Eric’s Blog

Starbucks...is it the right brew?

Sun, 2 Mar 2008 21:43:48 -0800

This weekend I had the chance to visit the local Starbucks a few times for meetings. Starbucks really is the best place for meeting near our office. Reasons we love having meetings there are, first it pulls us away from our desks and allows us to focus on issues at hand, second the one near the office is the least busiest coffee shop in the whole valley, thirdly, the coffee is the best in the valley. All that to be said, did Starbucks closing for the evening on Thursday really make a big difference or did it bring more negative vibes than they were hoping.

Well, I think the coffee actually tastes better. The best way to taste the difference is by ordering an Americano (4 Espresso Shots with hot water), this tasted more like how a Peet’s coffee shop might make this drink. Tasted delicious. Full of flavor.

But, did attitudes change at the big coffee chain? Did things change for the better? Well in my experience, not much changed. And if they hadn’t have closed the doors, I would have never even knew that there was something wrong. This being said, was it a smart decision to close shop for the evening for this nationwide training?

In my opinion, I think it was a good choice for the coffee chain. I think the chain really let their customers know how much they care about making a great cup of coffee. And that every time you go into a store from now on, it will be the same time and time again. I guess time will tell how effective this was and what the ramifications will be in the near future. The change I hope will start driving stock prices a bit higher. Since the beginning of the year their stocks have dropped -2.49 a share.

5 Thoughts for a Successful Meeting

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:07:23 -0800

Recently we have been morphing our business into a productive powerhouse on a daily basis. We do this by making a plan for things to get done and measuring our successes and failures daily. Our meetings start promptly at 7:00am at a local coffee shop. A coffee shop or a place to meet outside of the office sometimes helps to keep things new, as well it makes everyone attending the meeting become more accountable since there is nothing at their desk to pull them away, such as phone calls or emails. While we are at the meeting we simply follow this flow.

Agenda  This is an important step to having a successful meeting. The agenda needs to have a detailed list of what projects need to take place this week, next week and the following weeks. We use a rating system 1 for needs to happen this week, 2 for it needs to happen later this week maybe beginning of next, and 3 for yeah it’s important and we need to get to it, but for sure not this week.
Time  Keep things on a schedule, don’t let one person take over the conversation. If one person is talking so much about one subject that it runs into the rest of the agenda not being met, this is obviously not being productive. Keep things on time. If you are meeting on a daily basis like we are, this needs to be taken into consideration. Everyone has things to get done that day, so don’t waste other peoples time. People hate this. I know that might seem obvious, but I have been in countless meetings where people think that what they are working on is the most important thing in the world and they don’t care what anyone else has to say. (At least that is what the message is being displayed!)
KPI - Key Performance Indicators  This is the vital key to any business and/or meeting. You must have indicators that describes what determines a task or project a success or a failure. If you can come up with this level of scrutiny for every task, you will find you and your meetings will start being more productive. Knowing how you are doing keeps the eye on the goal...above expectations!!
Action Steps  When everyone leaves the meeting, they should all walk away with a list of actionable items that need to take place that day. A good idea to make sure everyone understands the goals for the day/week is to do a quick check at the end of the meeting. Ask everyone what their action plans are for the day and if something does not seem right or they did not get the action step you were hoping. This is the time to reiterate your point. The last thing you want is for people to leave the meeting and they have no idea what to do or why they were even at the meeting in the first place.
Leave the bullshit out  The biggest thing that we are all guilty of is not starting on time, talking about current events or cool gadgets instead of getting to the topic. Leave the bullshit out of the meeting. Leave your emotions at the door, it is time for business. Again wasting people’s time during a meeting just makes people hate meetings and kinda defeats the purpose for getting people on the same page.

The Big Smartphone Decision

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 10:27:08 -0800

So last Sunday my Blackberry finally crashed on me for the last time. It was a sad moment, that phone had been through quite a bit with me. But now it is time for new adventures with a new phone. So I went to the AT&T store and was looking at all the options that were opened to me. I came in with a list of features I was looking for. Basically I narrowed down my choices to just a few phones including the BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Pearl, Samsung BlackJack and the Apple iPhone.

A few things that really mattered to me about the phone I was about to purchase.
Need Email (Didn’t have to be push email, just email, most of the time on my Blackberry I just used the Google App to check my email anyways.)
Camera
GPS (A nice to have, not a must)
Internet
Integration with my MacBook Pro
Integration with Google (Mail, Maps, Calendar, etc.)

So looking at each of the phones right off the bat, I ruled out the BlackJack, I had a handheld device before and it had Windows OS on it. I really, really hated it. And this was when I used to be a Windows guy. I just didn’t think it was quite there just yet. But I did look at it, and decided that this just was not for me. The second phone off the list was the BlackBerry Pearl, I have to have a full keyboard. I just have never been able to stand having a half ass attempt of a keyboard. That part of the reason I just can’t stand texting on a normal phone. I just hate it.

Now down to the last two phone standing. Let’s start off with the iPhone. Love everything about phone. The look, the feel, the interface, just simply amazing. But a few things that I thought it really needed. First off the syncing of Notes. I use notes all the time and this feature does not exist on the iPhone. You can type notes on the iPhone and you can type notes in Mail on the laptop, but the syncing of the two just doesn’t happen. The iPhone also does not come with a GPS, but their solution was getting your location based off of an estimation of the distance you are in between cell towers or WiFi points. I guess in a few years this will be nice or if you live in a very busy city such as Los Angeles. But I do not, so this part on the iPhone doesn’t really help me out a lot. But the biggest reason I didn’t want the iPhone was because of the price point of the phone starting at $399 for the 8GB model and $499 for the 16GB model. I just really didn’t want to spend that much for phone that I normally replace every 18 months. (By the way my last BlackBerry lasted me 25 months, that was the first phone that lasted that long for me.)

Really thinking that the BlackBerry Curve was the winner for me. It came with a GPS unit, a camera and all the other features I was looking for. I was very familiar with the features of the BlackBerry and knew there would be no learning curve to using the phone. The only down side about the features is the integration with my Mac, it really does not work well outside of Entourage for the mac. (Entourage is Microsoft’s Mac edition of Outlook) Unfortunately I stopped using Entourage about six months ago for simply preference of the built-in mac apps like Mail, iCal and Address Book. But the BlackBerry still syncs to the computer and works just fine for the most part. The only down fall is that sometimes during syncing it asks a ton of questions if you just cleaned up your database of contact or events. That would get a little annoying. But for the most part I loved the BlackBerry. Not to mention the price point sure seemed to be more the price range I was looking for. The retail price for the phone is $349, and with a 2-Year commitment to AT&T it would come out to $99 after discounts.

Considering all features I decided to get the BlackBerry Curve. So back at the AT&T store, I asked the associate about all the details with the $99 special for the BlackBerry. They told me that actually the $99 price tag was after a discount for $150 bringing the phones price down to $199. And then I would have to send in for the rebate of $100, to get it down to that price. The rebate would end up taking up to 6-8 weeks to get my money back. A little frustrated by this, I thought oh well, at least I am saving money, even though I have never had a good experience with a rebate. At this point the sales associate asked for my information on my account, I gave her my information and then she gave me the look of defeat. I guess my account is not eligible for an upgrade price until August 24th. So the most discount I could get was the rebate that would take up to 6-8 weeks (Again, I think these rebates are such a scam, I hate rebates). So it came down to the price of $349 for the phone...at this point it was a no brainer. Get the iPhone. It is only $50 more than I was going to have to pay for the BlackBerry at this point. So I walked out of there with the iPhone. I think this is AT&T’s plan to get you do buy an iPhone. Because once you are at the $349 what is another $50 for a much sexier phone with a much sexier interface and it sync’s seamlessly to my mac.

So using the iPhone for about a week now, I love this phone. I sat up one night just making wallpapers and ringtones for the phone. The wallpapers I made for the phone match the Incase Brown rubber cover I got for the phone. I am such a creative like that, everything has to have my personal touch to it. Anyways, I would recommend the iPhone, I really do like it. And I know Apple is committed to making it even better, they have proven that with the multiple software releases in the past few months.

The Supporting Cast

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:22:19 -0800

Recently in a class I am teaching we created a brochure for a fictitious company called NightLife Wine Company. For 16 weeks I have taught the class the importance of detail in everything they do. Above is an example of the brochure that we designed. It illustrates the use of many techniques that are quite easy to implement into any creative piece. I relate to pieces like the one above as a movie. In every great movie there is so much that goes on in the background, from screenwriting, directing, lights, camera, backdrops, lead characters and the supporting cast such as people in the background. In most great movies, there is always something in the background that helps keep the attention of the audience. Whether it is a nice looking background or people drinking coffee behind the lead character...always something going on. Keeps things interesting, keeps the audience busy looking at everything going on.
Well this is the same principle in design work, whether it’s print or web. Attention to detail is a must. Constantly thinking about the intended audience and what their attention span is, what colors are interesting, what designs are similar to draw reference and most importantly what your clients message needs to be say. For example the brochure above was intended for a younger audience of wine connoisseurs. The look needed to be hip and yet still sophisticated. If you look at how the logo appears on the front of the brochure, it is surrounded by a box with a gradient that enhances the logo’s appearance. As well the box has an outer glow around it make it pop off the page. Behind the logo there is two different colors of background, this accomplished a more linear look, kinda sophisticated style. The colors chosen accent the colors used in the logo and presents the brand quite nice. Also in the background you will find a transparent design element to give that extra touch to keep the audiences interests.
On the inside flap panel of the brochure there is a picture of the vineyard. Adding a frame and drop shadow around the picture makes the picture pop off the page. And the website on the back panel of the brochure has a black box surrounding the site address. This helps draw the attention to the desired result that the client is wanting from readers of the brochure. If people go to the website, people will buy wine. It’s pretty simple. So the simplest thing like adding a black box around the website address, really brings home the purpose of the brochure.

So a few things to remember when designing for a client:
What is the clients message?
Who are they telling the message too?
What are the requirements of the audience? Colors? Designs? (Do Research!)
Color...make sure to use colors that accent the corporate colors of the client.
Use the corporate logo! (You might think this would be obvious, but sometimes people forget this simple thing. If you want your design to be shot down quick, this is how you do it!)
What design elements will accent the message?
Lastly, be creative within the requirements of the client! Do something different!

Remember that every last detail of the project counts. Don’t get lazy right a the end. Once you feel you have a great looking comp. Step away for a few moments, and then look again at what could be improved. Look for things that would draw your attention. Sometimes the supporting cast will catch the eye, involving the audience in the creative piece and delivering the clients message.

Great Readings - Business or Creativity

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:11:03 -0800

The key to any great designer is finding inspiration. Inspiration can come from many venues and outlets. Some find inspiration from books found at a local retailer or browsing the shelves of the local library to scouting some obscure place where only the designer can see creativeness. I always find it interesting what other have done in the past to break the barriers of design and art. Recently browsing the books at Barnes and Noble, I came across an amazing book. It has 2 pages that really make the book worth getting. I am currently writing a page that will describe this findings in detail, but for now you have got to pick it up. The book is Bringing Graphic Design In-House by Orangeseed Design. Read the information on pages 36-37, it describes the Design Process from the Design Need, Defining Objectives, Developing Concepts, Content and Design Execution, Production, Post-Production, and Design Completion. But the part that really drove the point home was a little blirp that posed the question “Is Design about Business or Creativity?”

So is Design about Business or Creativity? I think this is a great question to be answered. Recently I started teaching a class at the local college and this was one of my main points in the class. I have had many designers work for me and I never got why they don’t think the same way I do. But then I realized that I am bringing to the subject a different perspective on creative work.

From the beginning of the design process to the completion of the project, business is all throughout the process. It all starts and ends with the customer’s needs in mind and what their requirements are. Anyways, more to come soon on this subject. If you have anything to contribute or have comments, let me know.

.Mac Hosting

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:22:43 -0800

Well here is my website. I decided to choose .Mac service to use for my website. I really had a hard time choosing a hosting platform. I run a huge website with lots of servers, so scaling back to using .mac was kinda different for me. I looked around at a bunch of different options from other hosting companies. Here were my requirements:
Low Cost (No more than $10 per month)
Space
Easy setup
Customer service

.Mac’s features:
Cost: $99.95 per year / 12 Months = $8.32 per month
Space: 10GB
Really easy setup with using iWeb
Kinda weak here on the customer service, they only offer web support.

The real reason I chose .Mac was because of the integration of iWeb with the service. It is a simple 1-click upload feature. A blog is built right into the software with no setup required. Just start typing. I didn’t want to setup a database and configure a blog. This website needed to be low maintenance for me to have one. So that was the main selling feature. I just couldn’t hack having to spend tons of time creating a website for myself. I was just wanting to be able to upload photos, blogs, podcasts and pages really easy; and iWeb allows me to do just that.

On top of the ease of use iWeb offers, I love the graphics package it offers in the newest version of the software. It looks awesome and is very functional. If I want to update a photo, all I have to do is drag it to place I want it and it does the rest, no Photoshop, no resizing, no HTML...I love it!

The Personal Domain feature is really nice, but it lacks a few things.
Personalized Email
Actual domain control. For example if you type http://vibrantpixel.com it will go to a placeholder for GoDaddy. But if you type http://www.vibrantpixel.com it will go to my site. This is because .Mac is setup only to take a CNAME. This is stupid. I actually think GoDaddy has better controls on their end for this that the .Mac feature.

The last thing I still have to figure out is how to setup FeedBurner to track how many people are subscribed to my blog and podcast. I am sure it will be easy, just haven’t got around to it yet.

Now would i recommend this for a professional website, no way. This tool is a really great personal service, not intended for business. So all in all, very pleased with the iWeb and .Mac services, they are great for simple websites.