Literally been a decade since I worked in this office. Quite a bit has transpired since then. I may need to update some of the basic info (professional term: blah-blah) about this site.
But here I am. Thanks to a pandemic. A pandemic. Yeah. That's happening.
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Views from the BDO: Snow
For those who may have missed the massive media blitz, it's been snowing here in the Northeast.
I long for the time when weather this severe was truly immobilizing and isolating; nothing to do but stay home enjoy the company of family and maybe a few neighbors and figure out how to create a meal with what happened to be in the cupboards. There is something in my DNA that knows, when the sky darkens and white specks fly past my window horizontally at such a speed they become a single sheet, a rippling veil, that it's time to slow down. Time to pause and take a break.
Alas, that's not the technology-ridden world I live in. Still... the beauty is undeniable.
I long for the time when weather this severe was truly immobilizing and isolating; nothing to do but stay home enjoy the company of family and maybe a few neighbors and figure out how to create a meal with what happened to be in the cupboards. There is something in my DNA that knows, when the sky darkens and white specks fly past my window horizontally at such a speed they become a single sheet, a rippling veil, that it's time to slow down. Time to pause and take a break.
Alas, that's not the technology-ridden world I live in. Still... the beauty is undeniable.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Overheard in the BDO: "Stop running!!"
Working today on the front porch annex office. Across the street is a pediatric dentist's office. Now, based on the title of this post and the brief facts just provided, who is yelling to whom and in which direction are they running?
If you guessed: parent yelling to child, you are correct!
If you guessed: running away from the doctor's office, you are INCORRECT!
Dr. Dyson has some sort of magic going on over there that actually makes kids RUN INto his office. A fairly busy street separates Dr. Dyson and I, and often I have seen excited children spring from vehicles parked on MY side of the street, bounce onto the sidewalk and then nearly dash into traffic in their eagerness to get to his office.
I've heard there are Lego's and trains in there. I also know for a fact there are balloons (wailing ensues when the rookie child releases the string just outside the front door). But that can't be all there is to it. Kids are smarter than that. Bribes and toys only go so far. To have a memory so good (or at the very least not bad) of the dentist's office that you literally RUN to get inside... I can't fathom it. But it's a happy thing to witness.
Reason number 6,457 why the BDO rocks: Cool dentist dude across the street.
If you guessed: parent yelling to child, you are correct!
If you guessed: running away from the doctor's office, you are INCORRECT!
Dr. Dyson has some sort of magic going on over there that actually makes kids RUN INto his office. A fairly busy street separates Dr. Dyson and I, and often I have seen excited children spring from vehicles parked on MY side of the street, bounce onto the sidewalk and then nearly dash into traffic in their eagerness to get to his office.
I've heard there are Lego's and trains in there. I also know for a fact there are balloons (wailing ensues when the rookie child releases the string just outside the front door). But that can't be all there is to it. Kids are smarter than that. Bribes and toys only go so far. To have a memory so good (or at the very least not bad) of the dentist's office that you literally RUN to get inside... I can't fathom it. But it's a happy thing to witness.
Reason number 6,457 why the BDO rocks: Cool dentist dude across the street.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
An easy lesson in branding
Last week I saw a great example of how businesses should use Facebook. Below is a "status" posted by Life is Good that showed up in my news feed since I am a "fan" of the company.
Life is good.(R) We will never know all the good a simple smile can do.
3 hours ago * Comment * Like
The folks at the company actually do this quite a bit; post happy little thoughts that make me smile and love this brand even more than I already do. The posts embody what the company is all about – or at least what the company wants me, the consumer, to think it is all about.
That, my friends, is branding. Its value is stealth but potent: creating or reinforcing a bond with customers that goes beyond simple preference for your products or services. It's communicating the personality of your company, without an overt or immediate sales agenda.
Life is Good has also used its Facebook status updates to promote sales, new products, store openings and other events more traditionally associated with marketing. But here they have used a quiet pause to build the brand. Brilliant. Man, do these guys get it.
Witnessing such an enlightening use of the medium almost makes me feel justified in spending all the time I do on Facebook. It's research for my work, right? Not a frightening vortex that sucks hours and hours from my life. Almost billable isn't it? Probably not.
Life is good.(R) We will never know all the good a simple smile can do.
3 hours ago * Comment * Like
The folks at the company actually do this quite a bit; post happy little thoughts that make me smile and love this brand even more than I already do. The posts embody what the company is all about – or at least what the company wants me, the consumer, to think it is all about.
That, my friends, is branding. Its value is stealth but potent: creating or reinforcing a bond with customers that goes beyond simple preference for your products or services. It's communicating the personality of your company, without an overt or immediate sales agenda.
Life is Good has also used its Facebook status updates to promote sales, new products, store openings and other events more traditionally associated with marketing. But here they have used a quiet pause to build the brand. Brilliant. Man, do these guys get it.
Witnessing such an enlightening use of the medium almost makes me feel justified in spending all the time I do on Facebook. It's research for my work, right? Not a frightening vortex that sucks hours and hours from my life. Almost billable isn't it? Probably not.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Views from the BDO: Circus tent?
I've been a bit neglectful of this blog, because another online communication tool has been sucking all my spare time into its very special black hole: The Facebook Vortex.
My Facebook status to accompany this photo would be: "Carole finds it difficult to concentrate on work when a small circus tent has been erected on the front lawn."
We have an annual fundraiser yard sale here at our home. Proceeds benefit our local Habitat for Humanity chapter and a small scholarship fund for an award given at our local high school in memory of a friend of mine who passed away in 2004. We get donations from members of Habitat, friends, and family and we usually do quite well for both organizations.
It's Wednesday and the sale is scheduled for Friday and Saturday. With the tent up, the doorbell has already rung twice this morning and it's only 9.30. How will I ever get any work done today?
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