Jeff Bezos*… and You?
On a bright, sunny Wednesday afternoon here in north Delaware, I printed out all the entries received in the Maximum Customer Experience Word-of-Mouth Birthday Giveaway, and placed them in two piles: Cool Giveaway for new friends, and Even Cooler Giveaway for awesome Fans of MCE.
My thanks to all of the readers who took the time to enter, to wish MCE a Happy 300th, and to spread the word about the blog and the birthday giveaway. My favorite comment of the week was from Eyeteaguy: “You’re getting 300 comments if I have to leave half of them myself. I love a challenge.” I hope you all had that much fun with it!
Leader and delegator that I am, I put The Kid in charge of the two drawings.
Translation #1: I didn’t want anybody yelling at me, and nobody yells at a cute kid with a purple hat.
Translation #2: She put herself in charge of it, because it’s her hat and why should I get all the fun and what is this for anyway?
It’s for cool books, Kid. Pull a name already. I’m getting cold out here.
With a flourish and a drum roll, the names she drew are:
Eyeteaguy, who loves when I call him Francis,** is the loyal reader who walks off with four of my favorite books for growing your business and leading the charge in your own life: Get Clients Now! by C.J. Hayden; Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi; A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech; Tribes by Seth Godin.
Chris W., sent by Francis, runs away with one of my all-time favorite life-altering books: Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi.
With full names and addresses of the lucky folks in hand (I’ll email shortly, gents), my friend Jeff Bezos will be sending said gifts from amazon.com to places where I suspect, you might scoff at what The Kid and I called cold weather yesterday.
And for all the rest of you who’ve read through this post, a final gift:
One of the junior auditors from Bear, Oso, and Ursa. Yes, he watched the whole procedure!
Nuts! Better luck next time, and keep coming back for more Maximum Customer Experience, dear readers!
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
*Founder and CEO of amazon.com.
**Because that’s his name.
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26 March 2009, 9:27 am
Yeah! I won. And I didn’t have to cheat or threaten! How about that.
I look forward to the books and I promise to pass them on when I’m done.
I am glad I could help widen your circle but I must admit I am very dissappointed with my circle of friends. When they ask for help I always jump in. I like to help. So I was sad to see that folks did not return the favour. I suspect its because they thought I was in it for the prize when they should know better. I was again trying to help a friend. I have enough disposable income to buy books if I want to, the prize wasn’t my motivation.
I could react negatively and not help them the next time they ask but I will go the opposite way. I will help extra next time. Not to make them feel guilty but to lead by example.
Anyway, I’ll plug you again next week and see if they drop by without suspecting my motives and enjoy your blog for what it is, a very special place with great idea’s and motivation.
Eyteaguy
Eyeteaguy’s last blog post…What have you done for me lately?
26 March 2009, 9:41 am
Francis,
Congrats! (Sorry about the email with no subject line. Not enough caffeine!)
And noooo, don’t be disappointed. I’m thrilled with how many folks did take a moment out of their busy days to wander over here, and I hope lots of them will take a good look around and become new fans of the blog.
Whew! A whole Eyeteaguy comment with no sarcasm. And kind words, too. I gotta give stuff away more often.
Regards,
Kelly
26 March 2009, 10:16 am
Crap, you’re right, no sarcasm. What’s got into me. I think I made up for it in my comment on your previous post. Poor Friar. He’s gonna need therapy.
Eyeteaguy
Eyeteaguy’s last blog post…What have you done for me lately?
26 March 2009, 1:36 pm
Congrats to the winners!
Great contest too Kelly. Can’t wait for the 600th post celebrations!
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…5 Steps To Better Brainstorming for the Intrepid Freelancer and Independent Business Owner
26 March 2009, 3:51 pm
Francis,
A little of Kelly’s good will rubbed off on ya. You’ll be back to normal in no time.
Graham,
600 sounds so much scarier/impossible-r than 300.
Reminds me of when I passed 100, which seemed like an enormous milestone. Now, hahaha!
As my friend the woodpecker says daily (at 5:30am)… peckpeckpeckpeckpeck.
Here goes!
Later,
Kelly
26 March 2009, 5:23 pm
Hooray! Franics WON!
(Thank GOD). Otherwise we’d never hear the END of it!
Now we can move on with our lives….
26 March 2009, 5:26 pm
@ Friar, No way. Now I get to GLOAT!
I won, I won, I won! I rule! I’m the best.
…and Friar didn’t, he doesn’t and he isn’t.
Eyeteaguy
Now you are wondering if its better if I lost after all.
Eyeteaguy’s last blog post…What have you done for me lately?
26 March 2009, 5:27 pm
I don’t’ know if you’ve named the squirrel yet…
…but may I suggest CHUCK-NUTS?
Friar’s last blog post…Things I WON’T do, when I retire.
26 March 2009, 5:40 pm
Friar,
I’ll tell you a secret: when my daughter pulled his name out of the hat, I did sigh with relief.
You made it easier for him, though, didn’t you? I admit to being surprised that some devotees did, and some did not (*ahem!*), give him a run for his money…
I know. You were busy painting pizza. Artists….
The Kid names all squirrels “Nutty.” They never object, so how can I?
Later,
Kelly
26 March 2009, 5:51 pm
Did Kelly just sucker punch Friar? I think she just did! Wow….
I can hear him wheezing from here.
Eyeteaguy’s last blog post…What have you done for me lately?
26 March 2009, 6:01 pm
No, a loving tap. A mere playful wiggle of the eyebrows. No more than that.
26 March 2009, 6:07 pm
Hmmm, then what is that sound coming from Splat Creek?
Eyeteaguy’s last blog post…What have you done for me lately?
26 March 2009, 6:43 pm
I’ve been constantly reminded all week at the Factory that I’m not meeting my “committments”, that I didn’t do this..I didn’t do that…etc.
So I come to check out the blogs after work, to relax and unwind. And what happens?
I’m “reminded” that I didn’t do the contest-thing.
(Sigh).
Looks like it’s just one of those weeks.
Friar’s last blog post…Things I WON’T do, when I retire.
26 March 2009, 6:58 pm
That confirms it Kelly, you sucker punched the Friar.
Now the christian thing to do would be to apologize. Instead, let’s high five!
Sorry about your week Friar. Keep your chin up and remember you made me laugh out loud twice this week. While at work no less. That’s a record!
Eyeteaguy
Eyeteaguy’s last blog post…What have you done for me lately?
26 March 2009, 8:01 pm
Nice, nice, y’all.
Friar, only love here. No sucker-punches. In 2.0-ville, it’s all good. Email on its way…
31 March 2009, 6:00 pm
Hey! The books arrived today! Thanks!
But…. which one do I read first? Your recomendation is?
Eyeteaguy
Eyeteaguy’s last blog post…What have you done for me lately?
31 March 2009, 6:14 pm
Wow, that’s fast. How much do I love amazon?
Oooh. What a delightful (and tough) question. I started to say Never Eat Alone! Definitely! Then I thought A Whack! Definitely!
I could make a case for any of them.
New books rock. What a lovely position to be in, having to choose among those four for the first time.
But before I change my mind again… Never Eat Alone. Definitely.
Later,
Kelly