ChemArt Blog

19 May

Debby Loves….Stepping into the 21st century

Posted by DebParkinson in Corporate Culture | Tags :business tools, facebook, iPod, Kindle, linkedin, Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, social media, twitter | No Comments

This is not about time travel, although that would be fun! Imagine being at the Sistine Chapel as Michelangelo was creating a masterpiece, or being a pioneer as the country moved “Westward Ho!”

It’s about change………….. in personal practice, and business tools.

I’m a product of the original me-generation. A boomer who believed I could have it all. A strong type-A personality, I realized early on that if I didn’t set limits for myself, I would always be “working” and/or always playing with the newest gadgets that were coming out.

Through that moderation I have come to appreciate the nuances of change that have moved us from the 20^th century into the 21^st. We’ve moved from the transistor radio to the Walkman to the iPod; from the wall phone to wireless to cell to the 3G products today; and we’ve moved from books to the Kindle™ and newspapers to on-line information.

Our personal lives are no longer quite as personal. We tweet, friend people and link-in. Last century we wrote letters, followed by sending the occasional card, e-mail. Now we post, we blog and we on-line shop, bank and pay bills. We debit and credit. It’s quite a busy and active schedule to just keep communicating.

In business the practice has moved from the all too famous “push strategy“to the “pull strategy” – a huge improvement in the way businesses interact with each other. Rather than selling the product for the sake of filling the space, we rely on placement and sell through. And the most important change in business is the advantage of speaking with and engaging the end-user to share an experience rather than espousing the benefits of speaking at the audience.

I strongly believe and support the concept of social media which today can create a community, engage customers and end-users to share knowledge, suggest improvements, and speak candidly about their experiences. Companies who are open to this concept see a new dimension of loyalty. As advocates these groups help to persuade and impact decision making. It creates and army of advocates who speak out on behalf of a specific product, company culture, or program.

I confess that I am not the most adept at these new connections. But I am getting more and more engaged and encourage others to do likewise. To stand in the 20^th century and look forward is just fantasy. To stand in the 21^st century and look back isn’t looking in the rear view mirror; rather it’s looking at how far we’ve come.

On a personal level, I will likely never be as transparent as some of my friends and acquaintances – my personality. But on a business level, it’s time to create that transparency that shows customers, competitors and colleagues the metal of the organization. No better way than to openly engage this audience – our customers – in useful and constructive dialog.

The century is ahead of us. Let’s make it exciting!

12 May

150th Anniversary of the Pony Express – Evolution of Communication

Posted by Lee Rush in News | Tags :communication, facebook, Internet, Pony Express, telephone, television, twitter | No Comments

Ornament celebrating the Pony Express 150th anniversary

On April 3, 1860, a lone rider left on horseback from the gates of one of the nation’s most historic landmarks, the Pikes Peak Stables in St. Joseph, Missouri. Carrying saddlebags filled with our nation’s hopes and dreams, the riders traveled 2000 miles west to Sacramento, California. These brave young souls raced against nature’s cruel elements and rugged terrain in an attempt to unite a country separated by distance.

The National Pony Express Association will conduct its annual Re-Ride over the 1,966 mile route of the Pony Express National Historic Trail from California to Missouri, June 6 to 26, 2010. The event commemorates the Pony Express of 1860-1861 and will mark the 150th Anniversary of the Pony Express.

This gives me pause to reflect on just how far person to person communication has come since then. Below is a chart to reflect the major innovations in communications:

1861	United States starts the Pony Express for mail delivery.
1867	American, Sholes the first successful and modern typewriter.
1876	Thomas Edison patents the mimeograph – an office copying machine. Alexander Graham Bell patents the electric telephone.
1877	Thomas Edison patents the phonograph – with a wax cylinder as recording medium. Eadweard Muybridge invents high speed photography – creating first moving pictures that captured motion.
1887	Emile Berliner invents the gramophone – a system of recording which could be used over and over again.
1888	George Eastman patents Kodak roll film camera.
1889	Almon Strowger patents the direct dial telephone or automatic telephone exchange.
1898	First telephone answering machines.
1899	Valdemar Poulsen invents the first magnetic recordings – using magnetized steel tape as recording medium – the foundation for both mass data storage on disk and tape and the music recording industry.
1910	Thomas Edison demonstrated the first talking motion picture.
1914	First cross continental telephone call made.
1916	First radios with tuners – different stations.
1923	The television or iconoscope (cathode-ray tube) invented by Vladimir Kosma Zworykin – first television camera.
1926	Warner Brothers Studios invented a way to record sound separately from the film on large disks and synchronized the sound and motion picture tracks upon playback – an improvement on Thomas Edison’s work.
1927	NBC starts two radio networks. CBS founded. Warner Brothers releases “The Jazz Singer” the first successful talking motion picture.
1930	Radio popularity spreads with the “Golden Age” of radio. First television broadcasts in the United States. Movietone system of recording film sound on an audio track right on the film invented.
1934	Joseph Begun invents the first tape recorder for broadcasting – first magnetic recording.
1944	Computers like Harvard’s Mark I put into public service – government owned – the age of Information Science begins.
1948	Long playing record invented – vinyl and played at 33 rpm. Transistor invented – enabling the miniaturization of electronic devices.
1951	Computers are first sold commercially.
1963	Zip codes invented in the United States.
1966	Xerox invents the Telecopier – the first successful fax machine.
1971	The computer floppy disc invented. The microprocessor invented – considered a computer on a chip.
1969		ARPANET – the first Internet started.
1972	HBO invents pay-TV service for cable.
1976	Apple I home computer invented. First nationwide programming – via satellite and implemented by Ted Turner.
1979	First cellular phone communication network started in Japan..
1980	Sony Walkman invented.
1981	IBM PC first sold. First laptop computers sold to public. Computer mouse becomes regular part of computer.
1983	Time magazines names the computer as “Man of the Year.” First cellular phone network started in the United States.
1984	Apple Macintosh released. IBM PC AT released.
1985	Cellular telephones in cars become wide-spread. CD-ROMs in computers.
1992	First text message sent via cell phone
1994	American government releases control of internet and WWW is born – making communication at lightspeed.
1997	Email becomes the primary form of communication AOL Instant Messenger is created
1999	LiveJournal, the precursor to modern blogs, was invented
2005	YouTube was created by three former PayPal employees
2006	Twitter is launched
2007	Facebook is launched as a means of connecting Harvard classmates