The Merrill Dubrow Blog

I used to play tennis with a good friend of mine (JL) in Boston and always admired her license plate. It read WEIT. I knew it was a vanity plate but could never figure out what it meant until I asked her. It stood for WHAT EVER IT TAKES. She was in the customer service business and wanted her plate to be a constant reminder to always go above and beyond for her clients.

I have a vanity plate and although it means something special to me it isn’t as deep as WEIT. Mine is SOX07. For those who know me well, you know it stands for Red Sox 2007 which is the last time they won the World Series.

Here are some of the ones I have seen over the years: 

• 4sakn
   
• Ddysgrl
   
• MyToy
   
• Was His
   
• I CUFF UM
   
• DRTHVDR
   
• Gore Won
   
• BKRPTCY
   
• KIDLESS
   
• Il Sue U
   
• Blogger

I thought some of the ones I have seen were cute and funny.

• Do you have a vanity plate?
   
• What do you think of the ones I listed?
   
• Do you like mine?
   
• What are some of the ones you have seen over the years?

I look forward to reading your comments.

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Last month the Burj Dubai opened its doors for the first time as the tallest building in the world. This structure stands at 2,684 feet – yes you heard that number correctly. I was totally amazed at how big it is certainly, but was really amazed and impressed that it is 955 feet taller than the world’s second tallest building–which is the Willis Tower in Chicago.

I started to think about buildings and structures and think about what are some of the coolest/nicest/most beautiful that I have ever been in.

Here are a few that I have on my list:

• The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco is not only a beautiful structure but the view from the top floors is amazing.
   
• The John Hancock Building. I truly love the structure and the fact that it towers above Lake Michigan. The views from the observatory are very special.
   
• A few buildings that really aren’t that tall but I enjoy going to are The Wrigley Building in Chicago and St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. I love the architecture and attention to detail that both buildings pose.

Now your turn:

• What is the tallest building you have ever been in?
   
• What building has the nicest view from the top floor?
   
• What are some of your favorite buildings for architecture?

I look forward to reading your comments.

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Like most of you I travel a fair amount. Like most of you I have kids that are getting older and their schedules are challenging to keep up with. In essence, life is more complicated than ever with trying to juggle everything and ensure that everyone is where they need to be at the exact time.

Can’t the TV help with this? I think so, and this is what I am proposing.

A new TV channel that customizes your schedule on TV so everyone in the house can see what is going on and when. Almost Microsoft Outlook on TV.  Think about it as an easy way to input all of the kids’ activities, travel schedule and many other things. How cool would it be if your eight-year-old got up and turned on the TV to see not only his schedule for the day but everyone else’s in the house?

I think pretty cool.

• Am I crazy?
   
• Do you think this is a good idea?
   
• Would you pay $10.00 month for this service?
   
• If not what would you pay?
   
• What other features would this new service have?

I look forward to reading your comments.

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They say that the biggest shopping day of the year is always the day after Thanksgiving. I guess it is the official first day of the holiday season. Everything appears to be on sale and customers line up for hours for the big sales. Sometimes people are so emotional it can even get foolish and have a fight break out over an item on sale.

Retail stores are very creative these days and serving coffee while people are in line and opening at some really, really early times. I have gone out in the past, but this year I was at my sister’s and didn’t have a chance to go out.

I have so many questions:

• Do you look forward to Black Friday?
   
• Did you go out this year?
   
• Were the sales better than in the years past?
   
• What did you buy?
   
• Who had the best sales?
   
• What store had the best promotions? 

I look forward to reading your comments.

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I have been using Google for a very long time. I do like the search feature and frankly never thought of using anything else . . . until now. For several years now, my home page has been Excite. In the upper left-hand corner both Google and Bing appear and I must admit after seeing Bing there for a while, and after a few friends recommend it I am using Bing a little bit. While I do find some of the searches more robust and on target I don’t use Bing all the time. I do find myself out of habit using old reliable Google.

• What do you use?
   
• Have you tried Bing?
   
• What differences do you notice?
   
• Do you use Google for some things and Bing for others?

I look forward to reading your comments.

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In the 1986 comedy hit Back to School, Rodney Dangerfield is a wealthy but uneducated father who goes to his son’s college to help his son through a rough period in his life. Rodney actually registers for school and the rest is pretty funny.

The reason I tell that quick and boring story is I went "Back to School" last month. In fact I have had the opportunity of doing that three times in the last five years. Since I work for a company that is owned by Omnicom, I have the opportunity to be involved in some pretty terrific programs. One of those programs is called SMP. Which is a Senior Management Program taught by a number of Harvard Business school professors during the summer at Babson. The program is truly amazing. You are in an MBA classroom setting with 53 other executives from other Omnicom companies from all over the world. For a number of days we review cases in 75 minute sessions which are mostly based on Omnicom companies and is a phenomenal learning experience.

For me personally it is very rewarding. I come back to Dallas very energized, with tons of new ideas from the professors and the other executives in the class.

I have always said there is more to learn out of the classroom than in the classroom and this situation is no different. You find yourself discussing business until midnight almost every day.

• Have you gone back to school?
   
• Did you enjoy the experience?
   
• Would you recommend it to others?
   
• Any helpful tips you could share?
   
• Now that you are a little older how hard was it to get back into the flow of things?

I look forward to reading your comments.

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Why do baseball dugouts still use the old fashioned phones that have the ugly long cords that get tangled up, to call the bullpen to warm up a pitcher? Have they never heard of cordless phones?

With most airlines cutting back 15% of their flights, isn’t there a huge number of extra planes? Where are they?

Why does every retail and convenience store sell movies and a movie theatre doesn’t?

Whatever happened to the hit show Ally McBeal. They had 5 seasons, 112 episodes but the show seemed to end overnight and to my knowledge has never been in syndication. Why? Were they blackballed?

With most states going hands-free for cell phone usage, how long will it be before car rental companies offer a Bluetooth option for $15.00 a day?

• Do you have any thoughts as to what I am curious about?
   
• What are you curious about?

I look forward to reading your comments.

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Two days ago, I celebrated something special in my life. It was the third birthday of the Merrill Dubrow Blog. When we first started this I never knew how long I would be posting on the blog. I never knew if anyone would comment and frankly I wasn’t sure if anyone would care about my opinion and what I blogged about.

In a lot of ways I was wrong. Over the past 3 years we have had:

• Over 100,000 hits on the blog
   
• Almost 6,700 comments
   
• Over 1,000 different people have posted a comment
   
• Over 435 posts

FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

I am often asked why do I write a blog and the simple answer is I enjoy sharing things and also have a deep desire to learn something every day. This blog has accomplished both of those things. I never thought in a million years that I would learn as much as I have. Although I might not agree with everything that is posted on the blog, I like hearing opinions from people like: Bob Graham, Ed Sugar, Stephenie Gordon, Jennie Lovejoy, Janet Savoie, Steve Schlesinger, Paul Kirch, Willie Martin Fee Sepahi, Magda Cooling, Steve Gentile, Amy Shields, Michael Halberstam, Jeffrey Lorber and so many other people.

If . . .

• You have a comment
   
• You have a potential blog topic
   
• See a funny picture
   
• You disagree with me
   
• If you agree with me

I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! That is the only way we can learn from each other and have this blog be very dynamic.

Thanks for a great 3 years and I look forward to many, many more.

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I have been working for over 25 years in the market research industry. During that time my travels have taken me to both cities for industry conferences, training sessions, board meetings, new business development calls, hiring trips and client meetings.

Both cities have a lot to offer:

• Great hotels
   
• Cutting edge restaurants
   
• Museums
   
• Sports teams
   
• Great nightlife
   
• Located on the water
   
• International airports
   
• Premier skylines

And plenty more.

For me one of these cities stands out more than the other. I really like staying at the Chicago Marriott on Michigan Avenue. It is located a few blocks from the water and is in the heart of the Magnificent Mile and one of my favorite hotels. I also like the architecture a little bit better in Chicago and love how Chicago has integrated the water into the city where NY really hasn’t made the most out of the waterfront area (of course my opinion).  Both cities have all the major sports represented but I do like Wrigley Field the best out of any of the stadiums with Madison Square Garden a close second.

For me my decision is easy.  I like Chicago better than New York.

Now your turn:

• The question is which city do you like better?
   
• What city would you rather travel to?
   
• What city would you rather go to conduct business?
   
• What hotel do you usually stay at?
   
• Which city are you more comfortable in?
   
• Whicy city would you rather live in?
   
• Have you lived in either city?

I look forward to reading your comments.

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