Archive for December, 2009
I did not see it in 2D to compare however. And I am not sure why anyone one would see it in 2D when the experience is designed for 3D. My 20 year old son and I took it in yesterday afternoon in a packed theater. Creator/Director James Cameron is noted for taking big chances and at times coming up with big winners (Titanic being the last big winner). Avatar is a big winner not only at the box office, but also in helping usher in a new genre.
I had heard that the story was not terrific. For me I found it to be a classic story but well done. Yes there were a few holes here and there but the visual feast and overall spectacle far outweighed any complaints about the story. The virtual world created by Cameron was fascinating in both its concept and depiction. The Avatars were incredibly real and for computer generated images I have never seen renderings that made me totally unaware that what I was watching was a virtual environment and not real live action manipulated or rotoscoped. I admit that I actually felt Neytiri was kind of hot truth be told. The entire experience was truly remarkable. The score by James Horner was terrific as well (his work always is).
The 3D aspect was cool and wearing the glasses (much better than the old cardboard blue and red glasses) was not a big deal and for much of the movie I was unaware I was even wearing them. I will say that the 3D effects were pretty cool but I anticipated an even more immersive experience. Probably my own fault yet I did walk out of the theater thinking that every movie from now on should be in 3D (nor was that the Cameron’s intent or mission).
I recently read that by 2012 30% of the TV’s sold will be 3D enabled. That’s a substantial prediction and number and I am not convinced the public will adopt 3D TV as quickly as the prognosticators are saying.
Several 3D trailers were shown in advance of the feature and some of them reminded me of the older more hokey 3D effects like having a school piranha ‘swim’ by you sort of like a ride at Disney. That was not cool and I won’t be in any rush to watch 3D movies that employ hackneyed 3D tricks. But ‘Avatar’ is game changing (no pun intended). And while both my son (who absolutely loved it) and I hope there won’t be a sequel what are the chances of that happening?
A healthy and happy 2010 to all. I am hoping for more comments on my blog for 2010 so please fire away!
As we close 2009 many economists agree that the recession has finally bottomed out. But as those same economists will tell you employment is always the last thing to recover. Since most of the new jobs created over the past decade were created by small businesses (less than 500 employees). Businesses like mine are being counted on to contribute to a more lasting recovery.
While we have hired two great new people recently the temptation is to think ‘that’s enough for now we are not hiring anyone for a while’. How does that help our company much less the economy as a whole?
The fact is we should be and are always hiring. Yet not necessarily for any one job in particular. Sure, sometimes we have a specific need for a specific type of talent and we will then look to bring in people that have that particular talent. However once all those kinds of positions are filled should we be done with bringing in new people? That has been a tried and true business practice for – well forever.
I’ve learned a great deal running a business for a fairly long time. One thing I have learned is that you don’t always know exactly what you need. Part of that is due to the idea that what we need today may not be needed tomorrow. So because of that we’re always hiring. Contact me and tell me what you can do for our company. You should have no trouble finding things out about what we do and even to a degree ‘who’ we are.
I realize what I am suggesting. That anyone out there who is interested in working with us at CGSM is welcome to contact me. I’m hardly unreachable. And no, I have not had any egg nog this morning. But in return I have but two requests if you do decide to contact me. Make it relevant to our business (do a little research) and make it creative. And how can we help each other? How can our company help you better contribute to our mutual success?
What I have come to realize is not only is it cool to have people all around you have skills and knowledge that I do not, it is essential. While I never thought that I had all the answers, I did not always practice knowing my own limitations. Great talent working collaboratively has the best chance for success. It also offers the benefit of fostering an environment where we all try to help make each other better one day at a time.
How many people will we bring on board in 2010? I hardly know. We will respond to the needs and requirements of our clients and the work we do for them. But maybe you see something that we are missing and can help us do an even better job. Bring it on. And if we all agree that our company needs it, we’ll bring you on.
My last post was about the strange business approach of the NFL Network. And for those that do not follow the NFL the Indianapolis Colts won to remain undefeated and the New Orleans Saints suffered their first loss at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys. Ho-hum for so many people. Yet something interesting has emerged as a result. The pursuit of perfection.
Two years ago the New England Patriots completed the first 16-0 regular NFL football season. They won two games in the playoffs to reach the Super Bowl at 18-0 only to face the Giants in that final game and lose. The Patriots were ‘chasing’ the 1972 Miami Dolphins who have the distinction of being the only team in the modern era to finish an NFL season undefeated (17-0 as they played two fewer regular season games in those days).
The Patriots to a man lamented the pressure of remaining undefeated which came with intense media scrutiny, constant interviews and questions about how the players were ‘feeling’ in their pursuit of history. Even at the time arguments were made that if the team goal was to win an NFL championship (winning the Super Bowl accomplishes that) then losing a game along the way was a sacrifice worth making. I did not understand that then and it seems that history (as it so often does) is set to repeat itself.
Now that that the Saints have lost they can play ‘relaxed’ and not worry about the albatross of being undefeated. The Colts are now under an even greater microscope since the Saints had shared some of the ‘they’re undefeated’ focus. I’ve been reading about the idea that the Colts should consider resting some of their players in the final two regular season games both to avoid injury (always a great concern in the violent sport of American football) and to rest tired players.
To this point it appears that at least three-time league MVP Peyton is buying the logic of resting or not going for the brass ring of being undefeated. The Colts have clinched the best record in the AFC conference and cannot do any more to improve their position – they have home games all the way through the NFL playoffs.
I expect the Colts to pound my beloved New York Jets this weekend simply because they are a better team. And then they have a last game vs. the less than mediocre Buffalo Bills. The chance to be perfect to me is worth putting it all on the table and I cannot conjure any kind of argument to not play the best players in pursuit of perfection.
Quick do you remember who won the Super Bowl 5 years ago? But I bet you have an idea that the Dolphins of a prior generation finished the season undefeated. Perfection is special and the pursuit of it should always be the ideal. Agree or disagree?
I readily admit I am a fan of American professional football. And as a fan I like to watch good and meaningful games between good teams. Last night the NFL Network presented the then 13-0 Colts vs. 7-6 Jaguars. The Colts remained undefeated by scoring late to edge the Jaguars 35-31 in what was supposedly a thrilling game. I wouldn’t know exactly since I could not watch it but wished I could have.
As a Cablevision subscriber the NFL Network is not available. Nor is it available to Time Warner subscribers. The two systems represent more than 17,000,000 households. Dish Network offers the NFL Network as do a few cable systems around the nation. But before you offer that my real complaint should be with my cable system I need to better understand how the NFL Network is helping its own cause by keeping most of professional football loving America in the dark. By the way tomorrow night (Saturday when there is supposedly going to be a big snowstorm in the Northeast and we football fans would love to stay in and watch the undefeated New Orleans stay undefeated) it will happen again.
Richard Sandomir of the NY Times wrote about this today as well – http://bit.ly/5juN6s.
And the NFL Network went out of its way by buying newspaper ads to market the games and tweak its foes. The ad ran yesterday in The New York Times said: “Attention Time Warner and Cablevision Customers: You May Be Denied Two Teams Chasing the Perfect Season.” The tagline added: “Two Nights. Two Undefeated Teams. One Network.”
Was this done just to piss people off? Well it worked for me. How exactly is the NFL Network making its case by rubbing our collective noses in the fact that we cannot watch these games? How would it hurt the NFL Network to arrange a deal with local affiliates around the country to simulcast the game and collect advertising revenue that way? The ratings would be huge and the exposure terrific and I would not be at all put off if during a simulcast the NFL Network promoted the idea of calling your local cable system if you are unable to get the NFL Network. Groundswell does work folks.
But no. Somehow the NFL Network had decided that denying fans the opportunity to view two would be (well one already was) great games would be a good idea.
It’s not but please feel free to make an argument that this is a good business practice. I’m all ears.
Will 2010 be the year of behavioral targeting? The Obama administration is focused on ensuring customer (and prospect) privacy. In and of itself it is an admirable platform.
Credit, loans and banking are moving online. Digital marketing of mortgages, credit cards, student loans and other financial products will become the dominant way we relate to banking and related services. The CEO of Capital One has already said that” [A] mobile phone is just a credit card with an antenna.” So called M-commerce (mobile commerce) will be a crucial avenue where we actually apply for credit on “the fly,” so to speak, with our cell phones themselves used to buy products. Banks and other financial companies are using Facebook, social media, online video, Twitter, search engines and interactive online marketing techniques to sell their services to consumers.
Financial services companies are even using so-called ‘Neuromarketing’ by testing messages via fMRIs, (read David Mirman Scott’s book ‘Buyology’ on this subject) for example–to help hone their marketing messages.
Recently (last week), consumer representatives from the FTC Exploring Privacy Roundtable Series called on the agency to adopt new policies to protect consumer privacy in today’s digitized world. Consumer and privacy groups, as well as academics and policymakers, have increasingly looked to the FTC to ensure that Americans have control over how their information is collected and used.
The groups have asked the Commission to issue a comprehensive set of Fair Information Principles for the digital era, and to abandon its previous notice and choice model, which is not effective for consumer privacy protection. The idea is that these measures include giving individuals the right to see, have a copy of, and delete any information about them; ensuring that the use of consumer data for any credit, employment, insurance, or governmental purpose or for redlining is prohibited; and ensuring that websites should only initially collect and use data from consumers for a 24-hour period, with the exception of information categorized as sensitive, which should not be collected at all. The groups have also requested that the FTC establish a Do Not Track registry.
Behavioral targeting online, allows for the collection of data on people for tracking and target marketing. However behavioral targeting also allows people to receive relevant offers and advertisements. And consider the alternative. In an environment where no marketer has permission to use behavioral targeting consumers would be subject to a flood of irrelevant offers. Imagine being a 22 year old woman receiving offers for Flomax to help alleviate a prostate problem. Without behavioral targeting this is a possible if not likely future. True it can be creepy at times to get an advertisement or offer that appears to be the result of intimate knowledge of a person’s behavior.
The protection of sensitive data is a critical issue. Yet behavioral targeting is based on behavior or individuals noted as IP addresses – not names and actual postal or email addresses.
I think we need to be mindful of what we wish for. The cure may be worse than the symptoms.