Google’s attempt to compete with the massively popular app Flipboard is just that…an attempt. Flipboard by far my favorite iPad app. I use it religiously throughout the day and it’s my primary source for news. However, being a Google fan, I downloaded Currents and gave it a shot. The end result: it does some things nicely, others not so much.

The problem with new products that come out and attempt to compete with other products that are already very successful is there really needs to be an incentive to change. Outside of experiencing a major issue with a product or service, the act of changing one’s behavior requires something more than “comparable.” The new product needs to offer something the current product doesn’t — and that’s where I believe, at least for me, Currents fails.

Currents is a nice app. It has a beautiful design, it has a lot of publication feeds and it’s fairly easy to set-up and use. To be honest, the one thing that Currents does better than Flipboard is the set-up function. It’s a lot easier to find and add a publication to your feed in Currents than it is through Flipboard.  But that’s where it ends. Currents doesn’t offer me anything Flipboard doesn’t. I’ve invested a lot of time and I’ve become comfortable with Flipboard. If Currents doesn’t offer me anything Flipboard doesn’t, why would I change?

Outside of not differeniating itself from Flipboard, at its core, Currents isn’t social. Right now, that’s what I love about Flipboard. Flipboard makes it easy to share what I’m reading. Currents does allow you to +1 (recommend) an article and does allow you to share via Facebook, Twitter, etc., but it’s not as easy as it is on Flipboard.

Overall, Currents is a fine newsreader app. It mirrors Flipboard…just not as nicely. While Currents is a good option for those looking for a news aggreator app, Flipboard does it better and is more social. I’m sure Google will make some improvements to Currents, but right now, I’m sticking with Flipboard.

P.S. How the heck does one get to the original article through Currents? Flipboard gives you the article’s link, but I have no idea how to access the original article through Currents. Someone help me out.

First, I’m tired of the talk around measurement. Chuck Hemann said it best, with a comment that “everyone seems to be a measurement expert now.” He’s spot on. Measurement is the all the rage (and it should be), which means everyone is suddenly an expert on the subject. I’m a numbers geek, so the gathering and analysis of data completely fascinates me. But I’m by no means an expert in measurement. Neither are you, so stop trying.

Fellow Minnesotan, Kary Delaria wrote an article on how, for her,  Twitter is becoming less useful. I agree with her broad, overall statement, as Twitter is becoming less useful for me as well. What was once my favorite platform, Twitter is slowly becoming less valuable for me.  I’m simply seeing a lot of repeat content and complaining. It’s sort of like dating and waking up one day and realizing the honeymoon phase is over, and that you’re now bored to death. That’s how I am feeling lately about Twitter. I made a comment on Kary’s post that I believe Twitter is dying. And I stand by the comment. In five years, Twitter will be dead. Yes, I realize that Twitter is evolving and you can make the argument that “Twitter as we know it today will be vastly different in five years.” But honestly, it goes beyond that. Having spent the majority of my career in the financial space, I got to witness the housing crisis first-hand. We (myself and the company I was working for) saw it coming — not nearly to the extent that we’re in now (otherwise I’d be on a private beach drinking vodka right now), but we saw it coming. I see a number of similarities with Twitter…not social media, just Twitter. I honestly think Twitter is about to burst. In the end, a new tool — completely separate from Twitter — will come along and achieve what Twitter is attempting to. The end result will be much more tolerable and profitable for consumers and brands. Twitter is a sinking ship.

This past weekend I had the chance to attend Unsummit for a few hours. Overall, I think last year’s content was a bit better, but there was some decent stuff this year. One of the sessions I attended was around the term social media “expert,” however, it quickly turned into a conversation about social media as a whole. I left extremely frustrated, as the group tried to define what social media is, should it even be called social media, and lastly what companies should be doing with social. The last topic was the most irritating. People, why are we trying to broadly define social? What works for one company may not work for another. That doesn’t mean one is doing it wrong. Social is unique to every business and every consumer. Please, stop trying to silo it into a broad, often incorrect, bucket. And to the person who said Facebook is useless for brands and will likely be gone in a few years…you’re an idiot. Also, only I can make statements about social platforms dying.

I wrote a while back about my fascination with augmented reality. I was a little bullish on AR at the time, but I still think augmented reality is the most powerful and potentially the biggest game changer that we will see…once it hits mainstream. And mainstream is still the problem. While there are a few folks out there doing some amazing things with AR, I think I was probably 12-18 months ahead of where I should have been with my assumptions. Hey, even I make mistakes. Nonetheless, I still remain highly optimistic about the impact AR will have in the near future.

So there you have it. My ramblings and thoughts. I’d ask you to stay tuned for more brilliant insight, but it’ll likely be another month before I post again.

My personal goals for 2011:

• Finally rid myself of soda – I don’t drink it often. Most of the time its milk or water. Typically, the only times I drink soda is when I don’t eat at home. Lunches and dinners outside of the home are killer for me to drink soda. I also drink soda with my alcohol, but I am not giving that up. I need my alcohol (I kid, I rarely drink alcohol).
• Lose those final 10-15 pounds – No, I’m not going to go on a diet, but I do think I could afford to lose a few more pounds. Nothing extreme, I don’t think I’m obese. Just a personal goal to lose a few more lbs.
• Be offline more – I spend a large portion of my day online. It’s a big part of my job. When I come home from work, on the weekends (ironically, I am writing this post on a “weekend”), I would like to stay offline more. When I am online, I would like to be more productive with my time – rather than simply sit on Twitter for hours.
• Read more – I love reading. Biographies, history…stuff that isn’t fake. With my new found time “offline,” I’d like to read at least 12 books in 2011. I know that’s not a lot, but in 2010, I had the problem of starting a book, getting interested and then falling off for a few weeks. So I have literally five or six books that I’m halfway through. Twelve books, twelve months. I can do that easily.
• Finish an 82-game season on NBA 2K11 – I love video games. I don’t play as much as I used to, but when I do play, I get sucked in. NBA 2K11 is by the best and my favorite game in the past five years. I want to finish a complete season.
• Start my remodel of my basement – This includes demolition for the Vodka Room(honestly, I don’t drink a lot)/Discoletta. I’m not handy, so it’ll be an experience.
• Golf – Here’s my golfing pattern over the past five years: once a week-once a month-not at all (last year). Not even once to the driving range. I would like to golf again in 2011. Not asking a lot. Just to golf.
• Cycle – See “golf” above.
• Continue to be frugal – I’m cheap. I hate spending money…at least on myself. I believe in working hard now, so I can relax later. I need to stop eating out as much, stop those small impulse purchases. This is especially true in 2011, as there’s this wedding that should probably happen before 2020. Mint, you will be my best friend in 2011.

Not very hard goals. All attainable. Just need discipline.

How about we begin by talking about me, after all, that is the most important thing and what you came here for, right? The biggest change was my career move. Having spent the previous five years in the financial industry, I wanted a role where I could truly focus on bridging the digital and social spaces with traditional communications. I’m a firm believer that the traditional foundation of communications and public relations is vital for an organization to succeed online. I also believe that having a firm understanding of how a business operates is the most important trait a professional in the digital/social landscape can have—also one that many communications professionals lack. With that in mind, I’ve always been a corporate guy. Having never worked for an agency, I thought maybe this was the time for me to test the agency side. However, after careful consideration and self-evaluation, I decided that staying on the corporate side is really the best option for me. I think I’ll always be a “corporate suit.” With that, I took a role at Great Clips where I’m able to not only play a pivotal role in the organization’s online efforts, but also put a large focus on corporate communications and brand awareness. At this point in my career and life (because I put a heavy emphasis on work culture and work-life balance) this is an ideal spot for me.

That’s enough of me…for now. This past year also brought a lot of change and excitement in terms of my professional/personal advancement. I put professional and personal together because I don’t believe in the term “personal brand.” If you want to talk about that, check out last week’s #pr20chat. Great discussion on the “personal brand” topic.

In the beginning of 2010, I made it a goal to really focus locally and build my backyard. Minnesota is filled with amazing talent. Incredibly smart individuals and companies are right here in my home state. While the online tools make it easy to build relationships and networks across the country, I think it’s incredibly important to build locally. I was fortunate enough to foster a lot of great relationships in Minnesota and feel I exceeded the goal I set for 2010.

Arik Hanson, Dave Folkens, Lisa Grimm – These three individuals are my sounding board here in Minnesota. This year I was really able to strengthen my friendship with all three of these peeps (shout out to Grimm) this past year. Blog World was a blast (can’t wait to do it again!), they really helped shape me as a PR pro and we just recently launched PRevolution. Thank you for a great friendship in 2010!

MinnesotaPRSA – I wanted to continue my involvement with Minnesota PRSA and continue to have a say in how my local chapter continued to advance my profession. I think the organization made some significant steps forward in 2010 and I was able to meet a lot of great PR minds through various events. I look forward to continuing this success in 2011. Hat tip to Christian Betancourt and the rest of the communications committee. You folks did all the work, thanks.

Lisa Grimm – I know I mentioned her above, but I wanted to give a separate shout out to her. She was my rock when it came to Minnesota PRSA this year and without her, I would have been lost.  A truly great person and an invaluable friend. Thanks, G.

Heidi Bobier – My partner in crime. I’m Bert and she’s Ernie. She was the one new friend I got to know the best this year and we’ve formed a great bond. She was a major sounding board for me to complain—about stuff I probably shouldn’t have complained about—so I am grateful for that. And it helps that she’s a smart PR pro, too.

#BBTP – I won’t say anything about #BBTP other than it’s a great group of friends. Here’s to a better 2011.

Also grateful to continue my friendships with @AndreaKopfmann, @tuffyabel, @AlbertMaruggi, @JonasPK, @MNHeadhunter, @KristinGast. Lots of others, but not enough space.

That being said, I’m also proud of what happened outside of Minnesota. While a lot of my focus is locally, the beauty of social media is that it takes location out of the picture. Thankful for a lot of relationships built outside of Minnesota.

Chuck (@chuckhemann) – I almost feel like he’s a part of the Minnesota crew. In fact, he is part of the crew. I really enjoyed getting to know Chuck last year. It’s great to have someone who you can talk shop with (guy is incredibly smart) but also be able to joke about sports and music. And we both enjoying giving a little grief to a certain individual listed above. It was a blast finally getting to meet him in person and enjoyed Blog World. If you’re at all interested in the social space, which I assume you are since you’re reading this, I highly suggest following his blog. I still owe him a photo for a bet I lost, which I promise to fulfill in 2011…a year late.

Stina (@Stina6001) – Like Madonna and Prince. Known to me only by one name—Stina. My one goal in 2011 was to finally meet her, and luckily enough, it’ll happen early in the new year. I’m not going to get all sentimental and stuff, but I hope she knows how grateful I am that she reached out to me in 2010. We built a great relationship and I look forward to continuing that. Fist pumps.

“Gator” Lindsey (@lindstr) – Go Teabow! Have enjoyed chatting and getting to know you!

Sasha (@SashaHalima) – We drifted apart toward the end of the year because of all the exciting changes that we both went through, but I hope 2011 we can touch base more often. So proud of your 2010 changes!

Adam Kmiec (@AdamKmiec) – Great getting to know him. One of my favorite guys because he tells it how it is and is incredibly smart. We’ll have to grab a beer the next time you’re in town.

Rachel (@RachelAKay) – If I could only learn from one person, she would be it. Incredibly talented. Where will I be in five years? No clue, but I better have met Rachel by then. And maybe I’ll like cats a little more by then, too!

@DavidSpinks, @ColbyWG (outsider/local peep…both), @RobSaker, @ResearchGoddess + many more…I learned a lot from all of you.  Thank you.

This post is way too long, so I’ll shut up now. This past year has been amazing and it’s been because of all the folks I’ve met, formed relationships with and learned an incredible amount from. Here’s to successful and healthy 2011.

what am I doing? what am I doing?
oh yeah, that’s right, I’m doing me, I’m doing me
I’m living life right now man
and this what I’m do til its over
til it’s over, but it’s far from over

We worry so much about pleasing others. We try to be in ten different places at once. Take a step back and focus on what’s most important – you.

Call me greedy. Call me selfish. I don’t mind. I’m focused on getting mine first.

1) Your customer doesn’t care about the price. We’re a convenience brand. Our services typically run anywhere between $13-$17 (prices vary depending upon market). However, our customers still demand a service that’s high quality. Despite a relatively low investment—less than 30 minutes and $13-$17, customers that visit a Great Clips salon are still highly attached to the service. A large part of this mindset is because the service being provided affects one’s appearance, but it also is safe to say that quality still matters, no matter how much money is being exchanged. Think about the last purchase you made. Regardless of whether you’re spending $5 or $500, you still demand a quality product.

2) Know your business and stick with it. Great Clips provides haircuts (and perms at select locations). That’s all we do. We cut hair. We don’t do coloring, waxing or anything else. We cut hair. This business model is one of the strengths that allows the Great Clips brand to stand out, and what has allowed Great Clips to become the world’s largest salon brand. We don’t try to do everything; we do one thing and we do it well. This approach(voice) has to be carried over online as well. While I try to provide the Great Clips community with resources and content that’s valuable, it also has to be relevant. I can’t be a brand that provides quality haircuts at an affordable price offline, and try to become a high-end fashion brand online.

3) Your customers don’t care about your business model/structure. Great Clips is a franchise-based business. All our salons are independently owned and operated. Most Great Clips customers probably don’t realize this, and they definitely don’t care. To them, it’s one thing—Great Clips. Whether it’s coupons or complaints, we’re seen as one giant, single entity. As I mentioned above, as a franchise, we have limited control over what our franchisees do. If a customer has a concern about a stylist, Great Clips’ hands are tied because they aren’t employed by Great Clips. Coupons and promotions vary based upon the market. One salon could have coupons and a salon a few miles down the road might be owned by someone else and not honor coupons. None of this matters to consumers.

While it’s only been three and a half months, the ride thus far has been a bumpy and wild ride. And I wouldn’t want anything less. I’ve had successes and failures. Most importantly, I’m constantly learning and pushing myself to become a better professional. I’ve been given an opportunity to be an integral part of a team that’s in route to creating something incredible. And best of all, I’ll go in on Monday and be completely thrown for a loop.

The NBA season officially starts tonight. I’m stoked. The NBA is by far my favorite sport to watch and follow. Football (both college and pro) and the World Series mean very little to me now. My dream is to own the Minnesota Timberwolves. I love basketball.

So, here are my annual predictions.

Eastern Conference:

Atlantic – Boston

Central – Chicago

Southeast – Orlando

Other Playoff Teams:

Milwaukee, Miami, Atlanta, New York, Indiana

Western Conference:

Northwest: Oklahoma City

Pacific: Lakers

Southwest: Spurs

Other Playoff Teams: Denver, Portland, Dallas, Clippers

NBA Champion:

Gut: Orlando over Lakers

Reaching: Milwaukee over Portland

MVP: Durant

Rookie: Wall

Most Improved: Beasley

Coach: Scott Brooks

Defensive POY: Howard

Sixth Man: Ty Lawson

1) The closing keynote featured Penn Jillette, who when asked about his plan and success, brought up being authentic and connecting with his audience. A great quote he had: “We put on good f***ing shows and do miracles on stage.” Offer a good product and be true to yourself and people will be attracted.

2) Delayed gratification. Darren Rowes talked about it in terms of realistic goals around blogging. Realize that your blog isn’t going to find overnight success. It takes time to build. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to make money and find success, blogging isn’t the right business to get into.

Adam Carolla also mentioned it in regards to his path after being fired. He quoted, “if you offered a hungry person 3 M&Ms now or the possibility of an entire bag tomorrow, most would take the 3 right away. Instead wait it out for the chance to get the entire bad later.” Instead of hopping on the first and biggest wagon, Carolla opted to do what would ultimately make him happy and give him more control. He opted for delayed gratification, instead of the quick buck.