Is this not the coolest product ever?
Just kidding, it’s not the coolest invention but a really good attempt at one. Who knew that the the USB port would be so versatile?
Hello, My Name Is Monica
I finished reading Hello, My Name Is Scott the other day and I think his experience and theory are pretty valid. I’ve worked enough in different retail industries to acknowledge and understand level of impact as something simple as a nametag can have.
I think the most obvious and most recent experience I had with nametags was during the summer before my senior year of college. Having zero restaurant industry experience, I made a conscious decision to work at one to get me through the summer while I took summer school. I’ve heard how insanely rough working as a server could be because of extreme physical, emotional and stress demands the nature of the job requires (I believed them after working at a steakhouse), but it didn’t stop me. At the time I was more interested in understanding how a restaurant operated. Anyway, until about two weeks into the job, every employee in the restaurant was required to wear a spiffy coppery magnetic nametag. It was nothing out of the ordinary. Once in awhile, after I had given my introductory steakhouse spiel, I received “thanks” followed by my name. I didn’t really notice when someone didn’t acknowledge me by my name, but it definitely stood out when they did. I have to admit, like Scott said in his book, it made you feel a little more appreciated – which by the way is a sure approach of getting you extraordinary service from your server. I also noticed that when I had conversations with various customers, most likely than not, it all started because of my name. I’ve received comments from people singing the Lou Bega’s, Mambo No.5 song to me “…a little bit of Monica in my life” all the way to referring to the Monica Lewinsky ordeal. Surprise, surprise!
Let’s just say I had some pretty interesting conversations. However, by the third week, our managers notified us that we were NOT to wear our nametags anymore because of restaurant policies. I asked why, but no one could give me a satisfying answer. It didn’t take very long to realize that the number of conversations I had with people dropped and when people needed to talk to me, I was referred to as the Asian girl. Eh. Even to this day I’m curious as to why the nametags got abolished. A lot of people took notice to it (and by people I’m referring to customers). Oh well.I think that Scott was right in saying that the nametag acts as a type of social icebreaker and in most situations, that’s all you need to make new friends. Kudos Scott! for being gutsy and so dedicated to your philanthropic steps towards making a friendlier society!
I Depend on Jott
There are only a few (higher level) things I need in life to comfortably pass through my day. I must have a cell phone, a laptop with internet and the newest addition, Jott! You’re probably asking yourself, “What is Jott and why is it so imperative to your life?” Well, it’s a dynamic voice messaging system that helps you organize your schedule! It’s one of the most useful services I have stumbled across in a long time. It lets you call in and leave messages to an individual, a specific group of people or even yourself. Now you’re probably wondering, “What makes Jott different from any other voice mailbox? Well, unlike your ordinary voice mailbox system, Jott transcribes, I mean, accurately transcribes your message and then sends a copy of that transcription to your email inbox along with your actual voice message. It’s a neat combination of features, especially for those who are very to-do list and email inbox oriented.
Let me set up the scenario:
On a typical day, I’m usually running around trying to get as many things done during my waking hours. I could be at the grocery store, at home, at the gym, at the post office or in my car when I think of another item to add to my to-do list. As this happens quite frequently, before Jott was apart of my life, I always carried around a post-it note pad and a pen (yes, I realize how absurd that sounds but it’s how I got things done). This wasn’t dorky as much as frustrating. The old school method of using paper and pen was fine when I wasn’t driving, but when I was (which was usually the case) it probably wasn’t the safest method. I don’t know why it was, but my mind liked to generate new things for me to do while I was in the car and since I don’t trust my memory like I used too, in the moment it was very important for me to write it down. I remember peeling off sheets of the little stickies with one or two words that took up the entire square in writing barely legible. Ha-ha. Those were the days. Now all I do is dial into Jott with my handy dandy cell phone, leave myself a quick voice message and I’ll know I’ll have the little message waiting for me at home in my inbox. It’s really a cool system. No more digging through my purse for a pen and my pad of post-its and no more writing on my steering wheel and accidentally honking the horn. Jott has made my life a lot easier to manage and also a safer driver.
It’s still a public beta, so if you’re at all interested in Jott sign up!
*Edit*
People have asked me why I don’t use Twitter, and my answer is a) it takes longer to text on a phone than using the conventional paper and pen method and b) it’s not any safer texting when you’re driving.