Two years ago, I decided to up my viewing of the Oscars from pure spectator sport to active predictor and vocal commentator. Not that I have anything worth saying, but I get a lot more out of the event by putting in my two cents. To do this meant I needed to see as many of the nominated movies as possible.
I like to share the list with friends, because I found I learn more about the movies by hearing how others like and rank them differently than me. In short, the process added value to my Oscar viewing experience.
This year, I waited until the nominations came out to focus my efforts a little more. The obvious place to start was with the movies nominated for best picture — this year there are nine. Then I added movies for Best Actress — The Help was the only duplicate in the Best Picture category so that added another 4 movies. Then Best Actor which added 2 movies to the list. Supporting actress added Bridesmaids to the list, and supporting actor added Beginners and Warrior. That brought the total to 18 movies.
Of those, I’ve only seen 4: Beginners, Bridesmaids, The Descendants, and Midnight in Paris. So I have four weeks to see 14 movies and rank them as I go. Wish me luck!
Now, here’s where you come in. I’d love for you to join me on this journey. Share your list of movies to see, tell me how you would rank the movies, react to my rankings and tell me where you think I got it wrong. If you don’t see all the movies, no worries, comment on what you have seen. And then on Oscar Night, let’s tweet and Facebook to cheer and moan together. I look forward to learning what you think about the best movies of 2011 over the next four weeks.
One of my favorite iPad apps is iAnnotate PDF. I use it for reviewing and marking up reports, and I like being able to jump from one report to the other quickly across the various tabs. On the most recent update for iAnnotate, they brilliantly called out customers who provided feedback for fixes by name. Not only did they provide recognition to their valued customers, but they reinforced their brand as a company that listens.
Quite some time ago, my aunt and uncle were staying with us and the morning they were leaving I was the only early bird to rise with my aunt and uncle. As part of my morning routine, I started putting the dishes from the dishwasher away and my aunt says, “You’re just like your uncle. It’s good that you’re willing to put the dishes away, but you’re clanging them around so loud you’ll wake up the whole house.” I appeased her and began to place the dishes in a kinder and gentler manner.
Since that visit, there have been a few mornings where I think of that incident, and I think my poor uncle. He never gets credit for putting away the dishes quietly. If he does them quietly, my aunt doesn’t wake up, so she never thinks that he did it quietly; however, every time he makes enough noise to wake her up, he probably gets nagged when she stumbles out of bed.
In providing customer service, there are several examples where you don’t get credit for an activity, behavior, or outcome when you do it right, but if you do it wrong, it’s a huge take away.
CLEANLINESS > If the store is clean, customers won’t go tell their friends, “You should definitely shop there. It was so clean.” But if the store is dirty, you can bet that will get noticed.
POLITENESS > Being polite is expected = no credit. Being rude = big takeaway.
ACCURACY > Get my order right, and I simply go on about my business. Get it wrong, and I’ll tell everyone for the next week.
PUNCTUALITY > It’s only when people are late that we start to notice.
What are some other taken-for-granted service behaviors that we don’t get credit for, but have a heavy penalty when they are missed?
My good friend Michael Schechter talked me into starting my own Tumblr page to gather and share daily quotes, so two weeks ago I created Observation Paper. Here are my favorite 3 quotes from first couple of weeks.
I just finished A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin. Much and more happens in the third book. Here are 15 of the most notable quotes from my reading.
