Today, February 22, marks the anniversary of one of the great stories in sports history. Lake Placid, New York. The 1980 Winter Olympics. The Soviet National Hockey team. Team USA. And Coach Herb Brooks. The US team consisted of 20 college players. It was a time when only amateurs could compete on US teams. The Russians, well, they were older, bigger, more talented and all around the best hockey team in the world. Yes, in the world. They had beaten the NHL All Stars 6-0 in the Challenge Cup one year earlier and had demolished Team USA 10-3 in an... Continue reading

Some time back I watched a TED video by Brene Brown. She was talking about raising children and how most parents are obsessed with trying to make their child’s life as easy and free from difficulty as possible. It’s almost like we think a life that goes smoothly is the optimal life. Yet, Dr. Brown points out, children are born into this world “wired for struggle.” And while being alive and staying alive may not be the same struggle it was thousands of years ago, every human is faced with almost continuous struggles throughout life. And this is normal. So... Continue reading

Extinction - We’ve studied about it from our early years in elementary school and we’ve observed it almost continuously throughout our lives. Growing up in the shadows of the smokestacks of the mammoth Pittsburgh steel industry, it seemed like there could be no end to the dominance of Jones & Laughlin, US Steel, Babcock and Wilcox, and their ilk. But they, and their stacks, and their smoke are seen no more along the rivers of Western Pennsylvania. 78 rpm vinyl records gave way to 45’s. Then LP’s. Then 8-tracks. Then cassettes. Then CD’s. Then mp3’s and other digital downloads. Now,... Continue reading

According to Nielsen’s global survey of multi-screen media usage, watching video content on computers has become just as common as watching video content on television among online consumers. "While the in-home TV and computer are still the most popular devices to watch video content, usage and growth in online and mobile technologies is making a sustained impact. Three-quarters (74%) of global respondents report watching video via the Internet (on any device), up four points since 2010, and over half of global online consumers (56%) say they watch video on a mobile phone at least once a month and 28 percent... Continue reading

This TED talk by Brene Brown is profound, enlightening, and encouraging. Enjoy and share. Continue reading

Nielsen recently released their latest report on the state of social media. Here are a few of the highlights: • Social networks and blogs continue to dominate Americans’ time online, now accounting for nearly a quarter of total time spent on the Internet • At over 53 billion total minutes during May 2011, Americans spend more time on Facebook than they do on any other website • Tumblr is an emerging player in social media, nearly tripling its audience from a year ago • Nearly 40 percent of social media users access social media content from their mobile phone •... Continue reading

The failure rate on new infomercials is estimated at 90%. Ergo, only one in ten infomercials are commercial successes. Is this low success rate because of bad media? Poor time slots, overpriced airtime, and the like? Rarely. Almost always it’s the show. The content. And that can be anything from a product nobody wants, to a value proposition that fails to motivate, to poor scripting, lousy demonstrations, non-genuine testimonials… Somebody has a new mindle. They love it. They buy the company that makes the mindle. Every home in America, no… in the world needs this fantastic product. The marketing commences.... Continue reading

TED talks are some of the most thought provoking videos on the net. This talk by Brene' Brown is one of my recent favorites. Continue reading

These were the words I heard from my first boss about two months west of graduation. "That is, if you want to be taken seriously," he added. I felt my ears turning red as sweat began to literally drip inside my shirt. I was a bit embarrassed, but I also knew what he was saying was true and that he cared enough about my career to say what he did. After nervously clearing my throat, I told him I thought he was right, and that he would quickly see a change. He knew his remark had cut me a bit,... Continue reading

Last weekend I attended my grandsons' first T-ball game. Pure fun. About the only rule any kid remembered was to hit the ball and run (sometimes had to be reminded to run). Mass confusion on defense every time the ball was hit into play. Coaches and parents all trying to give helpful direction. It's a wonderful thing to watch children simply enjoy the fun of the moment. Didn't matter who won. Nobody even keeping score. Swing. Run to first. Scamper to second. Plant a totally unnecessary slide at home, just to get dirty. As adults we remembered. And yearned. Beware... Continue reading

Trusty iPad in hand, I decided to try out the on board wifi. As we pass over Arkansas, I'm also looking for aliens or whatever killed all those birds. So far, I give the wifi two thumbs. However, I hope they never allow cell phone use on board (unless they replace oxygen masks with mini cones of silence). These people who talk on their cell phones at the urinals and in the stalls at airports also get to me. Honestly, is anything really THAT important? Gotta go. Need to focus on surveillance for alien craft. Continue reading

Have you noticed the increased drag coefficient on getting things done that hits every holiday season from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day? There’s a similar slo-mo period from June through August. Today is exciting, because it launches the longest annual time frame of productive potential, the January-May window. If you are hoping to increase sales, grow attendance, expand your markets, initiate an innovative idea or two, effect some change… this is your time. The race starts today. A lot of what you accomplish this year will depend on how well you sprint these first few furlongs out of the gate.... Continue reading

In many ways, each year is different. But what we imply when we ask this question is - Will my circumstances be different (better) at the end of 2011 than at the end of 2010? Several factors weigh on the answer to that question. Some out of our control. Some not. Most people will wind up in pretty much the same circumstances at the end of this year. The main reason? Changing circumstances usually involves changing our behavior and that change has to be preceded by a change in thinking or even a change in believing. But change is not... Continue reading

A few weeks ago, I spent a couple of days in Haiti with our LightQuest Media clients, Bobby and Sherry Burnette, founders and executive directors of Love A Child. Walter Warren, our EVP at LQMI was with me. It was my first time in Haiti, not just since the earthquake, but ever. I still remember our relief on January 12 a few hours after the quake when we reached Bobby via Skype and were able to confirm that Bobby and Sherry were alive and their orphanage, medical clinic, and ministry center were all intact. In the days and weeks that... Continue reading

Clay Shirky, author of Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age in a recent Ted Talk. Link to video for RSS readers. On this blog I've often discussed generational cycles starting back in 2004 with this post. If you've read other posts sprinkled through the years, you know that as a culture and society we swing between two major perspectives which influence thought and behavior at an individual and societal level. These two cycles, often illustrated by a pendulum, are the idealistic generation and the civic generation. The last idealistic cycle ran from 1963 to 2003 at which... Continue reading

David Rehr, former President of the National Association of Broadcasters with some perspective for entrepreneurs on their involvement in government. Continue reading

Nielsen Research recently released their Three Screen (TV, PC, Mobile) Media Research Report for 1Q2010. Some surprises and some yawners. "In the past year, Americans have significantly increased the amount of timeshifted TV they watch and decreased their PC-based internet usage, according to Nielsen’s Q1 2010 Three Screens Report." You can read a summary and download the full report here. Some additional highlights - —292 million people in the US own at least one TV. —More than half of US TV households now have HDTV, up 189% from Q1 2008. —High-speed broadband internet access is in 63.5% of homes. —Nearly... Continue reading

This week past for me was one of losing one hero and quite unexpectedly finding a new one. Coach John Wooden’s feat of ten national championships stretched from my seventh grade efforts to walk and chew gum at the same time well into graduate school. Many of those years through high school I played ball under a streetlight at the south dead end of Fifth Avenue in New Brighton, PA. In the winter we’d bring our snow shovels to clear the street, though the slick spots made a jump stop an amusing spectacle. I grew to love and admire the... Continue reading

The average American home now has 2.93 TV sets per household, up from 2.86 sets per home in 2009, the largest year-over-year increase since 2006 according to Nielsen’s latest Television Audience Report. This year the number of US homes with three or more TV sets increased to 55%, 28% have two sets and 17% have one set. Nielsen Wire article here. TVA Report (pdf) here. Continue reading

While online advertising fell overall in 2009, ad spend on online videos grew 41%. And, with good reason. Nielsen Research has recently released a report based on 14,000 surveys to measure the impact of video advertising online vs. video advertising on television. The patterns they uncovered were consistent: video ads run during online full-episode TV programs yield deeper brand impact than corresponding on-air TV ads, with the difference most pronounced among younger viewers age 13-34. "What accounts for this variation in impact between online video and traditional TV? Data shows that web video viewers are more engaged and attentive to... Continue reading

Here's an interesting summary of a study conducted jointly by Nielsen and Facebook to determine the effectiveness of different strategies in FB ads. "Study after study has shown that consumers trust their friends and peers more than anyone else when it comes to making a purchase decision. It’s critical that we understand advertising not just in terms of “paid” media, but also in terms of how “earned” media (advertising that is passed along or shared among to friends and beyond) and social advocacy contribute to campaigns. To that end, we took a closer look at 14 Facebook ad campaigns that... Continue reading

Thanks to Jackie Huba at Church of the Customer Blog. The New Dork video. Continue reading