I received this in the mail yesterday and felt the need to share it. Not because I have started my own institution of higher learning but because it really caught my eye.
Talk about a personalized and targeted direct mail piece from Alumni Originals. Using my last name in the products shown. Mass customization for sure.
And, no, I do not plan on buying one but if any of my loyal readers are interested, I'd be happy to get you something.
With a giant crane of course.
I think we removed the world's largest hot tub today…and had an equally large crane here to do the job. The tub was here when we moved in and built into the deck much the same way a bank vault is built into a bank building – first and with no intention of ever being moved again. We used it a handful of times but not enough to keep.
Thanks to some skillful work by Brian and Chris leveraging the best of Egyptian pyramid engineering, they got it lifted up and moved over so Al from Image Crane here in Kirkland could get to it. Then, just like that, it was gone!
We are looking forward to the huge amount of new space on the deck. Here's a few pics of the action:
I had a super busy day today starting out around 4am pacific ahead of the Gist funding announcement after a late night putting all the pieces in place. Yes, I know I get no pity from my East Coast brethren for early mornings as our day starts as it is lunch time there – which is why we were working on eastern time today.
Here's the link to the press release and here are some additional details about it on the Gist blog. It's definitely very exciting to have the guys at Foundry Group involved in Gist.
If you are looking for a Gist beta invite, drop a comment in this post or send me an email (robertcpease at gmail dot com) and I'll get you set up.
For years this has been one of the headaches around email – using 'reply to all' to pummel bystanders' inboxes with fyi, cya, and increasingly irrelevant banter as conversations play out. I chose it as the name of this blog for that reason. A blog, to me, is a reply to anyone and everyone who cares to read it so I thought it fit.
Now that Twitter is all the rage and more folks are using it, I am witnessing the evolution of the accidental reply to all. It comes in the form of the accidental exclusion of the "d" in front of a Twitter handle or selecting the wrong button in one of any number of Twitter readers (like Tweetdeck). A message intended for one person is instead broadcast to the entire Twitter universe.
Twitter is an open forum and direct messages should not be assumed to be private. I'm not being paranoid, I'm just being practical. Got something sensitive to say? Send an email or, better yet, pick up the phone and use your voice. A bit more effort, but certainly more personal.
The answer is pretty surprising from this nicely done post by Ryan Healy of Brazen Careerist on his Employee Evolution blog.
Here are some great data points from Ryan:
Twitter
The majority of Twitter users worldwide are 35 or older. Young adults 18-24 only make up 10.6% of the Twitter population in the US and are less likely than the average user to tweet. 45-54 year olds are actually 36 percent more likely than average to visit Twitter. (via Comscore)
LinkedIn
The average age of a LinkedIn user is 40-years old. (via Techcrunch)
Facebook
The 35 to 54 Year old demographic grew at a rate of 276% over the last six months and the 55+ demographic grew more than 194% over the same time period, while 18-24 year olds only grew 20%. (via iStrategyLabs)
Consumer Technology
A recent Accenture survey concluded that Baby boomers, defined in Accenture’s survey as those 45 years old or older, are embracing popular consumer technology applications nearly 20 times faster than younger generations. (via Accenture)
These are not just the toys of Gen Y. Rather, they are being broadly adopted by Gen X and even Boomers in greater and greater numbers. LinkedIn was once thought silly but now is a pretty mainstream business tool for recruiters, sales types, and super networkers. Facebook didn't make a lot of sense for me (as my post on 8/29/2007 explains) until it gained critical mass from a population relevant to me. I now have connected/re-connected from folks across all stages of my life from grade school to college and beyond.
Most intriguing about the stats above to me is that the often debated role of all this in the enterprise (enterprise 2.0, etc.) is taking shape before our eyes. The users of this stuff are (on the whole) adults with jobs who are gaining comfort using new technologies and are adopting them to both their personal and professional lives.
The latest MBA program rankings are out from US News and World Report and the usual suspects are at the top of the list. What really struck me were the price tags and continued dominance of private versus public universities in the top 20. In many cases, the business schools at public universities that are in the the top 20 have different tuition structures than the other programs and schools at that university and are essentially private schools.
Now, admittedly, I am a state school boy and was fortunate to be able to attend business school at the University of Tennessee (#54 on the list) directly after doing my undergraduate work and had an assistanship to help pay for it so I am coming at this from that perspective.
Is the price tag of a top private school worth it? I guess that depends on what you are looking for. I personally believe the importance of where you go only matters until you do something else significant and have met lots of folks that think getting an acceptance to a top school is the end of the journey not the beginning. I have friends who have attended the top schools on this list and some who have no college education and they define themselves by their successes not their academic credentials. That is why they are my friends.
The investment justification seems especially difficult now that lots of high paying jobs have evaporated on Wall Street and the pace of MBA hiring has subsided. Every school in the top 20 is over $40k per year for tuition alone (I am looking at out of state numbers for state schools) and most are located in cities with a high cost of living. You easily spend over $100k plus two years out of the workforce where you were probably making $40-70k per year. The investment hurdle easily becomes over $200k to recoup.
If you can score a grant, fellowship, scholarship, generous corporate sponsor, or if someone in your family (including you) has deep pockets the math is much easier to swallow.
I believe education is one of the most valuable things we can spend our time and money on but the price tag for a "top MBA" is daunting and seems like it will force really bright people to take jobs to pay off debt (if they can be found) vs. having the freedom to put their newly acquired skills to work in more entrepreneurial efforts. I suppose that begs the question of whether or not an MBA matters for an entrepreneur. A topic for another day…
We spent a long weekend in Hood River last weekend to celebrate Marel's birthday. We enjoyed the down time and dropped in on favorites Full Sailing Brewing, Double Mountain Brewery, and 3 Rivers Grill. Big thanks to the guys at Hood River WaterPlay for the great time and kiteboarding lessons for Marel. If you are headed to Hood River and want to get on the river, give them a ring.
I'm not sure I totally agree with that statement in this video (via Rod Drury) but thought this was just too rich not to share. Know anyone like this?
Congratulations to the nuBridges team on a series of announcements this week that coincide with the big RSA security conference in San Francisco.
Among the announcements are the release of a new data security product and two awards from Info Security Products Guide (one for compliance and one for innovation).
I was fortunate to be part of the team that started nuBridges back in 2001 and the company has grown successfully since. If you are looking for a solution to secure your data or help share it with your customers or suppliers, give them a call. Also, be sure to check out their blog and follow them on Twitter.
What a day today. Sunny and warm. I fear this is just a teaser of what is to come but on days like this there is no better place to be. Here's a pic I took with my Blackberry while walking Riley looking West over Lake Washington to downtown Seattle from Kirkland.
Venture Vice 