The New Office Attire – Startup Casual

Seriously, this is a thing – startup casual which is replacing business casual as the trendy office attire.  Here it is from Entrepreneur: The whole trend has become so popular, among founders as well as employees, that it has a name: startup casual. All of you who are  slave to fashion are probably wondering what is the proper attire to achieve startup casual.  I suppose if you have to ask….  I did find myself aligning with this tidbit from the article: Mark Zuckerberg claims that he wears the same jeans and gray T-shirt every day so he doesn’t expend any unnecessary mental energy on a decision that doesn’t matter. That quote… Read More

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Coffee House Creativity

Sometimes stories come along that just land in the wheelhouse.  This article would be one of them – Study of the Day: Why Crowded Coffee Shops Fire Up Your Creativity. Hello.  I don’t need a study to tell me this fact.  In case you didn’t know: Compared to a relatively quiet environment (50 decibels), a moderate level of ambient noise (70 dB) enhanced subjects’ performance on the creativity tasks, while a high level of noise (85 dB) hurt it. Modest background noise, the scientists explain, creates enough of a distraction to encourage people to think more imaginatively. Which leads to this assertion: The next time you’re stumped on a creative… Read More

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Here at Select Metrix we have much for which to be thankful.  The news of the recessionary economy and the unstable world can be overwhelming in today’s media.  But this drumbeat can be distracting – from your good health, your warm home, your loving family. My hope for you is safe travel to a joyous home filled with family, friends and mirth. Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving from all of us at Select Metrix!

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Happy Independence Day 2010

Ok, so I am a day late, but what a great day it was.  Parades, cookout, fireworks all with friends and family.  I think if you want to get a real slice of Americana, come celebrate the Fourth with us. I hope you are able to enjoy a day off on this Monday.  Here is something I found interesting from the JustSell newsletter: Thomas Jefferson & John Adams — the only two signers of the Declaration of Independence who became president — both died on the same day… July 4th, 1826 — the 50th celebration of Independence Day.

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Happy Canada Day

I almost forgot this, eh?  I was recently in Winnipeg for a week and have only good things to say about our neighbors to the north.  I ate some Tim Horton’s, drank Molson and watched a lot of hockey – a perfect week for a guy from Minnesota. We have many customers in Canada and I just wanted to give a shout out to them this fine day.

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It Could Be Worse

This Forbes story is probably more therapeutic than anything else – the gist of it is that celebrities make colossal business mistakes.  One thing I have always wondered about, where is the anger towards celebrity pay?  I hear of the anger regarding CEO compensation, but never so much as a whisper of discontent regarding celebrity compensation. At any rate, I had completely forgotten about this stunning blunder: The award for biggest entrepreneurial swing-and-miss might go to actress Kim Basinger. Smoldering in films such as 9 1/2 Weeks, Batman, L.A. Confidential and I Dreamed Of Africa, Basinger bombed on a grand scale in 1990 when she sunk $20 million into buying… Read More

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StarTribune Circling The Drain

My apologies to Bob Dylan, but the chapter 11 bankruptcy of one of our local papers, the StarTribune, has been a slow train coming.  Clearly this is one of the worst dailies in the entire US.  Mismanaged, cash-strapped and unbelievably biased, this newspaper has been on the edge of inevitability for 2 years.  Yesterday they finally filed. I am certain they will cut costs and restructure their debt before coming out of bankruptcy, but in the end I don’t think it will matter.  The game has changed; day-old news printed on paper is a thing of the past.  The world is steadily moving towards instant, on-demand. Clearly reporting will continue…it… Read More

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Giving Thanks

It is already looking like Thanksgiving here at Select Metrix so it seems like an appropriate time to say thank you to all of our customers, our associates, our friends and our readers.  Many of you span more than one of those categories.  Thank you for your support through this year of change. May all of you have a happy, safe and blessed Thanksgiving!

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