Lessons Learned

There ain't nuthin' like the real world when it comes to providing reality checks, is what I'm learning.

The coffee shop venue connotes meetings for business, minus tight scheduling, so no matter what time you show up, 24/7 if its staffed for all time zones, you would hope to find a quiet venue for some serious negotiations, no competing sound track, suspenseful or otherwise.

Venues like Good Foot and Back Space to some degree, sequester or segregate (not a bad word in this context).

Maybe there's a loud music venue for those needing to unwind and/or various caves for video game playing etc. (sometimes with headphones). The business class set, on the clock and/or on Skype to the home office, is not at all bothered by all the commotion in some bat cave, out of sight if not mind.

Small venues that don't have the floorspace to accommodate these diverse uses in parallel (simultaneously), may take a more sequential approach (asynchronous), using the LCDs to effectively display when "quiet time" will be over, when karaoke is set to commence. Art galleries may feature loud music only once or twice a month. Libraries may never.

In sum, I'm not about promising free strippers and drugs in every venue (it's not mine to give the blue light in most cases), but in other venues, that's sometimes what's on the menu. Or perhaps you've got bar credits thanks to your stellar world game playing, so technically the goods are more in trade than for free. Your mileage may vary.

Some coffee bars cater to minors, others don't. The TV-rating system applies, not only to the stage magic, but to what goes to the LCDs (if they've got any).

The ambient culture has only a few paradigms (templates, grammars) to blend from. Following Python as a model, an eclectic computer language, we're free to pick and choose ("cherry picking" is a sin when doing statistics, but not when collecting antiques or memorabilia, art works, examples of esoteric crafts).

You've got the tavern, sports bar, coffee shop, video arcade, art gallery, strip club, country club, eating club, gift shop, TV studio, science museum, public eatery, inn, bed & breakfast, back office, library, VIP lounge... Victorian salon.

Branding in this phase space requires serious attention to your market niche, and that means having a clear sense of your clientèle.

You can't be all things to all people, nor should you even set out to please in this direction. If you're attracting young families with children, maybe you want a play area, for kids who wish to escape adult conversation. Portland has its share of brew pubs working this model and doing a good job of it.

Clear markings on the doorway aimed at scaring off the complainers, who won't like what they find, is a proprietor's responsibility, as well as a kindness to customers. People who weren't warned often feel justified in acting offended. Learn your community codes and post the relevant warnings (e.g. no minors permitted), not just enticements. Use eye candy to repel, not just attract.

Don't pretend your welcome mat applies equally to everyone. Be gracious with tourists however, as that's how to increase your fan base, should such be your goal. Establishments with no protocol for serving first timers, customers semi-innocent of a shop's culture, are likely to whither on the vine through attrition. Having too many people packed into a confined space is in itself a disincentive (a turn off), not to mention a red flag for the fire marshal.

It all boils down to truth in advertising. Give a clear sense of what you deliver at your venue, and then deliver it, consistently, whatever your secret sauce (value added). If you attract too large a crowd, don't be shy about throttling back on promotion. There is such a thing as too much advertising (also called over-exposure).

A Coffee Shop Show

:: shot out ::

:: photo shoot ::

:: cooler than you ::

artwork by James

Traitor Joe's?

[Note: the last time I talked to a Greenpeace spokesman I was told Trader Joe's had complied with Greenpeace requests and no boycott was any longer being encouraged. I'm fine with shopping at Trader Joe's myself these days, after refraining for well over a year -- KTU on Feb 2, 2011]

I've been getting a lot of questions about this, more in the mail today, and my answer is always pretty much the same: as CMO, I don't dictate to shops about sources, about vendors.

I'll state my own preferences and practices, with showcase shops backing up that it works (i.e. I walk my talk), but it's in the spirit of competition i.e. you might show me, against all odds, that your mix of vendors is of CSN caliber. Hats off to ya then! (a willing gesture of admiration and respect -- not edict-enforced by naked emperor types).

On the philosophy circuit, I've been suggesting a Politics of the Organs series of publications, looking at how people have changed their discourse about guts a lot. The brain has become really important since its "air conditioner for the blood" career (some truth in that, however metaphoric). Remember how the pituitary gland used to be core in philosophy? Or was it the neighboring pineal?

Anyway, you get the picture. Phrenology was a harbinger of modern day brain talk, even if only a quack science in large degree (it might have helped spread the use of helmets, some other beneficial side effect, so don't expect a long rant from me against such a dead-already horse -- life is short).

Having a book circle meet in your shop would be excellent, thinking of Laughing Horse here in Portland for example, where some of us go sometimes, also In Other Words on Killingsworth, where I represented as CMO for this network.

If they sit there with Kindles or like devices, toted in tote bags, riding on bicycles, we wouldn't diss them for that. Street youth have smarts sometimes, weren't all just born yesterday even if they look like it sometimes.

Anyway, back to my original point, go ahead and shop at Trader Joe's, without fear of any reprimands from me. I go to Fred Meyer's (a Kroger chain) even where others are boycotting out of principle. I enjoy free spirited debate across these kinds of lines.

That's all Congress is doing, getting paid to do it, professionally. I'm envious.

I often think about public figures with some sense of awe and appreciation, as I would about star NFL players if I were really into NFL (sorry guys -- but I do get it sometimes, like the half time thing (including Ms. Jackson's)). I watch military people too, phasing over into paramilitary. Who can blame me for watching the circus? Isn't that why they call it a theater sometimes?

Graphics Library

A library of a different type (see below) is in software. People don't want to re-invent the wheel at every turn and have a well-developed practice of passing libraries back and forth, value adding, developing a common set of tools.

This doesn't keep our coder girls from competing with one another, just the shared library levels the playing field plus heightens the level of play, so everyone wins, even if sometimes one loses.

The OpenGL type stuff I've been yakking up with my students is capable of driving the 4D video games I've been marketing. 4D in this namespace means "friendly to the enterprising of Bucky Fuller", who tended to brand his work 4D, with sound mathematical reasons for doing so.

My 4D Solutions has developed additional resources in this same area, but mostly in the form of "cave paintings" (defined more on edu-sig at Python.org). Full scale FOSS libraries develop within communities of co-developers, using tools such as Mercurial and Git. Some of our philanthropic games will derive from this work.

4D IVM and 3D XYZ have a lot in common, with the latter dominating in the 1970s, defining a signature rectilinear look. You'll recognize 4D from its signature space frame, the octahedron-tetrahedron truss (the long winded name for it).

Stacked fruit is a typical hallmark, both triangular and square based. Also watch for Morley's Theorem to crop up here and there.

Building a Library

see article

Both Terry Bristol and Allen Taylor have been generous of late. Glenn took me on a tour, showed me the emerging inventory of books and magazines. These aren't your average boring textbooks, although a few in the mix may help with the alloy, by providing contrasting summary information in academe's fave formats.

Nirel, thanks for letting me promote your work through the OS Bridge slides, which I went over again with Wanderers the other morning, glad to have Lindsey to my left, an accomplished CTO type in her own right. HB2U BTW, you and Suzanne are about the same age.

The new owner of the Pauling Campus coffee shop around the corner said OK to my patching in with wireless to blog about Art's talk. It's weak but usable and LPH's higher bandwidth wasn't serving for some reason. Said owner was one of the MVPs at Local Lounge on Friday evening.

Fine Grind is doing a Japanese circle and new art opening. Best wishes on those plans for a deck.

Pets as Gifts

:: emperor with no clothes,
Disney character, via Kipling ::

Inquiries about giving out live animals, including with award ceremonies, need not be directed to some nebulous CSN "global hub" as we really care more about local community standards, are more like Ben & Jerry's in that way (Unilever). Pet policies cannot be set from on high, by some emperor with no clothes (see above).

Given the high cost of fuel, running empty is a waste, and lots of salt water aquariums could be heading into Kabul, feeding a growing network of tropical fish huts in that area. If the local coffee shops wanna jump in, who's to stop 'em?

Remember when Keiko got to ride on a military type aircraft, or at least cargo freight? Keiko was the star of Free Willy and needed to see the world, especially Norway. Likewise, staff in the Iraqi version of Sea World might want to move around, rotate. A few hours in a saltwater tank can't be that bad, if done right. "Take her through Manas!" could be the order of the day.

Extracting heavy weapons takes time, so as long as we have "air ships" running both ways, lets stock some shops, get that stimulus happening. Christmas in July is blatantly about civilian gift giving.

Greek Mythology

:: python for teachers, slide 34 ::

Given our transparently big investment in Polyhedra as connotative of both civilization and rational thought, you might assume we're an Apollonian enterprise, whereas the idea of a "philosophy bar" (aka salon) sounds rather Dionysian and therefore oxymoronic.

How will our customers stay focused and rational if they're becoming intoxicated on adult beverages (e.g. Jack Daniels) or whatever?

Before answering that directly, let's remember that Apollonian intelligence was preceded by the older Delphian network, for whom the snake was an emblem. These oracles were rumored to get high (intoxicated) on fumes emanating from the rock itself (or from some tripod). In other words, this was an ancient shamanistic cult of medicine women, spearheaded by Athena.

When Apollo decided a hostile takeover was in order, or at least a rebranding, he chased the "dragon" out of town, killed it or whatever (accounts vary), and later Athenians got used to the idea of this more policed way of life (Apollo was more fascist in some ways, although not exactly another Mars, like in Sparta).

This so-called "she dragon" (a spirit) was named Python and so these good Delphian priestesses were likewise known as Pythians (like Pythonistas). The word "python" traces to the verb "to rot" i.e. the fumes might've been sulfurous or at least nasty-smelling ("a witches brew").

No one ever suggested these were unintelligent or unprofessional women, even though use of intoxicants was a part of their job description. They just weren't Apollonian in outlook, at least at first, so in hindsight it's understandable why the uninitiated might assume a purely Dionysian operation. Hephaestus was more Vulcan though, an engineer really -- talking about Python's dad.

Answering more directly: it's not a given that any particular customer will remain in a proper frame of mind for whatever business is at hand, nor is it the responsibility of poor slobs in management to carefully monitor everyone's intake.

Whereas the entwined snakes of Hermes, or mono snake of Aesculapius, suggest a "heal thyself" philosophy (akin to the Socratic "know thyself" maxim), this is a commitment for each individual customer to undertake, not a job for some Big Brother on steroids, not a job description for some psychiatric nurse Ratched ala One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.

Of course we'll do a lot with the LCDs around these themes, including in our own commercials, but let's not overlook the fun of having real, palpable mythology books on the shelves, so-called "coffee table" tomes (more expensive), along with childrens books, scholarly hardcovers, Marvel comics or whatever.