JUST MY OPINION: IF I WERE STILL DESIGNING PRODUCTS

JUST MY OPINION: IF I WERE STILL DESIGNING PRODUCTS: I'm pretty confident that there are few people who think the way I do about cars; as surely if they did, we wouldn't see so many cars that a...

IF I WERE STILL DESIGNING PRODUCTS

I'm pretty confident that there are few people who think the way I do about cars; as surely if they did, we wouldn't see so many cars that all look alike. I include in this group SUV'S. I've actually sat at Starbucks and watched cars pass, and the truth is there is very little difference between the small, mid and larger vehicles other than colour. And, even the colours are quite boring. Personally, I would like to see smaller versions of the cars of the 50's showing up in our world. At least they had character. When I watch old movies, I ask myself - where are those car designers?

But, alas, I am certain that the male market - which I personally believe cares more about cars, really don't give a hoot about the exteriors of cars as much as perhaps women do - or clearly I do.

So, let's say that cars will continue to come off the line, from all makers, with very slight modifications on the exterior. We know that some of the interiors now include GPS, mini monitors, heated seats, cooling seats, revolving seats, automated parking, etc. - BUT there is one thing that not one car manufacturer has mastered and it astounds me.

A decent garbage system. I'm pretty certain that I could design a mini garbage compactor for cars; but the truth is - why don't they just build them into cars? They would be environmentally friendly, and would solve an age old problem that has not been addressed with all of the useless gadgets that are on the market for this purpose.

I see it as a simple task. 1) Enlarge the glove compartment by 50% & hey - maybe even make it more of an organizer? Radical I know. 2) That compartment in between the two front seats that is merely a collector for junk - could become a garbage compactor. Violla! Out of site and practical.

Next post will be a rant on the iphone, and its ludicrous inability to be seen in the outdoors. I feel compelled to design a carrying case that would remove this problem by shielding the light so that you can work the damned things outside!

Would love your thoughts on a garbage compactor for cars.  My best. Bonnie

JUST MY OPINION: A FRIEND IN NEED

JUST MY OPINION: A FRIEND IN NEED: TWITTERITES - CAN WE BE GENEROUS?   This is a very unusual blog for me to write. There are many strange facts; not the least of which...

JUST MY OPINION: A FRIEND IN NEED

JUST MY OPINION: A FRIEND IN NEED: TWITTERITES - CAN WE BE GENEROUS?   This is a very unusual blog for me to write. There are many strange facts; not the least of which...

A FRIEND IN NEED

TWITTERITES - CAN WE BE GENEROUS?  

This is a very unusual blog for me to write. There are many strange facts; not the least of which is that I have never met the person whom I am about to write.

In the past two years, and strictly from Twitter; what I know about her is that she is one of the most upbeat, kooky, enthusiastic and caring people I have encountered on Twitter. She always has a bright attitude, is quick to be supportive of many Twitterites, occasionally appears to be completely nuts, and from what I have gathered, has two major passions in life. Her son, Riley and fitness.

Perhaps some of you know her from Twitter.

I am talking about a woman named Lori Alcorn.  She runs a lot. She is a fitness trainer - and has always been diligent about doing everything possible to be healthy.

Lori has recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer, Metastatic Adenocarcinoma with an unknown Primary. Devastating to anyone; but for someone who is so energetic and full of life - horrific.

At this point I am going to quote one of her closest and longest friends, Clare, who clearly articulates who Lori is:

...Lori is a very unique person in the fact
that she refuses to be knocked down no matter what "hurdles" life
sends her way.Her positive energy shines through and always passes on
to the people around her. She laughs and jokes and always always has a
smile on her face for you. She is a firm believer in "Paying It
Forward", this is why close friends and family had to do something to
help her through this difficult time in her life. She not only has to
deal with all the emotional aspects of this devastating illness but
has the financial stress of her everyday living expenses. She is on
limited funds presently due to not being able to work. The donations
will be used in helping her with costs involved in everyday living
expenses such as rent, utilities and gas for her car to get to her
various appointments. Throughout this terrible ordeal Lori has never
complained and has never given up the struggle. We just thought by
taking some of the financial stress away this will give her time to
focus on her own well being, leaving her to put energy into fighting
this  with the help of a circle of friends who care around her.Even a
small donation is well worth it until she gets on her feet again... 

I am confident that we all know at least one person in our own family that has suffered from or is suffering from the big C. In a recent tweet, Lori expressed that she prefers to call it "Dancer". I thought that was very "her", as from what I read in her tweets - she is always dancing.

If each one of my followers donated one dollar that would be $20K, to help her get through this terrible time. I am hoping that we can all spread the word and try to assist her during the countless Dr's appointments and treatments.

Clearly, many of us are struggling with poor economic conditions, and as a complete stranger, it is odd to be asking for help for someone I do not know. But, I get a feeling about a person every now and then - and something tells me that Lori is someone who can beat this with a little help.  While I am the antithesis of "bubbly", I do believe this world needs more "bubbly" people - and Lori is certainly that!

Let us see what we can do from Twitter? 

An account has been set up at BMO Transit No, 39562, acct 3989-279 for
anyone wishing to make a donation to Lori.

Here are some comments sent to me from some of her friends:

FROM: Karen Williamson

   ,,,I met Lori when she came into my

I met Lori when she came into my store looking for glasses.  Always smiling and happy she has a love for life that is infectious.  She helped me improve my health and fitness and put me on a path of living better.  She teaches and trains with passion and with humor. Our personal training sessions always flew by.  She is smart and beautiful inside and out. And I am a better person for knowing her,,,

FROM:  Joe D'Addario

,,,Hi my name is Joe D'Addario and Lori Alcorn has worked in my store Nature's Emporium for over 5 years. I've known Lori for more than 15 years and I've always found her to be a very vivacious woman. Always smiling and always positive. Lori is an inspiration to us all. She has a never give up attitude that she has possessed forever. She strong willed and a very independent woman who has faced challenges all her life and has always come up a winner!  She has many passions and none more than our planet we live on, to leave it a better place than it was before she got here!  There's only one Lori Alcorn!,,,

FROM: Jenny Vallacorsa

,,,I met Lori Alcorn when my daughter bought me training sessions with her. I hate exercising but Lori was the only person that pushed me to take control over my bad health. I left each session so proud of myself and could hardly wait for the next one. She is so passionate about everything- her kids-her earth, her friends and herself. What she does is always selfless.
She has had many hurdles to over-come in her life and she has always fought her way through. She is now fighting a big battle as she has been diagnosed with c-----. She will win this one too as she is my super-hero. I love my friend my hero Lori,,,

PLEASE think about giving a small donation to this lovely woman.

The banking information again is:

BMO Transit No, 39562, acct 3989-279 

Thank you for listening.  My best. Bonnie

PS:  "FUCK CANCER"

SOCIAL MEDIA INTEGRATION

I am the first to admit that I am a novice in the world of technology. A student learning, trying to keep up with the ever-changing social websites, apps, media sites, etc.

But, I have got to admit that I am baffled. There appear to be so many opportunities and so little creative detonations. Perhaps it is because I come from a strong broadcast advertising background; but I, for the life of me, cannot understand why corporations and ad agencies are not getting on board with this evolving explosion on the net.

I found the "Old Spice" campaign to be the first and only truly unique campaign that involved the net, smart PR and conventional advertising. It actually went viral, and quickly. The team responsible for that advertising was very clever. They acted quickly and kept it alive, fun and interactive.  Wieden+Kennedy were the masterminds behind this brilliant collaboration of television spots and the integration of the web.

Here are just some of the results:

Source: Wikipedia

   

In 2011, it was announced that Fabio would become the Old Spice spokesman, leading to criticism from fans of Mustafa. This lead to a poll as to which spokesman viewers preferred. A "Mano a Mano" video was produced featuring a confrontation between the two.

he New York Daily News gave the initial ad a favorable mention, citing Mustafa's "wildly smug, cool-cat smooth dude persona" which "helped make the cologne commercial pop". People magazine's Blane Bachelor called Mustafa's monologue "sharply scripted" and his character "smug, and over the top". The commercial was a hit on video sharing web sites, such as You Tube, where it has already received over 34,700,000 views, as of 08/06/11. In June 2010 it won the Grand Prix for film at the Cannes Lions International Advertising and in July 2010 the ad won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial.

In popular culture

The spot has been parodied on Sesame Street, where the monster Grover takes Mustafa's role to illustrate the word 'on'.However, his narrations do not go as smoothly: the dropped shirt fails to fall around his neck; the clam containing the tickets bites his nose, forcing him to fling it away; and despite claiming he is on a horse at the end, he is actually on a cow. It was also parodied on iCarly, on the episode "iOMG".

There was also a parody made to advertise the 2011 film Puss in Boots.

Back in August of last year, I read this blog by Jeff Bullas, and thought - of course, the ad agencies, corporations, PR firms, etc. are all going to jump on the bandwagon. (http://goo.gl/dgcvf), but no one did. It is still a great read and it is still pertinent.

The Old Spice Campaign Facts and Figures

Here are some of the numbers that were the result of the continuous marketing campaign.

· The number one most viewed sponsored channel on YouTube

· 236 million YouTube Views

· 80,000 Twitter followers in 2 days

· Facebook Interaction increased 800% with the personalized videos (Fans now total over 1.5 million)

· Sales figures increased by 107 %   

      Now granted, it is difficult to measure ROI on a product like body soap, as it is not a weekly purchase unless you are one dirty dude, but seriously - this campaign ruled. And nothing, - not one thing, has come even close.  What does that tell us?

Conventional television advertising is dying a rapid death. DVDs, remotes, cable companies that have built in real time skipping of commercials have changed the way we have to view engaging the consumer. Perhaps there will come a day when television advertising will become live and "reality-based". You might see your standard half hour television show putting all of its advertising at the end of the show - with tie-ins to various social networking sites - offering 10 minutes of entertainment and incentives to get the viewer to stay tuned. An hour television show might do a 20-minute "live sponsored by" ad that commands that the viewer stay involved with incentives. Who knows?

Maybe it is time to integrate with the television shows and networks themselves? A crawl at the bottom of the show enticing the consumer to stay tuned to their commercial coming up with some kind of spectacular reward incentive? To me, the possibilities are endless...

But what I see instead is a lot of social networking talk, gurus, fake gurus, books about social media - and very little action in terms of creativity.

Yes, creativity. It seem's to be getting lost in the shuffle and clouded by the learning curve, that changes rapidly in terms of keeping up with what's hot on the net. That does not mean that there isn't room to be creative and act quickly. I have no illusions what-so-ever, why corporations are scratching their heads and wondering which way to go with advertising.

Personally, I think corporations need someone I will call a "Facilitator". This role would be a person who can see the forest beyond the trees.  Even the furthest trees, as the trees will change almost daily. This Facilitator must have the ability to analyze the clients product, and get seriously creative about getting it and the consumer acquainted with their business. This will require working closely with their advertising agency and understanding who to outsource good creative ideas to in terms of merging conventional advertising, PR and with Internet involvement.

As astounding as it is to me, it was the Grammy's last night that prompted me to rant on here. I was on Twitter, a platform that I am seriously thinking about starting a "Rehabilitation" and/or "Intervention" venture for, as it is so satisfyingly addictive.

Throughout the show, West Coasters; hell Los Angeles and Piers Morgan in particular was saying that they could not get the show live while it was being taped in their own blinking city. CBS lost a major opportunity to capitalize on a creative way to get viewers online to watch it live. Now if CBS hasn't figured out that the net is a powerhouse - how can one expect large corporations, and God help the smaller ones to embrace the way advertising and viewership is changing. It led to those in the know, figuring a way to pirate the live broadcast - but that's another story that should not have been an issue with last night’s Emmys.

I believe the new emphasis must be on engaging the consumer across multiple platforms. The technology exists, there are many people equipped to help companies do this - but I just don't see it happening. It requires specialists in their respective areas to merge and not be afraid to take chances.

Well that's all for now.

Hell, I sold my product design company recently, and have too much time on my hands. I thought I would love a year off, but it turns out that I get bored rather quickly, so I have been having fun studying some of this.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and remember, it is just my opinion, and I'm pretty new to blogging.

Best. Bonnie

JUST MY OPINION: HOW QUICKLY WE ACCLIMATE

JUST MY OPINION: HOW QUICKLY WE ACCLIMATE: How quickly we acclimate I have told you about my quadriplegic brother and how he came to be so . The very night he was lying i...

JUST MY OPINION: GOD HELP ME

JUST MY OPINION: GOD HELP ME: God Help Me . About four years into my brother’s quadriplegia, he had to go into the hospital to have a major surgery; one of ...

JUST MY OPINION: IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE

JUST MY OPINION: IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE: In the blink of an eye I knew very little about the disabled, other than I had my share of sorrow for them when I would witness...

DIGNITY DOESN'T HAVE AN EXPIRY DATE

One day a few years ago, while on my way to buy Christmas presents during a very snowy, Canadian winters day, I saw an elderly man, hunched beyond belief, shuffling slowly through the street with a couple of full shopping bags in one hand, and a cane in the other. Now, I have always had a soft spot for senior citizens. I have respected the way the orient, Latino, African American and other cultures revere their elders and believed that many other of us in the civilized world could take a lesson from them. And, I have on more than a few occasions, offered a ride to a senior when I saw them struggling with groceries; particularly in the cold. As a rule, they are always so appreciative and gracious.

In this case the response was a bit different. I pulled over to the gentleman and offered him a ride. His cane that looked so old I was surprised it was holding him up began to wave at the car. He was literally bent in half while walking. The old man looked at me through my opened passenger window, pointed his cane at me and said with a snarl – “Move along”!

It was a pretty busy street, and I was blocking traffic, and while his response caught me off guard; I did just that. I was shopping for about an hour and a half and began to head home. Much to my shock, I saw this same old man on the other side of the street about six blocks further than where I had left him. By now the weather had turned into a veritable blizzard and I just continued to drive on. I could barely see out of my window as I thought how difficult it must be for this old buzzard to keep moving forward – so I turned around and pulled up beside him and again offered him a ride. This time, he looked at me and said – “what the hell took you so long?”, and he got into the car. I laughed so hard I almost choked – and there was plenty of time to laugh as it took him about ten minutes to maneuvre himself into my car with his disability. All the while he was screaming obscenities at the cars honking at my car disrupting traffic on the street. He was an icicle.

As it turned out he only had the three more blocks to go, but on the way, we talked as his upper body rested, strangely naturally on his lap. I asked him why he didn’t take my ride on the first attempt and he barked out that he likes to do things on his own. He explained that he had been doing it for 91 years and he was going to keep on doing it just as long as he could. He said that the only reason he accepted my ride this time is that he took pity on me. He called me a crazy teenager that must have a guilt complex for old codgers and since it was Christmas he would appease me. I don’t remember much else of the conversation during the short trip, but I remember my heart going out to him and feeling kind of warm inside.

Needless to say, we laughed; err, well I laughed, and when I dropped him in front of his apartment and asked if I could help him up with the bags, he turned to me, slouched in half; and with a sly grin said, “what the hell do you think:”? I began to get out of the car to assist and he yelled, “some people are just thick! Goodbye and your welcome.”

With that he slowly trundled off toward his building. As I drove home I thought of the dignity that this old man was holding on too ever so tightly. I admired him and the way he treated me. I know he was grateful for the ride and he knew I knew. I also know he wished he didn’t need it. So did I. That old bastard was a gem.

A Three Ring Circus

One day, I went to visit my quadriplegic brother about a year after his accident. I visited him often; but this day sticks out in my mind.  By now he was in the Rehabilitation Facility, where he would be for another two years. There was a lot more leniency at this place, and the patients could do much more than they could in a hospital.

I was heading to Phillip’s room and stopped before he could see me from the hallway.  I noticed that he had two other handicapped people in the room with him. I stood and observed in disbelief. This is what I witnessed:

One of the young men, about 24, a gorgeous lad, had no arms, the result of a fire I later discovered. His other guest was an older guy, about 28, who had no legs, half an arm and one full arm with two fingers.  He got around on a small plank with wheels under it, though he was incredibly agile. Their objective, between the three of them - was to light a cigarette.
I stood and watched these three severely handicapped men work for ten minutes. The armless chap held the cigarette in his mouth; Phillip held the lighter in his mouth, and the two fingered chap was trying to strike the lighter with one of his fingers.  It just was not going to happen, but it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. They were cracking up as well, which wasn’t helping their cause – so I finally entered the room to prevent a fire at the facility.  It was akin to catching three deer in the headlights.

In the blink of an eye

I knew very little about the disabled, other than I had my share of sorrow for them when I would witness them passing my life in some manner; and of course I envied their parking spots.  That all changed one day 22 years ago, when my youngest brother; 19 at the time; a tall handsome young man who was deciding whether to continue his education or begin life in the workplace, decided to go to a party. That decision and all other decisions for his life quickly and irrevocably disintegrated on this one fateful night. He fell off of a major Toronto cliff, while drinking beer in the backyard of this event.

The news was stark. Within one hour of arriving at the hospital, the Dr.’s quickly ushered me into a room and told me that my brother would never walk again. Moreover, he would not have the use of his arms or hands. He was now a C-5 quadriplegic. The words “no hope” must have come out of their mouths a dozen times within ten minutes. They told me in this same meeting that he would not live more than five years.

I sat in the chair in the Dr.’s office with a blank stare. I was in total disbelief. I was in shock. Then they ushered me into the emergency room, where I got my first look at my younger brother.  His arm was literally dangling, attached it seemed by a thread. His face was swollen beyond recognition.  Both of his legs had compound fractures. His body was bloody and it seemed impossible that he was alive, yet, he recognized me. I broke down and was taken out of the room by three nurses.

This is how I became acutely aware of what it was like to live in a disabled world. My brother Phillip had a “halo vest” on his head. I had never seen anything like this before. Pins screwed into his scull to keep his head straight so that he would not do further damage to his body. How much further damage could he have done I wondered? His face and throat swelled to the point where he could not speak a word. By the time I had assembled my family to give them the information; which was no easy task as none of them were in Toronto at the time, Phillip had undergone three major surgeries. Each one was given a 70/30 percent chance of him surviving. Extraordinarily tough times, but not even close to the ones that were to come.

After his third operation, he was in intensive care and we were allowed to go in and see him in pairs. It was clear that he wanted to communicate with us, and it was exceedingly frustrating to try and figure out what it was that he wanted. We made up alphabet charts and tried to point to letters and use the blink once if it is right and twice if it is no.  Six hours later, we discovered he wanted a t.v.  A t.v. for heaven’s sake.  Here we all were in the waiting room, sick in our hearts, lamenting on what must be going through his mind – and he was wanting a television. Of course, later he would realize the devastation of his condition, but for now his wanting a t.v. gave us all a well needed break from our horrific grief.

The aforementioned occurred within 2 days of his accident. What came afterwards was 25 years worth of living filled with so many eye opening moments about the handicapped, the hospital system, human nature, will, sadness, loneliness, helplessness, fortitude, tears, joy, agony, stress and so much more. Not just with my brother, but with the hundreds of people I came to know throughout the journey of my brother’s new life. He died three years ago.
I have hundreds of stories to tell about my experiences with both my brother and these other people I met with a wide variety of disabilities. My brother used to say, “I’m able, not disabled”. Those words always stuck with me, coming from someone who essentially needed every single thing done for him by someone.

During his life I found myself resenting his choices terribly. I loved him and I hated him. I know; a terrible thing to say about someone so completely helpless. I’d like to explain myself in further stories about living with a family member that is quadriplegic.
His first words to me, when he could talk, and understood the severity of his condition were – “I will never have any fun again”. My answer was, “Phillip, you shall. It will just be different”.

God Help Me

.
About four years into my brother’s quadriplegia, he had to go into the hospital to have a major surgery; one of dozens to come in his life. His stay was about five months. He has a roommate who was in a coma. His name was Brian. Again, this was a young man of about 24 in the prime of his life. We watched his family come in once a week as they lived out of town, and coming to see him regularly was difficult. Their pain and love was clear and very heartbreaking. The Dr.’s prognosis was dismal. They did not expect him to regain consciousness; but the parents were not ready to let go.

Beside his bed was a guitar. Apparently music was his life. Because I was visiting Phillip on a daily basis, I would often help the nurses by swabbing Brian’s mouth, brushing his teeth, washing his hair, etc. I would always try to talk to him and say positive things. I got to a point where I would split the visit between my brother and him. Every now and then Brian’s eyes would open and look right at me, rather fiercely; and I would call the nurse, who would say – no change, this is just reflex. So, I continued for four months, beginning to believe that this young man would never come back to life. Sometimes it is nice to have other things to occupy you when you are visiting someone on such a regular basis, so I found the diversion a blessing.
About a week before my brother was to be released from the hospital after recuperating from his surgery, I was visiting and swabbing Brian’s mouth. I was talking to him as though he understood every word I was saying. Reminding him that his family loved him, he had much more life to live, his guitar was waiting for him, etc … All of the sudden he opened his eyes, looked straight at me and said, …
“Do you ever shut up”?

It was one of the most memorable moments of my life. Needless to say, his family was overwhelmed with joy; he was out before my brother exited the hospital – and the truth is, while he later apologized, it was pretty clear that he didn’t like me at all. I thanked him for giving me something to do while I was visiting my brother. I was so very happy for him and it is one of my fondest memories.

How quickly we acclimate

I have told you about my quadriplegic brother and how he came to be so. The very night he was lying in the emergency room, my Grandmother and step-grandfather were the first to arrive at the hospital. Now, we are talking about a completely different generation here; but one of the very first things my Grandmother said to me, as it was very clear I had been crying, was, “what kind of mascara do you use – it doesn’t seem to run”.  Funny the things that stick with you. I was flabbergasted.

Now, truth be known, I was never fond of my Grandmother or my step grandfather.  First, we had to call them by their first names. Phyl and Al. You see she married a guy 25 years younger than herself, and they were married until she passed a few years back. So, I’ll give her that – they were married over 40 years, and that was a pretty ballsy thing to do back in her day. And she wasn’t no feminist. But Al, my step grandfather’s comment on the very same night was even worse. He looked at me and said without any expression other than moving his thin lips, “it would have been better had he died”.
I suppose older people were more accustomed to death and illnesses.  It didn’t make much difference that this was a young man, their grandchild even.  As for me, for the first few weeks, I would lie in my own bed and try not to move a muscle. I would try to see what it must feel like to be my brother. Then I would cry myself to sleep.

Skip ahead a couple of years. I’m in my office – I was a television commercial producer at the time – and I am on the phone with one of Phillips Doctors.  The conversation goes like this:
Me – “Well, he would be a lot easier to pick up if he didn’t have his lower legs – so where would you be thinking about removing from?”.  A colleague passes my open door, and I thought that he continued walking by.  Still on the phone; Me “well I really don’t see what the point of cutting his feet off alone are, I mean the atrophy has extended to his calves and shins so wouldn’t you have to do a second operation at some point?”

It really struck me that I had become accustomed to just about any kind of conversation and/or medical situation when the colleague that I thought had passed my office, walked into my office and asked me if what he had just heard, was, actually – what he had heard?

As it turns out, Phillip nixed any decision to amputate – and of course it was his call. When I thought about it, I understood that he still wanted to appear and feel whole. And, it wasn’t that I was being callous. The Dr. did call me to discuss this – I did not initiate it.

My point is that when you have a severely handicapped person in your family, it is not just their world that changes; it is their family, their friends and a veritable schmorgasboard of professional health care people who are all making decisions about how to better accommodate the afflicted one.
A couple of years later, Phillip got a Hoyer lift, which helped enormously. Up until that point he had to be carried or lifted any and everywhere. The milestones of getting his first electric chair, hand cuff, air mattress – so many apparatus/apparati?.  We figured a way to let him smoke, even though he only had one lung working.  He chose to live alone for the last two years of his life.  I was astonished that he had the right to demand this. How could someone who could do nothing live alone? Up until then our Mother had devoted her life to his care. But as it turns out, it was completely legal, and he had the services of 8 hours a day of out care.  Those were terrible years. How could you not worry?

The day he passed, his morning home care worker called us, and when we arrived we saw him on his bed, head turned to the side, with a cigarette in his mouth. It seemed perfect somehow.
Phillip, his non and handicapped friends, and cigarettes is another story altogether.