Hello Viking

More Vikings-o-rama

More fun to be had searching for "Vikings" on YouTube. Enjoy!

Banjofish - The Viking Song

Playmobil- Vikings Sack a Town

Clear Lake rumble

Viking Challenge

What does it take? Part 2

Wow. 23 votes cast so far in our poll asking, "What actions should CEOs be taking to demonstrate their understanding of the digital space?" And more important -- numerous, well-considered comments. Thanks everyone, for the wonderful conversation.

Here's a recap of the voting thus far from PollDaddy (great web app). Let's remember, this isn't a poll of CEOs, but a poll of those responsible to a CEO -- those in the digital trenches, doing the work. What do those of us doing the work today want and need to see from our betters?

What stands out for us, overall, is this:

CEOs need to put some skin in the digital game.
It might be Facebook, or attending a conference or blogging. CEOs need to participate, personally. Show those around you -- your fellow board members, your direct reports -- that you're personally invested.

We've got highlights from the comments following the image.

In the case of "Other," the suggestions were:

+ Run paperbag lunch sessions where CEO presents ideas/vehicles that have merit

+ I think execs should have a digital dashboard that they review on a weekly basis

+ Support initiatives encouraging their employees to explore the digital space

+ INVESTMENT AND INCLUSION: put gigerati on the board, invest in technology

+ Take an interest in the ops/financial/marketing value of their domain name

+ Recognize that 40% of their customers time is spent online, yet they invest 5%

COMMENT HIGHLIGHTS:

"The real question I face every day is how do you get an executive -- who has been at the top of his or her field for decades -- to admit that they now have a knowledge gap that must be addressed?"

"That Giant Sucking Sound you hear is the leadership vacuum in the corporate digital space."

"The net-net is, we just have to keep educating, no? We have to speak up and tell them, show them, when cool stuff happens..."

"If the company's business is primarily in the digital space, it doesn't make sense for the CEO to be focused on it. It's far better if they support initiatives encouraging their employees to explore how best the company's culture fits into the digital space."

- - -

All of this gets us thinking and asking, well, Who is doing it right, right now?

Which CEOs in your opinion are demonstrating a solid understanding of the digital space?

And how are they demonstrating it?

Let's keep the conversation going.

What does it take?

After attending the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association Summit 2007 and the MN Advertising Federation Show, and chatting with our friends working in the interactive space, we've got a question:

We have no illusions that any CEOs are going to answer this poll. Rather, we're curious what you -- the people who create, enable and guide the interactive work -- want from your CEO in terms of understanding and involvement. What do you want your CEO to know and participate in?

We'll post the results here and continue the discussion. Please share this poll and encourage your friends and co-workers to participate. The more responses we have from all of you, the better the survey. And everyone can share in the results.

(Hat tip to David Armano for the PollDaddy link.)

Subaru goes to CL

Congratulations to Carmichael Lynch on picking up the Subaru account without a review. The good people at 110 N. 5th Street deserve the win. And the Minneapolis advertising community definitely needs the good news.

Note to RGA (current incumbent for Subaru interactive): Watch out for Herb, Sean, Wex, Mike and Dan!

Thanks, Apple

We dropped iPhone #1 last week.

Granted, we've dropped iPhone #2 several times and it's been fine. (Of course, now iPhone #2 gets carried around in a lucite case.)

But iPhone #1 got hurt. The glass cracked. Totally our fault.

And Apple's response has been nothing short of outstanding. The people on the phone were kind, efficient and understanding. Clearly, Apple's worked through this process and trained appropriately. How many companies bother to prepare for these inevitabilities of customer error? Not nearly enough.

The loaner iPhone showed up this morning.

Apple sends you a new paperclip to assist with opening your broken iPhone. They send you a paperclip!!! They send brilliant, simple instructions. They send packing tape to seal up your broken iPhone in the return box.

Clearly, Apple has bothered to think about us, the end users, working throough even the most mundane scenarios.

And for maintaining this keen, deep-reaching eye on customer experience, we're going to thank Apple by continuing to buy and recommend their products. We're also going to continue purchasing more of their stock.

Vikings-o-rama

Let's say it's late at night. You've been working all day. Your crew is punchy. Then someone does a random keyword search on, say, MySpace, for "vikings." And a whole treasure trove of wonderful videos shows up. Clearly, you need to share these with the world. (Inspired by an earlier discovery on the same subject.)

Viking Sponsorship Foundation (2003)

Me and The Viking

Viking Dance

Viking Rock

Tyr

MIMA Summit 2007

So we joined the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association last week, and attended the 2007 Summit today.

(Check out our photos here. And our tweets here.)

Over 630 people showed up. The event was sold out. We got there a bit late and missed the first keynote. But overall, we had a really good time. Our highlights:

"Quantifying the Overall Value of the Web Channel"
Jason Burby, Chief Analytics & Optimization Officer, ZAAZ (Seattle, WA)
Interactive/digital work is inherently measurable--it's unescapable--which is both a blessing a curse. Because on the one hand, we finally have a basis for understanding what works and possibly why. On the other, we've got a massive responsibility to do something with the information. Burby's presentation was a solid exercise in understanding the role of metrics as a foundation for monetizing user behavior -- and then figuring out what to do about it all. We'll be buying ZAAZ's book on the subject.

"Unconventional Collaboration: Insights Gathered from Three Years of Collaboration at 37signals"
Jason Fried, Founder, 37signals (Chicago, IL)
We use Basecamp from 37Signals, so we were biased in favor of this presentation. It was really nice to discover we share many of 37Signals' operational practices: Working apart--working virtually, no (or extremely few) meetings, focusing on smaller decisions that can be solved quickly versus the paralysis of large problems. Plus, Jason sounds oddly like our friend Dmitri Cavander. What Jason proposes is powerful stuff, and it clearly works--the challenge is in scaling the methodology up to larger entities. But an awesome presentation, nonetheless. And we're buying 37Signals' book as well.

We weren't nuts about the huge bottleneck to get to the free lunch, so we ate across the street at Subway. But the open bar at the end was nice. One comment: Seems like a vast majority of interactive marketing people in Minnesota have very well-designed eyewear.

We'll be back.

Techno Viking

First, our pal Rey sent us a fabulous Techno Viking video on YouTube. It's awesome to the point of over-analysis. (What's with the dude handing over the water? What is Techno Viking's Code of Honor?)

But tonight we found something perhaps even better.

Michael Jackson, you have met you match. And he is Techno Viking.