I’ve been a BMW enthusiast for 15 years, but I had never joined the BMW Car Club of America (BMWCCA). The main reason was I did not associate BMWCCA membership with DIY work. A fellow owner who works out at my gym recently showed me otherwise. He told me DIY educations was the main reason […]
I’ve been writing about Mary Meeker’s State of the Internet report for a few years now on this site. Her 2016 edition was just made public. Here’s the entire slide deck courtesy of KPCB and hosted on LinkedIn. Mary has widened her scope over the years and the deck is up to 213 pages. If […]
This week Gabriele and I attended an Italian wine dinner at Riverbend Bistro, a favorite neighborhood spot. The theme was wines from Tuscany, including Castello di Poppiano, which was already a favorite of ours. Our evening was made more special by being seated with the two presenters of the wines. One was the importer Brennan […]
2016 BMW sales are out for April, and it’s been a tough start to the year for BMW in North America. Overall new sales are down 9.4 percent, with passenger cars down 15.4 percent. An article from The Truth About Cars reports swollen inventories at U.S. BMW dealerships. As usual, looking at BMW’s high volume […]
Recently Gabriele and I enjoyed a true dining experience at Brabo, a Belgian restaurant in Alexandria next to the Lorien Hotel and Spa. We have enjoyed their Tasting Room bar area next door a few times, but this was the first time in the restaurant itself. We had a great meal. The appetizers were a […]
This weekend my wife Gabriele and I picked up a new 2015 Jeep Cherokee. She had been leasing an Infiniti FX37, but decided she sacrificed too much interior space for the sportiness. We had bought a Toyota Highlander back in 2011, which had lots of interior space but wasn’t much fun to drive. As the […]
Analytics are a big part of all StoryTech Consulting client engagements. Specific success metrics vary by account, but every content marketing program needs data to show what content is resonating and how that content is contributing to shortening the sales cycle. My clients use many different analytic packages, but Google Analytics is often the starting […]
The rise of social media has democratized the concept of being an “influencer.” For businesses, this term used to mean a mainstream journalist or analyst. Those two categories are still important, but today it also means anyone who has cultivated a large following on social media and is perceived as authoritative and trustworthy. These influencers […]
In recent weeks I’ve enjoyed three Cabernet Sauvignons from the B.R. Cohn winery in Sonoma, California. Bruce Cohn purchased the property in 1974 and is the manager of the Doobie Brothers band. He started the winery in 1984. All three bottles were excellent examples of quality California Cabernet. We’ve enjoyed the 2014 Silver Label, the […]
Final 2015 BMW sales are out, and the company has retained the number one spot for U.S. luxury car sales with 346,023 vehicles sold (not including the Mini brand). BMW had a horrible December with sales down 16.6%, and that almost allowed Lexus and Mercedes-Benz to snatch the crown. Only a few thousand vehicles separated […]
Merry New Year to all! 2015 was an eventful year and I’ve many things to be thankful for this season. The success this past year however took time and attention away from Chrisparente.com. I needed to be focused on serving my clients and building my content marketing firm, StoryTech Consulting LLC. Working with clients almost […]
Recently my 2006 E46 M3 started throwing a code signifying a problem with one of the oxygen sensors in front of the catalytic converter (pre-cat). The S54 engine in the E46 M3 has four oxygen sensors, two in front of the catalytic converter and two behind. Initially I thought this was a chance for a […]