Welcome to a new series I'm launching today called...you guess it...Marketing Monday.  We all get marketed to, every day, in one way or another. The other day I was thinking, that instead of walking around saying to myself, "wow, that was really great," or "hmm, that didn't go so well," after seeing something, reading something, going to something, or signing up for something,  I could share my thoughts and impressions with you all, and we could learn from each other. So, that's how I got the idea for "Marketing Monday." As a mini experiment, each Monday for a little while, I will write a post here on Posterous on my real life experiences where, as a marketing consumer, I give a thumbs up or thumbs "not so great" to a recent event or promotion I have participated in, and whether I feel it was successful or not. I'll include the reasons why, as well as tips on how the business/organization/advertiser could have made some improvements. I'll also be looking for your comments and feedback on promotions you have been involved in and whether they were successful or not. If your liking these posts and want to get them right in your in box, feel free to subscribe.
 
So here, we go with our first installment:

Thumbs Up Goes to: San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation

On Saturday, March 6, the Tech Museum opened its doors for a members-only "Parallel Universe" special event, where they offered free admission, (you get this as a member anyway), free admission to a great new Imax movie, "Space Station," narrated by Tom Cruise (need I say more?) and extended hours at the museum store, where I got a cool new butterfly necklace and enjoyed my 10% member discount. They also had a nifty "Tribble Toss," (OK, I confess that was one of my favorite Star Trek episodes), as well as free admission to the Star Trek Exhibit, and friendly roaming Klingons who were happy to take advantage of photo opps. We enjoyed all the events, and got a chance to try out an exhibit we had wanted to previously, consisting of a computer that takes your photo, and then draws your picture based on the photo information it gets. (See video). I would say the highlight for me was truly the Space Station Imax movie, which was only an hour but had amazing footage of astronauts during their daily routine assembling the various components of the space station. You really get to feel like what 0 gravity might be, and watching one astronaut pluck tiny water droplets out of the air, and another eat his popcorn that was revolving in the air like a pinwheel, was fantastic.  Seeing another astronaut test out a new mechanism that prevents him from getting "lost in space" should his cable become untethered during a spacewalk, was an edge-of-your seat moment!

OK, so what did the museum organizers do right?
1. They made members feel special by offering the free Imax viewing, having the Klingon "special guests," and having special tables set up with fun activities for kids and adults, like make your own kaleidoscope. There's nothing worse then joining a club or organization and then regretting it later, for whatever reason. The event really  made us glad we had joined, since we don't go around joining museums and getting new memberships everyday.
2. They expressed their appreciation to members by announcing their thanks before the movie presentation, and also highlighting new programs and educational inititiatives they were launching, despite economic challenges.
3. They gave technology a human side. By having staffers dress up as Star Trek characters, and in particular showing the Imax movie which really gave personality to the space program, they did their job in terms of making science personal and real.

What could have been better?
1. Food. Aside from keeping the cafeteria open and the availability of Crystal Light "space juice," there was no special food offering, and that would have been a nice touch.
2. Meet and Greet. There was no central area for members to gather and shmooze, making the event a bit scattered and chaotic. Museum staffers could have led the newly arrived to a dedicated room or reception area, where they could chat with members, take home information, and meet the staffers as well as any other of the leaders or officials involved behind the scenes. A local celebrity or two would have been fun as well - either an author or actor, for example.
3. Follow-through at the end. If the museum were interested in increasing their membership, they could have offered discount coupons to current members like us to pass onto folks they think might be interested in joining, thus getting a little more juice out of their evening. Not an out of this world idea, don't you think?

 Thumbs So-So Goes to: Baskin- Robbins
I hate to do this, since I used to love Baskin-Robbins growing up. I yearned for their ice cream cakes for my birthday, and would do anything for a Rocky Road! But here's the problem. I had signed up for their newsletter and birthday club. So, when it's your birthday, you get an offer for a free cone. When mine came a few weeks ago, I happily printed out the coupon, scheduled my designated free cone day, (yes, I do schedule these things), and went off to my local B&R. Things were not so happy once I got there. I proudly showed the man behind the counter my free coupon offer, and he tried to tell me ...that it was not my birthday! OK, it was not the exact day of my birthday, but I was within the time frame that the coupon was being offered. So, after a bit of mildly unpleasant explanation that the coupon was still good, the man behind the counter grumpilyy served me my Rocky Road, and it really put a damper on things. So much so, that I may not go back again for a long time.

What's the marketing lesson here? Don't go offering happy coupons to customers on e-mail and then have real life representatives of your brand out there being not nice. It doesn't look good for your brand or your image. In honor of this experience, I now have a new marketing term: ice cream sandwich marketing. That means that you have to be consistent with your marketing, from the outer shells to the ice cream in the middle, and if there's any surprise, it better be a good one. It's all about the layers!

That's a wrap for my first "Marketing Monday" installment. Please feel free to comment and share your experiences here.

New movie by Carrie...grateful for the sea.

I was once again invited to a great press foodie event last Sunday by restaurant public relations specialist Susie Biehler, www.biehler.com, which took place at the famed MacArthur Park restaurant (www.macpark.com ) in Palo Alto. The event was a combined celebration of MaCarthur Park and its Executive Chef of one year and Owner Faz Poursohi (who also was the original chef there in 1981), and a recently launched cookbook for kids entitled "You've Got Recipes," by Jerry Ann DiVecchio, storyteller & Francoise Kirkman, art & design. (Purchase book from authors: at events or from http://youvegotrecipes.blogspot.com).  Jerry was food editor at Sunset magazine for over four decades, has written many cookbooks, and taught children's cooking classes. Francoise, who studied her art in Paris, was an art director and designer at the magazine for many years, and created many of the children's craft and art projects.

OK, this wasn't your typical cooking class, but really a culinary adventure. The kids were treated to tasty fresh squeezed juices such as carrot, apple, and my favorite, strawberry orange, while they learned hands-on cooking techniques from the book's authors and Chef Faz and his team, such as tips on preparing artichokes for cooking, how to add a spicy rub onto ribs, and the exciting finale - blueberry oatmeal crumble which - yay! they could take home in a personalized dish. Next, parents and kids alike were treated to a delicious buffet brunch where the artichokes came out elegantly baked, his award-winning ribs were juicy and tendy, and accompaning dishes of Faz's signature chips (definitely addictive) and a tasty mac and cheese made for a scrumptious picnic. And for dessert? The blueberry oatmeal crumble, of course!

Chef Faz ( http://www.fazrestaurants.com/) has a true passion for cooking, and specializes in grilled Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes. His other restaurants include Faz Sunnyvale, Danville, and Pleasanton. He has been featured on "Eye on the Bay" and has received rave reviews throughout the Bay Area.

(See also "Do You Sakoon?" for previous food adventure in Mountain View.)

 

Lately, I have noticed a lot of lines everywhere. I'm not talking about the involuntary ones, like when you have to wait at the post office, or the motor vehicles, or the library to check out a book -- but rather then voluntary ones, like for ice cream and frozen yogurt, or the movies,  or the burger place.  In these instances, we are either willing to wait because we have experienced the product already and know it's good enough to wait for; or, we haven't yet experienced it first-hand, but the buzz is good, and our instincts are telling us to go for it. We have weighed the pros and cons, more then likely, and decided that the most valuable use of our time is to wait, over and above anything else. We have decided that the end result will meet the expectation.

I rarely choose to wait on line, but when I do, it's because I have thought it through and decided that this particular experience cannot be duplicated anywhere else. The last time I was on line, for example, was just last week to see a double feature of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," and "The Hound of the Baskervilles." I was in the mood for old fashioned detective stuff, and had always been a big fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories growing up. As it turned out, this was even more of a unique experience then I thought it would be. The theatre had been renovated so as to resemble the old art deco theaters, with elegant balconies, curtain, and lighting. The popcorn was unusually tasty, and there was a real live organist who played between the two movies and even got a standing ovation.

So it was in theatre somewhere between the 2 movies, that I got to thinking about entrepreneurship and business, and how really, this is our job. We need to show others that working with us is a unique experience they will not just get anywhere. We need to follow through, and not just deliver what we promise, but overdeliver. We need to assure our customers that we will be there for them again and again, and that the end result they get from us will more then exceed their expectations.

So bring on the popcorn, dim the lights, and get rolling with your business, whether it's social networking, e-books, coaching -- and while you're at it, always test your own business worthiness.

Would you wait on line for yourself?

I know I would, because of how much I care about quality, and my clients, and being there for them. It's really quite elementary.

Those who know me well, (or even slightly), know that next to writing, one of my favorite passions is FOOD, particularly Indian. So I was thrilled when restaurant public relations expert Susie Biehler (www.biehler.com) invited me to a special evening for the press last week at Sakoon (www.sakooncuisine.com) in downtown Mountain View, featuring sumptuous food and drink in a cozy yet elegant atmostphere that you will want to take your friends and colleagues to, for special occasions, or even just to liven up the work week or wind down on a weekend. There's also a tasty lunch buffet with a great variety of dishes to try.

The moment you walk into Sakoon (which means "peace,") you know you're in for an atmospheric treat, as architect Sanjeev Malhotra provides a fun and intimate environment, complete with fiber optic chandeliers, fountains, plushy seating, a built-in Buddha, an eclectic bar area with exotic drinks with names like Kamasutra and Citron Fizz, and a spacious upstairs lounge.

Executive Chef Sachin Chopra skillfully balances heady spices such as mustard seed, fennel, and pear and tomato chutneys, with aromatics and yogurt marinates, to achieve delicate and memorable combinations of flavors.  The meal began with a refreshing watermelon and feta salad, which featured organic watermelon and heirloom tomatoes with roasted corriander and fennel feta cheese, roasted walnuts, and fresh tarragon oil.  Next was Saufiya Paneer,  a delicate cube of farmer's cheese marinated with fennel and sundried tomatoes. I've had this dish before and not liked it, but here it was truly a taste of ambrosia. I chose for my main dish the rack of lamb, which was tender and juicy and enhanced with lavender and thyme. The curry leaf flavored potatoes served as an elegant and appropriate complement to the dish. Dessert was my favorite, which is not uncharacteristic for me! Imagine my delight at the frozen pistachio and cranberry bar, served with a seasonal stone fruit brulee and drizzled with spiced chai sauce. The layered textures and flavors and the contrast of sweet and tartness were a wonderful way to end the meal. As full as I was, I could have eaten another.

Thank you so much to the evening's hosts, to wonderful owner Balkar, and for a great meal at Sakoon...I'll be back soon. And if you haven't yet been, treat yourself.

At the Lunch and Learn Social Media Bootcamp in Sunnyvale on August 17, Patrick points out the importance of getting involved in the conversation. The conversation is the marketing. Be a person first, before a business.

PS This is also a media experiment on Carrie's part to see how the video quality is on Posterous versus from a MOV file. Let's see how it turns out, shall we?

I'll be posting on carriewriterblog.com in the coming week about highlights from the Affiliate Marketing Summit in New York last week, including 2 great keynotes by my social media idol Chris Brogan (see below) , and founder of HARO (Help a Reporter) Peter Shankman, who had a very cool social media gadget for sale. You'll see a sneak preview on my upcoming video.  Two of the best keynotes I ever heard, and so well worth attending the conference!

Happiness is a Warm Puppy, Charles Schulz Museum, Santa Rosa

Cats in Petaluma

Bodega Bay coast

Bird on a wire

"I'm a Fan!"  Hand Fan Museum, Healdsburg, California

Dog hitching a ride in Petaluma, California

Lety selling nectarines, Farmer's Market, Petaluma, California

Celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing over the past few weeks are a reminder that technology is relative. Forty years ago, walking on the moon was a big deal. Today, ironically, Michael Jackson's Moonwalk is maybe even a bigger deal and presents its own gravitational challenges.  (How did he move his legs one way and his body the other, and will anyone else ever be able to replicate?) Still, it was only ten years ago that the internet was barely launching, there was not yet any Facebook or Twitter, and social networking was 3-dimensional, and meant going to a party  or an event-- a real life situation, like in a room, at someone's house, with maybe some food and music. In other words, not virtual. Will the live handshake, flu viruses aside, become another thing of the past?

I am a product of the "moon generation." My team at grade school gym class was named after Buzz Aldrin. I knew by heart every episode of "Lost in Space," including such "isms" as: Danger, Will Robinson!, and I had an eerie familiarity with concepts such as matter and anti-matter, positive and negative universes, and spaceships like the Jupiter 2 that looked like the tops of Chinese food serving dishes and suffered endless atrocities like deteriorating forcefields and overly possessive space plants.

And who can forget "Star Trek," with its own indelible lexicon of Klingons and Volcan death grips and dilithium crystals and warp factors? Every episode introduction was and is a reminder that space is the final frontier, and that there is a calling to go where no man/woman has gone before, and seek out new....you know what's next.

Forty years from now, we may have space stations throughout the galaxy, or we may be getting our groceries on Jupiter and going to classes on Mars.  But we will still do the Time Warp again. We may look back at the space shuttle voyages and a thousand other scientific breakthoughs, and think they were a walk in the park -- I mean --on the moon. It's the inherent irony of rocket science.