Zensar Conference Draws to a Close

A great conference overall. The 106 attendees (including us from AIZ: 1 AH, 3 AEB, 2 Solutions) were from business across the globe. For the most part, they were from the IT departments of each company.

The "Dowler" Tree"
Before the conference began, I had a chance to visit the Zensar campus and check out the "Dowler" tree - the one that Chris planted in 2004. I heard that it was just a "sapling" at the time. Wow, has it grown in these past 10 years.

Social Listening
Regardless of where the customers are located internationally, the attendees all agreed that their business models are strongly turning to add "Trust" and "Value" for the consumer. How the customer feels about the company is increasingly important. To that, customer "listening" was taking on a new dimension -- developing tools for companions to listen to the customer via social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram is a growing business segment (and offering) by Zensar. It was interesting to see in a "live" poll that only two companies responded that they DID NOT actively have programs, staffing, and business and technology resources in place to listen to social media and respond instantly to any messages from cyberspace. The companies actively pursing social listening felt that this adds another dimension toward understanding their customers.

Government Regulations
They are hampering the ability for some companies to Evolve/Advance in their Technology because of the need to comply with these requirements. One speaker commented that most companies in a highly regulated environment are struggling to advance new technologies in mobile, "big data", CRM and other customer-focused initiatives because their resources are consumed by meeting ever-increasing government regulations and requirements. Sounded quite familiar!

Understanding Customers
We heard from all the speakers a common theme regarding how they view customers: All see the customer as part of their business strategy to deliver profitable growth and sustained customer retention. In their interactions with customers, they all are striving to set themselves apart from the competition in the customer's eyes. As you would expect at a conference like this, the "distinction" comes not only with providing more digital tools (mobile and self-service) but also through understanding in-depth the customer from use of "big data", CRM systems, social media data gathering and collection, etc.

Conference Ended Today (Saturday) Next Stop Tomorrow (Sunday) and two days in Chennai and with the Cognizant team for a visit with them.

2014 India Visits: Zensar & Cognizant

I'm off to start the 2-week trip to India to visit with our partners, Zensar (IT) and then Cognizant for many of our operational activities.

This trip is very exciting for me. It has been two years since my last visit to India which involved a trip to visit the Cognizant operation. Now, I will attend the Zensar Global Digital Conference in Pune. After the conference, the next stop is a two-day visit to Cognizant-Chennai, then it's off again to visit the Bangalore Cognizant site.

KLM Amsterdam - 747

Getting to India is not for the impatient. This trip involves a 9-hour flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, a 5 1/2 hour layover, then another 9-hour flight to New Delhi. Arriving in New Delhi at 1:10 a.m. will require a stay at the Eaton Hotel in the New Delhi airport for some rest, then it's off again in the afternoon to catch a flight on India's Jet Airways to Pune.

Keep checking the posts for the latest updates!

Photography as an Adventure!

Risks and Adventures as part of the Photo Journey

You see the final product of our photography excursions and hopefully, marvel at the beauty of the places we visit and the story we try and tell through out pictures. What you don't see are some of the challenges capturing these images!

Photography is often a creative adventure - creative in the sense that it takes time to find the locations, check out the scenes, and then look beyond what you "see" to capture what else is there. We have had many moments when we would be walking through a city or out for a drive and I would abruptly stop, snap a few pictures, then continue along. Early on, Maureen would say, "What did you see? I didn't see it?". "Just wait until you see the final product", I would say. We are past those Q&A moments, now, and both of us are always anxious to see what comes of it when the photos are out of the camera and into the digital darkroom. In another blog, we will show a few of these, "Huh? What?" moments.

This blog is about the times when we have been "miles from anywhere", out on a country road, standing on a street with no one present, and from nowhere, someone appears and says, "Hey, what are you doing!?" These usually never start out as a friendly, "just curious", encounter. Although we are on public property, people tend to get upset when you are taking a picture of their "stuff". We talk-through it and generally get them comfortable with the process.

Here are some photos of those moments. We have included a brief "set-up" description of the event.

1800's Old house and solitary tree

OLD HOUSE & TREE
Wisconsin State Highway 10. Near Appleton. We had driven by this old house several times. This time, we decided to pull over and take some shots of this fine old building and its companion, a weather-warped tree. It screamed for a black & white treatment! No one was around for miles. We just stepped out of the car to start taking the pictures and a car pulled up. "What are you doing?" Taking pictures we explained. "This is my grandfather's house. It's dangerous. You can't go in there" "We aren't", I said. "Well, it is going to be torn down. You can't walk on the property", she said.  "We aren't", I said. I proceeded to take the shots, she proceeded to stand by me and "protect" the house and make sure I wasn't stepping a foot off the road. We didn't. Finished, we hopped back in the car and away we went...with the lady following us to the next town!


GRAIN SILOS - Near Appleton Wisconsin
Highway 10 (again). We found this old grain silo structure along the road. No one in sight. About 1/2 block away, walking out from a Country Store, a man came at us in a hurried pace asking what we were doing. "Taking pictures of this old silo", I said. "Why, what's wrong with it!?", he said. Back and forth we went.

Grain Silo

Our business card was presented. The situation turned out fine. So fine, that he suggested another grain elevator to check out nearby. What is it about someone with a camera that gains so much attention!


GRAFTON WISCONSIN - OLD STONE CHURCH
Again, fabulous deteriorated old stone church that we thought would make a perfect photograph. No one around. Parked the car, started taking pictures. Out came a man from a nearby house, screaming mad, threatening, very disturbed and confrontational. It was his old church. "What are doing with these pictures?" "Are you making money from my property?" "You can't take these pictures - this is my property and you can't take a picture." Ugly situation. This one ended with no agreement other than us walking away and getting in the car, with the pictures.

Later, once I processed them, we put a photo of one of the shots in a frame and drove it back to the guy's house to give it to him. We just drove onto his drive ... and out he came, barreling toward us. "What are you doing on my property?" (He seemed to have forgotten who we were from the day before). In the end, he seemed to appreciate getting the photo. His main issue was that in the past, people used his church for wedding photos without asking permission (walking onto the property as well) and others have "made money" from it. We were cool in the end! Still, a tough guy with some protection issues.

Remants of an old stone church

In other blogs and from time to time, we will have more stories along these lines. As we always say, there is no end to being surprised about how people react to you when you are standing there with a camera!

Jose's Blue Sombrero

Good Eats in Fox Point - Brown Deer

Maureen and I ate lunch here last weekend. Jose's has a nice cozy atmosphere which offers great service and great food.

We couldn't resist taking some photos with the dependable iPhone 5s. Here, we show off Jose's through some of our photos.

Menu Cover

Usually when we travel (near or far), we always have a camera - whether our trusty iPhones or the industrial strength Canon 7d. These were taken with the iPhone 5s, enhanced a little bit with some Lightroom 5 touches and the usual "enhancements".  All-in-all, they turned out to be some pretty nice shots of the restaurant and the food!

Three Chorizo, chicken and bacon tacos!

Combination Plate - Delicious! 

The Three Amigos welcome you!

Wayne's Diner

Always a favorite of ours for a hamburger, fries, shakes, and ice cold Pepsi, Wayne's diner is a fixture in Cedarburg Wisconsin.

Wayne's has a very fun atmosphere; the food has ALWAYS been good, fresh, and hot. Customers can choose seating at the old-style counter, at linoleum covered tables, or at outdoor picnic tables.

Don't expect to stop by for a bite after November 17th, though. Wayne's closes for the season, re-opening in the spring.

Final 2013 Fall Color Photos

More from the Wisconsin "Fall Colors" Series

Probably the last of this year's Fall colors and photos.

Regardless of how well the leaves actually turn out, we always manage to find some willing subjects to appear before our camera.

These willing participants like the fact that they are digitally memorialized and remembered for years hence!

We found these for sale along Wisconsin Highway 60 between Grafton and Jackson. The farmer selling his Fall crops said this season wasn't the best, but a "decent" crop of pumpkins, gourds, and apples, none-the-less.

Halloween: Walt Disney World

Halloween at "the World" is amazing. Disney puts out the decorations, costumes, and scariness in a big way. No, in a really HUGE way!

In fact, the many weeks-long Halloween season is perhaps their most popular time for visitors.

Adding to the fun time, they bring in 11 semi-trailer loads of candy each year. Yes! 11 semi-loads! Imagine seeing those rolling down the interstate toward Orlando.

We provide just a few of the photos from the Walt Disney World Halloween experience.

One of these years, we will be able to spend a few days photographing more of the event, including the Disney parade and parade  of characters all decked out in their Halloween attire.

You'll be the first to see those pictures, right here! Hopefully, we will return soon!