Cortland Coleman

My pleas for a Samsung Instinct continue. Warning: little, if any, business value to be found in this CortlandCast, but I do touch upon customer loyalty and long-term retention. Sprint, are you listening?

Times are good - I'm actually excited about an upcoming product for Sprint. As a customer for almost 5 years with a monthly bill over $200, I think I qualify as loyal and reliable. I really want the new Instinct. I really don't want to wait until sometime in June. I'm sure Sprint can offer one up in exchange for a thorough, well-written and honest review of the exciting new gadget. Two-year renewal? No problem. Sub-$200 price tag? No problem. Just send me the phone! So, how about it, Sprint?

Lion
Originally uploaded by CherylV

My son and I were surfing through animal photos on Flickr when we came across this beauty. What an amazing shot of the king of the jungle!

Simplicity is essential to your message being heard, remembered and acted upon. What are you doing to simplify your message, evoke feelings in your audience and lead them to action? Listen to CortlandCast #2 for more information.

I am considering a daily podcast about public relations, media and the environment, so I thought I'd give it a try via utterz and see how I like it. Here is episode #1 in experimental mode. Enjoy.

I've wanted to include more Phish in my music postings. Today, I twittered with @andykaufman about the most important year in Phishtory - 1997. After that, I knew I needed to post SOMETHING from '97, so here's a brief glimpse from Phish's historic New Year's Eve 97-98 run at Madison Square Garden. I hope you enjoy "Theme From the Bottom" from December 29, 1997.

The major oil companies have been endlessly touted their committment to renewable energy sources in a carbon-restrained world, but is their resolve borne out in their investments? Not quite. According to the Dow Jones (certainly no Mother Jones):

"As the companies continue to garner plenty of cash from high oil prices, which reached record highs of more than $123 a barrel this week on the New York Mercantile Exchange, they continue to steer their funds to share repurchases
and avoid any major jump into unconventional fuels."

How are oil companies using those windfall profits? They're investing in their core business - oil. That's not surprising, but it does indicate two things:

1. Greenwashing is big business for some businesses, and

2. It's going to take smaller companies truly dedicated to clean energy to significantly alter the landscape of energy generation in 21st century America.

Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon doesn't mind a fight. In fact, he's tangled with governors, environmentalists and NBA fans. McClendon is not a typical CEO and Chesapeake is not a typical natural gas company. The business he co-founded with $50,000 has seen massive shifts in the market and stock price, but is now worth $25 billion. Chesapeake is in a fortuitous spot thanks to the anticipated decline of coal, booming international development and smart choices early on in natural gas. But, McClendon's not finished yet. Read this entertaining article to learn more about his plans for clean energy, the (Oklahoma!) Sonics and your bank account.

This was a recent Quote of the Day, but I'm nominating it for Quote of the Year, and possibly, Quote of a Lifetime. Walt was a master and he understood personal challenges, setbacks and opportunities like few others, which is obvious from this quote.

 

I've always liked this picture of me. The location is obvious, assuming you're a fan of The Eagles.

I downloaded a bunch of new music before I left for Phoenix on Wednesday. I did some experimenting and was rewarded by getting turned on to the Solar Fields. Here's "Brainbow" from their Earth Shine album. Warning: if you don't like electronic/rave/trance music, then this song is probably not for you. Otherwise, enjoy!

I'm sitting in the Philadelphia airport about to board a plane to Phoenix, AZ for a mini-vacation. Just under 1 year ago, I left Arizona and moved my family back east after 13 years in the Phoenix-area. It has been an interesting year to say the least, and I look forward to providing more details about it all a bit later. It has been a great move for our family and specifically, for our son. Being able to raise him around his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and everyone else has been extremely rewarding for all of us. I'm looking forward to visiting some close friends in Phoenix, but I'm looking forward even more to coming back home, again, to the east coast, despite some of the ridiculous stuff going on around here.