I feel incredibly fortunate.  My family is healthy and happy.  I have a great job.  A comfortable home.  And a little bit of a cushion should disaster strike.

But many aren’t so lucky.

Thankfully my circumstances are such that I’ve never needed to reach out for assistance.   But I’ve had lots of exposure to the enormous need as a result of serving on non-profit boards and through volunteer work.  To see a grown man or woman in need weep because they have no choice but to ask for help….to see staffers weep in frustration because there just isn’t enough to go around….is a humbling and eye opening experience.

I grew up with little.  In the way of material things.  But in many ways (especially as I look back now) I grew up very rich.  In a home with strong values, where three simple rules were drilled into my head:  1)  work hard 2) be a good person and 3) give back.  I remember many hours in my childhood sewing blankets at church, delivering food baskets to families in need and raking leaves for elderly neighbors.  My family didn’t have a lot of money to donate to worthwhile causes, but we always seemed to find ways to give.  To share what we had and to give of our time. Sure I grumbled back then because I wanted to play with friends instead.  But my Mom made it clear in no uncertain terms, that this is what you do.  You help out where you can.  So I did.  And today I can’t thank my parents enough for the values they taught me.

Today I’m even more aware of the need to help out where I can.  There are so many people struggling in our communities today.  And the last year has taken a massive toll.  Charitable giving fell in 2008 by the largest percentage in five decades, according to a study by the Giving USA Foundation. The decline was the first since 1987 and only the second time there has been a drop since Giving USA began publishing its annual reports in 1956.  More people are out of work, they struggle from week to week and they have less to share.

But while giving is down, need is way up.

Nearly two-thirds of public charities receiving donations saw decreases in 2008.

• 54 percent of human services charities saw an increase in need for their services
• 60 percent of human services organizations were cutting expenses, including cutting services or staff, due to funding shortages;
• Among organizations working to meet people’s basic needs (food, shelter, clothing, etc.), more than half (53 percent) said they are underfunded or severely underfunded for 2009.

Individual giving dropped 6 percent and corporate giving dropped almost 9 percent. Some experts said they were surprised the drop was not even bigger, given that endowments fell by as much as 40 percent, the stock market declined by a similar margin, corporations posted unheard-of losses and unemployment was rising at a fast clip.

In the fall many organizations start their fund drives.  Locally our United Way kickoff just took place last week with hundreds of people lining the pedestrian bridge in Omaha (in the pouring rain) to be a visible reminder of the real need to Live United.  And this year, more than ever, we all need to do what we can to help financially so that services in our community can help those in need.

Please help out.  Every single dollar makes a difference.

Last week AIGA Nebraska held the “One Inch Round” design contest awards show at the Bancroft Street Market . This was a contest where everyone was invited to create 1″ button designs – as many as they wanted – and upload for professional review. Over 400 buttons were submitted from Nebraska creatives, and the entire show was concepted, designed and organized by a Bozellian, Ryan Sorensen, who’s on the AIGA board.

The judging was based on a point system and whoever had the most points, would walk away with a 1″ button maker (valued at over $300). The judges were brilliant minds and the line-up made it daunting at the same time extremely inspiring! (Stanley Hainsworth: Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Tether , Stefan G. Bucher of 344 Design and lastly, Robynne Raye Co-founder and Principal of Modern Dog Design Co.) wow!!

Because our team wanted the button machine in a baaaaad bad bad way (Did I mention we wanted a button machine? In a bad way?), we uploaded as many designs as possible over a span of a few days. Even the writers were pitching in some awesome ideas! It was indeed a group effort. In total we entered upwards of 40 buttons and came oh so very close. It was a great time and challenge to think “Small”. What words or visuals have the most impact in such a small scale? So much of what we thought would work, did not seem to translate in such a tiny format. And lingo like “I Showered Today” or “I Like Toast” were memorable and received big recognition.

All in all, it was a completely fun opportunity where we were able to fuse our whacked senses of humor with our love for design. And thanks to the contest, we are now hooked on making buttons. (our order for a 1″ button machine is being placed as we speak…)

I’m venturing a little off-genre today. This might fall into the tips/advice area of commentary but I think it’s important because of the impact that something as simple as email has on our lives. It’s time to address something: You have too many email addresses. Well, you most likely do. Just about everyone I know has at least two that they view as interchangeable. Usually many more depending on how long they’ve been using email, how many jobs they’ve had, and how much they pay attention. Time to suggest ways to simplify.

This issue has me commenting due to some things I’m going through with a couple clients right now. Domain names were registered with now-defunct AOL addresses, old work email addresses, old ISP email addresses, or old addresses in general. I also have friends and family members who claim I haven’t sent them something or that I never responded to their emails. When I explain that I have, I’m told – oh – I never use that address. I wonder why I got the message from that address in the first place.

Have you experienced this? Do you do it yourself? How do we put our email world in order?

I have dozens of email addresses. I always have. Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, Work, those of my personal domains and websites. Yuck. I only use three though when it gets down to it. The rest don’t matter and I never check them or they forward to my primaries. I’ll explain my philosophy and let you consider if it would make sense for you.

There are three parts to this email address philosophy.

• One Work Email Address
• One Personal Email Address
• One Public Email Address

Here’s how they break down:

Work Email Address

This is the email address for where you are employed. You might not be employed there tomorrow. Don’t tie personal information or services to this email address. Are your bank statements and official personal information coming to your work email address? Stop it. NOW. If you no longer have access to that email account then updating information, verifying changes, or getting anything done with it is going to be hard or impossible. You’ll also spend less time doing non-work things at work.

Personal Email Address

Quite simply, this is where all your friends and family email you and where you handle all non-work things. Again, you should consider longevity. Are you using your ISP (Cox/Qwest/Comcast/AOL) for your email address? What if you discontinue service with them or switch? How do you clean that up? Do you really want to tell everyone you know they need to update their address book in order to reach you?

Use a free online email service like GMail, Hotmail or Yahoo. It’s free. You can access it anywhere. They do a great job filtering spam. Tons of storage. And they will be around for a long time regardless of who you get your Internet service from. You’ll have it for as long as you want to have it, or until they all combine into one giant entity of a company.

You can also register your own domain name (like MyDomainName.com) and then run email accounts off of that if you are more technically inclined. Then you are in charge of the email accounts for as long as you own that domain name. The control is in your hands, not someone else’s. No more, “my email address has changed…” messages to people.

Public Email Address

This is the one component of simplification that might not sit well with some of you but hear me out. Do you trust every site you register with to keep your email address safe? Do you trust them to not send you junk you don’t want? I sure don’t. So I have one email address that I use for EVERY online order, signup, registration, or form I fill out through a third party.  This way, I know exactly where that confirmation email is coming to, where to find that lost password request, what email address is used to log into any particular site, and where all the related junk mail is going. Not to my work address, and not to my personal address. Use another GMail/HotMail/Yahoo account for this one.

This public address might be optional for you. I prefer it this way. I sign up for and register with so many sites that I’d never see my personal email if all that junk was filling my inbox. This way, I can log in, sort by sender, delete the old stuff, empty spam, and be done with it. Need that Borders coupon? There it is. Print. Delete. Done.

The Verdict?

There we have it. A pretty simple approach to handling your email life and being in control of it. If you change jobs or ISPs there’s no reason for you to have to make everyone remember a new email address. Just upate your LinkedIn profile and everyone has your new work email address and information. Change ISPs and nobody will care – your address is the same.

Let me know what strategies you use for email mangement and what you think of this approach. For more reading about simplification of your email life and habits, Zen Habits is always a great read.

Hello, sir or madam. Today, you took simultaneous actions in regards to my rewards account with you. You charged me the card’s annual membership fee, thus making me psychologically committed to keeping my account for another twelve months lest I “waste” that fifty bucks. At the same time, you significantly increased the card’s APR. This makes my psychological commitment an even sweeter revenue stream for you over the next year (by which time I’m sure you suspect I will have forgotten about these concurrent feats of fee-based genius).

Nice job. Very clever. It’s like a little game you decided to play with your cardholders. I like games, too. So since you like games and I like games, why don’t we play a quick guessing game. Cool? Okay, here goes. I’m holding up one finger over here on my end of the internet. Guess which one.

So I was mindlessly fidgeting with a screwdriver last night while sitting on the couch. I won’t try to explain how that happened. But there I was, turning a Phillips head over and over in my hand while re-re-re-watching the first season of The Wire on DVD.

It was a cheap screwdriver. Cost me a buck at Target earlier in the day. There were two pieces of information stamped onto it. The first was a brand: Durabuilt. The second was a country of origin: China.

As I flipped it, I realized there was a factory worker half a world away whose sole job was to sit in a manufacturing plant every day and run the machine that identified a bazillion screwdrivers every week. He (or she) undoubtedly had no trouble understanding “China.” But what about the other word? That had to be confusing – even if the guy (or not guy) had a working knowledge of English. After all, what’s a Durabuilt? At some point that worker asked the question to a trusted, knowledgeable source.

Factory Worker: “I started my new job today.”

Grandfather: “What do they have you doing?”

FW: “I’m stamping screwdrivers. But I don’t get it. On one side of the screwdriver, I let everyone know where it came from. On the other, I stamp a word I’ve never seen.”

GF: “Didn’t you take English for a few years?”

FW: “Yes. But I guess I didn’t make it that far.”

GF: “What’s the word?”

FW: “Durabuilt.”

GF: “Oh. Don’t worry. They wouldn’t have covered that in your studies.”

FW: “Why not?”

GF: “Because that’s not English. That’s advertising.”

I’m really not sure what makes that conversation better: comedic timing or a Greek chorus.

It’s very easy to think that your company or your clients would cease to exist without you. Without your sweat. Without your long hours. Without your passion. Without your intelligence. Without you oiling the machine.

You’re wrong.

Not that you don’t matter. You do (unless you don’t, but that’s another rant altogether). While you’re oiling the machine, though, you can’t lose sight of the fact that it’s a machine. The inner workings of any business never rest on one person. It’s a vast network of knowledge, relationships, and stakeholders. Many people shake hands and hold hands, not just you.

Sure, an account occasionally follows one person. Yes, a client – whether internal or external – may sabotage a larger relationship for the sake of an individual relationship. But it’s the exception, not the rule. Smart clients and managers never lose sight of the machine. Those who dismantle it over the removal of a single cog often find themselves unnecessary in the new machine they’ve created. That’s called irony. Or karma.

This isn’t to say that you’re not special. There’s a good chance you are. It would take a lot of effort to replace you. It would take weeks to bring someone up to speed. Months or years would pass before anyone could have the kinds of relationships you’ve fostered or the knowledge you’ve absorbed. That said, it happens every day.

Advertising and marketing are industries built on Ego. Insecurity often masquerades as Ego. I think a lot of us want to believe that no one can live without us. We don’t want that to be the case. But it is. When you realize that – and then embrace it – you’re actually better for your business. Your work means more, because it becomes about progressing towards goals instead of focusing on the preservation of the individual.

Still think the office would fall apart without you? Take a vacation. A real vacation. Put down the iPhone. Unplug your laptop. Read a book. Walk. Bike. Eat without looking at your watch to see when you need to be back at work. Because you don’t. Just breathe, relax, and forget about the office.

Then…go back. Hey, look. An entire week passed and the place is still standing. The machine is running. It found another groove while you were gone. The irony: once it’s proven that you’re indispensable, the machine always welcomes you back. You’re renewed and refocused. You have new energy. And that’s what makes a machine based on networks, relationships and knowledge thrive.

Last week I took a vacation. Today, I’m ready to work.

I have your Reader rather than a Kindle (I received it well before the Kindle frenzy). And your latest decision makes me feel very good about that.  And would probably sway not only my next purchase of an upgraded device to your brand, but also builds my loyalty your brand overall.  Bravo!

Dear anyone else that cares,

What decision?  On Thursday, Sony Electronics announced that by the end of the year it will sell digital books only in the ePub format, an open standard created by a group including publishers like Random House and HarperCollins.

This means Sony has come down firmly on the side of the open standard.  What that single common set of technology standards means is much more flexibility for consumers of ebooks.  It means we can use any device that supports the standard, from low cost basic models to those high end whiz bang devices with tons of features.  And don’t have to worry or think about what ebook can be read on what device. I have no problems with the realities of digital rights and restrictions on how the content can be used/distributed, but I don’t like being told how and on what device I can read that content.    So I applaud this move because it simplifies use and encourages even more rapid adoption of ebooks (which means more great content for me to devour).

E-book sales in the United States hit a record $14 million in June, a 136.2 percent increase from a year earlier, according to the Association of American Publishers.  And Amazon is the 800lb gorilla in this sector with the largest share, but thus far has advocated the closed platform approach and is opting to go it alone and not adopt the common standards.  It will be interesting to see which side Apple comes down on when they launch their tablet.  If (and it’s probably a big if given’s Apple’s propensity for closed systems) they come down on the side of the open standard, it could very well change the dynamic of the powerful share held firmly right now by Amazon.

Answer:  The same way you reach other human beings.  Which means that preaching at them in a dogmatic and officious manner and/or trying to scare them with dire predictions of an imminent and grueling death if they make a wrong choice is probably not going to work either for them or you.  That seems pretty logical, right?  So then why does everybody do it?

It’s like no one has taken the time to realize that the menopausal woman is a person.  She doesn’t see herself as “menopausal” or “aging” and she’s not trying to write a thesis on the effects of menopause.  So don’t throw a bunch of charts and graphs at her.  Don’t find a special “old lady” font so that you can talk to her in a way that she can relate – because she can’t.

Instead, talk to her like you would a person.  Because that’s what she is.  Tell her what she might find inconvenient about menopause, and make her laugh with anecdotes of how other women have coped.  Assure her that just admitting she’s in menopause won’t make everyone who meets her look for white hair in a bun, granny glasses and a frumpy old house dress with sensible shoes.  Don’t make her feel old and ostracized like some kind of freak. Especially if you want to engage her.

On May 22nd we launched a blog on menopause, www.menologues.com.  It came about because so many friends and acquaintances have asked for some kind of painless guidance through the trials and tribulations of the dreaded and feared menopause.  Some of the most intelligent women that I know are embarrassed to admit they don’t know the basics – but they admit that they should.  So I started jotting down my thoughts and my experiences with the hope of making menopause less menacing.  I shared my initial post with my partner – who is just beginning her quest for information on the subject – and she was adamant that there is a huge need not currently being met.  That was the birth of Menologues.  And judging from the overwhelming response from menopausal, peri-menopausal and post-menopausal women I feel confident that we have uncovered a way to talk and connect with a sizeable segment of the menopausal set.

And the moral of the story is – first and foremost treat everyone like a person.  And the odds of connecting with them will increase dramatically.

I like testing the new stuff out. That’s one thing that I can look back at and see as a consistent pattern in my life. It’s also one of the things I really like about the web and technology fields. Give me a beta test of the next Big Thing and I can pretend I’m special and important!

So when Google (of which I am admittedly a decent fan of) launched their web browser nearly a year ago, I happily installed it and got to know it. I’ve been using it as my primary browser since. Not because it’s all that super-amazing and better than all the others, but because it’s SIMPLE. There’s no overload of features and functionality. No toolbars and all the other add-on crap that makes me hate using a browser. It starts up. I open tabs. I get things done. Sure, knowing that each tab uses its own system process makes the geek in me happy, but that’s just bonus.

But my thoughts here are not about Google Chrome. It’s more big picture and where my usage of chrome is leading me. The other day, a post in a Chromium developer group mentioned some of the plans Google has for getting Chrome to be able to sync info like bookmarks across different computers via your Google Account. At least, it’s starting with bookmarks. Read this article by Ryan Paul for more insights and analysis.

Why is any of this of note? Just more to watch from Google. Look at how they are “independently” assembling all the various aspects of what you need to run your business or your life from “the cloud.” Email, web browsing, document creation and management, calendars, instant messaging, advertising, discussion forums, blogging, image storage and manipulation, shopping, news, maps, videos, voice and even more. Plus the ability to search it all. They have some of everything, but each little piece can also live on its own.

Now, take the ability to tie it all together via the “cloud” of the Internet and you’ve really got something. The reason I think this is particularly significant is because instead of talking about it and hyping it and making a huge deal out of it through some marketing push, Google is simply doing it. They are telling us what they have done. Not necessarily what they are going to do someday. And all of these things together are quite an impressive suite of FREE services.

Keep paying attention to this. Consumers are going to naturally gravitate toward the easiest, most intuitive and economical solutions out there. Without really thinking about it I changed my browser from FireFox to Chrome simply because Chrome got out of the way more. And now I’m VERY excited that I will be able to sync something like bookmarks and preferences across multiple computers easily and automatically without having to use del.icio.us or anything external. What can you do in your own business to get your customers the things they need and want without getting in their way?

Google’s growing as a platform for technology, business and simply interacting online. They are trying on a lot of different “shoes” in the form of projects, technologies, strategies and everything else they can think of. One of them might be a big kicker, but I think it’s the comprehensive suite of interrelated and compatible services that’s going to help keep them running far ahead of the pack for years to come.

On July 20th 2009 Tweeters will have their conversations sponsored through a platform called IZEA.  These 200 people are estimated to reach more than 1 million people.

The cost per tweet (CPT) will run an advertiser between $2 and $30,000 per tweet for a 140 character message.  About 5% of the 200 tweeters are celebs.  Every link is 100% trackable with the integration of Google Analytics. 

Twitter again is getting the raw end of the deal because they won’t make a dime off of this model.  Everyone else is making money off of Twitter except for the company itself.  I think this could potentially be a lucrative model, but if I were Twitter I would find a way to get a cut from this and everyone else.  I guess that’s the beauty of technology though. 

I want to know what the Twitter Universe thinks about this possible new CPT model introducing advertisers on their turf.  Will it affect your overall experience with Twitter?  

Let me know your thoughts.