My Name is Kate

Watching in Disbelief

OK, its the opening night of the Republican National Convention. As an American ex-pat in Toronto, I feel that I should watch it. It's pretty painful:

- apparently the definitions of "compassion" and "integrity" don't mean what I think they mean. A couple of the states during the role call pointed out Bush's compassion and integrity. Yeah, right.

- Oh. My. God. Ron Silver is up on the podium exploiting 9/11. OK. I get why Cheney is there and can lie thru his teeth. Same with Rove, etc. They have a lot to gain. But why would people like Silver be there shilling for Bush. Same with Cheney's daughter, Mary. She's a lesbian. Her father wants to deny her basic rights. WHY is she there??

- People who think all those cute signs are painted lovingly by hand by Hannah Hometown and her quilting-bee friends need to think again. Republican youths sit in the back and paint those things to pass out at appropriate times during the convention.

- I love CSPAN. They are trying to be so COOL. Some very fancy camera work. Awesome.

- Bleck. The US Troops are the truly exploited here. Actually, from both parties. Everyone says they speak for the troops, look out for the troops, appreciate their courage and sacrifice. It is amazing that people serve in the US Military.

- My favourite entertainment bit so far .. the medley of songs from musicals. EVERY SONG SOUNDED THE SAME! Where are these singers from???

- The Gatlin Brothers singing on the USS Intrepid? What?

- Someone made a reference to George W. Bush "liberating millions" around the world. Maybe millions of tax dollars that should have been paid in corporate taxes. Insanity.

R just asked me why I am watching this. Good question. It's like a car accident. I can't look away. Also, I want to hear what Guiliani has to say. Can he REALLY support Bush? How is that possible.

Jeepers, these CJ (convention jockeys) suck.

OOooooo, a PATRIOTIC MEDLEY!!!

The RNC video editors must have all been on crack. The cuts are all in time to the beat. Yeah, you wouldn't want to have any sophisticated tricky editing. Might confuse the folks.

Imagination is an unlimited resource

Why is The Big Picture so intimidating? Why, when people are asked to step outside of their comfort zone, is it so terrifying? Fundamentally, I believe that we don't do enough "Worst Case Scenario" planning. If people just took a second and thought, "Huh, ok, what is the *worst* thing that would happen if I took this risk?" before they said "No!" then I think we would all live in a much more dynamic, exciting, productive and engaging world.

A friend of mine once commented to me that very few people have the ability to see the big picture or to take an alternative perspective on something. To move from their perspective to another's and to genuinely appreciate it. To rise above the details that keep them fettered to their fears and their security and to see a better way.

THIS is what we should teach in schools. How to go BEYOND. How to internalise that risk and failure is not tied to self-worth or self-esteem. More failure with the goal of succeeding sooner. IDEO CEO-guy said that. Very true. Fail often to succeed sooner. Do more. Try more. Risk more.

We are limited by our ability to see beyond the NOW. Not by technology. Not by language. Not by resources. We are limited by our lack of imagination. The irony, of course, is that imagination is one of our few unlimited resources. Feh.

Brand Experience

Seems to me (been thinking about this for a presentation) that Brand Experience (just imagine the reverb) is made up of the following:

1. Brand Interaction (or Brand Encounter) -- this is a person's interaction with the actual product or the company. There are quality issues here, there are training issues here (does everyone on a customer service team treat customers the same way). All of this is specific to a product.

2. Brand Perception -- this is all the advertising and promotions. The bit that is totally controlled by the company where it is trying to tell a brand story. This is the perception that I receive that I compare my encounter to.

3. Brand Expectation -- this is the one that most companies forget about. People have an expectation of companies and products. This expectation could be based on explicit brand promises (e.g. "fast" "innovative" "helpful") or it could be based on expectations of the company itself -- who the company supports with its corporate investments, that kind of thing. But we all have an expectation -- and companies need to meet it or, at the very least, manage it!

Dreaming about Google

I dreamed last night that Google became a protocol. So, I could type google:// in my browser followed by a search term. That would send it to Google and a page of results would be returned.

Commuting Musings ...

So, I've been commuting for about 6 weeks now. For the most part, its fine, though my absolute faith in "Driving Karma" has been shaken.

I used to believe fervently in "Driving Karma" -- that every good deed done on the highway or in downtown traffic would be deposited into my Karma bank and then when I needed to make a withdrawal (like avoid an accident or manage to pick the right lane during rush hour) then my Karma would be there. It is a nice metaphor to encourage relatively polite driving behaviour.

The problem is, there are some not-so-nice people out there who take advantage of us Karma-ists. The tailgateing, the weaving, the jockeying, the lack-of-signal-usage .. and they just *assume* that other drivers are the Karma-ist faithful who will blithely let them in.

When I first learned to drive, the father of the friend whose car I was using to take the test (thank you Carmen Medina) told me "You won't have an accident as long as you don't drive while angry. Don't drive angry." Which is excellent advice. And advice that still rings in my ears today. So when these a-Karma-ists bully about the roads I tell myself "calm blue oceans, calm blue oceans" and try not to get upset.

And for the most part, I am fairly successful.

However, what I have noticed is that my general politeness has reduced. I haven't been letting in people who are trying to merge into rush hour traffic; I haven't stopped to let someone turn left in front of me onto that little side street where they live. And it comes from a feeling of being tired of being taken advantage of. The day to day commute uses up my general good will towards other drivers -- its been spent just not getting angry at the a-Karma-ists.

I wonder if someone has written "Chicken Soup for the Commuter's Soul".

Something that did make me smile on the drive in this morning .. one of the big electronic ad boards over the QEW had a very large "Server Proxy Error" on its screen this morning.