Kim Mickelsen to present Putting the Power of Social Media to Work for you at the Transition Assistance Program (TAP).  Sessions will occur in November and December 2009 and January 2010

Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, provides a comprehensive 5-day Transition Assistance Program (TAP) for personnel leaving military service. As part of this program, the Nebraska Workforce Development’s Labor Market Information Center presents information on career exploration, finding employment, and training opportunities in the civilian job market.

The Transition Assistance Program (TAP) was established to meet the needs of separating service members during their period of transition into civilian life by offering job-search assistance and related services.

Bozell creative staffers Jill Rizzo, Aaron Christensen, Carrie Ratcliff, Erica Rowe and Rachel Boshart presented November 11, 2009 at Omaha PechaKucha event.

PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.

It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat”, it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds.

It feels as though things are getting better – right?  To some – but to others it’s about weathering the storm and hunkering down for the tail of the hurricane.  We don’t know for sure which applies to us and it’s all kind of fuzzy anyway.  But there are some signs that will genuinely tell us that consumer confidence is on an upswing and isn’t that the key indicator that things are headed in the right direction?  Looking for such signs has become a national pastime.

I’ve had my antennae up and I think I finally got wind of something concrete.  Stinky garbage.

Actually, it started as an observation that the restaurant business is booming.  A friend and owner of a local French Bistro sent out a simple promotion recently.  He’s delighted that his simple offer has produced overwhelming results packing his restaurant with eager diners.  But I wondered – was it the draw of that particular offer – or were things turning around.

Then I went out to dinner last night (Thursday).  Yet another restaurant was loaded to capacity and the noise was deafening.  The last time I’d been there (in July) I could have had my choice of any booth – this time I was lucky to get an ill-placed table.  Hmmm.

Water cooler talk convinced me that local restaurant parking lots have been full to capacity over the past few weeks.  So it seemed like time to do some checking.  According to a post on Forbes.com by Maureen Farrell the restaurant industry is a pretty good indicator, and indications are that things are definitely improving.  She quotes a restaurant industry pundit, Sam Firer who looks to the size and scent of restaurant garbage piles.  According to Sam “this summer it was stinky again”.   I don’t know about you but I’m pretty excited about the stink!

I made two stops at the major home improvement chains yesterday. We’re looking for some miscellaneous window/door/cabinet hardware and what we have found at the Big Stores is essentially the same stuff from various manufacturers with slight variations. Sadly, not exactly what I was looking for.

What I did find is inspiration. Inspiration regarding customer service. My first stop was at Blue Store early in the morning on my way to work. I headed in the door and down the main aisle to get what I needed. Along the way, a store associate asked if they could help me find anything I needed. I let them know I was familiar with what I needed, but thanks for asking.

When I got to the checkout at Blue Store, the cashier was also friendly, asked if I’d found what I was looking for and wished me a good day. Successful customer experience. Granted, I would pose that this is what every standard experience in a store should be, but hey – expectations for good customer service are LOW these days.

In Orange Store, which I visited in the early afternoon right after lunch time, my experience was even better. As I walked in the door, a young man greeted me and asked if there was anything he could do to help. On my way to what I was looking for, another associate asked if she could assist me with anything. When I was browsing hardware items, another associate was breezing by the aisle and saw me looking, and then came back to make sure I was finding what I needed. This was no casual, “can I help.” It was a concerted effort to ask. Finally, on my way out, another associate asked if I’d found what I was looking for and if they could help.

While I didn’t purchase anything, I was thoroughly impressed.

Here were two store experiences where I felt as if I was being taken care of by the people who worked there. It wasn’t about the store, the product, or anything else for me. I actually didn’t find what I wanted because they didn’t even carry it. I spent 15 minutes of my time looking for nothing. But along the way the people made an impression on me, and my opinions of the stores got better. Orange Store really impressed me. The people were nice, asked if they could help, and didn’t pressure or bug me. I felt they truly were there to help and that I could easily ask if I needed anything. Blue Store employees were nice as well, but I didn’t see as many or have the same easy-going feeling as at Orange Store. Not a problem, though – it was still fine.

Now, I’m a HUGE fan of customer service. I credit my formative working years with that. I started sacking groceries at the city’s largest full-service family-owned grocery chain when I was 15. Shirt, tie, dress pants. All to sack and carry out groceries to the customer’s car. And it didn’t matter if there was one sack or ten – you DID NOT ASK the customer if they would like a carry-out – you picked up the bag and followed them to their car. That was part of your purchase.

I learned a LOT during my 9.5 years there. Much more than sacking (the company’s Best Bagger 1996!), stocking, display building, merchandising, sanitation, scheduling, management, accounting, human resources, training, receiving, restaurant management, floor maintenance, checking, inventory control, loss prevention, and cake decorating. (Don’t ask. It would be fodder for Cake Wrecks.)

What I REALLY learned was about people and service. What I was always proud of was the philosophy of service that was ingrained in us. The customer came into our store, paid good money, and should be treated to an exceptional experience. Every customer, every time.

I carried out groceries for a long time, while I aspired to build displays and stock. Learn more skills and advance through the ranks. The company helped train their employees exceptionally well. Almost every person in the entire company was promoted from within. You started as a sacker and/or checker and worked your way up from there.

I also went through 3 interviews to get a job. Yes. Three. Interviews. To sack groceries as a 15-year-old. And not interviews at the store with some college kid. I went to the corporate office, talked to the human resources manager, and a couple other people who I’d get to know very well during my tenure there. Then we went through corporate-level training and store-level training. It was serious business, and not everyone got hired. Back then – in 1989 – it was kind of a competitive and prestigious place to work.

That gets us to today. The country is (supposedly) coming out of a recession. Lots of businesses cut costs to the bare minimum at the onset in order to stay afloat or weather the downturn as best as possible. Along with advertising budgets, I think customer service was hard hit as well. Trim staff, do more with less, and get the job done. I understand. But coming out of it, what’s going to differentiate you from the competition? You’ve kept prices down, hopefully, You’ve made it through. But what will win you new customers and clients?

I’m going to suggest that it’s better customer service.

Unless you stopped doing a good job, then you should still be focused on being the best in your competitive field. So your product is good. How to win new clients? Offer them the best overall experience. Go above and beyond.

Which makes me think about how we’re doing now. I know I don’t do the best I can at all times when it comes to serving my customers. I also know that in my mind I have set the bar extremely high as to what the minimum customer experience should be. We make progress and get better all the time. I have a running list of customer service improvements and we’re taking action on them. I always want to do a great job – and I want my customers to feel that way, too.

How are we doing? How are you doing?

If you have feedback for me, please let me know!

How very cool!  Dutch designer Teun Fleskens has created a public seating product that literally rocks.  When someone sits downs it makes the piece move, which would naturally stimulate discussion among those who share the seat.  What a great way to break the ice.

Via Contemporist

A half-day AMA summit October 29, 2009, titled The Halo Effect: Fusing Traditional and Non-Traditional Media to Maximize Results includes a panel of local professionals to share their experiences with these mediums and participate in discussions with the audience.

Growing up we made intricate paper ornaments for the holidays.  Sort of a tradition in my Danish family, we all learned to use very small, very sharp scissors at a very young age.  We’d spend hours creating a pattern, tracing it on to acetate to create a template and then cutting and sewing the paper ornaments for our tree and to give to friends and family.  From the classic Danish woven heart to lacy trees to angels.

BC (before children) I carried on this tradition and made dozens of lacy pieces that I still pull out each year at the holidays.  I even attempted it a few times with my kids, but after a few incidents involving cut fingers, fights with scissors and too much blood, I put the tradition on hold.  Now that my kids are mostly past the battle to the death phase as siblings, I want to create additional pieces to add to the collection.

Last weekend I was feeling crafty and started to search out some pattern ideas and in my search came across some of the most beautiful paper art pieces I’ve seen in a long time when I stumbled across a piece in Fast Company about a new show at the Museum of Art and Design, titled “Slash: Paper Under the Knife”.  Some absolutely amazing work!  The kind of work that really intrigues and inspires me.

Like this beautiful work by Ferry Staverman, A Space Odesey:

And this one, Mia Pearlman’s Eddy:

Gorgeous stuff.  It’s amazing what artists can do with paper.  And now, I absolutely have to go see this show.

What started as a search for creative ideas for a craft project resulted in a planned trip.  Just goes to show, you just never know where a search may lead.   I like these kind of journeys.  A lot.

Kim Mickelsen will make a presentation titled “Successful Tactics for Social Media Optimization and Social Media Marketing” at Buy the Big O Show October 13, 2009.

Facebook, YouTube, Microsoft Tagspace, Wikipedia and new sites allowing content to be shared through “tagging” can be a great way to tap into links and search-driven traffic. This session looks at some social media services and how to use them appropriately to maximize your visibility and effectiveness. Hear how-to’s and tips from marketers who have discovered what works and what to avoid.

Adam Lisagor is pretty awesome. I don’t know too much about him, just that:

1. He’s one of the funniest people on Twitter.
2. He developed one of the coolest apps available for the iPhone.
3. He’s 1/3 of one of the best podcasts on iTunes.
4. He is the world’s foremost Fishstick instructor.

He also has a blog rich in found content, which I unintentionally visited last night while sorting, filing, and cataloging more than 400 loose bookmarks in Firefox (please don’t ask). During this task, I clicked on a link that — several months ago — I had re-titled simply: “Genius.” (This is ironic, because I didn’t remember where the link would take me, which seems to be the opposite of genius.) It directed me to one of Mr. Lisagor’s entries, the main content of which is reproduced below. It is wisdom about art and performance and ultimately life imparted by Thelonious Monk to a young saxophone player. It is genius and applies to much more than the mastery of reed instruments. We could all heed Monk’s advice, regardless of profession.

[Unfortunately, I end this post on another note of non-genius. I now realize that the original post was from Neven Mrgan, another funny, funny guy. My apologies, sir. Thelonius said: “Always know.” One of these days I might absorb that.]

In select markets, Google has launched a new local advertising platform. This is an enhancement of the current local business listing service and is intended to compete with Yahoo’s current offering.

These new text based ads will appear in Google search results next to standard business listings, and will be displayed based on the location of your business, the categories your business is defined for and the location of the searcher.

Unlike the current AdWords model, all ads are based on a flat monthly rate. This rate will vary however based on your business type and location. Official pricing for this product has not yet been announced by Google.

The analytics provided with this service are quite nice. You will get full reports on:

• Ad Impressions
• Click-Thru Numbers
• Calls (Based on an 800 number automatically provided by Google that redirects the call to your business number)
• Search terms used when you ad was displayed

Along with these statistics you have two options on where to send people from you ad. You can send them to your current website, if your company has one, or you can create a special business listing within Google Maps.

It will be very interesting to see the initial feedback on this new product. If all goes well, I’m certain this Google Local Advertising will roll out nationally relatively quickly.