Social Networks

I was reading about Tom's meeting with fellow bloggers today and started thinking about the bloggers I've met or spoken to over the phone.

There's an instant camaraderie there, based solely on a shared interest and brief bits of what we perceive about ourselves and those around us.

I wonder how we are impacted by the new way we establish relationships. For example, how many of us know people we've met online, but have not officially met our neighbors? This is true for us.

How do new social networks help or hinder us? Should we go back to a more community based society, or should the world literally be our playground?

Teaching business means teaching perception

This is a pretty good article about the shifting trends in business curriculum.

Posted on Sun, Sep. 25, 2005
Getting down to business
Local colleges seeing more students enroll in field
By RENITA FENNICK

It's not your father's business degree - not even the one your older cousin earned 10 or 15 years ago.

Today's college business curriculum reflects the trials, tribulations and trends that have influenced the business world in the last few years.

From corporate scandals and new federal regulations, from outsourcing to a global economy, the way corporations conduct business is changing.

And so is the way America is teaching its business students.

There's also some notable ideas about how the scandals of the past two years have impacted career choices.

Thursday Potpourri

• Funky t-shirts from la fraise


• Beautiful tree houses from Blue Forest - very storybook-esque


• Textism on Mau's Manifesto for Growth - you will secretly laugh just a little, even if you are a big Mau fan


• Proposed glass walkway over the Grand Canyon - This has been posted a lot, but I have to be the first to say, I'll pass

Google's evil empire

Relax, Bill Gates; It's Google's Turn as the Villain

By GARY RIVLIN
Published: August 24, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 23 - For years, Silicon Valley hungered for a company mighty enough to best Microsoft. Now it has one such contender: the phenomenally successful Google.

But instead of embracing Google as one of their own, many in Silicon Valley are skittish about its size and power. They fret that the very strengths that made Google a search-engine phenomenon are distancing it from the entrepreneurial culture that produced it - and even transforming it into a threat.

Brand starting to sag?

Good promotional idea...

Entrepreneur Magazine and VistaPrint Announce Extreme Brand Makeover Contest

It would be better offered by a quality design firm. But those who can will, and it's a good way to ride the makeover trend, nonetheless.

RIP - R.L. Burnside, blues legend

R.L. Burnside died in a Memphis hospital yesterday. The South has also lost a great blues man.

And now, looking to the south, I am deeply embarrassed to see the horrid conditions thousands of people are left in, all because of mismanagement and what appears to be apathy on the part of our leaders. This is a sad and shameful state of affairs. We are losing much more than a tourist area. We have lost a part of our soul.

It started with a small spark over at Scott's

This is going to be a contagious blog topic. I can sense it.

Anyway, Scott wants to know what the most important word in marketing is....

A lot of gurus weigh in - Seth says, "Respect." Tom says, "Passion." John lists, "Authenticity."

All of these answers are philosophical and, dare I say, idealistic. At the end of the day, I believe the one word that marketing plays on consistently and successfully is BETTER.

That's right. That's why we buy it. That's why we believe in it. That's what we believe it will make us. The rest follows like little lightning bugs - sparks of authenticity and respect and beauty. But if it doesn't make us better, there's no value.