Uni Watch

There has been some serious uniform talk as of late. My dream job is to do uniform consulting. Not sure if that is a real job, but too many organizations need my help. 

Love that Nike is headed to the NFL. Reebok has been murdering NFL uniforms and apparel for too long.

Here is exhibit A from its current offering:

Exhibit B is a blast from the past:

Nike is off to a good start (acknowledging Seattle doesn't give you much to work with):

There are also rumors of Nike Pro Combat uniforms for BYU. What's not to like about these?

Finally, the Florida Miami Marlins have a new getup. I don't understand why the Florida MLB teams think they need mascots on their hats. Do the Yankees or Dodgers have mascots on their hats? No! I saw this tweet from @steverushin that describes my feelings: "I feel like unfrozen Caveman Lawyer watching the Marlins game. Their new look frightens and confuses me."

Spotify and the Hyper-Social Business Model

Spotify is an online music streaming service that arrived in the US in July 2011. 

After downloading the software, it is easy to log in using a Facebook account. The service is free with advertisements for the first six months; during this initial trial, users can listen to an unlimited amount of music. After the first six months, however, listening is limited to 10 hours per month and five listens per track unless users upgrade their accounts.

An upgraded account without advertisements costs anywhere from $4.99 to $9.99 per month depending on the version. Spotify, in many ways, is similar to Netflix, Hulu, or any other pay for content site.***

Users can see what their Facebook friends are listening to from both the Spotify app and their Facebook ticker and news feed. It is a simple way to discover the music your friends enjoy.

Spotify is pioneering the Hyper-Social Business Model. In this article Patrick Salyer explains how Spotify is using Open Graph 2.0 (users can now listen, read, cook, etc. along with using the like button on Facebook) to create a balanced user experience which has helped Spotify become the leader of streaming music.

To briefly sum up Salyer's points:

Spotify is just so easy to use with Facebook
The transition back and forth is seamless. See what music your friends are listening to in real time. Drag, drop, or click to easily listen to or share music. There is no redirecting to buy or find similar artists, you click and listen.

Spotify empowers listeners to control privacy
As we become more and more bombarded with social media, companies need to balance privacy and sharing. Spotify caters to both the hyper-social users and the more private listeners. Because users can easily turn off the fire hose, they are actually more inclined to share.

Spotify challenges the current state of social media
Businesses that are safely using the like button have just been left in the dust. It's time to find a better way to engage. Spotify is a leader in hyper-social business by showing you what your friends are listening to right now rather than what they like.

***For those interested, here is an interesting take from the Harvard Business Review about Spotify and why listening to music is fundamentally different than watching movies or television shows. This author contends Spotify is perfect for a bait and switch. If Spotify is forced to raise prices like Netflix did, it is more difficult for consumers to walk away from their music collection than their movie or television show collections. Music listeners want to own their content and do not want to "rent" a music library.

Rex Lee Run

I have to give a shout out to my smokin' hot wife for completing the Rex Lee Run 10K on Saturday (in record time). She is quite a little athlete. I like to hang my hat on being able to beat women and small children in backyard sports; she is challenging that notion.

before the race with the kiddos

Bracketology

Why do people fill out more than one bracket? I'm not saying I never have, but it kind of ruins the fun, right? Here are a few thoughts from a guy who has lost a lot of pool bets.

1. Upsets. Stay away from them. It's fun to say you picked the 14th seed over the third seed, but it's addicting and kills your chances at long-term success. The committee has designed the tournament for higher seeds to win. Higher seeded teams play closer to home, and this ends up being a nice advantage with a traveling fan base. This of course doesn't include seeds between seven and ten. Nine and ten seeds historically do very well in the first round. When you pick an upset, hedge your bet by having your Cinderella pick lose in the next round.  
2. Never pick your school to do especially well. Depending on your school this means different things of course but lose the bias. Pick your rival to do well, and don't get caught picking conference mates to go too far just because you are more familiar with their teams.
3. Pick the overall winner and final four teams before filling in the rest of your bracket. No trophies are handed out after the first weekend; believe me, I always fade after the first weekend.
4. If you manage a league, get off of yahoo.com and cbs.sportsline.com. Act like it isn't your first time and organize on ESPN.com where everyone already has their brackets filled out.
5. Be yourself. If you aren't a college basketball geek, don't act like you are one. Everyone knows you're not, and you will save yourself some face over the next three weeks.

Good luck!

@12 Chinese Cuisine

I recently enjoyed a nice meal at @12 Chinese Cuisine.

The service was friendly, the prices were reasonable, and they got me in and out fast and convenient. @12 Chinese Cuisine is similar to Panda Express, but it didn't have the national chain feel to it. @12 is locally owned; plus, many of the ingredients in @12 dishes come from local farmers like the squash in the Kung Pao Chicken.

I also ordered the Tangerine Orange Chicken and a Vegetable Roll. The Vegetable Roll was crazy good. Now go support these local owners!
 

Breaking Dawn

Jamie and I recently watched The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part I. It took me four episodes, but I finally figured how this movie is so successful without a plot.  

Many (obviously not all) young girls fantasize about everything that happens in these movies. Girls want a protective, loving father figure, multiple men fighting over them, a beautiful boyfriend that nobody approves of, a perfect wedding/honeymoon, pregnancy, and childbirth. Plus women love a little drama, right? So the movie gives the main character all of these experiences, and instead of telling a story, the author gives drama by way of vampires and werewolves. 

I expect part II to be full of said drama with a lot of shopping, manicures, and makeovers. 

Valentine's Month

People of the world,

Join with me in celebrating Valentine's Month instead of Valentine's Day! Wouldn't we be happier if we could spread this holiday out over an entire month? I don't mean celebrate more; I mean celebrate on the day you pick to be most convenient. Think of the possibilities:

• Everyone could easily get a dinner reservation for the night they pick.
• And a babysitter too!
• We could avoid paying unreasonable amounts of money for flowers. Ladies, have you been to flower store on Valentines?  You have to try this; it is hilarious! Pure madness.
• No Valentine's traffic; see previous bullets about dinner reservations and flowers.
• Ideation. "I got blah, blah, blah for my wife/girlfriend/partner" . . . then three days later, "so did I!"

Admit it. I am nailing this holiday.  

Luckily for me, my wife and I decided a long time ago that the calendar would not rule our lives. While we celebrated on the 14th for Valentines this year, we aren't afraid to adjust to what makes sense for us. For example, we celebrated Christmas this year on December 26th just because it was more convenient for us. Our kids never knew the difference. Well, they knew until we talked them out of it.

Finally, I have always wanted to visit a flower shop the day after Valentines to see what type of deals it has. Today was my day.  I was the only one there (you should have seen it yesterday).  

And . . . no deals on flowers. You could still buy a single rose for $15.00. My guess is the Flower Patch didn't sell a lot of flowers today.  Why wouldn't it want to clear out its inventory? Those flowers are going to be dead by Saturday no matter how much it payed for them.