Bell - A Communication Company That Can't Communicate With Their Communicators!

I recently acquired a Blackberry, through a family plan on the Bell network. After the first billing cycle, we realized that my plan was not appropriate for my needs. After two weeks of further investigation, attaining information through their Web site, store, and customer service line, we were ready to make a change.

The last consultant we spoke to (at the store location) informed us that when a decision was reached, then we could come back to the store and make changes with the staff members. This past Friday my mother and I went to do just that. It was to our surprise and disappointment that we were told any plan changes needed to made through the customer service line only. The Web site as well as the store were not equipped to handle any plan change requests. Instead of leaving the store and using my cell to call and make the changes, we asked the clerk if he could contact customer service on our behalf, and assist in guiding us in making the right choices.

He called - we sat, and sat and sat. Twenty minutes of listening to Bells hold messaging goes by, all the while the clerk is apologizing for the lack in service and confusion of procedure. We ended up leaving to make the call on our own.

The entertaining aspect of this story is that once the call was made from home, it was picked up right away - and a plan change took effect immediately. Does this mean that Bell was intentionally avoiding a call from their store clerk? Another interesting detail of the story is that when we were waiting for our call to be picked up at the store location, I noticed a huge flat screen TV mounted as a wall display. I said to the clerk humorously " You should at least have something on the television for us to watch while we are waiting" and he replied "We just got a new great satellite system installed, but we can't get it to work".

I guess in this situation it would be unreasonable to expect him to recite anything from Bell's official customer service statement:

"Delight.Yes, delight. Simply put, that’s our mission: To delight you with the products, services and customer support that we provide to you every day.It’s more than just talk. It comes with a commitment. Here it is:
We will bring you outstanding products and services that can help you in your daily life;
We will strive to provide you with the products and services that you want;
We will remember that technology can be fun, and excite you with creative and useful new product innovations;
We will strive to ensure that pricing information is presented clearly;
We will be helpful and courteous in your dealings with us;
We will strive to be accessible to you through the medium of your choice, whether it be online, in-store or by phone.

-

I think they need a new writer. I would like to suggest a slogan such as "Bell - we can't make it work either". I could find some delight in that.

World Vision - How Do You Get My Goat?

I'm sure that most of you are familiar with the World Vision projects involving the giving of goats, and such other farm stuffs, as gifts to developing and underpriveledged areas around the world. When I received the gift guide this year, I thumbed through it, and a puzzling question came to mind. Where do these goats come from? Yes it sounds silly and naive at first, but if you think about it, it must be pretty difficult to organize these goats. The booklet informs readers that whenever possible, gifts are purchased locally.

Some questions that come to mind;

- If there is a huge goat order, how do they cover the goat quota?

- Are there backup World Vision goat farms?

- Can goats be substituted?

- If the local farms are short three goats, are they shipped in?

- How much does it cost to ship three goats?

- Does World Vision have their own goat farmers for this project?

- What happens if a bunch of the goats die? do they get different goats?

- Who pays for the goat shipping?

- Why is there a need to organize the getting of goats in the first place?

- Is there goat wheeling and dealing going on?

- Is goat now a currency?

I guess what I am trying to say is that the whole process doesn't make sense to me. They say the goats are bought locally, but if the entire area is in need and so desperate for goats in the first place, then who is this corporate goat farmer twiddling his fingers in anticipation behind barn doors? There is a large variety of livestock to choose from. How on earth do they organize all of this - especially in areas that a drought, famined and at a loss for goats to begin with?

Its a wonderful idea, and seems successful if taken metaphorically. However, the booklet is specific. If they say you are buying a goat for someone, then a goat they shall have. But at what cost comes this goat? Maybe they would be better off just handing over the time and money it takes to organize this program, into the village immediately - extreme drought makeover style.

I am aware that the gig is a marketing concept, and an effective one I am sure. People would love to say they bought a fuzzy bunny, porky piggy or chirpy chicky to aid in World Vision efforts. It is unfortunate for us that we need this gimmick to entice people to do so.

PhotoMAtography

I have decided to add a new skill to my resume.

Photomatographer

Definition: Photographer mom whose professional goal is to portray mothers, and motherly type women, in a light that invokes their inner beauty,strength and personality.

Don't go look that up in the dictionary, yet... I am the proud founder of this new profession. It was through a class assignment that I discovered my talent. I took these beautiful and enlightening pictures of two gorgeous women in my class. Meg is a 45 year old single mother, and Jen is a 34 year puppy mommy. The original pictures were great, but after tinkering with them in photoshop, I felt as though I had come up with something special. They were taken with a half broken cheap-o city digital camera. You don't need and expensive camera when you know how to use photoshop.

Here then, are the first additions to my line of photoMAtography. Any of you mommies our there wanna join the club, then lets make it happen! Social Media Moms profile pics will have never looked so good! But I bet I know what you are thinking now; the secret's out- I'm a pro photoshopper, and perhaps that is why my picture does not portray that of a 33 year old tired as hell mother of three. Well...

GAWD..! (napoleon dynamite styles)

TAG - You're Fired!

Over the past semester, I have come to realize the underestimated importance of networks and reputation. As Public Relations Professionals, we are trained to identify that the reputation of our organization is the key component of managing a successful communications plan, as well as an invaluable tool in gaining the highest rate of return on our efforts. If we are able to have a favourable and trusted reputation from our audiences and clients, then the likelihood of them accepting our ideas and products (as well as there support of us in times of distress) is dramatically increased. As I have been taught this way of strategic thinking, I have also learned it from experience.

The whole idea of "six degrees of separation" is a completely true and important concept to understand and respect. Throughout projects, internship opportunities and colleagues, it has been repeatedly made obvious that connections I made ten years ago are coming back into play for my life today. Working as a Graphic Designer, I experienced many different affiliations with clients, suppliers and co-workers. I have been able to use these past connections to assist me through objectives and opportunities today. I am thankful now that I established good working relationships and kept a professional and pleasant attitude - even after disconnecting from these people. Because I have done that, I have pulled resources and experience references from people I knew almost ten years ago.

I would like to post a few quotes that are so desperately true. I think these guys knew what they were talking about - as they have a great reputation for knowing what they are talking about!

“One can survive everything nowadays, except death, and live down anything, except a good reputation.” - Oscar Wilde

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.” - Warren Buffett

“You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.” - Henry Ford

“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” - Socrates

“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it” - Benjamin Frankin

It is especially important that we heed these warnings in today's online communities. Everything we say, do and pose for is potentially available for the whole world to view. Gone are the days of flashing your chest at a party or being the drunk guy passed out in a puddle of urine. There is no longer a place where "what happens here, stays here". Any camera, cell phone or techie doodad is a potential enemy. Any picture or video could end up in your bosses or clients inbox - now or ten years from now!

Does this mean to stay home and hide? No, it just means that you can no longer hide your shameful activity. Don't do anything you don't want everyone to know about or see. Hopefully the age of the Internet and social media will bring about a more civilized, polite and courteous society - skeletons will be out of the closet and posted on the Web!

Technological Toys are Killing Christmas!

Christmas time is just around the corner - and let me tell you, I cant afford Christmas! Technology is fantastic. Bells, whistles, doodads and thingermawhats, robot kitty poo cleaners and computer camera phones. Great!

Not so great - my kids want all of it. Well maybe not the litter robot - that's on my wish list. My seven year old daughter is the main concern here. Her Christmas list consists of the Wii, a Nintendo DSI, video games, and a few other things I haven't heard of. I could spend the whole Christmas budget on just one kid. The other younger ones are after sixty dollar talking monkeys and elephants, as well as jumping on the video game band wagon - just because they see the older one playing. Gone are the days of ripping open a million presents filled with socks and underwear, and a few dolls and stuffed animals.

So how do you handle this at Christmas? I have tried a few scenarios with the girls..

Me:"All of those presents are too expensive for Santa"

Angie:" What do you mean, they are free - the elves make them"

Me: "If Santa gives you all of these gifts, he wont have any toys left for your sisters"

Angie: Why not, the elves make toys all year"

Me: "The parts for the toys are too expensive, and Santa can't afford to make them all"

Angie: "What do you mean, the elves don't buy parts, they make them with their tools!"

OK, so I have a sneaking suspicion that the toy and gadget producers are wise to this idea. How do we combat this? If we are not able to afford the bazillions of gadgets that our children (and friends and family) so desperately want, are we forced to divulge the Christmas secret, in order to avoid Christmas morning disappointment and heartbreak? Will Santa vanish because we simply can't afford him?

This is a job for Social Media Moms! Our first conjoined effort should be to regulate the advertising of expensive toys before the holiday season. Advertisements should be strategically placed during older children's and adult television shows - after the little ones go to bed. We should be able to decide our own Christmas wish lists - not the corporations who want our hard earned money. Corporate Scrooges, beware of Social Media Moms!

Use your Backbone!

I don't mean that to be interpreted metaphorically, but instead as a true statement - in relation to the new information I have acquired.

I have just arrived home from my first visit to the chiropractor to check out some serious neck pain I've been having. I am no stranger to the chiropractor, but it has been years since I have last been. I am experiencing reoccurring issues in regards to the mobility of my neck and upper back - resulting in extreme pain and a basic lock down of my entire back. This has affected my life dramatically. Although I find this happens most in times of great stress, it can also happen for no apparent reason. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and cant turn my head to look at the alarm clock.

It was under assumption that I decided that the pain was due to a simple neck kink, chill from and open window or a strain (from heavy school bags) during the day. After assessment from the chiropractor, I was surprised to learn that the issues are most likely due to damaged and underdeveloped muscles in my spine.The cause of this damage has been relentless throughout the years. Lifting children, bags, groceries, and bad falls from the backs of horses. At 16, I fell from my horse and landed on a rock - fracturing a vertebrae and slipping a disk. Sounds scary, but I received chiropractic therapy for months and months, to correct my injuries. The therapy ended and I thought I was in "all better land". Fast forward 17 years, and I am back at square one.

Through asking questions and engaging with my chiropractor, I have been given insight into new discoveries made about spinal muscles. It turns out that muslces through the spine do not behave in the same way as our other muscle systems. When muscles are damaged or degraded, they normally are able to repair themselves after the underlying condition or injury is corrected. However, spinal muscles are lazy and remain in their deteriorated state until (and if ) they are specifically targeted with rehabilitation exercises. So all of my efforts to repair injury at age 16, did not send my spinal muscles back to their original healthy condition. Instead, they have deteriorated further (through normal stress and strain) and their weakened condition has cause my spine to twist and my hips to sit on a pivot.

There is a light at the end of this tunnel. Thankfully I have met this chiropractor, who is going to fix me up through correction and rehabilitation. I will have to "use my backbone" literally and metaphorically. Physiotherapy will target my spinal muscles to rebuild strength. It won't be easy work, but Ill put my back into it! 21 month old - I will lift again!

2012 - Doomsday or Re-birth?

Have the makers of the the 2012 Doomsday movie actually done any research into the background of the prophecy? The reality of the the Mayan calendar, and its prophecies, has nothing to do with the end of the world. That is only an assumption made by drama hungry interpreters and glory seeking producers and sellers.

The truth behind the idea is not that of the world ending. It was just the ending of a time, in which we would consider a calendar year. The Mayan had the same idea as us, with the seasons and so on - but their timeline was super extended. They considered every season to be a re-birth of the world. Seasons were millenniums - and when examined, dates do in fact coincide with huge changes and advancements in our culture. So, at the end of the year does our time end and we all explode? No - it is a new beginning, a fresh start or re-birth of mankind. The same as New Years is to us every year.

If there should be some sort of huge change - we should embrace it. Maybe it will be what saves our planet rather than destroys it.

Perhaps it will be another cultural advance. Our children will finally learn, and implement, the lessons that we have not. Society can move from money hungry and bottom line driven, to a more co-operative culture that "gets it". Our world will come to an end, and it will be us - not a calendar - that causes it. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO BE GREEN!

That is what the Mayans should have carved in stone.