It was a great time to grow up in the 1980’s in New England. Let alone the music and outfits, but having your favorite basketball team winning the NBA championship 3 times, on top of their other 13 titles, it was good to be a Boston Celtics fan. From the Big 3 – Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale – to the supporting cast including M.L. Carr’s twirling towel, the C’s were a powerhouse and it seemed it would last forever.

A major part of the Celtics run in those days was their rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers. Much of it had to do with each team’s key stars, Larry Bird for the Celtics and Earvin “Magic” Johnson for the Lakers, extending to their college championship game in 1978, where Bird’s Indiana State lost to Johnson’s Michigan State. Though the rivalry was intense, you could see and feel the respect those players had for each other.

After the 1986 NBA title banner was hoisted to the rafters of the Boston Garden, the men in green went through 2 lean decades, plagued with the deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Miller Lewis and coaches who couldn’t put it together. As a former season ticket holder, I still have the letter from former coach M.L. Carr apologizing for the performance of the team in his last season as coach. But after a change of ownership and what was believed to be controversial personnel changes by general manager – and former player – Danny Ainge, the Celtics are back in the NBA finals, and back against the Lakers.

Go Celtics! I’ll be cheering along with the throngs of Boston fans here in the Windy City. Though it’s a different Big 3 in Pierce, Garnett and Allen, we are confident and hopeful against a once-again formidable opponent.

Diversions • (3) Comments • Permalink

Do you think about brands? You probably do but don’t realize it. If you are looking for a Starbucks for example, when you see one you know coffee is close at hand. Or maybe you see a sign for the mobile phone provider you just moved away from and you have a negative thought, only to be replaced by a happy one when you see a sign for your new mobile phone provider.

The elements of the brand – the logo and its design, colors and the products and services behind it – are supposed to have an effect on us. But what is that effect? This is the idea behind the Brand Tags project.

Noah Brier, a strategist and one of the 2 people behind likemind, created this Web site with a simple premise – display a brand, and then enter the first word that comes to mind when you see it. These words are the tags that represent people’s thoughts and feeling on a brand.

Anyone can visit the site and try it – you don’t have to be a marketing guru to do so. You can use it anonymously or create a login and track the tags you have entered. Interestingly, I found many of the tags I assigned to a brand tend to repeat themselves. There are many common terms that I have tagged to brand (e.g. old, tasty), and others that are probably unique to me (e.g. cities where I visited the merchant).

Give Brand Tags a try and let me know what you think... besides the fact it can be addictive.

Business • (0) Comments • Permalink

Several years ago on a business trip to Amsterdam, I was offered a book by the hotel I was staying at. The book was about the hotel and area where I was staying, and I gladly accepted it and it sat on my bookshelf until now. So why would I keep such a book? Now I know.

The book is titled “Be Our Guest! All about Jan Toebaxman, Holland and the Dutch.” The hotel I stayed in was called the Golden Tulip Jan Tabak – Golden Tulip is a hotel chain and Jan Tabak is a version of the name Jan Toebaxman, or Joe Tobaccoman in English. It tells the story about the original hotel built near the site back in the 1600’s, as well as the story of the innkeeper and the region where it is outside of Amsterdam.

Did I have any takeaways from this 47-page book? Of course! My greatest takeaway is that there are stories to be told. From stories of individuals to families to businesses and cities, there are surely many stories never documented in some form, and thus lost over the generations. It is not until years later this is usually found, and the recreation of the stories from other stories takes some great effort. Telling a story, no matter how small, adds to the conversation of life and society.

Another takeaway is you can sell through telling your story. If I had more time on that trip this book pointed out small towns and sights to see in those towns. The book itself had little mention about the present-day hotel itself, but in selling on the area, it would be top of mind to stay at this hotel if I wanted to visit this area again.

A final takeaway is receiving this book was unexpected. The only other hotel I have been in that had a book or story of any kind was a Marriott hotel, where I found a copy of the Marriott family and hotel chain story. This was years ago, and I don’t even know if they distribute the books in hotel rooms anymore. Usually the “reading materials” in a hotel room are sales pitches or the Gideons Bible, and some hotels don’t offer the latter anymore. This book was a pleasant surprise, even though it took a while for me to read it.

As I pass along a book after I read it, I will send this book to the first person who posts a comment stating they would like it. Don’t leave your address, as I will email you outside of the blog for it. And there’s no obligation to visit The Netherlands either, though I highly recommend it. The hotel is still there, but is now NH Jan Tabak.

Book Take-Aways • Diversions • (2) Comments • Permalink

Diversions • (1) Comments • Permalink

A colleague of mine is hoping to take an ASP.NET class in Chicago from June 3 to 6, 2008. The class only needs 2 people to take place, and so far he is the only person enrolled. As he is coming into the Windy City to take this class, he asked me to promote this in hopes of finding someone to take the class.

If this is something of interest to you, please contact me by posting a comment here at The Hot Iron and I will contact you off the blog. If this is not something of interest, please pass along if you know someone who may be interested in the training.

Thanks in advance, and I hope the power of the blogs can support my colleague!

Technology • (3) Comments • Permalink