On my trip to Dallas last week a coworker introduced me to a product -  The Flip.  I purchased one this week.  This thing sure beats the 20 lb. beast of a camcorder your grandparents had 20 years ago.  It easily fits into your pocket and enables you  to shoot up to 60 minutes of video.  With a pretty humble price tag it no wonder that reporting, journalism, entertainment and the way that we consume information is changing so fast.

In addition, every time I hear the name of this camera I am reminded of the posted video.  Watch it through till the end….. “I’m the Motha’ Flippin’!”

Maybe you have played it, or maybe you have not, if you are in the latter group I recommend that you try it.  Ultimate is the best sport there is.  It is a good workout and a better way to meet really neat people.   It combines most skill sets from other sports, but trumps all with it’s ability to bring people together.  The New York Times published an article on the sport yesterday.  It is a nice piece.  Two quotes struck me most.

“While there are significantly fewer female players than male players, most people who play say that the community aspect of Ultimate is a large part of why they play.”  -Peri Kurshan

“At first I thought it was just something you did while in college, but not as a ‘grown-up.”  – - “But the eclectic, close-knit community was tough to leave behind”

We all desire friends and need community.  Where is yours?  If you do not have an answer go play a game of pick up ultimate.  You are sure to find both there.

A new friend of mine allowed me to borrow this movie a couple of nights ago.  I watched it with another friend last night.  This was my first experience with a martial arts movie not titled The Karate Kid.  Several minutes into the movie we were laughing hysterically.  Guillotine was nothing more than a poorly dubbed voiced over samurai film which carried a very loose plot line, held together by numerous fighting scenes and a slew of under developed character relationships.  I loved it.I am not sure how much Master of the Flying Guillotine made at the box office or if it even has a following, but it doesn’t really matter.  It represents more to me.  Every movie, every song, every product, and every service has an audience or a customer.  The challenge is to find who they are and get them to experience what you have.

Last week I was invited to a forum to discuss ways to improve the way our Company does business.  We talked for one and a half days about one questions – How can we do things better?  Discussion touched on an array of topics; business unit changes, procedural efficiency suggestions, and new business ventures are a few of them.  While all of these are relevant, a question that was asked in passing had the biggest impact on me – What are some things that you can do without asking permission from anyone?  After the question was asked, the gentleman posing the questions proceeded to ask for some feedback via his twitter account.  Within minutes he had a few responses.  I thought, “What can I do like that?”

Too often we are defeated by the prospect that the things that we want to change or the ideas that we have will not be permitted, but maybe we are looking at things in the wrong context.  There is always something that you can do without anyone’s permission, something that will affect the way that your business operates each day.  Find One!

It is simple, take care of your customers and they will be your customers- don’t and they won’t.  I am a loyal customer.  If I have a great experience once, I will return.  Two great experiences, and there are very few things that will prevent me from returning again.  Zappos.com does a fantastic job of this.  I have only purchased one product from the site (a pair of Clark’s Wallabees), but have recommended it to many friends looking for new shoes.  Why?  Great customer service -  ordered the shoes at 3pm and they were on my doorstep by 12pm the next day.  Each time I wear these shoes I think of the Zappos brand and my experience with them.  Don’t you want your customers to feel the same way?  Think about how you respond when treated well by a company or organization and then do the same to your customers.  You do not want their first experience to be their last.