The company’s chief marketing officer, Mark Schar, told attendees today at the Brandworks University conference in Madison, Wisconsin, how Intuit recently recognized an employee with a “Swing for the Fence” award for a big idea, even though the idea didn’t work out. The big idea? Partner with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, who would encourage 18-24-year-olds to file their tax returns early using TurboTax and win some prizes, like tickets to a show featuring rapper Jah Rule. Launched last year, the program flopped.
Life in the Fast Food Lane: Rockwall Texas Culvers
Flame, or at least a suggestion of grilling or broiling, matters. That’s a principal reason a Whopper bested a Big Mac, cooked on a griddle. It’s why the new roster of one-third-pound charbroiled Thickburgers at Hardee’s tasted better than the steamed slivers at Krystal, a White Castle analogue in the South.
Buns matter. The large, doughy one on the classic Whataburger created ample space for three slices of tomato and a sense of heft that felt good in the hands, good in the mouth. The generously buttered, crisply toasted ones on Culver’s burgers, called butterburgers in honor of those buns, exalted whatever they encased, which included seared, loosely packed patties with more charred edges and, as a result, more flavor.
Bruni last covered the 2004 Bush campaign. Perhaps there’s a lesson in this.
On the Pentagon
Dwight Eisenhower once said, “The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without.” Some argue that the Pentagon (the epicenter of America’s defense) has evolved from a protective to a pernicious influence on the country’s international relations. After tonight’s 6:05 p.m. Cubs game, we will examine the role of the Pentagon in American history and in current American foreign policy—both positive and negative—with two experts: JOHN ALLEN WILLIAMS, professor of political science at Loyola University Chicago and an expert on the American military and national security, and National Book Award-winning author JAMES CARROLL, who tackles this very subject in his new book House of War: The Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American Power.
Is There an End Game Plan?
“During the run-up to the 2004 presidential election, much was made of the fact that 2.4 million new jobs had been created that year. Omitted was the fact that close to 800,000 of those jobs went to Hispanics who had been here less than a year.”
We live in a world of obfuscation.
Yes, there are problems presented to our nation each and every day, but no real answers are provided and every interested party is blaming the other for what is wrong at the moment.
So, instead of offering another in-depth news story on Britney Spears’ latest pregnancy or Michael Jackson’s Bahrain hideaway, it might be more valuable to focus on the many issues that have not been resolved, the kind that impact and worry the average American.
2006 Political & Economic Risk Map
AON:
Political, economic and social environments can shift at a moment’s notice, disrupting business operations for anyone involved in international commerce. Companies can be subjected to discriminatory action – or inaction – of foreign governments and third parties, potentially leading to forced shutdowns, relocations and other unforeseen expenses.
The impact of these political and economic exposures is examined by Aon Trade Credit in its 2006 Political & Economic Risk Map, created in conjunction with Oxford Analytica, an international, independent consulting firm of more than 1,000 senior faculty members at Oxford and other major universities and research institutions around the world.
Whistle-Blower’s Evidence, Uncut
Former AT&T technician Mark Klein is the key witness in the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s class-action lawsuit against the telecommunications company, which alleges that AT&T cooperated in an illegal National Security Agency domestic surveillance program.
In a public statement Klein issued last month, he described the NSA’s visit to an AT&T office. In an older, less-public statement recently acquired by Wired News, Klein goes into additional details of his discovery of an alleged surveillance operation in an AT&T building in San Francisco.
Klein supports his claim by attaching excerpts of three internal company documents: a Dec. 10, 2002, manual titled “Study Group 3, LGX/Splitter Wiring, San Francisco,” a Jan. 13, 2003, document titled “SIMS, Splitter Cut-In and Test Procedure” and a second “Cut-In and Test Procedure” dated Jan. 24, 2003.
Hauptbahnof Berlin
Germany will next week open Europe’s largest railway hub, a vast glass-and-steel station whose platforms offer panoramic views of the heart of reunited Berlin — from the historic Reichstag parliament building to the modern Federal Chancellery.
The German capital’s 1.9-million-square-foot Hauptbahnhof, or main station, links the north and south of the once-divided city with its east and west for the first time.
Fitchburg Fireworks
More Fitchburg Days photos here.
$2,489 vs $971 Revenue Per Square Foot
photo by ifoapplestore.
Steve Lohr takes an interesting look at Apple’s retail store initiatives (high end, expensive locations, large open spaces and lots of space to play with the goodies), their inspiration and performance:
“We had to design an experience that was as big as the space,” said Mr. Johnson, 47, who is senior vice president in charge of the stores. “When your product line is the size of a conference table, that is a real risk.”
Taking that risk has paid off handsomely so far. Since it opened its first two stores five years ago today, the Apple chain has become a retailing phenomenon. Necessity and inspiration led Apple to toss out the conventional textbook on computer stores and to ignore the rules of location, design, staffing and services provided.
Revenue for each square foot at Apple stores last year was $2,489, compared with $971 at Best Buy, the big computer and electronics retailer, according to Forrester Research, a market research firm.
This evening, Apple is opening a showcase store in Manhattan that will burnish the company’s reputation for clever design. The entrance to the store, on Fifth Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets, is a glass cube, 32 feet on each side, with a suspended Apple logo inside. Customers walk down a circular staircase — or take a cylindrical glass elevator — to the 10,000-square-foot store below. The store will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week — a first for Apple and an acknowledgment of New York’s status as a round-the-clock city.
Study: Only One in Four Teens Can Name Broadcast Networks
For the week of the broadcast network upfront presentations, Bolt Media hopes this stat delivers a bullet to TV: Only one in four 12- to 34-year-olds can name all four major broadcast networks: ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox.
The finding comes via an online poll conducted by Bolt Media, a 10-year-old Web site that six weeks ago relaunched itself as a place for users to upload videos and photos. About 400 members responded to the questions, including one that asked how respondents spent their free time.
There certainly are some questions about this, given the source of the poll, however, the media fragmentation trend cannot be denied.