I just tested our online banking system using the iPhone's web browser. I was able to easily navigate through the system. I performed a transfer. The web browser does something interesting with pull down menus; it generates a scrollable choice list. It almost looks like a slot machine. With the swipe of a finger you can easily scroll through each choice.
More to come.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
iPhone Raving Fan
Yesterday, much to my surprise, I got an iPhone. My son stood in line at our local AT&T store for four hours so I could get one. My wife, Doug, and son arranged this this scheme. I had no clue that this was going on behind my back. For the whole week leading up to the release, my wife was very adamant that I was not going to get one. I was devastated. I've always had a long history with Apple in being an early adopter of their innovations. BTW - I still have my Apple Newton.
Here was the scheme. About 4:30 my son called me at work and told me that his car broke down and asked me to come to help. He told me the location and I left immediately. I arrived about 4:45. The location he gave me was at a local strip mall. When I arrived, I could not find his car. I was wondering through the parking lot when I got his call. I asked him where he was. "Look over by the AT&T store", he said. I looked over there and saw him standing in line with several people. At this point, I still didn't get it. I walked over where he was standing in line. All of sudden it dawned on me. I was so surprised. My wife enjoyed seeing me squirm all week.
The AT&T store is across from a Starbucks. About every half hour, Starbucks employees would bring free refreshments out to everyone. Their orange mango ice tea is awesome. I found a new drink.
Just before the doors opened, the manager of the AT&T store came out to explain to everyone standing in line how they were going to process the crowd. They only allowed six people in at a time so they could provide personal service. As each person went into the store, they were greeted by an AT&T employee. The employee explained how the activation would work and then took the buyer to the iPhone accessory rack. By the time the buyer picked out their accessories they were taken to the the cash register. At the cash register, they asked you if you wanted to go through the credit check. Doing this saved time during the activation. Once the credit check came back, the buyer purchased the iPhone and they were on their way out. This process took approximately twenty minutes. Very efficient!
Completely painless. Just before the launch, Apple release iTunes 7.3. This release had the iPhone activation program. Since I use a MAC, I get these updates automatically so it was ready to go.
The packaging is an incredible. When you look at the iPhone box, it's very small. The box itself is similar to a box you would get when purchasing a watch. Subtle and different. There are no manuals. Just one little pullout titled "Finger Tips". It's front and back with instructions on how to operate. Each instruction is only one paragraph long. One thing that I noticed that you normally don't see. The pullout was written in English only. Didn't see other languages versions.
Once I docked my phone, iTunes immediately was started. The activation was so painless. Made me realize how much unnecessary time has been spent in the past activating phones. There were only four screens. Two of them were disclosures. It asked me if I had a pre-qualified credit number. I entered the number, asked some additional information and it was done. Got my number. Then, heard a small bell ring on the iPhone. The iPhone told me that the phone was activated and ready to use. Once the phone was activated, I set it up to sync my songs, videos, and pictures. All in all, the activation took less than twenty minutes.
All of my bookmarks from my MAC was transferred. To see if Apple's commercial was true..."it's not a slimmed down Internet", I started browsing. They're right! It's not a slimmed down version. I immediately went to our credit union's website. I was able to navigate with ease. Since you have limited screen size on the iPhone, you can zoom in and zoom out on any web page by simply pinching your fingers inward to zoom in and outward to zoom out. I have not logged into our home banking site yet. Stay tuned!
It's an iPod but better. You can see navigate through you albums by swiping your finger to the left or right.
I downloaded my first TV Show (The Office). The quality of the video was absolutely amazing. Simply move your rotate the iPhone on it's side and you have a wider picture.
I've always been a big fan of Blackberry's phone interface. I loved the click wheel. It's the mouse alternative. I didn't think you could get much better. Who would thought the finger would be better. You can easily build your favorites with a few taps of the finger. You can quickly scan through your contacts using a couple different approaches. When you tap on the phone, your contacts are immediately displayed. You can swipe your finger though contacts and it uses a rolodex approach. It quickly rummages through all your contacts. Just tap to stop. The longer the swipe the more contacts it scans through. To the right, you'll see a vertical bar containing the alphabet. Just tap on that and by holding your finger down and simply moving your finger down the letters will take you from "A" to "B" quickly.
Supports .MAC, GMAIl, YAHOO, and AOL out of the box. Exchange is supported if you have IMAP. I'm told that we will not support IMAP on Exchnage. Therefore, I will have to use outlook's web outlook interface. I'm good with that. I hope that Apple will beef up it's support on Exchange. They will win the corporate world over if they do this.
One thing to keep in mind is that the iPhone is not a BlackBerry. Blackberry's claim to fame is their ability to push emails as opposed to pulling them like most PDA's do. iPhone is a pull. You can configure the phone to check your email at various intervals.
The good news is that the iPhone has lived up to it's hype and then some. It's simple, elegant, slim, and most importantly fun. The bad news is that a year from now we're all going to be saying...."oh no! Not another iPhone story".
Here was the scheme. About 4:30 my son called me at work and told me that his car broke down and asked me to come to help. He told me the location and I left immediately. I arrived about 4:45. The location he gave me was at a local strip mall. When I arrived, I could not find his car. I was wondering through the parking lot when I got his call. I asked him where he was. "Look over by the AT&T store", he said. I looked over there and saw him standing in line with several people. At this point, I still didn't get it. I walked over where he was standing in line. All of sudden it dawned on me. I was so surprised. My wife enjoyed seeing me squirm all week.
Starbucks meets iPhone
The AT&T store is across from a Starbucks. About every half hour, Starbucks employees would bring free refreshments out to everyone. Their orange mango ice tea is awesome. I found a new drink.
The Purchase
Just before the doors opened, the manager of the AT&T store came out to explain to everyone standing in line how they were going to process the crowd. They only allowed six people in at a time so they could provide personal service. As each person went into the store, they were greeted by an AT&T employee. The employee explained how the activation would work and then took the buyer to the iPhone accessory rack. By the time the buyer picked out their accessories they were taken to the the cash register. At the cash register, they asked you if you wanted to go through the credit check. Doing this saved time during the activation. Once the credit check came back, the buyer purchased the iPhone and they were on their way out. This process took approximately twenty minutes. Very efficient!
The Activation
Completely painless. Just before the launch, Apple release iTunes 7.3. This release had the iPhone activation program. Since I use a MAC, I get these updates automatically so it was ready to go.
The packaging is an incredible. When you look at the iPhone box, it's very small. The box itself is similar to a box you would get when purchasing a watch. Subtle and different. There are no manuals. Just one little pullout titled "Finger Tips". It's front and back with instructions on how to operate. Each instruction is only one paragraph long. One thing that I noticed that you normally don't see. The pullout was written in English only. Didn't see other languages versions.
Once I docked my phone, iTunes immediately was started. The activation was so painless. Made me realize how much unnecessary time has been spent in the past activating phones. There were only four screens. Two of them were disclosures. It asked me if I had a pre-qualified credit number. I entered the number, asked some additional information and it was done. Got my number. Then, heard a small bell ring on the iPhone. The iPhone told me that the phone was activated and ready to use. Once the phone was activated, I set it up to sync my songs, videos, and pictures. All in all, the activation took less than twenty minutes.
This is the Web
All of my bookmarks from my MAC was transferred. To see if Apple's commercial was true..."it's not a slimmed down Internet", I started browsing. They're right! It's not a slimmed down version. I immediately went to our credit union's website. I was able to navigate with ease. Since you have limited screen size on the iPhone, you can zoom in and zoom out on any web page by simply pinching your fingers inward to zoom in and outward to zoom out. I have not logged into our home banking site yet. Stay tuned!
This is your IPod
It's an iPod but better. You can see navigate through you albums by swiping your finger to the left or right.
I downloaded my first TV Show (The Office). The quality of the video was absolutely amazing. Simply move your rotate the iPhone on it's side and you have a wider picture.
This is your Phone
I've always been a big fan of Blackberry's phone interface. I loved the click wheel. It's the mouse alternative. I didn't think you could get much better. Who would thought the finger would be better. You can easily build your favorites with a few taps of the finger. You can quickly scan through your contacts using a couple different approaches. When you tap on the phone, your contacts are immediately displayed. You can swipe your finger though contacts and it uses a rolodex approach. It quickly rummages through all your contacts. Just tap to stop. The longer the swipe the more contacts it scans through. To the right, you'll see a vertical bar containing the alphabet. Just tap on that and by holding your finger down and simply moving your finger down the letters will take you from "A" to "B" quickly.
This is your Mail
Supports .MAC, GMAIl, YAHOO, and AOL out of the box. Exchange is supported if you have IMAP. I'm told that we will not support IMAP on Exchnage. Therefore, I will have to use outlook's web outlook interface. I'm good with that. I hope that Apple will beef up it's support on Exchange. They will win the corporate world over if they do this.
One thing to keep in mind is that the iPhone is not a BlackBerry. Blackberry's claim to fame is their ability to push emails as opposed to pulling them like most PDA's do. iPhone is a pull. You can configure the phone to check your email at various intervals.
Overall Rating
The good news is that the iPhone has lived up to it's hype and then some. It's simple, elegant, slim, and most importantly fun. The bad news is that a year from now we're all going to be saying...."oh no! Not another iPhone story".
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
360 degree view is overrated
I've been struggling with this whole concept behind having a 360 degree view of the member. I think it's overrated and I'll tell you why. When a member comes into the branch to deposit their check or calls into the call center seeing if a check is cleared; the employee who is taking care of providing the service. Are they going look at all this information? I don't think so. The fact is; seat time with members is limited. On the teller line, you have maybe a minute or two, the call center perhaps two to five minutes. Who's got time to look at and process all this information?
I've also heard about building member value and/or loyalty scores. Basically, this is a score that tells the employee how loyal and/or profitable a member is to the organization. The result of this score determines what we can and can't do for the member. In some cases, how we treat the member. I think this is a huge mistake. What if a member has a low score? Will the employee then write the member off and not provide the same level of service that a member with a high score would get? It could happen and I bet has happened.
I'm not advocating doing away with member loyalty and/or profitability scores. I'm advocating not providing them to the employees. Take the business intelligence and have the system advise an employee when they're doing actionable services. If an employee is given some metric that determines the value of the member, service levels will decline. Especially on those members who have low scores. Let's not knock those members down, lets build them up. Just because they have a low score now does not mean they'll have one five years from now. They will remember the day when you didn't reverse the NSF fee for some policy reason.
I think we need to tell the 360 degree view to go take a hike. I say less but relevant information is better. If you talk with employees in your call center they will tell you that they don't want everything. They just want to be able to track interactions. In other words, who said what and when, what is done and what needs to be done, and so on. They want less account centric systems and more member centric systems. They want systems that will act as an advisor instead of a data warehouse.
Keep it simple and efficient and no one will get hurt.
I've also heard about building member value and/or loyalty scores. Basically, this is a score that tells the employee how loyal and/or profitable a member is to the organization. The result of this score determines what we can and can't do for the member. In some cases, how we treat the member. I think this is a huge mistake. What if a member has a low score? Will the employee then write the member off and not provide the same level of service that a member with a high score would get? It could happen and I bet has happened.
I'm not advocating doing away with member loyalty and/or profitability scores. I'm advocating not providing them to the employees. Take the business intelligence and have the system advise an employee when they're doing actionable services. If an employee is given some metric that determines the value of the member, service levels will decline. Especially on those members who have low scores. Let's not knock those members down, lets build them up. Just because they have a low score now does not mean they'll have one five years from now. They will remember the day when you didn't reverse the NSF fee for some policy reason.
I think we need to tell the 360 degree view to go take a hike. I say less but relevant information is better. If you talk with employees in your call center they will tell you that they don't want everything. They just want to be able to track interactions. In other words, who said what and when, what is done and what needs to be done, and so on. They want less account centric systems and more member centric systems. They want systems that will act as an advisor instead of a data warehouse.
Keep it simple and efficient and no one will get hurt.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
My Long Term Plan
One of my other passions is photography. I've taken thousands and thousands of pictures over the years. About two years ago, my wife convinced me to take it seriously because she thought I was pretty good. I bought my first professional digital camera and starting taking pictures. When I accumulated enough pictures, I tried selling a few pictures. Much to my surprise, I actually sold some pictures. I then decided to take an even bigger plunge and invested heavily in photography gear. It's not cheap! My pictures really started to sell and there was a point in time where I couldn't keep up with the demands of running a photography business. Roughly, only 20% of a professional photographer's time is spent taking pictures. The rest is spent on marketing, selling, post production, etc. Luckily, I've been able to keep up.
This year, I wrote a business plan. My business plan had some long term projections. I mean REALLY long term.
Tonight, I was speaking with one of my mentors who is a professional photographer about my plan. As I was explaining my plan, I could hear him snickering over the phone. To the point, it was upsetting me. Finally, I asked him why was he snickering. He said the problem with my plan was the fact that I was pacing myself. I was giving myself ample time to make it. I explained that I've read several books on building a photography business and they all basically said that it takes several years to build a successful business. "Hogwash!", he said. "If you're not making money now, you should quit", he said. He proceeded to question me about all the aspects of my business. He wanted to know what types of pictures that weren't selling. I told him the types. He then asked if I was still taking those types of pictures. I said...."Yes". His advice...."stop taking them". Reminds of the joke about the guy that goes into the doctor's office; the guy says to the doctor..."every time I raise my arm it hurts. Can you help me doctor?". The doctor says..."don't raise your arm".
This simple advice made me wonder how many businesses pace themselves while the ones that aren't are leaving them in the dust.
This year, I wrote a business plan. My business plan had some long term projections. I mean REALLY long term.
Tonight, I was speaking with one of my mentors who is a professional photographer about my plan. As I was explaining my plan, I could hear him snickering over the phone. To the point, it was upsetting me. Finally, I asked him why was he snickering. He said the problem with my plan was the fact that I was pacing myself. I was giving myself ample time to make it. I explained that I've read several books on building a photography business and they all basically said that it takes several years to build a successful business. "Hogwash!", he said. "If you're not making money now, you should quit", he said. He proceeded to question me about all the aspects of my business. He wanted to know what types of pictures that weren't selling. I told him the types. He then asked if I was still taking those types of pictures. I said...."Yes". His advice...."stop taking them". Reminds of the joke about the guy that goes into the doctor's office; the guy says to the doctor..."every time I raise my arm it hurts. Can you help me doctor?". The doctor says..."don't raise your arm".
This simple advice made me wonder how many businesses pace themselves while the ones that aren't are leaving them in the dust.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Get on the iPhone Bus
It's almost here and I can't wait. That's right! The iPhone makes it's debut on June 29th. I've read several blogs where AT&T has increased their workforce by hiring several thousand additional workers to help with crowd control. If you have not taken the guided tour of the iPhone you can check it out on Apple's website.
I rarely make predictions on anything that has to do with technology. When the iPod first came out, I was an early adopter. To be honest, I thought it was cool but I didn't think it would have the impact it did. Why? I was solely focusing on the gadget itself. I didn't really pay attention to the fact that this gadget was fully integrated into the MAC operating system. I didn't pay attention to the fact that iTunes was a really cool site where I could easily purchase songs not albums. Apple didn't only focus on the product, they focused on the total experience. It was easy and cool. So, I'm going to make a prediction. iPhone will do for the cell phone industry similar to what the iPod did for the music industry. It will dominate it.
Dear Credit Union Industry,
Get on the iPhone bus....and be quick about it.
Cam
Why?
Apple did some subtle things that shouldn't go unnoticed. First, they told third party developers that you CAN'T have access to the full blown API of the iPhone. Second, they didn't come out with a browser look-a-like. They put Safari in the iPhone. Third, they're leveraging technologies like Google and Yahoo search engines and recently announced a YouTube. Apple is building conduits to these best of breed technologies.
When Apple decided not to give developers the API, I thought it was a brilliant move. Obviously, Apple didn't want third party developers messing up their phone. They learned from Palm's mistakes. As a software developer I was a bit hurt. As a consumer, I say bless Apple for doing that. It's an acceptable trade-off.
What Apple told the developers; you have Safari, stop whining, now go develop. It's not a slim down version of Safari (we're told). It's real deal. Why? Because the iPhone's operating system is MAC OS X. If anyone wants to debate on which operating system is better...MAC or Windows just name the time and place and I'll be there. By the way, have you seen Apples next version of MAC OS X? Check it out!
Today, home banking applications run in browsers. Since the iPhone has Safari, I can assure you that your members will try to log into their home banking systems to see if they can do stuff. For those members who will buy the iPhone, expect some calls into your call centers asking when your home banking site will be iPhone ready. Count on it!
For those credit unions whose websites were written in .NET, download Apple's beta version of Safari for Windows to see your website is going to be fine. We developers know that Microsoft prefers their own browser to be used for .NET applications versus browsers like Safari and Firefox.
We've all heard that text based mobile banking is something that we all have to deal with. Cell phone companies are lowering the cost of text messages. The iPhone has SMS capabilities. Credit Unions could certainly just go the SMS route and play it safe. The cold hard reality is that credit unions will have to look at both (text messaging and iPhone) versions.
Finally, have someone in your credit union go out and buy an iPhone. Use it to navigate through your website, access your home banking application, and process a loan application. If these systems need modifications, consider doing them. You might have build iPhone ready sites. Buy it because your members will and they will be asking you some questions very soon.
I rarely make predictions on anything that has to do with technology. When the iPod first came out, I was an early adopter. To be honest, I thought it was cool but I didn't think it would have the impact it did. Why? I was solely focusing on the gadget itself. I didn't really pay attention to the fact that this gadget was fully integrated into the MAC operating system. I didn't pay attention to the fact that iTunes was a really cool site where I could easily purchase songs not albums. Apple didn't only focus on the product, they focused on the total experience. It was easy and cool. So, I'm going to make a prediction. iPhone will do for the cell phone industry similar to what the iPod did for the music industry. It will dominate it.
Dear Credit Union Industry,
Get on the iPhone bus....and be quick about it.
Cam
Why?
Apple did some subtle things that shouldn't go unnoticed. First, they told third party developers that you CAN'T have access to the full blown API of the iPhone. Second, they didn't come out with a browser look-a-like. They put Safari in the iPhone. Third, they're leveraging technologies like Google and Yahoo search engines and recently announced a YouTube. Apple is building conduits to these best of breed technologies.
When Apple decided not to give developers the API, I thought it was a brilliant move. Obviously, Apple didn't want third party developers messing up their phone. They learned from Palm's mistakes. As a software developer I was a bit hurt. As a consumer, I say bless Apple for doing that. It's an acceptable trade-off.
What Apple told the developers; you have Safari, stop whining, now go develop. It's not a slim down version of Safari (we're told). It's real deal. Why? Because the iPhone's operating system is MAC OS X. If anyone wants to debate on which operating system is better...MAC or Windows just name the time and place and I'll be there. By the way, have you seen Apples next version of MAC OS X? Check it out!
Today, home banking applications run in browsers. Since the iPhone has Safari, I can assure you that your members will try to log into their home banking systems to see if they can do stuff. For those members who will buy the iPhone, expect some calls into your call centers asking when your home banking site will be iPhone ready. Count on it!
For those credit unions whose websites were written in .NET, download Apple's beta version of Safari for Windows to see your website is going to be fine. We developers know that Microsoft prefers their own browser to be used for .NET applications versus browsers like Safari and Firefox.
We've all heard that text based mobile banking is something that we all have to deal with. Cell phone companies are lowering the cost of text messages. The iPhone has SMS capabilities. Credit Unions could certainly just go the SMS route and play it safe. The cold hard reality is that credit unions will have to look at both (text messaging and iPhone) versions.
Finally, have someone in your credit union go out and buy an iPhone. Use it to navigate through your website, access your home banking application, and process a loan application. If these systems need modifications, consider doing them. You might have build iPhone ready sites. Buy it because your members will and they will be asking you some questions very soon.
Rave: Evan Almighty (6:14)
This weekend, our family went to go see Evan Almighty. Probably one of the best movies we've seen in a long time.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Pictures from Ryan's TV Appearance on CBS Early Show today
Here are some pictures from Ryan's appearance on the CBS Early Show today.
My Son is on TV today
This week, Ryan is in New York attending a Lead America conference. Last night, Ryan called and mentioned that he and his other colleagues will be on the CBS Early show.
Today, Ryan will also be making his directorial debut. He is co-directing a Shakespeare play.
Today, Ryan will also be making his directorial debut. He is co-directing a Shakespeare play.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Inspiration While Driving
For the past two years, I've been working with a credit union in St. Louis implement a new CRM system. The original goal was to make the CRM system be the new system of record. All information regarding their members was supposed to flow in and out of the CRM system. This would be accomplished by seamlessly integrating the credit union's systems (i.e. core, mortgage, investments, collections, etc).
We spent hours and hours in meetings drawing all this up on whiteboards. Then, we would put it to paper in the form of business and technical requirements. We also built process charts and workflow diagrams. These charts and flow diagrams were a work of art. I was even tempted to frame a couple of them and put them on my wall. Since we had all the proper flow charts, requirement documents, and workflow diagrams we started the march. The problem was that the march turned out to be a death march. When we attempted to integrate the systems, it was not seamless at all. The CRM system had limited integration capabilities. It turned out to be a series of exports and imports. The CRM had another challenge. It just couldn't understand how a member could have the same social security number on multiple main share accounts. The core processing system was account based and the CRM was person based. Oh boy! We were trying fit a square peg in a round hole.
As much as I wanted to run for hills and just convince this credit union that their CRM initiative was a dream, I couldn't do it. Why? Their vision was spot on. Their vision was the following:
The vision was good but the strategy was flawed. Literally, we went back to the drawing board. How could we get all the information into the CRM system without jumping through all the import and export hoops? To be honest, in all my years working with technology, I was drawing blanks. I didn't have the answer. Then, one morning I was driving to work when inspiration came knocking. I live in Carmel, Indiana. A few years back, the mayor of Carmel was in France and noticed that France had very few traffic lights (according to the mayor). They use Roundabouts to control the flow of traffic across different intersections. Apparently, Roundabouts are very efficient and a lot cheaper to maintain than the traditional traffic light system. Our mayor was inspired and convinced the city council to build Roundabouts. Today, you can't drive anywhere in Carmel, Indiana without running into a Roundabout.
When you look at the flow of a Roundabout, you'll see traffic coming from four different directions which intersect at the Roundabout. The roundabout itself is basically a round piece of dirt. Yet, all this traffic moves around this dirt efficiently. In high traffic situations, there is always a constant flow of traffic moving throughout the Roundabout in all four directions. It's actually pretty cool to watch. I know...I need my head examined.
Sometimes the best innovation comes from inspiration. It can come from places you never thought off. The challenge is to keep your eyes open and your mind free.
Cam
PS: You're probably asking yourself, what does a Roundabout have to do with the CRM project? Stay tuned for future posts. If you would like to see for yourself I will be glad to show you.
We spent hours and hours in meetings drawing all this up on whiteboards. Then, we would put it to paper in the form of business and technical requirements. We also built process charts and workflow diagrams. These charts and flow diagrams were a work of art. I was even tempted to frame a couple of them and put them on my wall. Since we had all the proper flow charts, requirement documents, and workflow diagrams we started the march. The problem was that the march turned out to be a death march. When we attempted to integrate the systems, it was not seamless at all. The CRM system had limited integration capabilities. It turned out to be a series of exports and imports. The CRM had another challenge. It just couldn't understand how a member could have the same social security number on multiple main share accounts. The core processing system was account based and the CRM was person based. Oh boy! We were trying fit a square peg in a round hole.
As much as I wanted to run for hills and just convince this credit union that their CRM initiative was a dream, I couldn't do it. Why? Their vision was spot on. Their vision was the following:
- Increase utilization of services
- Lead & Opportunity Management
- Cross selling
- Campaign Management
- Improve communication
- Track member interactions
- Improve efficiency
- Improve content management
- Improve accountability
- Improve service levels between front and back office
- Improve ownership
- Improve responsiveness
The vision was good but the strategy was flawed. Literally, we went back to the drawing board. How could we get all the information into the CRM system without jumping through all the import and export hoops? To be honest, in all my years working with technology, I was drawing blanks. I didn't have the answer. Then, one morning I was driving to work when inspiration came knocking. I live in Carmel, Indiana. A few years back, the mayor of Carmel was in France and noticed that France had very few traffic lights (according to the mayor). They use Roundabouts to control the flow of traffic across different intersections. Apparently, Roundabouts are very efficient and a lot cheaper to maintain than the traditional traffic light system. Our mayor was inspired and convinced the city council to build Roundabouts. Today, you can't drive anywhere in Carmel, Indiana without running into a Roundabout.
When you look at the flow of a Roundabout, you'll see traffic coming from four different directions which intersect at the Roundabout. The roundabout itself is basically a round piece of dirt. Yet, all this traffic moves around this dirt efficiently. In high traffic situations, there is always a constant flow of traffic moving throughout the Roundabout in all four directions. It's actually pretty cool to watch. I know...I need my head examined.
Sometimes the best innovation comes from inspiration. It can come from places you never thought off. The challenge is to keep your eyes open and your mind free.
Cam
PS: You're probably asking yourself, what does a Roundabout have to do with the CRM project? Stay tuned for future posts. If you would like to see for yourself I will be glad to show you.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
I feel your Pain SunState CU
I've been reading a great deal of blog posts on credit unions who are charging fees for various reasons. Especially the Florida credit union who charges the $2.00 fee for not having your deposit slip ready.
The credit union faithful are up in arms about this. To those folks who have their feathers ruffled over this....lighten up. It's easy to make judgments from the cheap seats. Credit Unions need fee income so face it, get over it, and move on to something else. Also, give members credit. Members are people who have brains. If they don't like it they have the choice to move on. Some probably will.
The fact a fee is being charged because someone doesn't have the deposit slip ready is not the problem. Instead focusing on that CU faithful, why don't you do something more constructive like offer solutions. How about a post on how credit unions can find other sources of income to reduce dependency on fee income?
The credit union faithful are up in arms about this. To those folks who have their feathers ruffled over this....lighten up. It's easy to make judgments from the cheap seats. Credit Unions need fee income so face it, get over it, and move on to something else. Also, give members credit. Members are people who have brains. If they don't like it they have the choice to move on. Some probably will.
The fact a fee is being charged because someone doesn't have the deposit slip ready is not the problem. Instead focusing on that CU faithful, why don't you do something more constructive like offer solutions. How about a post on how credit unions can find other sources of income to reduce dependency on fee income?
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Take a Risk
My son is passionate about magic. He has been studying the art of magic for over a year now. During this time, he has been practicing his craft out on Carol and myself. He is really good at this. Some of the card tricks he performs will make your head spin. He does this one trick that just absolutely freaks me out. He takes this deck of cards and messes them all up and lays them out on a table. He'll ask you to think of a particular card, then, he'll ask you to point the card out in the messed up pile. He'll pick the card up and set it aside. He then asks you think of another particular card and then pick it out and so on. He goes into this long winded dissertation about the power of the mind blah blah blah. Then, he turns over the two cards that you picked out of this messed up pile. I'm telling you that this trick just messes me up.
For the past several weeks, Ryan has talked about taking his magic out to the streets to perform. Every night, Ryan would talk about it and talk about it. When Carol and I would encourage him to go out and do this he would always find some reason why he can't. A couple of weeks ago, I just had enough of his talking about it. He and I sat down to discuss why he had not gone out into the public to try out his craft. Quickly, Ryan was able to give reason after reason why he couldn't. Finally, I told him...."You've given me ten reasons why you CAN'T take your magic out to the streets. Now, give me one reason why you CAN". I basically went on to tell him that sometimes you just got to take risk even though you think you're not ready. "What's the worse that could happen to you", I said. Nothing really came out of this discussion. I just basically thought this was one of those discussions where I was lecturing and Ryan was going through the teenager motions. Well, much to my surprise I must have struck a chord with him. The following week Ryan came home all excited. He and a couple of his buddies went out to a local park to try out their magic. To add icing to the cake, they made a video of this excursion. Ryan showed me this video and I about screamed out loud full of joy. This was one of those proud parent moments. He took a risk and made his dream a reality.
Ryan and his buddies performed a couple of shows today with more tomorrow. Ryan is now starting to believe what Carol and I have been telling him for the pass several weeks. He's really good. Through him taking a risk and getting validation from strangers is all he needed to fuel his passion.
I have been involved in many professional situations where for whatever reasons things like logic and fear got in the way.
Defy logic and fear and just do it. Blur the boundaries and step outside the comfort zone. What's the worse that could happen?
Cam
PS: Today, my son came into work to talk to Doug about he and his buddies performing at the FORUM Solutions talent show that we're going to have our company's symposium in October. That took guts!
Friday, June 8, 2007
The Magic Man Makes
Over the past year, my son has been studying the craft of magic.
Yesterday, my son and a few of his buddies took a video camera and went around to a couple of parks doing street magic for people. In a couple of instances they were drawing crowds.
These three young men are passionate about their craft. They took a chance and went for it.
Look out David Blaine, you have some new competition.
Yesterday, my son and a few of his buddies took a video camera and went around to a couple of parks doing street magic for people. In a couple of instances they were drawing crowds.
These three young men are passionate about their craft. They took a chance and went for it.
Look out David Blaine, you have some new competition.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
iPhone Petition
I'm writing this post as part of my grass root movement to convince my wife to allow me to purchase an iPhone when it comes out on June 29th.
Hopefully, by your response will serve as a petition for such. I am not going to prevent and/or discourage anyone from entering multiple comments.
Help me please!!!!
Cam
Hopefully, by your response will serve as a petition for such. I am not going to prevent and/or discourage anyone from entering multiple comments.
Help me please!!!!
Cam
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