Let me get this out of the way, NFL.com’s site for the superbowl, a link that says “Live” I kinda expected to actually get the live event … not live bloggers. Misleading and annoying since I had actually planned on watching the game on their site. Maybe this is my fault for not doing a lot of research beforehand. CBS was misleading in this respect as well though not quite as bad. I even checked ESPN360 since I’ve been watching the University of Kentucky basketball games there.

So no, I did not get to watch the game. I gave up trying to find a live feed 20 minutes after the game started and I wasn’t motivated enough to drive somewhere else to watch it.

So today I watched the ads on hulu.com. Hulu has got a lot of good things going for them … if only they could have gotten the live feed of the game too. Or even on a 2 hour delay or something. If you haven’t watched the ads yet you can check them out below and you won’t even have to eave my site to do so.

I wasn’t especially amazed by any single ad however. Here are the ads that made me take action and why:

Flo.tv: I do want TV on my iphone and full episodes not snippets and previews. It looks like Flo TV can do this but they didn’t do anything other than get me to their website since they don’t offer their services for the iphone. It looks like they’re using a special chip to deliver service so there is a hardware limitation. Looks like they might add it to future iphones or the mophie juicepack? So no Flo TV for me.

HomeAway.com: I wasn’t really swayed by the Griswold mini-movie but it wasn’t bad. Basically I just wanted to bookmark the site for future reference since it is right, sometimes renting a house would be the better option.

Dockers: So I’m not a guy, but who doesn’t want a chance at free pants? And they made it easy for me to try. I didn’t win, oh darn. As far as I’m concerned however they could have skipped the first 3/4 of the ad. What was with the pantless people in ads this year? CareerBuilder did that too.

Runners up – I didn’t take action immediately:

TruTV: I think I liked this ad the most because it was unexpectedly funny. But I didn’t immediately go to the website. Not sure if I’m interested in the content of the site however. It looks like it could be the start of something good but I don’t think I’m the target audience.

Vizio:The internet and TV are merging. Looks like they’re going to be appealing to the existing TV market with Vizio internet apps. Internet for the TV instead of TV for the internet. WebTV tried and failed but maybe Vizio will get this right.

Snickers: Betty White … need I say more? She just has a way. Has she been like 80 years old for the last 20 years?

KGB: The business name was probably more intriguing than the ad. I didn’t know where they were going to go so I paid attention. The lack of info about price (or maybe it was in the fine print) was where I was turned off. So many things where a text message is involved are overpriced and going to the website I was right – looks like it’s $1 per answer. I just downloaded Siri for my iphone and I think I’ll stick with that and some other apps and sites that answer most of my questions. Oh and translation apps… those are always good… Have I mentioned I have an iphone? Seems to be affecting my opinion of things here.

Denny’s: Free breakfast, need I say more. The chickens screaming over and over were annoying. Mostly their scream was annoying, I liked the chickens.

http://napl.typepad.com/state_of_the_industry_ana/

I signed up for skymiles. Pretty simple and boring unto itself really. Actually the rest is fairly boring as well but it’s an example of corporations using auto-responders irresponsibly.

Shortly after I received marketing e-mail that was a “Grab your double bonus miles before the 60 days are up” and “This offer is valid for only 60 days after the receipt of this email, so register today.” In case that clarifies what e-mail I’m talking about, the bottom of the e-mail says “Please refer Delta customer service representative to 970641.”

When I went to register (using the correct e-mail address and skymiles number) I got the following error message:
“We are sorry, the SkyMiles number you entered is not eligible for this offer.”

If I wasn’t eligible for this offer then why did you send me an e-mail regarding the offer?
If I was eligible then why did I get this error message?

I hit “reply” to the e-mail marketing with this question and got back:
“Thank you for your e-mail. Your feedback is important to us. To ensure that your message reaches the appropriate contact in a timely manner, simply contact us online. Sincerely, Delta”

I sent this inquiry using the above mentioned contact form and got the following response:
“Dear Ms. Baumann,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding Delta’s SkyMiles program.

Our 24-hour Online Customer Support Desk is available to help you with any questions you may have regarding delta.com. Please feel free to contact us at 888-750-3284 so that we may assist you with your navigational or web-related needs.

Your selection of Delta is appreciated, and we will always do our best to merit your confidence and support.

Sincerely,

Steeve Spike
Online Customer Support Desk
http://www.delta.com”

I e-mailed, I used the form, and NOW you want me to call? It was a simple question, CLEARLY you are just wasting my time.

I now expect if I call I would spend half of the day being redirected through some phone tree so I’m not going to even try. I don’t care enough about the offer to waste more of my time. Delta, please answer people’s questions from time to time or take action to fix the problem instead of just sending auto-responses to everything and giving people a run around until they give up.

This experience will probably be the first thing that comes to mind next time I have to deal with Delta again…

This book is part of the NelsonFree program where you can get the physical book, the ebook (pdf, kindle or mobi), and audiobook all included in the price of buying the physical book. I will review the NelsonFree program in another post.

In my opinion, the best way to consume this book is the audio version. It’s much more enjoyable to hear this than it is to read it and I’m usually the person who will prefer to read the book. In the written text, I do like that each chapter is summarized at the end.

The book itself is summarized quite nicely in the first chapter so I quote:

- The importance of cutting to the chase.
- The value of having a good crew and consiglier
- What you can learn from reading wiseguys like Machiavelli or Solomon
- Why loose lips sink ships (and threaten business)
- How to handle yourself in a “sit-down”
- How gambling can trip up your business (and your employees if you’ve got them)
- What to learn from your failures
- The danger to yourself and your business of bending the rules.
- How to think of real success.

The more unique points of this book:
- Discussion of choosing to run your business from the point of view of Machiavelli where the end justifies the means vs. Solomon where honesty, integrity and hard work are the cornerstones of a successful business model.
- Implement the “sit-down” instead of the average American meeting. Come prepared, listen, learn, don’t let your ego rule and make the meeting about being productive, resolving matters and getting things accomplished.
- How gambling can affect your business and it could be your employees gambling problem and not your own that’s the problem. Gambling can distract people from their work (online poker for example) to entice someone to embezzle money.
- The danger to yourself and your business of bending the rules – don’t think you won’t get caught if you’re doing something illegal.

Much of the information can be found in other business books said different ways. This may actually be a perk for some people though since sometimes something said a different way will sink in or make a connection and make sense. All in all, there is some good information in this book but it’s not one of my top picks.

Three out of five stars.

Buy		Read

The Downtown Lexington Corporation, in partnership with Mecca Dance Studio, will host a tribute to the late Michael Jackson following the Thursday, July 2, 2009performance of Central Bank Thursday Night Live. This tribute, modeled after Mecca Dance Studio’s annual Halloween Thriller Parade, will begin at 8:00 p.m. in Cheapside Park in Downtown Lexington. All people interested in participating are encouraged to attend, dressed as the undead. Following the Thriller performance, an hour of Michael Jackson’s greatest hits will be played for everyone to dance.

On Thursday, Central Bank Thursday Night Live will play host to reggae artist Rob Dread. The live music will be performed from 5:30p.m. – 7:30p.m.   Food and beverage concessions will be available to purchase from 4:30p.m. – 9:00p.m.