Reactivating our moral compass

It is funny how suddenly a theme will assert itself into ones consciousness. Years, eight years in fact, life has gone along with the day-to-day focus on survival, and then in the span of a few weeks a new theme inserts itself, wedging a spot between acquisition and self-promotion.

The first was a conversation, now moot, between two women, one in her 50s supporting Hillary, the other in her 30s supporting Obama. The question was experience, and the younger woman’s parting comment, “well at least he has a moral compass to guide him”.

The second was less civil. It was a quote in the Hartford Courant from our police chief, “We have lost our moral compass”, when an elderly man, returning from a late afternoon trip to the grocery store, was left injured on the street, a hit and run victim. Neither motorists nor pedestrians offered any assistance.

The third was last weekend having dinner with my father, a world war 2 hero, a man who has spent his life working for the greater good. We were discussing the war in Iraq. “Of course it was just for the oil, we needed it”, he stated. Excuse me. This time the words went off in my head. When did it become ok to invade a country because we covet their natural resources?

Perhaps eight years of inertia really are enough to drain the battery in our moral compass, without which we are truly lost.

Corporate Tweets

On my drive up to Maine last night, I was listening to TWiT, one of my fav tech podcasts (Leo, I'm a chick and I listen!), and they kept coming back to twitter, as everyone does.

I'll assume all three people who read this blog know what Twitter is...140 characters of continuous connection. The new zeitgeist meter. And like the best internet innovations, a single vital piece of infrastructure. It is the first mobile broadcast medium, keeping you connected with your followers, in real time across multiple devices. When you hit "Update", your message goes to everyone who has subscribed. So simple.

To really see the implications of this, imagine Miley Cyrus posting daily updates on her favorite store, restaurants, clothes. Or a Presidential candidate.

People ask me why use Twitter. Until recently, it had been good for finding parties at SXSW. But in the last few months, more useful applications are beginning to surfacing.

LA Fire Department
www.twitter.com/LAFD
Of course it started with the CA forest fires, now the LAFD uses twitter to post info about what it is busy responding to. The messages are posted out to your device of choice: computer, blackberry, cell phone. Handy if you're in the rapid response business...

Comcast
http://twitter.com/comcastcares
Comcast's new approach to customer service...

JetBlue
http://twitter.com/JetBlue
These guys are trying lots of things. Giveaways, flight delay alerts, promotion of new routes...

Why use Twitter? Conversation, real time, with your customers.

Post Earth Day thoughts

Earth Day and the Butterfly Effect go pretty much hand-in-hand in my mind. It is the little small changes we have made, or not made, that have gotten us where we are today. Always true of course.

As a child of the 70's I remember the first gas shortage. 30 years later it seems like there have been alot of small actions that could have created a healthier outcome. Brian Baird's green rebate strategy encouraging citizens to go green with money from the economic stimulus package, could be one of those small individual actions that has a greater effect.