My absolute favorite holiday cocktail is called Satan’s Soul Patch.  The predecessor of this incredible drink is Satan’s Whiskers which is the same recipe as below except substituting Gin for the Bourbon.

I first experienced this drink at Zig Zag in Seattle with my friend, Maureen.  She took me to her favorite happy hour bar where they serve uniquely hand-crafted cocktails for something ridiculous in the range of $2-4!!

If it’s getting cold outside and the holiday spirit is in the air, treat you, your family, and your party guests to a batch of Satan’s Soul Patch.

The real reason for this post is to hear your favorite holiday cocktails.  Even if it is as simple as the eggnog your grandmother made, let’s hear it.

Satan’s Soul Patch
3/4 oz dry bourbon
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
3/4 oz dry vermouth
3/4 oz fresh-squeezed orange juice
1/2 oz Grand Marnier
2-3 dashes orange bitters

Pour all ingredients in a shaker of ice. Shake vigorously. Serve up (serve over ice for those who would like it softened).

NOTE: for those of you in TN, Jack Daniels is not allowed in this drink. If you insist on drinking JD, then kindly rename the drink.

If you are in sales or, better yet, an evangelist for any product/service, many times the worst response you can hear is, “Oh yeah, I have that.”

I was guilty of this earlier today while emailing back and forth with @brian_dailey.

I just arrived back home last night after being in San Diego since last Thursday.  The problem is that last Wednesday my iPhone decided to completely stop working (damaged motherboard, it seems).  Brian attempted to share some good advice talking about how Google Voice has saved him on many occassions (apparently he is quite rough on cell phones) in the past for quick re-routing of calls.

My response: “Yeah, I have Google Voice.”

What does that even mean?  Should I get a cookie?  I obviously am not USING Google Voice in the very effective manner that my friend was trying to share with me.

My guess is that this comes up so often due to ego. Most of us are very similar in this way. We really like to hear about new things. But we really, really like to know about something before everyone else.

Honestly, how many times in the past month have you responded in this manner when there was potentially helpful advice on the other end that you shut down due to your response?

Thanks to @sgordon70 for inspiring this first post on Posterous.  I have HAD an account on here for over a month, but that is worthless until I USE it.

Thanks to Brian and Scott for setting me straight today.

For a very amateur but curious home cook, the Cooking Channel could not come at a better time.  The Food Network has always been one of the few stations that gets heavy rotation in our home, but in recent years it has slipped into a MTV-esque shell of itself.  Cooking shows that challenged its audience fell to the wayside in similar fashion as music videos.

Enter The Food Network 2, officially named Cooking Channel.

Cooking Channel has launched with a promising lineup for home cooks who want to learn how to be better.  Back-stories and history laced with both local and international cooking fills the current lineup sheet.

Everyday Exotic features Chef/musician Roger Mooking out of Toronto.  Mooking is a prime example of what Cooking Channel appears to be pushing: young, edgy, and very knowledgeable.

Drink Up?  If you say so!  Very excited to see how Darryl Robinson pushes his art of hand-crafted cocktails.  The one negative hint that I see in the show description is the nickname referenced for the host as Dr. Mixology.  Ugh!

The two international entries in the initial lineup are Indian Food Made Easy and Chinese Food Made Easy.  Both of these have a ton of promise, but these types of shows have a tendency to fizzle due to the niche of their menu.  One of the issues with expanding on either Indian or Chinese food for many home cooks is the access to a large set of ingredients.  What most have access to will limit how far they can push either of these cuisines.

There is one show that seems to be better suited for the style of MTV, err The Food Network.  This is Unique Eats.  I’ll let their website describe what I see as a scary sign.

“(Unique Eats is) the first look and the last word in everything extreme in food today.”

Overall, Cooking Channel appears to be a welcome shift in instructional cooking for television.  Let’s hope they continue down the proper path and there is no need for TFN3.

The first TED talk that hit one of my chords was by Jamie Oliver (video below) on the effect that the world’s eating habits are not only having on current death tolls but also our children’s expected lifespan.

Jamie presents a simple pyramid diagram of where the effort is needing to come from, so our children learn the important food lessons that the vast majority of my generation were not taught properly.

Watch the video above.  I would love to hear your take on his message.

Is it realistic?

Are we ready?

We approach this transaction differently, though, for our HelpDesk ticket software for specific reasons.

NOTE: One key aspect that should be considered when making this decision is the size of your average transaction.  If you have a $2.00/month subscription, an auto-renewal system is a must.  This is vastly different than a $2,500+/year subscription relationship.

Our clients predominantly choose an annual contract versus a monthly subscription based on the impact to their business.  Switching costs are high when you are serving as the backbone for an entire department or across multiple departments.

Due to the nature of our clients and how they use our products, we view renewals as a chance to build upon our relationship with them as well as look for opportunities for cross-selling, up-selling, or identifying needs not being met with their current subscriptions.  This is where renewals go from merely keeping the lights on to being a growth stream for your company.

Many of our clients are also education and government organizations.  Many times, having a credit card on file is not something they prefer when buying.

There is more than likely a formula that can be derived based upon some key factors:

• Renewal amount/frequency
• Number of clients
• Compensation of employee responsible for renewals
• Internal opportunities for cross- and up-sells
• Do clients need PO process associated with invoice?

Although auto-renewals are an extremely valuable addition to most SaaS offerings in the consumer marketplace, be aware of some of the opportunities that your company may miss out on when not utilizing the opportunity to build on your personal relationships.