Yearly Archives: 2012

Eliot, the iPhone Hero

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Every night when we leave our office on 22nd and Broadway, NYC, I start complaining about taking the subway home. “Let’s take a taxi,” I usually bellow. We usually start walking half a block toward the subway entrance, but if I see a cab with its light on, I start waving my hand frantically. “Take me home. Take me home.”

Tonight there wasn’t a cab in sight. I was pacing on the sidewalk as Eliot started descending down the steps. He got half way down when all of a sudden a young woman on top of the steps started screaming “Stop that guy he has my iPhone. Stop him please.” Then like a flash of lightening some kid with an iPhone in his mouth goes flying down the steps. Eliot chases after him and prevents the guy from entering the platform by shoving him to the floor.

While this is going on the victim is still screaming “Get my phone. Get my phone.” I am half way down the stairs at this time frozen on the spot. Before I knew it, the thief breaks lose and starts running towards me in order to run up the steps and get away. By this time an army of woman barricade the exit above me and start chanting “Drop the phone. Drop the phone.”

Eliot trails the guy up the steps and one clobber later the guy drops the iPhone from his mouth on to the floor. The owner grabs her phone and starts screaming for joy. The women opened the gap to let the thief free. He turned out to be a kid and no one wanted to detain him.

Everyone started to applaud Eliot and the gal with the iPhone yelled out one big thank you to everyone and then added, “When you live in New York, everyone has your back.” Then Eliot came to retrieve me from my catatonic position. Next week Eliot and I are going to be married 33 years. I could only give him my most earnest reaction. “What the F… were you thinking? Don’t ever do that again.”

The Only List of Those Who Died During Hurricane Sandy

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You probably won’t believe this either. but with all the news about Hurricane Sandy there wasn’t a definitive list of those who died. When tragedy occurs, newspapers usually rush to create a list as a tribute to those that were lost. This time nothing. Everyone was so busy reporting the loss of land and housing that no one from the news media took the time to really focus on everyone who perished. Some speculate that most newspapers today do not have the money to spend on true investigative reporting. Most of the stories we read everyday are either aggregated or are blurbs about a particular topic. Sometimes I can’t believe a story suddenly comes to a close. I hate the words, “If you want more information on this topic, click here.” Boo hoo!

It deeply saddened my daughter Whitney that the people who died were not being remembered. She stopped everything that she was working on and spent a few days researching who died, where they lived, the cause, and other pertinent information. Whitney is a whiz on the Internet so she was able to unearth a lot and what she couldn’t find she extracted from police, fire, government and legal files. She got so caught up in the investigation she barely ate or slept until the job was completed. She took the investigation as far as she could and then posted on Pleasure and Pain, her blog.

Whitney has a huge following so it naturally went viral, but she didn’t expect the few surprises she got. One is that families are now calling her to help them find loved ones and secondly, major outlets are reposting her blog piece. New York Magazine, called her late last week to tell her they were going to use the story and with their resources, try to did a little deeper. Below is what they printed in this week’s edition. The story appears on the front page of the Intelligencer column, page 7. They devoted an entire page to the subject and gave her total credit.

Whitney’s career is now devoted to “empathy” in business. If you follow her tweets and blog posts you will read her thoughts about how important it is for companies today to be empathetic in order to build strong foundations. There is a whole science behind this thinking and I am not the one to spell it out.

Since she told me about her concentration a few months ago, I am seeing more and more books and articles on this subject. So will you. Whitney is very sensitive about the New York magazine piece as well as the others that picked up her blog post. She is not proud that she was smart enough to get it to go viral. She is very intent that the memory of the victims of Hurricane Sandy be preserved.

Below is the article. To see it online click here.

Where’s the Adventure in You?

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I would never do this even though I am recommending it to you. I want to tell you about an online service called Airbnb which is replacing hotels all over the world with much less expensive options such as entire apartments, rooms in an apartment or a house, mansions, castles, boats, cottages, guest houses, tree houses, and any kind of unused space to rent. Just because I am writing about it for the first time, doesn’t mean that many DigiDame readers haven’t used this service. When I mention Airbnb to some they say, “Oh yes, we used it in Aspen, Santa Fe, Paris, Athens, New York, and Los Angeles.

The Airbnb website recently stated that they have over 192 countries with more than 200,000 listings. There are millions of people who use Airbnb when they travel, some of them are very wealthy. A well-to-do friend of mine from Miami wanted to visit New York and asked me if I knew of a condo she could rent. I found this particularly odd because I pictured her in a magnificent suite in some luxurious hotel when she wanted to travel. When I questioned her about it she said, “Oh no, I would prefer the privacy of a condo or co-op where no one knows my name. Who wants to go thru a crowded lobby filled with strangers every time you have to go in and out?”

I am just the opposite. I hate staying with people or using their homes if they are away. It gives me the creeps. I want my own space where I don’t have to worry about how much water I use in the shower (I like to meditate), I can order from room service, let someone else worry if I have cable or Internet problems, and let the chambermaids take care of the rest. I don’t mind if people stay with me, but I am super uncomfortable making myself at home in someone else’s place.

Apparently, I am somewhat alone in my feelings. I have close family members that not only travel using Airbnb, but they rent out their homes as well, racking up $20,000 plus a year doing so. When I questioned someone how they could rent out their personal space, they said they lock their valuables away, and they always come home to a cleaner place than what they left. All of the financials, insurances, and guidelines are set up and controlled by Airbnb. The online reviews rate the sites so you can see what hundreds have said before you enter into an agreement. The renter may also ask you to outfit your accommodations with wine, flowers, cheese, crackers, whatever it may take for them to feel right at home. You may request the extras you need as well if you are renting from Airbnb. You can also tell the renters what you want them to replace upon your return. Airbnb tallies up the extras and security deposits are established to cover any mishaps. It is all very civilized.

There are two other reasons why people from all walks of life are flocking to Airbnb. One, the housing locations are mostly not located in tourist areas, so you soak up the lifestyle of the locals and secondly, the rental fees are very reasonable. Many people figure the money they save on housing can be put to extra yearly trips.

Airbnb really came into mainstream when Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged stranded New York City folks to use the housing service during Hurricane Sandy. I was so surprised when I heard his recommendations during one of the storm reports. Wow! Airbnb had become a very accepted way of life and certainly became a safety net for so many homeless people because of the power outages.

Another friend of mine reported that people were supplying extra beds, sofas and cots during Hurricane Sandy gratis just to get people off the streets. During normal times there is something called “Couch Surfing,”where folks who can’t afford lodging pay nominal fees just to have a roof over their heads while they are starting new businesses or going to school.

Airbnb started in 2008 and the founders report that they are being offered more rental properties all over the world than ever before. I guess second homes that are not being used quite enough are all standing in line to help pay the mortgages.

I think we all can agree that in this economy every bit helps. Maybe the lesson here for me is “Never say never.”

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Will Linda Show Up Tonight ?

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Linda and Allen in the early 70s

If there is one person who is capable of coming back from the dead it is my girlfriend Linda. I am expecting her to show up. Tonight is the wedding of her second son, Brett Sklaw, to Liz Berman in Dayton, Ohio.

Linda died of breast cancer when we were both 42. She fought it to the bitter end because she didn’t want to leave her two little boys. She was horrified that her sons would grow up without a mother so she instructed me to find her husband Allen a wife. I did. It took me a year but I found an angel that Linda would have loved. My sister-in-law Susan had a girlfriend Shelly whose husband also died young. One day when we were both with Allen, we called Shelly and forced him on the phone to speak to her. They were married a year later.

Shelly gave Linda’s sons the best life possible. They went from several dark years of watching their mother fade away to the sunny life of Jappy (Jewish American Prince) boys growing up with the finest on Long Island.

Brett is now a gastroenterologist doing a fellowship in Columbus, Ohio and Philip is a mental heath counselor on Long Island. While Allen is a very devoted and loving father, I credit Shelly with taking away the many negatives and replacing it with more positives.

While I only see the boys once a year because of busy schedules, I feel very close to them. Philip is married to Kelly Burke. Linda’s maiden name was Berk.

The rehearsal dinner took place last night with 100 people in attendance. Brett asked me to give a speech. I was going to thank Ohio for voting for Obama, but on my way to the mic someone whispered that Liz’s parents are Republicans so that blew that.

I talked about Linda, Allen, and Shelly. What could have been a morbid story turned into an inspirational one. I am not a great speaker at a mic, but I think Linda heard me.

That is why I wrote this story in a tech blog. We just don’t know the capabilities of future technologies. I never really believed in the afterlife but, I know the super powers of Linda. She was brilliant and had deeper thoughts than most. When she was in a coma thrashing about so that she would not die, she whispered to me, “I am not going anywhere.”20121110-223129.jpg

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Click here for the wedding ceremony

Click here for mother son dance

It’s Silicon Valley, Not Silicone Valley

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The young entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley have a lot of explaining to do. Many of them are running startups that are being financed by their parents or rich older friends who think they are sitting at their computers 24/7, starving, getting no sleep, and delirious from working so hard to be the next Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or Mark Zuckerberg.

Then along comes a reality TV show Start-Ups: Silicon Valley, on Bravo which depicts these young adults as anything but serious and dedicated. They are more like Jersey Shore party-hearty freeloaders who have three things on their mind:, sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.

If I was bankrolling someone in Silicon Valley now after watching this show, I wouldn’t be too comfortable thinking my money was being spent on booze and party favors. In fact, I would probably hire a private eye to follow my “Mr. Genius” around to make sure he was devoting most of his waking hours to the money hungry project.

Randi Zuckerberg, sister of Mark, is the Executive Producer of the TV series which I feel will never last in its current form. Randi seems to think that gorgeous bodies, Botox, and fast cars are the winning ingredients for a successful TV series.

I feel Americans would be more interested in how a lot of these young entrepreneurs evolved, like her own brother who would never think of leaving his work for some monkey business. It has been documented over and over, that Mark Zuckerberg was so focused on his work that he wouldn’t even leave his computer for holiday parties.

Silicon Valley success stories only comes from one thing: total devotion. To portray it any other way is a total distortion of what the place is all about.

Read an interview with Randi Zuckerberg about the new reality series here.

Where the Hell Have You Been?

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Over the years, I remember getting upset with friends who were always late for appointments. Wherever we would go they would always be a half hour late. They didn’t mean to do it, but they were the type that just had no concept of time. On the flip side, I have a girlfriend who questions my every step any time we plan to meet up. She does not like to wait alone, so she makes sure we synchronize our clocks. I go out of my way to get to the destination early because I enjoy seeing the pleasure on her face when she realizes that I am there before her.

There have been a number of times when we started out early to meet someone only to get caught in heavy traffic making us an hour or so late. I hate that panicky feeling knowing that people are waiting. When you finally get to your destination they are staring at you wondering why you are so dysfunctional. The more you try to explain yourself, the more it sounds like you are fibbing.

Leave it to some software developer to come up with an app for both iOS and Android that all your family and friends can use to see real-time ETAs for everyone you’re meeting. It also tells you who has already arrived and parked at the destination. Waze is a social GPS and life traffic app that lets you know the location and timing of those you are about to meet or pick up, and be able to share the same info back with them. Yes, there is a privacy protection option so you can hide anytime you want to.

Waze has over 29 million drivers and is one of the largest groups of drivers in the world. Watch the video. You will be amazed at what this app can do.

Me, Myself, and I in The Virtual World

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There are days when I sit down at my computer at 7am and don’t leave until 7pm. Yes, I make about 20 runs to the refrigerator and three or four trips to the bathroom, but by and large, I am at the computer all day long. These long stretches of time usually take place in one of three places: our NY co-op, our Miami condo, or our office in the Flatiron District of Manhattan. During the recent hurricane, I worked even longer hours in my living room. I had so much to do that I literally worked around the clock except for five or six hours of sleep. I didn’t leave my apartment from Sunday before the hurricane to the following Saturday.

It occurred to me last weekend that I was truly living a virtual life. If I wanted to, I could go days without speaking to anyone. Just type, type, type. My work requires me to answer a few hundred emails a day about the products and services we represent. Then I spend many hours on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, talking to the media, strategic partners, promotion directors, event management groups, advertising and marketing folks, suppliers, freelancers, and staff. At the end of the day, I have jumped from topic to topic while making commitments, promises, and even more appointments. My notes have notes, and if I transcribe them right away, I might be able to remember what I wrote down. Sometimes I have to play a game which I call, “Guess what word that chicken scratch is.”

The first thing you learn when you enter the digital world is that you ditch all of the paper, pens, and pencils you own. You never write down a thing. Everything is recorded digitally so you have easy access to it anywhere in the world. That is the whole point about working virtually. Your entire office is in your computer and smartphone. I can’t quite make the transition complete. I am still taking notes on a pad and transcribing them later on my “Things To Do” List. Recently, I tried typing all of my notes right into “Word” or a “Task” app only to discover that once I filed my notes, I never wanted to open them again to see what I needed to accomplish. Somehow paper is not as intimidating.

In any case, I am spending so much time alone that I often wonder if there is someone else on the other end. It could just be a machine that spits out appropriate answers to me every few minutes. Talk about being paranoid. When you are alone for extended periods of time, you kind of drum up all kinds of nonsense.

I also reminded myself that my virtual world is my own little secret community. I am the only one that speaks to this group, day in and day out. These are my unconditional digital friends that count on me to be at my computer most of the time so we can dish on any topic we want, when we want. While all of the members in my virtual group are business related, that doesn’t mean we don’t get personal. People share all kinds of things online that they probably wouldn’t tell another living soul if they had to see him or her face to face. We can hide behind our keyboards.

Living and working virtually gives you great freedom to associate with people you never would have become friendly with offline. I connect with people from their teens to their 90s. We have great dialogues that go on for months. Most of the time, people are very consolatory, but every once in a while tempers flare and then you get scolded in CAPS. The strangest thing about the virtual world is when you actually meet in person. You realize that the world you build when you are sitting in front of your computer comes from your own imagination. Now suddenly, you have to deal with all the physical stuff. You are no longer in control. Everyone else is.

Relying On YouTube To Promote A Gluten-Free Lifestyle

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Ever since I met Sheryl Goldstein, author of The No Gluten Solution: Cooking for Family and Friends, I have become aware that gluten allergy is often the reason that a lot of people (especially those over 50) suffer from bloating, abdominal discomfort, skin disorders, diarrhea, headaches, and lack of energy.

You don’t necessarily have to have Celiac Disease to be allergic or have a sensitivity to gluten foods. The symptoms are the same in all cases. All you have to do is eliminate wheat, barley and rye from your diet, and you will start to feel better within days. A week or two later, you can possibly feel better than ever.

Celiac is a disease that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying healthy.

Sheryl desperately wants to educate Americans about gluten allergies. She was diagnosed with Celiac a number of years ago. She has totally devoted herself to teaching others how they can eat well while eliminating gluten foods. She proves it every time she throws a big dinner party. Not one person in attendance has ever detected the difference in any of her entrees.

Sheryl is now working with me to get her word out. We spent the entire day Monday with videographers Ben Luckinbill and Caroline Goodman-Thomases to produce a series of tell-all videos for YouTube.

Here are some of videos I took with my iPhone as I stood in the background while the pros were taping Sheryl. Trust me, when the editing is completed, Sheryl’s voice is going to be heard throughout the entire YouTube community which then will be echoed everywhere else.

Maurice de Hond Works With Dutch Government To Change Education System From Analog To Digital

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This blog post is dedicated to all the grandparents in the United States who are annoyed that their grandchildren are glued to their smartphones or iPads and don’t interact enough with human beings. My friend Maurice de Hond of Amsterdam, Holland, believes that adults better get used to the digital lifestyle otherwise their offspring will be at a major disadvantage in the in the future. He claims that the analog way of life, particularly in present day elementary schools, will not prepare children for the year 2035. He is working with the Dutch government to reverse the curriculum from traditional only classrooms to integrate virtual ones.

Maurice stated, “We have discovered since the invention of the tablet and all of the diversified educational apps, that it no longer makes sense to have a ‘one-size fits all’ educational system for students today. An increasing number of children entering the kindergarten and first grade are way ahead what is being taught to them. They have been using technology even before they can talk and have been absorbing information from areas that they are interested in at record speeds. We should not force them into a formal structure where the entire class learns a particular topic all at the same time and the same pace.”

Maurice suggests a whole reversal in the education process. He spells it out in the video above. It is 11 minutes long and it is worth watching because what you hear today will probably be common practice in the United States a number of years from now. Instead of being old and crotchety about it, embrace the changes. Your family needs your support and understanding. Get with it,

I bet on Maurice. We met over 20 years ago when he became our client and have remained close all this time. I see and speak to him more than some of my friends a few city blocks away. We have the kind of relationship that we can instantly pick up a conversation where we left off the last time we spoke. Maurice and I are the same age but he has a three year old. He also has four other older children, late 20s and mid 30s. Long story. Maurice is very well known in Amsterdam. He is a political analyst, a pollster, an Internet personality and now a pioneer in the education system. I will let you know his progress in converting the way children go to school. The ABC’s are going to take on a new meaning.

My Idea For The Yacht Jobs Built

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We all knew it was coming, but we are never really prepared to see the creation of something new from a person no longer with us, especially if that individual is Steve Jobs. His new 260 foot super-yacht is nothing less than a vision of beauty, but the first pictures of it, in my opinion, still look like a cold memorial for a helpless soul who was struck down at the height of his greatness. Call me “morbid,” but that is just how I feel about it. Watch the video that shows the unveiling of the vessel Jobs named Venus.

Jobs commissioned its construction in 2007. He worked on it with French product designer Philippe Starck. We all know Starck as the minimalist designer of The Delano Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, the Paramount and Hudson Hotels in New York, the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles and the Clift hotel in San Francisco. Together they designed a luxury motor yacht to look like a floating Apple store. The vessel is presently docked where it was built, in a shipyard in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands, just south of Amsterdam.

Just as you guessed, the yacht has all of the designs that made Apple products so distinguishable. It is sleek and sexy. Look at the crisp white lines, polished metal and tons of glass. Starck recently told the press that he is very proud of Venus. “It reflected Jobs’ expectation and vision.” The super-yacht has a long white hull with a row of circular portholes just above the water line and two glass-walled cabins on the top deck, one on top of the other. The cabin windows are large panes, almost floor to ceiling,and the main living area has windows 40 feet long and 10 feet high glass.

Jobs was very concerned about the completion of the yacht. He didn’t want to leave his widow the task of finishing it. It is interesting to note that most of his life Jobs lived without the frills of a rich person. He got more pleasure from the act of creating rather than the creation itself. That is why I think the Venus should be gifted as an educational facility for the tech community. You’ve heard of a “semester at sea?” The Venus could be a floating school that offers seminars, tech instructional classes, research, and mentoring in every phase of entrepreneurism and creativity.

I don’t want to see the Venus listed on Vacations-To-Go or used for private events when the Jobs family and friends are not using it. I want to see the Venus alive every day of the year giving life to some form of innovation that will continue to speak volumes of what Jobs was all about. You can read more about the Venus in Jobs’ biography written by Walter Isaacson.