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| Friday, July 17th, 2009 |
scriviner
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9:03p |
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bpt
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10:52p |
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johnsu01
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10:39p |
Credit card fees
The New York Times says
that:
At Target, for example, interchange fees represent the second-largest store-level expense, behind payroll. The costs are similarly eye-popping at Home Depot, where officials say they top the price of health care insurance for employees. “The amount of money we’re spending on interchange would put 10 associates in each of our stores,” Dwaine Kimmet, vice president of financial services for Home Depot, said at a recent conference on credit card fees.
(via the Consumerist)
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johnsu01
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9:41p |
Grillo's Pickles
I tried to stop by the Grillo's Pickles cart by Park Street on my way home from work today. I wanted 2 delicious pickle spears for $1. Sadly, the cart was unattended (I think he just stepped away for a minute). But then I went to Dave's Fresh Pasta to pick up some other things, and look what I found. |
| Thursday, July 16th, 2009 | |
sachachuawiki
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7:22p |
Facilitating workshops: What I learned from doing a trend overview
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sachac/~3/YEqwKOPdcE4/ http://sachachua.com/wp/2009/07/16/facilitating-workshops-what-i-learned-from-doing-a-trend-overview/
We had an excellent workshop earlier, and I'm looking forward to typing in the notes from people's worksheets. My part of the workshop was a one-hour session on key trends in web channel delivery, and it prompted great discussion and plenty of ideas. Here's what I learned from facilitating that session.
The goals of the session were to:
- warm up and stretch the participants' imagination,
- set the tone for the innovation summit,
- establish common understanding, and
- generate ideas.
I chose eight trends that I thought were most relevant to the client. These trends were:
- Personalization
- Mashups
- Syndication
- Recommendations
- Real-time communication
- Social networks
- Learning
- Collaboration
For each trend, I followed this structure:
- An example drawn from the intranet or Internet
- A short description of the principle
- Some ideas for applying it in the client's context, referring back to the goals mentioned in the previous presentation
- Quick questions
- A few minutes of individual brainstorming using worksheets: participants thought of ways to apply the trend to improve their organization's website
- A short discussion about ideas and other thoughts
Here's what I think worked really well:
- Connecting the trends with the goals identified in a previous presentation reinforced the links and provided more structure. This is similar to call-backs in humor, where references to previous material strengthen the effect. If you can find ways to refer to previous presentations, that makes the connections smoother and stronger.
- The worksheet allowed participants to take notes, brainstorm ideas, and jump-start the discussion. It was a simple worksheet with a guide question and eight rows of labeled boxes, one box for each trend. Jim Coderre suggested it at yesterday's walkthrough, and it worked out wonderfully. We collected the worksheets at the end of the first day of the workshop so that we could summarize them. Provide note-taking aids and use them to help people individually engage with the content, then use that to start the discussion.
- Selecting related trends instead of wildly separate trends allowed the participants to anticipate some of the trends, possibly cued by the overview slide and by the worksheet they had in front of them. For example, when we discussed personalization, some of the suggestions included aspects of syndication and recommendations. This made it easier to acknowledge and reinforce the way they were putting the piece together. It also helped build momentum. When we needed to move along faster, we could refer to some of the later topics that they were interested in ("Right! Let's move along so that we can get to the part on social networking.") Build anticipation into your content structure.
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The clients responded to and appreciated the energy and enthusiasm I brought to the session. I love facilitating sessions on trends and idea generation because I enjoy the conversation. I love showing people that they have great ideas, and I love showing people the connections between those ideas and other things.
There are two parts to being able to do this. The first part, I think, is that I'm generally quite a happy person, so it's easy for me to bring that initial energy into workshops. The second part is that I love encouraging people and I love weaving those connections together, so that's how the energy builds up. If I start with that initial energy and I can get to at least some people in the group who give me back that energy (and more), then that compounds throughout the session. If I had been tentative or nervous during the session, I doubt that the session would have been as effective. It works well with presentations, and it works even better with interactive sessions. Bring energy and enthusiasm to the session, and build on that energy as you go through it.
Here are some things I'd like to improve next time:
- I'd like to figure out how to capture worksheet notes while still making it easy to hand the worksheets back to the right people. Maybe add names and e-mail addresses? Maybe just remove the expectation that the worksheets will be returned, and instead give back the summary document with everyone's input?
- We had great discussions around the trends, so we trimmed some of the challenges/opportunities discussion from the end. Looking back, though, all of the trends were interesting for people, and I didn't spend too much time giving the background for each one. Maybe I should plan for 10 minutes for each trend instead, and reduce the scope even further.
Looking forward to sharing more as I learn about facilitation!
Post from: sacha chua :: enterprise 2.0 consultant, storyteller, geek.
Check out my blog for tips on managing virtual assistants, Drupal, and other topics!
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| Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 | |
sachachuawiki
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9:52p |
Notes from the road
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sachac/~3/Ee4Dbo5MkYs/ http://sachachua.com/wp/2009/07/15/notes-from-the-road/
Providing consulting services in strategy workshops is a crash course in facilitation and presentation skills. Looking at the presentations and techniques that people have developed is awe-inspiring. The people I work with don't do death by bullet point. They're good at research and thought leadership, infographics and design, Post-It notes and presentations. Me, I rummage through my brain to try to as much value as I can with what I've read and learned about Generation Y, Web 2.0, and other topics, and I hope someday to figure out how to do things even better than the way people around me do. =)
If I think of the travel as just a really long commute, it's not that bad. I miss W-, the cats, the garden, and so on, but I'm too busy to feel too lost. I don't want to do this all the time because I like having a rich relationship with plenty of in-jokes, but short sprints should be fine. I'm learning tons about facilitation and presentation that I wouldn't be able to learn on my own.
I'm nearing the end of my super-busy sprint, and I'll have some time to get things sorted out, prepare, and make future workshops run even better.
Post from: sacha chua :: enterprise 2.0 consultant, storyteller, geek.
Check out my blog for tips on managing virtual assistants, Drupal, and other topics!
 |
| Friday, July 17th, 2009 |
windang
|
10:30p |
Interlude
I haven't blogged as much as I wanted to for the past 3 weeks considering that I've been out of the office for a much needed vacation leave. I just felt that I owe myself some sort of silence even in this particular blog and just put a semblance of halting life's linear progression. Of course, that is very much impossible but a guy can try. I've been mostly unproductive and I can't believe I'm gonna be proud of that fact. I told myself before I went on leave that I'll try to catch up on some of my readings and start on some work-related reading during the break. I did not do it. I just threw everything out of the window and just live a sedentary life (except for the occassional gym classes). I'll probably start reading through the 350++ unread emails tomorrow, but let's see considering Monday is my official return to the office. |
| Thursday, July 16th, 2009 |
scriviner
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4:03p |
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| Friday, July 17th, 2009 |
charlesatan
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6:44a |
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charlesatan
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6:12a |
Top 10 Best-Sellers as of 2009/7/12
From USA Today's best-seller list (you can find out their basis here): - Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck
- Black Hills by Nora Roberts
- My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
- New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
- Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
- Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
- Sooner or Later by Debbie Macomber
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| Thursday, July 16th, 2009 |
charlesatan
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8:18a |
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| Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 |
ioerror
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4:31p |
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johnsu01
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2:45p |
Specialization is for insects
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-- Robert Heinlein
(Seen on BoingBoing.)
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johnsu01
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10:23a |
Question
My Au Bon Pain coffee cup started leaking on the train this morning, between Kendall/MIT and Charles/MGH -- minutes after I had consciously decided not to buy the $3.99 travel mug. Karma, or clever corporate plot?
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| Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 |
scriviner
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8:55p |
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| Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 |
charlesatan
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8:34a |
Feature: Speculative Fiction Books That Dare to Be Different
Every Wednesday, I have an essay or feature article on any topic that catches my fancy!
When we talk about books, there's usually a conventional form that people expect from the text, even from genres such as speculative fiction. Occasionally, we might run into books that present a new paradigm and alter how we read literature. Classic examples are Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Vladmir Nabokov's Lolita. While such texts are acknowledged by the canon, here are texts from genre that elevate--in my opinion--literature to another level.  Griffin and Sabine trilogy by Nick Bantock I'm probably cheating here as Nick Bantock isn't someone you'd associate with speculative fiction, but I want to draw attention to his Griffin and Sabine books. In certain ways, he steals a page from children's literature by making reading more than just a visual experience. There's the tactile element and joy of discovery in each page. If there's any experience that can't be replicated by eBooks, it's this.  The Orphan's Tales series by Catherynne M. Valente
Not that we haven't seen nested-stories done before (Arabian Nights) but what modern author has both the boldness and the skill to actually pull it off? What's impressive with Valente is that her nested stories goes deep several levels and is sustained in such a lengthy format.
 City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer You've probably heard of the mosaic novel and what's spectacular with Jeff VanderMeer is that he takes that concept to a different level. Why settle for the "short story" or individual chapters format when you can do with so much more: dry histories (complete with footnotes), appendices, illustrations...  Thieves World anthologies created by Robert Asprin Here's a disclosure on my part: I haven't read any of the Thieves World books. Having said that, I've heard great things about the anthologies. Much like the mosaic novel, what's interesting with this series is that several authors get to play in the same world, featuring the same characters and locale. That might be a staple of the genre right now, especially with media tie-ins and the numerous RPG books, but back in 1979, Asprin and company were pioneers.
 The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Disease edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Mark Roberts
 A Field Guide to Surreal Botany edited by Janet Chui & Jason Erik Lundberg Again, as far as disclosure is concerned, I haven't read the former yet but heard great things about it. What both anthologies do is they present fictional non-fiction, remaining faithful to both the form (i.e. encyclopedic entries) and the tone. |
charlesatan
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7:58a |
July 15, 2009 Links and Plugs
Readers might want to grab a copy of the July issue of Locus Magazine where Philippine Speculative Fiction IV and A Time for Dragons gets reviewed (thanks for the review Rich!). Interviews Advice/Articles NewsAnd from PS Publishing: |
| Monday, July 13th, 2009 |
scriviner
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10:03p |
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| Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 |
charlesatan
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5:46a |
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charlesatan
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4:41a |
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| Monday, July 13th, 2009 |
ninjapeps
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8:41p |
musical weekend
watched two musicals over the weekend. Saturday, I watched The Fantasticks with Maan, Crissa and Win at Greenbelt. funny play. first one I've watched where the characters acknowledged the stage and props. Sunday, I watched Spelling Bee with Maan and her brother. this play was hilarious. I can honestly say that I've never before watched a musical with a song about a character's erection. since some of the actors are taken from the audience, it's never the same play twice. I'd gladly watch it again. Current Mood:  entertained |
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sachachuawiki
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4:09a |
Quick travel notes: move through the airport quickly
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sachac/~3/i3LfxbB3xLw/ http://sachachua.com/wp/2009/07/13/quick-travel-notes-move-through-the-airport-quickly/
Avoid the airport lines by doing as much from home as possible, like checking in online and print or e-mail your boarding pass. If you can fit all of your things into carry-on luggage, then you can get through the airport so much faster.
Next time you're at the airport, take extra copies of other forms you often need to fill in. For example, whenever I travel to the US, I need to fill out a departure record (white form) and a customs form (blue form). The extra copy I took last time meant that I could fill in the form at home, then just grab a few more on my way through.
Also: if there's an alternate entrance for a popular attraction (such as the subway entrance for the Museum of Natural History in New York), take that instead of the main entrance. The lines are usually much shorter.
Post from: sacha chua :: enterprise 2.0 consultant, storyteller, geek.
Check out my blog for tips on managing virtual assistants, Drupal, and other topics!
 |
| Sunday, July 12th, 2009 |
mplscorwin
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10:13p |
But who would want that>
So, obviously it's in no ones best interest for the kids to be sick. That said, today was totally fantastic. Spent most of the day reading to Anika. Miklos demanded kisses and good-night's before bedding back down each time he woke --about every 90 minutes, whoa is me. Meridel, who didn't nap until noonish, spend all day rocking around the bed or the pack-n-play out in the yard and finally fell asleep wearing a wicked grin.
PS: FB shot the sheriff, right? Just checking 'cause I need to be clear that NO bagels were involved... |
scriviner
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5:18p |
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| Monday, July 13th, 2009 |
charlesatan
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7:42a |
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The Painting and the City by Robert Freeman Wexler
