Igniting the Revolution...

The average American has over 3000 customer experiences daily . And Joey Coleman of Design Symphony understands what it takes to make a customer feel good about you. In an era where "everyone competes on speed (thanks to ups, fedex) and price (china,...

Well, there is no such thing as a free lunch, right? But, this comes close. I have 10 copies of Seth Godin's latest book, Small Is the New Big , to give away . But, there's a give/get . You GET the book. You GIVE one SOLID idea for making...

Partners spend a lot of time asking about effective execution of events and which variables have the most impact. Oftentimes, I say that it is The Long Runway in terms of demand gen. That was anecdotal, now I have some data which supports (sort of) the...

There are people who are always on time and there are people who are always late. And yes, there are some in the middle, but most gravitate towards one side. Time is everyone's most valuable commodity and in the division between punctual and tardy people...

See the video here. If there is a success story from the slew of April Events we did, it has got to be the team from Digerati in Harrisonburg. They began their marketing a bit late (5 weeks prior to the event) and with 10 days until the event, they...

The Moneyball event at RFK is tomorrow (pray for no rain), but the PR machine is underway ! I love seeing partners get out in front of it. We're not going to split hairs, since I gave Dave the idea after I read the book ( Book Review: Moneyball ) and...

In Microsoft-speak, "IW" means "Information Worker" and Bill Gates outlined a vision for what that might look like two years ago. Last night, after a bit of hassle installing SQL Server 2005 on my Toshiba M7 laptop, I got a glimpse of the next quantum...

Once upon a time, the marketing department was a match. It was responsible for lighting a spark and the sales team would fan it to make it grow. Some sparks would go out, but if you lit enough, some turned into bonfires. 10 years ago, that was the name...

Inspired by Guy Kawasaki's post on the value of LinkedIn (and a good looking profile ), I updaded mine. Click below and let me know what you think. Feel free to join my network and/or leave a recommendation as well. Thanks! (For more on my experience...

One of the things that I've seen in my time at Microsoft is that there is a big game of "telephone" between corporate Microsoft and partners and the field. Everyone does their best to communicate but with so many hops, things get diluted. Today, we...

Continuing our series of talks with folks from Redmond who have a great view on various Microsoft business practices... Today we are talking with Zakia Ovington. (see Larry Brennan from yesterday ) Zakia is the senior product manager for Windows Vista...

Stephanie at Data Management Group saw the success that some of our other partners have had running events (see here , here , and here ) Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and they had to cancel. I asked Stephanie what she learned from this experience...

Neat stuff. see video here .

Well, Dave and his team at Evolve pulled off Moneyball at RFK Stadium yesterday (and the Nationals beat the Braves, 4-3!) Each of the 40 customers was assigned to a team "managed" by one of the reps from the sponsoring partners ( Evolve , Microsoft, Palm...

A number of partners have written in about how the Click to Attend site hinders registration. Today, I got an answer....and I can't say I'm thrilled. I am sure there is a valid reason (in the mind of the legal team, risk, etc.), but to think that we're...

A lot of partners ask: OK, so the event is over, now what? Well, here's a great example of one thing you could do. Following up on their great event, Digerati decides to strike while the iron is hot. They offer 1 hour of on-site service (a great loss...

This is really something...understanding (or not) what influences your thinking.

Matt Rothman from Guru stopped by the office this morning. He's prepping for a June 10th event and already has 12 people registered ( so I like his chances ). It's his first event, and we've secured a Microsoft presenter for him. He asked, "is there any...

You want love and money from Microsoft ( more here )? Send an email like BEI just sent me. here is an updated Report for BEI - this reflects sales through mid-April. Total Microsoft sales are about $64K! And, hey guys, how much is that in services revenue...

We talk about this a lot...here's more evidence.

This may be bold, but I think Microsoft combined with HTC has created a "Blackberry Killer." I just installed Windows Mobile 6 on my T-mobile Dash . It's VERY impressive. Your email is like your desktop Outlook. You can do instant searches, propose new...

For the technologically advanced, one of the most frustrating things is to call tech support and be treated like a novice. "Yes, I know where the 'start' button is.' "Yes, the battery is in the cell phone.' So, it's particularly rewarding when you call...

My brother, Asher, is one of the harshest critics of new technologies. He's an early adopter, but he really puts things to the test in terms of value before he proclaims them worthwhile. He came over yesterday and I showed him my new laptop. "I haven...

Love when partners stoke the fire after an event. Here's what I got this morning....Nice job! Microsoft and The Computer Doctor Partner Event held in Occoquan, VA yesterday was a huge success. The afternoon was filled with excitement as our customers...

Ask the people who cumulatively lost 4 billion dollars worth of Apple market cap thanks to 1 blogs report. And, oh yeah, it was a false rumor.