My friend, Julie (who is forever finding and sharing the coolest and funniest things on the web — you should have a blog, Julie!), passed along these photos from a sand castle contest in Harrison Hot Springs, and she’s right, they are “stunning.”
Archive for January, 2008
Amazing Sand Castles
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 31, 2008
Posted in Human Interest | Leave a Comment »
Who Invented the Term “Call Center”?
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 31, 2008
This question was raised recently by a colleague, Sergio Caserta, of Vanguard, ICMI’s Global Partner in Italy: “Who first used the term ‘call center’?” In case you were wondering, I have an answer, provided by ICMI’s President, Brad Cleveland:
Hi Sergio:
Gordon MacPherson (founder of ICMI and my business partner for many years) was first to use the term “call center” sometime in the early 1980s. Before that, these environments used other terms – reservations, telephone centers, etc.
Best Regards,
Brad_______________________
Brad Cleveland
President
ICMI, International Customer Management Institute
P.O. Box 6177; Annapolis, MD 21401 USA
410-267-0700, ext 958 | 410-267-0962 (fax)
bradc@icmi.com | www.icmi.com
Posted in Call Centers, ICMI, Innovation | Tagged: Call Centers, ICMI | Leave a Comment »
The Real Risks of Multiple Profile Disorder
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 31, 2008
This is too funny — and scary! If you’ve got any kind of presence online at all (and if you’re reading this the chances are you do), you ought to read the reality check provided in this snappy Wired article, “How Facebook Exposed Us All as Freaks.”
So you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day in the traditional fashion — bucket of chicken, webcam, gorilla mask — and thinking, “Good thing I’m wearing this gorilla mask! Otherwise, my new pal fortyishhooffetishist might recognize me from Facebook!”
Posted in Trends | Leave a Comment »
I’ve Been Warned, So I’m Going to Bed Now
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 30, 2008
This post on the Customers Are Always blog is fair warning: “Blogging Causes Stress?” Can’t say I have experienced that. More like the opposite, as I find blogging to be a satisfying creative outlet. Still, it’s good to stay in balance, and with that, I’m signing off for the night.
Posted in Blogs, Health | Tagged: Blogs, Health | Leave a Comment »
Seth Godin on Tribe Management
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 30, 2008
I’ve admired Seth Godin’s mind for many years. He’s always been cutting edge, yet down to earth — it’s an effective combination. In his latest post from Seth Godin’s Blog, titled, “Tribe Management,” he succinctly makes the case that brand management should not be the focus anymore, because “Tribe management is a whole different way of looking at the world.”
It adds to that the fact that what people really want is the ability to connect to each other, not to companies. So the permission is used to build a tribe, to build people who want to hear from the company because it helps them connect, it helps them find each other, it gives them a story to tell and something to talk about.
I love Seth’s passion and evangelism. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Leadership, Management, Marketing | Tagged: Leadership, Management, Marketing | Leave a Comment »
Naive View of Call Centers
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 30, 2008
I was disappointed by the naivite displayed in this post on the The 1to1 Blog, titled “When Will Contact Centers Be Taken Seriously?” I suppose people who only look into call centers now and then, or base their take on the state of the industry on a lunchtime gripe session at a conference are bound to miss what the actual trends are and may have an outdated view of the current state of the call center industry.
Sure, plenty of call centers still struggle with being perceived as cost centers, but the true trend we’ve been seeing in the industry is a positive one. More and more contact centers *are* getting recognized for the incredible value they provide to the organization. The value of call center data for analysis has never been higher, and the wide array of tools on the market to leverage this to understand the customer experience speaks to the attention executives are paying (in dollars, no less) to their frontline point of contact with customers: call centers. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Call Center Management, Call Centers, Trends | Tagged: Call Centers, Strategy, Trends | Leave a Comment »
Target the Target of Bloggers’ Wrath
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 30, 2008
The cheap-chic store, Target, has whacked the proverbial bees’ nest by disrespecting a blogger who complained about one of the chain store’s ads, and that has the rest of the blogosphere (present company excepted) in a tizzy. The NYT, a traditional media outlet, was able to get Target’s spokesperson to comment in this article, “Target Tells a Blogger to Go Away.”
Early this month, the blog’s founder, Amy Jussel, called Target, complaining about a new advertising campaign that depicted a woman splayed across a big target pattern — the retailer’s emblem — with the bull’s-eye at her crotch.
OK, I’ve read Marshall McLuhan so I understand the impact that subconscious messages in images can have, so call me insensitive if you must, but I think this is a good example of hyper-sensitivity to complain about this.
Still, Target’s handling of the complaint is either clumsy or just plain clueless: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Blogs, Call Center Management, Marketing, Media, Web 2.0 | Tagged: Blogs, Marketing, Media, opinion | Leave a Comment »
The Woman in Red Inspires Dread
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 30, 2008
I have to admit I really like Maureen Dowd. She’s insightful, clever, perceptive, a skillful writer, and she calls ‘em like she sees ‘em. Her NYT column, “Seeing Red Over Hillary,” analyzes “The Snub” and Obama’s sensitivity to Hillary’s rejection of him:
It’s already famous as The Snub, the moment before the State of the Union when Obama turned away to talk to Claire McCaskill instead of trying to join Teddy Kennedy in shaking hands with Hillary.
Take a look at ABC News’ coverage of The Snub:
Here’s Dowd’s cutting take on Hillary’s spin in the ABC piece:
Something’s being stretched here, but it’s not her hand. She wasn’t reaching out to him at all.
I also like the way Dowd brings a woman’s (snarky) fashion perspective to Hillary’s presence, as well: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Politics | Tagged: Politics | 1 Comment »
Science Tests Double Dipping & 5-Second Rule
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 30, 2008
Finally, science has addressed an issue we all actually care about, instead of all that obscure medical, nutritional and environmental stuff that they keep changing their minds about, anyway. This NYT article, “Dip Once or Dip Twice?” gets to the really burning questions in life. And the lead scientist admits his study was inspired by this well-known Seinfeld episode:
Here’s the first conclusion the research revealed: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Human Interest, Humor, Research, Science | Tagged: Food, Research, Science | Leave a Comment »
In Search Marketing, It’s Google Alone at the Top
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 30, 2008
eMarketer (one of my favorite websites for all kinds of statistics related to marketing) cites various studies in this short article, “Search Marketing’s 800-Pound Gorilla.” In short, search marketing is taking off like a rocket, and for good reason:
“At least 155 million people in the US used search engines in 2007,” says Mr. Hallerman. “That number will rise by 25 million in 2011.”
Marketers have noticed:
eMarketer estimates that US search advertising spending grew almost 27% last year.
And clearly the service to place your bets on is Google: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Marketing, Statistics, Technology | Tagged: Marketing, Research | Leave a Comment »
