Let’s just say….

you are a retailer. A retailer who wants to know what its customers and non-customers think. You’d hire a reputable research company to help you. Maybe you’d do it through your advertising or public relations agency or maybe you have someone in-house who does that sort of thing. Either way, you’d expect that you’d end up with some information (that is hopefully useful and/or actionable) at the end.

So imagine that this research company recommended an online focus group. And imagine they recruited widely. They didn’t screen for people in the business – hence my intimate knowledge of this study. I was chosen twice – yes twice – to participate. Once for the 6:00 pm hour long session and once for the 8:00 pm hour long session. Since I really couldn’t bear to do it twice, plus it would just be wrong to accept their $20 gift card the second time, I chose the 6:00 pm session.

Yesterday, I got a reminder email. It walked me through the set up and “test your computer” stage so I’d be ready to go today.

Today, I got an email at 5:00 pm reminding me and suggesting I log in about 10 minutes before 6:00 pm.

At 5:50 pm, I sat at my computer, after snarfing down a quick dinner of amazing homemade red beans and rice (thanks Andrew!), and I clicked on the link. Now it tells me that I need to adjust my security settings. Hmmm. Not my favorite thing to do. But I did.

Then log in with the password provided. Nothing. Again. Nothing. Sigh.

I called the toll-free line on the screen. They had me leave a message and they’d call back. Almost 10 minutes later, they did. Finally, we got it going.

However, Paul the customer service guy said, there are not enough people for the session. Please wait and it will start as soon as more people are logged in.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I balanced my checkbook.

I started thinking about blogging.

And then.

The screen came up that the session was canceled. But they would still send me my $20 gift card.

Fine for me. But I can’t help feeling for the client here. Is this a case of technology gone bad? Or did the research provider simply not recruit well enough?

I’m disappointed on several levels. First, I would have loved to participate. It was about shoes. I love shoes. Second, I was curious to see how this particular provide managed the groups and, well, you know I didn’t get to see that at all. And third, I fear that these snafus hurt the research community as a whole.

In an effort to cut the cost of qualitative research, this sort of study is steadily replacing face-to-face research. Maybe it’s fine for some things. But I’ve been behind that mirror more times than I can count and I can tell you two things:

1) Facial expressions matter
2) You get a real feel for the respondents

Online? You could get a professional researcher on your panel. You could have your fiercest competitor in the group. You could have the same person twice.

It might all be worth it. But we need to remember what it is we’re giving up.

I’ve been working on a new concept for qualitative research. It’s up close and personal. And I think it’s going to rock. More soon?

Note: If you aren’t a research geek like me… qualitative research derives data from observation, interviews, or verbal interactions and focuses on the meanings and interpretations of the participants. This is as opposed to quantitative research which examines phenomenon through the numerical representation of observations and statistical analysis.

Call me naive. I had never heard of this before. Of course, Andrew had. What a shock. A guy who knows about half naked (or all naked) pictures on the internet. Call the press!

At any rate, I thought I’d give this a teeny tiny try. So here’s my arm.

Scared you, Mom. Didn’t I?

And in case you were wondering? This is NOT going to be a regular thing.

HNT Guidelines ….

Sunshine didn’t help
Downpour expected tonight
I can’t stand the rain

I’m weird. A meme…

Here are the rules: List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets. Tag 5 friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people. Don’t forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their blog!

Weird fact #1: I hate mustard. I really, really hate it.

Weird fact #2: Most of the items in my pantry are in Tupperware storage containers with labels. It’s very neat. (read: obsessive)

Weird fact #3: I ate pickled beets almost every day when I was pregnant. All three times.

Weird fact #4: I can make my tongue into the shape of a W.

Weird fact #5: Instead of saying “I love you” when we hang up the phone, my family just says “I love.”

Tags to: Gnightgirl, Katie, Melissa, Jenne’, Tom.

Ho. Ho. Ho.

It is with great sadness that I report that the holiday season is upon us. Why so glum, you ask? It’s because the f*cking holiday spirit is not fun for me. Already, I see the people in the grocery store gather themselves up and push a little harder and faster past me. Already I see the parking lots full of aggressive shoppers who are in dire need of that particular space. Already I see the catalogs and the emails and the letters and the phone calls promising to help me create a happy holiday.

I’m a marketer. I love the consumer experience. I love marketing, when it’s smart.

It is not smart to send me an American Girl catalog. Although I think they’re really nice, I’m not in the market. I’ve been getting their catalogs for many years now. And I’ve never purchased from one. Think they should cleanse the list? Me too. Maybe they were hoping I’d have a girl this year. So was my mother. Sorry to both of you.

You companies that I bought from last year? Do you remember me? I did not buy from a catalog. So why do you send me one? I did not come into your store, so why are you sending me in-store coupons? Think people. Think! I bought from your website, along with a bazillion other people. And that is what I want to do this year. But you are making it hard for me. You are not giving me the same coupons for your online stores, now, are you? You want me to get in my car and drive to your place. Well, I don’t want to. So there.

And to my friend, Sara’s point, I don’t want to buy your stinking gift cards either. So stop pushing them. Some people want presents – thoughtful presents. Not me, mind you. Please don’t get me anything. (But if you insist, I saw this great sweater….)

It’s not that I dislike the holidays.I love family and tradition. I live for latkes and jelly donuts. I think there is not much in this world that is prettier than a real Christmas tree with bows and ornaments. And I love flannel pajamas on a cold crisp night.

I just don’t know if I can make it through 6 more weeks of that incessant music.

Change of season.

Today is the perfect Fall day. We’ve been raking leaves, cleaning up the porch and getting ready for winter. This stepping stone is usually in my front flower bed, but the plumbers wrecked the bed and I’ll fix it back up in the Spring. Meanwhile, it’s on the front porch reminding me every time I come home that my babies are growing up.

Chicken pot pie.

Picture this. Las Vegas in June. 126 degrees in the shade. We were at Sam Boyd Stadium – outdoor stadium – to see the Dead. Our friends Rob and Debbie were there with us. Truth be told, they weren’t our friends yet.

Here’s how it started. We went with a group to see the dog races in Council Bluffs, Iowa(we went to dog races???) and Rob and Debbie overheard us talking about going to Vegas to see the Dead. They asked if they could join us. What do you say to that? Sure! The more the merrier. Okay. Let’s go to Vegas with strangers. Fun.

So, the four of us headed out west. We landed at the airport and took a cab to the MGM Grand. We had a great dinner and hit the casino. I won a quick C-note on the slots starting the night out nicely. We had some drinks and cackled as the voice over the intercom kept paging people…

Mr. Jones, paging Mr. Casey Jones.
Mr. Straw, paging Jack Straw.
Mr. Row, paging Jimmy Row.

Well, you get the point. Or you don’t. In which case, sorry for the inside joke.

So back to the story. Next day, we woke up and had a leisurely breakfast. We couldn’t wait to hit the pool. Needless to say, it was hot. So we swam a bit and then went back inside.

The concert started in the afternoon. So we put on our shorts and tie-dyes and took a cab over to the stadium. It was a longer cab ride than we expected. But no worries! We couldn’t wait for the fun ahead. When we got there, it was the typical Dead scene. Lots of vendors selling sandwiches, water, t-shirts, beads, balloons, good thoughts, and all the other various and sundry things you’d expect to see for sale at such a venue. It’s a carnival feeling. Only hotter this time.

As we entered the stadium, we realized there was no shade. But they had showers of cold water everywhere and the people were all wet. Seemed the only way not to die of heat stroke, if you ask me. We bought some doo-rags so we could keep our heads wet. There was music everywhere, though it was not the Dead yet – I don’t even remember who it was!

Here for your viewing and listening enjoyment is a selection from that very evening…

Grateful Dead 6-26-94 Las Vegas, NV The Music Never Stopped

And as we sat there, we saw the Domino’s delivery guy bring a huge pile of pizzas in for spectators. Rob(one of the funniest guys I’ve ever known) started a conversation about food. Rob wanted to know what was the most awful thing we could imagine eating in this heat. Aside from pizza, we talked about beef stew, hot chocolate, piping hot soup and the big winner was….

Chicken pot pie.

So when Andrew made this beautiful chicken pot pie for dinner last night, all I could do was smile.

And I was grateful that it was a cool evening.

PS: If you ever consider taking a cab to Sam Boyd from downtown Vegas, think again. There was no way to get a cab back. We walked for miles before we found one. Come to think of it, now with cell phones so ubiquitous, it would probably be no big deal. So nevermind.

Firefox vs. IE

I use both. My blog looks wacky on IE these days. But it’s fine on Firefox. Does anyone know how I can fix it on IE or why this could have happened? It’s giving me a headache!

Rainy day blues.

It was a cold and rainy day. Well, not cold. But rainy just the same. A day staring at the computer screen and taking calls from people who needed something. One needed me to send a retraction for something. One needed advice. Another to schedule a meeting. Another for ideas for something. None was annoying on its own. But cumulatively, it was a very distracting, hard-to-get-anything-done kind of day.

So I grabbed my Diet Pepsi (with caffeine) and headed out to the Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center. It’s a place full of books and videos and pamphlets. And it’s a fully equipped salon where licensed aestheticians, cosmetologists, hair stylists and prosthesis professionals provide free consultations, at no cost to cancer survivors and their families. And it’s the primary place where we give our Hats for Healing.

No one was available to take the hats today but me. And the center had just run out. We can’t let that happen! So, I went, thinking it was yet another chore to be crossed off my list.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I walked in to see two smiling faces – the faces of the women who are there every day to help each person who enters. And when they saw the hats, the lit up even brighter. They asked me to empty the bag onto the table so they could see them. They picked up each one. They had something special to say about every single hat. One said that each hat had its own personality reflective of its maker and that each will speak to a different woman. It was lovely.

I don’t do volunteer work for the glory. But to feel like I did when I walked out of that wonderful place in the pouring rain? That worked for me.

Did you vote? There’s still time! Gnightgirl posted a link to Momo’s special song for the day. Because I feel the need to share the joy, here is the link to Momo’s special rendition of I Voted.