Disqus - Latest Comments for bsewell47

Re: Filing A Claim On Your Homeowner’s Insurance Will Not Increase Your Premium

Bill Sewell — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 14:12:06 -0000

I filed a claim for stolen property complete with police filing through Chubb - they paid quickly with no hassle. Four months later we get a notice of nonrenewal, so they canceled our policy citing the theft claim as the reason. Increasing rates isn't the only issue here.

Re: A Guide On How To Build An Airflow Server/Cluster

Bill Sewell — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 19:57:33 -0000

Greetings - thank you for your work on this, but the instructions cannot be completed as laid out anymore.

pip install airflow #this breaks now with RuntimeError: Please install package apache-airflow instead of airflow
so....
pip install apache-airflow #this works. That means all subpackages need to be updated:

pip install apache-airflow[crypto] # For connection credentials protection
pip install apache-airflow[postgres] # For PostgreSQL DBs
pip install apache-airflow[celery] # For distributed mode: celery executor
pip install apache-airflow[rabbitmq] # For message queuing and passing between apache-airflow server and workers

except rabbitmpq subpackage throws LOTS of errors. I can't find good ways to solve this - https://github.com/celery/l...

Question - would you mind trying this tutorial and seeing if you can install (includiing rabbitmq?).
I've spent many hours trying to get a tutorial setup to work and have hit quite a few roadblocks.
For example, the example dags seem to require celery to run. Celery doesn't seem to install well.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Re: Investor Helps Renovo Transition from Custom to Production Bicycles - by Ken Wheeler

Bill Sewell — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 23:31:52 -0000

I've been watching Renovo for years and visited the shop last year. Yelp shows that Renovo is out of business. Does anyone have an update?

Re: What To Do When Your Competitor Gets Funded?

Bill Sewell — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 12:48:41 -0000

Class act as always. You consistently provide valuable information with respect. Thank you.

Re: ALL THINGS MUST PASS, THE FINAL CONFESSION

Bill Sewell — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:02:52 -0000

Jerry - congratulations! I've only met a few people who made the hard decision to end a well-known path based on their instincts, but they've all gone on to do other amazing things. Your trust in your instincts got you this far and it will be fun to see where you go next!

Re: OS X Mountain Lion 10.8 in-depth preview

Bill Sewell — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:00:50 -0000

True that... I'd be glad if Mountain Lion makes Mail function reliably.

Re: 3 Lessons Every Manager Can Learn From "Moneyball"

Bill Sewell — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:08:48 -0000

No, actually Billy's main goal was to win 94 games and make it to the post season for the least amount of money. Which he did, extraordinarily well. He felt that playoffs had much more luck involved and didn't expect to do well there.

He's pointed out that the last few years have sucked for him as all the other teams started bidding up prices for players he was interested in. He needs to find a new edge, which is much harder now that people know what to look for.

Re: 3 Lessons Every Manager Can Learn From "Moneyball"

Bill Sewell — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:38:08 -0000

I just recently finished Moneyball and immediately wanted to hire a sabermetrician for our company, someone who could cut through all the noise and give us pure, perfect signal. Unfortunately, that term only seems to apply to baseball... and no one is using it in their Linked-In description.

Still - the core idea of challenging all assumptions and asking why is relevant to everyone. Michael Lewis loves the rare guys who can ask why when no one else does - The Big Short is the same story, but about a few stock traders vs. the Wall Street establishment. His main point is to ask "Why" harder than anyone else. If you find people who are always challenging you (in a good way), maybe they should join the team.

Re: The Cannes Lions gets its magic back in 2011

Bill Sewell — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:30:25 -0000

Thanks for the feedback :) Looking forward to #6 next year!

Re: bring on the millennials

Bill Sewell — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 19:21:43 -0000

Crazy - your articles have a great track record of comments and reactions, but the one article that specifically asks for action gets nothing ;) I think your next entry on GM is right on - let's get a bailout and go from there! Or maybe we can start delivering all AICP call to action messages via Brown Bear on xtranormal!

I think there is a lot of interest out there, but no vehicle to channel said interest in any sustainable way. What would it take to do some informal lunches with a small group of interested folk to talk about industry changes? There are lots of important but not urgent topics that could use a bit of conversation and love (green production, sales tools, social media marketing efforts). I'd personally be interested in meeting up once every few months, talk about stuff, post outcomes (blog) and define next steps.

What do you think?

Re: Tip With a Tweet for Great Customer Service

Bill Sewell — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:33:17 -0000

This is a simple but powerful suggestion, similar to training the sales team to ask for one referral after every sale. The Paywithatweet app feels too much like the email spam of yesteryear (forward this email and Microsoft will donate a penny), but the idea of encouraging authentic feedback is simple and powerful.

BTW - we chose Zendesk after comparing it with several other helpdesk tools and have been really happy with the system.

Re: the one eyed man

Bill Sewell — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:35:57 -0000

There's nothing wrong with being an idealistic schmuck :) We collectively work in an industry that's all about communicating the "big" idea... for paying clients. Unfortunately, people fall short communicating their own ideas, commonly known as the "Cobbler's Shoes" effect - and no, retweeting does not count as communicating your own ideas.

Re: Man celebrates halloween with flying ghost helicopter (video)

Bill Sewell — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 03:34:22 -0000

Had the same idea, but without the EE skills. Took an AR.Drone and dressed it up like a jellyfish :) Check it out - http://bit.ly/9gQRzC

Re: Man celebrates halloween with flying ghost helicopter (video)

Bill Sewell — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 03:31:48 -0000

Darn duplicate entry won't delete :(

Re: Apple TV 2 (2010)

Bill Sewell — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:55:58 -0000

Posted two reviews of Apple TV 2010 so far, one about trying to finally replace cable tv and the other about the amazing Remote App and Home Share . AppleTV v2 2010 definitely needs a better name, but it's quickly proving the best way of connecting all media throughout the house.

Re: brown bear is all the rage

Bill Sewell — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:19:16 -0000

I think Umuzbhi is Swahili for Banksy :)

Re: brown bear is all the rage

Bill Sewell — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:52:18 -0000

NICE! I'm guessing that this was produced on the budget referenced above :) Pretty f'n funny.

Re: food glorious food

Bill Sewell — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:05:03 -0000

There's an easy solution to this kind of feedback - set a rule that when someone complains, they need to spend the time to think of a solution and TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. It's way too easy to lob a complaint and make someone else responsible.

Jerry, I love the way that you clearly presented your issues with AICP and then joined the board. That doesn't mean that you will single-handledly solve the issues, just that you set a great example of how to do the right thing.

Re: 'boards RIP

Bill Sewell — Tue, 25 May 2010 21:42:17 -0000

We invested every year with 'Boards, doing both events and site advertising. Usually the ad supported a message that we promoted heavily through other channels, so we didn't look at the 'Boards spend in isolation. In fact, we assume that anytime we spend money with a partner, the true responsibility falls on us to draw as much attention as possible before, during and after an event to benefit fully from the effort.

I agree that people aren't interested in paying for content when they can get it for free. Yet, many of us will spend thousands (flights, hotels, conference tickets) attending events like Boards Summit, which had a solid turnout even in a down economy. I guess the combination of publishing and event business model just couldn't sustain the team.

Anyone know how Shots is doing?

Re: 'boards RIP

Bill Sewell — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:43:31 -0000

True... the interesting issue is how a sense of community can sustain in our short attention span culture. We all crave a real sense of belonging, something that social media, in spite of its name, does not completely offer.

I'm feeling a new blog post bubbling to the surface :)

Re: 'boards RIP

Bill Sewell — Mon, 24 May 2010 20:31:44 -0000

You're absolutely correct about the passing of old media in the era of cheap measurability. We had a similar conversation with an association about why we were not renewing our sponsorship - it simply failed to generate measurable results compared to the less expensive, more experiential projects we were involved in. Their perspective was that we were getting a great "deal." Our perspective was that a "great deal" was not a great value. Logos on a screen or a site just does not cut it these days.

The other problem with the model was having to pay for the privilege of paying even more to bring people together. Why sponsor a dinner / party (which you pay for) when you can just pay for said event and bring together the same people?

I'm wondering if "someone" aggregating the industry will be more like "something" aggregating the industry - creating twitter advertising lists or bundling blog sites with a creativity focus to harvest user generated thinking. It will be interesting to see who fills in the void.

Re: fairness

Bill Sewell — Wed, 19 May 2010 01:03:49 -0000

Joel, great point - not entirely sure any part of the entertainment / media infrastructure would qualify for good-ole fashioned American sense of fairness. Bands? Artists? Indie Filmmakers? Actors?

No - more like a sense of Darwinian fairness...

Re: Wiredrive » Blog Archive » Tell Us What It Does: Digital Bootcamp speaker argues for utility in advertising

Bill Sewell — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:31:58 -0000

Last year people were wondering how big brands could move a billion dollars of product through social media. The biggest problem they had was "personal relationships don't scale"... basically meaning, we want your money, not you.

Then Zappos comes along and actually makes people feel wanted. Customers go nuts with all the great attention and turn Zappos into a Billion Dollar Company. Great customer service, whether done online or in person is just the same as making a great product. It's not easy, but you need to do it.

When an Agency pitches a "viral" to a client, they are implying that the video will be exceptionally interesting, viewed by millions of people and cost nothing. When an Agency pitches a social media strategy, the implication is that magically the brand will have great customer service by actively listening to customers and making them feel special. Easy to say, not easy to do - like everything in life, It always comes down to expectation management.

Re: Wiredrive » Blog Archive » Tell Us What It Does: Digital Bootcamp speaker argues for utility in advertising

Bill Sewell — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:48:21 -0000

Very cool post. Apple is such an easy but misleading example to use... sort of like deciding a dress looks great when shown on a 6' 2" supermodel on a fashion runway. Apple generates massive buzz and loyalty by nailing consumer desires for intuitive cool products - the advertising rides on the top of a great product. As Seth Godin and other marketing gurus point out, great advertising on a lousy product = nothing.

This American Life profiled a Saatchi exec trying to sell US laundry detergent to a Muslim country. Showing utility (how it washes, amazing properties of cleanliness) failed in test groups, because the cultural connection required "speaking" authentically to the local community. The "Foreign" product was seen as too expensive until the local dad was interviewed about how he is poor and endorses the product. The product became #1 in the market, once it had an authentic voice.

Is there a magic bullet for any advertising strategy? Obviously, no... but practical and relevant messaging sounds like a pretty good idea to do in general.

Re: the written word

Bill Sewell — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:58:57 -0000

Pretty cool angle of discussion. I'm going through a similar technology-meets-english language conversation in my household. My 8 year old really enjoys reading actual printed books and writing her own stories. She also asks weekly for an email address, an ichat account, a website and a cell phone. It's pretty awesome seeing her come up with her own website, just because she wants to share pictures and stories with the rest of the world. It's also pretty daunting to build a list of rules for proper use of technology. I'm still looking for that balance of encouraging the written word and protecting privacy.

Question for you - have you come up with any guidelines you'd like to share?