Damien's Blog, corporate blog articles about FindAnyFloor.comhttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/rss/corporate.xmlen-Us60Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:04:17 ESTCopyright 2009 Damien Patton, FindAnyFloor.com All Right Reservedhttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/ATTvsVerizonJudgeDealsBlowtoATT.xhtmlI thought I would follow up on the blog I posted earlier this week about AT&T suing Verizon over Verizon’s commercials depicting the weakness of AT&T’s 3G mobile coverage. Since I posted the blog, AT&T and Verizon were heard in an Atlanta courtroom and the judge ruled against AT&T in their immediate pursuit to get an injunction for Verizon to stop playing their commercials where AT&T is mentioned. The federal court judge set a court date for mid December to further hear aFri, 20 Nov 2009 13:30:47 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/ATTvsVerizonJudgeDealsBlowtoATT.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/ATTVersusVerizonTheMobilePhoneWarisHeatingUp.xhtmlFrom the highways to magazines, you just about can’t go anywhere these days without seeing an advertisement for AT&T or Verizon. Even if the ad is not the mobile phone carrier directly, you are sure to see to ads for the iPhone or the new Droid that are exclusive to AT&T and Verizon respectively. So which mobile carrier is better or is there even a difference. They both claim to dominate the marketplace and both claim no other company compares to their service.Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:54:00 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/ATTVersusVerizonTheMobilePhoneWarisHeatingUp.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/NoWhiningDuringWineMaking.xhtmlNext Monday I am in Sonoma, California attending the DCS conference to talk to flooring retailers and professionals about how consumers really search the Internet to find their flooring needs. Since Sonoma is known for its wine I decided to try my hand at making some. Last week while in Boston, I joined a colleague at his homemade wine making operation. The funny thing is that I am allergic to grapes and therefore don’t drink wine.Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:29:45 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/NoWhiningDuringWineMaking.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/ConsumerSearchEngineHabitsatDCSConference.xhtmlNext week I will be addressing the audience at the DCS conference in Sonoma, California. The topic of my presentation will center around consumer search behavior and separating myth or perception from reality. I will share results from a test we conducted with over 30,000 consumers searching online to buy flooring and what they actually typed into the search engines, where they went, and in the end who they purchased their material from.Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:22:59 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/ConsumerSearchEngineHabitsatDCSConference.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/AmericanExpressDontLeaveHomeWithoutIt.xhtmlAs business owners we cringe when people use an American Express card because of the high fees associated with it. This is the reason that Amex is the least accepted credit card between the top three; Visa, MasterCard and American Express. But outside of the business owner role, Amex is the best credit card business travelers can have in their wallet (in my opinion).Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:23:44 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/AmericanExpressDontLeaveHomeWithoutIt.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Internet/ChargingSubscriptionsOnlineDoesItWork.xhtmlI was surprised to hear this week that video site Hulu.com is going to start charging a subscription fee to view videos. For those of you not familiar with Hulu, you can watch movies and TV shows with limited commercials. What surprises me is that Hulu isn't able to turn a profit with their current advertising model. For example, if you watch an episode of House you will have to view 4 to 5 short commercials from 10 seconds in length to 30 seconds. This is still far fewer commercials then watching the Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:36:01 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Internet/ChargingSubscriptionsOnlineDoesItWork.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comInternethttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Internet/TheFacebookAffect.xhtmlBased on all the comments I have seen on Facebook this week, the Facebook community as a whole is upset about all the changes made to their homepage. I agree some of the changes don’t make sense, and usability was thrown out the window. I always wonder what companies are thinking when they make certain changes, especially those that appear so obvious to negatively impact usability and a users experience.Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:33:30 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Internet/TheFacebookAffect.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comInternethttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/SayingGoodbyeisAlwaysHardtoDo.xhtmlI am taking a detour today from my normal blog writing to use this time to reflect on the life of my brother in law, Terry Dougherty, who succumbed to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) this week. He leaves behind a loving family, my beautiful sister Keely and their 6 children. From the beginning it was like the Brady Bunch as my sister and Terry each had 3 children (3 boys and 3 girls) before getting married. I was lucky enough to walk my sister down the aisle at their wedding, which was truly unforgettWed, 21 Oct 2009 12:06:31 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/SayingGoodbyeisAlwaysHardtoDo.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/BreastCancerAwarenessMonthShouldbeBreastCancerActionMonth.xhtmlI have been amazed by the amount of e-mails, texts, tweets and phone calls I have received in response to last week’s blog on those exploiting breast cancer to make a buck. I received dozens if not hundreds of follow up articles and personal stories of triumph and tragedy. This blog was to initially thank those who shared their stories with me, but I wanted to take the opportunity to address a point missed by many.Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:56:37 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/BreastCancerAwarenessMonthShouldbeBreastCancerActionMonth.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/RichardPettyDrivingExperienceMakingDreamsaReality.xhtmlIn an earlier blog, I wrote about the accessibility of Las Vegas for those with disabilities, or maybe I should say the inaccessibility. My frustration to find adequate and reasonable transportation for those with motorized wheelchairs came out loud and clear. The goal was to take two friends out to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway so that Darrell, a huge NASCAR fan, could ride in a race car around the speedway. After failed attempts in securing transportation, we rented a trailer for their wheelchairs anThu, 15 Oct 2009 15:59:25 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/RichardPettyDrivingExperienceMakingDreamsaReality.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/PinkistheNewGreen.xhtml The month of October is known as Breast Cancer Awareness month. We have all seen the pink ribbons, products with a new pink color and even NFL uniforms changed to draw attention and donations for this great cause.Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:30:20 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/PinkistheNewGreen.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/DoYouUseMobilePhoneAds.xhtmlMaybe the title should be "Do you want to see mobile ads?" It was reported in TechCrunch yesterday that mobile ads will top 4 billion dollars by 2015. While this pales in comparison to online and traditional media advertising, it is a gigantic leap from where we are today.Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:56:35 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/DoYouUseMobilePhoneAds.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/HowAccessibleisLasVegas.xhtmlFor years I have heard how accessible and friendly Las Vegas is to those with physical disabilities. I have always taken for granted that we live in a place that is one of the vacation capitals of the world that has made public accessibility a priority.Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:57:31 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/HowAccessibleisLasVegas.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Internet/FreeShippingandOtherOnlineMarketingEffects.xhtmlIf you have ever shopped online you have come across sites offering free shipping if you spend a minimum dollar amount. Today I was on a site and purchased something for about $30 with an additional $7 in shipping. I was quickly prompted by the system that if I increased my purchase to only $75, shipping would be free.Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:47:33 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Internet/FreeShippingandOtherOnlineMarketingEffects.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comInternethttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/BeCarefulWhatYouPostOnlineItCanComeBacktoHauntYou.xhtmlThe other day a friend of mine, who is a very prominent business leader, posted something online that I knew would come back to bite him someday. I called him to ask the question "what were you thinking?" His response, "not that many people will read that response I left to the blog." That might be the case, but one thing about the Internet is whatever you put out there can stay out there forever. Years later someone might dig up that blog post and I 100% guarantee it will cost them millions in futureThu, 08 Oct 2009 13:05:33 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/BeCarefulWhatYouPostOnlineItCanComeBacktoHauntYou.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/JetBlueABetterFlyingExperienceforLess.xhtmlI am the definition of frequent flyer, always earning more than 100,000 air miles a year and 3 years ago hit almost 300,000 in one calendar year. I have tried most major airlines around the world and enjoyed visiting over 75 different airports in the last 5 years. Using this as my frame of reference, I feel I am a pretty good judge of airlines and airport facilities.Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:06:33 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/JetBlueABetterFlyingExperienceforLess.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Internet/SMXEast2009.xhtmlHello everyone! I am traveling again and this time back to New York City for the 2009 Search Marketing Expo East Conference. I will spend the next couple of days at SMX East in the advanced search marketing track of classes and meetings. I am going to be quite busy at the conference this year learning more and more on the latest advanced SEO strategies, PPC trends, and SEM industry news. Please check my blog later this week, where I will be sharing some of the new ideas and innovations in search maMon, 05 Oct 2009 14:04:22 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Internet/SMXEast2009.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comInternethttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/WillYouCatchtheGoogleWave.xhtmlGoogle is certainly hoping the Google Wave will be as popular as surfing is on the North Shore of Kauai. But just like surfing, not everyone is going to want to try it and if they do try it, not everyone is going to like it. I've been fortunate enough to see the Google Wave in action and I must admit, it has some great features. It’s not just another IM program or a social networking site. This is about Google improving upon technologies that already exist.Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:34:51 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/WillYouCatchtheGoogleWave.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/AGreatFlightStaffMakesAlltheDifference.xhtmlI fly a lot, always over 100,000 miles a year and as much as 300,000 air miles in a year. So I feel that I am a pretty good judge of most of the major airlines, their staff, airport processes, etc.Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:14:08 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/AGreatFlightStaffMakesAlltheDifference.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/AppleiPhoneAppsReach2BillionDownloads.xhtmlOn Monday Apple announced that their iPhone app store had reached an amazing 2 billion downloads; yes, that is billion with a "B". The store now has an impressive 85,000 apps available for download.Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:48:47 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/AppleiPhoneAppsReach2BillionDownloads.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/DamienPattontoSpeakatBlogWorldNewMediaExpoinLasVegas.xhtmlOn Saturday October 17 at 1pm I will be speaking at BlogWorld New Media Expo in Las Vegas on the topic of website and blog accessibility. I want to thank Glenda Watson Hyatt (known as the left thumb blogger) for inviting me to join her. As many of you know, Glenda was responsible for my inspiration to make FindAnyFloor.com accessible as well as educating myself so that I could educate others.Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:55:49 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/DamienPattontoSpeakatBlogWorldNewMediaExpoinLasVegas.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Internet/TechnologyAcceleratingatanExponentialPaceatEmTech2009.xhtmlThis week I attended Technology Review’s Emerging Technology conference at MIT in Boston (EmTech 2009). Unlike most tech related meetings, almost everything displayed here was technology that was just launching, in final beta stages, or still on the drawing board. Instead of pitching products for us to buy, these geniuses of tech were showing us where the world of technology is headed through their eyes, or more pointedly, through their inventions.Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:51:42 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Internet/TechnologyAcceleratingatanExponentialPaceatEmTech2009.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comInternethttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/AppleMacBookProOneMonthReview.xhtmlOne month ago, I did something I never had anticipated; purchased an Apple computer in lieu of a new PC. I have to admit I was skeptical and nervous that I might have wasted a couple thousand dollars on an impulse buy. Like many others, I was drawn to Apple through their creative TV ads where they do a great job of pointing out all the headaches users experience with a PC. The TV ads coupled with the clean design of their stores, lured me in. I threw caution to the wind knowing virtually nothing abouThu, 24 Sep 2009 17:35:01 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/AppleMacBookProOneMonthReview.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/EmergingTechnologies09atMIT.xhtmlI am attending EmTech09 this week and the first thing you realize at these conferences is that there are a lot of smart people out there working on technology that we couldn’t even dream of. Wim Sweldens of Lucent led off yesterday’s session. His workshop was definitely eye opening and was a start to getting the audience to participate and determine the direction and outcome of the seminar.Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:43:36 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/EmergingTechnologies09atMIT.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporatehttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/VideoPhones.xhtmlThe other day I was approached for the second time by a telecommunications sales person pitching video phones. My first question was, "why would I buy a video phone that requires others to buy video phones when online programs such as Skype exist?" After a long sales pitch, that I cut off several times to say I wasn't interested, I still didn't understand the advantages of buying a video phone (perhaps because there are none). So, the question became why are they trying to pitch a technology that seemsTue, 22 Sep 2009 18:04:40 ESThttp://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/Corporate/VideoPhones.xhtmlFindAnyFloor.comCorporate