In the good old days of TV--you produce a sitcom or show of some kind--bring in a studio audience and put up Applause signs and hoped they laughed. A lot of gut instinct stuff here in the creative decision-making. Move in to the 1990's aka Home Improvemen t where you produced a show--performed it for an audience and "tested" how many times they laughed, etc. Make adjustments to the script based on the "test-market" audience response--perhaps tweak it again, then air the version that got the most laughs. Forward to today--create a huge marketplace online with millions of customers--mine their data for all it's worth, interests, purchases, etc. Now, create TV-style content "targeted" to that built in audience. Welcome Big Data influence in a not-so-long-ago "gut instinct" creative business. Thats what the folks are up to at Amazon.com for the Prime Members patrons. Quoting from the Wall Street Journal... " Amazon's ...

We've all heard how important customer service is for competing and growing your business. Everyone promotes the fact that their "customer service" is the best, etc--but what you and I may view as "customer service"--may be viewed differently by your actual customer as "standard operating procedure". The problem may be lost in translation so to speak. That's why it's important as we get to know our customers--to find out what they value as important, exceptional, etc. What are their expectations? It may be as simple as asking what they enjoy. What they like to do on the weekends, their "off" time, etc. Chances are...other customers may feel the same way--but we just never asked. Particularly when your competition maybe offering them something that you're not. Many companies' offer follow up phone call survey's to gage how the customer "felt" about the service they received after a purchase or visit....

WANTED: Candidate with the following traits: Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean & Reverent Whenever you make a move--one of the toughest decisions to make, is what do you keep--and what do you toss? Having made a downsize and move four months ago--I was cleaning out my closet, when hanging in the back--behind several shirts and old suits--was my Boy Scout shirt from 1973. It still had a small burn hole in one sleeve from a renegade spark from a campfire. A flood of memories came as I held it out and remembered my struggle to get Eagle, the Boy Scouts highest award of achievement. My father was our scoutmaster--and an Eagle scout. My brother who was two years ahead of me--and he got Eagle.  Now the pressure was on for me to get Eagle.  When I was thirteen--my father built a balance beam and pull-up bar in the basement for Personal Fitness merit badge. I had to track exerci...

We really didn't hear boo so much....mainly movement, thumps and stomps...much like a kid having a temper tantrum...except when my neighbor told me about hearing a deep voice...now, that was scary! It was just twenty years ago this night...that the body of Mrs. Simmons was found in the piano loft--with gardeners shears stuck in her throat. ..(Mr. Kelsy, the gardner--The Ghost & Mr. Chicken) I always loved watching Don Knotts in the Ghost & Mr. Chicken. I remember seeing it at one of AMC''s first theaters--a drive in theatre called the Leawood Drive In, located where the upscale community of Hallbrook stands today in Kansas City. Never did I dream that I would actually live in a haunted house. But after my experiences--I never was afraid of tackling anything at work or my personal life.  It started in my junior year at Abilene Christian in Abilene, Texas. My roommate and I rented a corner bedroom of a three bed, two bath house about a bloc...