k.sturm blog

k.sturm blog is shutting down

2009-06-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

For those of you that actually still check to see if there are posts coming here, there will be no more. I've elected to combine k.sturm blog and hospitality technology made simple (htms). Today I completed the process of migrating all the old posts with relevent data to htms.

All new posts on business, consulting, and technology will be done on htms. For those of you that read this blog to read about my some times humerous personal life should go here.

Father's Day Contest

2008-06-09T00:18:00.000-07:00

If you are a dad or have a dad go check out this post on my other blog. Submit an entry if you are bored or think you have a really good story.

I Got Tagged

2008-06-02T21:38:00.001-07:00

Have you ever got one of those email forwards that asks you to answer a bunch of questions and then forward it onto all of your friends who then send it back to you and a bunch of their friends. I'm not sure of the point other than to get an email.

Well the trend has hit the blogosphere. My friend Matt blog tagged me last week and I'm just getting around to doing it. I'm not one that would normally do this but my wife really wants to me to tag her (love you sweetie).

But the questions in Matt's tag were lame so I'm breaking the tag rules and answering questions that I would actually like to know the answer to. Some of them I stole from Ross's tag. Sorry Matt, it isn't that you aren't cool, or that Ross is cooler than you, though I think Ross is cool. You are cool, just keep telling yourself "I'm cool."

I'm then allowing the option for my taggees to answer my questions or to create new ones they find more interesting. See, isn't this just a better game!

1. If you could change one thing about a major event in your life what would it be?
This one was easy for me (but I made up the question). The funny thing is that it happened on a day that was perfect. Can a day be perfect and want something different? The major life event was the day Chrystal and I got married. It was awesome. The one thing I'd change was paying for a wedding planner. Here's why...

There were lots of little things that we didn't think about, but also one big thing. Right as the wedding started my dad asked me if I was going to walk my mom down the isle. I looked at him clueless and said with a shrug, "I guess not?" It hadn't even crossed my mind, which makes me feel like a bad son but we were so engrossed in trying to figure everything out. It is something I wished I could have done. Sorry Mom. But she never once has made me feel bad about it even though I know it was something she really wanted.

2. What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire? (I stole this one)
1. Pay off all my debt and the debt of friends and family.
2. Buy a bunch of property in Santa Barbara and offer my family and closest friends free homes so we could live near each other in my favorite place in the world.
3. Pay Josh Gustafson to figure out how to invest some portion so we could live very comfortably but not outrageously. I'm not going to lie and say we'd live meagerly, because we would travel often and we'd fly first class.
4. Give a huge chunk of change to Westmont College but specifically allocate a portion to buy the freakin' coolest athletic facility you had ever seen and name the track and field stadium after coach Russell Smelley. Smelley Track & Field, can you dig it!
5. Establish a foundation to figure out all the places the money needs to go and hire a staff to help manage it.

3. What are your three worst habits?
1. Not listening. Lord forgive me but I talk too much, day dream too often, and listen too little. Ask my wife.
2. Pointlessly surfing the Internet and too often entering "Kevin Sturm" in Google or Technorati just so I can see if someone loves me enough to put my name in a blog.
3. Quietly judging someone based on how they talk, how they dress, or what they do. If anyone knew how often I did it no one would be my friend.

4. What are the three things you have to have within reach at all time (think bedside, car, etc.)?
1. My iPhone. This could mean I need to add another worst habit. I freak out if I don't know where my phone is, and having an iPhone only made it worse.
2. A book. This is not saying I read all the time. I just always want a book near for when the urge arises. On the night stand, in my laptop bag, near the man throne.
3. I don't really have a third. How about Love?

5. If you could have any job what would it be and why?
Professional athlete. I'm open to almost any sport. Though not gymnastics, or curling, or billiards, or boxing...you get the point.

There is a sixth question. What five people do you want to tag.
Chrystal (My Love) - Will do it because she is waiting for me to tag her.
David Jay - Eventually will get around to it if he reads this and lots of girls will find it cute.
Tessa McCook - Stay tuned it will be funny.
Gabriel Ryan - Have no idea if he'll do it.
Tim Halberg - Maybe will do it.

Two Things I Hate

2008-06-01T16:10:00.000-07:00

I'm generally not a negative person, but yesterday was not a great day for me. I endured two of my most hated things simultaneously.

First hated thing...sickness. I had a sore throat that was ripping me up. I hate being sick, but really hate being sick when I'm trying to get something done. I had planned to clean out the garage yesterday and all the dust and dryness was not helping the throat. Not sure why I was so stubborn to finish it versus wait for another weekend. But the reason I did it was it was clear of all sorts of stuff...leading to the next hated thing.

Second hate thing...garage sale. Having a garage sale is in my top 5 hated things (I'm not sure of the other 4, but I'm sure garage sale is in the top 5). We had a huge multi-family garage sale where a bunch of people, most of whom I didn't know, got to put the stuff they don't want anymore and are too stingy to just give away in my driveway so strangers could loiter around and take something home to store in their garage. And most of the stuff was junk.

Me post garage sale sitting on couch that didn't sell.

I'm a terrible garage sale salesman. My goal isn't to make money, but to just get someone to take the stuff out of my driveway. If someone barters I counter with a lower price then they offered. I'd just as soon put a huge FREE sign on the corner and then enjoy the glorious possibility of a humorous rush of people fighting over junk, versus just touch everything and ponder if they really need a chipped shot glass. A rhubarb between two middle aged women over an ugly plate sounds way more fun. But alas, I married a woman that LOVES garage sales. Going to them, having them, bartering at them...she thinks it's great.

The wife told me to go wash the car after I complained enough, which I actually enjoyed. I'd have washed every car on the street versus sit at the garage sale.

But what I can say for garage sales is the people watching. I believe there are two types of people that d0 garage sales. The first is a deal seeker looking for entertainment, which is the category my wife falls into. They most likely will buy nothing but enjoy the process of looking.

The second is the person that can't leave without buying a cart full of crap it doesn't appear they can afford. They hand you somewhere between $5 and $20 and leave with the junk you were sure was going end up in the throw away pile. I want to feel sorry for these people, but at the same time want them to show up just to watch them. I suppose that makes me a bit mean...Lord forgive me.

All-in-all we made $124 for about 6 hours of work. That is the other reason I hate garage sales...the return just isn't worth while.

A New Title for What I Am

2008-05-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

I just learned what I am...

While reading Escape From Cubicle Nation I found out about Anywired and read the post Become a Lifestyle Entrepreneur: Complete Guide and 40+ Resources.

I'm a Lifestyle Entrepreneur! What does that mean you ask? You really should read the post, but here is a great description from Skellie over at Anywired.

"If you are — or would like to be — an entrepreneur, yet you’d be happy to earn enough to live the life you want rather than becoming filthy rich, lifestyle entrepreneurship might be a good fit for you.

Lifestyle entrepreneurs will generally base their ventures around time minimalism, or something they love, even if there are more profitable (but more time-consuming, or less interesting) options available.

The goal of a lifestyle entrepreneur is not to amass a huge fortune, but instead, to achieve certain definable goals and, beyond that point, to ensure business does not interfere too much with the enjoyment of those goals."

Now don't get my wrong, I think it would be cool to be filthy rich. But not at the expense of the relationships with my wife, kids, or current freedom. I spent 9 years climbing the corporate ladder and had a good position with a good salary. The next step in my plan was a VP position which would lead to a C-level position. But ultimately what I found is the stress of those positions, the time requirement, and the sacrifices I was going to make just weren't worth it.

I quit my job and started my own consulting firm to create freedom in my life. Here is my current daily schedule - which I adjust daily as I need to fit into my lifestyle.

7:15 am - Wake up to alarm clock of "DAAAAADAAAA IT'S LIIIIGHT TIIIIIME!"
7:45 am - Get breakfast for the alarm clock and take a shower
8:15 am - Make coffee and lunch for Bubba
8:30 am - Catch up on my favorite blogs or take Bubba to preschool
9:15 am - Blog (I have two others here and here)
10:00 am - Work on client projects (yes I start "work" about 10:00 am)
12:00 pm - Lunch or go pick up Bubba from preschool
1:00 pm - Work on client projects
4:00 pm - Stop work to alarm clock of "DAAAADAAAA I HAVE TO GO POOOOTYYYYY"
4:05 pm - Play with Bubba, Chrystal, and Mianna for the rest of the day.

I say this not to brag or gloat but to say it's possible. We are not getting rich and sometimes money issues are stressful, but we (my family and I) live a comfortable life and love it. We have more freedom (though not necessarily financial) than we have ever had. Join what Tim Ferris calls the NR and break the chain!

Photo by Dazzie D'

Confidence and Humility are NOT Mutually Exclusive

2008-04-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

In the last week of my full-time employment a co-worker (and former consultant) told me she thought I would find consulting harder than I expected. I didn't know her very well but I knew her well enough to know she was referring to the selling side of consulting, and I could tell by the way she said it she didn't think I had the "selling side" in me.

I told her I agreed that most consultants struggle with the selling side of the job, mainly because you are selling "you". What you personally bring to the table is all there is to sell, and part of what you bring to the table is confidence. But many consultants struggle with the concept that confidence and humility are not mutually exclusive. The opposite of humility is not confidence but rather cockiness. Cocky consultants are annoying, irritating, and often difficult to do business with.

When I talk with any customer I know I bring confidence to the discussion. Confidence that I know what needs to be done or that I don't.

Cocky consultants always know the answer, regardless if they really do. Confident consultants are humble enough to know when they don't know the answer, but instill confidence they can find it.

She was right that I'm not naturally a sales person. I have friends who are and they could convince you to buy the dirt off your own floor. As a consultant that is not the type of sales person you want to be.

If you are selling on the basis that you offer a service you're selling on cockiness: "Buy me because I'm here." You should be selling on the basis of a business problem that you personally can help solve: "Buy me because you have this problem and I can help solve that problem."

Seth Godin had a great post today on Self Promotion that spurred this thought. Thanks Seth!

The Most Important Decision as a Consultant

2008-04-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

The number of decisions you have to make when starting your own consulting business are numerous. Decisions like choosing your niche, how much you charge, where you will spend money are all important. But one of the lesser discussed but possibly most important decisions is what business will you NOT take.

I have found this to be the most difficult decision because knowing when the next job will be is usually unknown. You are always in need of the money (lets be honest here), but every opportunity that comes your way has the potential to grow or limit your business (read income).

Will the contract increase your specific skill or expertise that makes you valuable?
Will the contract lead to on-going future business with a client?
How sure are you that the project will end successfully?
How likely is it that the potential client will provide you with a good reference?
Is the potential client the type that would recommend your services without request?

These are all important questions to ask when deciding what kind of projects you do or do NOT take. But I'm going to focus on one question where many consultants make the wrong decision.

Will the client pay you what you are asking?

This is an important question because it brings up two equally important questions. First, how much are you worth? And second, what type of personal life do you want?

The temptation to take a contract at a reduced pay is great, especially when the pipeline is small. But one of the most important decisions you will make is sticking to your guns and turning this business away. Consultants are generally willing to take these jobs because they come with a promise of lots of work or because of nervousness that nothing else will come along.

But if you take a contract for either of these two reasons you are both decreasing your perceived value to current and future clients and sacrificing your lifestyle. You should be confident that you are worth your rate and your current and potential clients must see that. Taking a contract for a lower fee says that you believe you are not worth your stated rate. And if you do not believe you are worth your fee then you should not be charging that fee.

The second reason you should not accept a reduced fee is based on simple math. Let's say your normal fee is $100 per hour. If you take a 20% fee reduction at $80 per hour then you have to work more hours and harder to make up the difference.

Most likely you have a revenue goal for your company (if you don't it's time to get one). The more projects you take at a decreased rate the more you have to work to achieve that rate.

If you are still not convinced then look at it this way. Let's say your goal is to bill 30 hours per week at $100 per hour with four weeks of vacation. That means there are 48 billable weeks in the year. This is pretty aggressive goal if you are just starting out.

48 weeks x 30 hours x $100 = $144,000

NOTE: $144,000 may look like a lot (or may not), but when you factor in taxes and business expenses your take home quickly begins to fall.

If you take a 12 week contract at your 20% fee reduction there are only 36 weeks left in your "goal year".

12 week x 30 hours x $80 = $28,800
36 weeks x 30 hours x $100 = $108,000

Now your total revenue is $136,800. In order to make up the difference of $7200 to meet your goal you have to work 72 hours at your $100 rate. That equates to 2.5 weeks of work which leaves you with 1.5 weeks of vacation time.

But the better scenario is that you would only need to work 45.5 weeks at your normal rate to achieve the $136,800 revenue number. This means that you either have 2.5 more weeks of vacation time (imagine a job with 6.5 weeks of vacation), 2.5 more weeks to market and build the business, 2.5 weeks to blog and share your knowledge, or 2.5 weeks to try and find a small contract at your $100 per hour rate.

Be worth what you say you are worth. It will be better for you in the long run.

How Far Should I Take It

2008-04-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Out of curiosity to where it would go I responded to the French email I received. Here is what I wrote...

Dear Mr. Majeed,

It took me a while to understand your message, but I was able to translate it. I think maybe you didn't mean to send this to me since I'm not French, but since I was able to understand the message WOW! $20 million! Lucky you...and now lucky me for maybe accidentally receiving your email. I think you are looking for americans to help you invest the money. If so, I am definitely interested! I mean even if I only get 1% that is a lot of money. How do I go about helping you and me make a bunch of money?

Kevin

This morning I received this message back. (Click on the picture to open a more readable version.)
This kills me because who would honestly believe this?! But now I'm intrigued because I'm curious how far this could actually go. What do you think, how far should I take this?

I'm Gonna Be Rich

2008-04-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

I received an email today that is going to change my life. There is this guy in Iraq that works as a translator for the US military. He and a few soldiers found this trunk with $20 million US dollars! His share is $5 million and he wants me to help him invest it in the US stock market and I get to keep a portion of the profits! I mean, even if I only get 1% that is $50,000 per year! If you don't believe me, here is the email he sent.

Oh...it reads a bit odd because the email was in French and I had to translate it on Babel Fish. Leave a comment if you want me to email Issam Majeed and ask if you can be involved, too! I'll keep you apprised of how it goes down.

Good evening, Jai have your contact and would please share an important business trcs with vous.Si that does not interest you, want mexcuser for the disturbance much. I am Mr Issam Majeed, I work in Iraq with the American Soldiers as translator. Jai of the evidence for you to show it aprcs.Dans one of the our military operations in Iraq, we discovered a strong trunk in a large house dun great man daffaire Iraqi in the town of TIKRIT. This strong trunk contains a great sum dargent, of the American dollars, it be-R-statement USS 20 Million. We immediately kept this strong trunk in a place made safe with three other American soldiers. After long deliberations between us to know if we must give these funds to the American authorities in load of place or not, we decided all to share these funds between us. For the division, each one of us received the sum of USS5 Million For my part R causes problcmes of safety in Iraq, jai decided marranger with the agents of safety measures deprived in Iraq to transfer my share from these funds out of lIraq, precisely R London. Jai put the funds in a parcel as being family affairs and I lay coded what wants to say to quaucune anybody does not know that this parcel contains largent me except. What I tell you is the truth and if we treat together in this business, you will see it. I you contact thus to see whether you can maider has récupcre the parcel R London and to transfer it in your country or I would like to invest these funds in profitable fields. I would give you also a few percentages of these funds to have to accept maider, the percentage we will discuss it when I receive your answer. The Iraqi insurrectionists are against me what makes quils seek me to kill me because I make translations with the American soldiers. I do not leave nimporte how without the American Soldiers to avoid the worst. I nutilise not of telephones nor do not receive calls here. Jutilise only lInternet and walkie-talkies to communicate with soldiers with whom I work. If this transaction is well concluded, I want to resign of this works because to live here in too risky Iraq cest. I thank you and jattendrais your answer. Please, if you agreed to help, I want that you me via this address e-mail (issam.majeed1@yahoo.com Mr Issam Majeed.

Original email in French

Next Gen Dads

2008-04-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

I posted about launching Next Gen Dads and while back and I've got enough of the layout done that it was time to launch. No sense waiting till it's done or it will never get launched. Next Gen Dads is a Daddy Blog about raising kids as a work-from-home-dad that believes dads and moms should share raising kids as an equal partnership. It will be my thoughts, and hopefully the thoughts of others, on marriage, parenting, and the successes and failures that you experience as a husband and dad. You will need to read the blog to find out exactly what all that means.

For those of you that read k.sturm blog to find out about my family related stuff, the majority of those posts will now appear at Next Gen Dads. This blog will be 99% dedicated to "Ramblings on business, entrepreneurship, consulting, technology, and other topics I'm passionate about." I will be migrating all existing family related posts to Next Gen Dads over the next few weeks.

If you would be interested in co-authoring on Next Gen Dads leave a comment and we'll chat!

Ending the Name Game

2008-04-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

This post has been moved to Next Gen Dads. Click here to see this post.

What's In a Name...

2008-04-07T22:43:00.000-07:00

This post has been moved to Next Gen Dads. Click here to see this post.

Somebody Has a Funny Sense of Humor

2008-04-03T16:37:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday Brody and I went to breakfast together. We walked past a small construction area where the below drawing was on the sidewalk. Somebody has a funny sense of humor...

The Marketing Value of Personal Recognition

2008-04-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

I recently have been the lucky recipient of personal recognition as a valued customer. For many organizations personal recognition marketing gets regularly overlooked as one of the best and very cheap ways to spend marketing time and money.

Have you recently personally recognized a customer for their value? Without them you wouldn't be in business...

Example #1
I've written before on my transition to using a local bank (or credit union in my case) versus a big-impersonal-conglomerate-that-apparently-does-not-care-if-they-have-my-money-type-bank (aka Wells Fargo). Since switching to Wescom I have received now at least two (maybe three) personal letters from staff at the bank. I think it is important to note that it is not always from the branch manager but from the bank teller of my last visit. I have never banked at any other bank where the teller sends a "you are valued" letter.P.S. Despite what Chrystal says it is not because I'm Daddy-Big-Bucks. Not even close!

Example #2
When I switched from a PC to a Mac I found the need to have an MS Office compatible program with the hope to not pay through my nose for it. On the recommendation of a friend I downloaded NeoOffice and have been "reviewing it" for about 6 months. This week I came to the final conclusion that "it is awesome". I think it is awesome for two major reasons. First, all the functionality I need is there. Second, it's FREE! That's right, a FREE Office Software Suite that includes compatible versions of MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, and MS Access. It also has a very basic Visio type program. I only use Writer (Word) and Calc (Excel) but I have not yet had a single compatibility problem. NeoOffice asks for donations to support keeping the software free, so upon deciding how useful it was I made a donation. I immediately received the below automatic email.
But then I also received a personal email from Patrick thanking me for my donation.
Oh, and for the record my very large donation was $100, which seemed really cheap considering it saved me the $400 expense of buying Office for Mac.

On Feeling Like an Adult

2008-03-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

This post has been moved to Next Gen Dads. Click here to see this post.

Blanchard Block Party!

2008-03-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday afternoon our REALITY Home Group hosted a block party on Blanchard Street (the street we live on). It was so much fun! The wind picked up and it got cold but people stuck it out. Todd cooked up some absolutely mouth watering tri-tip. Like I've never had tri-tip this good...ever. Everyone from our Home Group pitched in and we really had such a wonderful time, and I think everyone that came did as well.

We were planning for about 50 people and didn't get quite that many but we got to meet some neighbors and hear some awesome stories. Our neighbor directly across the street has lived there for 32 years and has never seen anyone on the street coordinate a block party! That really amazed me as every neighborhood I've ever lived in has done a block party, and I've never lived at any address longer than 6 years.

Todd apparently saying something very funny to Georgina.

Rich and Charles doing it unplugged style on the wall.

When it got so cold our neighbor brought out blankets for all the girls.
I think a bunch of them wanted to keep the blankets because they were so awesome!

I'm hoping this will be the first block party of many. I've already got some serious ideas about getting permission to block off the street for Fiesta!

The main reason for the block party was to connect with our community but to also invite people to the Easter Service at REALITY. If you normally head to Church on Easter but are not sure where you are going we would all love to see you at REALITY on Sunday morning. The service is held outside at Carpenteria High this Sunday at 10:00 am. After the service we'll have carne asade and the kiddos (if you have them) can jump in the bounce houses and play games.

If you do decide to come visit try and and find me as I'd love to meet you. It may be easier to find my gorgeous and very pregnant wife. Either way we hope to see you there!

Compelling Rhetoric About Your Resume

2008-03-17T11:33:00.001-07:00

A few months back I wrote a post about resume writing called Care Enough to be Different. Today I read a post by Seth Godin that moves the ability to be unique and remarkable in your resume to a whole new level. His opinion is to be so bold as to not even have a resume.

Read his post here. It is worth your time to think about his thoughts.

Remember The Name(s)

2008-03-16T23:06:00.000-07:00

I'm terrible at it. Absolutely horrible. When I meet someone it is almost for certain that 10 seconds later I can't remember their name. I know it is one of my worst traits and I hate it about myself.

Image provided by ArstySF

I'm envious of people that remember names because it comes natural and even more envious of those that have trained themselves to be better at it. I have tried almost all methods: say it 8 times in the next minute, word association, activity association, writing it down...none of it works for me.

It is important to remember someone's name for many reasons, but I think the most important is because it shows you care. Note I did not say it shows you listened. Listening is important, but caring is more important.

As I was trying to find a parking place at Church today I saw my new friend Dave from the Mammoth Ski Trip. I rolled the window down and yelled, "Hey Dave!" He came over and said, "Hey Kevin," and then looked in the back and said "Hey Brody, gimme five." It is important to note here that Dave had never met my son Brody. He had heard about him during our trip but never met him. He cared enough to not only remember my name but to remember Brody's name. He knew Brody was really important to me and it showed that he cared about that. I immediately felt like I was important to Dave...which made me feel great.

The next time you want to make someone feel like you care, remember the name(s) of people that are important to them...which will always include their own name.

And if you have any fail proof method of learning names please tell me...I would love to be better!

"Blogger Buster" - The Best "How To" Blogger Site

2008-03-16T22:20:00.001-07:00

As I've gone through the process of customizing my blogger blogs and struggling through the html on how to get it setup. I've used lots of different help resources using multiple Google search terms. But last week I found THE site for blogger users on customizing your blog. Blogger Buster by Amanda Fazini is now my one-stop-site for anything "how to" on blogger. I even emailed Amanda directly last week on a problem I was having with the line height on htms (for the record I had no idea at the time the problem was with my line height). She emailed me back the next day with the most likely resolution...and she was totally right! I also found out how to implement page links for my htms blog on Blogger Buster. I was thinking about switching to WordPress because I could not figure out how to do page links, but now that I've figured it out I'm no way changing.Amanda also gave me props on my blog layout, which makes me feel great because I think her layout is KILLER!

Here is what else I love about Blogger Buster. Blogger Buster offers everything FREE! Amanda even wrote a pdf guide on tips for designing your blog and it's all FREE! The value of FREE cannot be understated! It not only brings people to your site but also breeds loyalty because your hard work supports others success. It is a wonderfully authentic and extremely effective marketing tactic.

Thanks Amanda!

"Ya-ttitude" - A Great New Blog

2008-03-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have not found it yet, "Ya-ttitude" by Benny Greenberg is one of the best new blogs on the web. If you are interested in joining the allied forcies against the Procrasti-NATION read his blog and join the fight.
Thanks Benny for the insightful wisdom and witty rhetoric!

Effective Networking

2008-03-12T19:35:00.001-07:00

I'm currently in Dallas at the Hospitality Operations & Technology (HOT) Conference and will be speaking tomorrow on Business Intelligence. Tonight we had the welcome reception and I knew no one...literally I had never met a single person in the room. I know they say more people are afraid of public speaking than being burned alive (or something crazy like that). I however have no problem standing in front of a bunch of people (friends or strangers) and talking about almost anything and could probably go on for hours (I can tend to be long winded at times). I think it is great fun. But being in a room full of people I don't know and starting up a conversation is roughly equivalent to being stabbed in eyes with red-hot forks. I have flash backs of being at the jr. high dance with that deathly fear of being rejected, but knowing I had to ask in order to dance (which is a whole other story for another post). Why is that?!I know it is part of being a consultant. You have to network. So here is a question to my small group of readers and smaller group of commentors.

"What is the best way to start an interesting conversation in professional setting...like a trade conference?"

Oh, and "So what do you do?" cannot be an answer. I'm looking for something more interesting and original.

Apathy = A Problem Technology Cannot Solve

2008-03-10T23:07:00.000-07:00

Some of you know I have two blogs currently. I wrote a post for hospitality technology made simple that I thought was worth while for the readers of k.sturm blog as well. I won't do this often as duplicating blog content is a bit lame, but I thought this post was worth it.
_________________
I am a big believer that technology can solve many business and operational problems. There is POS for tracking product mix, streamlining order flow, and revenue reporting; Inventory Management for getting accurate food costs, purchasing cycles, and inventory control; Reservations for managing guest reservations, table turn, and wait times; and a slew of other systems depending on the venue. But for hospitality venues there is a problem that technology solutions cannot solve - mainly apathy or the trait of "learned helplessness."

Last night my family and some friends went out to dinner at El Paseo restaurant in Santa Barbara. We were doing an early dinner (we had two toddlers in tow) and were glad to see the restaurant was not too busy. We really like El Paseo because of the atmosphere (retractable roof) and good food (our opinion). We LOVE the table-side made guacamole and fresh made warm tortillas, and they usually have a pretty solid margarita. We go enough we know what is good and what is not, so we stick to what is good (like the fajitas). Also an important point is I go there because they are a former customer and I am a firm believer in supporting your customers.

But our experience last night ranks in my top 5 worst at any hospitality venue. I point the cause to apathy on the part of the manager and service staff. I will set the stage as it was immediately apparent El Paseo was understaffed for the night. We were all sensitive to this as my wife and friend both waited tables for years and I have spent hours on end helping restaurant staff work through system technology issues (I bused tables in a suit once at a customer site because that was where I could help ensure the guest's experience stayed positive). From the moment we walked in the door at El Paseo we were an annoyance versus a guest. I had to find someone to seat us, and once we were seated had to flag down the manager after 15 minutes. We asked the manager if he could bring us water and napkins (napkins came half way through the meal...recall we had two toddlers with us) and requested a waiter to come over. He declined to get us water and replied, "I will find someone to get your drink order." No apology for the wait or a comment that things might be a little slow.

When our waiter arrived (visibly annoyed we had him summoned) we ordered our drinks, our food (with a one special request), and asked for silverware and napkins. We got three deep sighs and at least four eye rolls. We had been given a kids menu and ordered two kids meals with a lemonade. When our drinks arrived the waiter set a foot-tall-cone-shaped-three-pound-bar-glass filled to top with lemonade in front of our friends 2 year old (no exaggeration!) We asked for kids cup to which he responded they have none (kids menu, kids meals, no kids cup?). We asked if they had a smaller cup, and he came back to the table with a plastic Budweiser cup and no lid (a Bud cup for a toddler?).

We arrived at the restaurant before 6:00 pm and received our food at about 7:00 pm. In that one hour we saw our server once to place our order and once to receive our drinks. We called the manager over twice to ask for more water and napkins, and never once got an apology or a comment on better service. I helped implement El Paseo's technology solutions so I know their systems cannot be to blame for what we experienced last night. I also know the ownership group and have eaten at their other restaurants in Santa Barbara, so I do not believe it is part of the ownership group. Our experience last night was 100% caused by apathetic management and wait staff. But our experience could have been 100% different with the same staff and same poor service. Here's how...

roll out the welcome mat
Greet your customer with a smile and welcome them to your venue. Even if the service is going to be below standard you should still make your customer want to be there.

when required set a low expectation
When as a manager or server you know you cannot deliver the best service, be up front with customers and set that expectation. Offer that you will check in as often as possible, but that service may be slower than normal. That way if it is slow the guest expected it, but if it is not you over achieved. Most customers will be accepting of this.

Image credit to Julianfoto

cater to your customer
If you offer a separate kids menu families will come to your restaurant. Parents expect kid cups to be available if you have a kids menu. Not having kids cups is saying you don't want kids in the restaurant.

apologize when you know you should
You know when you need to apologize for crummy service, even when it's not your fault. An apology can go a long long way. Everybody has bad days at the office. Apologizing when you flat out do not deliver means you care enough to want to deliver.

If only I could invent a technology solution that solved the apathetic employee problem...

My Celebrity Morph

2008-03-10T22:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, after the last post this had to come next. I'll get to a business post in a few but Chrystal and I just laughed so hard. Chrystal was looking at a blog that had a Celebrity Morph, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Apparently my celebrity look alike is Sinclair Lewis. I don't think he was known for his looks...

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb

I'm a Stock Model!

2008-03-06T12:13:00.000-08:00

I switched to a local bank recently after major frustrations with Wells Fargo. It's pretty awesome because two of the employees know me by name now when I walk in and I don't even have to give them my account number! (As a side note it's Wescom Credit Union and I would HIGHLY recommend them for your money.)

Yesterday I walked in to make a deposit and Jessie asked me what kind of consulting I did. I told her hospitality technology consulting and she says, "I only ask because I was on this site and there was a guy that looked exactly like you." I asked her for the site and last night remembered to go look. I don't think there is much similarity other than the hair style, but even Chrystal said the resemblance is pretty close. She is always saying I could be a model which is a load of bologna...but I love her for it!

Heading to Mammoth!

2008-03-06T08:26:00.001-08:00

I'm heading up to Mammoth Mountain this afternoon for the REALITY Men's Ski Trip. Three days of fellowship, skiing, and getting in The Word. It always amazes me how much "stuff" it takes to go skiing. It probably doesn't help that I always bring two pairs of skis.
Mammoth got dumped on last month but it doesn't look like there is any chance of snow this weekend. :-(

Insurance for Your iPhone

2008-03-06T08:20:00.001-08:00

Three days ago I dropped my iPhone for the first time. My hands were full and in an attempt to slide it into my pocket I dropped it on asphalt. I cringed as it hit and then bounced, landing screen side up (whew!). As Apple promised, it withstood the drop well and came away without so much as small scratch. But a nerve had be pinched and I wanted...no needed insurance. For me it is really more than a phone. It is almost a mobile computer away from my computer.

And more importantly it is the worlds best toddler distraction when in the car, grocery store, hardware store, or (insert location here). Brody (who is not quite 3) knows how to start the iPod and watch Cars or some other movie, and has just recently figured out how to use YouTube. In preventing him from watching whatever he clicks on I've bookmarked a bunch of YouTube cartoons for him. He still never fails to end up watching some strange cartoon clip with graphic rap lyrics a full volume. It's like he knows exactly how to find it, crazy.

Seriously though, let's get to the point. After searching the web I found some insurance companies will cover the iPhone. I quickly emailed Jayme (my all star All State agent) and asked how much it would be to cover my iPhone, laptop, and a few other ancillary items that I carry in my mobile office. Get this...$79 bucks per year. I already feel a sense of comfort.

I couldn't get less than a $250 deductible, but $250 is better than paying $400 for a new phone (or $2000 if it's my laptop). $79 is pretty cheap for peace of mind.

"Perfectionists are Losers" by Pamela Slim

2008-03-03T23:42:00.000-08:00

Here is a great post by Pamela Slim on not being perfect. If you are thinking about starting your own company you should be reading her blog.

After talking with a couple different friends who had made the leap I came to the realization that you have to build a company to have a company. And to have a company you have to start somewhere. kevin sturm Consulting is in no way ultra successful, but I enjoy my work now more than ever and have more time to spend with Chrystal and Brody.

There are tons and tons of things I need to do to make the company better, but if it would never have been if the goal was for it to be perfect.

Grab Your Integrity and Hold on Tight!

2008-03-03T21:11:00.000-08:00

Picture courtesy of Ian David

After quitting my job and starting my own company I thought it was time to look into a financial adviser. It was not that my company was ultra successful so I needed somewhere to put the money (far far from it), it just seemed that someone who new more about how to grow wealth than me was needed. I have almost no interest...okay, no interest...in day trading or monitoring the stock market to plan my next stock purchase. But there are people who love it and make a living at it...oh the beauty of capitalism. So why not pay them?

One seemingly opportunistic day while working at Starbucks I struck up a conversation with a really nice person that ended up being someone that could possibly help me with this. Chrystal and I met with them a few times and discussed our financial goals. We reviewed how we should roll over our 401K, what our risk acceptance and aversion was, and all the options of where our money could go. After three meetings we were heading towards investment in a VUL and rolling our 401K into a traditional IRA.

We put our trust in this person and I liked them. I felt we had a bond in being young entrepreneurs, expecting parents, and Christians. In our last meeting to sign papers I was advised to answer a question on the application untruthfully. I questioned the advice and said I would prefer to answer the question truthfully. But I left the meeting feeling very unsettled. In order to not make a short story boring, I'll get the point that today I let the person know we would not be investing our money with them or their company.

The point of this post is this.

Never ever ever do anything that brings your integrity, honesty, or character into question with your customer.

I believe the person we met with is honest, has a high character, and values integrity. But this one thing made me call into question the advice we were being given. And since we were talking about our financial future, I was not willing to take even a small risk.

From a letter I received from the person we met with this was a learning experience for both of us. I took five points from this experience.

When deciding on who you are going to work with to invest money, I think it is best to talk with the actual person that is going to be investing your money. Seems somewhat like common sense now. ;-)
Before you meet with someone about your finances, do your own research on what you think the best options may be. Have a basic understanding of options so you can talk the talk.
Find out exactly how fees are paid and who is paid. Ask for a detailed example of if you invest X, and have a return of Y, what will be paid by you in Z. This will most likely be a hard question to get answers to. It is worth it.
Entering a partnership like this is a bit like getting married. The first meeting is informal and soon you are talking about long term plans. There is a cost to get in and a larger cost with penalties to get out. And more important, even a small amount of perceived dishonesty can ruin the entire relationship.
Last but most important was the confirmation that the most important thing you can be to your customer is honest, always!

My 100th post!

2008-02-29T09:50:00.000-08:00

After almost a year and half I finally reached my 100th post! A goal this year is to post more frequently and on a subject matter that I think will be more interesting from a business standpoint.

When I started blogging I posted on just about any topic that shot into my head. The blog had a few different names and themes. It started out "Kevin Sturm" with a very generic template, then migrated to "fun@life", and I finally settled on "k.sturm blog" with the current layout (which I really like). Originally most of the posts were about my family and general happenings in my life. The blog was kind of a hodge-podge of information.

In the past year I began to refine what I posted on and choose more topics on business related subjects. I made that decision because I love business and am passionate about new ideas and making them happen. I finally quit my job and started my own company, kevin sturm Consulting. Many of you know with that new venture I launched hospitality technology made simple, a blog dedicated to my consulting business.

With focusing so much on business posts and posts for hospitality technology made simple I haven't really posted much about family, being a husband, and being a father. And really that is the part of my life I love the most. Chrystal is my best friend, most wonderful wife, biggest supporter, and often my muse. Being a father to Brody is more than I could have asked for in life, and there is endless blog content in that little head. With the expectation of a new little girl in April I want an avenue to share that part of my life. So, in the danger of spreading my blogging capabilities and time to thin I will be starting a "daddy blog" in the near future...probably late March.

I think that will be all the blogs I can do as I will be covering all of my passions. I may try and use "WordPress" on this new blog because of some great advantages they offer. I've learned a ton about blogger though so we'll see. Additionally I hope to have guest bloggers as I have tons of friends that are crazy funny, and have kids that inspire some riotous laughter.

But the real point of this post is to thank my readers (few as that may be). I have no idea how many of you are out there, but yesterday I randomly discovered one in Benny G (thanks for commenting Benny!). Thanks also to David Jay, Tim Halburg, Andy Morales, Chrystal (obviously) and a few others for being consistent commenters. My request from the rest of you at this point is to add value to the blog and post your insight. I'd love to hear from you!

Business Success and Partnerships

2008-02-27T14:14:00.000-08:00

I was meeting with a friend the other morning about a new business idea. His idea was awesome and could really change some of the cooperation and communication in his industry. He was having doubts about his idea though because many of his peers kept saying, "Oh that will never work because people won't risk losing profits by working with you."

For clarification I've left my friend's name and the industry out of the post because he hasn't yet got the company off the ground. But he's got a doozy of an idea!

We had a great conversation on how to overcome this problem which made me think about the concepts of launching a new company where partnerships are a must (which is just about any company). Currently my biggest client is because of a reference from a company that offers the same consulting services, but without a portion of very specific expertise that I have. The company is probably losing $30,000 to $50,000 in revenue by referencing me. However, if I can help turn things around then their upside revenue will exceed $2,000,000 with the client. If I can't turn things around the risk is $50,000, but their annual revenues are beyond $800 million so no big risk for them.

The point here is that if you can create an upside with little or no risk for your partner then you really create a win-win scenario. My example is maybe not great because their is no risk for me, but that is beside the point. Here are a few things to think about when creating a partnership that you need.1. What is your motivation in creating the partnership? This is an important question because your motivation MUST be something other than you make money. Is there a bigger benefit that helps you, your partner, and your joint customer. A partner will see right through you if a big motivation is not to help them make money. Guy Kawasaki says a key element of any new business must be "to make meaning", and that is this point. The partnership must help make meaning for all involved.

2. Evaluate the value of each partnership and ensure the returns are balanced for you and the partner. If the upside value is almost all yours, then almost all returns may need to be your partners. If the upside is all your partners, then almost all the returns may need to be yours. Don't not do a partnership because there is little direct profits. There may be indirect profits (see #5)

3. My dad always taught me "Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered". It is easy to get caught up in squeezing the partnership for all it's worth. Fight that urge and take what you should versus what you can.

4. Figure out a way to make the partnership low risk. For example, if you want to sell another persons product they will probably not risk losing revenue to your gain. In this situation figure out a minimum sales number before you take profits. This way your potential partner only gives away a portion of the profit when they sell enough to accept it. You can also build in levels of profit sharing here where the more you sell the more profit you get.

5. Recognize that recognized names can bring customers. If you are the little dog in a partnership the big dog may get you leads because they are the big dog. In follow up to point #2 it may be beneficial to just have the partnership and take little (or even no) profit. Rather negotiate an endorsement of some kind. Free press from an influential person and/or company can bring bigger revenues and encourage other partners to join. Creditability for any new business is huge. Acceptance and endorsement from credible sources is priceless.

My final note is don't quit because people don't like your idea. Talk about it with people. You'll be amazed how the idea changes through each conversation. You will turn it into a great idea or realize it probably won't work and scrap it for a better idea.

Build Your Own Favicon for Blogger

2008-02-15T13:21:00.000-08:00

After some serious frustration, trial-and-error, and getting bad information from a bunch of different blogs and "how to" sites I finally figured out how to implement a favicon for my Blogger blogs. For those of you that want to do the same, here are the steps.

This screenshot curtiousy of Jason Ungos

1. First you have to create an image file that is no more than 16x16 pixels. I did this using Photoshop Elements, but you could use any program. If you already have an icon or picture you want to use, just resize it using your standard photo editing software (iPhoto or Windows Picture Viewer can do this).

2. Second you need to create either a .ico, .gif, or .png file. I used a .ico file by downloading IcoMaker for Mac. Works beautifully. Supposedly you don't have to use a .ico file, but if using a .gif or .png file doesn't work then go ahead and use a .ico.

3. Once you have the file you need to host it somewhere. If you have a hosting site, just post it up there. I use Tripod to host my files. It is FREE, secure, and doesn't require you to download a separate FTP client.

4. Once you have it on the web copy the location of the file and paste it into your text editor software (Notepad or TextEdit).

5. Log into blogger and click on "Layout". Click on the "Edit HTML" area and it will bring up your html code. Search for in the html text. Enter the following code right below it. My looks like this.

If you are using a .gif or .png file it should read like this

6. Click "Save Template"

Hope you get it to work with more success than I first did.

Ideas Excite Me!

2008-02-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

I just had coffee with my friend Carter Crockett, a business professor at Westmont College. If you have read my LinkedIn profile you know talking about new ideas is one of my favorite things to do. Carter and I had this great conversation about a new business idea and I can hardly get my brain to stop working out the details so I can focus and do work for kevin sturm Consulting clients.

One of the biggest changes in my life since quitting my job has been how I think differently. Versus being mired in all the "things" and "problems" that dominated my day and my brain, I am free to dream about new and fun ideas. Your brain really can do amazing things when you stop trying to force it to do something it doesn't want to.

If you have a new business idea you want to talk about, invite me to coffee. I love hashing it out even if it never happens! I'll even buy!

Don't Steal Software

2008-02-10T15:20:00.000-08:00

I was on Craigslist today and came across this post.
In response I flagged the post as in violation of Craigslist rules and sent "sale-569449932" the below email. And yes I did give him/her a link to this blog, which I hope they find with this post.There are a few things here that amaze me. First, it is really bold to openly post for the world to see that you do not care about software licensing. Stealing software is a crime, and just really shady.

Second, it takes a narrow minded person to not realize that it is stealing and you are stealing from lots of people. It is not just Bill Gates; it's the Gates Foundation (you cannot argue it's not a good cause), the developers that wrote the software, and some seriously hard working people at Microsoft (that are not rich) which I have had the pleasure of working with during my career.

Thirdly, as much as I like working with Microsoft they are not the only software option. Lots of companies that are not Microsoft exist. If you don't want to buy Microsoft software do a Google search on "mac office software" and NeoOffice comes up on page two. It would take less time than doing a Craigslist post.

If you want something with a little more functionality for a really low price try OpenOSX
for $30.

With so many options out there why resort to something that shows such poor character?

Doing Well Just Isn't Enough

2008-02-06T10:54:00.000-08:00

In college I was part of a group of guys that met regularly to keep each other accountable in our lives, our relationship, and our walk with God. One of our goals, or mottos if you will, was "To Be Good Men Speaking Well." I was reminded of that motto today when I read this speech given Anna Quindlen at an American University graduation ceremony. For a while I lost track of my priorities and mixed up what was really important in my life. The desire to do well surpassed the desire to do good. Looking around it is easy to see how doing well can take precedence over doing good. We put our faith and happiness in the next promotion, the bigger house, the nicer cloths, and the newer car.

But the promotion, house, cloths and car can't give back. They just lead to the newer car, bigger house, and next promotion. Today reflect on what you are known for. Are you known for doing well or doing good? I'm not against doing well. I want to do well, but when all is said and done doing good will create more happiness and a longer legacy for you and those you are good to.

Speech by Anna Quindlen:
"I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. You will walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree: there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank accounts but also your soul.

People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is cold comfort on a winter's night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've received your test results and they're not so good.

Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my work stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the centre of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cut out. But I call them on the phone, and I meet them for lunch. I would be rotten, at best mediocre at my job if those other things were not true.

You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you are. So here's what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger pay cheque, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast?

Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze at the seaside, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water, or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a sweet with her thumb and first finger.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an email. Write a letter. Get a life in which you are generous. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beer and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good too, then doing well will never be enough.

It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the color of our kids' eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of to live.

I learned to live many years ago. I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the back yard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived".

Excercise Your Privilige - VOTE!

2008-02-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

Chrystal, Brody and I went and voted today as a family. Give a prayer of thanks that today you get to exercise that privilege, and then go vote. Whether Democrat, Republican, or Independent voting is important.

Check out Seth's Lessons from voting for some interesting insights into voting.

How Do You Shower?

2008-02-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

Okay, this isn't original but it is so funny. I first had this sent to me a long time ago, but Chrystal just got it and sent it to me again. I'm not sure who first wrote it, but they are ingeniously and genuinely funny. They also must be married.

How to Shower Like a Woman

Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according to lights and darks.
Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown.
If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.
Look at your womanly physique in the mirror -- make mental note to do more sit-ups/leg-lifts, etc.
Get in the shower. Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and pumice stone.
Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.
Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.
Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner enhanced..
Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red.
Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash.
Rinse conditioner off hair.
Shave armpits and legs.
Turn off shower.
Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower.
Spray mold spots with Tilex.
Get out of shower. Dry with towel the size of a small country.
Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.
Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head.
If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

How to Shower Like a Man

Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile.
Walk naked to the bathroom.
If you see wife along the way, shake wiener at her making the woo-woo sound.
Look at your manly physique in the mirror.
Admire the size of your wiener and scratch your butt.
Get in the shower. Wash your face.Wash your armpits.
Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off.
Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower.
Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area.
Sing the National Anthem like you are at a baseball game and love how it echos.
Wash your butt, leaving those coarse butt hairs stuck on the soap.
Wash your hair. Make a Shampoo Mohawk.
Pee.
Rinse off and get out of shower.
Partially dry off.
Fail to notice the water on floor because curtain was hanging out of tub the whole time.
Admire wiener size in mirror again.
Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on.
Return to bedroom with towel around waist. If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake wiener at her and make the woo-woo sound again.
Throw wet towel on bed.

My wife and I were laughing out loud reading this together.

Make Sure What You Do = What Your Customer Wants

2008-02-04T00:25:00.000-08:00

Sometimes on the weekends I do very dad-like things.

Brody turns 3 in April, and since we are expecting baby-sister (no name picked yet) in April it was time to move into a "big-boy" bed. So this weekend I built a bunk bed. Okay I assembled a bunk bed, but I did everything but sand and stain the wood. I could not believe the amount of assembly required for this bed. It made me feel very "daddish" though and I was super excited about it. Putting together my sons bunk bad...seriously how dad is that!? Brody loves it and climbs all over it.

And today we were playing with his cars from the movie Cars (he has all of them) and I got this great idea to build a ramp to drive the cars down from his top bunk. I thought we would have a great time building it together. We went to the hardware store and got some material, got the project all setup, and after attempting to hammer one nail Brody got bored with the board. I spent the next 45 minutes building a ramp with barriers, lanes, and finish molding. I thought it was really cool (still do). I took it up to him all excited and set it up. Brody thought it was cool for about 4 minutes until a different toy grabbed his fancy.The reality was Brody did not ask for a ramp. He was completely content just playing cars with me and didn't need anything else.

I often find I want to do something for my customers that I think is cool, even if they don't need it. This is especially easy in software development where unnecessary features get added because they are cool but not very functional (think annoying paperclip man in Windows). Avoid doing something because you think it's cool. Instead do something that is useful, which should start with spending some time with your customer and listening.

And if you're a dad spend some solid time playing with your kids and listening.

Spending Money in the Wrong Place

2008-02-01T15:53:00.000-08:00

I'm not an economist and I am probably not the best source for how a company worth billions should spend their money. But I think Microsoft is about to spend money in the wrong place. Microsoft submitted an unsolicited offer today of $44.6 billion to buy Yahoo (read about it at Bloomberg.com). This is historic either way as it represents the largest technology take over in history, but I think it may be historic as another bad decision my the new Microsoft. I can't help but think they are competing with Google in the wrong way.

Google did not win the search engine war by buying other companies that were also loosing the war. They were innovative, created a product that was easier to use, and got a reputation as company you wanted to work for (still do). They did awesome things like pay people to advertise for them (AdSense) even when 98% of users never see $0.10. Microsoft's Vista and IE 7.0 "innovation" has created more Mac and Google fans out of former Microsoft fans (me included as I write this from my MacBook Pro using Firefox). At what point did Microsoft make it a business plan to bottom feed buy spending billions of dollars on inferior technology and companies?

This former Microsoft evangalist would like to see them either buy an innovative industry leader (think YouTube) or spend $44 billion dollars and a release a product that gets the kind of buzz and adoption the iPhone got.

At the most basic level they could attempt to copy a very easy thing that made Google easier to use. Look a the three pics below and tell me which you would rather use if you were trying to find something on the Internet.

Losing Business with Business Automation

2008-01-31T10:34:00.000-08:00

Automated customer service emails have their place. But when they are not in line with customer expectation you can end up doing more harm than good.
On Friday Jan, 17 I took a flight on US Airways from San Antonio to Phoenix. I experienced the worst service in my history of flying, which is saying something since I spent the equivalent of one full work month on a plane in 2007 (about 160 hours for those told there would be no math) . Never before had I written an airline as the bar is set pretty low with regard to guest experience and I am generally understanding of the airline plight. Airline employees deal with unhappy and rude customers all the time, and 98% of the time the problem is out of their control like flight delays or being out of Coke cans mid flight.

But attitude and how a job is performed is completely in the control of any employee. The kicker for me was getting off the plane to wait for my carry on bag to be delivered (small plane) and watch our bags get "launched" by an employee three feet up over a railing and fall about three feet to a landing. Thankfully I didn't have anything fragile in mine, but I saw one laptop bag go airborne (as it's owner cringed) and one garment bag get a hammer style throw.

Since my iPhone does not have video capability (one of its major limitations) I tried to get my camera out to take video but was too slow (I think it would have made an interesting YouTube upload). I sent a note to US Airways, but not an "angry customer" note. I told them the story of my experience and ended it saying I did not want anything in return but hoped customer service would be a higher priority.

The following day I got an automated response from US Airways apologizing for my "travel difficulties" and a $75 non-transferable travel voucher. I suppose I could have just accepted this as the reality of things, but I felt a bit insulted. US Airways could have quickly validated if I had a frequent flier number (which I do) and found my Star Alliance status. My guess is they could have also discovered I spent over $2200 in airfare since January 1, 2008 (30 times the voucher amount).

I sent a response email to customer service saying I did not want the voucher I just wanted better service the next time I flew. They sent another email apologizing for offending me with the voucher and that my concerns had been delivered to the appropriate management. I ended feeling again like my experience stunk.

US Airways could have righted my experience one of two ways. Picking up the phone after the second email would have been ideal. It would have made me feel appreciated and ensured they understood I was not angry but disappointed. Obviously they cannot do this with everyone, but the reason for loyalty programs is so you know who a customer is and what losing them may mean. Second, though I did not want anything, a full fare voucher would have told me they really wanted me to fly with them.

The point of business automation should be to improve the guest experience, not the other way around.

New k.sturm blog

2008-01-31T00:22:00.000-08:00

I got tired of a blog that looked like 90% of blogs in the blogosphere, so I thought it was time to waste time and customize this one. After spending days figuring out html for hospitality technology made simple customizing this layout only took me one evening. Let me know what you think!

Set Goals Instead of Resolutions

2008-01-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to do this post for a while, but have been lazy on the post front. It's now almost February, but my post for the 2008 new year is don't set resolutions. In stead set goals. Not widely outrageous goals, but goals that are achievable and broken down into increments. They should be challenging, but also attainable.

On September 26, 2007 on a flight from DFW to Charlotte I made a list of my two year goals. I was reviewing it this week. I've done well in some areas and not so well in others.

Q4 2007
Professional

Establish my niche in consulting where ever it may be, hotel ideally
Bill 20 hours per week
Start posting meaningful content on hospitality technology made simple every two weeks

Personal

Read my bible every morning for at least 15 minutes - have not done
Get out of the rat race and keeping up with what we think is the requirements of success
Run every 3 days at least - sometimes yes, right now no
Read one book per month on something and keep doing it
Finish house - not even close
Post to k.sturm blog at least every 3 days - not quite there

Q1 2008
Professional

Bill 20 hours per week
Post meaningful content on hospitality technology made simple every two weeks
Speak in some capacity at an industry conference
Have business plan for new company idea complete with market analysis, 1 year, 3 year, 5 year revenue forecast, and mocked up design

Personal

Have a plan to live “below” our means allowing us the financial freedom to take trips and live free
Begin taking a one week trip per quarter with Chrystal and Brody somewhere fun where we don’t work at all

Q2 2008
Professional

Bill 16 hours per week and increase hourly rate
Hire first employee/subcontractor for kevin sturm Consulting billing 20 hrs/week
Speak in some capacity at major industry conference
Have a second draft of business plan in place and start moving forward
Find a developer that will “drink the cool-aid” or get venture capital funding…drink the cool-aid is way better

Personal

Go on Potter’s Clay construction team (not sure if this will be possible with baby due)
Be training for Marathon or Triathlon

Q3 2008
Professional

Give Keynote Session presentation at industry conference
Be at least one quarter into v1.0 of new business

Personal

Visit Opportunity International bank in Mexico or Africa
Run a Marathon or do a Triathlon

Q4 2008
Professional

Hire second employee/subcontractor for kevin sturm Consulting billing 20 hrs/week
Speak at hospitality technology industry conference
Sign up early adopter customers for v1.0 release

Q1 2009
Professional

Speak at hospitality technology industry conference
Release v1.0 of new business venture
Attend industry conference on new business venture

Q2 2009
Professional

Speak at hospitality technology industry conference
Release v2.0 of software
Speak at industry conference on new company venture

Personal

Attend TED Conference in ~~San Francisco~~ Long Beach with two friends

Invention that Makes the World a Better Place

2008-01-18T15:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm not the first to see the Aquaduct as there are about a million blog posts about it, but apparently I'm the first one out there to see if this great invention is actually getting sent to people who could use it. I've searched the web and cannot find a single website that says anything other than it won the Innovate or Die contest. I've also tried to find a blog or website that lists an email about any of the inventors.

I think this thing is awesome, and I know there needs to be at least 50 of them in use in areas that need them. Obviously there will be improvements that need to be made, as there always are. But what is being done?

If anyone out there knows if there is a fund out there to help get production of the Aquaduct going please post a reply. Or, if as one of the inventors you find this blog send me an email. This thing is already hot with viral marketing, so how come there isn't a www.aquaduct.com?

I Love My Job

2008-01-16T16:40:00.000-08:00

I flew down to San Antonio today for a consulting gig at the Westin La Cantera. I have a really bad cold so flying was brutal. My ears are still plugged up. This place is uber nice and I got a sweet room with a view of the property and surrounding hills (photos below). It was really nice to relax for a bit in a nice room with a spectacular view. How great is it that get to come stay at a nice hotel for work! I love my job!Now I'm off to have dinner with my father-in-law.

Post Christmas Photos

2007-12-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

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Somebody Stole Baby Jesus

2007-12-24T23:34:00.000-08:00

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The Eyes of a Child

2007-12-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

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First Check!

2007-12-23T13:19:00.001-08:00

I got my first check for kevin sturm Consulting in the mail on Friday. The first of what I hope will be many...Yeah!

Jammies Party!

2007-12-21T22:24:00.000-08:00

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Is There a Past Tense of Except?

2007-12-20T19:39:00.000-08:00

I was reading my friend Tim's blog (he's an awesome photographer in Santa Barbara) and found this picture. He took it while in a WalMart in Torrence, CA. Seriously, how does this happen?

How Promotable Are you?

2007-12-19T09:18:00.000-08:00

The other morning I was having coffee with my sister-in-law, Cara, discussing her current job opportunities. She is an up and coming tornado at Anthropologie and is now ready for the next big thing. In our conversation we talked about what employees that quickly get promoted do. Obviously there are the qualities of hard work, enthusiasm, knowledge of the business, years of experience, leadership, and such. But in most companies that is not enough, or at least not what is going to get you moving quickly to the next big thing.

In my experience there are a three lesser discussed things that can have a huge impact on your promotability. There are more than three even, but for brevity I'll focus on three.

Stop asking what qualities and experience is needed for a promotion.
As a manager I had an endless number of conversations with employees who would ask me, "What are the traits you look for in a <fill in the title>?" This is a bad way to approach it. The question worded this way tells the manager you don't believe you are ready for the promotion but would like to be considered at some point in the future.

Instead of asking this question do some research to understand the position that you want and then meet with the manager to inform them that you want the promotion. Point out all the areas that you have the experience, qualifications, and successes to be great at the job. Outline how you specifically could add value to the organization in this new position. Then, if need be discuss what specific areas you need experience in before being qualified for the promotion, and ask the manager what opportunities exist in the near future for you to get the experience needed.
Leave your personal finance choices out of the discussion.
Most employees seek out a promotion or pay increase because their personal financial situation has changed and they need to make more money. Probably 80% of employees that asked me for a promotion or raise had this as a major point in the discussion. This is about the worst way to go about getting a promotion. It tells your manager you are spending money you don't have! That is a big red flag because it means you may not be as responsible as you should be. Additionally, don't make the focus of your discussion what Salary.com says you should make. Unless you are working for a Fortune 500 company that pays at the top 10% it is not a realistic comparison.

A conversation about compensation and promotion needs to be focused on what you specifically do or will be doing to increase current revenue production for the business. If you don't know how you are doing this, you have no business asking for a promotion.

I once had an employee ask me for a salary increase and promotion with a breakdown of what affect his current salary had on the percentage of gross margin for the department, how his specific performance was increasing company revenue by tracking his revenue performance for 6 months, and that his requested increase would affect less than .1% of current gross margin for the department. He then outlined how he would further increase his revenue production, and how the increase would make him feel more valued for his hard work and his job would be more enjoyable. I gave him the promotion affective immediately, without even getting approval from our CFO. I knew that with that level of detail the CFO couldn't even say no.
Stop waiting to get recognized.
When I left my last company they asked me to complete an Employee Exit interview. One of the questions was about how often I got feedback from my manager.

How frequently did you get feedback on your performance? What were your feelings about them?
I received feedback almost every year during my normal performance review. I generally found they were informative and provided good feedback and opportunities for improvement.
How frequently did you have discussions with your manager about your career goals? What are your feelings regarding these discussions?
As often as I initiated and felt it was needed. However, I think employees who receive the best feedback seek it out versus wait for it. Generally those who wait patiently for recognition and guidance end up feeling slighted, abused, and unappreciated. I am a firm believer that opportunities are created and taken not given, and corporate recognition is directly related to how well you market yourself.

Recognition in the work place is like dating. If you're a wall flower it's tough to get recognized. If you are waiting for someone to give you pat on the back and a promotion for a job well done, you most likely feel like you work for a company that doesn't reward hard work, you often feel abused by the company, and that the company always says great job to other people but never you (there are companies out there that reward hard work all the time, I worked for one for a while). If this is you, stop waiting to get recognized and point out the value you bring the organization. Most likely the employees that always get recognized are self promoting while you are waiting for someone to notice you.

What's Your World View?

2007-12-14T16:05:00.000-08:00

I had coffee yesterday with a friend and business colleague. We worked together at my former company and both left about the same time to go out on our own. He is doing consulting now as well on sales stuff and is a very smart guy. We got to talking about travel and how we were enjoying the opportunity to travel more. Chrystal's friend Sarah is going to be in South Africa for a couple of years so I was telling him that we are planning on visiting her at least once, and while we are there visiting at least one bank with Opportunity International.

My friend had never heard of Opportunity International so we got on the subject of micro finance lending. Inevitably it turned into a political conversation and he expressed an opinion that most African countries (and other 3rd world nations) are in the position they are in because of their own fault (political corruption and such), and most of them were better off in every economic way when under the rule of a colonial power. This is not the first time I've heard this comment, and each time I do it saddens me. It saddens me not because someone does not agree with my opinion, but that someone who is very smart with a college degree and has traveled extensively throughout the world can look at the situation of extreme poverty and respond with, "They created this problem for themselves and need to fix it. If we give them our money their corrupt government is just going to steal it from them anyway." I may be overstating his position but it was clear that he did not find it realistic to try and end world poverty. (I define poverty in this case as the 50% of people in the world living on less than $2 per day.)

I recommended that he should read "The End of Poverty" by Jeffrey Sachs (I've posted about it before here). I also asked him, "If they did create the problem are we not in some way, as the wealthiest nation on Earth, responsible to help them?"

I know that there are at least a couple of readers of this blog out there and I'd like to know your thoughts. Can we as Westerners (or a least Americans) actually make a financial difference in economic support of 3rd world countries, or are we really just giving our hard earned money to a problem that will always exist?

Further more, if you are the in the top 10% of income earners in the US do you have a responsibility to help?

Importance of Fellowship

2007-12-12T12:53:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things about being self employed is getting to fellowship with friends in the morning over coffee. This morning I got hang with DJ at his SWEET pad in Santa Barbara. This place is seriously amazing because it has a view that is unique even in Santa Barbara. You can see Ventura and north Goleta practically. DJ and I were going to meet at Whales Tail downtown but we decided to have breakfast at the Freedom House instead. Crystal cooked us an amazing breakfast of French toast coated with corn flakes and almonds. It was 5-star style eating, plus we ate on the patio (which DJ had never done!) and had an amazing view to go with the amazing meal. Thanks Crystal! We also had mimosas with Dom Perignon that was left over from a get together the previous night...livin' the high life!DJ and I talked about how much fun it was to be able to just hang out in the morning to do what we felt was important (which may be to work, read, or fellowship) versus rush to be at work at 8:00 am. I really feel so blessed to have the freedom to do this and have friends like DJ to hang with and enjoy time together.

The view from DJ's patio as displayed by my iPhone!

I love my wife!

2007-12-10T23:29:00.000-08:00

It was my birthday this past Friday. I turned 32 but I still feel 28. 28 is a good age I think.

My wonderful wife Chrystal (and my parents) surprised me with an iPhone. This is my 3rd PDA phone and it is by far the best. I'm a recent mac convert (switched when they went dual core processor) and I love the experience. Apple knows how to deliver an unparalleled experience.
Thanks sweetie for the best phone ever made!

That's Disgusting!

2007-12-10T12:54:00.000-08:00

As a frequent traveler this video makes me want to throw-up. I've stayed at each of these brands multiple times and drank from hotel drinking glasses bunches of times. I'm always a little wary of the bedding and check to ensure it appears clean (I once found dirty underwear in my hotel bed!), but I've never found the glasses to appear dirty.

This is one of those things that would make me just not drink from the glasses though.

Don't Ever Drink From Hotel Glasses

It's Finally Done!

2007-11-27T23:15:00.000-08:00

After long hours of figuring out html works and much gnashing of teeth my new "other blog" is finally done. As most of you know I quit my job and started my own consulting firm. As part of this initiative one of things I noticed was that there was very little online content in the way of blogs for hospitality technology. Most of the major industry media organizations have one as part of their website, but there really isn't anything from someone that works day to day in hospitality technology consulting.

So, as of tonight hospitality technology made simple is up an running. It's a blog about trends in hospitality technology. My hope is that the blog will be helpful to venues looking to implement new systems and to consultants in the industry looking to get or give advice. I hope to do some interviews with major figures in the industry, and if people actual find it interesting get a forum up where we can all share ideas for success.

I will only be posting every week or two weeks at this point, so I'll still be updating this blog regularly as my personal blog of business and life in general. If you know of anyone that may find the new blog interesting please point them to it. It will be a couple of months before there is enough content to be really meaty. You can also email me topics that you think would be interesting (if you care about hospitality technology). I'll need the content ideas.

Word of Mouse Marketing

2007-11-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

My friend DJ always talks about word-of-mouse marketing. The power of the web in marketing is that if you do something unique it can get passed all across the world in hours. WHAM! You have gajillions (yes it's a word) of hits. Check out this website and watch what happens.

My friend Paul posted this. He got it from a friend I'm assuming (as Paul doesn't speak anything but English), and that person got it from someone. I'm betting I am way down in the chain of people to see this and I'm passing it on to all the people who read my blog (maybe 6) .

Reaching the Masses

2007-11-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

One thing I love about blogging is that you can reach a bunch of people without being "published". It also means that you don't have to be a great writer to submit your ideas and opinions. And most importantly it's easy. But that doesn't mean that people will read your blog.

I was recently introduced to The Blog Readability Test by Justine Ungaro's blog. It is a service that analyzes your blog and tells you what the reading level of the person must be. I thought cool, I'll try it out on this blog.

It came back that my blog was at the reading level of college undergrad. I ran it on a few of my favorite blogs which include friends blogs and business blogs. The highest reading level I came back with was Junior High.

I have no idea how this score is calculated, but I'm going to make an effort to make this blog easier to read. Chrystal is always telling me I say things in overly complex ways. Which just goes to prove that my wife is right again.
___________________
I also ran it on the blog I'm working for my business (currently unreleased) and this is what came back. But I'm not as concerned about it for this one because it's written for a very specific industry.

Cash Advance Loans

Delivery for a $1.00

2007-11-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

I'm on my way home from my first client trip. I was at Microsoft's office in Seattle for three days (never saw the sun).
I was working out of the R&D building and tried to see the latest Microsoft Surfaces demonstration but no luck. I didn't even get to see the current one. Most of the things going on in the building we won't see for 10 to 15 years. How do you plan for technology products 10 years in advance? With as fast as technology changes that just seems unrealistic...but I suppose somebody has to do it. There were also supposedly 30+ researchers with PhDs in the R&D building! That is a whole bunch of brain power.

Most of the offices are in Redmond, WA and the entire city is pretty much Microsoft. From what I was told Microsoft employs 45,000 people at the Redmond campus! That is almost half the population of Santa Barbara! And the campus is pretty amazing. They have multiple soccer, football, and baseball fields, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, and all sorts of other fun stuff.

I was there to install eMenu, a software that will allow all Microsoft employees to order lunch via the company Intranet and have it delivered to their desk. Seriously. You can check out eMeu here, but don't order from this site because this place actually exists in NY. Microsoft has the most amazing company cafeterias with awesome food and now they are offering to deliver your lunch for $1.00 (plus the cost of the food). I think that is awesome because I'd take a lunch break to go work out and then have my lunch delivered to my desk and eat it there (in the scenario I had an office of course).

James, the Microsoft analyst I did the install with, had a futon, big screen TV, DVD player, Xbox and wii in his office! It was complete with a small movie and video game library. How would you ever get any work done?
Microsoft's countdown to release clock

Dinner of the Traveling Type

2007-11-14T17:14:00.001-08:00

Sometimes when I travel the thought of airport food just isn't appetizing, so the free food in United's Red Carpet Club turns into dinner. Crackers and cheese with carrots and ranch dressing washed down with a Coke. Chase it with a chocolate chip cookie...who could ask for more?

"The Gratitude Dance"

2007-11-12T22:45:00.000-08:00

Okay...so I just finished my "Extreme Marketing" post and was reading some of my fav blogs. On Escape From Cubicle Nation I found a link to The Gratitude Dance which I had to share.

I love this for two reasons. First because it fits well with the header from my blog. Sometimes my posts having nothing to do with what is up there, but I think they are all important things. Second because it makes you smile, and smiling is good.

spur conversation
create joy
foster thought
speak well
love another
practice forgiveness
embrace change
enjoy life
impart knowledge

When you wake up tomorrow, do the gratitude dance.

Extreme Marketing

2007-11-12T20:17:00.000-08:00

Marketing is hard. Really. Once you are uber successful I'm guessing it gets much easier, but before that point it's hard. When you don't have a huge customer base all blabbering on about how brilliant you are the only option is to self blabber about brilliance. I've spent the last two work days self marketing. Whether cold calling, emailing, requesting references via LinkedIn, or getting my new hospitality technology blog (to be announced soon) together. This is all pretty much standard new business stuff though and comes with the territory. It's one of those things though before you start you think, "I've got a huge network, I'll get business." (at least that is what I thought). The reality is that it is a long ramp and you have to claw for every opportunity. Nobody starts at the top. People may indirectly reference you but most likely they are not looking for business for you.

I am a true believer that word of mouth marketing is king (especially in my business). But, if you can't tell one great story about yourself no one else will be able to either. To get one big deal someone has to believe that you can be successful with that big deal. And if you have no references for your greatness then you must become your own self reference.
This post was prompted by an absolutely outlandish extreme marketing example I saw in the Starbucks parking lot today. Check out this guys car. He caught me taking pictures of it which was pretty funny. He acted like it was a totally normal occurrence, which was more funny.

Chicken Little and Sky Catcher

2007-11-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

My dad used to always say, “If you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem.” (though the saying is generally credited to Eldridge Cleaver). I've tried to take this philosophy with me to every project and believe it is a good rule to live by. For the sake of clarity I'll define this as being a person that brings solutions not problems (hugely insightful I know).
Everyone has been on a project with someone that has “Chicken Little Complex”. They bring up every possible pitfall in the project, why ideas won't work, and regularly send emails to the project team when pending disaster is inevitable - leading everyone on the project in a fire drill effort that generally could have been avoided (i.e. Foxy Woxy's hole). As a project manager or a project team member strive to be the antithesis to Chicken Little. I call this person “Sky Catcher”. I've held this title on projects multiple times in my career. Sky Catcher is the person on the project that objectively looks at each situation and offers solutions to problems, but more importantly becomes the person that helps advise Chicken Little.

Imagine how different the story would be if Chicken Little was productively educated by Henny Penny on the elemental nature of the atmosphere, the concept of gravity, prompted with ideas of what could have hit her on the head, and more importantly the danger of “forest frenzy” due to adoptive apprehension.

If you have a project team member with “Chicken Little Complex” make it your personal duty on the team to be “Sky Catcher”. Provide solutions but also help prevent others from only bringing problems. Most likely you will find yourself in the position to offer advice often, and may just find yourself leading the next project.

Take A Chance...Be Outlandish

2007-11-04T06:30:00.000-08:00

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"Seven Steps to Success"

2007-11-01T23:29:00.000-07:00

My friend Nazia sent me a "Tip of the Day" email with some wise words from Dr. Mark Goulston (author of Get Out of Your Own Way at Work) on things you should know the answers to when starting your own business. If you want to start you own business make sure you have an answer to these questions.

1. What do you love making (product) or doing (service) that has enough value that other people would be willing and want to pay for (your DREAM)?

2. What desire or problem is your product (what you make) or service (what you do) the best answer or solution to (your VISION and MISSION)?

3. What people or what company has a desire or problem that most urgently needs your product or service, i.e. who are the ones that "Gotta have you!" (your MARKETING)?

4. How do you get those people or that company to be aware of their urgent need for your product or service (your ADVERTISING)?

5. How do you convince those people to buy that service or product that they "gotta have?" (your SALES)

6. How do you get your product or service to those people or that company (your PRODUCTION and DELIVERY)?

7. How do you continue to increase the satisfaction and enthusiasm for your product or service, so they'll tell others (your CUSTOMER SERVICE)?

Reunions Are Awesome and The Great Experience

2007-10-29T15:38:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday my friends Ryan and Chase got married. I love weddings because marriage is awesome (I may be partial since I'm married to an awesome woman) and because when good friends get married it generally means a reunion with lots of friends.

My best friends in the world were at the wedding and we had such a great time. I should have taken more pictures but we were having such a great time hanging out. Our little house was packed out with DocRoc and Weir sleeping on the couch, and the Wold family in the upstairs bedroom. Paul and family also spent most of the day time hours with us so it was a blast. I feel so blessed to have such good friends that will always be there for me if I need them.

The wedding was also fun because we had such a great time with the wedding photographer. I know some pretty awesome wedding photographers and Josh Gruetzmacher was awesome because he helped personalize the experience for the guests as well as the bride and groom. Most weddings I've been to have a photographer that stays behind the scenes to do their job. Well Josh was going far above and beyond by trying to hook Weir (a guest) up with the table of single girls. He put it best when said it was "a land of milk and honeys" over there. If you can quote scripture, make it so the person saying it and receipient was the same name as the guy who first saw the land of milk and honey, and create an innuendo all at the same time you have creating a memorable experience to an art form.

Josh (the wedding photographer one) is awesome and for someone so young could teach a lot of seasoned photographers what it means to create a remarkable experience. I'd recommend him now and that really is the point isn't it?

I did get some pretty good random shots through.

Andy's GQ advertisement (I think Lisa may have actually taken this picture).
The evening sky was a perfect shot with these cool Japanese lanterns
There was a beautiful sunset that night.

They had really great all white table settings.

Do You Have Different Types of Ethics?

2007-10-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking at Westmont (my alma mater) to the Business Ethics class. There were even a few pre-med students in the class so they got to hear the story of a doctor bound student who took a different road.
In preparing some material I began to formulate some questions regarding having multiple types of ethics. I asked the class, "Have you heard of Marriage Ethics, Sports Ethics, Driving Ethics, or Raising Kids Ethics?" They all said, “No.” But they were taking a class called “Business Ethics”. Why do we have an entire subject dedicated to Ethics in Business?

Yesterday morning I had breakfast with my college coach and we were talking about how it is often easy to justify a different set of ethics in sports. A similar example came up in my conversations with the class when one of the students talked about the last World Cup the USA Women's soccer team won. I had not heard this but the USA goal keeper had stopped a shot during a shoot-out that won them the game. After the game was over a slow motion replay showed the goal keeper steeping forward towards the shooter. In soccer this is illegal as you can only move laterally to stop the ball during a shoot-out. In keeping with a single sports theme, would you slide tackle someone in soccer knowing you could not get the ball to keep them from scoring?

If you knew it meant the difference between winning or losing the World Cup would you take a step forward? It is cheating and against the rules, but could you justify it for that? I don't know if the goal keeper did it on purpose or accident, but she did break the rules.

As a separate example if it meant paying the rent or not paying the rent, would your normal ethical actions change? Do your ethics change when you have more to lose?

During my research I found a quote that my buddy DJ had told me a while back from John Maxwell and made it the topic of discussion with the class.
“There's no such thing as business ethics—there's only ethics. People try to use one set of ethics for their professional life, another for their spiritual life, and still another at home with their family. That gets them into trouble. Ethics is ethics. If you desire to be ethical, you live by one standard across the board.”

The discussion in class was great and they really had awesome insight. Way better insight than I had during college. They even asked me some questions that I had not thought about with regard to a few personal experiences I shared with them. The short of it came to the fact that when there is more at stake you are more willing to move the ethical line. I even got a question during one of the discussions from a student asking if there was any way to “spin” a message so that it did not seem so bad. He didn't use the term “spin” but I think that was the underlying question. It is the dilemma of a whole truth versus half truth. If you tell half the truth does it cancel out not telling the whole truth, and is a half truth more ethical when there is more at stake? I say no, but my experience has showed me that when more is at stake what is ethical becomes hard to see.
I have not read John Maxwell's book, but his underlying premises is The Golden Rule still applies to life. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Thanks to moms around the world (especially mine), you were right.

Care Enough to be Different

2007-10-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago an old coworker, Kelly Oshiro, contacted me through LinkedIn, which is just rad because we had not talked since she left Santa Barbara. The world being so connected is really wonderful. Kelly and her boyfriend Sam just moved back to Santa Barbara and Sam was looking for a job. Kelly wanted to know if I could possibly provide any guidance. On Tuesday I met with Sam and it was awesome to meet someone so passionate about what he wants. He is a natural product evangelist and I know will be supremely successful.

We talked about what kind of job he wanted, the type of company he wanted to work for, and what was important. He knew what he wanted, but was making one of the biggest mistakes I see when people are looking for a job. His resume was normal, totally normal. Normal equals boring and unmemorable and when applying for a job you want to be remembered. Here was the basic format of Sam's resume.

Sam's resume looked like 99% of the resumes I've seen. He was using one of the common formats, which means his resume was not unique or rememberable because almost everyone is using those formats. If you want to

If you are putting together a resume there are a few big DOs and DON'Ts to keep in mind.

DON'T copy the exact format of the sample resume you are using. DO care enough to personalize the style of the resume making it different. Different gets remembered.

DON'T list bullets of what you were responsible for at each job. Frankly I don't care what you did, I care what you accomplished. Accomplishments should be measurable and show you you improved the company in some way. Here is a good example from Resume-Resource.

DON'T send 20 resumes that are generic to 20 companies. DO want a job bad enough that you spend time customizing the resume for the job you are applying for.

DON'T list your GPA unless you had a 4.0 and just graduated, and DON'T put it at the top of the resume.n DO list all education and certifications that are applicable to the job you are applying for.

DON'T list “Proficient in Word and Excel” if you're applying for a job that assumes you are. For most jobs it is already a requirement to know these applications. DO list applications that you are proficient in that are unique (i.e. Perl or Java) and make you remembered.

DON'T list an “Objective” that says something like, “To get a job and an exciting company in the IT related field.” DO create a “Professional Summary” that is basically your elevator pitch on why someone should hire you.

DON'T make it one page and hard to read because of information overload. DO instead increase it to two pages so it's easy to read, but put all the stuff you really want them to see on the first page.

DON'T write a cover letter to “Whom It May Concern”. DO enough research to find out the name of the hiring manager or recruiter in HR and direct your resume to them.

DON'T ever not apply for a job because you think you're under-qualified. DO take a chance and try to get a job that may be your next big move.

I could probably go on and on, but that seems to be good enough for now. Happy resume writing!

If You Can Read This You Are Blessed

2007-10-24T06:38:00.000-07:00

I was whining the other day about all the ash that I keep having to wash off our patio. Our bathroom had a thin film of ash on it because we left the window open, which I also was bummed about because I had to clean it all up.

Then yesterday I got this email from one of my friends in San Diego and was brought back to the reality that I'm blessed. On my worst day I'm blessed because I have opportunities that at least 60% of the world does not.

If you're having a crappy day or are feeling like things are not going your way, remember that if you have the Internet and can read this you are blessed.

Last Day

2007-10-19T14:49:00.001-07:00

And I got this fortune in my fortune cookie today. No Joke! How awesome is that?

Watch Out for Falling Rocks

2007-10-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

I’m off to a rocky start.

A week ago was supposed to be my last day with Agilysys but I elected to extend my employment. I’ve been managing a large project for six months with a major account that has gotten delayed by one month, and after review decided it was better to not transition the project. There are a few reasons for this, all of which have something to do with hoping to get future business through my own company with the group I’m working with. Additionally the person it would transition to is a really great friend and already loaded with projects.

When I first announced I was going out on my own there were immediately some very large opportunities that came my way. Two of these projects were a year or longer and would have generated over 75% of my income for 12 to 18 months. One of the projects fell through a month ago because the company hired a hotel management company and the other fell through today because of a possible merger or buyout of some kind.

I found out about the second one by breaking one of my cardinal email rules. I was taking Brody to preschool this morning and popped open my email at 8:30 am while he was eating breakfast. The first email I read was from a client saying that it looked like the project was going to fall through and not happen. This immediately put me in a bad mood. Reading email first thing in the morning can do that to you, because email all too often has bad news. My bad mood then affected the family (and our cat who annoyed me and then took the brunt of my bad mood).

If I had waited till 10:00 am to read email I would have been in a better mood when I got to work, had my coffee before finding out bad news (which is important), and Chrystal and Brody would not have experienced my bad mood (and the cat would have had a better morning).

But as in all situations, you dust yourself off and....hi ho, hi ho, it's off to marketing I go.

Life Is Beautiful

2007-10-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

I'm working on figuring this self-employment life out and feeling pretty confident about it. But there are always things that come your way that you don't have "a plan" for. About 10 weeks ago one of those things came my way. Chrystal and I found out we are pregnant!

What an absolutely awesome day it was. I had just gotten home from a trip and Chrystal surprised me with a special message that night. It was such an awesome memory and we are so excited.

We taped the first ultrasound and sent out a message to friends and family announcing that we were pregnant. Seeing your baby on that screen when it is so tiny with arms and legs and everything is so amazing! Life really is beautiful.

Still Swollen But It's Gone

2007-10-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

So, my surgery yesterday was about 30 minutes with just a local anesthetic. It was crazy because Dr. Lapatka just kept chatting away the entire time asking questions and I kept thinking, "Can he do surgery on my face while I'm talking?" Apparently so because he did!

It is swollen still but slightly smaller than it was before he took it out. I did get to see what he took out because since I walked around with it for so long I had to (according to Dr. Laptka at least).

It was amazing how fast the entire thing was. It was like doing to the dentist really, and I got to leave with the right side of my face all numb.

Going Under the Knife

2007-10-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

I'm going in for a minor surgery today to get a lipoma remove from the right side of my face. I've been asked a bunch lately if I have chew in my cheek, which is really funny! I also get the occasional, "Did you go to the dentist today?"

It's been a year long negotiation with the insurance company to get it covered so I'm relieved to finally get the procedure.

I'm So Bummed!

2007-09-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting hear tonight and went to check my bank account and make sure things were in order...and this is what I see. Oh jeeze! Nothing like getting information that you don' thave access to your bank information for 48 hours.

Before a bunch of people tell me I should be banking with an established brick and moter bank, I've had an account with Netbak for over seven years and loved every second of it. If I had a problem they resolved it immediately and they had the best bill pay program I've ever seen. I'm so bummed. Given current circumstances and that every bank now has online bill pay I'll probably switch...but we'll see how ING handles the transition.

Here's the kicker, your bank has no responsiblity to inform customers that they are in trouble and will be shut down by the FDIC. I understand why but it still sucks!

If things do go South I'll be creating a blog to raise money, so everybody be reading!

Your Job Description Isn't "Mail Manager"

2007-09-27T23:27:00.000-07:00

I had a pretty crummy travel experience on my trip this week in missed flights and too little sleep, but I had an interesting conversation that prompted this post. I had a partner in my travel woes that was sharing with me how she often spent her evenings reading and responding to emails creating a 60 hour work week (thanks for the post idea travel partner).
For a long period in my career I received sometimes 200+ emails per day. I’d spend hours every night reading them all and responding appropriately. After about three years of this I decided there had to be a better way. Below is a combination of my and others tips in how to spend less time on email. They are in no particular order.

The Carbon Copy Rule
Build email rules that help you prioritize what to read. Create a folder called “cc mail” and create a rule that moves any message where you are in the cc: field to this folder. Never read them, they are saved for reference only. You may need to create exceptions for certain people or groups which most email engines allow. If you are nervous about this try it for two weeks. I was nervous about it at first but this single rule cut my email volume by two thirds. I’ve now been doing it for three years and have been asked less than a dozen times if I got an email. Most people cc you on message to feel important or CTA (cover their arse), so not reading it is usually no big deal.

I had a co-worker that joked delete every email you get and if it’s important they’ll send it again. If someone cc’s you on an email and needs a response they will most likely send it again directly to you.

It’s All About Me
Build another email rule that flags any email where you are the only person on the To: field in a specific color (my preference is red). This way you can immediately know which email you probably must read and respond to.

It’s All About Them
If you have certain people that you must read their email set them as an exception to The Carbon Copy Rule and build a rule that flags their email in a specific color so you can see them easily (my preference is green).

The Conversation Stopper
Use email as a method of communication not conversation. Request this of co-workers, employees, and clients. If you need to have conversations pick up the phone and talk to the person.

If you receive a reply email (RE:) quickly scan to see if there are multiple of them with the same subject. Sort your email by subject, select the most recent, and read the entire train starting from the top down. I suggest from the top because you may find quickly that you don’t need to do anything and just delete it. If you make it all the way to the bottom you are reading just to read or you’ll find you need to respond in some way. If it is going to take more than one email pick up the phone. You can most likely then delete the emails with the same subject line. If you follow the next rule all questions in the email will probably have gotten resolved and you won't have to respond at all.

e-mail Is Not On Your Task List (a slight variation on a Tim Ferris rule)
If you don’t have a daily task list before the day, start doing it today. Have three important things you must accomplish that day, and one before 10:00 am. Email should never be on that list. Look at email at 10:00 am, not before. After 10:00 am respond to email that requires immediate response, flag what requires follow-up, file or delete the rest. Schedule times to check and respond to email or you’ll spend 4 hours of every day getting nothing accomplished. Try to read email at 10:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 4:00pm. The 4:00 pm slot lets you respond to any requiring it that day.

Spending one full weekend emptying your email box is not actually accomplishing anything, except maybe generating more email. Avoid this really stupid way to spend your weekend.

Don’t Respond to e-mail on the Weekend (a tip from Tim Sanders)
This is one of the hardest things to do and I know from personal experience. But it is vital to managing your email volume. It is also a good habit if you are a manager because your employees will emulate your behavior. Sending email on the weekend sets the expectation that you’ll read and respond to email on the weekend. If someone really needs to get in touch with you they will find a way other than email.

The next step is to apply this rule to responding to email after hours. I promise, if someone really needs to get in touch with you they will find a way.

If you have other tricks and tips on managing the email nightmare post it for the world to benefit from your wisdom.

You Have to Watch This

2007-09-27T08:54:00.001-07:00

Okay, you don't have to...but you should. This is a video clip from "Britian's Got Talent" reality show. It's just awesome! I got goose bumps watching the second clip. This guy is such a great story about following your dreams!

In Flight Entertainment

2007-09-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

I've always been an isle seat person. But recently I've been enjoying window seats because of the in flight entertainment. I've been spending time on each flight being amazed at the world we live in, just looking out the window of the plane.

Here are few shots I caught from recent flights.

Seattle to Los Angeles. I love flying above the cloud line and absorbing the amazing view it creates.

City of Angels downtown

On your next flight put your book, magazine, or computer down for ten minutes and just admire what you see.

It's Not About You

2007-09-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

I was visiting a church last Sunday and the pastor’s sermon started with, “It’s not about you…”. His next four words were “…it’s about God.”, but for this post I’m going to focus on the first half.

As I embark on this journey to be a successful hospitality technology consultant I have multiple times thought about the challenge of how to communicate clearly my desire (my mantra if you will) to help clients be successful. I find this especially difficult as a technology consultant because there are so many of us (versus them). This is also a challenge because many prospective customers have had poor experiences with consultants. How do you convince a customer that your desire is for them to be successful and that you can help create value?

I believe the first thing is to recognize that it is not about you. Focus on your customer and see how they react.

In short, use your ears and listen. Epictetus said it best, "We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak."
I’ve posted on this key successful trait before (probably because I recognize how much I need to improve in this area), but I find that listening can help a client believe you want them to be successful. Clients hire you as a consultant because they believe you have or can find answers. And they may be right, but having answers comes with the prerequisite of understanding the problem – vis a vis listening.

Success as a consultant is predicated on your client's confidence that you can make them successful. In your next client meeting build confidence not by knowing all the answers (because you won’t) but by listening and understanding the problems you are there to resolve.

Family Matters

2007-09-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

This post has been moved to Next Gen Dads. Click here to see this post.

Proud Papa

2007-09-08T23:58:00.000-07:00

This post has been moved to Next Gen Dads. Click here to see this post.

Listen and React

2007-09-06T23:38:00.000-07:00

I was reading Seth Godin's blog today and this link to Apple was highlighted. I have been a hard core PC user my entire life. But the more I see of Apple (and that you can now run Windows on a Mac) I'm convinced that being associated with Apple is a good thing in almost every way.

Listening to your customers when they are going to spend more money is easy. Listening to them when they are unhappy and want something for free is much harder. Apple and Steve Jobs illustrate perfectly why listening to your customers is beneficial. Happy customers buy more stuff, so if you have to spend $100 to make $200 it's probably a good idea. My guess is that most of recipients of the gift card will spend more than $100 dollars. And if the iPhone can be sold for $399 versus $599 it means that the $599 price was probably big time margin. Apple is playing a great revenue game. You can sell fewer phones for higher margin or more phones for lower margin. The initial iPhone selling was way higher than the forecast by Apple, so you can bet that sacrificing some margin for volume is a good gamble (not including the pending holiday season).
And since the mass majority of people will spend more than $100 when they redeem it is just more revenue for Apple...genius move!

Additionally Apple has said that if you purchased the iPhone within the last 14 days they will refund you the difference.

Who Do You Know?

2007-09-05T23:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning Chrystal, Brody, and I are leaving for Phoenix to visit family and hopefully meet with a prospective client. All the communication that I've had to date with them has been that they are not interested at this time. I have an inside connection that hopefully will be able to at least get me a lunch meeting.

As a consultant who you know can often be more important than what you know when trying to get a meeting. Use your network (but don't abuse it), the worst they can say is no.

Are You a Runner or a Jogger?

2007-09-04T23:07:00.000-07:00

I used to be a runner, and I was fast. I was not world class fast, but was fast enough to compete at the national level in college. When I saw other people out running I could almost immediately recognize if they were a “runner” or a “jogger”. I probably was not always right, but was confident (and still am) that I was right 80% of the time.

Below is a table that outlines the characteristics of a runner versus a jogger.

NOTE: All items in white are what I think are me now…maybe I’m still a runner. :-) I just love listening to TED talks, sermons, and entrepreneur podcasts when I run.

I stopped running shortly after college and transferred the energy I had to put into running into my career. (I’ve now started running again, but it is more because I am getting to the point where I need to exercise so I don’t turn into a soft bread stick. I could never be a bread roll, if you know me you know why.)

I’ve been in business about the same amount of time I was a competitive distance runner, and during my ~~run~~ jog today realized that running and business have a lot in common. I can generically assess after working with someone a short time if they are a runner or jogger in business. Here is the same table as above for business.

If you had to highlight the descriptions that fit you, are you a runner or a jogger? Better yet, if you had to hand this to all your co-workers to highlight about you would you be a runner or a jogger? The second is a better exercise because business is a race where everyone has to run together, but you can only run as fast as your slowest team member. If you have one or more areas in the “jogger” column, work this week to become a “runner”. The great part about business versus running is that you can change any of the business columns almost overnight. It can take weeks or months in running.

What Matters Most to You?

2007-09-03T00:07:00.001-07:00

What is more important to you, wealth or dignity?

I'm enamoured and shocked with the statistics of world poverty and have recently become interested and in strong support of microfinance lending in poverty stricken areas of the world (how I was not intersted in it before I will chalk up to laziness and a narrow world view). If you read my blog (and there are few that do), you'll know this by my other posts.

I just finished watching a great TEDBlog by Jacqueline Novogratz entitled Tackling Poverty with Patient Capital (the talk is at the bottom of this post). She made a really amazing statement based on her experience in Africa working in areas of microfinance.

"Dignity is more important to the human spirit than wealth"

I love this statement because it's a great balance to the get rich, be rich, act rich, all thing rich culture. There is a battle here because part of my initiative in starting my own company is to create financial freedom and personal freedom. But it's quotes like this that bring reality to the goal of "freedom". Life is not about wealth nor should it be about financial freedom. If it is a product of life, then what blessing.

My college budies and I had a quote that we all swore we wanted to live life by.

"Be men of God speaking well."

I hope and pray when people look a me, my life, and my business they see dignity being more important than wealth and they see a man of God speaking well.

Be Encouraging...and Honest

2007-08-31T14:28:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back I posted about starting kevin sturm Consulting. Starting your own company is nerve racking, stressful, overwhelming, and really fun. The amount of responses I got to my email was almost overwhelming. I have five weeks left in my job and the amount of encouragement I have recieved in starting out on my own is making me feel so blessed.

If you haven't sent someone an encouraging message today, do so. It feels great to give and get encouragement.

Here is some of the messages I got. The title of my post is "Be Encouraging...and Honest". One response I got was so wonderfully honest (the bottom one). It was from Chrystal's aunt who is/was uber successful and smart. Loved this one becuase it helps me keep perspective of how some potential customers may be.

_________
"congrats dude... i'll be praying for you. i've been in the same boat of late, where i feel like i need to take the fork in the road. hopefully soon we'll find you with a wealth of clients to consult and me with a new book on the store racks... " -jw

__________
"Way to go Kevin!! The first step is the hardest but once you've madethe decision, all that's left is making it work. Word will get aroundand soon you'll have to hire your own staff to keep up with it all andnext thing you know, you'll live next door to Omphara. I'm excited foryou. The next few years are going to be interesting for your family.Take some advice from an old fart? Stay intimate with your loved onesand keep what's important to you close to your heart. Don't let thejob swallow you up. That's it, no more advice." -jb

_________ (this one blew me away)
"Hey buddy. Congratulations on taking such a big step; I know it's got a be a little scary walking away from everything that you've worked for, but if anyone can do it, I know you can. I also know that you wouldn't do this without going through everything that you needed to, and getting the right answers. :) I just want to make sure that you know that, in the event you run a little short on working capital before you get everything up and running, let me know - I don't have much, but I'll help out as much as I can, financially or any other way. I have that kind of confidence and faith in your abilities and know that you've been in the business
long enough to make this work. Sounds like I should start the Kevin Sturm Fan Club, huh? :) Keep me posted; you'll be in my thoughts and prayers. Just don't forget us little people when you're rolling in more money than you can ever spend! :)" -kd
_________
"Wow! How fun, You go Kevito. As in everything that you have tackled thus far, I am positive you will give it your all and be a screaming success." -tl

_________
"Hi, KevinCongratulations on following your heart. I wish you well. My one piece of advice (for now) is to attend to marketing one full day of every week. " -bp

_________
"I wish you well in your new opportunity. It is not easy to take the riskier path, but that path may be the right one for you. You will never know unless you try, and if you never tried you would always regret not trying. I'm betting you will be successful. I wish you well & I look forward to hearing about your progress." -jd

_________
Nicole and I wish you the best of luck in your new venture. Please let us know if there is ever anything we can do to help you out. One thing that we have found in building Nicole's marketing consulting business is that you need as much help as you can get from your friends. We are here for you if you need us. A challenge of starting your own business is that there are so many things that you need to accomplish, and you are behind from day one. Its not that its all hard to understand or difficult to accomplish, the challange seems to be that there are so many things to get done that its hard to think of them all and to consider all the issues before deciding how to act. We found the book Getting Started in Consulting by Alan Weiss to be very helpful. Its not an earth shattering book full of revolutionary ideas, but it is a very helpful and complete list of things to get done with some good ideas about how to accomplish each." -db

_________ (I love the honesty)
I know you are excited about your new opportunity, Kevin, and we sincerely hope it turns out fantastic for you. I have some misgivings, but that is because I see life through different filters than you do,which is okay, and what makes the world turn round.........I rarely if ever worked with consultants that I thought were worth a flip, so I tend to be suspicious of anything that has the word consultant in it. Like you said in your blog, though, integrity is the single most important description that could ever be attached to your business name - never compromise that, although it may be harder than you think when you need your fee to cover a house payment and groceries for the month..... I personally never ran across any consultant in my career who didn't have all kinds of hidden agendas that made it impossible for them to be objective. Hopefully, you can be the first competent one I'll meet! Having said all that stuff-with-a-slightly-negative-bent however, we do wish you only the best and hope you are wildly successful... Keep your goals and your principles lofty, have a plan, and another one to back the first one up! We're rooting for you............" -aw

Don’t Have/Be Lazy Customer Support

2007-08-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

Have you ever have one of those days where you were having a really great day, and then a single experience turns it all around? Like the kind of experience that leaves you with a head ache and you want to scream into a pillow. Today was one of those days.

It’s about 9:00 pm tonight and I was supposed to be on my way to Macao as of about 30 minutes ago. But there was a change of plans and I had to cancel my trip. I had booked a $6000 business class ticket on Thai Airways through Orbitz so I wanted to be very sure that I got refunded for the fare when I canceled. I placed a call to Orbitz at about 11:45 am this morning, and below was how I spent my afternoon.

11:45 – Place 1st call to Orbitz and run through this annoying automated prompter that loops back to the beginning if I hit zero. I finally get to Customer Support after 5 minutes and tell Customer Support I need to cancel the ticket. They put me on hold for about a minute, and then tell me they can’t cancel the ticket. I have to call Thai Airways directly and they give me the number.

12:00 – Call Thai Airways and get an answering machine saying they are closed and won’t be back open till Monday, and to please leave a message. This is where I get a bit confused…because apparently the Thai Airways office at Los Angeles International Airport is closed on the weekend.

12:10 – Call back Orbitz and again have to go through the annoying automated prompts. I get a real person and tell him my situation. He puts me on hold for about 10 minutes (this is my guess because I got to hear the full version of Pachelbel’s Canon just over two times) and tells me that there is nothing he can do and I need to call Thai Airways. I ask him if he is sure and tell him there is no answer, so he gives me the number to the Thai Airways New York office because they should be open.

12:30 – Call the Premier Executive number for United and ask them if they can cancel the trip since the first flight is on United. They say they can cancel the Santa Barbara to Los Angeles leg, but that is all. I ask them to do that, and say thanks.

12:40 – Call Thai Airways New York number and get the same answering machine.

12:45 – Go the Thai Airways website and spend 10 minutes trying to find a number to call that I don’t already have. Google eventually helps me get to the London and Bangkok office phone numbers.

1:00 – Call the London office for Thai Airways and get the same voice mail message.

1:05 – Call the Bangkok office which is HQ for Thai Airways. Again I’m into an automated voice system that is hard to understand because of the thick accent. I try to guess on the right number to press so they speak English and guess wrong so I have to hang up because they are not speaking English.

1:10 – Call the Bangkok number back and this time understand the prompts so I get to the English reservations system. The automated response says there is a very high call volume so I will have to hold. It then tells me that I can fax in my request and they will get back to me. I sit on hold for a full hour and no one ever picks up.

2:20 – Call back the Los Angeles, New York, and London office again to see if I can get through. Get voice message at all three numbers.

2:40 – I call Orbitz back a bit miffed at this point. Go through the same annoying prompts and get to another new customer support person. I tell him my situation. He pulls up my ticket and then proceeds to go through every leg of my itinerary with flight number, departure city and time, arrival city and time, asking for verification. After this he tells me because it’s an international ticket he has to transfer me to an international agent. I’m thinking why did the first two guys not do that?

2:50 – Get transferred to an International agent (Henry) and I go through my situation for the fourth time. Henry puts me on hold for about 15 minutes and comes back on the phone and tells me that I need to call Thai Airways. I’m a pretty patient person, but at this point I lose it and rant for three minutes on how poor the customer support is. He says sorry and puts me on hold for another 15 minutes to see what he can do. He comes back on and asks me if I purchased a fully refundable fair. I ask him if he is serious, and how can he not know that by looking at his computer. He says he doesn’t, and I don’t know either because it’s not on my confirmation email. He puts me on hold for another 10 minutes and then comes back on the phone saying I bought a fully refundable fair and he can refund the ticket. I say “GREAT” and can he send me an email confirming that it has been refunded…and he says “NO” (I’m thinking WHAT?) but is willing to give me his name and reference number. I say no, I want a confirmation email from Orbitz saying that they are going to cancel and refund my ticket. He says he can’t do that. I ask why, and he says it’s not possible. Then he tells me I need to call the insurance company that Orbitz uses to insure international tickets to get a refund for that portion of the ticket. I don’t even ask why Orbitz doesn’t handle that at this point, and write down the number. Then he tells me that I’ll be receiving a confirmation email of the cancellation (Did I just get told this was not possible?).

3:20 – I hang up the phone irritated and with a headache, check my email, and see that Orbitz sent me a Customer Service Survey at12:45 pm. I have not filled it out yet because I don’t want to waste any more time on this today. I fill out most of these surveys whether good or bad, but I definitely will fill out this one.

It took me over three hours to cancel an airline ticket because of lazy customer support. I’m guessing that if the first person would have just followed procedures and took initiative I would have been done in about an hour.

The Customer Equality Paradox

2007-08-22T21:21:00.000-07:00

This is an interactive post, and I’m curious to know what everyone thinks.

Twice in the past two weeks customer equality has crossed my path. The first time was about two weeks ago when a colleague said to me, “The [Customer 1] and [Customer 2] seem to be your highest priority and everyone is mine.” The comment was made with the utmost sincerity, honesty, passion and true belief which I really respected. But my first thought was is this really realistic? Is it a smart business decisions to give all customers the same importance?

The second instance was just a couple days ago. I was flying from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and showed up to the gate well after the first boarding announcement was made. I always fly United and recently they implemented a Red Carpet boarding line where regardless of when you show up they will completely stop the other line and let you board if you qualify for the Red Carpet line. For this flight I could not use the Red Carpet line, but I’ve often thought is it fair that someone gets to stop the entire line after showing up late to board? Is it a good business decision to treat two customers differently when they paid the same amount for a service?

Both of these instances speak to the Customer Equality Paradox: are all customers equal. It is important to note here that I’m not asking are all customers important, because that’s an easy answer. Rather, are all customers of equal importance to your business?

Complete the survey below and I’ll let everyone know what the outcome is. I’m interested to hear everyone’s comments about The Customer Equality Paradox.

Secrets of Success

2007-08-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

Last night I loaded a few TEDtalks onto my iPod for my morning travel to Las Vegas. I came across a great one entitled Secrets of Success in 8 Words by Richard St. John. It’s only three minutes long so you should listen to it, but if you don’t have time for that here are the 8 points.

Passion - Do it for love, NOT for money. Guy Kawasaki phrases this as do something where you “make meaning”
Hard Work - Success is hard work, nothing comes easy. But it needs to be fun or it probably is not worth doing
Practice Practice Practice - Practice enough to be great at it
Focus - Focus on one thing and do it great
Push Yourself - Push past self doubt, obstacles, and negative people
Serve - Serve others and make the service valuable
Have Ideas - Spend time thinking and come up with new ideas
Persist - Failure happens, persist in the face of failure

Transition Day

2007-08-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

It’s a big day today. Sorry the video is so dark, but what should I expect when I wake up at 4:30 am. Not even the sun is awake.

Time Lapse Photography Is Awesome!

2007-08-17T15:06:00.000-07:00

A while back I posted a video of ash falling on our front yard from the Zaca Fire. Well, it's still burning and still dropping ash on Santa Barbara.

Here is a link to a video from the police department on 8/14 at 1:00 pm that shows the mushroom cloud grow over a period of one hour.

Another Reason to Be Nice

2007-08-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

My current read is Why Smart Executives Fail, by Sydney Finkelstein. I’m about half way through the book and read a small section that reminded me of a time in my career when nice would have been better. The title of the section was

Arrogance + Hatred + Disrespect for Your Competitor = Disaster.

The main point of the section was how this philosophy can lead to blindness for partner opportunities, but is it also a meaningful topic of where your companies focus should be. At a point in my career my company had a new CEO (an extremely successful one) that brought a new mantra into our company that made it into the Top 5 company goals: "Kill (Competitor Name)". It seemed the goal was to create a hatred for our competitor so strong that we would rally around the cause to crush them what ever it took…though it didn’t have this affect.

(What are the first organizations you think of that rallied around hatred of anything? All the ones I think of do not come with a very good connotation.)

Our competitor made roughly 10 times our revenue, and though there were many things about the competitor I did not like they were the obvious leader in revenue and market share. All of us felt our product was better and that we provided a better level of service, but I slowly began to see a shift in focus for my company. Rather than our focus remaining on building better products and providing the BEST level of service to our customers, we slowly begin to shift our focus to kill the competitor.

The longer this goal existed the worse place to work our office became. Our long time customers began saying doing business with us was like doing business with our competitor: we were arrogant, didn’t listen to our customers, and made promises we could not live up to. We also began to lose key employees that felt working for us was in some ways sacrificing their professional integrity. Company culture shifted from “help each other and our customers be successful” to “don’t screw up or you’re fired.”

Eventually the CEO left and a new CEO with a more “lovecat” philosophy took over and attempted to right the ship, but much of the damage was done. I stayed on and worked with my former and new colleagues to climb back to a place where we were known for great product and great service, but it was a tough uphill climb. The company is still recovering in many ways from the "kill" mantra.

The point of this ramble is company focus should be on building great product and providing the BEST service to the industry. You should remain focused on competitors in the market place, but do not make it a rallying cry. Rallying a company around the mantra “Kill Competitor” is difficult. As a manager what are you going to tell your employees to do to kill the competitor? (Outside of literally...) It is much easier to rally a company around “Build Great Product & Provide the BEST Service”.

Do not love or hate your competitor, but rather respect their position in the market place. If you are going to love something, love building great product and providing great service. It is a way better thing to love.

Don't Miss the Runway

2007-08-15T17:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I traveled to a client location in Loleta, CA...which is almost in the middle of nowhere. To get there I had to first fly from Santa Barbara to San Francisco and then Arcata, CA. The airline announced when we got on the plane in San Francisco there was a thick fog cover over the airport in Arcata and we may have to land in Redding or San Francisco if the fog remained.

Well, we got over the airport and there was still a really thick layer of fog, but we had this awesome pilot that went for it anyway. We entered the fog and I was scrambling to get out my camera and grab a quick video because I couldn't even see to the end of the airplane wing, but was too slow.

It was crazy because we were in the fog for about two minutes, and then "poof" there was the runway about 10 feet below us when we cleared the fog. By the time I got my camera going we had already landed, but you can see how low the visibility was.

Picture taken with my Cingular 8525

After landing we all gave the pilot a cheering ovation!

Vegas Baby!

2007-08-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

I was out of town for a couple of days and wasn’t able to blog. I actually missed doing it because I’m beginning to find it fun. I really need to get on being able to blog from my phone. I’ve got things all setup, just haven’t done it.

I spent Thursday through Saturday in Las Vegas, both for work and for a bachelor party. My buddy Ryan is getting married in a couple of months, so he decided to have a get together with friends for the weekend. It’s funny when I tell people I went to Las Vegas for a bachelor party, it automatically comes with all these assumptions. But we are really a pretty tame bunch so the weekend consisted of poker, blackjack, a round of golf (when it was 110 degrees!), and eating.

We also did a bit of beer drinking as well, but nothing excessive. We stayed at Monte Carlo and ate every meal at Monte Carlo Brew Pub because they had good food and awesome beer pitchers…it’s a huge tap!

I also played real poker for the first time…meaning with real money. I have played poker, but only goofing around with chips and friends…no money. I played “two-four” hold ‘em because I’m way too cheap to play “no limit”. I ended up winning about $25 on the first day and losing about $25 on the second, so I felt pretty good about things. I can’t say the same for my luck with blackjack…

We gave Ryan this crazy shirt that listed a bunch of things he had to do…but I had to leave before he could do them…bummer!

My Office Today

2007-08-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

I spent today writing performance reviews, which is probably the thing I like the very least about management. Every year for review writing I go to Coffee Cat because I can focus without interruption, drink good coffee, have a yummy crepe lunch, and think about things.

Picture taken with my Cingular 8525.

I also got about 95% of the transition plan in place for my successor at Agilysys, which felt really good!

Why We Call Them Third World Countries

2007-08-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I did a post about having a realistic world view. Yesterday I was talking with my wife about the book (The End of Poverty) and how eye opening it was to learn that 2.5 billion people in third world countries live on under $2 per day. My thoughts drifted to how easy Americans will spend someone’s entire yearly income on a new flat screen television, laptop, or even a watch. To us these are necessities for living in the world, where to others it would be enough money to feed and clothe their entire family for literally years.

In the midst of the conversation my wife asked why they were called third world countries. This was a question I had asked before reading the book, and before reading it probably would have made up some answer about the national GDP of the country or some decent sounding answer regarding economics. But the real answer was quite eye opening as was not grounded in economics but rather politics.

In The End of Poverty, Jeffrey Sachs outlines for us exactly why we call them 1st, 2nd, and 3rd world countries. Below is a summary of his description, but I recommend reading the entire book to get a full understanding of these descriptions.

First World
The rich world, called the first world, succeeded in reconstructing a market-based trading system between the end of WWII in 1945 and the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. Countries established currency conversion factors and reduce trade barriers. With it came a burst of rapid economic growth, a powerful recovery after decades of war, blocked trade, and financial instability. First world countries generally adopted a capitalist economic structure.

Second World
The second world is the socialist world, the world first forged by Lenin and Stalin in the wake of WWI. This world remained cutoff from the first world until after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. The characteristics of the second world were state ownership of production, one party rule under communism, and economic integration through barter trade.

Third World
We generally define this as a poor country, but the third world included the rapidly rising number of postcolonial counties after WWII that chose neither to be part of the capitalist first world or socialist second world. They were the “third-way” countries with the philosophy that they would develop on their own without the assistance of international trade.

Jeffrey Sachs goes into great deal on the reasoning why second and third world counties did not achieve the economic success of first world countries, which I will let you discover by reading the book.

Useless Knowledge #1 (one of my favorites)

2007-08-06T23:09:00.000-07:00

*I changed this post to Useless Knowledge #1, as it's not really random but more useless.*

Quote: "If my aunt were configured differently she'd be my uncle."

Opportunity for use: Generally in response to a comment like, "If it worked that way it would be better." Works better if the person making the comment doesn't understand what they are talking about, or they are making an excuse for doing it wrong the first time. Highly applicable to the technology sector.

Meaning: If I made it to do something other than it was designed to do, it would be different than what I designed.

I was in a management meeting when this was used by our somewhat new CEO in response to someone telling him that if we setup a new system "this way" it would be better. I still think it's one of the best responses to "if this than better" comments.

Just Be Honest

2007-08-05T22:50:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been reflecting on why I've been successful in my career so far. I think it's important to look back and review successes and failures when planning for how to be successful in the future. I also think that it's hard to be realistic with yourself because you may want it to be for reasons that it wasn't or isn't (like you are really smart instead of just really lucky).

After sending the message to my friends and family announcing that I was going out on my own I got some of the most encouraging responses. Every response was encouraging, even if it was advice on my logo or business name. But what struck me were the comments on why people said they knew I would be successful. The thing that stuck out the most was that they said I was honest.

Over my career of 9 (short) years I've made it a point to be honest with customers and co-workers, always. That means when I've screwed up or when it is really bad news for a customer, so be it. Bad news is often hard to deliver and hard to hear, but in my experience every customer was appreciative of the honesty. Sometimes it meant I lost a customer or had a really unhappy customer, but it also meant that person new I would be honest with them the next time. In a world where lies are abundant and facades seem to be the norm honesty is refreshing. And like any refreshing drink you want more of it.

A prospective client that decides on a separate contractor because you are honest about not being able to meet a requirement will come back again for a bid the next time...because you were honest.

Just be honest. Even if you lose a customer, you won't lose your integrity...and nothing is worse to lose.

Ash Friday

2007-08-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

While at work today I looked out my window and thought, "Funny, it looks like its snowing." The Zaca Fire just north of Santa Barbara is causing ash to rain down all over the city. Check out the video from our front yard!

Don't Go It Alone

2007-08-03T00:10:00.000-07:00

Over the past few years I’ve watched colleagues take the plunge to become consultants, and I’m always surprised how many of them want to go it alone. Two of the biggest challenges when starting a new business (specifically consulting) are...

All your success stories have an asterisk that you did it under the company you used to work for.

You don’t have the best kind of marketing, which is a direct reference from a personal contact that has experienced your company.

In Tim Sanders’ book Love Is the Killer App he says, “Your network is your networth.” Your ability to generate revenue is directly correlated to the amount of people that are willing to recommend you, assuming they even know what you do. Using your network to create business is something that too few people do. My dad (a long time entrepenuer) always told me, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”

I’ve spent almost every evening of the past week sending out introduction letters to prospective clients, and I’m pretty confident that some business will be generated from that work. But I know that a direct reference from a personal contact will generate more opportunities than I ever can. I say personal versus professional because a professional reference is from someone that doesn’t know you. They know what you do and so they reference you, but they don’t encourage someone to hire you. Personal references enjoy referencing you and passionately encourage someone to hire you.

I sent out the first ping to my personal network-of-success. I’ll keep you updated on what generates more business: the letter to my network or introduction letters to prospective clients. I'm betting on my network.
______________________________________________________________

Letter to my personal network of success.

Yogi Berra once said, “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

It seems almost a dozen times in the past three years my professional life has been at a fork in the road and each time I’ve taken the “safe road”. Three weeks ago I reached another fork in the road.

Just over a month ago InfoGenesis was purchased by Agilysys Inc., the largest hospitality technology company in the world. As many of you know, about four months ago I accepted the role of Director of Professional Services for InfoGenesis, helping recover a department that had gotten somewhat off course. Three weeks ago the new company ownership asked me to move to Las Vegas to manage the professional services group, as that is the new primary services office. Chrystal and I love Santa Barbara and are not yet ready to leave, so I declined the offer. Upon declining the request to relocate the joint decision was made that they would be hiring someone for my position in Las Vegas. Though this sounds like an unfortunate incident I am viewing it as an opportunity.

The new ownership had expressed the sincere desire to keep me on board at the company, and requested I think about what job I would like. It was wonderful to have the blessing of being able to choose what job I really wanted, and even create one if I could justify the value. After much reflection, discussions with Chrystal, wise counsel from my dad and prayer I have made the decision that this time the job I really want is Owner and Principal Consultant for Kevin Sturm Consulting.

At what will be one month short of nine years, my last day with InfoGenesis will be Friday, October 5. I have spent many evenings over the past few weeks working on starting Kevin Sturm Consulting, and will spend many more in the coming weeks. Most of that time has been spent networking with contacts and getting a foundation to start a client base. At this point I would say I have the ground work in place, but I still need to finish my website and a few administrative tasks associated with starting a business. The next step is to land a customer and my first of what I hope will be many consulting jobs.

My biggest challenge in this role will be establishing my own reputation in the industry. For nine years I have been backed by a big well established company. As a private consultant I now have to make a name for myself, but the recommendation from a trusted contact will always be a vital part of my business. All of you know me personally, professionally or both and I hope can be part of my extended network-of-success. I will be providing a few different services, but will specialize in system evaluation and selection for hospitality venues and use case and requirements gathering for hospitality vendors. If you know of any hotels, restaurants, resorts, golf courses, stadiums, corporate cafeterias, or any hospitality related venue that is opening or planning on replacing their technology system(s) and feel confident in referencing my services please do.

As I embark on this new journey I covet your prayers, words of wisdom, criticism and help. Thank you all for your friendship and support. I am hoping that this will be first installment of a regular newsletter, and that with each new installment I will have stories of success and learning experiences to report. If you’re a blog reader you can catch regular updates of how things are going on my blog.

Cheers!

Kevin

Random Knowledge #1

2007-08-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

Quote: "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Meaning: Don't throw the good stuff out with the bad stuff (more or less)

I always love to know where weird sayings like this come from. Well this one I've known for a while but I figured it would be random knowledge thing #1.

Back in the early settlement days of living without the convenience of running water and grand sewage systems, bathing was a planned event. Upon fetching the water from the local crick or well it was then heated by kettle or bucket and dumped into a big tub. Think Bonanza or Little House on the Prairie style.
Once the bath was ready to go, the ordering of bathing was pa, ma, and then kids oldest to youngest. Pa was covered with dirt from working the land all day, and ma was often not much cleaner. Kids are always covered in dirt, so by the time that the baby got a bath the water was already so cloudy you couldn't see into the dirty water. So when the water was thrown out there could have been a baby in it...which is weirder than the phrase.

But, that's where the phrase Don't throw the baby out with the bath water." came from.

What is your thought on Customer Equality?
	All customers are equally important
	Some customers are more important than others
	Customers are not important
	I'm really what is important

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If you showed up late to boarding your plane and could cut in line by using the Red Carpet line would you?
	Yes, because I've earned it
	Yes, because I've paid for it
	Yes, because I'm important
	No, I should have been there on time
	No, I think it's rude
	No, I'd feel bad

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