So, almost a year ago I applied for a job with a local real estate company that was looking for a graphic designer. They explained that they were actually just looking for freelancers and not offering a position. I wasn't at all interested in doing freelance work, so that was that.
6 months ago I decided to start doing some freelancing - who wants to be tied down to a boss and a schedule and a regular paycheck (well, okay, that last one is awfully nice)
Now that I'm not looking for a job and just going freelance, that same company that had been looking for freelance is now looking to hire someone for a position.
Yesterday they offered me a real job with a real title (We're not exactly what that title is just yet, but I'm leaning toward 'Marketing & Communications Coordinator')
It's been three years since I've had a real, honest to goodness job - Wish me luck because I start on January 5th.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
making music for the love of making music
I've started working on some posters and wanted to find some good inspiring quotes about music from some great musicians. First up was Louis Armstrong because, other than being one of my all time favorite musicians, he was always good for a quote.
Next up was Elvis, and he too did not disappoint. I was going to go with Bob Marley next when my wife asked if I was going to do any with people my audience would recognize. Since I'm doing these for my daughter's school, I figured I had better look into newer stars. (I'm pretty sure they will recognize Bob Marley, even if only from headshop displays and hopefully they all know Elvis, but I'm pretty sure my man Louis is going to be a mystery)
So, who should I start off with? Realizing for the first time just how old and out of touch I am, I resorted to some quick research.
Now I know some of the singers I can hear when my daughter has her headphones on, so I have a couple names to start with - Ke$ha and Usher.
A quick look through Texts from Last Night revealed a strong bent toward Lady Gaga and a search of Canadian Singers yielded a couple names from which I pulled Alanis Morissette and Nelly Furtado (not to be confused with Nelly - the things you learn...)
Now, I was listening to Alanis in high school, so my guess is that she's out.
So I have a list of 4:
Usher
Ke$ha
Nelly Furtado
Lady Gaga
Let me stop a moment and say that this list does NOT come from any sort of serious research, but just happened to be some names I basically pulled from a hat. Please do not take this list to mean anything other than it is 4 names of singers that I know are relatively popular.
Now my first two searches were pretty quick and easy. Typing 'Louis Armstrong Music Quotes' and 'Elvis Music Quotes' easily gave me dozens of quotes to choose from which illustrated to me clearly how they felt about music and their opportunity to create that music.
“If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know.”
-Louis Armstrong
"Music should be something that makes you gotta move, inside or outside. "
-Elvis Presley
What about the other 4? My modern stars?
I'll list a couple of my favorites, though please remember that this isn't exhaustive:
"I’m interested in making sound moves as a young man. When the opportunity presented itself, I jumped in."
-Usher
I write pop songs. But I think it is sprinkled with a lot of counter-culture references. It ranged from rap to hip hop to trip hop, house, drum and bass, and experimental and improv and jazz.
-Nelly Furtado
"My ideal man would be funny and fat with a beard. I love fat men. I like real men. I don’t like really feminine men who tan. I don’t understand that. I like a funny man, though. Russell Brand’s not quite my type, but if he had a fat, bearded friend, that would be perfect."
-Ke$ha
"I have fans who just love my music and don't know I write it and enjoy it shallowly -- and that's OK too. I think art and music should be just as powerful if you drink it shallow as if you drink it deep."
-Lady Gaga
These aren't the worst quotes, but I picked them because they were a good example of the quotes I saw. I didn't see quotes about music and loving it. I didn't see quotes that would make me want to pursue music as a dream or a love. I didn't see passion or excitement.
I've always thought, and maybe this is a bit naive of me, that some of the older music stars, like Louis Armstrong and Elvis Presley, seemed to create their music because of an internal passion. That creating music was the only safe way to release the feeling inside of them, but when I look at today's stars, I don't see the same passion for their art. I see a bunch of people with talent (or at least good agents) who want to become rich and famous. They thrive off the attention and not off of their music. Oddly, out of the 4 quotes from earlier, the deepest glimpse of that passion is from the one person who strives to get all the attention - Lady Gaga.
I've admitted I'm out of touch with the music that is most popular today, so maybe I'm completely mistaken. Maybe there is passion there and I just don't see it at first glimpse.
I see it in today's culture. People are becoming famous not because they strive for years to build their skills and craft and slowly work their way up from nothingness to stardom, but instead they go on a show for a few weeks and are suddenly stars. I see people who have rich and famous parents leaping into stardom from the first floor instead of the basement. I wonder what effect this has on the stars themselves? Instead of talking about music, they talk about themselves. Instead of the passion of great art that has a life of its own, they talk about becoming famous. The music and art take a back seat to the person who creates it.
I got a glimpse of this the other day. My daughter had no idea who Louis Armstrong was but instantly recognized 'What a Wonderful World.'
Maybe in 30 years someone will be saying the same thing about Usher or Lady Gaga. They'll say, "they had a passion and love of music- that today's stars don't have the same feeling."
Now, a question for those out there who might know today's music better than I do. If you were trying to foster a love for music in today's teens, who would you use? Who creates inspiration in today's youth? Any ideas. If I start looking for Justin Bieber Quotes I might just loose it.
Next up was Elvis, and he too did not disappoint. I was going to go with Bob Marley next when my wife asked if I was going to do any with people my audience would recognize. Since I'm doing these for my daughter's school, I figured I had better look into newer stars. (I'm pretty sure they will recognize Bob Marley, even if only from headshop displays and hopefully they all know Elvis, but I'm pretty sure my man Louis is going to be a mystery)
So, who should I start off with? Realizing for the first time just how old and out of touch I am, I resorted to some quick research.
Now I know some of the singers I can hear when my daughter has her headphones on, so I have a couple names to start with - Ke$ha and Usher.
A quick look through Texts from Last Night revealed a strong bent toward Lady Gaga and a search of Canadian Singers yielded a couple names from which I pulled Alanis Morissette and Nelly Furtado (not to be confused with Nelly - the things you learn...)
Now, I was listening to Alanis in high school, so my guess is that she's out.
So I have a list of 4:
Usher
Ke$ha
Nelly Furtado
Lady Gaga
Let me stop a moment and say that this list does NOT come from any sort of serious research, but just happened to be some names I basically pulled from a hat. Please do not take this list to mean anything other than it is 4 names of singers that I know are relatively popular.
Now my first two searches were pretty quick and easy. Typing 'Louis Armstrong Music Quotes' and 'Elvis Music Quotes' easily gave me dozens of quotes to choose from which illustrated to me clearly how they felt about music and their opportunity to create that music.
“If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know.”
-Louis Armstrong
"Music should be something that makes you gotta move, inside or outside. "
-Elvis Presley
What about the other 4? My modern stars?
I'll list a couple of my favorites, though please remember that this isn't exhaustive:
"I’m interested in making sound moves as a young man. When the opportunity presented itself, I jumped in."
-Usher
I write pop songs. But I think it is sprinkled with a lot of counter-culture references. It ranged from rap to hip hop to trip hop, house, drum and bass, and experimental and improv and jazz.
-Nelly Furtado
"My ideal man would be funny and fat with a beard. I love fat men. I like real men. I don’t like really feminine men who tan. I don’t understand that. I like a funny man, though. Russell Brand’s not quite my type, but if he had a fat, bearded friend, that would be perfect."
-Ke$ha
"I have fans who just love my music and don't know I write it and enjoy it shallowly -- and that's OK too. I think art and music should be just as powerful if you drink it shallow as if you drink it deep."
-Lady Gaga
These aren't the worst quotes, but I picked them because they were a good example of the quotes I saw. I didn't see quotes about music and loving it. I didn't see quotes that would make me want to pursue music as a dream or a love. I didn't see passion or excitement.
I've always thought, and maybe this is a bit naive of me, that some of the older music stars, like Louis Armstrong and Elvis Presley, seemed to create their music because of an internal passion. That creating music was the only safe way to release the feeling inside of them, but when I look at today's stars, I don't see the same passion for their art. I see a bunch of people with talent (or at least good agents) who want to become rich and famous. They thrive off the attention and not off of their music. Oddly, out of the 4 quotes from earlier, the deepest glimpse of that passion is from the one person who strives to get all the attention - Lady Gaga.
I've admitted I'm out of touch with the music that is most popular today, so maybe I'm completely mistaken. Maybe there is passion there and I just don't see it at first glimpse.
I see it in today's culture. People are becoming famous not because they strive for years to build their skills and craft and slowly work their way up from nothingness to stardom, but instead they go on a show for a few weeks and are suddenly stars. I see people who have rich and famous parents leaping into stardom from the first floor instead of the basement. I wonder what effect this has on the stars themselves? Instead of talking about music, they talk about themselves. Instead of the passion of great art that has a life of its own, they talk about becoming famous. The music and art take a back seat to the person who creates it.
I got a glimpse of this the other day. My daughter had no idea who Louis Armstrong was but instantly recognized 'What a Wonderful World.'
Maybe in 30 years someone will be saying the same thing about Usher or Lady Gaga. They'll say, "they had a passion and love of music- that today's stars don't have the same feeling."
Now, a question for those out there who might know today's music better than I do. If you were trying to foster a love for music in today's teens, who would you use? Who creates inspiration in today's youth? Any ideas. If I start looking for Justin Bieber Quotes I might just loose it.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Zappos Customer Service Fail
I recently read the article 10 Best Stores for Customer Service from Newsweek. Customer service is a dying art, so it's nice to know that there are some businesses that strive for excellent customer service.
When I reached the tenth on the list, Zappos, it reminded me that I needed new winter boots, as my current pair each have a rather large hole in them. I jumped online and began the long and tedious task of finding a pair that would fit my size 12EEEE feet (yes, that's 4 'E's). I tracked down a boot that wasn't exactly what I was wanting, but was still better than the ones I owned and at $116 they were quite a bit cheaper than the Redwing pair that I liked which only came in 2E width. I also found a great cowboy boot that was onsale for $85 that also came in a size 4E.
Of course that price is in American Dollars, and since I live in Canada I figured I'd just end up paying a few bucks more. I also expected that the free shipping was probably an America-only offer. After a quick search, I found that Zappos has a Canadian Website and I moved over there.
WOAH! The Canadian website was awful to find anything in. It's poorly designed and the search function was nearly useless - Are winter shoes 'dress' 'casual' or 'athletic?' The price for shipping was $10 (returns, which Zappos has always paid for was $15, so you're out $25 if you get them and don't like them).
After a few minutes I was able to track down the cowboy boot, but gave up on finding the winter boot and called the 1800 number. They don't ship that brand of shoe. Fine, I understand that for whatever reason some manufacturers do not allow shipping to Canada; It is most likely because they can sell the same product in Canada at a higher markup which is good for them, but an awful pain for the consumer. I explained that the website was pretty frustrating and asked the Customer Service Representative (sorry, didn't get her name- I'm assuming it's not CSR, but that's what I'm calling her) if she could help me track down a winter boot in a size 12EEEE. Instead she began to talk about why the website was so bad. It wasn't because they didn't care, it was because it was the old style that the American version had originally had but because of Canadian laws and shipping concerns it was impossible to change the site.
HUH? Impossible to change the site because of Canadian law? I've shopped online from a number of sites that ship to Canada from the United States and most of them were fine, so why is Zappos having so much trouble? Seems odd that Canadian Import law would determine whether or not you could have an easy, customer friendly search function on your website, but I figured that was a matter for Import/Export Lawyers to deal with.
I attempted to steer the conversation back to helping me find a winter boot that would fit. CSR continued to tell me that they have had multiple complaints about the site, but there just wasn't anything they could do. "Ok, fine, no problem, can you help me find a winter boot?" She says sure and asks my size again and does a quick search before informing me that she doesn't see one in the search she did, but they probably have them and all I have to do is go to the Canadian website and search through all the shoes until I find a pair that fits.
Wow, that was helpful. I explained, again, that I had already looked but hadn't been able to find them (I kept ending up looking at either cowboy boots or tennis shoes, neither of which was particularly helpful) and she explained that she understood my concerns, but the website couldn't be changed because of...
Yeah, thanks - I got that.
It amazes me that a company that prides itself on their customer service experience would fail so bad when a customer called needing help. Is it because I'm living in Canada? Would it have helped me to explain that I was actually American so they could give me a bit more help? Should I just chalk it up to fate telling me that I have to wear uncomfortable shoes? Maybe I'm blowing it out of proportion.
The fact is that I won't be buying anything from Zappos. Not even the cowboy boots that they can ship to Canada. You can't throw a brick without hitting a web designer, so I find it amazing that they can't have a better web page for their customers in the frozen white north. And it seems to me that a retailer that makes such a big deal out of customer service should be able to help a customer having a problem better than 'just keep looking, I'm sure you'll find what you need."
The biggest issue is that when I did ask for a complaint about the website and lack of selection to be made to the company I was told 'Oh, don't worry about that, I know there have been a lot of people upset with the website and shipping.'
Really? Lots of complaints? I've taught a lot of customer service classes and I promise that at no time have I taught that the way to make a customer feel better is to tell them that they are just one of many unhappy people so not to worry about it.
I know Zappos is an excellent company with amazing customer service, but in this case they failed. They lost a $200 sale, which doesn't mean much to their bottom line, but it does matter to me. Their customer.
UPDATE:
Looking back at this post, I realized that I'm not solving anything. Was there anything that she said that was really wrong? Probably not - though I was frustrated because she didn't seem to listen to what I was saying. Later I do plan on taking the conversation apart a bit - maybe look at how the conversation could have gone that might have made me a bit happier as a frustrated customer.
When I reached the tenth on the list, Zappos, it reminded me that I needed new winter boots, as my current pair each have a rather large hole in them. I jumped online and began the long and tedious task of finding a pair that would fit my size 12EEEE feet (yes, that's 4 'E's). I tracked down a boot that wasn't exactly what I was wanting, but was still better than the ones I owned and at $116 they were quite a bit cheaper than the Redwing pair that I liked which only came in 2E width. I also found a great cowboy boot that was onsale for $85 that also came in a size 4E.
Of course that price is in American Dollars, and since I live in Canada I figured I'd just end up paying a few bucks more. I also expected that the free shipping was probably an America-only offer. After a quick search, I found that Zappos has a Canadian Website and I moved over there.
WOAH! The Canadian website was awful to find anything in. It's poorly designed and the search function was nearly useless - Are winter shoes 'dress' 'casual' or 'athletic?' The price for shipping was $10 (returns, which Zappos has always paid for was $15, so you're out $25 if you get them and don't like them).
After a few minutes I was able to track down the cowboy boot, but gave up on finding the winter boot and called the 1800 number. They don't ship that brand of shoe. Fine, I understand that for whatever reason some manufacturers do not allow shipping to Canada; It is most likely because they can sell the same product in Canada at a higher markup which is good for them, but an awful pain for the consumer. I explained that the website was pretty frustrating and asked the Customer Service Representative (sorry, didn't get her name- I'm assuming it's not CSR, but that's what I'm calling her) if she could help me track down a winter boot in a size 12EEEE. Instead she began to talk about why the website was so bad. It wasn't because they didn't care, it was because it was the old style that the American version had originally had but because of Canadian laws and shipping concerns it was impossible to change the site.
HUH? Impossible to change the site because of Canadian law? I've shopped online from a number of sites that ship to Canada from the United States and most of them were fine, so why is Zappos having so much trouble? Seems odd that Canadian Import law would determine whether or not you could have an easy, customer friendly search function on your website, but I figured that was a matter for Import/Export Lawyers to deal with.
I attempted to steer the conversation back to helping me find a winter boot that would fit. CSR continued to tell me that they have had multiple complaints about the site, but there just wasn't anything they could do. "Ok, fine, no problem, can you help me find a winter boot?" She says sure and asks my size again and does a quick search before informing me that she doesn't see one in the search she did, but they probably have them and all I have to do is go to the Canadian website and search through all the shoes until I find a pair that fits.
Wow, that was helpful. I explained, again, that I had already looked but hadn't been able to find them (I kept ending up looking at either cowboy boots or tennis shoes, neither of which was particularly helpful) and she explained that she understood my concerns, but the website couldn't be changed because of...
Yeah, thanks - I got that.
It amazes me that a company that prides itself on their customer service experience would fail so bad when a customer called needing help. Is it because I'm living in Canada? Would it have helped me to explain that I was actually American so they could give me a bit more help? Should I just chalk it up to fate telling me that I have to wear uncomfortable shoes? Maybe I'm blowing it out of proportion.
The fact is that I won't be buying anything from Zappos. Not even the cowboy boots that they can ship to Canada. You can't throw a brick without hitting a web designer, so I find it amazing that they can't have a better web page for their customers in the frozen white north. And it seems to me that a retailer that makes such a big deal out of customer service should be able to help a customer having a problem better than 'just keep looking, I'm sure you'll find what you need."
The biggest issue is that when I did ask for a complaint about the website and lack of selection to be made to the company I was told 'Oh, don't worry about that, I know there have been a lot of people upset with the website and shipping.'
Really? Lots of complaints? I've taught a lot of customer service classes and I promise that at no time have I taught that the way to make a customer feel better is to tell them that they are just one of many unhappy people so not to worry about it.
I know Zappos is an excellent company with amazing customer service, but in this case they failed. They lost a $200 sale, which doesn't mean much to their bottom line, but it does matter to me. Their customer.
UPDATE:
Looking back at this post, I realized that I'm not solving anything. Was there anything that she said that was really wrong? Probably not - though I was frustrated because she didn't seem to listen to what I was saying. Later I do plan on taking the conversation apart a bit - maybe look at how the conversation could have gone that might have made me a bit happier as a frustrated customer.
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