The world will be a better place

It's easy to be cynical about kids, especially today, with so much leisure, so much wealth, so much freedom. I worry about it with my own kids. My daughter is 12 and twin boys will be 10 soon. You wonder when (and if) they will become productive members of society.

This weekend I experienced two things that gave me the greatest hope for the next generation.

1. Our suburban city, Kentwood, held an all-school art festival. What a treat of commitment, creativity, and promise! Art that you instinctively kept you hands off because you knew it was special. And adored not just for the impact of the art, but for the kid who created it.

2. The region's Girl Scouts held a large award ceremony yesterday. About 200 girls from 11 to 18 were honored with Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards. My daughter received her Bronze Award. This time the kids were right there in front of you. So casual about what they had done--they don't know any different. Helping others and learning are ways of life...already...to these girls.

While I give them my adoration, I also feel humbled by my lack of idealism and effort, both for myself and the community. They've already surging ahead, ready to make the world a better place by their actions and their inspiration to others.

B2B Content 2.0: Video

Someone posted a link to an 'interesting' B2B video in my comments yesterday. It was boring. It wasn't useful. The formal staging was awkward. And it had only garnered about 40 views according to the web service hosting it.

Okay, it was an attempt at a thought-leader interview, and not true B2B content, but it got me thinking: This crap won't fly anymore.

Video is easy now, but getting it right is hard.

I suspect that video will be the next great content for B2B marketing, but only for those who understand it and can execute it correctly.

Like blogging, video now needs to be personal, edgy, and entertaining. For companies used to staging beautiful ads, brochures, or websites, this becomes a reality check. Video will be even more attractive than blogging is to business, but I don't know if they'll be able to pull it off.

Study these:

• Will it blend: A great example of a product demonstration, done by the CEO of the company. He doesn't say much, does he?
• Modern Blues Harmonica (lessons): Adam Gussow shoots his lessons at home, the office, or in his car. He limits the subject matter and watches the time. He doesn't talk down, but he doesn't assume too much. (And he'll be the guy who gets me past 'the dip' of skill I have right now.)

They aren't B2B, but this is what is effective. This is what people are willing to watch on the Internet. Watch them--Put your product in place of the blender. Put your thought-leader in place of Adam. Can you pull it off? I think we'll need to figure out how.

B2Blogging for five years!

As I was reminded earlier this week, today starts my fifth year blogging. That's a long time! So I thought a little 'state of the blog' ramble was in order to mark the occasion.

I've been frustrated by a slower pace of posts I've been making the last few months. Most of the change of pace I attribute to my deepening involvement in projects and tasks that absorb my attention. I've found 'flow', which is nice, but it comes with a cost.

Flow was one of the elements I found hardest to achieve as I transitioned away from my sales responsibilities. Time was that multi-tasking was one of my greatest skills, hopping from the phone, to the computer, to harassing engineering. And blogging fit right in. Now I have to work harder at it.

One of my original goals was to discuss the impact of the internet on B2B marketing. This impact has come to maturity in many ways, limiting the number of strategic 'what ifs' that need to be discussed. Google rules, Thomas has ditched their green books, etc. But there are a ton of tactical applications that we could still discuss.

I love focusing on tactics, and that's why I continue to discuss directories, salespeople, websites, and trade shows. We, as marketers, need to keep vigilant with these resources, ensuring they are what we want, and are doing what we expect.

Bloglines puts my subscriber number at 188, which I double in my head to guess at the total number of subscribers. This blog has hit a critical mass, I think, where almost every post garners at least one comment from a reader, something that was much, much rarer even a year ago. Unfortunately, Blogger and RSS don't work to show comments to those using an RSS reader/service. I encourage you, if you like a post I wrote, to click-thru to read or post comments.

B2Blog is a vital part of my life, even when I'm not posting. While I write 'for myself', I'm encouraged and humbled by your readership. I'm thrilled when you email me, or post comments.

Thanks to you, all my readers.

Moving a show: Its a gamble

What to do when your show/event is down in traffic and booked-space? Move? Thats a big gamble. And great place to take a gamble is in Vegas, where the Apex Show is moving, according to Circuits Assembly magazine:

"The Apex/IPC Printed Circuits Expo trade show will relocate to Las Vegas in 2008, show producer IPC said Monday. In a letter to exhibitors, IPC said the combination of a 12% drop in attendance coupled with an apparent distaste for the Los Angeles Convention Center factored heavily into the decision."

Having been to the LACC before, I'd agree the location is not ideal for a 'national' show. Probably great for local shows, where on/off the freeway is more important than hotels & restaurants. Apex will be paying a $750,000 penalty for bailing on their 2008 contract, but will boost booth-space rental in Vegas by $4 a square foot to make up the cost. That's $400 more for a 10x10 booth.

Personally, I've never seen a show benefit from moving, unless they are outgrowing previous sites. Now everyone is going to bitch about the high cost of booth-space instead of the location. Oh, and they might bitch about the location on top of the high cost. Apex's news release says that shows moving to Vegas average a 21% increase in attendance, so maybe I'm wrong to be cynical.

Will the attendees follow the show? Will the exhibitors? It's a gamble!

Thomas tries to 'convert' engineers

ThomasNet's newsletter announced a new units conversion tool you can download free.

A great idea, something that engineers need and covet. Just the thing to keep the TN brand in front of engineers.

The tool is a little edgy in that is is a Windows Vista "Gadget", which I found confusing, having never heard of such a thing. But its a great idea to hit their target audience, at least those with Vista (and we all will, sooner or later).

Web design: stolen property?

There aren't many industrial folks blogging about their business. That's why I happily subscribed to QC Industries' blog. Mostly show news, new products, etc. It was quite a surprise to find a post titled: They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery with this interesting news:

"Don’t get me wrong, we’re flattered that someone liked our website enough to copy it. But this site isn’t a template we bought somewhere and repurposed for our needs; it was built from the ground up by our internal web design/development team. We spent countless hours and cups of coffee to build a custom site that met the unique needs of QC Industries and its customers."

Yep, their website design got ripped. And Chris Thompson from QC was bold enough to complain about it publicly. There are a number of comments that come from web designers (or college students) who don't think anything horrible happened, basically saying that there is nothing truly unique about the website.

Go take a look. What do you think? What would you do?

Why? It's time, that's why.

I am starting the process to rebuild our company website. It's interesting that when I've told a couple people, they replied with "Why?"

I was stumped for an answer. The plan is to lift the existing content and put it on a new chassis. There will be some tweaks, some navigational improvements. But really, what they were asking was right, in a way. The current site is effective and serviceable. Certainly if someone wants to try to corner me on ROI, I couldn't do it.

The best answer I could come up with is this: Re-doing a website is like buying a new car. You love the old one and it is reliable enough. But at a certain point, the old one seems old. To you, and to those around you. Car fever ensues.

A step forward in technology, efficiency, and style looks expensive, but worth it. A modern website is a reflection of a modern company. That's why salespeople get car allowances. And that's why I am taking this step. It's time, that's why.