Monday, December 28, 2009

"Thanksgiving Breaks" Powder Surfing

Cool snowboard, er snowskate, video from an old filmmaker friend. Worth watching to the end for the best tricks.

"Thanksgiving Breaks" Powder Surfing from Jeremy Jensen on Vimeo.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Shaun White's Secret Half Pipe

Watching it continue to drizzle November rain here in central Connecticut, I finally got caught up on some blog reading. Came across this featured section of Shaun White's website, a mission he went on last year at Silverton Mountain in Colorado's San Juans. Wife and I went on our second honeymoon there a couple years back, last winter we were in Utah. I can't imagine the decision making process that went into this Red Bull project. Was someone from Red Bull (or Burton or Target) coming off the back side of this famously lift-accessed backcountry ski area, stopped and thought "hey, this would make a perfect place for a half-pipe"?

Aside from the James Bond 007, AK style heli drop off and Shaun's usual enthusiasm of all things snowboarding, the tricks themselves are amazing. You're introduced to a giant, very out of place looking superpipe in the middle of avalanche country. The first thing that caught my eye, however, was a large square-shaped structure at the bottom of the pipe. At first I figured they had something larger in mind than just a solitary pipe session for Shaun White. Perhaps a contest, maybe a deck to hang out on, some sort of VIP area for Burton and Red Bull athletes. Not exactly. This is the foam pit that would become instrumental in testing a new series of pipe trickery. Now I'm not an expert on frontside this or backside that, but it's pretty clear to see how a foam pipe would help progress the sport, as Shaun says "two years in one day, ONE day!" Another quote on that subject, "there's no powder in the half pipe."

But my favorite quote of the whole series of videos would have to be "it was perfect."

Here's to Mr. White stomping some of these in the X-Games and Winter Olympics this season.

Enjoy!

http://www.shaunwhite.com/projectx/?fbid=GbOZZbbJlKO#/halfpipe

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Networking (In)Efficiency

Procrastinating my Econ project and inspired to write something about networking at the same time...

It could be said that networking is highly efficient and highly inefficient at the same time. Sometime earlier this semester, my first in the full-time MBA program at the UConn School of Business, I heard the following statement: most jobs are already filled by the time they are advertised. (When I say "job" I also include "internship" by extension, since that's what I'm talking about right now). By the time a company has realized a requirement, defined a job, and funded it, someone internal to the process has already decided who best to fill the job. It could be someone within the company, or someone who has done an expert job of marketing themselves to the company through networking, previous job searches, or uploading a resume. So many of these jobs probably aren't even advertised in the first place. From the companies' perspective, this is highly efficient.

Conversely, those of us on the outside looking in spend countless hours searching for jobs. Eventually all job searchers are matched with a job, ideally the best job for their skill set, with some percentage left to populate the traditional or current unemployment percentage. Assuming a representative selection of people have to find jobs the traditional way, it's a highly inefficient process no matter how you slice it. Because of outside pressures job searchers apply for multiple jobs, often those they aren't even qualified for. And despite, or perhaps because of, the information carrying capacity of the Internet, jobs go unfilled because they are too difficult to find.

If only there was a more orderly system of matching the right job, to the right person, at the right time.

Monday, October 12, 2009

First Marketing Post

Well, here goes, my first post derived from my Market-Driven Management class at UConn...

I skipped class today. That means I actually skipped the very class that influenced the insight I'm writing about. So goes life. I was up until 5 am finishing our 2008 taxes (we got a six-month extension). To make up for missing class I actually sat down and did ALL the reading.


While reading an article called "Three Questions You Need to Ask About Your Brand" it struck me the discussion about the three questions was very similar to the five questions we ask in military planning. Specifically, the five Tests for Validity we use to evaluate Courses of Action (COAs) -- the possible options -- available while planning an operation.

The parallels between military warfare and marketing are striking. You might think nothing could be more different than killing the enemy and attracting customers, but you'd be wrong. Marketers rightly consider the enemy to be competitors and the objective, the 'land', to be consumers. Taken that way, the five military tests are to ensure the plan to 'take the hill' so-to-speak, is valid. The article's 'point of difference' filter questions are then a little more tangible, at least in my military mind. They're how to ensure your product positioning approach will be successful winning the hearts and minds of customers.


NWP 5-01, Navy Planning, Test for Validity (condensed)

  1. Suitability (Adequacy): The COA must accomplish the mission and comply with the commander’s guidance; however, the commander may modify guidance at any time.
  2. Feasibility: The force must have the capability to accomplish the mission in terms of available time, space, and resources.
  3. Acceptability: The tactical or operational advantage gained by executing the COA must justify the cost in resources, especially casualties.
  4. Distinguishability: Each COA must differ significantly from any others.
  5. Completeness: Each COA must include the following: major operations and tasks to be performed; major forces required; concepts for deployment, employment, and sustainment; time estimates for achieving objectives; and the desired end state and mission success criteria.
Frames of reference, points of parity, and points of difference are the three questions alluded to by the articles title. Points of difference are defined as "strong, favorable, unique associations that distinguish a brand from others in the same frame of reference (e.g. market)."

In military jargon: how is one option different, or better, than the others?

Here are the tests described in the article:
Desirability, defined as relevant and believable
Deliverability, feasible, profitable, and preemptive, defensible, and difficult to attack.

The military analogies are killing me! Is it surprising I made this connection, given that I spent three months last year eating, drinking, and sleeping the Navy's planning bible, NWP 5-01, know affectionately as the "salmon-colored book", while rewriting a major war plan?

Back to marketing. To put military and marketing terms side-by-side:

Point of Difference = Distinguishability

Desirability (by the customer/audience)
relevant & believable = Suitability

Deliverability (by the company)
feasible = Feasibility "have the capability"
profitable = Acceptability "justify the costs"
preemptive, defensible, and difficult to attack = Completeness

So there you have it, the marketing to military translation of the important questions to ask when positioning a product in a given market, or frame of reference. As the article asks, "Are the points of difference compelling?" And as it points out, the points of difference aren't static for long. After all, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

The Powder Highway contest

Incredibly professional video announcement for a cool video contest. Cleverly plays off the Men In Black series. British Columbia must be banking on a ton of great 90-second videos out of this ploy.

TGR Deeper trailer

Not out until Fall of 2010, this trailer should get big mountain fans stoked on the possibilities associated with ditching the heli and spending weeks in the high alpine getting after it. Jeremy Jones' voice is unmistakable as the clip rolls, and lends a lot of credence to what this video will be in the end.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Cross Country Snowboarding

Nothing like a little humor to make up for the fact I woke up at 7:30am on a Saturday, waiting for a phone call that never came.

Like Rocky at Backcountry.com I too, thought this must be the latest in the series of kiteboarding videos. But I was pleasantly surprised to find a parody of snowboarding known as scootching. The guys had me at "rocking the triple-entendre" of outside sports.

If you take up this sport, just look out for "scootch leg", it'll have you walking in circles around the lodge.