Citizen Brand

A Christmas Journey

The snowstorm wreaking havoc in the Rocky Mountain west and the high plains is reminiscent of a similar storm two years ago.  The 2004 blizzard was also right before Christmas and that one found me traveling with two colleagues as we made one last business trip before that year ended.  Our epic journey was documented by one of my intrepid travelers, Andy Ernsting, in the attached file.  Enjoy my own special version of the night before Christmas.

Download christmas_journey.doc

It seems like only yesterday. 

My best to each of you for a wonderful holiday season and a happy and peaceful 2007.

Another cup of Joe

The returns are in....no not that other election.  This one is truly important.  The 12 best cups of coffee according to Fast Company anyway.

I'm very happy to see that Kansas City born and bred The Roasterie has two of the top 12.  They deserve it.  (They are not a client, although I wish they were.)

The selections are made by The Coffee Review, a Berkeley, California based coffee publication. It conducts objective, blind cuppings in which industry experts rate the coffees based on aroma, acidity, body, flavor and aftertaste.

While touring the site of The Coffee Review, I found a link for a great book from National Geographic called The Ten Best of Everything.  It's compiled by veteran travelers Nathaniel and Andrew Lande and is billed as an entertaining and authoritative book from National Geographic full of "ten best" lists ranging from Arnold Palmer's ten finest golf courses to Luciano Pavarotti's ten favorite opera houses to the ten best coffees and teas in the world.

Sounds like a perfect book to browse through with a good cup of coffee close by.

Talking to Customers

One key attribute of a Citizen Brand is open communication with everyone inside or outside the organization. Southwest Airlines is one of my favorite brands and it is a company that has always been open in all of its communications.

Right now, for example, Southwest has been in the news regarding a potential change in their open seating policy.  If you have never flown Southwest Airlines, then you may not know that there are no assigned seats.  You board in three groups - A, B and C - and you take whatever seat you want when you get on the plane.  It has become part of the Southwest culture and an important part of their ability to operate more efficiently than other airlines.

Not everyone likes it of course.  In fact, some people will avoid flying Southwest just because there are no assigned seats.  I personally like it.  But the fact that there are customers who don't means Southwest has to listen.

So what do they do about it?  Do they just suddenly change their policy and then try to spin some kind of announcement to make it sound good?  No, they don't.  Instead, the CEO of Southwest is discussing the issue on the Southwest blog.  There has been no decision made, yet here is the CEO talking direct with customers about the issue and its pros and cons.  Refreshing.

Too bad it seems refreshing instead of being the norm in business communications.

More on this at Andy's blog.

Another voice for our Parks

My desire to help our National Parks pales in comparison to Kurt's.  His National Parks Traveler website is not only the best voice of advocacy for the budget cuts that are putting our Parks in peril, but it is a truly beautiful blog to read and his photographs are worth a look each and every day.

Since it is almost officially summer and time to hit the road and take in some of the beautiful vistas we have to offer, get revved up by going to Jesse's Life.  He did the "Lost in America" thing, quit his job last year and has been on the road ever since traveling the country and seeing the sights.  He visited one of my favorite places on earth earlier this year - Rocky Mountain National Park.  Here is one of his pictures of the Park.

And here is a photo from one of my recent trips to Rocky Mountain.  This is Long's Peak, a mountain I have yet to climb but have known many who have.  It is an imposing edifice that is so massive.  It is the centerpiece of the Park and is easily visible on clear days even from the eastern Plains of Colorado.

Budget cuts can't hurt Long's Peak.  But they can hurt the ability of the Park Service to do the job they need to do to make the visitor experience the best it can be and to protect the Park for generations of visitors to come.

Read Kurt's and Jesse's blog and then consider writing something yourself about what our National Parks mean to you.

National Parks and Blueprints

What could a national park and a blueprint possibly have in common you might ask?

  The common thread is a new print public service campaign from the National Parks Conservation Association and a pro bono effort from Young & Rubicam, Chicago.  It's a great campaign that has blueprints for Yosemite Falls, the Delicate Arch and a Sequoia tree and the payoff line is "It's not like we can make new ones."

The ad campaign is a continuation of the NPCA's overall campaign to educate the public and put pressure on elected officials to recognize the deteriorating conditions of America's national parks.  The group's effort began with the release of a report in 2005 titled "Faded Glory."  If you have visited even one of our national parks, please take time to glance at this report and think about what you can personally do to convince our elected officials of this need.  If you have children, grandchildren or are contemplating having one or the other, think about what we are leaving them as a legacy if we continue to ignore our parks.

So I am renewing my mission launched in April to respectfully request that each of you make some noise about helping America's National Parks get the proper budget support they deserve.

If our elected officials can't get their act together, then we may have to resort to this idea:  corporate sponsorship of our national monuments.  Thanks to Ernie Schenck for the post.