My power went out again

I was working on some homework this evening, and once again, my power went out. This really isn’t unusual at all at my house in northern Baltimore County. It seems as though any stiff wind or moderate rain will most likely take out my electricity for at least 12 hours. I should have expected the same for tonight. I was listening to the radio on the way home tonight and heard the ‘Emergency Broadcasting Service’ warning of especially nasty thunderstorms which would likely produce “ping pong ball sized hail”. Well of course, just as I was making some headway tonight, it happened again.

For me, losing power is more than just an inconvenience. My house isn’t on public water; we have a well. Additionally, we have an electric stove and oven (even though the dryer and water heater are powered by natural gas… go figure). Therefore when my power goes out, I don’t simply lose my lights and hot water. Instead, I also lose everything, most importantly running water. This means no drinking water, no showers, no teeth brushing, and most importantly no toilet flushing.

I’m really beginning to wonder why BGE allows my neighborhood to go without power so frequently and why it always seems to take days to repair. Every time I lose power, it’s because of a downed tree, limb, or telephone poll. It really makes me wonder why BGE doesn’t just bury the power lines in my neighborhood. The homes here aren’t very far apart, with an average yard size of an acre or so, and there aren’t more than 50 homes in the whole neighborhood. It simply can’t be cost efficient for BGE to be constantly sending crews out in hazardous conditions (at double or triple the normal rate of pay) twice each month on average to fix the same problem time and again.

Furthermore, shouldn’t BGE be able to prioritize those areas which are most reliant on power for the most basic necessities? I know that BGE sends crews to areas where danger is more imminent. For instance, a crew came out pretty quickly in the last snowstorm because the downed limb was causing the power lines to smoke and spark. BGE should take this a step further and assist those without water first and foremost.

What really gets to me with all of this is that Comcast ALWAYS repairs my cable service before BGE restores my power. I know this because I have a TV tuner for my laptop. How is it possible that Comcast has the resources to outperform BGE in continuity of service? And since when does Comcast serve its customers more effectively than ANY other firm?

Chile Class Update

The entire Chile (non) study tour now seems more complicated than ever. Not only has missing the trip caused me and my classmates an incredible amount of unexpected work, but it has also led to the question of whether to try to go again.

Here’s where we currently stand. The marketing Chile class (my class) has been assigned an extra marketing-related project in lieu of the original trip. More specifically, the assignment is to work as a team of three or four individuals to identify a product or service void in Chile and develop a marketing plan to bring a product or service to Chile in order to fill said void. This assignment was given April 1^st and is due May 1^st. Not only is this a rather sizeable assignment, but the entire class was forced to form groups by email, very informally. Luckily, I got to know a few of my classmates before the trip, so I was able to join a great group.

For our project, we decided to focus on bringing Lowes hardware stores to Chile. We chose Lowes because Home Depot already has expanded to Chile in very few locations and has made several very significant mistakes upon which we noticed that Lowes could easily capitalize.

So thankfully it looks like we have the right recipe for successfully completing the class, but others in my class were definitely not as fortunate. Furthermore, in speaking with Kim, corporate social responsibility Chile class (my class’ counterpart) is tasked with designing a case study about an ethical issue in Chile; a country that they’ve never been to!

In addition to the newfound homework burden, the idea of a re-trip to Chile is now being discussed. Thankfully, everyone in both classes was eventually refunded all of the money toward the Chile class, less the tuition fee. So why not go?

Well, as it turns out, it’s now going to cost an estimated $600 more to attempt to go again for several reasons, mainly because the trip would have to leave during the height of the Chilean tourist season. Furthermore, the trip would still include all aspects of the study tour (company visits, meetings with MBA alums, etc.), but the trip would not actually count for any class credit.

Personally, I am all for going, even if I have to pay another $600 and wake up every morning at 7am to attend a site visit at a Chilean business. From everything I’ve heard, the experience far outweighs any negatives that have come up in previous years. I’ve already completed all of the preparation work in order to immerse myself in Chilean culture to the fullest. I can’t really see why I wouldn’t go, honestly. Hopefully the required minimum 16 students agree to try again in January, I know it would be an unforgettable experience.

A brief rant on Netflix...

For my second topic this week, I was looking through IT news articles and came across a story on Netflix. According to the article, " New Netflix deals mean more streaming movies but longer wait for 'Avatar,' other DVDs", my beloved and faithful Netflix is changing, seemingly for the worse. The article explains that Netflix is focusing much more efforts toward its streaming media service. In turn, this is obviously using capital which Netflix previously allocated to purchasing new movies on disc for distribution to its customers.

Accordingly, movie production studios are supporting this trend by delaying the release of new movies to Netflix in order to sell more retail copies of movies at a much higher profit. In return, Netflix will have license to stream much more content from the same studios.

Personally, I use the Netflix service for both streaming and disc rental services, especially since I can play streaming Netflix movies through my Xbox now; but the real reason that i first subscribed to the service and continue to do so is because I can have access to the newest movies immediately without having to leave home.

This 'evolution' of Netflix instantly reminds me of the change in cellular phones over the years. Remember when our cell phones were just that - phones? Not cameras, not music players. not GPS trackers. Just phones. I was very happy with my old Motorola Startac with its pea-green lcd screen because it worked great. I had service nearly everywhere, and the battery seemed to last forever. Of course, over time, cellular companies decided that we needed massive color screens, high-resolution photographic capabilities, and ringtones! Sure it all looked pretty cool, but none of it worked well. I remember going through many of these phones as the hit the market. Each one seemed to have poorer call quality and a battery that lasted about half as long as the previous phone.

The point is, I really don't understand why tech-related companies can't find competitive advantage in their core businesses anymore. Perhaps this makes me a 'laggard' according to Gartner, or at very least resistant to technological advancement. I just think some things are better left the way they are, like a gun or a Bic lighter. They work because they are simple and they do what they were intended to do extremely simply and efficiently.

As an afterthought. maybe this is just the result of Wal-Mart's acquisition of VUDU. I'm sure Netflix is immensely worried about competing with Wal-Mart for streaming media subscribers. In that case, thanks for messin' with my Netflix, Wal-Mart!

Online Classes

This week's blog topic has to do with online classes. Throughout my educational career, I have had the opportunity to take many online classes, satellite classes, and hybrid classes. Overall, I have to say that I think there is a huge potential for these nonconventional types of classes to be more efficient and effective than their traditional counterpart, however my experience with them can be described as mixed (positive and negative) at best.

Most of the online courses I have taken were at the community college level. At the time, it was very obvious that teachers and students were both in the initial stages of adapting to this online classroom environment. Likewise, the majority of these classes consisted of little more than an exchange of emails on a weekly basis. Basically, the instructor would give out the syllabus, post due dates on the online calendar, and the assignments were to be emailed back by the due date. Additionally, there would usually be two or three exams throughout each course. In order to take these exams, the students would have to schedule an appointment at the college's testing center within a one week timeframe, and take the exam in a strictly monitored environment. Finally, If the instructor was REALLY savvy, he or she would setup a discussion page and force the class to interact on various topics throughout the semester.

The fact is that the impersonal nature of these classes is very hard to overcome. I think for most students, online classes were the easy way out since participation and attendance was a minimal factor in grading, if at all. For others, such as myself, online classes presented a new challenge without the bias of a professor's lecturing style. I found that I truly did learn quite a bit in these classes because I was basically forced to read the book page by page, and basically teach myself the material. This really begs the question though, "why not just buy the book and teach yourself and save yourself the tuition fee?".

I think this is the real issue for the online classroom of today and for the future. Instructors need to be able to utilize the incredible efficiencies of the internet to reach students more effectively. I'm not sure if the solution lies in new software or proper use of current online classroom software.

In the past, I think institutions have relied on online classrooms as a way to enroll more students without erecting new buildings. Today however, it is quite apparent that online teaching is an incredibly competitive landscape, with new online teach institutions entering the marketplace all the time. It will certainly be interesting to see how online classes utilize IT advancements in the future. I have a feeling that traditional schools might be facing a bigger threat than they realize.

Last Week's Class Presentations

In our last class meeting, we heard from two guest speakers, Joyce and Dan. Joyce and Dan are in the unique position of being co-CIOs for their company. Since this co-CIO structure differs from the traditional single CIO model, it was tremendously helpful to have the opportunity to meet and hear from actual co-CIOs themselves.

The first speaker, Joyce, spent a great deal of time reflecting on her journey through the ranks of IT to her current position. I found it quite interesting that Joyce really focused a great deal on the importance of managing relationships within any organization. I found this to be a pretty refreshing mindset for an IT manager. So often, it seems as though IT departments become extremely impersonal. I think this is largely because IT professionals focus on projects and specifications while overlooking interpersonal interactions in the workplace. Joyce’s approach to both working and managing heavily stresses a healthy work-life balance. Again, IT professionals often end up working relentlessly to finish projects while putting their personal lives on the backburner. Throughout her career, Joyce has always made career moves and decisions based on the outcome on her family and personal life. This is really the most important lesson learned from her presentation. Unhappy and overworked employees simply won’t perform at their peak. Accordingly, these employees become difficult to properly motivate. I think Joyce is probably extremely effective as a CIO as I’m sure this mindset pervades throughout her organization’s culture.

The second speaker for the evening, Dan, had a much different focus throughout his presentation. Dan spoke to us about IT leadership models, job functions of IT professionals, and how these topics are affected by the constantly evolving world of technological innovation. Dan was perhaps in a more difficult position as the second presenter. Since our class has focused on the idea of co-CIOs throughout the semester, we were really interested to see how Dan’s ideas compared to Joyce’s, and how two distinct leaders could possibly collaborate to act as a single managing entity. I thought that the really interesting aspect of Dan’s presentation is that he explained that there is no defined model for IT management. In fact, Dan stressed the importance of finding a system which promotes healthy interactivity and communication among team members.

Overall, I think it was extremely interesting to hear both sides of the dual CIO arrangement, especially when put in perspective with what Shelley has shared with us about her perception of her organization’s management. In the end, I think the most important takeaway from these presentations is that people are capable of producing astounding results if they are not micromanaged, allowed to think and act independently, and are able and willing to communicate with peers and managers in the workplace freely and openly.

Facebook really is a threat

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been doing quite a bit of job hunting, and I always seem to meet people who warn me about the dangers of having a Facebook page while searching for a job. Of course, we have talked extensively in class about the many various problems associated with having potentially compromising content openly available to the public. Accordingly, I have locked my Facebook down so that I am in complete control of who sees my personal conversations and photos which I post. Additionally, companies are all taking a proactive approach by monitoring their employees’ actions on Facebook and even restricting their employees from using the service completely in some cases.

The idea that companies and organizations are actively looking at their employees’ and potential employees’ actions has really had me thinking about how these very same companies choose to present themselves on websites such as Facebook. Today, I came across an article, “Whole Foods working to curb Facebook-based scam”, which delves into the issues which companies face with their own Facebook pages. According to the article, Whole Foods wasn’t being proactive enough. In fact, someone else had posted a false Whole Foods Facebook page which offered coupons to those who joined the Facebook group. Now, Whole Foods is faced with a massive cleanup effort to mitigate the problems stemming from this fraudulent Facebook page.

This really got me thinking today about how influencial Facebook really can be; good or bad. More importantly though, I think it’s incredibly important to point out that companies have been actively policing their own employees, but perhaps they really should be doing more to watch out for more foreign threats through Facebook. Of course, many organizations already monitor and search the web and social networking sites for the use of their name, but I’m sure that there’s far more organizations which simply don’t.

The internet has always served as a forum for disseminating negative information about products and organizations. Likewise, it always seems that negative information has always spread like wildfire through customer reviews and general discussion. In the past, it seems as though companies tried to simply ignore the negativity. Today however, it is quite apparent that a dissatisfied customer can literally sabotage a company by merely posting a comment or page on Facebook. Perhaps it’s time that modern organizations recognize Facebook as not only an opportunity, but also as a very real threat. I really wouldn’t be surprised if an ‘Facebook protection team’ becomes a mandatory part of business models of all organizations in the future.