ProjectStory.com

Self Service

Mike — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 15:05:13 +0000

Hyatt in Minneapolis. This is the first time I’ve used (or seen) self-service check-in. Not a particularly warm initial experience. I checked in at about 7:00 p.m. on a Sunday night. A young woman behind the desk watched carefully, anticipating that I might need help. (I did. Couldn’t figure out where or how to slide my credit card so it would know who I was.) I ended up going to the desk anyway because room charges are supposed to be on account.

Is this really the way a hotel wants to greet its guests? When I checked out I asked the gentleman behind the desk what he thought. He hesitated for a second. “When I come into a hotel, I like to deal with a human being.” Yes, thanks.

Refuge from the Mall

Mike — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 15:05:59 +0000

Stayed at the airport Marriott in Minneapolis last week. Had a lovely view of the Ikea right across the street on my right, and the Mall of America straight ahead. Went outside for a run and asked the bellman for a route recommendation. He steered me a mile and a half up the road (past the mall) to the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Planes from the airport three miles away flew just overhead on my way there.

Came back to the room and ordered what turned out to be a surprisingly delicious meal from room service: Mediterranean Spiced Paillard of Chicken over Wilted Spinach and Jasmine Rice. Up the next morning at 5:30 to catch the shuttle back to the airport and then the train downtown.

GEL

Mike — Fri, 12 May 2006 13:24:33 +0000

Mark Hurst from goodexperience sent out a note yesterday asking for help finding the right words to describe last week’s Gel conference. Part of what I like about this event is its mystery. One line descriptions won’t do it justice. All three Gels I’ve attended left me with the feeling I get from a really pleasant, crisp dream. The speakers are always fresh, passionate and provocative. It’s a collective attempt to make sense of our world, generally related to the customer experience, but at another level almost always hinting at something much more universal, relevant, and valuable.

Snow

Mike — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 03:09:30 +0000

About forty minutes into my flight this morning the pilot announces that we’ll be in a holding pattern for awhile due to heavy snowshowers in Minneapolis. He banks sharply and I settle in for what I’m sure will be a long day. Ten minutes later he announces that most planes are being diverted to Fargo but that we’ve been given the go-ahead because of minimum runway length requirements, which I later realize means the plane we’re on is too big (for Fargo’s runways, at least).

We begin our suspiciously turbulence free descent, as I’m staring out the window the ground suddenly appears out of absolutely nowhere and we touch down on the completely snow covered strip and taxi smoothly to a stop. We pull into the gate seven minutes behind schedule. Folks in the office (the ones who made it in) look at me a little strangely, and I think of Jeff Bridges in “Fearless.”

New Pictures

Mike — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 19:57:14 +0000

They’ve grown a bit.

Caribou

Mike — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 15:07:34 +0000

I’m a big Caribou Coffee fan. This is not an anti-Starbucks rant, I just like Caribou’s coffee more. I also like the look and feel of their stores. Was pleasantly surprised to see that they’re EVERYWHERE in, Minneapolis (their headquarters), where I’m currently onsite three days a week.

They have a new game with a peculiar twist. It’s called “Wake Up and Smell the Music” and of course is just a clever way to collect email addresses for their marketing database. You peel off a sticker that’s affixed to the lid, then you go their site and enter your email address and the number under the sticker. Now here’s the twist. Rather than just tell you whether you won or not, you need to drag a little coffee bean and then release it. It will bounce (like a pinball) off “pegs” as it falls and if it ends up in the cup you win.

So my question is, if you have a winning number does it matter where or whether you drag the bean? The site also has a cute and funky animation when you lose that nicely reinforces the Caribou brand. (I don’t know what it does when you win.)

We’re back.

Mike — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 14:40:22 +0000

Check out these pictures from the puppy reunion.

More pix from the homefront, to be posted this weekend. I promise. Kind of.

VacuPup

Mike — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 11:47:07 +0000

Thinking about putting an ad in the local paper: “Spill food on your carpets or floors? Call VacuPup.” The only way these guys can get to food faster is if they actually catch it before it hits the ground.

Retrieve

Mike — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 18:30:49 +0000

Took the pups for a long walk yesterday evening and something happened that I’ve never seen before. It was about 5:30 p.m. and dark. We had been out for about an hour already, so they were both pretty tired and walking nicely by my side. I heard a commotion and looked down and saw that Dante had something in his mouth. Inca was very excited, and I realized that it was a bird. Then its wings started flapping as it struggled to escape.

For some reason I remembered that the dogs freak out when I do, so I squatted down, looked Dante right in the eye and said “Drop it!” He did, and the bird righted itself, took three steps and flew up to a nearby branch. Then he looked down at us for a second and flew off.

I have read that one of the many traits that Retrievers have instinctively is to not damage the prey that they retrieve. This is very difficult to imagine. Thought about this more last night and still don’t know if somehow we just snuck up on the bird and surprised him or if he was injured, but Dante apparently held him in his mouth just firmly enough to keep him there.

The rest of the walk was uneventful.

Look Who’s Back

Mike — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 20:47:36 +0000

And my how they’ve grown:

Now if I can only find the “eliminate red-eye” setting on my Nikon Coolpix 2500, one of my least favorite technology products.

I did. It doesn’t seem to make any difference with the puppies. Anyone know why?

Here’s my friend Seth’s daughter Guin with Dante and Inca, who were delighted to find someone smaller than them to play with:

Enough with the commentary, here are some more pix: