Free Flowing Thoughts

Why I don't like meetings before 9:00am

I will not accept many meeting invites before 9:00am. Now if Michael Dell invited me for an 8:30am (he hasn't yet, but you never know) I would accept that one. But in general I can always find a reasonable alternative time.  It's not that I'm lazy, I just have other plans. 

Most mornings (at least 5-6 days a week including weekends) I wake up at 5:00am and play Outlook at my kitchen table while watching CNBC. Although Outlook always wins, I can't stop playing. These two hours are some of my most productive of the day. I'll finish up a presentation, or catch up on blogs.  There are no drive-by's, no phone calls, and very few replys come back over e-mail.

But around 7:20am my favorite part of the morning begins when Ainsley starts talking over the baby monitor. She babbles for a while, lately she giggles, and every now and then an actual word floats out (usually mamama). After a while she starts getting a bit impatient and a lot louder, like she's calling for us to come get her. Then she starts pulling the strings on her musical toys which is like a paging system for parents. If we try to ignore that cue...things get ugly.

Every morning Courtney and I go in together to get the baby. I usually pick out some clothes (which Courtney changes when I'm not looking) and feed Ainsley in her room.  Then we come downstairs and the three of us have breakfast together.  Courtney and I have coffee and talk about the day while Ainsley feeds the pugs some Cheerios we actually intended for her.

Ever since I adopted this morning schedule I come to work much better prepared and in a much better mood (trust me, it really could be worse).  I enjoy this time so much it takes a lot for me skip.

Benefits of working from home

Been working at home in the mornings this week, mostly because Courtney hasn't been feeling well and it gives me a chance to help out a bit.  I'm also able to get a ton of work done without as many drive-by's. 

My two favorite features:  In my home office I actually have a window with sunlight.  You don't realize how nice that is until you spend days on end inside a large box (Dell office) without one.  But the most enjoyable benefit is my personal assistant, Ainsley.  She screens my mail (as seen in the picture) and is a great excuse for getting off non-productive conference calls.

Another good reason for being active online

Wanted: CMO for Startup - Must Have a Good PageRank by Tom Foremski on Silicon Valley Watcher posits your online identity is going to be increasingly important in finding your next job.  He's right and it's another good reason to enter the fray.  One of the first things I do when interviewing someone is look them up online.  Particularly for marketing roles, this is going to be nearly a requirement, especially for more senior roles.  I learn a lot about a person this way: can they write clearly, do they have a boad range of connections from which to draw ideas or recruit, and are they actively engaged online.  For Dell, and an increasing number of other major brands, online engagement of customers and prospects is a key priority. Better if a new hire already has great experience in doing this well.

 

 

Military Child Student to Student Programs In The News

I recently took on public relations along with the rest of marketing for Military Child.  So I'm watching press on the organization much more closely than I was before.  Our PR firm, Powell Tate has a great team working with us headed by Brian Wommack..  If an organization has to prioritize marketing budget take care of PR first.  It's the most cost effective way to get out the message.  We need to look at increasing ours soon. 

Great article appeared in Stars and Stripes about our Student to Student program.  It basically creates welcoming committees of other students when a new child from a military family arrives at school.    We have hundreds of these students volunteering in schools all around the world.

Think he'll pitch the job differently to Romney?

John McCain to Tim Russert on why he was not interested in being W's VP: "The Vice President has two responsibilities: To inquire daily on the health of the President, and to attend the funerals of third world dictators"

Is your board ready to add fundraising to board member responsibilities?

Military Child is making an important transition to funding our mission with more donations and grants than service contracts.  While we do not plan to do less contract work, it is a key part of how we accomplish our mission, we no longer want this to be the main source of funding.  This is largely because contracted studies and services could be reduced or eliminated at any time and overnight our organization would find itself without funding to make a difference.

We are learning it's a lot easier to make this transition on PowerPoint than in reality.  Our board began largely as a "working board" where each of our 20 members have responsibility for a particular initiative or general topic.  When we joined there was not expectation of fundraising and the reality some people are better/more comfortable with this than others.

BoardSource has a revealing 10 question quiz on the readiness of your board to make fundraising a key responsibility.

http://www.boardsource.org/Spotlight.asp?ID=14.336

The power of social media to get out the message

"If we post something on our blog, typically within 24 hours you can find between 5,000 and 7,000 references to it across the Internet," said Mark Jarvis, Dell's chief marketing officer. "So within 24 hours, you're in 7,000 places, not in one place."

7,000 interactions and conversations vs a traditional ad placement.