Indeed found this job for me...      Do the best CEOs really job search on Monster?  I always figured CEOs should be passionate people already working in or around the space of your company, or with an obvious public track record of success.  Seems to me paying $300 to post a job on Monster for an early stage tech CEO is a good experiment in adverse selection.

Chief Executive Officer - New York City, NY

Ohio based early stage technology based company with... services in a startup/entrepreneurial venture, the confidence to lead in a high-tech company, and the... (From Monster)

So I wound up getting a Media Center PC (HP) and my next project is to be able to start feeding videos that I either record from the TV, burn from my DVDs, or get off of del.icio.us or ThePAN onto a portable player. 

I've been leaning towards getting a PSP, but storage is limited there.  However, I do like the idea of getting back into gaming a little bit.

So, basically, what I want is a video iPod that plays games. 

Or a PSP with 40 GB of storage.

With PCs, you can add whatever items you need...  there's a 3rd party development market for software and lots of freeware to get your stuff to do what you want it to do.

For PSP and the iPod...  closed=sucky.

Very frustrating.

Welcome Equity Private of SubRosa Capital to the blogosphere.

...but this time, its doormen.

I wouldn't have even known, except that Fresh Direct sent around a notice.

"As you may know, if an employment contract agreement is not reached, 28,000 doormen, elevator operators, porters, and other residential building employees have indicated that they will strike on Thursday, April 20, at 11:59 p.m.

We anticipate a strike could bring delivery complications for your FreshDirect order. As a result, we encourage customers in affected buildings to schedule deliveries for early in the week. In the event of a strike, we plan to reduce time-slot availability on Friday, April 21."

Wow... this could be almost as tragic as the taxi strike.   Remember that?  The streets were mostly clear of traffic.  Everyone took public transportation.  Oh... wait...   that wasn't so bad.

With this doorman strike, people might need to...um...  open their own doors!  Lord, they might even have to get packages sent to work!

Cry me a river.

Maybe we'll start opening doors for each other!  How nice would that be?

BTW...  Some woman kept the door at the gym open for me yesterday even though I was like a good 20 feet from the door.  Maybe she's practicing for when her doorman is gone.

nextNY is having a dodgeball tourney next Monday night from 6PM-8PM.  We have 5 teams and 3 individuals left over for a 6th.   Leave a comment if you would like to fill up one of the last 3 or 4 slots on that team, which will be the last one.

If you sign up, you have to show.

Details here.

Brad was telling us yesterday of a management training exercise he attended while at AT&T.  They took a bunch of suits rock climbing, and Brad being somewhat atheletic was doing pretty well getting up and down the rock face.

So the instructor told him to try doing it blindfolded.

You would think that would have made it a lot harder, but the reality was, climbing blindfolded made it even easier--because you didn't waste time trying to "overnavigate" your path by sight.  You just reached out for sure footing and pulled yourself up.  You didn't pick out a rock or a line up the face that "looked ok" which was probably misleading anyway. 

Making decisions about your next step is always going to involve some risk.  If you think you've calculated all the variables, you've probably overthought it and maybe to your own detriment.  Sometimes you just need to take the plunge sometimes, whether its getting creative (and a bit risky) with a marketing strategy, feature development, or your own career.   

In the last couple of years, I've had the privilege of working with a lot of college students in various career mentoring programs, and one thing has always stood out at me.

Probably about two thirds or more of the applications for NYSSA's SEMI Program come from either immigrants to this country or children of immigrants.  Now, I know that's generally not reflective of the general NYC college student population, so, a disproportionately large percentage of the foreign students are taking advantage of this great opportunity. 

I asked one student about this and he told me that education and opportunity is the only reason that he was here--it was the only reason his whole family came here in the first place. 

What's really obvious to me is that a lot of the native born students here are simply going to get steamrolled by competition like that... and as well they should be. 

So maybe instead of closing the borders, we should be trying to figure out how we can get the people that are here as motivated as the people trying to come here.

This kid was at the Hammerstein Ballroom last night...  talk about quality time with Dad!  More videos here, especially now that Phanfare has MP4 support!

Is MySpace and the Facebook just a better way to meet people?  Are people tired of YAFP?  Check out the traffic on some of the big dating sites and the smaller upstart ones...

My little sidebar guy is quickly becoming a MetPal...   I've posted a new message about Met's bizzare fashion sense.

Jeremy Zawodny wrote about Yahoo! Groups recently and group management in general has been something on my mind.

My life is full of groups...lots of groups, maybe too many, that I participate in the management of in some way.  Let's see, I'm sort of the information and process coordinator here at USV, for starters.  I run a 25 pair mentoring program for NYSSA with over 100 alumni.  nexyNY is over 100 people.  I help Sandy with the Hoboken Cove Boathouse.  I'm the co-Chair of the Fordham Young Alumni Committee.  I run two softball teams and a dodgeball team.  That's not to mention I'm also on a football team and a softball team that I don't run, volunteer at the Downtown Boathouse, and actively take part in my high school's alumni listserv for people in business.

Obviously, being able to leverage technology to manage this monstrosity of a life I've created for myself is crucial.

And thus far, doing so has been a miserable failure.

Is it me?  I don't think so.  I think the current offering of group management tools come so far short of their potential.

The problem is that none of them is wide enough in scope to prevent the need for most groups to use two, three, four, or a dozen tools at once...making management of the tools almost as difficult as management of the group. 

It shouldn't have to be this way either, as most groups basically want to accomplish the same things.  They want to communicate and organize , and they want to do so in a way that is self-sustaining.

Now, how they specifically execute those goals differ from group to group, but someone should be able to build a service that is flexible enough to give people choice and tailor the service to their own needs.  Not every group needs a web page at their own domain to post pictures on and not every group needs a listserv, but the fact that there are exactly zero web services that offer both is just ridiculous.  There's a huge hole in the market and its being filled by Yahoo! Groups, Evite, Typepad, snot, and duct tape, among countless other web services that accomplish one narrow task.

Meetup probably comes the closest to being an all-in-one, but it doesn't allow much branded customization.  It doesn't make a lot of sense for me to use Meetup to manage my alumni committee...its more for the organizing and discovery of groups where you don't walk in already having the people for the group (like finding German speaking stay at home mom knitters in Saskachawan).  It doesn't sit seemlessly in the background either.  If you want to use their tools, which is probably the most complete set around, you're on Meetup...and for some groups trying to create their own brand, like nextNY, this isn't  a good fit, not to mention that it doesn't plug in with Flickr, LinkedIn, del.icio.us, etc.

Anyway, here's what I think an all-in-one service needs.  Jeremy, are you listening?

Prerequisits
Signup has to be really easy and managers need better tools to track activity post signup.  Who is signed up, who is getting emails, what they've signed up for, etc...that should be the first thing managers see on their group homepage.  Sometimes I feel like the same 20 people contribute to my listserv and I never know if the other 80 are even getting my mail or opening it.

Walkthrough...I'm amazed at how many people still can't get the whole reply all nature of listservs. Add on top of that general unfamiliarity of wikis, tagging, etc. And whatever you build, it needs good tutorial that gives real live examples of why and how someone would use any of these tools.

This app should be comprehensive, but feel lightweight.  So, while it might have a lot of tools, it shouldn't feel too heavy if you're only using one or two of them.

Organize
Groups need management...sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. Excel has long outlived its usefulness as a way to keep your group info list. Jotspot has the Tracker, but it hasn't really been fully integrated into the rest of the service. Plus., its not outward facing.  I have to type someone in..there's no signup page that automatically populates the sheet.  Groups need a simple database with flexible fields that can be updated from anywhere by the members themselves. It should have fields that are only viewable to some people and it should also been integrated with the rest of the sites features, including profiles. 

Profiles should mostly be generated by the use of the site, with the ability for users to add more. This way, even if I don't add to my profile, you can see that CEONYC has attended 2 offline events of the group, took part in three listserv discussions, and is currently seeking developers for a new startup via a job post e-mail.

Maybe the most important aspect of a group is its own self-sufficiency.  That means the storage of a knowledgebase.  For more sophisticated groups, that means the retention of a charter, meeting minutes, etc.  For other groups, it could be just quick notes on who you call at the local American Legion to rent a space for a meeting.  Notes should be wiki-like and documents should be easily organized with access controls. 

Groups also need Evite functionality, but it should be made even simpler. A lot of people don't have the time to go to evite or they're emailing from mobile phones. Members should be able to respond just by writing back with a yes or a no and then their message. Autoexporting events to this group's blog, Outlook, other blogs, upcoming, etc would also be nice.  RSVPs should build the member attendence record.

Communicate

The idea of evites brings to light the fundamental problem with listservs. Not every listserv email is the same. This is why groups struggle with not knowing whether default replies should go to the group or to the person. That's because the answer really is, "It depends." A group discussion should have very different charactoristics than and invite. I may want replyalls on a debate, but not to hear, "Sorry, I can't make it." Someone else might never want replyalls. That's why groups should be given to the tools to easily create different types of messages that only go to certain subgroups--subgroups whose members can organize themselves into.  So the fringe members will only get events while the managers will get internal discussions.  E-mail types in groups generally include discussions, event notices, job postings, and idea proposals.  Each of these e-mails should be formatted differently, dictating different types of interaction around them.

Some groups want to also communicate with the outside world with a website. A great group tool would allow the creation of a domain mapped website. The site should enable easy publishing of blogs, events, photos, q and a, the listserv or member profiles....basicially anything going on on the inside should have the option of being flipped to the outside and placed wherever they want with little widgets.  So, one groups front page could be mostly discussion and photos, while another could be more event focused.  None of this should require anyone to see any HTML.

So that's what I've got so far anyway.

Thoughts? Ideas?

I used to love both Firefox and Gmail, but lately, they've really taken a turn for the worse.

Ever since I upgraded to Firefox 1.5, it keeps crashing on me... something it NEVER did.  It seriously crashes on me about twice a day now.  I almost want to uninstall and figure out if I can go backwards.  It always happens when I have more than one browser window up (I hate browser tabs... sorry... ALT+TAB is hardwired into my head.)  What gives?

And Gmail... well, its full of spam now.  I get TONS of messages from individuals in far off nations asking for my bank account number.  They're not even the least bit clever...  no idea why this problem isn't being nipped in the bud.  I keep clicking the "report spam" button, but apparently, that's secretly the "Send me more of this shit" button in disguise.

Whatever "improvements" have gone into Firefox and Gmail lately, they're not worth it, because now they're worse than before.  Like New Coke or Terminator 3, sometimes, you should just leave well enough alone. 

Our host for the Union Square Ventures blog was having some issues and we started the following thread:

Me:  What's going on?

 

Them: There were a few issues with your mt.cfg file which I was able to clear up for you.  It appears that it was edited improperly, but you should be able to log into the interface as of now.

 

Me: Why did that happen?  We didn't do any editing...  I wouldn't even know where to find that file.

 

Them: To be honest, it is hard to say.  There was a single character on one line that was causing the problem.  The evidence appears to add up to something we may have done.  Since I was the only staff member working on this last week, it was likely me who made the mistake.  I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Well, at least they're honest.

Adam Rubin has another great post at the NY Daily News Mets blog...    This one has the results of an interview he did with David Wright and what Wright's "All Youth" team looks like.  Here's a funny exchange about his choice at third:

Wright picked one player who could beat him out for the starting nod at third base in the All-Star Game.

As Wright began, he said: “Give me Miguel Cabrera.”

“To play outfield?” I asked.

“Is he playing third base?” Wright said.

“Yes.”

“I’ll play outfield,” Wright continued.

Technology can be a very powerful thing.  A computer and an internet connection can give you the tools to create very positive change in the world around you...   right at your fingertips.

Or, in my case, they can be weapons of self destruction.

I have two traits that, when combined with the ease of publication and distribution afforded me by blogging and e-mail, have come back to bite me time and time again.  One day, I think I'll learn.

First is that I'm very "principled".  When stuff bothers me, I always say something about it and make an issue of it.  I think, more than anything else, its because I never think that the people around me make enough of an issue with things.  Sometimes, I've spoken out for people and defended them, or defended issues I believe in...and its a good thing.  Too often, I find myself wandering too far ahead of the crowd and putting myself out there alone without backup or a leg to stand on.

Second, my tone is... well... call it what you will...  abrasive, snarky, threatening...  I mean, it never seems that way to me, but it certainly comes off that way to others.  Sometimes, I'll read an e-mail twice, think its fine, and then wind up totally pissing someone off...  and somehow still not know why.  I've never really concerned myself with style.  Style is style, but content is what really matters to me, so I've never really had trouble dealing with difficult people.  I had a finance teacher that would routinely say obnoxious things, but at the end of the day, he was the best teacher I've ever had, hands down... and that's all I cared about.  However, not everyone works that way and I need to do a much better job of realizing that.

So today's lesson comes when I was supposed to play with a team of people in a big dodgeball tournament with a lot of tech firms tomorrow afternoon.  There was an entry fee, which is fine, but then I balked that non-members of this venue would have to pay $25 each for a "day pass" to use the "facilities" even though we were already paying to rent the space.  So, I went around the organizer, straight to the venue and e-mailed them.  I basically said, "Hey, we're not even going to use the other facilities, and you know what, you guys are getting a lot of publicity out of this because its going to be full of bloggers... so how about some free passes."

Well, that was the jist of what I was trying to say anyway.  I think the part about how my blog gets more traffic than the venue's website was probably overkill... definately.

The result?

The venue passed it back to the organizer, who then decided that, probably rightfully so, that I was more trouble than my participation was worth, and poof, we're out on our butts.   Booted from the tourney!

We were so excited... I had  a whole team together that was all pumped to play... I've been talking about it for days...   and now nobody on my team can play because of my own stupidity.

Sucks.

I suck.

Its amazing that any of you still read what I write...   

Liam Neeson has a great line in Batman Begins that didn't quite resonate with me until yesterday:

"You haven't beaten me.  You've sacrificed sure footing for a killing stroke."

I think this is a great lesson for anyone tempted to monetize a service too quickly and sacrifice adoption and uptake of a product... or to change the direction of your product to take advatage of short term revenue opportunities.  Its very easy to pick low hanging fruit, but you also need to "mind your surroundings" and think about whether or not quick payback sets you up to still take advantage of the larger market opportunity.

BTW...  I've heard about the possibilities of a sequal to this movie...   I'll cast my vote right now for Scarlett Johansson as Harley Quinn should they follow a Joker storyline.

Today's weather in NYC: