The Jeff Beckham Weblog

Umair Haque of the Havas Media Lab does a nice job deconstructing the now-common phrase “user-generated content” and making it more understandable from a business point of view.
Despite people creating more content via blogs, comments, videos, social media sites and the like, many businesses are having a difficult time wringing value out of those activities. [...]

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Over the past few days, there have been a couple of items that sparked additional interest from me in the field of open-source hardware. Earlier, I pointed out that the choices and improvements made in an open-source environment lead to better products all around.
Shortly thereafter I came across an article in the McKinsey Quarterly where [...]

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The Cult of the Dabbawala: “Using an elaborate system of colour-coded boxes to convey over 170,000 meals to their destinations each day, the 5,000-strong dabbawala collective has built up an extraordinary reputation for the speed and accuracy of its deliveries. Word of their legendary efficiency and almost flawless logistics is now spreading through the [...]

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When you’re business is struggling, it can be difficult to find a clear path to success. Especially when the old way has been terrifically successful for you in the past. New York’s Metropolitan Opera found themselves in this position, but over the past two year, general manager Peter Gelb has deftly maneuvered the company onto [...]

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The Economist reports on the death of college yearbooks:
One fixture of college life is rapidly disappearing. Yearbooks, those beloved annual publications recording the events and people of the academic year, are suffering from plummeting print-runs, or are even being dropped altogether, in colleges across the country.
Predictably, the culprits are cost (as high as $75) and [...]

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McCain and Kennedy working extra jobs to make ends meet?
2 supervisors at raided meatpacking plant arrested

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Last week, Microsoft named J Allard the Chief Experience Officer (CXO) and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of their Entertainment and Devices Division.

The move puts Allard in a key position regarding Microsoft’s future moves, but it also got me wondering: Is he now the highest-profile experience officer? It’s a position that has been talked about for [...]

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A critical aspect for any leader is communication. If the head of your business, school, family, etc., is a lousy communicator, you’re likely suffering the consequences. Moreover, if you’re a leader and a lousy communicator, you need to get help quick, because you’re not going to be the leader for long.
This is illustrated in pointed [...]

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