A true hero in a silent city

Google has decided it may soon have to take steps to exit China.

"We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognise that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China."

In their official statement, Google outlines why it was necessary to make this move now. The company, in order to operate in China, has had to abide my China's strict regulations with regard to information sharing, including requirements to filter any foreign content or search results which are pornographic, or politically sensitive, i.e. anti-China political/human rights sentiments.

It had to have been a very hard decision for Google to make, with China being a huge and rapidly growing market. I watched the news last night, as dozens of Chinese internet users came to the Google office with flowers and cards in support. But Google has indicated that they have "have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties."

The things we take for granted. With all the various social media out there, we have many opportunities and channels to voice our opinions, either publicly or anonymously. Sometimes, of course the freedom which we have can be used to degrade others and simply show the base side of humanity but yet it is still a freedom and I do believe we take it for granted. The Chinese policies and systems are aimed at perpetuating their own policies throughout Chinese society and effectively aims to circumvent free thinking. Where Trinidadians have flooded Facebook, the same site is blocked in China. I can almost hear the collective "OMG" around the room. lol. The Great Fire Wall, as this prohibitive policy is often called, also blocks sites like Twitter and YouTube and Blogger (OMG!), and government has increasingly put pressure on internet service providers to reveal customer information. Journalists and activists have also been arrested for not complying with the information policies of the Chinese regime.

Just Response, on its website states that

Fifty-four Chinese citizens have received prison sentences of between two and twelve years for expressing and exchanging opinions on the Internet.

Google in its statement says that this decison was made in the US without the "knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today." I do find that a bit harsh to completely leave out the people whom this move would directly impact, and hope Google will in the coming weeks treat with the sensitive human resource issues which will inevitably arise from this decision. I do not see the Chinese government budging and allowing Google to operate more freely, so their departure from a market of over 330 million internet users seems inevitable.

Today the Chinese government has responded to Google, saying "foreign internet companies are welcome" but must obey their systems of control.

It is a double edged sword in that I applaud Google for their decision - it sure took them a while though, but such a huge market must have been hard to overlook financially, huh Google? And it does raise questions about Google and how far they themselves were willing to go and for how long to tap into a market as huge as China, going against a basic human right to freedom of speech. How far was Google going to go for a dollar? But better late than never, Google and maybe this will be a lesson to other such organisations...

... and yet how does their departure now affect millions of Chinese internet users who have described Google as the "true hero in a silent city"? There are those who do not support Google, and believe the government is simply protecting the country. But there are millions who would be distressed if Google were indeed to exit the Chinese market for with their entrance in 2006, has come a new wave in the information age in a country seemingly hungry for information.

It is amazing that a country that is developing as rapidly as China is, with such a great influx of foreign investors, would still have these draconian policies with regard to freedom of speech and information. It seems almost paradoxical that globalisation has come to China and yet noone can truly, in essence, talk about it, or live it. It also begs the question, is the dollar really more important than supporting those whose freedoms have been restricted, because foreign companies are still going in to China, fully aware of these issues and not seeming to care until it affects them directly. And that is perhaps the greatest tragedy of all.

I am personally glad I can macco on Facebook! I don't that that for granted.

Photo: Associated Press

Two Videos, Two Islands

Yesterday, British Airways tweeted about their new Caribbean destinations ad, which I have shared below.




I thought the ad was well done. It showed our people, our culture, in full colour and spirit. I made the comment that the ad was distinctly Trini, not just a little bit, but throughout, and could not truly be described as Caribbean.

Then there is this video which ultimately proves my point because this is another Caribbean altogether, one whose history was just yesterday dealt another debilitating and tragic blow.



No sophisticated editing. No polish. No brilliant colour. No spirit.

Tweets about the destruction in Haiti in the aftermath of yesterday's 7.0 earthquake have taken over Twitter, with photos and commentary being shared by those who can on the impoverished Caribbean island. One journalist has been keeping us all in the loop with what is going on, with his tweets and with shared photos. You can also check out tweets from this user, and also check here and these tweets as well from @troylivesay.

CARICOM, Haiti's own community, has so far only released this statement on its website. I could say a lot about this but I am giving CARICOM the benefit of time this morning.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is distressed at the initial reports coming out of Haiti in the wake of the destruction wrought by the series of earthquakes which struck its Member State on Tuesday. As it continues to monitor the situation closely, CARICOM will move quickly to mobilize its disaster emergency response systems in order to render assistance to Haiti.

"Church groups are singing throughout the city all through the night in prayer. It is a beautiful sound in the middle of a horrible tragedy." - @troylivesay, on his Twitter feed.

In much the same way we can search and find all this info on the tragedy, people have also been sharing info on how you can help relief efforts locally on Facebook and Twitter. I would be surprised if none of you has one single friend in you entire network who did not do the same.

I woke up this morning...and that's it. I woke up this morning and if you're reading this, so did you. So what are you going to do today? Are we still going to make a heap of noise about Beyonce today? Seriously? We are up there in that first video, beautiful and blessed. It could easily be us one day in the second.

So...what are you going to do today?

In Trinidad, you can drop off food, blankets, water, clothing at the corner of Broome St. and Tragarete Rd.  between 9am - 3pm. Label all bags.

Also donate at http://www.foodforthepoor.org/ or

In the US - you can use your cell phone to text “Yele” to 501501, which will automatically donate $5 to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund (it will be charged to your cell phone bill), or you can visit Yele.org, wherever you are, and click on DONATE.

In the US - The Red Cross is using their Twitter account to ask for donations: You can text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
In addition, you can make a donation right on the Red Cross website.


If you're interested in reading Troy's blog you can HERE.

Telephone Love - But where is the Customer Love?

I hate business-related calls where the caller just starts prattling about what he wants, without taking a breath and worse, without identifying himself. So you want the key to the mansion and I should just give it to you despite the fact that I do not know who on earth you are or where you're calling from. It's a peeve - right up there with bad spelling and grammar.

Is it really that difficult to start a phone call the proper way?

"Hello. This is Barack Obama, calling from the White House. I am trying to reach Ms Trini Darlin."

Isn't that a whole lot better than...

"Hello. I want to get some information on blah blah blah blah blappity blah blah blah blah prattle prattle prattle."

Cause that is what I hear when you start going a mile a minute without introducing yourself. And then I have to take a breath and try my best not to sound annoyed and instead to sound sickeningly sweet and accomodating.

And to whom am I speaking?

I swear, we have come such a long way with technology but the simplest things we overlook. Simple courtesies. There are some people who call who can really test your sanity though and can go on and on while you sit and bear it. I once sat through a 32minute phone call (yes, I timed it) while the gentleman voiced his frustration with an issue, that had nothing to do with me. Sometimes we have to play the role of priest and let customers or clients give confession. It takes patience, it takes tolerance, it takes a strong spirit.

And with all the new gadgets available now though, it can often be a come-to-Jesus type experience when dealing with some businesses. Service industries (my special favourite) are notorious for their horror stories. I went to a store once, picked up what I needed and made my way to the cashier. There she was - on the phone. She could not be bothered that I, the customer, was standing there waiting patiently for her to ring up my items. She looked at me, and without batting a false eyelash, continued yapping it up on the phone. If it were a call related to business, I may have been a bit more tolerant, but it was clear she was talking to a girlfriend and she did not even make an attempt to end the call. I finally placed everything I had picked up on the counter in front of her and walked out. She then tells her friend to hold and has the audacity to ask me if I am going to come back. She had to have been joking to think I would come back after she clearly sent me a loud and clear message that her personal phone call about some party or some man was more important than running a business and building a customer base. And most importantly, her personal telephone call was just ridiculously more important than I was.

And I have seen staff doing the following when dealing with or ignoring a customer as the case may be

- Texting
- Playing games on the phone
- Browsing the internet
- Downloading ringtones using Bluetooth and a friend's phone
--Listening to music

Really?

It is sadly understood that customer service in Trinidad is horrendous and though this has been described as a "cultural" thing, I don't believe we are a rude people. We are friendly and hospitable everywhere else, so why can't we tranlsate this to business? There is clearly a market for trainers to host seminars for employers to properly train their employees about the power of the smile and etiquette. Looking for a job, anyone? lol.

Unless it is a life or death call or email, when dealing with a client or customer, ideally the phone should remain unanswered. What ever happened to the customer comes first? Yes, the technology makes us accessible and brings information to our fingertips, but is it worth it to ruin a business? Basically that is what improper use of these devices do - when used improperly and at the most inappropriate times, they are like cannonballs in the fabric of prosperity and good reputation. Just watch those dollar bills burn to a crisp.

At my very first job after university, in the financial services industry, we were forbidden from keeping our cellphones on during the 8am - 4.30pm period. And there was hardly ever a person whose phone rang during the work day because the culture of the organisation was strongly grounded in good customer service and it was just understood - no cellphones. I don't think all employers should have to go the route of banning personal devices at the office, but it says something about how important they view their brand and how they view their employees as brand ambassadors. If they don't bring their staff into the game, chances are they will lose it.

A Blast from the Past

Yesterday while  looking for something on my bookshelf, I found this. Don't laugh.

Okay, I know you laughed. I remember when I bought that cell phone back in 2002. That phone was the hottest thing on the market and there were ooh's and aah's when I bought my new Nokia. Now, it's nothing more than a paper weight. I never got rid of it because it was my first phone and then, my kids could probably laugh about it one day, the way we laugh about 8-tracks with our parents. I can hear it now.

- So ummm...what did this phone do? Could you take photos with it? Can you check email on it? What about blogging...can I send a blog post with it? What does it do?

- Ummm..you could call a friend and get calls and...oh...you could send text messages!

- That's all??

But it goes to show how communication has changed and keeps changing. 2002 was not that far off was it? But then, think even further back to when we used to put pen to paper and write letters. In high school, pen pals were all the rage, You paid like $5 and got 4 pen pals, and you would spend your weekend writing letters in your best penmanship to teenagers like yourself in Africa or Europe or North America. You would wait weeks for a reply and would light up like a bulb when you got home and there was your letter, waiting to be opened.

Then came email and the death of personalised stationery and the birth of the term "slow mail" which now described that fun activity of writing out those epistles to friends in foreign countries. But emails allowed not only faster delivery of your messages, but also allowed you to send photos and helped to foster these relationships on a deeper level since you could communicate more often, without any expense.

Chat came and the email was not the popular kid anymore. With instant messaging services like MSN and Yahoo, who needed to sit and write an email and wait for the person to check it and hopefully respond immediately? Now you could see if the person was online and talk in real time with him or her. With chat later came video chat and stuff like Skype, which signalled the near death of the telephone in our homes. I cannot tell you the last time I got a phone call on my landline.

Facebook became the ultimate relationship builder and social hot spot. So I had one of those slow mail penpals and after a while, we just sort of stopped writing and lost touch. After almost 20 years, guess where we reconnected? You guessed it. Facebook has allowed me to reconnect with dozens of people I just simply lost touch with and now it is where we all keep in touch, some simply want to macco and some like to be macco'ed (don't deny it!), share their opinions on stuff and meet new people.

And worse than me picking up the phone in my home, is me picking up a newspaper. Besides getting that yucky press ink all over my hands, the www world has made getting the news so much more convenient and accessible. And with newspapers going electronic and also with media gurus and just people with opinions on the news creating blogs and forums, feedback and discussion on current events is more prevalent and there is no longer that one-sidedness which news was all about in the past. Sure you had letters to the editor, but you had to hope your letter got chosen and then that in itself is limited cause noone can comment on your letter in real time, if anyone chooses to at all.

Blogging has brought so many different topics to so many different people. There are blogs about everything - sports, technology, food, fashion, travel (yaay), media, entertainment, sex, dating - you name it, there is a blog out there that hashes out the issues and has readers hashing right back. Isn't it fantastic?

And for the people on the move, who want to process info quickly, who want to not have to scour the cyberverse for details, there is microblogging. Twitter has really exploded over the past several months and Facebook also allows people to just simply answer the question "what am I doing now?" as well as share links to articles, news, videos, podcasts etc.

Businesses have come a long way too. The way we communicate in business has evolved as well. I always smirk when I have to print a memo in this day and age, but paper trails are still important, though I think cyber trails can work as well. Some businesses have harnessed the power of technology and employees are keeping in touch via email, Office Communicator, intranets, internal social networking platforms similar to the external ones like Facebook and Twitter.

And you were no longer slaves to your pc, but the mobility of communication changed too, with laptops and wireless internet almost anywhere you go so is it any wonder you see people sitting in airports, coffee shops, on the beach, in their hotels, typing away - getting things done, staying in touch, downloading, meeting people.

And then, coming back to the cell phone I dug out of the stone ages, there came the smart phone - which allows you to do everything discussed above, bringing you right at the edge of the action, 24/7. I sat in a room once and everyone was inflicted with BB-itis. Symptoms - dropped head, eyes locked on Blackberry screen, oblivious to life around them, fingers tapping away at keyboard frantically.

It's a serious ailment which has afflicted many people around the world, in addition to iPhoneitis and other smart phone related afflictions.

But it's immediacy on the go. You can now send an email or an IM and get a response faster than the time it takes to get a cup of coffee at your favourite Rituals or Starbucks as the case may be.

And to think, I loved that phone so much that I did not want to let it go. And to think, everything mentioned here is just the tip of the evolution iceberg as far as communication is concerned. If I had to talk about everything out there, my head would hurt. There is so much happening out there that soon some of these things may be as dead and archaic as that old Nokia, with its analog service. It's exciting find out though.

Bad guy of the day: The Dreaded Airline

I love travelling. I may not always have the time or the money (more of the latter than the former) to visit the places I want to visit, but I do pretty okay. So obviously I follow a few twitter feeds related to travel. Noone likes being stuck in an airport for hours waiting for flights, or being kept on hold indefinitely as one tries to get information about delays or cancellations. Airlines get a lot of bad ju-ju vibes for sometimes bad service, often totally out of their hands, but the hard blow of this can be softened by proper communication with passengers. I can be sitting in an airport, with my laptop and getting details about my flight without having to join a throng of disgruntled, weary passengers at the counter. That's hot.

I love what British Airways are doing with their tweets right now. With the weather over in Europe being as bad as it is and flights being delayed and cancelled, it's great for travellers to log in to Twitter and get some current info or assistance. And they do answer. I asked about fare sales between POS and LGW once and got a prompt response. It was not necessarily the answer I wanted (lol) but I got an answer nonetheless and appreciated the prompt attention to my query.

American Airlines, in light of security changes due to the recent botched bomb attempt,and weather issues in the US as well, has also been doing  a pretty good job at keeping customers in the know. As is Virgin Atlantic.

And the list goes on. I would love to see Caribbean Airlines doing a bit more. I am a rather loyal Caribbean Airlines customer. Some people may scoff at this and yes, they do have their moments but I have had my moments with other airlines as well. Their service has really improved over the past couple years, and unless another airline is significantly cheaper than CA, I would usually book with them once they fly to where I want to go. Thus their tweets or lackthereof are a bit disappointing cause I would be all up on that. I do get their e-newsletter and see their ads in the paper but still, they are missing out on a great opportunity to really engage their passengers, get some feedback on what we want to see from them and offer me some great fares, specials (freeness? lol).  They have 442 followers, who right now are following...well...nothing.

Oh... to be the tweeter for an airline. Or just a travel tweeter or blogger. Yes, I think everyone know this is a dream of mine. Travelling and getting paid to write about it! Sigh. In a perfect world!

Will talk about hotels another time.

Finger Lickin' Good or is it?

Yesterday I learnt about a KFC ad which was creating a lot of cross-continental drama. Check out the video below if you have not seen it yet. The video was created by KFC Australia as part of its WI vs Australia cricket series campaign. In it, a white Aussie cricket fan is surrounded by what the video refers to as "awkward black people" (???) and, well...you can take a look



Now KFC America managed to see this ad, and the ad was immediately deemed racist, heads rolled and the Aussies yanked the offending ad off the air and off its electronic channels.

I can see where KFC America would have an issue with the ad. The stereotype of black Americans and their perceived love for fried chicken is a long standing one and perhaps not the most pleasant. I am Trini, and as far as I know, we don't have such a stereotype here. I know I personally hate when Americans all think we all wear tie dyed shirts and drink from coconuts and lay on a beach all day, but not much fried chicken stereotypes. Aussies apparently don't understand the drama with the ad either, and saw it as just a guy offering some West Indians some KFC. An Aussie explained the ad would be relevant whether the Aussie was trapped alone among a sea of Englishmen, Pakistanis or South African fans.

They claim it aims to show that KFC is a crowd pleaser among people of any background. The West Indian fans did not seem to be hostile towards Mick, the dude in the ad. If the ad was a REAL depiction of West Indian fans then this ad would have worked and made some sense. That is, these West Indian fans look excited and happy to be in Australia supporting their team. When is the last time you saw an excited West Indian cricket fan? They should look DEPRESSED. The ad should go like this -

Mick sits in sea of angry, depressed looking West Indians and decides to bring out the ultimate crowd pleaser - some KFC. lol..

Now...though I personally as a West Indian don't find the offering of the KFC offensive, cause Trinis for sure love some KFC and are proud of the fact that our Independence Square branch is apparently a global leader in sales. There is a regional KFC Cup competition - not because KFC thinks black people loves fried chicken, but because KFC supports regional cricket. But I find it hard to believe that global marketers are so naive that they did not know about the stereotype and different things in the short ad also makes one question this alleged cluelessness. 

There is the depiction of the 2 parties involved - Mick, who seems frustrated by the loud, raucous West Indians. Why is Mick in the minority if he is in Australia and the West Indies are NOT the home team? Why couldn't the ad be the other way around - with Mike, a West Indian, offering the loud, raucous Aussies the chicken? Or a group of loud Aussies with a group of loud West Indians in a bit of cricket rivalry and some random peacemaker bringing out the chicken and both groups of fans eating the chicken and high-fiving over it?

The ad itself if looked at from an American concept is definitely racially insensitive, and though the notion that this clip would offend some people never occurred to the marketing team at KFC Australia, it just highlights the point that marketing cannot ever be generic. Yes, Oz is far away but really, with social media, television, email and all the technology you have, while I can understand whether some housewife sitting at home may not know about African Americans and this chicken stereotype, I cannot understand a global communicator, working for an AMERICAN franchise not being culturally aware. I highly doubt that one dude came up with this idea and decided to run with it. Story boards must have been created, concepts tested among a group of people, with people outside of the team. Seeing that it was supposed to be a "light reference to West Indians", were there any independent reviewers to determine whether West Indians would "ketch the joke"? So basically, KFC Australia is trying to peddle the story that noone on the whole team caught on that this ad may not go over well with the bosses in the US?
 
I am laughing over my Cheerios with that one, eh. So in the context - a white Aussie cricket fan offering West Indian fans some spicy KFC - is the ad racist? Aye, last cricket match I went to, the bucket of KFC was a hit with the crew!  But in a global marketing and marketing research context - definitely. Something is not right with the whole explanation from KFC Australia. Other things are wrong with the ad, from my West Indian perspective, outside of the poor misjudged chicken.

The various global contexts have to be taken into consideration when developing ads, promotions, even brand names. I recall a conversation where a Venezuelan gentleman, on work assignment in Trinidad, was adamant that he did not wish to lease a Prado,  I believe it was. When asked why, he said that "prado" was apparently a slang term for a man masturbating. I doubt Trinis ever thought of that because men puff their chests in the driver's seats of their Prados on the nation's highways. But the vehicle does exist on Venezuelan roads, just under a different name so as to not alienate the market for which the vehicle seems to be targeted. I doubt Toyota knew about this before, but they knew well enough not to try to sell the thing as Prado in Caracas.

And you would find that different companies do in fact have different products to meet the needs of different markets. The same goes for how we communicate with those we are aiming to interact with. As a global company, this ad was bound to reach America and cause the inevitable fallout. Let's get real KFC Australia. Did you think you could keep this only on Aussie television? Have you ever heard of YouTube? Thinking outside the box has to now mean, not just being distinctly creative, but also being globally sensitive and aware, especially if your brand is a global brand.

Though I really doubt that the strength of the KFC brand has been affected much by this incident. It has inevitably caused extreme embarrasment for the Aussies and I am sure there are video conferences and some finger pointing and maybe some pink slip writing going on down under, but Mick will still be handing out KFC chicken somewhere to someone else, though let's hope he is not plastered across the media while doing it.

How far do you go with the "You can't please everybody" adage?

Beyonce is one of the biggest names in pop music today, if not the biggest. And Ms B is heading to Trinidad and Tobago. And Ms B is creating quite an uproar before she has even stepped on the plane to Port of Spain. Unbeknownst to the lady, she is the centre of a media frenzy revolving around a myriad of issues

• The money being forked out by telecoms giant, TSTT to bring her to our shores. The Communication Workers Union obviously has some issues over the alleged $10million price tag.
• The management company hired to coordinate and handle the logistics of staging such an event
• The timing of the concert - in the midst of the greatest show on earth, when  our culture is in full bloom, and when a lot of small businesses and vendors cash in on the Trini love for liming.

The last issue is the latest in the furor over Ms "Single Ladies". Now, while this does not personally affect me since my Carnival seems to have ended before it started (no HD!!! what??), I can see where cultural organisations have issues with the timing of the concert.

What makes it worse, from a CSR perspective, is that a TSTT-sponsored event for the Carnival,  the extremely popular B-Square series has been "blanked" this year and most people have indirectly shifted blame to poor Ms B for this unfortunate event.  The company attributes the cancellation to the absence of Mr HD this year (no HD!!! what?), the timing of this particular cancellation cannot help but add to the negative press surrounding the February 18 concert and creates a perceived notion that the company cares more about an American performer than our local culture.

As such an imporant corporate citizen, whose track record in sponsoring so many events, groups and causes is stellar, some may say the move to bring an American artiste so soon after the largest local cultural expo on our calendar is a bad move. But what about all the other events that the company continues to support? Does the fact that TSTT has supported and continues to support other local cultural events, including the capstone event for soca, the Soca Monarch competition, an event that broadcasts our culture internationally, and attracts thousands and thousands of patrons, count for anything? Or is the fallout from this one concert the day after our Carnival ends, going to be that thunderstorm in the teacup?

What will TSTT do in coming weeks? The fact of the matter is, for every person who is upset about the concert and take issue with all the supporting issues, there is another, or a few hundred, who cannot wait to get to the concert to see Beyonce perform. The rush for tickets so far has proven that there is indeed a ready and willing market for the post-Carnival performance from an American artiste, and hundreds had no hesitation in forking out their $1600 for their VVIP tickets to the show. So, does TSTT now then just subscribe to the adage that "You just cannot please everybody" and keep on truckin' or will there be strategic communications to the relevant parties and the public in coming days to counter some of the negativity coming out of the announcement to bring Ms Knowles to Trinidad and Tobago next month.

Never a dull moment in good ole Trini.

If anyone wants to buy me a VVIP ticket, you can leave a comment. (lol)