The Barn Coat

Bronto fashion plate DJ Waldow riffs on how "mandals" have unknowingly (to him) fallen out of favor.

I shared a similar realization this past fall. For me, it was my beloved Gap barn coat. (The link points to LL Bean because Gap.com appears to have sold all of their barn coats.)

The walking-to-lunch conversation went like this:

Someone - "Eric - I like your coat."

Me - "Me, too. I got this in 10th grade."

Hilary - "I remember when barn coats used to be cool!"

The Plunger

Kelly’s first apartment was a dump. From the 3 inch crack between the front door and floor to the toilet that never flushed to the view (and scent) of the dumpsters outside her bedroom window – the place was a much like Tom Hanks’ home in the “The Money Pit.” I guess that’s just the way it is with apartments in college...

One magical day, Kelly’s toilet was functioning properly. Then, it wasn’t – if you catch my drift.

The unfortunate situation necessitated a trip to the 7th Circle of Hell – the Wal-Mart at New Hope Crossing in Durham.

As we entered the store, we discussed how neither one of us wanted to scavenge Wal-Mart for a plunger, parade to the register with our bounty, plunk it down (just the plunger, mind you), swipe our debit card, and walk out the proud owners of the latest clear-plastic-handled, bell plunger.

So, we decided to make a game of it – whoever found the plunger wouldn’t have to buy it; the "non-finder" would have to endure a walk of shame while bearing the humiliating symbol of plumbing misfortune.

Once we agreed on the terms, the race was on.

If my memory serves correctly – and both Kelly and my mother will attest to the fact that it always does - I found the plunger. We raced through the store yelling and squealing like two 8 year olds. I was in the lead, because I’m faster, because I knew where the hardware section was, and because I really wanted to see Kelly buy a plunger. Meanwhile, Kelly played it cool and just tried to keep up.

The decisive blow came when she began to follow me, but on the opposite end of the aisle. Once I spotted and raced towards the unwanted prize, she was already there because it was closer to her end of the row.

I bought the plunger. We still have it.

Houston Patterson

My friend Houston Patterson died 8 years ago this June.

I met Houston when he was 7 and I was 6. We played on the Dallas Yankees t-ball team. Houston was the best player on the team and played first base.

He had this killer move at the plate. He would position his body like he was going to hit the ball to left field and then wait until the defense shifted in anticipation of a rocket shot to left field. Once the fielders moved into their positions, Houston would shuffle his feet and drive the ball to right field - where no one was standing. Unstoppable! Even as a 7 year old!

We played baseball together from that time all the way through high school. Houston played centerfield, hit lots of doubles, and liked to show off his shotgun arm. (Note that I did not say "rifle arm" as that would connote accuracy.) I sat on the bench, got a few lucky hits, and played with some great players and on some great teams.

Shortly after his death, Houston's parents, Rick and Joyce Patterson, started a scholarship fund in Houston's honor. (My sister was actually the first recipient of the Houston Patterson Scholarship.)

Every year, Rick and Joyce put on an alumni baseball game to raise funds for the scholarship. This past weekend marked the 7th game. My line?

- 3-5 - 2 screamers in the gap, one blooper hit. (Still trying to re-capture my Year 6 form in which I hit a 3-run homer.)

- 3 runs scored.

- One whiff so hard that my back still hurts.

- One great backhanded stab on a grounder up the middle. (The firstbaseman dropped my throw. Good times.)

- One double play turned off a grounder to my brother Evan at 3rd base. Boggs, Boggs, Summey - not quite Tinkers, Evers, Chance.

- Countless laughs and memories with the friends I grew up with.

- One somber inning played in Houston's centerfield position.

We Are All Witnesses, Part II

My previous post about Lebron's playoff coming out party has generated humorous amounts of traffic on my blog. Here are the search terms that dropped folks at The Boggs Blog yesterday:

"We are all witnesses"
"We are all witnesses Lebron shirt"
"email marketing provider"
"We are all witnesses Lebron"
"We are all witnesses shirt"

I'm on Google's first page. HA!

Thus...on with the Lebron analysis and search engine spam!

Some thoughts about his playoff performance vs. the Pistons:

- He has NO supporting cast. Donyell Marshall? Ilgauskus? Give me a break. Give Bron Bron a veteran backcourt mate and go-to low-post scorer and he will dominate for a long time...

- He's not the next Michael Jordan. He's different. (I would say he's more like Magic, but everybody says he's more like Magic.) Michael was a spit-in-your-eye competitor that simply would not be denied. I don't know that Lebron has that quality - despite his late game heroics against the Wizards.

- Tyler is going to eat Lebron's lunch when he joins the Association in 2007.

Thanks for reading my blog. Visit again for more basketball banter.

Sorry I don't have the t-shirts you're looking for.

Fun Time Focus Group!

Fellow Brontos and I recently hosted our first ever focus group/user group/customer summit/whatever you want to call it. (We've been calling it Bronto Summit 0.1.)

My only previous focus group experience stems from the IBM hardware focus groups I used to attend. I'd get $100 cash and free dinner in exchange for spending 3 hours in a dingy IBM meeting room hemming and hawing the finer points of desktop PC ergonomics. (What fun!)

Our recent focus group - although a bit non-traditional - was a much more rewarding experience. Here are a few thoughts after the fact:

  • We're on point with the new release. The vast majority of the "we would like to have" feature suggestions are already in the release. If not in the release, they're on the 6 month roadmap. So - we're definitely keyed into what our customers (and future customers) want.

  • Thad - Bronto Director of Engineering - added a number of tasks to his to-do list. Our customers have interesting ideas and we're listening.

  • It was amazing how our customers talked to each other about how they use Bronto, their thoughts on email marketing, and how their experiences and businesses shape their strategies. (Fellow Brontos and I merely facilitated much of the conversation.) Personally, I found it very rewarding to hear customers tell how Bronto helps them solve their business problems.

  • The meeting manifested the beginnings of the Bronto "community" - customers with shared experience using a product that helps them meet their goals and that they love to use. As such - I'm sure that we'll do more of these in the future - locally and elsewhere.

$.03 on CAN-SPAM

The day after my "don't worry so much about CAN-SPAM unless you're an idiot" post, I find this in an old Google News message.

  • Kodak gets nailed (to the tune of $26K) for not including an opt-out and postal address in a message to 2MM contacts. (How did they miss that one?)

  • ICE.com gets it for sending a message to contacts that had previously opted out of their communications.


Just to re-iterate - maintain good practices, use a reputable email marketing provider, and honor unsubscribe requests and you'll be in the clear re: CAN-SPAM.

$.02 on CAN-SPAM

President Bush signed the CAN-SPAM Act into law December 2003. A year and a half later, there is still much misunderstanding about what the law means and how it applies to Joe Email Marketer.

In my previous life as a Bronto salesperson, it was not uncommon to have a prospect ask if Bronto is CAN-SPAM compliant. The answer is of course "yes" - but with a catch. Your messages have to be "compliant" - the email marketing software provider just makes you compliant. I always responded to prospects with these questions by assuring them that Bronto's account management services, policies and product functionality will take care of them automatically and that, as long as they maintain good practices, CAN-SPAM shouldn't even be on their radar screen.

Last week, I addressed a (rather reactionary and unfounded) email complaint from a customer's contact threatening legal action against our customer under the CAN-SPAM Act. The complaint came from a previous (and recent) customer on the site that had opted-in to receive email marketing communications. No laws broken - just someone that wants to stop receiving emails from this company. Flaming opt-outs such as this only heighten email marketers' sensitivity to CAN-SPAM repercussions, no matter how unlikely they are.

Just this week, I spoke with someone that said they're not interested in getting into commercial email because they're "worried about the CAN-SPAM requirements". I emphasized to them that the "compliance" bar is actually quite low - don't use misleading subject lines, don't misrepresent email headers, provide an opt-out, and include your postal address in the message. (Translation - just don't send spam!)

CAN-SPAM is all about stopping spammers. (By the way, permission-based email marketing communications - meaning communications to customers, prospects, donors, etc. that have requested them - is not spam.) If you're not sending spam, then you have no cause for worry. Maintain good practices, use a reputable email marketing provider, and honor unsubscribe requests and you'll be fine.

I Heart the NBA

I more or less ignore the NBA during the 82 game regular season - that is other than checking box scores for Raymond, Rasheed, Vince and other Tar Heel ballers.

I keep up with non-Tar Heel regular season news via the weekly NBA "Starting 5" email newsletter:

NBA Email


This mesage works for me on 3 levels:

1. The straightforward "add us to your address book" line at the top of the message - a classic tactic to ensure delivery to the inbox, not the junk folder. I added the address to my address book - not necessarily because they asked me to, but moreso because the content is good. (Most folks tend to ignore the latter...)

2. The "Starting Five" = 5 content elements.  Always.  With so many games and so much drama (on and off the court), the good folks at the NBA pare down a week's worth of news into 5 digestible elements.  It is convenient for me and it is a good filter for them - they put forth the best and most important content and ignore the fluff.

Why doesn't everyone do this?  Why do so many email marketers drown their contacts with data?  99% of your contacts are only going to read 2 or 3 elements - so why not pick your best and go with it?

3. The "Forward-to-a-Friend" link is front and center.  So many try to tap into email marketing's viral potential, yet so few do it well.  A well-placed "forward this email" link is a very simple first step that can increase the likelihood that your message gets forwarded to friends.

The real reason I like this message in particular?  Tar Heel Vince Carter in the spotlight - where he belongs.  Perhaps I'll pen a future blog about my 1998 pick-up basketball experience with Vince in Chapel Hill...

We Are All Witnesses

Lebron. Lebron. Lebron. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Yes - he's good. Scary good. Chance to be best ever good. Chance to be best ever. (Talk to me when he's working on his 6th NBA Championship...)

He has single-handedly carried the Cavs all season, he is by far the most exciting player in sports and he already refers to himself in the 3rd person. He is without question a basketball deity.

That said, the latest "Witness" ad campaign by Nike is a bit much. "We Are All Witnesses" to Lebron's first playoff basketball - check the site - http://www.nike.com/nikebasketball/usa/ - watch the video at the top right.

What's the point?

I spent some time on the phone with a customer today. We rapped about their email marketing program and how Bronto can help. Here's the (paraphrased) exchange:

Customer - For us, it (email marketing) isn't worth it unless we can track email activities back to sales.

Me - Agreed. How do you guys track the sales impact of your email efforts?

Customer - You know. We really don't.

OK - so that is a bit unfair. This customer is actually quite savvy. However, the comment highlights a common problem - that is not seeing the forest for the trees.

So many folks are quite good at executing on their email program, yet they don't put the right processes in place to track the overall purpose of their effort - sales, donations, education, retention, brand value, whatever.  Or they get so used to making newsletters and looking at the reports that the practice becomes a habit and they lose the initial idea in the shuffle.

Case in point, the Bronto Bulletin has been a bit blah of late. Everything seemed to be OK the way I found it, thus I haven't made any striking changes since I took it over. However, the newsletter began to get especially blah when I first started asking customers if they read it, what they think of it, is it useful, etc.

Most reponses have been tepid at best.

If our email communications are supposed to educate our customers and our customers don't react one way or the other when I ask about it, then what's the point?

So - we changed the look, (someone else's seemingly telepathic idea...), changed the subject line structure and are working to change the timing and improve the overall content. We'll see how it pays off...

Ask yourself before you send your next message - "What's the point?" What a great exercise to make sure you have the right impact measurements in place, to filter weak content, and to challenge you to rethink things every once in a while.

Participatory Democracy

I participated in democracy today - right after I read this over my bowl of Cheerios this morning.

I usually read articles about asinine political posturing, make a few jokes about it to Kelly or whoever is around, and then forget about it. However, the concept of a $100 gas rebate check really frosted me.

(Without going into too much detail, let's just say that I'm mystified that a $100 rebate check is the pinnacle of good ideas...that someone actually thought of the idea...and that a group of politicians actually consider it a step towards a solution.)

So I picked up my cell phone and called Elizabeth Dole - one of the US Senators from North Carolina. Naturally - no one answered.

I left a pretty long voicemail - one of those voicemails you get where you start to fast forward and you're amazed at how much you have to fast forward to get to the end. I didn't really say anything profound other than my name, phone number, where I'm from, and that I think the whole idea is a joke.

I don't expect the Republican party to get their act together to the point that they'll actually pass the legislation. Nor do I expect a call back from Libby Dole.

But it sure felt good to rant on her office voicemail.

Crazy Nike Tattoo Guy

I saw a guy at the Durham YMCA with a Nike Swoosh tattoo on his shoulder. No other tattoos - just a red and black swoosh on his deltoid - which happened to be much larger than mine, hence my decision not to ask him about it.

I don't think I've ever seen such a display of brand affinity. And this is coming from someone with a borderline obsession with Nike, particulary old school Air Jordans and other basketball gear.

Can any of my dozens of readers recall seeing any other "branded" tattoos? (GoldenPalace.com tats don't count...)

On a related note, when will someone get a Bronto tattoo?

Statement of Purpose

This marks the 4th time I've started a blog.

The first two were "personal" blogs recounting my taste in music, somewhat amusing anecdotes from high school and college, and such. While amusing to my college friends and to me, these blogs served no greater purpose, other than to give me a forum to pontificate on the finer points my high school love life (or lack thereof).

The third blog is still going strong, but really isn't a blog, per se. The Bronto Blog outlines email marketing best practices, case studies, and product news for Bronto Software, Inc. - the company I work for. While this "blog" is interesting and helps our customers, the lack of comments, trackbacks, and other blog amusements combine with oppressive editorial oversight from "the man" to keep the spontaneity and overall blog-iness to a minimum.

Thus, dear reader, I am proud to present EricBoggs.com.

Eric