Every now and again you just have the urge to put up a potpourri blog; a little bit of everything and anything that crossed your desk and consciousness over the course of the week. Absent any one thing crowding the others out to warrant exclusive treatment, these are things you need to know about.
Optics (or, when perspective matters).
This week, DHL announced they would be constructing a $35 million facility at O’Hare Airport here in Chicago. This facility will be their largest in North America. As with all significant announcements of new construction, there needs to be a ceremonial groundbreaking. Being Chicago in December, you can understand how it might be a little tough to break ground on anything here without pneumatic assistance.
However, a collection of official looking persons proved that all you need to have a December groundbreaking is (take notes everyone)
How to hold a ceremonial groundbreaking in Chicago in December.
- A pad of concrete or asphalt
- A tent
- Thirty or so linear feet of sod
- Two forty pound bags of dirt
- A collection of dignitaries and construction workers holding silver shovels.
I don’t begrudge the groundbreaking. It’s like christening a ship with a champagne bottle. But just like what happens when the bottle doesn’t break on impact, you get the same undercurrent of “huh?” that comes with a picture like this.
Me. Newark. Next Wednesday. See you there.
The NY/NJ Foreign Freight Forwarders and Broker’s Association is the next stop on the “Social Media for Logistics Companies” world tour. At the kind invitation of Michelle Maslow Hauser, I’m their seminar speaker at 10:00 at the Newark Club.
Follow this link for more details and to register for the seminar and luncheon. C’mon, it’s another holiday luncheon. We’re not burned out on meatballs, crab cakes, egg rolls and other wandering nibbles YET. Find the resolve. See you there.
Video, video, video…if you’ve not done one yet, why not?
I’m confident I’ve devoted social media posts to the importance of video in the past and what it can do for your brand. Some people elect to use dromedaries and get campy, others go the route of having them animated from scratch. Still some unexpectedly go viral as part of a prank.
This week, Canadian airline Westjet did a really cool thing and let people boarding a flight scan their boarding pass on the side of a giant present at their departure gate where they had a chance to talk to Santa (who really sells the purple velour suit) and tell him what they’d like for Christmas. Without using some serious hyperbole, this really is something special. And as I write this, four days into its existence, it has more than 18 million views.