Delivering Happiness Coffee Meetup

Tomorrow morning I'll be at a round table at Coffee Culture on Kings from 6am to 730. If you own a business or are starting one, let's meetup. We'll focus our chat on company/office culture, particularly as modeled by Zappos.com

I'll buy the first 3 people their coffee.

Cheers,
Chris

Nordyke on Gadgets, Take 1

I've long struggled with an addiction to gadgets. Ever since I was a kid, I've been enamored with them. For 2010, I thought it'd be fun to share this passion with you.

My first review is of Built NY's Large Cargo Camera Bag. I first saw this at CES 2010 in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. I've been looking for a couple years, for a streamlined man-bag that also had some protection for my SLR- something I could carry my gadgets, wallet, AND my Nikon D90.

There is virtually nothing on the market. Anything that has the functionality, lacked the style, or looked too much like a geeky, boxy camera bag.

I instantly recognized it as a possible winner, and asked Built if they'd like me to review it, (At the time, it literally had no reviews) and they sent me one. So **disclosure** I got it for free. Thanks Built NY, with only one exception this has turned out to be a rad bag. Glad I asked.

Occasionally I will receive free items. Usually, it's an item that I've thoroughly researched and am seriously jones'ing for and/or does not have many (or any) reviews about it yet. Other times I'll review stuff I've purchased for myself. No matter what, I promise to give you a candid assessment of the product.

I know I'm going to have fun with this, I hope you find the reviews helpful.

What does Apple and Trader Joe's Have in Common?

I'm thrilled to have a Trader Joe's in town. And I'm one of those "buy local" guys, for the most part. Trader Joe's reminds me of Apple actually. They are the one grocery store I can think of that is actually more of a "brand" than a chain of "places".
Trader Joe's feels like more of an enhancement to my lifestyle here in Corvallis, than a grocery store.

Here's three features that I think the Trader Joe's and Apple brands share:

1) They're easy. Not too many choices, but enough.

2) There are no bad choices- They have magically vetted the options to make sure I will virtually like everything.

3) They staff with "cool people"- Not a Zappos experience, but always above average.

3+) Great design- The stores are clean and fun to be in.

The more I think about it, the more I want to be like Trader Joe's when my business grows up. The easy pick. The one where you know it may not always be the cheapest, but it's always a good deal. The one where you always walk out having made a good choice.

Any other brands you can think of that evoke this kind of feeling for you?

Rolland Fields, 30 minutes ago

Rolland is 48, looks good, smiles, has good hair. If you're a local here in Corvallis, I swear you'd say he looks like the late and great Scott Zimbrick. Rolland works for the NFIB, a business advocacy organization I support. I met him almost exactly a year ago when he walked into my office. Rolland just found out he has terminal pancreatic cancer.

Today he walked into my office with the same stride, the same casual smile, and his NFIB papers in hand. He asked me how business is going, and I asked him the same. That's when he filled me in on the cancer.

A couple months ago, Rolland went to the doctor with some pain in his side. Initial lab results showed nothing, then an ultrasound showed growths on his liver and a lymph node. A CAT scan revealed the cancer in the pancreas. Pancreatic cancer has been in the headlines recently, so when Rolland heard pancreas, he was speechless-6 months to live.

Rolland has been married 26 years, has a son who is a senior in high school, heading off to Corban College in the fall, and a daughter who's in 8th grade. You can imagine the flood of emotions and concerns that he and his family have experienced over the last 4 weeks.

Rolland has life insurance. Not as much as he wishes he had now, but some. One less thing to agonize over right now as he enjoys these last months (hopefully years) with his family.

Do you have a well thought out plan to protect your family? Are they prepared if something like this happens? Remember this on Valentine's Day- the most practical way you can show them you care, is with life insurance.