the art of the coffee shop deal

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Bongo Java, coffee, Nashville

I had some time to kill today so I stopped by one of my favorite coffee stomps…Bongo Java. Hands down the best Iced Mocha in Nashville!

As I sat for a brief moment to write I noticed that out of the 50-60 people in the coffee shop, about half of them were working business deals.

There is paperwork for housing deals, sales plans on the counter next to my computer and even I am working on some sales programs for upcoming travel. In about 3 minutes of watching I have counted 6 business cards being handed out. Just a booth over from the counter I am sitting at is an interview (this always gets me tickled…one guy in a suit freaking out while the other one grills his background).

Has the coffee shop become the new golf course?

I know I often use it to get away from my home office or as a stop in mid day to update accounts and so on.

I do think the one major difference in coffee shop deals vs. golf course deals is that there is a larger group of clients that can be worked with. Anyone who does not have an adversity to entering a coffee shop really.

Just as I am writing this I now see a church staff coming in for a meeting…how cool.

Enough of the writing…time for my question.

Have you ever done a coffee shop deal? Do you find it a productive place to work?

My Social Experiment- Can You Join In?

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charity, coffee, dining, fellowship, Nashville, Social Experiment, Starbucks, Tony Romo

Ok.  I wanted to do this for a very long time and if you are local to Nashville or I have resonable ways to contact you I want you to participate….

Here is what I want to do and why…..

About 1 year ago I was at a favorite eating place of mine when the lady behind me went into a panic.  She was panicking because she was short about $1 on her tab because unknowingly her daughter had removed some cash from her purse before she left for work.  Not thinking it was too big of a deal, I had my waiter put her remaining tab on my check and covered it.  The reaction I received was amazing.  The waiter could not believe I would do it, and the lady hugged me and called me a saint (which lord knows I am not).  Several other people sitting around me thanked me for doing it….which I though was odd but got me thinking very hard.

The next day, I bought a lady behind me coffee at Starbucks.  When I finally convinced her it was not me hitting on her and that it was just because, she smiled and said she would do the same for someone.  She stated she was having a crappy day and that I completly changed it.

This weekend I also read the story about Tony Romo of the Cowboys, changing a tire for someone after the game last week…The star quarterback changing a tire????  Wow.

So, how does something like this change the world?  How does spreading this type of good will help everyone?

So, here is what I want to do, and if you are in, leave me a comment or drop me an email.

I want to get as many people as possible to go out and try something…but nothing to expensive.

Try buying the person in back of you their coffee at Starbucks….try helping someone who is broken down on the road…try buying someone lunch at a fast food place……try anything small and simple like this and see what happens….

Then do me a favor…email it to me or leave it in the comments.  I am going to track all of this and blog it back.

If you are local to Nashville…I want to go a step further……let’s all get together one day in the next month and talk about it and see how it affected our lives.  Let’s see if we can create some really cool fellowship from this.

You in?  Come on..I need you.  If I think what is going to happen, happens, This will Rock.

Statistics- Who Comes Up With This Stuff?

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church, coffee, McCain, Obama, Starbucks, Statistics

I just read that only 30% of people learn by reading and that 65% learn by seeing things and/or doing things which leave 5% who don’t learn at all….right?

I also saw on one news station that John McCain is leading Barack Obama 43% to 42% in a national poll.  Another one however states that Obama is leading 48% to McCain’s 41%.

I once heard that 87% of Nashvillian’s attend church at least once a year.

A latest pole says only 9% of Americans are happy with our current Congress and about 15% of our President.

Stats Stats Stats Stats…….are these real of just a bunch of crap.

Here is what I think…..like it or not….

I think that 90% of all stats are junk with the other 10% being totally ludicrous.

I think that all Americans that take stock in stats have not really looked deeply into them to realize they are junk…….

I think that you can make a stat look like whatever you want it to…

Example…..I just surveyed 10 people walking into Starbucks this morning and the results of my survey are staggering!!!!!!!

      100% Stated they like Coffee- Unbelievable!

      90% Stated they usually like to come to Starbucks- Wow- Starbucks must really bring em in!

      100% Stated that getting a cup of coffee is how they kick start their day- No Way- Never would have thought that!

      And Finally…the one that surprised me most…100% said that they were willing to pay $3 for a cup of coffee….now that is not what I would have suspected.

So my question to you….Do you take stock in Statistics or just view them as bulk information?  What is your favorite statistic you have ever seen?