Consumer Escapes - The shallow end of the March Madness office pool

While I'm productively "working" by writing in a blog, every other working American it seems has his/her nose to the grindstone - the NCAA Men's Basketball grindstone that is. Why has this become such a gigantic mass escape? We don't fill out draw sheets for the NFL playoffs. It's certainly not the money. (I won a pool in 1989, lost every other year and am down hundreds of dollars.) I believe it's the need to "be right all the time" manifest in millions of office pools.

I can hear it now, "hey, how many did you get right in the first round? "Lose any of your Final Four teams yet?" Or, my favorite, "who's your bracket buster?" Note that they're your teams, regardless of where you actually went to college. Somehow by being correct in prognosticating, or a little more correct than your work mate, you're entitled to months of bragging rights.

So go Cornell, 'cause I've got a chance to get the edge on the whole finance department. Maybe later I'll post about those folks who complete multiple draw sheets. Shame on them ...

Thoughts on a final escape

For a year now I've been pontificating (occasionally ranting) about personal things and situations that have a broader connection to consumer escapes. At SMZ, we talk about helping make brands a part of the consumer's Escape Plan™. Most of the time the commentary has been light in tone, attempted to be whimsical, and hoped for the reader to make linkage to the pursuits of a serious advertising agency. Yesterday, with the loss of a family member I was reminded that the final escape - death - is no laughing matter.

My step mother-in-law, Susan Swift, courageously battled ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, for years. And I mean battled! (I hope you never experience this disease first-hand, but I encourage you to read up on it.) Through Susan's final months, final days, final minutes, final breaths she was alert and in control. To the point of choosing how and when to escape pain and suffering to go to her final resting place. Susan was loved and she will be missed. Not for what she did for others, which is a list a mile long. Not for what she did for my wife and daughters, an equally long list. But for knowing when to live for herself, when to live for others, and ultimately, deciding when living was no longer living.

In my future posts I will try to stay to the task of discussing escapes that are genuine, meaningful respite from the every day. I don't need to waste time on the time wasters because if I learned anything from Susan's life, and death, it's that time is precious.

To our breath and dreams.
 Jamie

p.s. If you're so moved, memorial contributions may be made to Pathfinder International, Shake a Leg Miami, or Vitas Hospice Care.

Consumer Escapes - The Henry Ford Right in our Backyard

When I lived in New York I didn't see the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty until my family came to visit. When we lived in Baltimore the same was true of the National Aquarium. For all the years we've lived in Detroit we rarely get to the Detroit Zoo or the Henry Ford, both area gems. Why is that?

Regular readers of this blog know I usually answer my rhetorical questions. I believe we feel the need to show these institutions off. We want credit for bringing someone and in the process "where we live" becomes a better place. (Maybe even better than where the visitor came from.)

As an example, two weeks ago we visited the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park, IL with my sister-in-law. She just moved to Chicago and we were choosing from the long list of family-friendly tourist attractions in the area. The tour was fascinating. While we've been to Fallingwater and Taliesin, the picture was clearer seeing where Mr. Wright first lived and worked. So go Wright and make the trip. It's worth it and will inspire much conversation. For that hour or two Chicago was THE place to be.

"Good design isn't just good business," said D.J. DePree, the man who built Herman Miller into a global powerhouse. "It's a moral obligation." While we don't have any out-of-town visitors this weekend, I'm planning to get my butt out of my Aeron chair and get down to the Good Design: Stories from Herman Miller exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum. It's not just an educational escape, it's my obligation!

Better questions than "who are you wearing?"

“Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.”

 - Moliere

I love that quote, it certainly describes the path of my career. (Although this blog right now is for love and only has a few friends who read it.)

I've been visiting colleges with my daughters recently. In that process there's much discussion about the application process - specifically the essays.  The essays are the opportunity for a prospective student to demonstrate their love of writing. The University of Chicago posed two sample questions at the orientation session:

Tell us about a time you got caught?

How do you feel about Wednesdays?

 

I'd welcome your take on the essays. Go ahead and relive your high school days. No pressure. No money, either.

Kudos Sheraton - Turning a Negative Into a Positive!

Kudos to Danita Harth-Bates, Director of Rooms and Chief Experience Officer at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers! She went above and beyond in response to my recent post-stay gripefest. Our correspondence follows:

My email on Monday morning:

I am generally a quiet hotel guest. Both in demeanor and contact with the hotel management. But I had a stay last week that demands comment. Combining business and leisure I brought my wife and two teenage daughters along to Chicago. We checked in without incident on Thursday and happily had access to a room at noon. It's what faced us that evening that's the issue. A very large group of college students considered our entire floor a party until at least 4:30 am. When I returned from an early morning Lakeshore run I overheard a guest checking out and complaining to the woman who was manning the front desk. That woman received an apology and an adjustment on her bill. When I expressed being blown away by the unchecked conduct of this group I received a story about how "security was chasing the party from floor-to-floor all night." No apology and no small adjustment to our bill. After the icing on the cake being a 15 minute wait for our car at valet I vowed to my wife that I would complete the post-stay survey. Your "thanks for staying with us and come back soon" email provided a forum for my tirade.

Your hotel is perfectly located and the rooms are wonderful, but with the tremendous amount of choice I will be considering alternatives for future stays.

Ms. Harth-Bates surprising and wonderful reply later that SAME day:

Dear Mr. Michelson,

 

Thank you very much for your email.  I am very sorry that your start to a good experience ended in such a frustrating manner.  The noise you experienced was not what we expect from our group attendees, what I found more disturbing from your email is the response of the agent when you brought your experience to our attention.  We will address with our front office team the appropriate response in a situation such as you described. 

 

By way of further apology, I am issuing you a credit in the amount of $163.34, room and tax for the night.  I know that you have choices when traveling and I hope that I am able to persuade you to give the Sheraton Chicago another opportunity to demonstrate that we are able to provide the quality of service and product you have every right to expect from our hotel.  When you decide to give us another chance, please let me know and I will upgrade your room and add other CEO touches for your enjoyment.  

 

Warmest regards,  

 

DANITA HARTH-BATES

Director of Rooms and Chief Experience Officer

Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers

** No need to guess where I'll be staying next time business brings me to the Loop. Thank you again Danita for turning a negative into a positive.

A "copy" of another company's challenges

"Take more initiative." "Be more fearless and frank with one another." "Niceness has its limits." Sounds exactly like the discussions we have daily at SMZ. Yet they're how Ursula Burns the new CEO of Xerox characterizes the culture of her company. That's not all I learned from the article. Read it here. Heck, send it to the Xerox printer.

NY Times article 2/21/10

The VERY public wedding proposal

At the first agency I worked for in New York the head of broadcast production proposed to his wife by editing "a surprise" into a movie he rented from the local video store. (This was in the pre DVD days.) Anyhow she was excited and said yes.

Flash-forward to the Rangers game at Madison Square Garden on Valentine's Day where a fan tried the on-scoreboard wedding proposal. This one didn't go so well. Was it staged, you be the judge?