Not a Gossip Girl Fan

Sunday night. Everyone but me is into Gossip Girl. Then those Desperate Housewives.

It's a decent opportunity to reflect on a terrific past week skiing/boarding out west with my two twenty-something kids. Although the timing may seem surprising, spring skiing at Whistler seems like a bit of a hidden gem. This is our third year. No crowds. Amazing conditions (we skied top to bottom every day; the weather was cloudless). Big discounts (passes for the week were $200).

Some observations.

1) We flew Westjet. There were no surprises and the laid-back Westjet approach is pretty easy to take. Having said that, I got the sense of a tiring brand. The jokes were kind of flat. While the crews were friendly and helpful, they too appear to be tiring of the schtick. All in all, I didn't get the sense of much differentiation from the competition. Maybe I'm expecting too much.

2) All week, the endless swine flu pandemic noise felt (and still feels) like a dangerous case of crying wolf. One day, almost without a doubt, there will be a serious pandemic. Scaring the world population now over something that appears to be less lethal than standard flu, probably ensures that when the big one actually hits fewer people will take it seriously.

3) Whistler/Blackcomb knows service. I've noticed this before. The staff everywhere at Whistler/Blackcomb are helpful, yakkitive, polite and friendly. From the kids in the grocery store and the waitresses at Longhorns, to the lifties all over the hill, I don't recall one that didn't seem engaged and feeling pretty good about what they were doing. It's a nice atmosphere. It gets bigger tips.

4) The domestic portion of YVR, Vancouver's airport, is under renovation - still - and pretty much sucks. The lounges are small and the services are limited. A couple of the gates (the ones I've flown out of, my last four times there) are out-of-the-way, down seemingly endless ugly hallways of renovation, far from shops and restaurants, and easily overcrowded. Vancouver is a beautiful city and the airport is a major Canadian gateway. It always surprises me how the domestic portion seems like a second thought.

5) I wonder about the future of Toronto. My kids have both been to Vancouver before. Both had the same reaction again - "this is so much better than Toronto"(we didn't talk gang wars). The next day I saw an interview with a Much Music DJ on some kind of assignment in Paris. His first comment "this city is so much better than Toronto". It's probably just a coincidince to see the same reaction 2x in 24 hours, but it got me wondering whether Toronto can stay competitive with other top cities in the world. Probably it can. Other cities are far from perfect - especially when you live there. But it would be nice to see more dollars flowing to keeping Toronto clean, updating it's infrastructure and revitalizing it's key attractions. A winning sports team would be an unbelievable - and probably unachievable? - bonus.

5) Expedia rocks. I booked the entire trip including transfers to Whistler in less than an hour. The prices were very, very good.

6) Just do it. I was hesitating on this trip for a few reasons. I was crazy. I had the time of my life - again - traveling with my kids. Every time we do this, they're a little older. A little more worldly. A lot more knowledgeable and competent. Our conversations ranged from drunk driving to American torture. From John Stewart to The Hills. We had a bunch of laughs and shared experiences we'll remember forever.

The big question now is where next?

That Work Thing

Hey. It's been a while. That work thing keeps getting in the way!

Since last blog I've been doing more traveling, some interesting client stuff and more photography.

On the travel side I've spent the last 4 weeks visiting US cities in the midwest and east coast. Not so pretty cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore.

One of the things I've looking for is visible signs of that recession I keep thinking is out there.

Those signs aren't obvious. All the flights are full. In every case except one, my first choice of hotels was fully booked. In Philadelphia and Baltimore, my first choice of rental car companies was sold out.

Some of the business owners I met with told me they think they might be seeing a premature summer slowdown, but nobody seems sure. So there I go - wrong again?

Also since my last post, my friend Martyn Bassett of Martyn Bassett and Associates sent along a few questions and published some of my not-so-brilliant thoughts in his monthly newsletter. One of Martyn's questions caught my attention because I've heard it a few times from managers in companies of different sizes.

Martyn Bassett Associates: Some might challenge this view and say it (good governance) clashes with and interferes with the entrepreneurial spirit. What are your thoughts?

Jim Crocker: I think that way more businesses have been killed by unskilled entrepreneurs than by good governance. Having your own business doesn’t make you an entrepreneur. Take all the help you can get.

One final thought, I'm continuing to do a lot of work with businesses that are partner-owned. The issues that these businesses face are fascinating, sometimes scary, often destructive. Getting and keeping two partners, never mind more on the same page, with the same vision and the same business approach is a monumental challenge. Having now consulted for a large number of these organizations, I plan to start exploring some of the issues and ideas/solutions I've seen for dealing with them in upcoming posts.

Back to Reality

Arrived back from Oz on Saturday evening. By today I'm feeling OK but last couple of days weren't great. You know you're body's in trouble when you leave Sydney at 7pm Friday evening and get into Honolulu at 8am Friday morning.

Come away from Australia really impressed. Quality of life as defined by bars, restaurants, shopping and great weather appears to be excellent. Depending on your view of winters, that alone could make quality there a lot better.

Interesting conversations with locals. Right now, Australia is dis-attached from what's going on in the rest of the world and but it's hurting none the less. A couple of the major banks (one government owned) have been moving interest rates up. Personal loan rates over 9%. Three increases in less than a quarter! Limo driver we took to the airport was desperate to keep his limo going - so hanging around hotels picking tourists is part of his new gig.

Some prices in Australia are steep. Gasoline at $1.37 litre. Good luck finding a restaurant with 'mains' less than $35 and appetizers less than $15. However, travel is cheap. Airfares between major cities at less than $100. Trains a super bargain.

Remain super impressed with Qantas. Their in-country and international services which include internet in all their lounges and meals/booze on all their flights is way different from the abuse we take in North America.



Return trip also included 2 legs on American Airlines. First left Honolulu 2 hours late. By Qantas standards, basically no service between Honolulu and LA. Second boarded on time but delayed 45 mins to toss off baggage from a passenger who was on the flight but the airline thought wasn't!

Maybe its the contrast to Oz but America's apparent infatuation with rules to keep everyone safe gets really tiring. At times a bit of a horrible joke too. We arrived at the Honolulu customs desk just in time for the computers to crash. Apparently there is a back-up plan, but it doesn't work if no one knows their on-line password. We got through just in time. Other 5,000 people may still be in line.

Overall, great trip. Now, back to reality.

Oz, Mate

Currently a week into a 2 week trip to Australia. My son is starting school here. Some notes on the trip.

1. Qantas missed the memo on making air travel as humiliating and unbearable as possible. They are a serious airline. 767 from Honolulu to Sydney (10 hours) was full. Service, in economy started as soon as the seatbelt sign went off and never stopped. Two meals. Free booze. Popsicles. Hot chocolate. Nice people. If you want to show your kids what air travel used to be like, fly Qantas.
2. The Australian cities are all cool. Sydney is big, bustling, noisy, fun. Having the worlds best beaches on the local bus routes doesn't hurt. Brisbane is a lot more laid back. Very young. Lots of students. Modern. Both are very international.
3. The world is getting smaller. Fast. Even since the last time I was here, the Amercanization of everywhere appears to have accelerated remarkably. It's the same brands, ads, people, faces, TV programs everywhere. Too bad. The completely distinct feeling that international cities used to have is disappearing/has disappeared. Even the Aussie accents seem easier to understand.
   
4. Internet is expensive here. $20/day in Sydney and Surfers Paradise. $27 (!) in Brisbane. Ouch.
5. The internet is indispensible. For bookings, staying in touch, listening to XM radio.
   
6. Driving on the wrong side isn't so hard as long as there are at least two others in the car to remind you where the lane is, stay left, how to navigate the bloody round-abouts. Happy to have the car parked in the hotel lot!
7. Canada is cold. Minus 14. Hell. I'm staying here. Going kite boarding today.
   

Some pics from the travels here.