Jon Narong

Urban Honey

I caught this short for the first time at the Alamo Square movie night, and thought it was awesome on so many levels.

AdWeek = SPAM?

I receive too many e-mail newsletters, especially when I read much of the same news via RSS feeds. While doing some information cleanup, I attempted to unsubscribe to the ADWEEK IQ Interactive newsletter. I say attempt because the unsubscribe link yields this page:

So it looks like I can't unsubscribe. Looking at the site map, I found no unsubscribe page. Thought it might be under newsletters but there are only links to subscribe, not vice versa. I spent all too much time trying to figure this out. Horrible user experience.

I think I have no choice but to mark Adweek as SPAM.

Easier way to get around.

Today Charm and I went to Alice Radio's Summerthing concert in Golden Gate Park. It was a free concert so we imaged there would be a lot of people and felt it silly to drive and annoying to take the MUNI so we decided to bike over. Best decision ever.

As usual, the SF Bike Coalition provided free, secure bike valet parking. The ride was an easy 10-minutes from our apartment so it was a no-brainer. On top of that, JFK Drive was even blocked off from cars due to it being a Sunday. I have to admit it felt so great having gotten there without a carbon footprint and getting a little exercise at the same time.

The concert was a fun afternoon in the city. Among other things, we were celebrating a friends birthday so good company, good music and good food. Always a winning combination. Performing was The Last Goodnight, Lighthouse, Ingrid Michaelson, and my favorite Marie Digby.

one hundred pushups

OK, tomorrow I will start the hundred pushup challenge. If anything, it seems like it would be a pretty cool trick to do 100 consecutive pushups. I don't even want to think about how out of shape I currently am.

Another one for snail mail.

Was scanning this article about the rise of postage yet again (thank you, freedom stamps!) when I came across this:

With each penny increase in the cost of gas, it costs the U.S. Postal Service 800 million dollars more in fuel expenses a year.

If the numbers are correct, this implies that the USPS uses about 80 billion gallons of gas annually. That fact is absolutely staggering.

So why isn't there any pressure on the USPS to convert to alternative fuels?

Jurlique.

I haven't had much experience with the Jurlique brand before. Besides hearing the name, I really didn't know anything about them until I walked into their San Francisco store the other day. After just spending a few minutes inside of their store, I felt like I knew their history, value proposition and quality of product.

Jurlique really gets how the retail environment should be. Everything is very simple and organized - if you're familiar with their product you should have no problem to find what you're looking for. But their store goes way beyond that and is a great introduction to who Jurlique really is. You immediately understand that Jurlique is about organic, natural products. That they believe in protecting the environment more than developing chemicals That it's high quality stuff, with a huge sink available to test it everything out firsthand (I'm a fan of their Sandalwood Hand Wash). You know they were founded in 1985 and have farms in South Australia. They're very transparent about who they are and what they do. This is exactly the type of brand I love. Where you're immersed into the brand once you enter the retail location, and it's a brand you also become passionate about since they do a wonderful job at telling their story.

And it was a completely awesome designed space to boot.

A real actress.

Friday movie.
Originally uploaded by jonnaro

Last Friday, we got to see a screening of "Yellow Handkerchief" at the Castro as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival. Before the movie, there was an acting award given to Maria Bello.

It's funny how I didn't realize she played so many different types of roles, many of which I've seen over the years. She really is an amazing actress. Following her acceptance, there was a bit of a Q&A. After hearing her speak, I admire her even more.

You could tell that she is one of those people who really enjoys what she does. She picks roles because they look fun to her and not because she has a pre-meditated plan for her career. Many critics think good actors always have the latter in mind, but it's definitely not the case.

We then saw a screening of her latest flick, a Sundance award winner called Yellow Handkerchief co-starring William Hurt. The movie is very simple but is really such a beautiful story that takes place traveling through rural Louisiana. I actually think it was one of the best movies I ever saw.

If only going to the movies was always this enjoyable.

Sleep-Driving.

It's definitely not uncommon to see all kinds of crazy side-effects listed in the small print of prescription drug advertisements. But this ad for "Ambien CR" I saw in a Playbill was a bit beyond ridiculous. One full page for the ad, and two full pages for the small print. Yes, you read that correctly. Keep in mind that Ambien is a sleep aid.

Memorable excerpts include:

After taking AMBIEN CR, you may get up out of bed while not being fully awake and do an activity that you do not know you are doing. The next morning, you may not remember that you did anything during the night. ... Reported activities include:

• driving a car ("sleep-driving")
• making and eating food
• talking on the phone
• having sex
• sleep walking

That sounds a lot like being drunk. Not remembering what you were doing last night? And it seems just as dangerous. I can't imagine driving a car while asleep is any safer than driving while drunk. I wonder who you would call while you were asleep. I've heard of drunk-dialing. I wonder if it's more coherent than sleep-dialing.

What are the possible side effects of taking AMBIEN CR?

• abnormal thoughts and behavior. Symptoms include more outgoing or aggressive behavior than normal, confusion, agitation, hallucinations, worsening of depression, and suicidal thoughts or actions.

I know something else with similar side effects. I think it's called heroin.

Curbside Delivery.

Curbside.
Originally uploaded by jonnaro

Was at Kiehl's the other day when I saw this sign. Kiehl's is located in Pacific Heights in San Francisco on Fillmore St. For those that know the area, parking is a bit rough. I've always thought of the disadvantage certain retail locations face based on the amount of parking available in the area. Sure, you can argue that most people in urban environments can take public transportation. And a certain other segment of customers likely live close enough to walk. But still, how to get those driving customers that might otherwise visit a more easily accessible location?

Kiehl's solution is curbside delivery. You phone in your order 15 minutes in advance, and they will come out of the store to deliver it to you. You can drive but you don't have to park. This is obviously geared towards loyal customers who already know what they want.

Although I have not personally used this service, I'm sure the small effort goes a long way to improving customer experience. And maybe customers will be more likely to spend the few dollars they saved on parking at the store instead.

Stay flexible.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Do you consider yourself to be an adaptive person or set in your ways? The world is constantly changing: it's technology, it's values, it's culture. If you stay stagnant it will pass you by. I believe one of the major traits of all successful people is that they are able to adapt. These people were able to learn how to use the internet even though they didn't grow up with it. They were able accept the fact that people are becoming less conservative. That people aren't trapped in their position in society. That rock and roll music is not made by the devil.

Learning to roll with the punches that life throws at you is extremely important. You can never stop evolving, no matter what your age. In fact, probably the only reason that dog in question is old is because he doesn't want to learn a new trick.

Hose vs Broom.

This morning I saw two people cleaning off their sidewalks in preparation for street cleaning. One was a man in his 30s with slicked hair and a blazer blasting everything with his garden hose onto the street. The second was an older lady with a broom carefully sweeping away leaves into the gutter. The contrast between the two was overwhelming, especially since they were less than a block away from each other.

I saw the man first and could not believe that people in this day and age (especially in San Francisco) would so carelessly waste water. The lady gave me hope again. It was very symbolic though, how the younger generation needs to wake up and make more of an effort for conservation.

Don't let laziness be an excuse. In addition to being nicer to the Earth, sweeping is even better for your health.

Free Cone Day. Worth it?

Ben and Jerry's @ Haight and Ashbury
Originally uploaded by mischiru

As I was walking home the other day I noticed Ben and Jerry's was having their annual free cone day. It was hard to miss because there was a line extending down the street. It was absolutely fascinating to me how people would spend probably 20 minutes in line to get a free ice cream worth a few bucks.

The customer experience is generally pretty horrible if you have to wait in line that long. It's almost as if these guidelines are meaningless to people if they will receive something free. Does price trump experience? In some cases, I guess the answer is yes.

Hipster portrait.

Jon & Charm
Originally uploaded by lilia_ahner

I love this photo that Lilia took of Charm and me back at a party we co-hosted a few months ago. The theme was to dress hipster, and in that regard I think we succeeded.

Clean ads.

Inverse.
Originally uploaded by jonnaro

I've always been a fan of reverse graffiti so it was cool to see a great example of it on my walk to work this morning. Although clean tagging usually always gets a second look, it really makes most sense with brands that try to promote some level of cleanliness. Of course, it also has the added benefit of cleaning part of the street.

This campaign is for Freshaire Choice, which is an interior paint that does not contain VOCs. I for one haven't heard of this product before-- but it's a terrific idea.

It's always great when the marketing medium you choose truly matches the brand.

Dissecting Domino's

Domino's guarantees that you will receive your pizza in 30 minutes after ordering. Great deal. But is it possible? Doesn't a pizza typically take at least 20 minutes to be made? If they guarantee your pizza in 30 minutes, I think we might also be able to assume that's it's not fresh.

Probably not too surprising for anyone who has actually ate Domino's.

You always have to straddle the line between producing a great product and providing a great user experience. For the best in experiences, the trick is to find some balance in between. Having a great experience usually also involves consuming a great product.

The annoyance factor.

Seriously, how long does it take for sales people to realize you might not be interested in their product? How many calls do you not have to return? How many times do you have to say you're not interested? If there was any interest, it quickly vanishes if the sales folk are quick to annoy you. Even sales communication is an extension of your brand, and can influence a user's experience with your product. And sleazy sales tactics are the absolute worst thing you want associated with your product.

Customer Experience

Congratulations Danica.

The other day, 26-year old Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an IndyCar race. The race was the Indy 300 in Montegi, Japan held on April 20. Although it was a long time coming, it's pretty cool that it finally happened. It sucks that some journalists are starting a controversy that her win was mainly due to her lower body weight of 100 pounds. Yea right. It's even better that she won due to various sexist comments that other drivers made over the last few years. I hope there are a lot more wins in her future. Cheers for breaking down boundaries.

Virtual Assistant todo.

Ever since I read 4HWW by Tim Ferris, I've really wanted to try outsourcing part of my life. For those that may not know, Ferris preaches that you should try to outsource many aspects of your life in order to free up more time to do things that are truly important to you. I totally bought into this reasoning and have been wanting to test it out in my own life. After all, time seems to become more and more of a precious commodity these days.

The one issue I've had is comparable to writer's block. I didn't know what this first task I'd want to outsource should be. That is, until I read this post. Ramit is in a similar situation, and he outlines a template to have your Virtual Assistant (VA) help pick a doctor for you. This is great timing, as I was just about to launch a search for a new dentist. It is true that this process of selecting a new doctor is usually very time consuming. The process involves looking for doctors on your plan, checking to see if there are any bad reviews, and celling to schedule an appointment that fits your schedule. It can easily take an hour or two.

So yes, I think for my first assignment, I'm going to try to outsource this process. I'll blog my experiences when I do this in the next few weeks.

Stop the paper.

Today is Earth Day. A day to inspire awareness for the environment and all things green. I'm a huge supporter of Earth Day but I think the environment and climate change is an issue that should be at the top of everyone's list. As I try to improve my own life, I'm always thinking of ways to lessen my personal impact on the environment. I'm also a big supporter of companies that are friendly to the environment and find alternative ways to do business that are friendlier to the Earth.

One easy way to be better is to try and reduce the paper trail. Some simple things you can do right away include switching to paperless bills and statements, using reusable shopping bags, and removing yourself from direct marketing junk mail lists. You'll find that the added benefit for making such environmentally conscious decisions is also a more simplified and stress free life.

A cool thing that Apple Retail Stores are doing now (which I haven't seen anywhere else) is to offer your purchase receipt be emailed to you. I absolutely loved this idea as it didn't waste a paper receipt that I would just end up shredding and recycling down the line. In addition to being paperless, it was nice not having to hold or pack an extra piece of paper in my wallet.

Since the environment definitely is something I am passionate about, I will try to occasionally post about ways I try to do my part.

Heavy Rotation Launch.

Last week we attended the launch party of Heavy Rotation at Poleng. Heavy Rotation is a new podcast (now available on iTunes!) that is all about the Flipino Hip Hop community.

The show is hosted by San Diego-based (but Bay Area bred) Marlino who has a knack for seeing great talent in up and coming artists. I don't subscribe to many music based podcasts, so you know it's got to be pretty good.

Unfortunately, episodes are currently only being released monthly. But there are plans in the works to up the frequency a bit. DJ Marlino did his thing at the launch party and it was off the hook. Spinning lots of bay area favorites, he really got the place jumping. It's a new project so I'm sure it will evolve over time, but I'll definitely be listening.