Mind your language...

This story caught my eye this afternoon from the Minnie Star Tribune.

A woman in Wisconsin goes to see a film with her husband and friends. The theater does not accept credit cards or debit cards (I am assuming this must be a small theater) and the theater goers pay by check. Then, some sneaky types got in to the theater and the management wanted every stub checked. Instead of stopping the film, they looked whilst the film was running. Afterwards, our customer sends an email to the VP of the theater commenting on how her less than spectacular evening. He told her to go F- herself. He then sent another email saying he was stressed and should never have sent it. Too late. 3,300 Facebook fans are advocating for the boycott of this theater. Apparently, that is more people than live in the town.

How many times do we have to remind people that in the age of Twitter (think Kevin Smith and Southwest Airlines) and Facebook that you have to watch what you say more than ever? The VP did use a poor choice of words and may have had a tough evening, but he sent an email telling his client where to go. I know we all want to send emails like that from time to time, but c'mon. This is one more for the archive- mind your mouth!

Adieu.

CashScam

Anyone who has known me for some time knows I am a big Family Guy fan. I know some of you Dear Readers out there are shaking their heads but it is a fact. One of the episodes I love is when Stewie (the Baby for the uninitiated) runs a company out of his bedroom called CashScam. Brian (the Dog) needed money for worm medication so he joins Stewie as a Sales Rep. Stewie proceeds to "manage" him. How many of us have Wacky Tacky Tie Day or find good comedy a stitch?

Enjoy these three small clips.

(Note: The second has a little foul language and I apologize for the quality of the third clip).

Are you Prepared?

I just found this article on Min Online and thought I'd share.

In a nutshell the American Society of Business Publications and Northwestern University conducted a survey of B2B publishers. Their findings were pretty startling- 4 out of 5 respondents had one day or less of digital training. 36% said they had NO training. Even more, 38% said at least half of their time is spent on digital publishing and 62% said more time on digital publishing would benefit their businesses directly.

These facts illustrate a conversation I was having with my Wife and a few friends several weeks ago. We were all discussing the IPad and what it means for publishing. The consensus at the table was that more training needs to happen, but many of the publishing companies involved do not want to spend the money to train their people on these increasingly important skills. Furthermore, we all agreed that individuals should pay for their courses and submit their bill as an expense. Or, keep it and deduct it from your taxes (Please check with your accountant first).

Think of your sales- are you being trained properly? Are you ready for the digital sales environment? Is your team? Looking at the Sales 2.0 landscape, you need to be. As companies and the sales process go from pyramids to liner models you need to be prepared.

Get the training you need and get it for your team. Don't take no for an answer. If you feel left behind, check out some of these sources- as the old Saturday morning cartoon line used to say- "The more you know."

360 Training (UK): http://www.360training.co.uk/

MediaBistro: http://www.mediabistro.com/courses/

Media Recruiting Group: http://www.mediarecruiting.com/courses.htm