My 13 year old M3 is approaching 60,000 miles. In BMW vernacular, that means the car should receive an Inspection II service. An Inspection II involves a large number of things getting inspected (hence the name), but when you look at the work actually done it boils down to a general tune-up. Spark plugs, air […]
My partner Marc Hausman wrote an excellent column last week for the Washington Business Journal. In it he introduces a concept we’ve been stressing to clients and prospects — lead introduction vs. lead generation. What’s the difference? Really it comes down to numbers. Our B2B and B2G clients are usually selling a specialized and relatively […]
WINE & DINE COLUMN My latest WashingtonExec Wine and Dine column was published today. It highlights a debate in the wine world that started between the New York Post and New York Times wine critics, and has spread from there. What kind of wine list do you expect when you go out for a fine […]
Last week I described replacing most of the cooling system components in my M3. While doing that job, I also replaced my rear shock absorbers. My car only has 57,000 miles, but it is more than 13 years old. While replacing and reinforcing the rear shock mounts (RSMs) last year, I noticed the shocks were […]
With DC firmly in the grip of the dog days of summer, Pinot Noir is often a good bet for red wine drinkers. It’s lighter in body and style than other reds, which can be perfect when the mercury rises. Gabriele and I have had some excellent Pinots this summer that were new for us, […]
Recently I’ve been taking a micro look at the exchange of online tools for personal information. The example was the personal information I signed over in exchange for the mobile Twitter application TweetCaster. John Battelle took a macro look at online trust recently on his blog, and it’s a very good read. He uses the […]
This weekend I accomplished a preventative maintenance goal for my 1999 M3. With the help of a fellow enthusiast and E36 M3 owner, I replaced most of my cooling system with new parts. The cooling system on many modern BMWs is a known weak point. Most of the problems arise from using plastic where metal […]
Earlier this week I published a post on how much privacy users give up for phone apps. In my case, I was downloading the TweetCaster app for Android. After reviewing the company privacy statement I still wasn’t clear on whether location tracking could be turned off. So I emailed that question to OneLouder, the developers […]
WINE & DINE COLUMN My latest Wine and Dine column was published by WashingtonExec yesterday. It focuses on the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, which operates a number of quality restaurants in this area. The location Gabriele and I enjoyed most recently was Columbia Firehouse in Old Town Alexandria. I also discuss an excellent Pinot Noir we […]
I’m on record saying there needs to be more transparency around the current online business model. In most cases, cool and useful tools are available free or at low cost, in exchange for personal information about the user. I discussed this in my post about the supercookie debate, one of my best read posts last […]
Tuesday night I attended a networking event for leaders of communications firms in DC. It was sponsored by the Public Relations Society of America, National Capital Chapter and hosted by Ketchum PR. It was interesting to have some many executives from a very competitive industry in one room. The Capitol Communicator covered the gathering, and […]
Last year I wrote a post about a special warranty that covers what BMW calls Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicles, or SULEVs. These cars were built with a special, fully integrated fuel tank and fuel filter to reduce accidental emissions to the atmosphere, and can’t be repaired without huge expense. Here’s a service bulletin from […]