Yesterday I spent a run with my dad discussing the problems of the airline industry. It’s an industry that continues to freefall and the question that we couldn’t begin to answer was “what’s the solution?”
The number of externalities and level of complexity that need to be managed creates a situation that may be impossible to solve for years and years.
Unions, airport authorities, oil prices, government regulations, safety, terrorism, … the list of challenges goes on and on. And, painfully, many of the major impediments are outside of the airline’s control.
I hope they’re focusing on the real challenges instead of consuming resources on less critical items.
Almost every app that I’ve tried out in the last few months has an initial feature set that attempts to instantly seed community.
While I see value I also see inefficiency and it’s clear that my mind is unsettled on the issue.
Do I want a community attached to every app? Maybe. What I don’t want is a decentralized community. I want to build community within/around/upon the centre of my digital identity rather than away from it.
Do I want multiple communities? Maybe. Looking at my life I see that I’m part of a number of different communities. While certain aspects (and members) are the same, the communities are effectively different. Are they centralized? The short answer is yes.
I understand the value of trying to seed community from the start, but to-date the communities within apps, that I’ve benefited from, have all been value-add feature sets that leveraged the value of the network.
What’s the conclusion? There isn’t one. Simply an observation and some initial thoughts. Interested in hearing yours.
For the past 12 or 13 years (a much debated topic) my family has vacationed in South Carolina. For the past 3 years my version of vacation has been a long weekend – a quick 3 or 4 days down here.
In South Carolina, just east of Charleston, on the Atlantic, is paradise. And I’m happy to say that this year I’m here for a week. Here’s the view from the balcony:
And if you turn your head to the right:
I have shrimp to catch, books to read, roads to run, family to hang around with, … I’ve been looking forward to this for a few years now.
The Heersink’s have a big family (they’re Dutch) and the two youngest family members are 10 year old twins, Marius and Christiaan.
Already on the growth path of the other Heersinks, these boys are going to be huge. They’re also going to be very cool. Influenced by 4 older siblings and their friends they’re hilarious and a tonne of fun.
At the reception my brother and I spent a few songs teaching them all of the dance moves we know – “The Bus Driver”, “Washing Your Hair with Shampoo”, “Punch the Midget”, etc.
The highlight came when jokes collided and the boys introduced us to a new dance move — The Canadian Arm.
Well done guys.
This past weekend my family made the trip to Maine to celebrate the wedding of a close family friend, Sebastian Heersink.
I’ve never been to Maine but enjoyed my (short) time there. The landscape was beautiful – reminding me of Muskoka – and the food was delicious (lobster, lobster rolls, …)
The story of how our families became close is a great story with a good ending and the friendship between the two families continues to grow stronger.
The wedding was incredible and the celebration that followed was fitting.
Congratulations Sebastian and Emily. Looking forward to seeing both of you in Florida.
