The BBC reports that McDonald’s is working to get the word ‘McJob’ stricken from the Oxford English Dictionary. The dictionary defines it as, “an unstimulating low-paid job with few prospects.” Will McDonald’s next go after Grey’s Anatomy claiming that McDreamy sounds too much like one of their frozen desserts?
My name is Chris and I have a slight problem. I like to change my blog site designs. I tend to change them like Dan Snyder changes football coaches. But I hope this one holds me for a while. It definitely has a lot going for it…and will help deliver a superb overall user experience.
One interesting thing you’ll find is that I’ve been lured to the dark side…I’ve started experimenting with Twitter. Yes, it’s true. If you recall my rather heated post not too long ago, you may ask how this came to pass. I did poke a good deal of fun at twitterers and railed at what it does. However, I’ve started to see some of its inherent potential. For instance…I’ve been using it as a way to ask questions and offer quick updates on what’s going on. I promise, though, you won’t read when I do eat my next peanut butter sandwich.
To most of my friends and readers get their updates via rss, come and visit. I’ll be making a few more changes and enhancements – like cleaning up page content and fixing the design in Internet Explorer (like getting rid of that rather invasive Get Firefox banner at the top…but then again, you should really be using Firefox anyway). If you find anything strange or perturbing, let me know. Thanks for helping me beta test.
Update 05.15.07: Yes, the twitterings to the right are for real. After taking a good look at twitter, I now see it has potential for good as well as minor evil. That’ll teach me to go off on a rant without fully understanding the source of the rant. Lesson learned.
I try not to go off-theme too often, but there are times when I simply can’t help it. Particularly when common sense seems to get trumped by the latest fad. Okay, here we go…
How do you know when all this beautiful web 2.o stuff has gone too far? When something like Twitter becomes the Next Great Thing.
Want to know if someone’s having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Ask Twitter.
Want to tell everyone you know that you had a bad bean burrito and now you’re stuck in the bathroom praying to the porcelain god? Go tell Twitter.
Bored with life or work and have nothing else better to do? Get Twitter now.
Sorry everyone. I just don’t get it. Am I missing something? Is the need to know what someone is doing every second just that compelling? Have we become so enamored with reality television that we need to bring it to the web? And for the love of pete, who thinks their life is so damn interesting that we want to know about every move you make? Makes you wonder if there’s a reason that twitter starts with ‘twit.’
Please. I challenge someone (anyone) to make one solid argument in favor of Twitter. Else this has the makings of some wonderful satire.
Update 03.15.07: Oh no, Johnnie Moore has succumbed to the darkness of Twitter! Of course, not everyone in his circle is enamored with this development
Update 03.16.07: Kathy Sierra has a good analysis on what’s wrong with the (hopefully short-lived) Twitter phenomenon. And the anti-Twitters are coming out of the woodwork based on the comments.
Friends and readers, I am alive and well, but its looking like I need to take a break from blogging for a little while longer. Our 1500 mile move from Virginia to Texas went great and now its time to focus on settling into our new home.
Don’t worry…there will be more WorkPlay coming soon, doubtlessly better than ever. Look for new posts, a new look, and a renewed purpose in late August/early September.
Until then, keep playing.
See, here’s the thing…most of us take great pride in creating an interesting, provocative, web experience through our blogs. But, if you only get your blog content from a newsreader, you miss the whole experience. It’s kinda like listening to your favorite band on AM radio…the sound is there, but it’s less than an optimal experience when you could listen to them live.
Case in point…I read Patti Digh’s 37 Days blog and it’s just fabulous. But I usually read it from my Rojo newsreader. So, today I go and read her latest post and it hits me that her content is just one aspect of the total 37 Days experience. The content might be the most important, but there’s other neat things to find there as well. The whole site personifies her whimsical and deeply soulful view of the world. I liked her mystery carrot award so much I gave myself one.
Guess all of this builds into a somwhat frustrating and confounding observation I have with blogging and blogreading. I’m thankful to have folks like you who read the stuff that tumbles out of my brain. And I’m inviting you to take a deeper look at my blog and the rest of Bailey WorkPlay if all you’ve ever experienced is through your Bloglines or other RSS reader.
And don’t start and end with just me…make an effort to actually visit the blogsites of people who you find fascinating. And let them know what you like. As blogging is a personal pursuit for all of us who take it playfully serious, it’s always nice to know that you’re loved not only for the content of your mind, but for your body as well.
I’m planning something rather BIG and could use some help. If you’re living in or around Austin, TX, shoot me an email at baileyworkplay[AT]gmail[DOT]com. I’ll have more details soon…
I came across this article from the UK-based Guardian Newspaper online. Turns out I might not be as well-read as I thought.
Museum, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) in Britain asked librarians around the country, “Which book should every adult read before they die?” At the top of the list was To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, followed by the Bible and then The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Here’s others – both classics and contemporary fiction – that made the list:
Okay, okay…if you’re wondering what in the hell is going on, you’re probably not alone. I kind of wonder the same thing at times.
I’ve made an about face and ended the experiment which was Drupal. Too much trouble and too much work. I never felt comfortable with the interface and many of the plugins needed tweaking that was out of my league. And, perhaps more importantly, I was getting a little skittish that it was too arduous on you folks who visit and read.
So, here I am pleasantly enjoying my experience with WordPress (hey, Kevin H. you can stop smiling now). In one week, I was able to put together a far better site that mixed a blog with the kind of content management that I need.
There have been some downsides to the move so please bear with me. Probably the worst of it is that I lost a couple of recent posts and their trackbacks and comments.
I figure more will come later. It’s late now and I need some sleep to prepare for a busy week. Enjoy the new site.
Rosa Say has given me just the nudge that I need to do something that’s been floating on my to-do list for a while. This is Talking Story’s 2nd Annual Love Affair with Books where folks in her Ho’ohana Community have been encouraged to submit a book review. Well, I’ve been meaning to write a little about a powerful book that was actually sent to me by a publisher’s rep who actually has a pretty neat blog herself (visit Kim and her blog, Skip On!).
In the fall of last year, I received To Be of Use: The Seven Seeds of Meaningful Work, by Dave Smith. The title certainly was compelling and intimately related to my own philosophy toward work. The book is not only an autobiography of a man dedicated to making this world a better place, but a field guide for all of us to use to connect our work to something greater than ourselves. Dave Smith was the original founder of Smith & Hawken, a company dedicated to organic gardening (sadly, Smith & Hawken was bought up by Scott Seed and changed into the kind of empty Pottery Barn-like store that Dave fought against).
It has seven chapters with each one focused on a particular value or seed. And the chapters flow easily from one to the next: faith, hope, justice, temperance, prudence, courage, and love. In each, he offers his own personal experiences as a testament to what an individual can do with their life. He writes of how he left his high-paying job as a computer programmer to work for Cesar Chavez and five dollars a week. He speaks candidly about his spiritual wandering from a fundamentalist Christian upbringing toward Quakerism.
What I found most refreshing is his take on business and entrepreneurism. His story is an inspiring account of how business can be a force for good in the world and that a successful business can be measured by such ideals as responsibility, compassion, and service to the common good. At a time in our history when many companies are better known for their greed and maliciously competitive actions, we need more men and women to follow the path of Dave Smith.
A final quote, which I believe sums up the main theme of To Be of Use:
Meaning comes most naturally when we find and fulfill our purpose. This implies that there is an overall higher purpose, one beyond simply surviving and satisfying our own selves on what someone once called our separate little islands of commodities. We find our purpose in responsibility and service to others, living our values – making things better, fairer, happier for others.
The blogging has been sparse lately and for that I apologize. It’s the result of having a few extra irons in the fire.
The day work for my association has required a new intensity in the past couple of weeks. As we enter a new year, my CEO and Board are placing greater emphasis on my team’s work in membership development. With so much of my association’s financial well being resting on its ability to generate membership income, it’s the kind of experience that will test all of our talents and skills.
And I’m also working on getting back to completing my Masters degree in Organizational Management (that is, if they haven’t already kicked me out of the program for taking an unauthorized absence).
At home, my oldest just celebrated her 7th birthday, which is always an occasion that lovingly requires a lot of time and effort. The party didn’t go so well this year, but it’s probably the first "just okay" one we’ve had out of six efforts. Not bad and we learned a few things to always do differently for Leah and her younger sister.
I also realized that I was placing a bit too much emphasis on my career and professional ambitions and ignoring the needs of my wife. Unfortunately, she was getting the remainder of me so I’ve been spending more time with her and being more attentive. My challenge is working back toward the integration of both family and my ever-evolving professional work.
Speaking of ever-evolving professional work…I am excited to say that on February 1, 2006, I will be launching a side project that has been in the works ever since my last attempt at a solo gig. Armed with new knowledge and entrepreneurial experience, I think this will be a great (and longer-lived) initiative. I’ll have more details shortly.
So, please excuse the relative infrequence of posts over the next couple of weeks. I promise…I’ll make it up to you.
Netnography: Doing Ethnographic Research Online by Robert V Kozinets
Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives by Nicholas A. Christakis, James H. Fowler
Excellence By Design: Transforming Workplace and Work Practice by Turid H. Horgen, Michael L. Joroff, William L. Porter, Donald A. Schon
Bailey WorkPlay is a customer experience consultancy based in Austin TX. We specialize in helping businesses become even more focused on their customers through research, strategy, and design implementation. Our singular goal is to create extraordinary experiences that get your customers talking and craving an even deeper relationship with your business.
