Friday Fhoto

I noticed this picture a few weeks back over at River City Rapids. It originates from WRIR.org and is pretty cool (if real.) A good pic for the last Friday of 07.

On the Brink of Extinction: The Gift Certificate

The poor gift certificate. What happened to the nice voucher hand signed by an employee that could be redeemable for goods or services? You know, the the ones that had some sort of seal from the Treaty of Ghent that tried to thwart counterfeiters. They're virtually gone - replaced by the gift card. Ever heard of it? Me neither.

Did you know that gift cards are a popular gift during the holiday season?

Me neither.

Did you know that it will be hard for retailers to figure out if it was a good season because gift card sales are usually tallied last?

Me neither.

Did you know that gift cards are made of plastic, have a magnetic strip, and come in many different shapes and colors?

Me neither.

Did you know that many gift cards expire?

Me neither.

Did you know that retailers rake in over 8 billion, yes billion, benjamins a year in unused gift cards?

Me neither.

Did you know that gift cards can not only expire, but many have a non-use fee if the card goes dormant for over a year?

Me neither.

Did you know that there are some gift cards that don’t expire? Like Starbucks!!

Me neither.

Are you tired of hearing about gift cards every time you turn on the news or read the paper during this season of giving?

Me neither.

Friday Fhoto

As 2007 comes to a close, here is one of the best pics of the year. And no, it's not a product of photoshop. Thanks Ox!

A crocodile at a zoo in the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung holds the forearm of a zoo veterinarian in between its teeth, April 11, 2007. The crocodile bit off the arm of the zoo veterinarian treating it, an official reported. REUTERS/Frank Lin (TAIWAN)

What’s for lunch? The Submarine Sandwich

I’m a big fan of the submarine sandwich. Or hoagie, or grinder, or whatever you want to call it depending on the area of this great nation you choose to roam.

Why subs you say? Well, they are usually quite easy to eat – depending what fixings you choose. Plus, submarine sandwiches take very little time to devour.

(I really like saying submarine sandwiches.)

Wash it down with an ice cold Coca-Cola Classic and possible a bag of potato chips, and you’re reading to enjoy the rest of your day with a full belly. Since I’m such a sub snob, it's the anti-wrap, here’s my short list for my top chain submarine sandwich shops in the RIC.



Firehouse Subs – The jury is still out at the Firehouse. I went for the first time yesterday. I didn’t want to get crazy with my first experience, so I ordered a Club. All subs come “fully involved” according to Firehouse. This means mayo, deli mustard, lettuce, tomato and onion. I held the mayo. The bread is a big factor in a good submarine sandwich. Firehouse bread is good, but doesn’t compare to the other breads. The best part about Firehouse is the pebble ice in the drink machine. That stuff is incredible.

Quiznos – Dolla dolla bills ya’ll. Quiznos isn’t cheap by any extreme, but mmm….expensive. But the submarine shop known for it’s toasted sandwiches knows what it’s doing. The bread is really good, and they change up the menu quite often. The smartest thing Quiznos does is that there really isn’t much you can add to your sandwich besides lettuce. They don’t have many fixings, moving customers through the line much faster. Quiznos best features are the variety in choice, and the great toasted taste.

Jersey Mike’s – The NJ based submarine sandwich joint knows how to make a classic hoagie, as the Yankees prefer to say. Jersey Mike’s is about middle of the road when it comes to fixings. Not the small amounts like Quiznos, but not the entire vegetable food group like Subway. The deli meat at Jersey Mike’s is sliced thin and the sandwiches aren’t very cumbersome. The bread is nice and soft and available in white or wheat.

Subway – Probably the most popular chain submarine sandwich restaurant around. It’s everywhere, even most gas stations. You can’t “eat fresh” without seeing Jared Fogle on a poster or drink. Subway prides itself on being a healthy alternative to fast food. I don’t even think about that anymore. I enjoy the plethora of bread choices, usually going with the Italian Herbs and Cheese. And the veggie options are out of this world! The sandwich artists will put anything on your sub. I’ve seen some crazy concoctions in my sub-eating days. You have to find the best Subway in town. One that isn’t stingy with the fixings, many are.

Everything I Know, I Learned From 'The Office'

Having withdrawl from "The Office" due to the ongoing writers strike? Here's an article from Advertising Age to help you get through the holidays.

Ten Tips From Michael Scott

Tiny cubicles. Beige walls. White mugs with old coffee stains. Have you ever seen an ad agency that looked like this? I'm sure there are some, but I would guess there aren't many. The truth is that the majority of corporate America works in lackluster office prisons every day. Don't believe me; just ask anyone if they identify with any of the characters in NBC's "The Office." Which if you've been under a rock lately, is like the comic strip "Dilbert" come to life. And certainly a mind-numbing work environment, insane coworkers and a complete lack of culture negatively affect job performance. Why else would we, as agency owners, go to such great lengths to order rainbow-colored file folders, pottery coffee mugs, foosball tables, sleek desks and hire employees we actually like?

But no matter how silly Dunder Mifflin's Michael Scott gets or how insane his leadership methods are, I believe watching episodes of The Office has helped me be a better boss -- and it's given me something to talk about with my agency compadres on Friday. (Obviously these lessons were taken with a grain of salt, as should this blog.) Here are the Top Ten things I've learned about my own agency by watching The Office, and some were hard. (That's what she said.)

The Dundies. Having a peer-to-peer awards program is more meaningful than if the boss just hands out kudos during the morning meeting. Ours are called i2i Awards. Make sure your nomination categories align with your agency's brand and culture; funny superlatives don't work so well in a room full of serious overachievers with deep creases in their foreheads.

Schrute Bucks. Employee incentives are important even if business is down because rewarding good people doesn't always have to mean big bucks. Sometimes just leaving flowers on someone's desk is nice, or bumping their title up can show them you've noticed their hard work. (That said: NBC please give your writers what they want. They deserve it.)

DunderMifflin.com. Change is tough, especially when it comes to technology, but it's best not to fight it like Michael and Dwight did. That new-fangled business management software (CMPro anyone?) may look like a bitch to learn in the box, but when installed could really help streamline your process.

Michael's Suggestion Box. Checking in with your employees on how you're doing is an eye-opening experience. You may think your initiative is brilliant, but the 30 people you're leading may hate it. Also don't discount the small things that can mean so much, like employee birthday cakes and soda selection (you should've heard the uproar here when we were going to switch out the sodas in our machine).

The Bat. Like Dwight discovered, sometimes investigating crap just leads to more crap. I'm not saying turn a blind eye to squabbles. But more often than not those little things work themselves out better when you don't try and make them "bigger." Save your mediation skills for the big drag-out wars.

Gift Baskets. Having close relationships with clients is great, but it's really only icing. The "cake" should be amazing and timely creative. When pitching new business, we've learned to focus on the prospect's needs, dreams and timeline, versus whether cookies are better than popcorn in the leave behind.

Dwight & Jim. Two seemingly opposite employees, with personalities and skill sets as different as oil and water, can sometimes make your best team. When pairing an unlikely duo, set their expectations clearly so both are working towards the same goal, like when Jim and Dwight sold against Staples. Recognize that this sort of team chemistry is tricky and it may take a few tries before you start seeing dynamic results.

Practical Jokes. Staplers floating in Jell-O molds and pennies stuck in a phone receiver may seem like harmless fun until it escalates to computer viruses and a couple of hundred dollars of property damage. It's inevitable with a house full of characters you're going to get some pranksters. We give our folks a week at Christmas to get all their mischief out. And to ensure that an uninvited punk doesn't hit innocent bystanders, we have "opt-in punking" called The Naughty & Nice List.

Ryan The Temp. Often times the most motivated employees are the ones you least expect, like that freelancer who always seems to be around, or the associate creative director that comes in every morning with black Sharpie on his drinking hand. Be sure to promote these diamonds in the rough as soon as possible. The benefit they'll bring to your company will outweigh how weird it is to see them in a managerial role.

The Scranton Family. The biggest thing I've learned from watching The Office is that when the going gets tough and the chips are down, they really do care about each other. Stanley hates to see Phyllis cry. Angela deep down (very deep down) is happy for Pam and Jim. My employees always surprise me with their gigantic hearts and capacity to love; I know that when we need to rally as a company that our petty differences melt away and we're a family.

So while you're at home for Christmas, take advantage of the writers strike to rent previous seasons of "The Office" and see what your agency can improve upon in the upcoming year, and at the very least, you'll laugh until it hurts. Cheers!

Late Night Returns in 08. But will the Laughs?

The time has come for those of us that go to sleep before 11:30 or 12:00pm to DVR late night television. Starting January 2, 2008, late night laughers Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien will once again take the stage for NBC. But there is a twist – no Hollywood writers.

Leno and his heir apparent, O’Brien, will write the shows themselves – ending a two-month rerun drought due to the writers strike.

Will the jokes be funny? What will the format be?

In a written statement released by NBC, O’Brien hinted that he really doesn’t know what to expect. "I will make clear, on the program, my support for the writers and I'll do the best version of 'Late Night' I can under the circumstances," O'Brien said in a written statement. "Of course, my show will not be as good. In fact, in moments it may very well be terrible."

Both hosts want to come back mainly for the staff support. If the shows had continued to stay in the dark, dozens of employees would have been sent packing.

The news of Leno and O’Brien’s return to the tube could also allow other funny faces, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, and David Letterman, to return to the screen

Needless to say, the DVR will be set for January 2, 2008 at 11:30 and midnight. It will be interesting to see how the shows will work with out the backbone (the writers) in place.

But like they’ve always said – the show must go on!

RTD Turnover - Not Tasty These Days

53. It's the number of folks that have said Peace Out!, or something to that extent to the Richmond Times-Dispatch since 2005.

Talk about job turnover. Yikes! These numbers would even make the "paper or plastic" baggers at Ukrops shudder.

And like I've been taught from an early age, it's always best to show your work. So, here's the rundown. (It's fairly lengthy.)

Departed (53)
Louise Seals
John Dillon
Howard Owen
Gordon Hickey
Chip Jones
Jeff Kelley
(Bob Rayner)
Karen Kinney
Melanie Solaimani
Susan Boisseau -- retired
Betty Booker -- retired
Clarke Bustard
Pete Humes
Louis Mahoney
Pam Mastropaolo
Pat Young -- deceased
Roy Wilhelm
Karen Owen
Bob Piazza
A.J. Plunkett
Stacy Adams
Meredith Bonny
Mark Holmberg
Lindsay Kastner
Alberta Lindsey -- retired
Jim Mason -- retired
Ray McAllister
Gary Robertson
Lea Setegn
Julian Walker
Will Carter
Osita Iroegbu
Andrew Price
Dena Sloan
Dan Beatty
Dianne Schultz
Brian Couturier
Heather Ryan
Jack Berninger -- retired
Heather Tucker
John Markon
Greg Frazier
Vic Fulp -- retired and deceased
Stephen Lewis
Jerry Lindquist -- retired
Nate Ryan
Lee Graves
Mike Hardy
Paul Bradley
Peter Hardin
Kathy Orth
Andy Petkofsky

Announced leaving soon (3):
Bruce Parker
Keith Pritchard
Pam Stallsmith

Done yet? And yes, while some have been added since this list was generated, the big question is why did all of these great members of the media decide to leave?

Tobacco Avenue Digs In

If you have the slightest idea about what’s happenin in the RIC these days, and fake news websites like The Onion make you cry (with laughter), than you’ll need to bookmark Tobacco Avenue.

It the latest blog to poke fun at something, that well, is very easy to poke fun at – the microcosm of our society that is Richmond, Virginia.

Many writers, in many cities across this vast land would kill for the ammunition that writers in Richmond are given on a daily basis.

It’s stockpiled.

Whether it’s the Mayah, Doug Wildah, or the chaotic Richmond City Council, there’s never a day away from the trenches.

Tobacco Avenue seems ready for battle. No stone will be left unturned. Hoo-Rah!! Tobacco Avenue is sure to leave an indelible mark, and a funny one at that, on the cap city.

(All military references end here)

Friday Fhoto

In case you were wondering...

Escapee Alonzo Logan has been captured. Inrich.com was nice enough to tell us three times.

AT&T to Disconnect Pay Phones

It’s time to say goodbye to the pay phone. AT&T, formerly Cingular, and many other aliases, announced today that it will discontinue pay phone service by the end of 2008.

Somewhere the beeper is shedding a tear.

According to AT&T, pay phones in the United States have declined across the industry from about 2.6 million phones in 1998 to an estimated 1 million phones today.

Part of the dwindling use of pay phones could be attributed to the rising cost to use them. Instead of the usual quarter, now most phones cost at least 35 cents.

The reuters article goes on to say:

The use of pay phones has been declining in much of the developed world due to the popularity of mobile phones. But some complain that ending pay phone service restricts low-income, low-credit consumers' access to communications.

Are we supposed to think that the undeveloped world uses pay phones with great frequency? As far as the “low-income, low-credit consumers'” aspect, you can figure out what that means.

If you really want to use a pay phone, you're going to have to cross the pond. They still use them over there. You can even stand in a big red box on the side of the road.