EightBlack.

I’ve been a client of these folks for 8 years. Have a read. Particularly the last line of the email.

Good Morning Simon,

Just advising you of an overpayment that we have received for TaguchiMail for Invoice 280/10213. There was already a payment of $289.00 with an outstanding amount of $31.64 made on 6th May 2008.

You have now paid for that $31.64 from the payment made on 23rd June 2008. The Credit of $289.00 has now been put towards the invoice was is due tomorrow Invoice 280/10339.

The only amount outstanding for invoice 280/10339 is $0.41 which is due by tomorrow.

Kind regards,

Candace Shepherd
Operations Manager

All I can say is this. Idiots.

A colleague put an article on my desk this morning with the title “BlackBerry Backlash Building…”. It was printed in today’s Australian Financial Review.

It was written by Fiona Smith and made reference to research conducted by Judi MacCormick and Kristine Dery from the University of Sydney. The essence of their findings was the riveting fact that smart PDA’s take up every waking moment in our lives. Safe to say, the article wasn’t overly positive about the effect of Research In Motion’s killer device.

My disclaimer here is that I am an avid fan of the BlackBerry. I’ve used one for years and use one today when all our team use iPhones.

Smith reports in her article that…

“users tend to be unnecessarily distracted by inconsequential emails, delegate less, put too little thought in their email responses, and are sometimes there only in the physical sense when other people really need their full attention”.

Hogwash.

You could argue that nearly 99.9% of all emails we receive are inconsequential. I mean, when was the last time you received an email that you thought, “holy hell, this one’s a cracker. I need to print it off, save it and have one copy framed for my grandchildren”.

That’s why a BlackBerry is so useful. Because most emails can be handled with a simple “yes”, “no” or “maybe later” response, all of which can be sent in an instant. The “delete” key also works wonders too.

And as far as only “being at meetings in the physical sense”. Same argument. When was the last time you had a meeting that as soon it was over, you went up to everyone and personally thanked them for their contribution, wrote a hand written card to HR saying that this company was a real gem and later that night, you reminisced about the actual event with your better half, with a tear in your eye?

You see, total frog shit.

Most meetings are a complete waste of time. I can only concentrate for about 5 minutes in any meeting. And forget my BlackBerry distracting me. If my laptop is with me - all bets are off. As an aside, Seth Godin provides his thoughts on meetings here.

Actually, common sense dictates that if you’re at something important like the football, a divorce settlement, a Britney Spears concert or the purchase of major power tool, you’ll at least turn your phone or PDA to silent. I can actually go for a full hour without looking at it, but only if I am well and truly distracted.

Look, what Ms. Smith, Ms. MacCormack and Ms. Dery all forget is that wireless devices are now an intrinsic part of our DNA. We can’t switch off - even if we wanted to. And anyway, I have no desire to be disconnected to the outside world. Ok, I’ll admit it - I’ve spoken on my phone or looked at an email when I’ve been on a chairlift on the family skiing holiday. I check email on my laptop at home every night. Hell, I’ve even gone to bed with the damn thing.

It’s called living in 2008. Period.

But I do know one thing. I do still control the device rather than it controlling me. I might only have a marginal advantage over it - but it’s what I’m comfortable with.

I’ve set it at night to switch off at midnight and come on again at 6am. I don’t have it in the bedroom - although I know currency traders who sleep with their devices. And so they should. It’s their business.

I’m a relatively young parent and I’ve got much bigger issues with small humans creeping into our bed at night, rather than my BlackBerry vibrating quietly in the corner. At least I know when it makes a noise, it’s only for a set time. My 5-year old daughter on the other hand, can scream for an indefinite period.

Smith goes on to cite,

“research commissioned by Hewlett-Packard in the UK three years ago found that a person’s IQ falls by 10 points when they are trying to multi-task with their BlackBerry. The device would then have the same impact on their performance as the smoking of a joint or insomnia”

Most of my friends, who after smoking a doobie (and who admit to inhaling), are far more charming, far more literate and just plain old funny as shit as opposed to when they are boringly sober. Or something like this.

First of all, the whole statement is dubious because you have to question the impartiality of the research when someone like HP (who incidentally don’t make a killer device like RIM do) is involved. What was their real motive? It was hardly good corporate citizenship.

Actually, I bet the entire research project was overseen by a bunch of angry lesbians who really have an issue with BlackBerry’s because they represent all the evil that is contained within the male species. What they wanted the research to really say is “that all men are dumb”. Or something like that. I’ve probably overstepped the mark here. Screw it.

Lets move on.

The article then starts to get knee deep in it as Smith and co. pontificate…

“BlackBerry’s were introduced into organisations without any clear strategic type of thinking”.

Tell me, do you think the internet was introduced to society with any clear strategic thinking? Was radio, TV, were 90% plus of all corporate Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM)?

Nope. Nope. And Nope again (twice).

You don’t need an army of McKinsey consultants to tell you that smart PDA’s would be beneficial.

Back to the research in the UK 3 years ago. Well, in this day and age of technology, 3 years is an eternity. Actually, 3 years ago, YouTube didn’t exist. Google hadn’t gone public. Facebook hadn’t even been born. I’d actually like to know what age group these smart researchers interviewed? Generation X or Y or did they talk with a bunch of baby boomers who had to get up to go pee 3 times during the one hour focus group.

Ask a teenager to give up their mobile phone and see what happens. Actually, I bet if you told any kid today that the new rule of the house is their phones would be restricted to voice calls only (and that the text or SMS function would be disabled), there would be a global revolt. Parents would be locked in cars and basements and all manner of threats would be shouted from every rooftop.

Kids don’t talk on phones anymore. They grunt. But the little f@#ckers can text. Man, can they text.

You may as well try and hold back the tide. You won’t change this - doesn’t matter what you do. We’ve started to see this rabid behaviour with our 7-year old son. He has a Nintendo DS. The child is addicted to the thing. He could spend all weekend on it if you let him. We could move house and he wouldn’t know it. Especially if he was engrossed in his favourite game where the whole object is to remove the dragons head with a chainsaw. You get my point.

Nope, to me, the whole article by Smith is a croc. Nothing more but a desperate attempt to cling to the past.

As the article starts to round the final bend, she states,

“People who feel they are only needed for 10 minutes in an one-hour meeting might feel justified in fiddling with their phone under the table, but they are missing out on the other things that are said - or are unspoken - at the meeting”.

Like what? Most people would be arrested for saying out loud what they really think at meetings. I know I would and I cross the line more than most. It’s the benefit of being a benevolent dictator.

My suggestion for CrackBerry addicts is simple. Get all your email going to your device. Embrace it. Drive your friends mad. I just figured out today how to get my GMail, and other work email going to my 8100. And its a cracker. The thing is literally going beserk.

This is 2008. The internet and wireless devices are here to stay. Soon, we’ll be at the mercy of our kids, who embraced this shit long ago. We may as well work out how to talk with them, on their level if we want to be fed, bathed and generally looked after in our old age.

This notion of “People filling up all the empty moments of their lives - which the researchers call ‘micro-boredoms’”, is poppycock. All the empty moments of my life are consumed by my kids yelling at me and my wife telling me what to do. And in a funny, masochistic kind of way, I’m actually ok with it.

And I wouldn’t go anywhere without my BlackBerry. And they’re ok with that.

For those who are interested, today is the last day of trading for Eight Black. Tomorrow we begin a new chapter as a part of a bigger, stronger entity.

Embarrassingly, the new websites are still being glued together - but we will get there.

The blog will be still be around for a little while - mainly because I have some commitments to the Web 2.0 folks in the US this April and then later in the year for the Web 2.0 Summit.

And besides, what other avenue lets me vent, swear and complain as much as I like.

This week, I was asked to give a talk to 30 women or so. All worked for a swanky Interior Design firm. The head of the design firm is a good mate of mine and when he sent me an email - with the incentive “Chenny, you’ll be mainly addressing a group of good looking females”, I quickly cleared my calendar and thought “holy crap, what do you wear to this gig?”.

Anyway.

I had to think about the topic for a while. Because this design house is one of Australia’s best and they have some seriously talented folks within its ranks. And truth be told, they’re not much interested in the web.

Which in a sense was perfect. And refreshing.

The only thing I was grateful for is that I got to show off my new MacBook Air. At least they wouldn’t have thought I was a complete design luddite.

We talked about social networking (the staff at this particular design shop aren’t allowed to access any social networking sites during business hours). Which is silly. And the staff had a bit of a chuckle when I gave the boss a bit of a serve about it. It’s easy to do when a) you’re not getting paid for the gig and b) the boss is a mate.

I was intrigued that a lot of them didn’t have a MyFace account, didn’t know what Twitter was (thank goodness) and only a small percentage used Facebook. Maybe there’s a bastion of people who are resisting the urge to go online. I was also intrigued as to why most of the design firms are all PC zealots. Apparently something to do with CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing).

Maybe Steve Jobs hasn’t figured out that the folks behind CAD aren’t worth buying.

We had a good chat - or at least I thought we did. I didn’t get thrown out. Didn’t refer to anyone as an “angry lesbian”, wasn’t politically incorrect and managed to make it thru the whole 8 slides I had.

But the thing I learnt was this. This was an audience who were interested in having a conversation, were intelligent, were acutely aware of the environment and who were very good at their respective jobs. So why do we, the practitioners of the web, not talk to them in this way when we communicate online. From a design perspective. From a usability perspective.

When these guys design a workspace, they have to by nature, ensure the space is functional and that it “fits”. That it is easy to use.

I was thinking that it is these very people who leading web companies should be hiring. Flash and .Net developers grow on trees in comparison to great usability folks.

At the very least, we should consult with some of these bright folks before we embark on major builds.

Maybe this is a pathetic justification just to get invited back to their Xmas function. But I doubt it. I seriously think that real world designers can add a significant level of practicality to what has become a too “cutesy” area of the web.

All I want to do is make a booking, find your phone number, buy your stuff or perform something equally as simple and mundane. Don’t make me jump through hoops to do it.

Initially, I was kind of wondering what the design world and the web had in common. Then it hit me. They have to get the end product right the first time, because there’s too much at stake. They’re environment is physical. And there’s consequence if they get it wrong.

I managed to tie in a reference to John Doerr during this gig. Don’t ask me why. I still think the talk he gave and his subsequent video presentation at last years TED Conference was one of the highlights of my year. Here it is again.

Interviewing Marc made me feel a lot better. For one, he’s about my age. And second, his background is not too different from mine in the sense that he started out his career working for a Madison Ave Ad Agency.

(Small trivia point - my very first job was with Ogilvy & Mather Advertising).

I met Marc via Alex Mandossian and we hung out in Sydney for a few days when Marc was on one of his juggernaut trips. Marc is considered by many to be the online PR guru, which he is. He’s also successfully made the transition from the offline world to the online world and works with some very large corporates in the PR space.

He’s a true content provider. And one very good operator. More about him here.

I had fun doing this - despite the noisy background.

I just sat through a very good session on Corporate Blogging (see previous post) and on the panel was Paula Berg and Brian Lusk from Southwest Airlines.

You’d expect a company like Southwest to be able to pull this off (launching a blog). It’s their culture. Spend just 5 minutes with Paula and you’ll understand why. She’s full of energy. A more committed team you will not find.

The Southwest Airlines blog is here. They’re even giving away prizes when you stop by their booth at the Expo part of Blogworld and leave a comment on their blog.

If a company the size of Southwest (33,000 some odd employees) who carry 97 million passengers a year - that’s 3 times the size of Qantas, can successfully launch a blog and have a team of 30 staff, all of whom have full time jobs within the company, contribute and engage with their audience, then no one has an excuse. That doesn’t mean all companies should blog. There are some who definitely shouldn’t.

Southwest’s culture ensured the launch of their blog 18 months ago was going to be a success right out of the gate. I think it’s a courageous move, especially in something as fickle as air travel. I can just imagine if United or Northwest Airlines started a blog. There wouldn’t be servers big enough to handle the comments!

And to finish, these video’s are taking me less than 10 mins to download off my camera, edit and publish to YouTube. All with the amazing new iMovie application and a wireless connection. There’s only one way to do video online. And that way is Apple.

Well, this is one of 13 interviews I hope to be able to bring you live from Blogworld Expo here in Vegas. And Debbie was a real pro - so thanks right up front Debbie for doing this on the fly and in tough surroundings.

Sorry about the background noise in the video folks - I’ll work on the location tomorrow.

This is a big gig - around 2,000 people from all over (Australia, UK, Spain, obviously the entire US etc).

Debbie is regarded as the “go to” person in the corporate blogging space and her book is a must read for any serious business wanting to launch a blog or refine their message. She consults to the Fortune 500, is widely travelled and offers a degree of wisdom in a sometimes “too geeky for our own good” space.

I enjoyed the brief chat with her. And I hope to learn more from experts like Debbie in the future. Who knows, we may even convince her to fly down under and talk to some of our larger corporates. Heaven knows, they need it.

Debbie’s blog is here and don’t forget her book - which is here (and she even lets you download the first chapter free, which is very cool).

Thanks Debbie for letting me put you on the spot. Much appreciated.

Well, an interesting start to this trip, the 9th I’ve made to the US across the Pacific this year. I knew it wasn’t going well when the Customs & Immigrations officer starting giving me the 3rd degree not long after I landed.

You know when you get off a plane in the US - the thing you dread most is the long trek to Immigration and then the wait. It’s a bit of a chook raffle - because you’re not sure if 3 planes from China just landed at the same time or 30. I’ve been in queues for hours. The sort of queues that make you start to lose the will to live.

Thankfully, yesterday - the United flight was the only flight to unload. I thought it would be a cinch. Perfect. The queue was minimal. You then pick the Immigration guy who looks least likely to shoot you.

Anyway, then the ball breaking started.

“Why do you come to the US so often?”

“Where are you staying?”

“Show me your return ticket”

“What sort of business are you in?”

Look, I’d like to think I’ve got this travel thing down ok by now. I rarely carry itineraries (after all, I obviously made the flight didn’t I?), I don’t print off hotel confirmations and I only ever buy etickets. So, all my travel history is a click away. I know where to find it if I need it. I trust the internet.

But that didn’t go over to well with Office Kim, from the US Government.

I learned long ago to stop using the “Do you know who I am?” routine. It rarely works. Actually, it never has. But I felt a lot better when I said it.

“Follow me…..”

So, to cut a long story short - I had a very animated conversation with much arm waving in a small room, with another Customs Agent. I did manage to actually leave the customs hall, but not after much chiding by the US government. Get a green card and save yourself the trouble next time, was essentially the crux of their message. They were perplexed as to how I had managed to convince a US citizen (ie my wife) to marry me and why hadn’t I gotten off my lazy arse to apply for residency.

Anyway.

On my connecting flight to Vegas, I drank 2 bloody mary’s (minus the tomato juice) to calm my nerves.

Right then, back to what I started to post about. Day one at Blogworld Expo.

I’m listening to Andy Wibbels and Jen McClure, whose session is titled “Business Blogging 101″. The organisers at Blogworld are allowing me to tape the session, so if I can work out how to edit the footage today and post it to YouTube, I will.

There’s some good content in the session - especially if you’re new to blogging. Like Technorati is tracking 110 million blogs daily, that 120,000 new blogs arrive on the scene each and every day (obviously a lot of people with unresolved issues with their parents out there), one third of all blogs are in English, one third in Japanese and the rest in other languages.

Just wait until the sleeping giant - China wakes up to this. The Chinese Government and their censors will no doubt have different views to the blogosphere and I bet there are some very concerned government officials watching the medium.

Jen and Andy worked well together in this session, the session was informal and already, there is a chasm in the audience between those who really know this space and those who are just getting started, which is really the whole point.

Marc Harty is sitting across the room and I’ve already run into Des Walsh, so the day is off to a good start. Both are speaking at the gig.

I heard on the grapevine that close to 2,000 people are attending over the next 3 days. Well done to the organisers. No mean feat.

If you haven’t had time to digest Avinash’s video below - let me save you some time. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t invest the 55 mins to watch it. You should.

But for those “time poor” folk (ie all of us), here’s the crux of the message.

Avinash believes that traditional web analytics is dead. Has no future. He refers to Web Analytics 2.0. And it’s not simply just his way of jumping on the whole 2.0 euphoria.

“Hard core” e-commerce sites as he likes to refer to them as, need to take the time to understand “the intent of the visitor”. The analytics data that any tool collects is virtually useless without customer insight. And it makes sense.

Here’s the 3 most important questions to ask any visitor to your website:

1. Why Are You Here?
2. Were You Able To Complete Your Task (ie what you came to do)?
3. If You Were Not Able To Complete It, Why Not?

The analysis of these open ended text based responses will be far more beneficial to you than gigabytes of simple clickstream data.

You might grapple with creating an exit survey or using a survey tool of any kind, but you owe it to yourself to test it. Extract a sample from your database that will provide statistical relevance. There are great survey tools out there - ASK Database, Survey Monkey etc. All cheap to use. The findings however might just be priceless.

Nope, it’s not a new form of pasta thats only available to the uber rich. And its not some silly new social networking phenomenon - thank christ for that.

It’s a real business. A global business. Run by adults. Founded in 1999.

The Postini website refers to its 35,000 customers worldwide, representing a wide range of industries. Customers like Merrill Lynch, Mitsubishi Motors, Orbitz, Rand McNally, LSI Logic, Johnson Controls.

All well known brands if you hang out in the corporate world.

The Postini website describes itself as;

With Postini Solutions, you can secure all of your electronic communications - email, instant messaging and the web – and manage your company’s communication policies from one central location. Postini Solutions can also make it easy to meet your archiving and encryption needs.

On the surface, it appears to be a solid, well run, “fills a niche” business that targets the business and corporate world. No big deal - there are hundreds of other companies all doing the same thing in their own industry.

Except for one thing.

Google just bought it. Now isn’t that interesting.

You tell me why?