Innocent Man" by John Grisham and... J.K. Rowling

Whereas the last post was about a process of writing (specifically writing while holding a different job), I thought it would be interesting to pull together some different stories about... "the big guns", those writers who certainly may have had held down day jobs while writing, but certainly don't have to now. Additionally, these are all authors I've had the chance to read and form an opinion on.

Starting off at the very top is of course, J.K. Rowling who was featured as a "Person of the Year Runner-Up" in the Dec 31, 2007-Jan 7, 2008 issue of Time Magazine. Having been a devoted reader of the entire Harry Potter series, I completely agree with the accolades received by Rowling... and shared her view of the last book (below) as being the best.

Following on the heels of Rowling is Stephenie Meyer. In an Apr 2008 piece titled "Stephenie Meyer: A New J.K. Rowling?" Time profiled the author of the Twilight series. Being curious to see what all the hulabaloo was about, I read Meyer's first book "Twilight" (which became so popular that it became the first in a series) and can attest that it's very entertaining writing and that yep... I'm looking forward to the movie.

Moving on from the teen fantasy genre, Time in Oct 2006 gave a profile of John Grisham which went into detail about his non-fiction book "The Innocent Man". A fascinating read that made me never want to grow up in small-town Oklahoma.

And finally... having gone through the progression of authors I find brilliant (Rowling) to very good with potential for brillance (Meyer & Grisham), there's James Patterson. In March of 2006 Time had "The Man Who Can't Miss" on the gazillion copy selling writer, but having read one of his books... I just don't get it, but with 100 million readers (even better for Patterson, 100 million copy purchasers), he's doing something right.

Writing Whilst Working & "Company" by Max Barry

It's a tough thing to do... writing while at the same time holding down a full-time job (made more tough like by also rearing a baby). However, there is light before the dawn and dusk before the bonny doon...

Whatever, there's is reason to believe it can be done, and well.

The May 2006 issue of Fast Company Magazine contains "Join the Corporate Literati" about people who have succeeded (and continue to) at this dual effort. Another story from Fast Company in Jan 2006, "In Good Company" is about Australian author Max Barry who wrote his first novel during lunch breaks away from Hewlett-Packard. There are of course many ways to skin a cat, but in Barry's case, he utilized the Internet Writers Workshop to improve his craft.

I can attest that Barry's most recently published book, "Company" was an excellent read with a very funny (of the biting humor variety) look at Corporate America and it's follies.

Odd how covers (and titles) can change from hardcover (bottom

So, all this being said, the point of the story is is someone wants to write, they will. It may be tough and may require disciple, but it can be done. That's encouraging.

"The Devil in the White City", "Thunderstruck" & "Isaac's Storm" by Erik Larson

Three excellent books from Erik Larson...

"Thunderstruck": published in paperback in Sept 2007, it's a dual account of the invention of the telegraph (by Marconi) and a murder in England... including how the two intertwine.



"The Devil in the White City": published in paperback in Feb 2004, also a dual account of the Chicago World's Fair and... you guessed it, a murderer in the city.

"Isaac's Storm": published in paperback in July 2000, a tale of the deadly Hurricane which hit Galveston, Texas at the turn of the 20th century... told with focus on the local weather bureau chief, Isaac Cline.

Colleges Marketing Credit-Cards

A question I find interesting is which industries are the worst to work in. This question isn't about which ones pay the least or are the most dangerous, but rather which ones require the most "checking of the morals at the door" to work in.

Often the "sin industries" of alcohol and tobacco are assumed to be the worst, but there's a sometimes overlooked contender for most repugnant... the specific areas of the credit-card industry that target college students.

The July 28 issue of BusinessWeek features "The College Credit-Card Hustle" about the contracts between large credit-card companies and Universities and University Alumni Associations to target students. These can be big money deals and often include commitments from the school to promote affinity cards to students. Schools and alumni associations make big money from these deals and credit-card companies defend them by saying their cards offer the valuable service of credit to students.

The question the article raises is how valuable is this service for youth who often don't comprehend what they're getting into with a credit-card and according to figures from Florida State University are "four times as likely as alumni to be delinquent on a (MBNA) credit card bill."

Credit-card companies cannot (and shouldn't) be prevented from offering cards to students, but schools and school-affiliated organizations should take a hard look at their complicity in the effort.

Disaster Response

A couple of really interesting articles on disaster response over the course of the last few years.

The June 2 issue of Time Magazine gives "Roused by Disaster" about the response of the Chinese government to the disastrous earthquake of May 12. It's a fascinating read that describes a response much greater and more human that might have been expected.

From the Time issue one week later, "How to Survive a Disaster" describes the steps that can be taken by an average citizen in cases of calamity... with special mention of the Morgan Stanley Security Director Rick Rescorla who saves scores of lives in one of the Towers on 9/11.

Finally, if you go back to an August 2007 issue of BusinessWeek, there's "If the Levees Fail In California" about the potential for disaster in the Sacramento Delta region of California.

Thinking about these stories, they come at the topic from different angles... one is the response of an entire government to tragedy, one is what a government could do in cases of disaster and one features near superhuman individual response. I guess the point is that in cases of need, both the government and average citizens need to rise to the occasion. Something that didn't happen enough on either side in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but... you gotta hope for the future.

Obama Coverage from Time Magazine

A couple of interesting pieces from the August 4 issue of Time Magazine on Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama.

In the Commentary section, Joe Klein gives us "Blowing His Top" about the ranting done recently by Republican Presidential candidate John McCain where said "Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign." Klein's view is that McCain isn't exactly being "Presidential" and also that he seems overly focused on "enemy-making".

Shortly after this piece comes "Obama's Overseas Test" about the Senator's trip to the Middle East. Throughout the article, Obama comes across as a very capable representative and potential leader of the United States. While McCain's people had been pushing for some time to have Obama visit the Middle East to try to show that he doesn't belong at the highest levels of foreign policy decision-making, Obama appears quite capable once he's actually there.

The Wonderful World of Blogging

Very interesting cover story in the August 2008 issues of BusinessWeek titled Beyond Blogs. This is actually a follow up piece to a BW story done in 2005, blogs will change your business.

Blogging is an interesting thing. It can in cases like The Huffington Post develop into an actual news source and in other cases can be simply the stereotypical "guy in his basement". What's important for those who do spend time blogging, it has to be interesting to do. From there, some may achieve fame and fortune, but most will simply spend some free time doing something they find interesting (hopefully).

"The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner

Similar to Bill Bryson in his whimsical and entertaining books "In a Sunburned Country" & "A Walk in the Woods" among other travel tales, Eric Weiner delivers in "The Geography of Bliss" an excellent global search for happiness detailing the relative moods of people in places as far flung as Iceland, Moldovia and Quatar.



Weiner seemlessly mixes together humor with the descriptions of each place and comes to the conclusion that one of the biggest drivers of happiness is a common culture... as held by the people in Iceland and not to be found at all in Quatar.

Interesting stuff, and very entertaining.

Energy & the Environment: Reason for Optimism?

There's a fairly huge topic in business/society/the world today that demands attention... energy and the environment.

Each could of course be treated as a separate topic with umpteen numbers of subtopics (all important), but for the purpose of this post, I'd like to bring them together and look at some of the articles I've noticed lately in this area. To start off, there's a baseline distinction to keep in mind when considering energy... public (i.e. government) vs private (i.e. you and I and the companies that we live and work around.

Public action: Not much confidence that anything will happen there, especially with the current administration. To this point, there's a June 2008 essay in Time Magazine titled "The Oil Follies? Our Fault" that speaks to the lost opportunity following Sept 11 when President Bush could have likely invoked with public acceptance a significant gasoline tax. Benefits of this from the public side would have been bringing money into the coffers (at a minimum for fighting terrorism and perhaps even funding alternative energy research).

On the private side, this increase in gasoline costs would likely have caused consumers to reduce gasoline consumption (as they're doing right now, some 7 years later). This idea and the positive benefits from it are detailed in "10 Things You Can Like About $4 Gas" from the July 14 2008 issue of Time.

On the corporate sector private side, consumer demand for reduced energy would have sped up the process (as in happening now) of developing alternative sources of energy to replace the rapidly depleting and environmentally harmful current forms (i.e. oil & coal).

There's a large number of examples of this corporate private sector movement towards energy and the environment. They range from pure energy development to environmentally sound actions apart from energy itself.

A couple of examples of energy development can be found first in the Oct 15 2007 issue of BusinessWeek which features a story titled "Solar's Day In the Sun" on Silicon Valley startup Ausra Inc and second in the July/August issue issue of Fast Company Magazine... in which investor Vinod Khosla, "The King of Green Investing", is profiled.

If you're looking for stories of companies focusing on environmental efforts rather than pure alternative energy development, examples abound there as well. In Sept 2007, Fast Company profiled former Sierra Club wunderkind president Adam Werbach and his environmental consultations with Wal-Mart titled "Working with the Enemy."

More recently, BusinessWeek in it's June 30 2008 issue published "I Have Just One Word for You: Bioplastics" about biogradable plastics and Time gave us "Pick Up a Mop" in it's July 14 edition about the idea of, and science around, soaking up already emitted carbon dioxide.

So, energy and the environment... huge topics both that are getting a lot of attention both separately and together. I stated earlier agreement with the Time piece arguing President Bush should have taken steps around energy in the form of a gas tax after 9/11, but he didn't, so the question becomes 'is it too late for optimism?'.

In an excellent commentary (which I would love to link here, but can't find) contained in one of his 2008 Esquire Magazine "Editor's Letters", David Granger gives his optimistic view of future energy given the new technologies coming about . Additionally, I echo the sentiments in the "Things to Like About $4 Gas" piece around consumer demand making a difference. Finally, there's the hope (which may be fools hope, but we gotta take what we can at times) of changes stemming from a new administration in the White House.

When you come down to it, there's opportunity to make things better and I'm guardedly optimistic (and very hopeful) we'll embrace that on all fronts... public and private.

"The Devil's Teeth" & other writings by Susan Casey

In her book "The Devil's Teeth", published in hardcover back in 2005 and then paperback a year later, Susan Casey gives a fascinating account of her time spent on and around the Farallon Islands 27 miles out of San Francisco and home to a thriving seasonal population of great white sharks.

Very interesting read and highly recommended for anyone who likes a true adventure yarn... particularly someone in the Bay Area who may have flown over the Farallones at one point or another.



I was not familiar with Casey's writing prior to reading the book and didn't come across her name again until coming across in the May 2008 issue of Esquire a profile of 75 year old workout fanatic and extreme thrill seeker Don Wildman appropriately titled "The World's Healthiest 75 Year Old Man". The story was interesting given both the crazy regimen followed by Wildman and his celebrity-athlete workout partners (including surfer Laird Hamilton and hockey player Chris Chelios), but Casey's solid writing added to the effect.

Was interesting to recognize the name and then realize that she had also been behind the book on the Farallones.

Nice Career Moves

Most sports fans have likely heard about the youth movement sweeping the front offices of Major League Baseball... exemplified by the cherubic Theo Epstein taking the GM post (and now two World Series titles) in Boston. The July/August 2008 issue of Fast Company Magazine profiles yet another of these whiz kids, GM Jon Daniels of the Texas Rangers in it's piece "Li'l Slugger."

If this piece doesn't provide enough envy fodder, the following should do the trick. In the Feb 2007 issue of Esquire, Chris Jones (my favorite current writer) writes "Into the Void", a profile of the Minnesota Wild Director of Hockey Operations, Chris Snow, who who moved to that post at age 25 after serving as a sportswriter for the Boston Globe.

Yep, from sportswriter to NHL executive at 25... pretty solid career transition.

Impact of Bottled Water on a Town

We've all heard about the environmental problems due to plastic waste and the fossil fuels associated with the transportation of bottled water, but the April 14, 2008 issue of BusinessWeek details the impact that bottled water plants can have on the communities that contain them.

Given that the story (which is featured on the magazine cover) is titled "A Town Torn Apart by Nestle", you'd be correct if you assumed that the overall message isn't a particularly favorable one towards the maker of Arrowhead bottled water. One interesting tidbit details how Nestle paid for the lawyers who represented the town in negotiations with... Nestle.

Additionally, a distinction is draw between two types of bottled water that can be purchased... that which is from a municipal source and then refined (Aquafina as an example) and that which comes directly from a source in nature (Arrowhead and Fiji as examples). The message conveyed is that the environmental impact of water from a municipal source is less than the alternative.

Interesting HP press coverage

Lots of interesting stuff going on at Ye Ol' Peanut Factory. Below is a listing (not complete nor exhaustive, but simply articles I've come across) of things taking place at my place of gainful employment.

No, none of this is particularly "insiderish" as this list could have been compiled by pretty much any trained monkey, but I did find all of these articles of note.

The Aug 2007 BusinessWeek listing of the "Best Global Brands" had HP at #12 in the list, but also included mention of HP as a turnaround brand due in part to the "Computer is Personal Again" spots.

BusinessWeek in Sept 2007 did review of HP's efforts in smartphones. Also from Sept 2007, there was a very interesting profile of the Microsoft HR head and the people management (aimed at employee happiness & retention) done at the corporation. This article was of course not HP related, but it's always interesting to see what type of things other big companies do.

In Oct 2007, Fast Company Magazine had a profile of HP VP Design Sam Lucente and his impact on and role in the company. Lucente is considered in part an ethnographer and launched a research project following the lives of families in their homes – result was his design team creating “Q control” for use across HP product lines. Having met with him, I can also say he's a heck of a nice guy.

In the Nov 2007 "Inside Innovation" section of BusinessWeek was a piece on the HP Innovation Office led by Phil McKinney with specific mention of the efforts around the VooDoo PC.

The Feb 2008 issue of Fast Company Magazine had a feature titled "Loco Motion" about advertising agency Motion Theory and the spots it has created for HP among other companies.

In April 2008, BusinessWeek looked at HP Labs and it's initiative to focus on major projects.

From July 2008, the San Jose Mercury News published an interview with the aforementioned HP PSG CTO Phil McKinney & Innovation Program Office head. McKinney has been pretty visible lately both outside (as evidenced by this interview) and inside (I recently heard him do a talk where he discussed his open to the public blog) the company.

China in Africa: Grab it While You Can

The June 2008 issue of Fast Company Magazine contains a very insightful special report titles "China Invades Africa" on the ongoing Private/Public efforts of China to stake claim to needed resources (both now and in the future) that are and will be taken out of the continent of Africa.

There's several interesting things about this report... one is the Chinese government backing of private enterprise in this effort and a second is the long-term view being taken to look at what resources will be needed as the population expands.

"Out of Orbit (or "Too Far From Home") & other writings by Chris Jones

In the May 2008 issue of Esquire Magazine, writer at large Chris Jones contributes "The Things That Carried Him" about fallen serviceman Sgt. Joe Montgomery. It's an amazingly poignant piece about the path currently taken from the time of death in Iraq to burial in the U.S.

Jones has been writing for Esquire for some time now and at http://www.esquire.com/ additional stories can be found. Also, he has the book "Out of Orbit: The Incredible True Story of Three Astronauts Who Were Hundreds of Miles Above Earth When They Lost Their Ride Home" currently available in paperback... previously was titled "Too Far From Home" in the hardcover edition.





Regardless of what it's called, it's an excellent book that presents an extremely human portrait of the US astronauts and Russian cosmonauts who were at the International Space Station at the time of the Shuttle Columbia disaster.

Magazine reading notes 13

Fast Company - July/Aug 2007
"The King of Green Investing" about Vinod Khosla
"PG&E's Chemistry Test" about how the company is putting more focus on things like reducing energy usage, but is still putting out a large # of products with hazerdous materials. Alternative products are from companies like Method.

BusinessWeek - July 7 2008
Positive review of the HP TouchSmart computer "HP's Personal Touch"

Time - July 14 2008
"10 Things You Can Like About $4 Gas" with the benefits around reduced sprawl, pollution, traffic and jobs leaving the US
"Pick Up a Mop" about the idea of, and science around, strategies to soak up carbon dioxide that has already been emitted
"Making of America: Mark Twain" cover story about the author

BusinessWeek - July 2008
Mention of the work outsourcing website http://www.elance.com/
Retirement planning feature that discusses among other things the idea of simply having a smaller house... perhaps a prefabricated one
Mention of "Emotional Branding" author Marc Gobe and his new think tank by the same name

BusinessWeek - June 30 2008
"I Have Just One Wod for You: Bioplastics" about the new industry around plastics that biodegrade

Time - June 30 2008
Joe Klein "In the Arena" piece about how if elected President Barack Obama should follow the example of Abraham Lincoln (as detailed in the exellent Doris Kearns Goodwin biography "Team of Rivals") and have opponents (i.e. Republicans) in Cabinet level positions... specifically current Defense Secretary Robert Gates
Mention of left-leaning political website http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Moving piece by Joe Klein on the legacy of Tim Russert titled "The People's Voice"

Books of Interest

“The Dangerous Book for Boys” by Conn Iggulden
"Teacher Man" by Frank McCourt
"Flow" Csikszentmihalyi
"Six Easy Pieces" by Richard Feynman
"The Sportswriter" by Richard Ford
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
"The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand

"Zero Days" by Barbara Egbert
"In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
"On the Road" by Jack Keroac
"The Hero" by Jon Krakauer... not coming out in 2008
next book from Erik Larson
"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain
C.S. Lewis
G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton
"East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
“The Billionaire Who Wasn’t” by Conor O’Clery
"Retool, Reboot, Rebuild" by Mehmet Oz, M.D.
"Heyday" by Kurt Anderson

"The Garden of Last Days" by Andre Dubus III
"Peace" by Richard Bausch
"The Lararus Project" by Aleksandar Hemon
“The Associates: Four Capitalists Who Created California” by Richard Rayner
“Intern” by Sandeep Jauhar
“A Fraction of the Whole” by Steve Toltz
“The Preacher & the Presidents” by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy
"Go Put Your Stengths to Work" by Marcus Buckingham
“The Four Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss
“Grey Area” by Will Self
“The Mezzanine” by Nicholson Baker
“Winter’s Tale” by Mark Helprin
“Plainsong” by Kent Haruf
“The Blade Itself” by Marcus Sakey

Magazine reading notes 12: 2008 Feb-Jun 2

Oregon Lundquist College of Business Magazine
Piece on Rick Burton taking the CMO spot with the USOC
Piece by Paul Swangard on the Warsaw Center

Time - June 2
"Roused by Disaster" about the government response by China to their earthquake http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1808638,00.html


Time - June 9
"How to Survive a Disaster" with feature on Morgan Stanley Security Director Rick Rescorla http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1810315,00.html

Time - July 7

"Time: 85 Years of Great Writing" book recently published

"Sweet Deal" about how the state of Florida bought U.S. Sugar Corp. in an effort to save the Everglades... http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1818184,00.html

"10 Questions" with Neil DeGrasse, host of the PBS show "Nova Science Now"

Time - Feb 25

"Tuning Up the House" about energy assessments that can be done through http://www.currentenergy.com/

Time - May 26

"10 Questions" with Ira Glass, host of the NPR show "This American Life"

Piece on the band They Might Be Giants and their foray into children's educational CDs and DVDs including "Here Come the ABCs" and "Here Comes the 123s"... http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1806810,00.html

BusinessWeek - June 2

Excerpt from the boo "Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good" by Sarah Lacy that looks in part at Marc Andreessen and his new startup... http://www.ning.com/... http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2008/tc20080516_232288.htm?chan=search

"Beyond Blogs" cover story... http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_22/b4086044617865.htm?chan=search

Magazine Reading Notes 11: 2008 Mar-Jun

BusinessWeek - Apr 21
"Amazon Takes On IBM, Oracle and HP" about cloud computing offering from Amazon
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_16/b4080000729196.htm?chan=search
Time - Apr 7
"Wake Up and Sell the Coffee" about Howard Schultz returning to Starbucks
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725973,00.html

Time - Apr 21
"10 Questions with Randy Pausch" about his "Last Lecture" which can be seen on http://www.youtube.com/ and has been made into a book
"Five Best Blogs": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/, http://www.lifehacker.com/, http://www.metafilter.com/, http://www.treehugger.com/, http://www.postsecret.com/

Time - May 5
"The Next J.K. Rowling?" about Stephanie Meyer the writer of the "Twilight" young-adult novel series... http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1734838,00.html

BusinessWeek - Apr 28
"HP Labs Latest Experiment: Itself" about the new HP Labs initiative to focus on 20 to 30 major projects... http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_17/b4081072888929.htm?chan=search
"The Buzz from Starbucks Customers" about the month-old site http://www.mystarbucksidea.com/ and how it's giving customers a voice to the company

Fast Company - May
"How a Small Band of Sci-Fi Geeks in Leading Hollywood" about the youthful creators of shows such as "Lost", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Heroes"
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/125/rebel-alliance.html

Time - May 12
"100 Most Influential People" issue... http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601080512,00.html

"Fun with Photoshop" about the hit web comedy series "You Suck at Photoshop"
Story on http://www.techcrunch.com/ blog about Silicon Valley business
Story about online news rating site http://www.digg.com/
Story about Elizabeth Gibert who wrote "Eat, Pray, Love" as well as a short story in issue 141 of "The Paris Review"
Piece on multi-touch screen designer Jeff Han
Piece on Doctor Mehmet Oz
Piece on Randy Pausch and his "last lecture"

BusinessWeek - May 19
"A Touch of Genius" about the new innovations in touchscreen technology
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_20/b4084073144159.htm?chan=search
"Mining the Office Chatter" about HP's "Water Cooler" aggregation tool to see what's been written on blogs...

BusinessWeek - Apr 14
"A Town Torn Apart by Itself" about Nestle Waters N.A. and it's attempt to build an Arrowhead bottled water plant in McCloud, CA... http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_15/b4079042498703.htm?chan=search

BusinessWeek - Mar 31
"Morphing Video Games into Movies" about Electronic Arts new business model of using it's games in other mediums... http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_13/b4077076429342.htm?chan=search
"From Hitmen to Hitless" about the management changes at HBO amidst it's troubles recreating past success... http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_13/b4077050393595.htm?chan=search

BusinessWeek - Apr 28
Story about the Flip Video camcorder from San Francisco company Pure Digital Technologies

Fast Company - Jun
"China Invades Africa" special report about the resource grab now taking place

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/126/special-report-china-in-africa.html


Esquire - May
"The Things That Carried Him" by Chris Jones about the journey home for deceased Sergeant Joe Montgomery... http://www.esquire.com/features/things-that-carried-him
Mention by Chris Jones of writer W.C. Heinz and his story "Death of a Racehorse" from a 1949 New York Sun... http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/index.php/topic,28073.0.html
"1,026 Pages of Required Reading" about the following books: "The Garden of Last Days" by Andre Dubus III, "Peace" by Richard Bausch and "The Lararus Project" by Aleksandar Hemon
"Retool, Reboot, Rebuild" by Mehmet Oz, M.D. with a seven-day guide to improving personal health... http://www.esquire.com/features/better-man/better-man-0508
"The Better Man" piece on Don Wildman by Susan Casey... who is a regular Esquire contributor and wrote "The Devil's Teeth" about her time on the Farallon Islands... http://www.esquire.com/features/don-wildman-0508

Esquire - Jun
Mention of David Sedaris book "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" that comes out June '08
Note from Mehmet Oz, M.D. about the benefit for people over 35 to take 2 baby aspirin daily to thin the blood and kill inflammation

My Resume

* up to date as of January 2015

Dave Stark
davestark2@yahoo.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidstark2
https://twitter.com/davestark2


Profile

Versatile, results-focused, customer operations professional recognized for unique skills in complex problem resolution both internally and for clients. Counted on by company leaders to create and present solutions for major accounts, design reporting templates to manage planning, oversee and provide training for customer support teams, and lead on-boarding efforts for new customers.

• Builder of solid customer and internal relationships while calmly handling complex service issues.
• Strong working experience with enterprise systems, including ERP applications and shipment feeds.
• Skilled at working with data and superior writing skills enhanced by writing of blog posts and books.
• MBA from University of Oregon and BA from Western Washington University.
• Best-suited for using creative technical skills to identify and resolve complex issues, then presenting the solution in writing and verbally to stakeholders.

Work Experience

Hewlett-Packard Company Palo Alto, CA 2000-2014

Global Account Operations Manager / previously Account Operations Manager & Customer Inventory Analyst
Key member of the account management team including Sales, Customer Service and Supply Chain for new both account implementations and ongoing business at large and often global HP corporate customers. Design of the customer engagement solution against contract, creation and management of forecast process, product lifecycle planning and problem resolution, rollout and large product management, building and presentation of customer management reports and go-to contact for details on HP performance against contract, engagement design and global contacts for the business between client and HP.

• Ran a $26MM server ordering project for HP customer Home Depot. Deal included shipment of 3,988 servers refreshing 1,994 US and Puerto Rico Home Depot stores. Management of the product rollout included hosting of daily calls for almost two months and resulted in all servers being delivered to the customer within need-by dates and to enable HP to recognize the revenue by fiscal year-end. Led the team to get product build schedules in place and truckload shipping per Home Depot warehouse requirements and resolved issues with both missing cables and invoices to HP Financial Services in the US and Puerto Rico. Then repeated the same process a year later for another 440 servers for use in Home Depot Canada stores. Successful completion of this rollout required brokering an agreement between HP Financial Services and HP Transportation to resolve an issue with shipping costs.

• Created an effective customer forecast template for HP customer BAE Systems. Client was decentralized and unhappy with order turn-around-time for notebooks. Designed a detailed forecast model for the customer to use based upon purchase history by the BAE business groups and lines of business and convinced HP management to pre-build against the customer forecast, leading to a 33% (19 days to 12) reduction in turn-around time. This process and its result also strengthened the relationship with the BAE contract administrator.

• Responded to a product receipt issue with HP customer AP Moeller Maersk and prevented the return of over 500 docking stations to HP. Customer is headquartered in Denmark and product specifications of custom notebooks were changed by client and HP Sales team in Europe to include drop-in-box docking stations along with notebooks. US customer contacts ordered separate docking stations along with notebooks containing docks. Rather than extra docking stations being returned, worked with customer to get payment for ordered docks and set up a new custom notebook SKU without dock to be ordered and then paired up with docks in inventory.

• Resolved, along with Sales District Management, a pricing issue with HP customer Invensys. Products at time of standard transition had specifications greatly improved and prices were increased. Worked closely with customer management on buy-off of price increase and created the communications strategy to purchasers around the improved specs.

• Developed internal process of customer shipment, forecast and exit-rate reporting and then presented data at both an aggregate and account level to HP Supply Chain and Product Line management. This communication to internal business owners showed business controls around inventory prebuilding and allowed it to continue.

• Grew into having a very high level of expertise in Microsoft Excel. Asked by management to design and deliver Excel training to peers in supply chain and operations, including sessions on pivot tables and V-Lookups. Also created pivot table templates for use by Customer Service reps and was the go-to contact for Excel questions.

Athlon Sports Communications Nashville, TN 1998-1999
Private media company offering integrated trade and consumer marketing programs

Midwest Regional Sales Manager
• Sold integrated trade and consumer marketing programs with both direct mail and advertising in sports magazines.

• Generated all leads, cold-called to set appointments and did approximately 130 in-person sales presentations, typically to individuals in VP Marketing or VP Sales positions at corporations that could advertise nationally.


The Southwestern Company Nashville, TN 1992-1996
Educational and reference book publishing company

Sales Organization Manager / Sales Recruiter / Salesperson
• Worked in summer sales program starting while in college. Sold as well as recruited, trained and managed others.

• Managed 12 sales personnel in region during final summer and received Growth Award four years in a row for significant increase in annual personal sales. Finished in top 5% of salespeople company-wide in final summer.


Education / Achievements

MBA: Marketing, 1998 – University of Oregon  
BA: English, 1994 – Western Washington University

Author of nonfiction books published via Amazon: Words Written Down – 2012, 111 Books Reviewed – 2012, More Words Written Down – 2014 and Business Writing to Remember – 2014.

Magazine reading notes 10: 2008 Feb-Mar

Fast Company – Feb
Profile of Production Company Motion Theory… creator of HP “hands” spots among many other interesting ads
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/loco-motion.html

Mention of TED conference in late Feb

Profile of current leader of Bell Labs Jeong Kim with additional mention of how other corporate labs (such as HP Labs) operate
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/mad-scientist.html
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/lab-results-may-vary.html

Fast Company – Mar
Listing of the “Fast 50” most innovative companies:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/123/the-worlds-most-innovative-companies.html

Google… and its various employee programs: author series, Presidential Candidate series
Method… environmentally friendly cleaning products
HP… PSG ad campaign and new market products such as the Blackbird 002 gaming PC
Ausra… solar power provider based in Campbell, CA

Time – Mar 10
Mention of “Lush Life” by Richard Price… described as an excellent crime novel

Time – Mar 24
Piece on reusable water bottles… and how plastic is not designed for repeat use
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1722266,00.html

Time – Mar 31
Cover story on the Dalai Lama
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1723922,00.html

Magazine reading notes 9: 2008 Jan-Feb

Time – Dec 31-Jan 7
“Person of the Year Runner-Up profile of author J.K. Rowling: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1695388_1695436,00.html

Esquire – Jan
“What I’ve Learned” piece with Carrie Fisher. In it, she says “I like having written the same way I like having gone to the gym. I’m a conversationalist more than a writer. I take dictation from myself. I talk about myself behind my back.” http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/ESQ0102-JAN_FISHER

BusinessWeek – Jan 14
Book review of “The Associates: Four Capitalists Who Created California” by Richard Rayner

Time – Jan 14
Mention of the book “Intern” by Sandeep Jauhar… given a A- in the “5 things you need to know about” section as well as the book “The Geography of Bliss” by Eric Weiner

Esquire – Feb
Review by Tom Chiarella of “A Fraction of the Whole” by Steve Toltz: http://www.esquire.com/fiction/book-review/fraction-of-whole-0208

BusinessWeek – Jan 21
Profile of design guru Richard Sapper… http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_03/b4067038197222.htm?chan=search

Piece on photo store website http://www.smugmug.com/
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_03/b4067202218875.htm?chan=search

BusinessWeek – Feb 4
Profile of former SAP executive Shai Agassi and his efforts to build and sell electric cars at Better Place: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_05/b4069042006924.htm?chan=search

One page advert for public service directing people to the JFK Presidential Library website… http://www.jfklibrary.org/

Time – Feb 18
“Milestones” obit on Transcendental Meditation (TM) founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi



BusinessWeek – Feb 11
Interview with conservative financial sage Henry Hebeler and his website http://www.analyzenow.com/ His primary message… save.

Time – Feb 25
Profile of home energy efficiency expert Joe Harberg… runs http://www.currentenergy.com/: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1713474,00.html

BusinessWeek – Feb 18
Article on MTV Networks gaming division… over 5,000 mobile, console and online games and virtual worlds: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_07/b4071051387940.htm?chan=search

Piece on Apple Computer’s new database program, Bento: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_07/b4071076622275.htm?chan=search

Esquire – Mar
“Ask Dr. Oz” with heart surgeon Mehmet Oz… wide-ranging Q&A session covering interesting topics… http://www.esquire.com/features/ask-dr-oz/dr-oz-0308

Essay by former Baltimore Sun writer and current writer/product on HBO show “The Wire”, David Simon: http://www.esquire.com/features/essay/david-simon-0308

“What I’ve Learned” piece by Esquire GM Glenn Fitzpatrick who is living with ALS: http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/glenn-fitzpatrick-0308

BusinessWeek – Mar 3
Cover story on customer service… both companies that do it well and how customer evangelists get the word out about those companies that do not… http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_09/b4073037433899.htm?chan=search

Fast Company – Feb
Mention of new direction for HP Labs…

TED 2008 took place end of Feb…

Yahoo! Sports competition with ESPN website…

Advertising agency Motion Theory and the spots it has created for HP among other companies…

Goof website that went viral… http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/