Google Tech Talk

Yesterday, a small group of us from Poken traveled to Google to give a Tech Talk about our product. It was cool to be invited and it was fun to discuss our design and future directions with Googlers. Several of them now have Pokens of their own so we’ll see what ideas they come up with!

We hung out at the Zurich office for a little while after the talk and this was notable for two reasons.
1. I played my first ping pong of 2009. It didn’t last very long and it didn’t elevate to Smash Ball status, but it was fun just to pick up the paddles again.
2. I played Rock Band for the first time and actually did pretty well. According to our host, I “rocked it like a hurricane,” which is appropriate on many levels. It’s kind of addictive; I have no idea how people get things done there!
Many thanks to Rupert et al for organizing the talk; we look forward to a tighter relationship with Google as we become more OpenSocial-friendly!

Parlez-vous Francais?

Another day, another milestone. Today was the first day that I conducted over half of my conversations at work in French. Woohoo! Or make that le woohoo! Note that I didn’t claim that it was good French. Of course, no Frenchman would claim that any of the French spoken on this side of Lac Leman is “good.” C’est la vie!

Today I also started re-reading J.R.R. Tolkien‘s The Silmarillion as the beginning of a chronological read-through of Middle Earth. Next will be The Book of Lost Tales, The Hobbit, and then The Lord of the Rings. Thanks so much to Lee and Sam for lending me The Hobbit oh so long ago! Of course I should really be spec’ing out the new Poken Web UI, defining our forthcoming API, and putting together the PowerPoint slides for Wednesday’s Google Tech Talk. I guess Tolkien will have to wait.

A Bad Week for the NFL

Blogger’s note: I no longer use the term “Redskins” but am leaving my prior references intact in the spirit of learning.

This was a terrible, terrible week for the NFL! It started when Peyton Manning was knocked out of the playoffs. With no Peyton, no Favre, and no Redskins, what possible interest do I have in the postseason? And speaking of the Redskins, they had major layoffs this week and my favorite employee of theirs was among the casualties. Boooooooo! To top it all off, the Texans fired legendary strength coach, Dan Riley.

Dan was essentially the originator of modern strength training in the NFL. He supported the Redskins through three Superbowl victories and I first met him at Art Monk Football Camp back in the early 90’s. Even then he was way ahead of his time, constantly using science to produce better and more effective strength programs. His goal wasn’t to make his players stronger; it was to help them reach the maximum strength allowable by their genetic potential–and time and time again he achieved his goal.
He is simply the best and another team’s gain will be the Texans’ loss.

My Diet

My daily diet can be summed up in two staple food groups:

1. bread
2. stuff you put on bread
Now before you think my diet is boring, let me clarify that there is a LOT of stuff you can put on bread! In the past few days alone, I have eaten bread topped with the following:
honey
cheese
smoked salmon
Nutella
chicken curry sauce
arugula
mangoes
papayas
and pretty much every combination thereof. It’s nice living across the street from Globus, which has the most Whole Foods/Central Market-like grocery store that I’ve found in Lausanne. They have several whole grain selections and the bread is always fresh, crusty, and delicious. Until I’m moved into a more permanent apartment with the means to boil water for pasta, bread will probably remain my main source of complex carbs.
Of course, I don’t eat exclusively bread-based meals. I also eat dark chocolate. 🙂 The Swiss swear that it’s good for you and I am happy to accept that as gospel without trying to verify it.
Today was a milestone for me: I successfully responded to a request for directions from a lost couple on the streets of Lausanne–and in French!
This week will mark another milestone: on Wednesday I and some other members of the Poken team are headed to Google’s Zurich office to present a Tech Talk. It was just a couple of months ago that I was there interviewing!

What a Week

We are off and running! Poken is really taking off in several key areas. We are now adding ~5 new Poken accounts each hour and our website traffic is growing exponentially. Although our uptake has been mostly in Europe so far, we are receiving phone calls and emails from people around the world interested in distributing and selling, so look out, Poken could be coming soon to a store near you!

However, our philosphy is to focus on getting it right and serving our existing customers before we put too much emphasis on expansion. For example, we have a great group of users in the Netherlands who are providing valuable feedback and ideas every day. The last thing we would do is abandon them.
As product manager, my job is to manage the development of the product so that it becomes more valuable to them and other users. I’ve spent this week putting a comprehensive development plan in place and will be working all weekend to configure Jira, a system to help us implement it. This will help keep my mind off the fact that I’m in the wrong time zone to watch NFL playoffs!
Speaking of which, I spent an hour on the treadmill this evening. To keep my mind off the cardio, I flipped through the channels on the screen in front of me and settled on . . . ski jumping and biathlon! Winter sports, here I come; I’m becoming more Swiss every day!

Mac Attack

This is my first ever post from a Mac–a MacBook Pro to be more precise. I know of at least one loyal reader who is smirking or even grinning widely right now. That’s OK, we’ll see who has the last laugh once he enters the heavily Windows-networked world of big business! No, joking aside, the Mac has been great so far, very simple and intuitive to use.

Life here at Poken is very, very hectic. Without warning our product has taken off in, of all places, Holland! Our marketing strategy has been to lie low, working on making our product serve the needs of our customers and letting our enthusiasts communicate on our behalf. This seems really to be working in the Dutch-speaking world.

We just reached 4,000 website hits/month and have tripled our number of daily website hits (many of which are now coming from Holland) since this time last month. It is so energizing to be part of this kind of momentum! Now we need to buckle down and serve our customers with a better and better product offering.

The Circle Continues

Today I had coffee with four students from IMD’s class of 2009. They begin orientation on MONDAY!!!! I can’t believe that it’s starting all over again already! Part of me wants to do it again–especially since the program will be different under the new program director (who came to us from UVA–Wahoo!)–but most of me is very, very glad to be done.

Before coffee I had my first lifting session of the year, supported by Foreigner on my MP3 player. I used to equate Foreigner with Journey but now it is clear that there is no comparison. Foreigner is good, but Journey is . . . rad. Or boss. Or any number of other 80s words for “cool” and “awesome” at the same time. Foreigner was up in the playlist because I have recently finished the “E” section of my music collection. “E” took a long time mostly because of the prolific works of Eric Clapton. I am NOT complaining, as Clapton is my favorite guitarist of all time.
I’ve also been listening to “Bruises” by Chairlift recently. I overheard it in a store during the holidays and now I can’t get it out of my head.
Thursday I will make my first presentation, a comprehensive product roadmap, to Poken’s Board of Directors. The holidays were wonderful, but it actually feels good to be back in an environment with hard, meaningful deliverables!

New Year’s Luck Continues

After my last post I was upgraded to first class for the Newark-Geneva flight as well–what a great day! Hopefully my luck will continue throughout 2009.

I’ve just wrapped up my first day back in Lausanne. It is cold and gray here but I am enjoying living in the corporate apartment until my new place is available. Tomorrow I will have my first workout in my new gym, conveniently right across the street from our office and the apartment where I am staying. A year after my original arrival in Lausanne, the adventure continues!

New Year

Exactly one year ago Katie and I missed our flight from Houston to Newark and had to re-route through Zurich the following day. Today, not only did I not miss my flight from Houston to Newark, I miraculously received a first class upgrade even though I didn’t earn enough elite miles last year  to maintain my Continental elite status. 2009 is starting off right! During the flight I watched City of Ember and the beginning of The Rocker, neither of which I recommend.

Now I’m hanging out in Newark airport waiting on my flight to Geneva. There are a couple of total frat boys sitting by me talking about all the “crazy” places in Europe they’re “totally gonna do.” If this guy butchers “Cinque Terre” one more time, I may stand up and punch him in the face. And it’s a wonder that American tourists have such a poor reputation abroad . . . Oh well, at least they’re from the University of Delaware, home of the mighty Wing-T offense!
I wish everyone the very best for 2009. I think it’s going to be a good one!

Fight For Rice, Rice Fight On

The mighty Rice Owls completed one of their best seasons in school history last night when they beat the Western Michigan Broncos 38-14 in the Texas Bowl. We tailgated all afternoon with beer, sausage, and cheese. Cox and I, undefeated Champions of the Universe in two-on-two ocean football, added to our accolades as all-time undefeated champions in Cornhole. We threw the football around (sunny, 70-degree F weather) and listened to country music–what could be more Texas?

The game itself was great. Other than one interception, Rice had no miscues. Jarrett Dillard extended his NCAA record with a TD catch, James Casey proved and reproved his dominance, and MVP Chase Clement (who was unfortunately injured and couldn’t play during the New Orleans Bowl of 2006) scored five TDs–throwing for three, running for one, and even receiving a TD pass from Jarrett Dillard, which was the icing on the cake.
Congrats to the Rice football team and especially to this talented group of seniors. Now it’s up to the next generation to build on this tradition of success and continue making it something we can all be proud of.

Rice, fight, never die

Blue, gray, in the sky
Stand, cheer, drink more beer
Go, go, gooooooooo Rice!