Two weeks ago, I posted, PG&E, They MUST have a REASON
Recall at the end of the post I’d contacted a very nice and supportive customer service representative that explained it would take only two business days to reactivate my on-line account access, which had been suspended due to inactivity.
Eight business days later now…. still no access!
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Posted by crickw
Go ahead, try it. Try logging into your PG&E account. If you’re like many, you set up automatic payments months ago. Maybe even more than six months ago. So you won’t be able to log into you account either.
So I called.
Problem one: After navigating the voice prompts, I was connected to an agent who then informed me I CALLED THE WRONG NUMBER. OK. bad enough I have to call in the first place. You’d think that PG&E would at least publish the right number. They wasted $1.00 of customer care agent time tell me the Internet services number and transfer my call.
Problem two: The Internet services agent IS UNABLE TO REACTIVE YOU ACCOUNT! Get this, the agent submits a request that TAKES TWO BUSINESS DAYS TO PROCESS!
Amazing. Two customer care agents at $1.00 a minute to tell me that in two days I’ll be able to log in.
The story is actually sadder still. My wife burned through all kinds of customer care agent time trying to cancel service over the phone. Because the service was set up in my name, PG&E wouldn’t take the disconnect order from her. They told her that I should do it on-line because it would be faster and easier.
I told my agent this bit of the story. She then suggested that I call in instead of waiting for my account access to be restored.
Go figure.
Good news for us, we’re moving to Palo Alto. Palo Alto has its own city utility company. My fingers are crossed.
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Posted by crickw
I’m thrilled that Ribbit Mobile has made its public debut. After being used privately by thousands, Ribbit Mobile is now available to all.
The Ribbit marketing team did a fantastic job. A quick snapshot of the coverage:
New website: http://www.ribbit.com/mobile
New twitter page: http://twitter.com/ribbitmobile
Ribbit Mobile offers Google Voice alternative
By Chris Nuttall
November 3, 2009
Ribbit, the software-based Silicon Valley phone company, has launched Ribbit Mobile, a Google Voice-type service with some useful extras thrown in.
The start-up, which was bought by BT of the UK last year, adds “ social address book” features to its service and allows users to keep their own mobile number.
Ribbit Mobile Offers Voicemail Transcription, Call Routing, and Web-Based Phone Calls
By Errol Pierre-Louis
November 3, 2009
Ribbit Mobile is a cloud-based service that lets you manage your calls, messages, and phones right from your Web browser with features such as voicemail transcription, call routing, and Web-based calling.
Internet-telephony company Ribbit today released Ribbit Mobile, a cloud-based service that lets you manage your calls, messages, and phones right from your Web browser. With Ribbit Mobile you can take advantage of handy features such as voicemail transcription, call routing, and Web-based calling.
For those who missed Google Voice beta, Ribbit Mobile opens in beta
By Tim Conneally
November 3, 2009
Some of us missed the boat and never got in the Google Voice beta test group. With all the controversy the service stirred up among the media, the public, telecommunications companies, and the FCC, there’s a distinct possibility that Google Voice as we know it could end up in regulatory limbo after being politicized and thrown into the “net neutrality” conflict.
Today, a beta of an alternative has opened up: Ribbit Mobile from Ribbit, an independent British Telecom subsidiary often billed as “Silicon Valley’s first telephone company.”
Ribbit Challenges Google Voice to a VoIP Duel
By Bart Salisbury
November 3, 2009
It didn’t take long for the other technological shoe to drop. Ribbit has hopped out a beta for Ribbit Mobile, a direct VoIP challenge to Google Voice. And one, by the looks of it, that just might fuel a VoIP arms race.
Looking beyond iPhone or Android – Ribbit creates a software “clone” phone
By Tom Foremski
November 3, 2009
Ribbit, the Silicon Valley based subsidiary of BT, the UK telecom giant, this morning launched its Ribbit Mobile service which offers a suite of products ranging from control over phone lines to transcription of voice mail — all managed from a web browser.
Ribbit is an impressive company. You can read more about the company and the Ribbit mobile service here.
Analysis: Impressive Ribbit Mobile Launch – BT Steps Beyond The Network
By Tom Foremski
November 3. 2009
Ribbit is a platform…
Last week I met with Ribbit CEO Ted Griggs, Don Thorson CMO, and Crick Waters EVP Strategy and Business Development.
It might seem that Ribbit is a developer of telephony applications such as Ribbit Mobile but that’s not the case. Ribbitenables applications like Ribbit Mobile.
It has built a technology platform that merges voice and data telecommunications networks over the Internet using a software switch approach. Developers use its APIs to create a wide diversity of telephony services and to integrate them into other applications.
“Ribbit Mobile is a complex service, but yes, a third-party developer could have created it,” said Crick Waters, EVP Strategy and Business Development.
Ribbit challenges Google Voice with Ribbit Mobile
By Cody Barbierri
November 3, 2009
Today, Ribbit is at it again, this time with the launch of Ribbit Mobile — a free cloud-based service that enables users to merge multiple phones, route mobile calls to other phones and answer their mobile calls on the Internet.
Ribbit challenges Google Voice with Ribbit Mobile
By Cody Barbierri
November 3, 2009
Today, Ribbit is at it again, this time with the launch of Ribbit Mobile — a free cloud-based service that enables users to merge multiple phones, route mobile calls to other phones and answer their mobile calls on the Internet.
Ribbit challenges Google Voice with Ribbit Mobile
By Cody Barbierri
November 3, 2009
Today, Ribbit is at it again, this time with the launch of Ribbit Mobile — a free cloud-based service that enables users to merge multiple phones, route mobile calls to other phones and answer their mobile calls on the Internet.
Ribbit challenges Google Voice with Ribbit Mobile
By Cody Barbierri
November 3, 2009
Today, Ribbit is at it again, this time with the launch of Ribbit Mobile — a free cloud-based service that enables users to merge multiple phones, route mobile calls to other phones and answer their mobile calls on the Internet.
Ribbit Mobile’s Launch Shows BT’s Strategy Isn’t Just All Talk
By Colin Gibbs
November 3, 2009
“BT’s Ribbit is taking on Google Voice with a cloud-based service that combines Internet voice, smart call routing and voicemail transcriptions. Like Google Voice, Ribbit Mobile allows consumers to transfer calls from an existing mobile number to Ribbit’s platform, which includes features such as routing calls to mobile phones and transcribing voicemails. Ribbit Mobile can forward calls to Skype, MSN or Google Talk Accounts, and can alert users to missed calls or new voicemails via e-mail, Skype, Google Talk or text message.”
Ribbit Mobile’s Launch Shows BT’s Strategy Isn’t Just All Talk
By Colin Gibbs
November 3, 2009
“BT’s Ribbit is taking on Google Voice with a cloud-based service that combines Internet voice, smart call routing and voicemail transcriptions. Like Google Voice, Ribbit Mobile allows consumers to transfer calls from an existing mobile number to Ribbit’s platform, which includes features such as routing calls to mobile phones and transcribing voicemails. Ribbit Mobile can forward calls to Skype, MSN or Google Talk Accounts, and can alert users to missed calls or new voicemails via e-mail, Skype, Google Talk or text message.”
Ribbit Mobile’s Launch Shows BT’s Strategy Isn’t Just All Talk
By Colin Gibbs
November 3, 2009
“BT’s Ribbit is taking on Google Voice with a cloud-based service that combines Internet voice, smart call routing and voicemail transcriptions. Like Google Voice, Ribbit Mobile allows consumers to transfer calls from an existing mobile number to Ribbit’s platform, which includes features such as routing calls to mobile phones and transcribing voicemails. Ribbit Mobile can forward calls to Skype, MSN or Google Talk Accounts, and can alert users to missed calls or new voicemails via e-mail, Skype, Google Talk or text message.”
Ribbit Mobile’s Launch Shows BT’s Strategy Isn’t Just All Talk
By Colin Gibbs
November 3, 2009
BT’s Ribbit is taking on Google Voice with a cloud-based service that combines Internet voice, smart call routing and voicemail transcriptions. Like Google Voice, Ribbit Mobile allows consumers to transfer calls from an existing mobile number to Ribbit’s platform, which includes features such as routing calls to mobile phones and transcribing voicemails.
Ribbit Mobile’s Launch Shows BT’s Strategy Isn’t Just All Talk
By Colin Gibbs
November 3, 2009
“BT’s Ribbit is taking on Google Voice with a cloud-based service that combines Internet voice, smart call routing and voicemail transcriptions. Like Google Voice, Ribbit Mobile allows consumers to transfer calls from an existing mobile number to Ribbit’s platform, which includes features such as routing calls to mobile phones and transcribing voicemails. Ribbit Mobile can forward calls to Skype, MSN or Google Talk Accounts, and can alert users to missed calls or new voicemails via e-mail, Skype, Google Talk or text message.”
Ribbit Mobile Launches to Challenge Google Voice, VoxOx
By Clint Boulton
November 3, 2009
British Telecom’s Ribbit cloud computing division brought its Web phone application to the mobile device market Nov. 3 in the form of Ribbit Mobile, which lets users manage calls and messages to mobile phones from their computers.
If that thrust sounds like services such as Google Voice or VoxOx, that’s because it is similar. Ribbit Mobile rings mobile devices from computers, route mobile calls to other phones and lets users answer their mobile calls on the Internet, all with a few mouse clicks from Ribbit’s phone-like touch-button interface on the desktop.
Ribbit Mobile Launches to Challenge Google Voice, VoxOx
By Editorial Staff
November 3, 2009
Ribbit brought its cloud computing phone application to the mobile device sector Nov. 3 in the form of Ribbit Mobile, which lets users manage calls……
ICT Magazine
Ribbit Mobile Launches to Challenge Google Voice, VoxOx
By Clint Boulton
November 3, 2009
British Telecom’s Ribbit cloud computing division brought its Web phone application to the mobile device market Nov. 3 in the form of Ribbit Mobile, which lets users manage calls and messages to mobile phones from their computers.
If that thrust sounds like services such as Google Voice or VoxOx, that’s because it is similar. Ribbit Mobile rings mobile devices from computers, route mobile calls to other phones and lets users answer their mobile calls on the Internet, all with a few mouse clicks from Ribbit’s phone-like touch-button interface on the desktop.
By Tom Keating
November 3, 2009
Ribbit today announced the release of Ribbit Mobile, a free communication suite designed for mobile professionals who need to be able to easily manage all of their phone numbers, communication devices, and how & when they are contacted.
By Tom Keating
November 3, 2009
Ribbit today announced the release of Ribbit Mobile, a free communication suite designed for mobile professionals who need to be able to easily manage all of their phone numbers, communication devices, and how & when they are contacted.
BT’s Ribbit takes platform show mobile
By Rich Karpinski
November 3, 2009
A lot has happened since Ribbit emerged almost two years ago with the self-stated goal (or threat) of being “Silicon Valley’s Telephone Company”: Voice platform plays have come, gone and come back into vogue; the start-up was gobbled up by BT; and the wireless world has exploded with the emergence of mobile apps.
Which is a long way of saying that Ribbit was probably slightly ahead of its time.
The company is trying to make up for that with the launch today of Ribbit Mobile, which leverages the company’s core software platform, network infrastructure and application programming interfaces (APIs) to deliver an advanced call management service that combines all of a user’s phones, a Web interface and mobile applications (running initially on the iPhone and BlackBerry, pending app store approvals).
Ribbit offers a fuller Google Voice-like service
By Ryan Kim
November 3, 2009
“Ribbit, the BT subsidiary that originally billed itself as Silicon Valley’s first telephone company, is offering a full mobile-web combination service that treads along some of the same ground as Google Voice.”
Ryan discusses many of Ribbit Mobile’s functionality and does note that the service will likely not be free. We are pleased that he directs readers to the Ribbit landing page where they can apply for the service. Also, the article has been picked up in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Tech Chronicles blog.
Ribbit offers a fuller Google Voice-like service
By Ryan Kim
November 3, 2009
“Ribbit, the BT subsidiary that originally billed itself as Silicon Valley’s first telephone company, is offering a full mobile-web combination service that treads along some of the same ground as Google Voice.”
Ryan discusses many of Ribbit Mobile’s functionality and does note that the service will likely not be free. We are pleased that he directs readers to the Ribbit landing page where they can apply for the service. Also, the article has been picked up in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Tech Chronicles blog.
Ribbit Launches Google Voice Challenger
By Frederic Lardinois
November 3, 2009
It is hard to look at Ribbit Mobile without comparing it to Google Voice. Just like Google Voice, Ribbit gives users a new phone number or they can use call forwarding to transfer calls from their mobile phones to Ribbit’s platform. Ribbit Mobile also has quite a few features that Google doesn’t offer, including the ability to make calls from within the browser.
Ribbit Launches Google Voice Challenger
By Frederic Lardinois
November 3, 2009
It is hard to look at Ribbit Mobile without comparing it to Google Voice. Just like Google Voice, Ribbit gives users a new phone number or they can use call forwarding to transfer calls from their mobile phones to Ribbit’s platform. Ribbit Mobile also has quite a few features that Google doesn’t offer, including the ability to make calls from within the browser.
Techmeme
Ribbit Launches Google Voice Challenger
By Frederic Lardinois
November 3, 2009
It is hard to look at Ribbit Mobile without comparing it to Google Voice. Just like Google Voice, Ribbit gives users a new phone number or they can use call forwarding to transfer calls from their mobile phones to Ribbit’s platform. Ribbit Mobile also has quite a few features that Google doesn’t offer, including the ability to make calls from within the browser.
Daylife
Ribbit Launches Google Voice Challenger
By Frederic Lardinois
November 3, 2009
It is hard to look at Ribbit Mobile without comparing it to Google Voice. Just like Google Voice, Ribbit gives users a new phone number or they can use call forwarding to transfer calls from their mobile phones to Ribbit’s platform. Ribbit Mobile also has quite a few features that Google doesn’t offer, including the ability to make calls from within the browser.
BT’s Ribbit releasing Google Voice competitor
By Rafe Needleman
November 3, 2009
Sure, Google Voice is cool, but it’s not necessarily the best Web-meets-phone service one can imagine, is it? The field is still open, and switchboard-in-the-cloud company Ribbit (a division of BT) will stir things up when users get their hands on Ribbit Mobile, a new telephony service for consumers.
BT’s Ribbit releasing Google Voice competitor
By Rafe Needleman
November 3, 2009
Sure, Google Voice is cool, but it’s not necessarily the best Web-meets-phone service one can imagine, is it? The field is still open, and switchboard-in-the-cloud company Ribbit (a division of BT) will stir things up when users get their hands on Ribbit Mobile, a new telephony service for consumers.
BT’s Ribbit releasing Google Voice competitor
By Rafe Needleman
November 3, 2009
Sure, Google Voice is cool, but it’s not necessarily the best Web-meets-phone service one can imagine, is it? The field is still open, and switchboard-in-the-cloud company Ribbit (a division of BT) will stir things up when users get their hands on Ribbit Mobile, a new telephony service for consumers.
BT’s Ribbit releasing Google Voice competitor
By Rafe Needleman
November 3, 2009
Sure, Google Voice is cool, but it’s not necessarily the best Web-meets-phone service one can imagine, is it? The field is still open, and switchboard-in-the-cloud company Ribbit (a division of BT) will stir things up when users get their hands on Ribbit Mobile, a new telephony service for consumers.
Ribbit Mobile No Google Voice Clone
By Bob Poe
November 3, 2009
The most common reaction to the newly introduced Ribbit Mobile service is that it’s a Google Voice competitor. In some ways that’s true, but there are significant differences between the two. The main one is that Ribbit Mobile makes one’s existing mobile number the main number, while Google Voice hangs all its services on a new number it provides. For most users, one approach will be clearly better than the other.
BT offers Ribbit cloud phone service
By Staff Reporter
November 3, 2009
BT is taking names for a beta trial of the first consumer service to come out of its $105 million purchase in 2008 ofSilicon Valley cloud computing venture, Ribbit: a web-based system to manage calls, messages and phones
Comment: BT will undoubtedly be wanting to test the Ribbit system out rigorously before launching it on the public and — presumably — charging money. It is only too well aware of the recent case of SpinVox, whose promises that its voice-to-text offering are almost entirely automatic have failed to convince many
Ghazali Ridzwan Web Consultant Blog
BT’s Ribbit releasing Google Voice competitor
By Rafe Needleman
November 3, 2009
Sure, Google Voice is cool, but it’s not necessarily the best Web-meets-phone service one can imagine, is it? The field is still open, and switchboard-in-the-cloud company Ribbit (a division of BT) will stir things up when users get their hands on Ribbit Mobile, a new telephony service for consumers.
BT’s Ribbit releasing Google Voice competitor
By Rafe Needleman
November 3, 2009
Sure, Google Voice is cool, but it’s not necessarily the best Web-meets-phone service one can imagine, is it? The field is still open, and switchboard-in-the-cloud company Ribbit (a division of BT) will stir things up when users get their hands on Ribbit Mobile, a new telephony service for consumers.
Daily Technology News
BT’s Ribbit releasing Google Voice competitor
By Rafe Needleman
November 3, 2009
Sure, Google Voice is cool, but it’s not necessarily the best Web-meets-phone service one can imagine, is it? The field is still open, and switchboard-in-the-cloud company Ribbit (a division of BT) will stir things up when users get their hands on Ribbit Mobile, a new telephony service for consumers.
Launchism
Ribbit challenges Google Voice with Ribbit Mobile
By Cody Barbierri
November 3, 2009
Over the past year, Ribbit, a web-based service that provides a new way to manage calls, messages and phones, has had a flurry of activity, including their acquisition by British Telecom and most recently, their integration of several gadgets with Google Wave allowing voice calls, phone conferencing, text messaging and voicemail transcription. Today, Ribbit is at it again, this time with the launch of Ribbit Mobile — a free cloud-based service that enables users to merge multiple phones, route mobile calls to other phones and answer their mobile calls on the Internet.
VOIP IP Telephony
Ribbit Mobile Beta, Google Voice Like Service Goes Live Today.
By Staff Writer
November 3, 2009
The telco 2.0 company that British Telcom Acquired for $100 Million, Ribbit has released a mobile suite of software today. I was actually wondering if it was Ribbit Amphibian they released a while ago, just looking at screen captures..
Stuart Henshall’s Blog
Ribbit Mobile – First Impressions
By Suart Henshall
November 3, 2009
Ribbit Mobile launched today and after playing with it I’m sure I’m will not switch from GoogleVoice to Ribbit. I’m going to leave it on my mobile for a few more days as a test. I also don’t know how to reverse it (exit it) yet!
Ribbit Launches Mobile Version
By Richard Martin
November 3, 2009
Upping the stakes in the mobile call-management sector, IP telephony provider Ribbit today said it is launching Ribbit Mobile, a versatile Web-based platform for mobile calls and messaging that gives users access to their mobile phone from a variety of devices and screens.
Offering many of the same features as such Web-based services as Google Voice and VoxOx, Ribbit Mobile has one important benefit: It does not require users to change numbers. (Google last week said it will offer a “Google Voice lite” edition that allows users to use their existing mobile numbers while giving up certain features.) Nor does it require a software download: Ribbit, a subsidiary of BT Group (BT), says the cloud-based service can be activated on any mobile device in less than five minutes.
BT Ribbit lets you answer mobile calls on the net
By Editorial Staff
November 3, 2009
Consumers and small businesses could reduce phone bills with a web-based service called Ribbit Mobile, due to be introduced next year.
Ribbit Mobile Targets Google Voice
By Taranfx
November 3, 2009
Google Voice has long threatened other VOIP providers – Google Voice Killing Skype made sense, but there’s something to compete: Ribbit Mobile.
Ribbit Announces Cloud-Based Service Ribbit Mobile
By Editorial Staff
November 3, 2009
Ribbit announces the release of Ribbit Mobile, a cloud-based service that provides a new way to manage calls, messages and phones. Ribbit Mobile’s core set of features – including voicemail transcription, smart call routing and Web-based calling – transforms the way people communicate by letting them decide how, when and where they want to stay in touch.
Ribbit Introduces a Google Voice Competitor
By Harry McCracken
November 3, 2009
VoIP company Ribbit is girding itself to compete with Google Voice, with a new service that’s quite similar in some ways and quite different in others.
Like Google Voice, Ribbit Mobile is a sort of virtual receptionist: It can ring multiple phones at once, gives you Web-based access to voicemail, and can transcribe messages into text and alert you via e-mail or SMS. But Ribbit works with the phone number you already have (Google Voice recently introduced a no-new-number option, but it’s missing lots of features).
| Allie Cefalo | Account Coordinator | SHIFT Communications | phone: 415.591.8458| email: acefalo@shiftcomm.com | Twitter: @alliecefalo | web: shiftcomm.com | blog: www.pr-squared.com | subscribe |
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Posted by crickw
There is a great rift brewing between Apple and Google over an iPhone application that makes using Google Voice easier than using the Google Voice web page. The rift has escalated to the FCC.
The rift is over whether or not Apple will allow Google’s voice application in the iPhone store.
The question to ask is, “Does Apple have an obligation to allow an (Google Voice) application?” After all, it’s Apple’s phone, Apple’s App Store, AT&T’s network. If an application is otherwise legal and un-offensive yet somehow impinges upon Apple’s business, what is Apple’s obligation? Is the obligation legal, moral, or is it compelled by a the will of a segment of iPhone subscribers?
Do you think it ‘right’ that Google is able to stimulate the FCC to engage over a Google Application for the Apple iPhone App Store? Doesn’t it seem a bit unbalanced that the FCC is engaged in this sandbox scuffle? No laws have been broken and only a few tens of thousands of people are potentially affected (the intersection of iPhone and Google Voice is simply trivial when compared to the FCC’s scope).
So why shouldn’t the general public be outraged that Google is causing our tax dollars to be spent strong-arming AT&T and Apple to let a tiny fraction of the public make free phone calls using an iPhone application when the same thing can be accomplished using a browser on the iPhone?
The greater question is, “Who is controlling the laws of telcom in the U.S.?” It appears Google now has a hand on the marionettes’ strings.
Read AT&T and Apple’s responses to the FCC’s letters to Google and Apple.
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Posted by crickw
A true glimpse of stunning creative talent.
David Wilson created a music video for Moray McLaren’s We Got Time.
View this in HD if you can. It’s mesmerizing. Try not to think about how it was created while you enjoy this:
Want to learn how this incredible piece of art was created?
The secret is the praxinoscope. Watch David explain:
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Posted by crickw
Not long ago, say 15 years ago, companies had one headquarters address and one main phone line. That’s the way things were. You looked them up in the Yellow Pages, or at the library in Dunn and Bradstreet.
Not any more. We just did a little inventory of Ribbit’s “addresses.” This is what we came up with:
Blogs (all external facing):
Corporate – http://ribbit.com/blog
Mobile – http://www.ribbitformobile.com/blog/
Developer – http://developer.ribbit.com/blog/
CRM – http://www.ribbit.com/salesforce/blog/
Twitter:
Corporate – http://twitter.com/ribbit
CRM – http://twitter.com/ribbitcrm (stopped using this and post all under main Ribbit)
Facebook:
Corporate Fan page – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ribbit/8282995497
CRM Fan page – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ribbit-for-Salesforce/74903993655
CRM Group – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=37950185937 (closing down 7/31/09)
Developers – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8607306402 (inactive at the moment)
LinkedIn:
Group – http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=87802
Company Listing – http://www.linkedin.com/companies/ribbit
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Posted by crickw
Though I traveled regularly from my home near San Francisco to the east coast working for AT&T in 2003, it didn’t bother my infant son much. He had full-time day care all day and mom was enough for him in the evenings.
I started working on Ribbit in 2004 while my first-born was just a year old. From 2004 to 2008, there was little travel. A few day-trips, or worst case, two-day trips here and there. It was hardly enough to impact my (now older) first-born and his younger sister.
But things change and Ribbit is now part of BT, a company with operations in 197 countries around the globe. Ribbit, of course, is nowhere near ‘operating’ in 197 countries (yet). But we are a wholly owned subsidiary of this London-based company, and do have business, or opportunities to pursue, on every continent with green vegetation on it.
Still, the frequency of travel is small. What’s not small is the duration of the trips. My first trip to London after being acquired was a full two weeks. It was weeks afterward that my family recovered. And that’s what makes it hard. It’s hard because, though I don’t travel frequently, when I do, it’s significant. That’s what makes it hard.
I’m not talking about having to remember all the little things that make longer travel bearable, like power plugs, extra batteries, headphones, and what clothes to pack. Those are all within my control. Lists, dedicated bags, and other techniques reduce the mechanical stress of infrequent yet long travel.
It’s the bit that’s not in my control, the impact on my kids – 6 and 4, and the spillover impact on my wife, is what’s hard. I think my little ones secretly have voodoo dolls of “Mr. Griggs,” my CEO and co-founder, upon which they practice all manner of ill things when I’m gone (though my daughter just invited him to a make-believe dinner she is holding – so her feelings are clearly mixed!).
So at my house it’s the two week-long trips a quarter that bring the heavy tears and behavioral outbursts, test the relationship between the otherwise loving siblings, and challenge my wife’s ability to hold the crew from mutiny while she deals with her own work life.
I have good friends, like Tom Shields, CEO of Yieldex, who find that they are traveling for three days almost every week. In some ways, the persistent pattern of coming and going provides a rhythm of anticipation and expectation. For these businessmen and businesswomen, it’s “easier when you do.” But it comes with consequences.
The children of one of the rhythmic travelers I know once asked their mother, “Is dad visiting our house for dinner tonight?”
This July, it’ll be that way at my house. My infrequent travel has caught up with me causing me to travel 18 of 31 days this July; missing my anniversary, my wife’s birthday, my sister’s birthday, my sister in law’s birthday, eighteen days of summer, eighteen family breakfasts, eighteen family dinners, eighteen good night stories, and at least fifty-four great hugs.
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Posted by crickw
LinkedIn has a poll running asking whether people will be hiring in the next six months.
Surprisingly, 51% of respondents believe they will be hiring within the next six months.
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Posted by crickw
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Posted by crickw
http://gigapan.org
Panoramic pictures taken by a robotic machine with astounding detail. I love this. What I love even more is the “moment in time” (well, actually ‘moments of time’) that are captured in a single image. The result is a Sociological snapshot.
My favorite is of the inauguration. Not because of the inauguration itself, but because of the facial expressions of President Bush (2) and Dick Chaney:
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Posted by crickw
