Posted: October 15, 2008 | Author: adamclyde | Filed under: Work | Tags: baseball, IBM, podcast, SABR, sabrmetrics, technology |
It’s rare when pursuing personal interests actually constitutes work. But today was one of those days.
After waking up at a cruelly early hour, a colleague and I drove up to Boston to film the next installment of the ongoing IBM podcast series, “IBM and the Future of…” But, as a departure of our normal format, this will be filmed, and, importantly, this will be about baseball.
What’s the connection between IBM and baseball? Well, I won’t share all the details as to not spoil the fun, but the thrust of the piece is that technology is playing a much greater role in how the game is played by professional teams, and how it’s enjoyed by fans. Needless to say, this will be a SABRMetrics friendly piece.
Keep your eyes out for it. We are hoping to wrap up the final bits of the piece in the coming week or two. In the meantime, check out past episodes of the series to catch up on what the future holds for energy, water, Africa, and a host of other interesting topics.
Posted: October 12, 2008 | Author: adamclyde | Filed under: Work | Tags: Marist, PR, public relations, socialmedia |
My colleague, George Faulkner, asked me last week if I’d accompany him to Poughkeepsie to speak with a group of communications students at Marist College about our work in leading the social media communications at IBM. Despite the keen feeling of being old, speaking with communications students was refreshing. When I asked the students about why they chose public relations as a major, their answers revealed a fair amount of uncertainty as to what the field is really about. That’s not all bad, in my opinion. I’ll try to explain why by sharing my personal history with the profession.
I’ll spare most of the details, but in short, I was about to start my sophomore year at BYU and had selected chemical engineering as my major. After a year of struggling with the major, I realized that this current path had only two outcomes: 1) at best, I’d trudge through school and be a mediocre engineer; or 2) at worse, I’d end up accidentally blowing up a chemical plant. Since neither outcome seemed palatable I started to look elsewhere.
I had heard of public relations from a friend and based solely on the name, changed my major. My rationale was simple: I liked people. And I liked having relationships with people. So public relations seemed perfect. I had no idea what the profession was. Just like the Marist students. And, frankly, the decision has turned out to be a good one for me in the end.
Now, this all has a point. I realized as we spoke to the Marist Students that my understanding of the profession has changed significantly from my first impressions while in college. And while the field evolves over time, at it’s heart, it’s always been the same: understanding what makes people tick and finding ways to influence and impact behavior. It was never only about pitching the media. Or even about media relations at all. It’s about understanding how to create a brand and reputation.
With the advent of social media, half of the PR professionals I know express consternation that the profession is changing, while the other half celebrate that the world has changed and none of the old rules apply. Both camps are wrong. Fundamentally the objectives and designs of the profession remain the same. Now we just have more opportunities and methods to engage with people. Hopefully that gives some level of comfort for those anxious about the changes in public relations, while tempering the exuberance of some who would hope to never talk to a reporter again.
In short, the profession is evolving. Social media, done right, simply enhances our ability to do what the intent of the profession has always been: understanding how people tick, and helping to influence people’s behavior.
Posted: September 26, 2008 | Author: adamclyde | Filed under: Work | Tags: IBM, rochester, socialmedia, web 2.0 |
Nothing keeps me grounded like speaking engagements. Yesterday I spoke to a group of business professionals in upstate New York at the Rochester eBusiness Association’s “Blogging for Business” forum. I’ll spare the blow-by-blow verbose recap, but here are the slides from the event:
Here are a few take aways:
- I love meeting with people to learn about their experiences and challenges in implementing social media in their enterprises. Every company has unique challenges they face – even those in the same industry. And in the end, it all comes down to culture.
- At the same time, I’m not as stimulated meeting with people whose sole job is talking to people about social media (or, as I call them, the “social media blowhards”). I prefer to speak with fellow corporate folks doing the hard work of implementing this stuff.
- It is clear that many people’s initial perception of IBM is still of a stodgy, boring company. After my presentation, several people remarked to me that they were surprised that IBM was so progressive, and that IBM was a different company than they’d thought. To me, this this reaffirms the premise that IBM’s brand is best communicated by the individual IBMers, since their interactions with others have more influence over perceptions than any formal form of communications (media coverage, advertising, etc.).
- While I personally might see some of IBM’s deficiencies in social media, it is very reaffirming to know we are out in the lead amongst our peers and the general business population in driving social media within the company.
- Many here (and pretty much everywhere I speak) have commented on IBM’s unique culture as a reason for our success in social media. This is true, but we’ve also done a lot over the past decade to create that culture of innovation. It isn’t easy, but it is possible. This is worth a few posts all in itself.
Posted: August 5, 2008 | Author: adamclyde | Filed under: Food | Tags: empanadas, Guatemalen, kisco, lunch, tacos, tortillas |
I’ve written about this place before – though it’s probably been two years ago – but I thought I’d give an update.
I went again for lunch today. Very good casual Guatemalan food there. First, their empanadas are quite good. They are hand made and fried. Try the chicken. Second, the tacos are excellent – primarily because of the tortillas which are all hand made. These are a little different to mexican tortillas. They are much thicker, but much softer. Hand patted, griddle cooked, and steaming goodness. They had fried pacaya, quite a few other good steam-table offerings as well. I still haven’t tried their tamales, but intend to next time.
Now, I think the key is going there early for lunch. You’ll battle the crowds of workers coming in, but most are there just for take out. It has only three very small tables. But if you go early, the tortillas and all the food is freshly homemade. I’ve been there for dinner and the tortillas weren’t as fresh. Not sure if that’s always the case or not.
The tacos are pretty good. The fillings are tasty enough, I guess (stick with the bistek, which though a little salty, is the tastiest). My chorizo filling wasn’t that great. But it didn’t matter since the tortillas were so dang good.
This is NOT a fancy place. This place gives dive it’s name. But if you are looking for a guatemalan fix, or just some really dang good hand made tortillas, this is your place.
(originally posted to Chowhound)
Posted: July 28, 2008 | Author: adamclyde | Filed under: Food | Tags: blue tortillas, carnitas, mexican, tacos, tortas, tortillas |
Just a quick note that Los Gemelos in Port Chester is now making and selling blue corn tortillas. A pound costs $1.50. I didn’t get a chance to try them, but I haven’t seen freshly made blue corn tortillas around these parts, so it was a nice find. I prefer their regular tortillas to anything you can get in a mass supermarket, so I’m hopeful these will be the same.
Interestingly, I didn’t notice them on their menu in any form, though I may have missed it.
While on the topic of Los Gemelos… it had been a good 6 months since I’d been there. I think that’s the longest I’d been away from there since I first went 6 or 7 years ago. Anyhow, their prices have gone up. Tacos now range from $2.75 to $3.50. Burritos are $7.50 and Tortas are also $7.50. Now, to be fair, the torta I had today was absolutely HUGE (as are their burritos, I think). And, I must confess, their carnitas torta was as good as ever. But it is getting pricier. They continue to make the place look a little spiffier inside, with a new bamboo ceiling, covering the last exposed surface of the factory insides that used to adorn the whole place.
Now if they could just make their booths a little more comfortable to sit in… Oh well, the food is still great.
[originally posted on Chowhound]
Adam Christensen 