Happenings, Marketing and Technology Advice and Thoughts!

Rohit Bhargava's Non-Obvious Trends for 2017 Released on Amazon Today

2016-12-04T15:39:00.001-05:00

What an odd Norwegian show & quiet eating teaches us about consumers?

Easily Find the Internet History You Wanted to Forget

2016-12-04T11:22:00.001-05:00

For the past 20 years, The Wayback Machine and Internet Archive has had our backs, or rather backed us up. Put any url into the search and it is likely you can get versions of the website from wayback, like the first Google snapshot from Nov 11th 1998. That was only about 18 years ago.

Now instead of searching for just a URL you can search for websites archived using keywords. This feature is now in beta and to check it out you should go to https://web-beta.archive.org/#/

Curious about Mark Zuckerberg's first post on the Facebook blog, here is what i found and that was in 2006 only 10 years ago. Have fun and don't forget to donate to the Wayback Machine. Let me know how you used it.

[Webinar] 10 Ways to Respond to Reviews in the Home Business Pros Nov 16th 2 p.m EST

2016-11-16T12:11:00.002-05:00

A Salute to a Selfless American Leader in Banking

2016-11-13T12:46:00.001-05:00

Great Calendar of Small Business Events for November from my team

2016-11-09T12:33:00.000-05:00

EVENT: Solutions to Engaging Millennials in Associations - Nov 1st

2016-10-28T10:44:00.000-05:00

I am going to be sharing my views at this event on how millennials can challenge conventional methods and strategies with in Associations. Together the panel will give you views and guidelines on how-to effectively approach this market, gain support, stimulate engagement, and retain their valuable membership.

Date: November 1st, 8am-10am

Venue: 1875 Connecticut Ave NW Floor 10, Washington,D.C. 20006

Register here #EBInsights #EventBank”

Special Option: “Buy One, Get One” ticket option using promo code EBBOGO

Thanks @ChrisAbraham for speaking to my Georgetown Class

2016-10-15T10:59:00.001-05:00

Prof. Chris Abraham speaking to my students about influencer marketing. @chrisabraham

A photo posted by Shashi Bellamkonda (@shashib) on Oct 14, 2016 at 6:04pm PDT

My Eight #MustListen Podcast/Radio Shows

2016-10-09T17:41:00.000-05:00

Smart Hustle Conference Oct 20th 2016

2016-10-03T19:20:00.002-05:00

Shashi Bellamkonda Speaks on Marketing Analytics Crucial to Business Objectives

2016-09-21T21:04:00.002-05:00

View the story "Marketing Analytics: Measure What is Crucial and Ties to Business Objectives" on Storify

What are the chances of meeting a Saint in your lifetime?

2016-09-04T09:11:00.000-05:00

Flying Emirates 232 from Washington Dulles to Dubai - Review

2016-08-10T03:22:00.002-05:00

Emirates flies the Airbus A380-800 from Washington DC to Dubai

There was a time that flying between India and the US meant a stopover in London, Frankfurt, Paris or Amsterdam (I loved Amsterdam). However in the past decade this has changed dramatically. Now `Emirates (Dubai) Etihad (Abu Dhabi) Qatar Airways (In Doha, Qatar) have taken over these routes with their new aircraft and great service.

From Washington DC, Emirates is an outlier, it flies in the morning at 10.55 from Washington Dulles Airport (IAD) and reaches Dubai at around 8.30 a.m. Other flights, Etihad, Qatar and flights with European stopovers take off after 9 p.m at night.

I love this timing but it does cause a disagreement in my house. My wife prefers to fly Eithad due to the timings. My wife's viewpoint is that it is difficult to sleep on the Emirates flight since it starts in the morning. I enjoy the morning flight. My game plan is to sleep less for a few days to my Emirates flight. Once on the flight, I divide the 13 hours into 4 and sleep for 2 quarters of the flight. I also set my watch to the destination time and arrive fresh in the morning to Dubai.

The second reason my wife prefers to fly Etihad is the layover in Dubai for the onward flight to Hyderabad on Emirates is about 7.5 hours. I love this layover even though I feel that the layover kind of circumvents the Emirates facility of a hotel to passengers with more than 8 hours layover.

I have friends in Dubai and my routine is to effortlessly pass through Immigration (US citizens get visa on arrival) and meet friends.

This visit :

Cab to Sangeetha Restaurant in Karama Dubai and have a second breakfast
Cab to Dubai Museum and Al Fahidi Fort
Walk to Dubai Waterbus Station
Boat journey to the Old Souk Abra station
Uber to Dubai Airport

We spend about 4 hours out of the airport and were back in comfortable time to our flight to Hyderabad. Now the flight to Hyderabad reaches at 8.30 p.m Indian Standard Time and it was time to sleep again. In my opinion this flight makes jet lag minimal and you get to visit another country albeit for a short while.

Emirates Flight Experience

The seats on the A 780-800 seem to have adequate space and I love the ICE entertainment system. Loved the choice of new movies and watched 3 movies in the 13 hour flight.

Food

We had asked for a HNML meal that excludes beef from the menu. The first meal from Washington DC was bland with chicken, noodles and beans. I am not sure about the catering at Washington DC but I had hoped the meal was tastier.

Another disappointment was that Emirates no longer carries the beer VB - Victoria Bitter which was special to me. Now they carry Heineken, Amstel Light and Budweiser.

Service:

This is one of the best things about Emirates, great service and this flight excelled.

Exceptional Circumstances:

Our flight was on the same day that an Emirates airlines flight crash landed in Dubai causing disruption. Our flights were relatively on time and Dubai airport marveled in their communications to passengers. All Emirates passengers got free food and were well taken care of . Kudos to Emirates and Dubai airport.

I am looking forward to my return flight in a few days on Emirates.

US Navy Develops Futuristic Diver Augmented Vision Display (DAVD) Technology

2016-06-18T16:32:00.002-05:00

VR(Virtual Reality) AR (Augmented Reality) and a mixture of technologies are going to hit the consumer market soon with Facebook's Oculus Rift, Microsoft's Hololens and Google's Magic Leap.

The US Navy has released Futuristic Diver Augmented Vision Display (DAVD) Technology that provides navy divers real-time operational data enables them to be more effective and safe in their missions, providing expanded situational awareness and increased accuracy in navigating to a target such as a ship, downed aircraft or other objects of interest. Instead of having to rely on pre-dive briefings alone to determine what they are looking for, how specific items should appear and where they may be located, the DAVD system places the information right before divers' eyes with a look and feel comparable to a point-of-view video game display.

Through this display the Divers can get data from sector sonar (real-time topside view of the diver's location and dive site), text messages, diagrams, photographs and even augmented reality videos. They can turn the display off whenever they need.

See this US Navy page for more information on this technology.

Thank you for inspiring us. Muhammed Ali RIP

2016-06-04T07:54:00.000-05:00

Search Social and Mobile Class : Marketing Analytics

2016-04-16T10:41:00.000-05:00

This is a class selfie at the Search, Social and Mobile Class. April 2016.

Free Atlanta Small Business Event - ExCom 2016 - Brent Leary & John Lawson

2016-03-14T20:35:00.002-05:00

John Lawson and Brent Leary are organizing an an event in Atlanta next Thursday (March 17th) around the future of customer experience and commerce, called ExCom 2016 for small business. Register now before the event is sold out/

What: ExCom 2016 - Actionable Insights for Engaging Modern Consumers

When: Thursday March 17th 8:30am-4:30pm et

Where: Georgia State University Student Center Ballroom 55 Gilmer Street, Atlanta, GA 30303

Price: Free (Breakfast and lunch provided on first-come first-serve basis)

Registration Link: http://excom2016.com

Featured Sessions Include (full agenda at http://excom2016.com):

Real Sports: The Link Between Fans and Brands

Most professional sports franchises are small businesses too, with limited budgets and employees. Atlanta Hawks SVP of Marketing Peter Sorckoff & Atlanta Braves VP of Marketing Adam Zimmerman are doing fascinating things to create great experiences for their fans, which may help you build better relationships with your customers.

Using The 3 Cs to Create Great Experiences for 13 Million Customers

GoDaddy Editor-in-Chief Shawn Pfunder will share how the organization is using a variety of tactics and strategies to extend the level of engagement with their customer base.

The Subscription Business – Journey to $1M in Annual Recurring Revenue

Moderated by Small Business Trends Publisher Anita Campbell, two small business execs discuss the tools, strategies and tactics they deployed to create thriving subscription based businesses in less than a year. Rohan Gilkes of WetShaveClub.com turned his $4,000 investment into $350,000 in revenues and grew his customer base from 12 to 1,500 monthly subscribers in less than a year. Sangram Vajre of SaaS platform Terminus hit $1 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in nine months.

Carvana: How Used Car Vending Machines Are Disrupting How You Buy

Used Cars Carvana.com allows people to browse and shop for used vehicles online, then delivers the car straight to the customer. CEO and Founder Ernie Garcia will share how Carvana’s business model allowed the company to grow from $4 million in revenues in its first year of operation in 2013, to over $150 million in 2015.

Customer Engagement Isn’t CRM, But…

Paul Greenberg, author of the seminal book series CRM at the Speed of Light, clears up the confusion around the relationship CRM has with customer engagement and customer experience, and the changing role CRM has in a multichannel, big data world of continuous interaction.

How IoT Accelerates Customer Expectations & Disrupt Companies Who Can’t Keep Up

Ray Wang, founder of Constellation Research and author of “Disrupting Digital Business“, shares why it’s important for companies to transform their culture and prepare for the full effect of digital disruption. And why even companies like Amazon.com need to move faster to fully embrace what’s ahead in order to keep up with customer demands for great experiences.

For Men: Hair Perception VS Reality From TheWeaveWhisperer

2016-03-05T08:58:00.002-05:00

For tips on hair styles you should follow my friend The Weave Whisperer. I really posted this as a class project for my Marketing Analytics Class.

Washington DC Radio News #JackIsBack WNEW Reformatted

2015-12-20T12:20:00.002-05:00

I am reading the Washington Post report that says

"Bloomberg Media, the New York-based arm of billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s business empire, will take over Washington radio stationWNEW-FM and will change its format from general news to business news and talk"

Not sure what this means but I hope my friends at WNEW will be Ok with this change. Will I get to hear Jill Schlesinger?

I am glad in November Jack Diamond is back on 107.3 again as the Jack Diamond Show. Loved listening for over 10 years as I drove my daughter to school and was very disappointed when 107.3 changed the format. Love you guys - Jack, Erika and Jim.

Of course Jack's Protegee Tommy McFly is awesome on 94.7 along with Kelly Collis and Jen Richer.

Washington DC Radio stations rock.

Star Wars Mania and Google - Turn your phone into a Light Saber

2015-12-20T10:00:00.002-05:00

Have some down time and are a ardent fan of Star Wars? That seems to be half the internet ! Yesterday I was listening to This Week in Google podcast and heard about this new "experiment" from Google. You can now turn Chrome browser on your desktop into a Star Wars Game and use your phone as a light saber. Very interesting try it out. Go to g.co/lightsaber and happy escaping!

The Link to the URL Builder Using UTm Codes

2015-12-19T13:18:00.004-05:00

Here is the link to the UTM Code builder
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867?hl=en

Swami's guide to Social Media

Alphabet abc.xyz and Abc.wtf

2015-08-10T22:19:00.000-05:00

Did you read the news about Alphabet on Abc.xyz? Now try going to ABC.WTF

Nice! Try going to abc dot wtf :-)
— Mathew Ingram (@mathewi) August 10, 2015

Windows 10 Launch event today at Microsoft Store at Tysons

2015-07-29T10:33:00.003-05:00

Microsoft at Tysons Corner Center Launch Events with Ali Krieger

Microsoft at Tysons Corner Center is hosting a series of in-store activities and events TODAY to celebrate the launch of Windows 10. They have a community reception from 4-6 p.m. to honor local non-profits House Studio and DaVinci Challenge, among others.

Other activities taking place today

· Visit the Answer Desk where technicians will be on-hand to answer any Windows 10 questions and provide a free upgrade assessment on all devices.

· Free Windows 10 Workshops will be offered throughout the day, to learn how get the most out of new features, how to personalize your Windows experience, work and play across all your devices, and achieve more with new productivity capabilities.

· A Community Reception will take place in from 4-6 p.m. to recognize local community organizations and nonprofits that upgrade their community every day including House Studio and DaVinci Challenge, among others.

· Windows 10 Experience Zones located inside Tysons Corner Center on Level One, near Macy’s from July 29 - Aug. 9, will offer customers Windows 10 demo experiences on products like Surface Pro 3, Xbox One and Minecraft.

· Special guest, World Cup Champion, Ali Krieger. She will be in-store from 7-8:30 p.m. to celebrate Windows 10 with the community.

President Obama Notches Another Communication Win WIth Podcast Interview

2015-07-03T06:42:00.003-05:00

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Among the things that I admire about President Obama is the winning strategy that his team has executed using technology, communication tools and data. Identifying influencers, direct messages, using Twitter, Facebook, See the White House Flickr feed which is awesome.

You should listen or download the podcast on Marc Maron's website. where the President made history by getting interviewed on a podcast with Marc Maron.

A few weeks ago the President got his own Twitter id which the Comm team is using to their best ability

Alright, let's do this. Ready to answer your health care questions. Keep 'em coming with #AskPOTUS. pic.twitter.com/wK8RDF2H0i
— President Obama (@POTUS) July 1, 2015

Now we know what the President listens to ( BTW I have to listen to this song ad thanks for the recommendation)

“@POTUS: was listening to outkast/liberation and the black keys/lonely boy this morning.” Can we use Air Force One for our upcoming gigs?
— The Black Keys (@theblackkeys) July 1, 2015

And then lo behold we also know that the President does not like Peas i his guacamole ! Atleast we know the communication coming out of the White House is from a human and not a bot

respect the nyt, but not buying peas in guac. onions, garlic, hot peppers. classic. https://t.co/MEEI8QHH1V
— President Obama (@POTUS) July 1, 2015

Awesome and getting ready for xPotomac 15 this June 12.

2015-05-18T20:06:00.004-05:00

xPotomac 15 is being held on this June 12. and I have enjoyed attending this event very much

There is a good line up of speakers and t he keynote this year is author Mark W. Schaefer, who just released The Content Code, which highlights how the marketing world has gone mad. In his new book, Mark challenges communicators to break through information density by thinking about audiences in a new way

xPotomac will be at Georgetown University Campus,the Healey Family Student Center, which includes an in-building parking garage. Kudos to the event host and sponsor the Communications Culture and Technology program. My friend Shana Glickfield, cofounder of the Beekeeper Group, will again emcee xPotomac. Yay!

Other panels:

It’s a data driven world, but you still need creative free thinking to succeed. Senior Vice President for Social@Ogilvy Kathy Baird will discuss some lessons she learned at the Burning Man festival as they apply to digital communications.
Next up, Gannett’s Director of Social Media and Engagement Jodi Gersh and Assistant Managing Editor, Video for the Washington Business Journal Jen Nycz-Conner will discuss how digital media continues to impact the way news is developed and shared.
The first millennials are now 35 years old and taking over executive leadership positions. How does the new digital-savvy leadership impact workplace culture. DC-based authorsJamie Notter and Maddie Grant will discuss the concepts discussed in their new book, When Millennials Take Over.

Crisis communications expert and Commcore Consulting Founder Andy Gilman will join xPotomac cofounders Shonali Burke and Geoff Livingston for a digital crisis communications bootcamp. Help resolve a digital crisis live! For those that don’t know Andy, he has counseled clients for 60 Minutes appearances, Congressional hearings, and most notably provided counsel to Johnson & Johnson during the Tylenol 1 crisis and the Government of Canada for the SARS Outbreak.

Local Service Business can use Waze for customer service

2015-04-18T07:31:00.002-05:00

How to use Waze for Customer ServiceSmall business who serve customers in their homes or business very often give...
Posted by Surefire Social on Saturday, April 18, 2015