Grounded.

Every few years, my family – me, Denna, my two daughters and my Mom – take a special vacation. A couple of weeks ago, we flew to Bermuda for 5 days. The trip was great and Bermuda is beautiful, but flying sucks. I’m thinking now that we shouldn’t have given the auto execs such a hard time about taking private jets to D.C. for the congressional hearings. If I were rich, I’d have a private jet too. The hassles of flying are so much worse today than they were just a few years ago. I know – 9/11 changed everything. But flying is such a hassle, it can start your trip off on a sour note and end it on one too.

Nowdays, you have to get to the airport at least 1 1/2 hours early because you never know how long you’ll have to wait in line for ticketing (no curbside check-in for international flights) and then you leave that line and head for the TSA screening line. Will you be 12th in that line or number 106? You never know. Going through there is always a treat. About half the time, there is a delay because someones’ 90 year old grandmother has an artificial hip that is setting off the machine, or your computer refuses to start up causing you to be identified as a security risk who must be hand-screened with the wand while everyone else in line wonders what your ties to the Taliban are.

Once you are re-dressed, it could have taken 5 minutes or 20, you never know. Then you hustle to your gate as you try to get your laptop back in the bag and not trip on your shoelaces. You arrive at your gate on time and out of breath only to find out that the flight is delayed. Once you finally get squeeezed into your tiny little seat, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Would you like a blanket? ($7) How about a nice snack box?($8) A bag of peanuts with your jigger of apple juice? Not gonna happen. To make matters worse, once you arrive in paradise, you go to baggage claim, retreive your beat-up bags, dig out your passports again and head for customs. Once again, you stand in line for the nice person to welcome you to their country and then ask to search your bag. Find a taxi driver who, hopefully, knows the direct route to your hotel.

The stay in Bermuda was wonderful. It is a clean, picturesque and delightful place to spend a few days. The only problem is that you have to once again head to the airport at the end, and wade through the hassles all over again. I am so glad I don’t have to fly a lot for my business. I would have to save up for a private plane. Maybe one of those ultralight things with paper wings and motor off of some kids go cart. It might not be comfortable, but at least you could take a bottle of water with you without being arrested.

SEO vs. SEM

One of our suppliers specializes in search engine optimization. Another one specializes in search engine marketing. After playing 40 questions with each of them, I finally understand the difference. SEO involves making subtile changes in your website in order for it to show up sooner in free searches on Google, Yahoo, Ask, etc. SEM deals with paid search engine advertising – the sponsored links on the top and sides of the pages. Both SEO and SEM are important if you want to maximize your exposure on the web and especially crucial if you are operating an e-commerce site.

Honoring my Dad

Yesterday, my Mom and I were invited to what is normally an empty lot in downtown High Point. On this day, about 50 people had gathered to unveil a historical marker in honor of GTCC’s founding in High Point. My Dad was a member of the N.C. House in 1955 when the technical school first opened its doors. Coincidentially, that was the year I was born. In the face of strong opposition, he pushed through the bill that established what is now our community college system. Many kind words were said in rememberance of my Dad. I’m grateful for former legislator Mary Jarrell for making the marker a reality. Lee Kinard, former WFMY-TV news anchor and author of the book, “GTCC: 1958 – 2008″ and Mayor Becky Smothers had kind words for Dad. He would have been honored to have been recognised for this – one of his proudest accomplishments.

Who’s in charge of this?

I’m wondering why we are here on Memorial Day. Who thought this was a good idea? The phone’s not ringing, we’re not really busy and everyone else is having a cookout. NEXT YEAR, we’re taking the day off. I hope I remember to tell someone that.

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND VETERANS! I SHUDDER TO THINK WHERE WE WOULD  BE WITHOUT THEM!

Videocity

I love it when we hook up with a company that we can consider a partner to help us deliver more marketing options to our clients. This is a somewhat rare occurrance because we are SOOOOoooo picky! We just worked with new partner, MYRIAD MEDIA in Raleigh on 2 new TV spots for North State Communications. They are GREAT to work with. The project came off without a hitch and we are all thrilled with the outcome! Need high quality video production? We’ve got an app for that! See the TV spots here.

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