And I ride, and I ride, and I ride..
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Steve P. Jobs died yesterday at 56 due to complications of pancreatic cancer.
Steve was a true visionary, that had a taste for product design and a perfectionist mind that led Apple to the top of the industry, in sales, units sold and most importantly – customer loyalty.
Steve, I wasn’t an Apple fanboy from the start, in fact, I was one of the ‘I’ll never get an iPhone’ type of people, and later ‘I’ll never get an iPad’. But now, I’m sporting both. As a marketer I’ll continue to take chapters from the unwritten book by which you conducted Apple’s PR and marketing, which made Apple one of the top brands in the world, and definitely the most loved one.
You have changed the industry with your breakthrough ideas and beautifully designed products, and changed the way I, and my family, lives. So thank you. And RIP.
Foursquare + Caffe Henrietta (Israel)
Published January 24, 2011 Uncategorized 1 CommentTags: caffe henrietta, customer loyalty, facebook, foursquare, israel, location based services, sales, twitter
Had the pleasure of meeting Orli this afternoon at Caffe Henrietta, one of the many coffee houses in Tel Aviv area. Shortly before arriving I saw the picture Orli took (embed below), which I believe is the 1st long-term partnership a local business is doing with Foursquare (correct me if I’m wrong).
Caffe Henrietta and Foursquare: Join our social club (credit: Orli Yakuel)
The first 5 minutes of the meeting both Orli and I spent facing our iPad/iPhone, respectively, registering for the partnership, at Caffe Henrietta’s website (He). The process is fairly simple, 3-4 steps, to connect you to Caffe Henrietta’s social club (facebook, foursquare, cellphone). Shortly after we received 3 text messages – including a free drink coupon for the current visit!
The text messages I received from Caffe Henrietta
I’m happy to see location based services (He) are kicking off in Israel, with various models in place – campaign based, specials, partnerships, exploring what works and what not. Although Caffe Henrietta saw only $5 from the 3 of us (+ tip), the long term exposure and buzz is much bigger, not to mention customer loyalty – next time I’m meeting someone in that area, it will probably be at Henrietta.
The 101 of getting married in NYC
Published April 16, 2010 Uncategorized 2 CommentsTags: city clerk, international marriage, marriage ceremony, marriage certificate, marriage license, new york, nyc, USA
As some of you already know (and if not – now you do), we got married during our vacation in NYC! If you’re also thinking of getting hitched while visiting the Big Apple, here’s what you need to know. The whole thing takes less than an hour (2 separate visits). If you want to approve your license for international recognition, there’s step 3, that will take you an additional hour (mainly walking between 2 locations). You can download a mobile version of this post, to open on your mobile device (2-page, Doc or PDF versions), to guide you through the process.
The government office that is responsible for marriage licenses is the City Clerk, a large, renovated building located at the top of the Financial District, close to the Court Buildings and City Hall. Get off at Chambers St station (1,2,3,A,C,J,M,Z) and walk towards the Courts Buildings – City Clerk (Worth st.) is across the street. All the information mentioned here is also available online.
Step 1 – getting the marriage license
Go the the City Clerk’s office at 141 Worth St., both of you, with a valid form of identification (Passport works just fine). Ask the official at the information desk the forms for a marriage license, and receive a number. You can also fill out the forms online (no printing required – you receive a confirmation number) – recommended and saves time. Important: At this stage you have to decide about the bride’s last name – change it or not. Once your number is called, go to the booth with the completed form and your IDs, pay $35 (we used credit card), and the 1st step is over.
Now you need to return after at least 24 hours (this is NOT like Vegas), to finalize the process, and GET MARRIED! You have 60 days before your license (and file) expires.
Step 2 – the marriage ceremony
For the ceremony itself you will need the following:
- Two rings (anything goes)
- The marriage license form + IDs you had with you at Step 1 (if you used Passport, you must come with it again)
- A witness with a valid ID – any witness is good, but the office staff cannot serve as a witness, so come prepared, or ask someone waiting with you (thank you Joelle!)
Signing stuff, we and our witness
There is no dress-code for the ceremony itself, some came with their gym clothes while others had the full package: white dress and a tux, photographer, family and stuff. Once you arrive (check the office hours for planned holidays) ask the officer at the information desk for a number to the marriage ceremony, presenting the form + IDs (bride, groom, witness). Important: If you need to validate your license for international usage, make sure you mention it to the officer – he’ll give you another form, In Person Request for Marriage Records. Once your number is up, approach the booth (all 3 of you), pay another $25 (credit card) and then wait again for one of the 2 marriage ceremony rooms to be vacant.
The marriage ceremony
A City Clerk’s official conducts the ceremony:
If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together – let them speak now or forever hold their peace (between the 2 of you and the witness I doubt it, but you can never know), Do you ‘bride’ take ‘groom’ to be your lawful wedded husband…, Place the ring on the groom’s finger, and By the power vested to me by the State of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!
That’s it – Mazal Tov! You’re married (in the USA). The entire process (both steps) takes under an hour. No rush on doing it at 08:30, the office is open until 15:30 – we came at 12:30 and were out by 13:15.
Our rings
Step 3 – International recognition (Apostille)
The longest step of the process, only because you need to visit 2 other office buildings – the Supreme Court and State of New York. Once you receive your marriage certificate, go to the Archives Room (same place, across from the information desk), and say you want your marriage to be recognized internationally. Pay an additional $35 (to issue another marriage certificate, 1 more is enough) and after a few minutes you’ll receive it, with a note instructing what you need to do next, and where.
New York Supreme Court
Step outside, cross the street and walk into the Supreme Court building (60 Centre St., famous from Law and Order), take the elevator down to the basement (B), room 141B. Stand in the ‘Public Notary Desk’ line and say you wish to make your marriage certificate recognized outside the US. Pay $3 (cash preferred) at the cashier (3 steps to the right of where you’re standing now), and receive your marriage certificate signed by the Clerk of the Supreme Court.
Step outside and head downtown (South) to 123 William St (between John and Fulton, 15-20min walk, use a map) – Office of the State of New York. Take the elevator to the 19th floor, head to one of the available booths, with your marriage certificate. Pay $10 (cash again), wait couple of minutes for the certificate to be signed (Apostille), and that’s it!
Alitalia and Rome Airport – FAIL
Published April 11, 2010 Uncategorized 3 CommentsTags: alitalia, delays, fail, rome airport, travel, worst airline
This is the first time I am writing a post as an angry customer. Usually, and my friends will testify, I am very calm, but the connection we had this morning at Rome International Airport and the proceeding flight (AZ 808) with Alitalia to Tel Aviv was a huge disaster.
Our flight from NYC (CO 040, Newark-Rome) was fine, more than fine. This was only my 2nd trip with Continental, but will start looking more closely at their schedule, especially on Atlantic flights – the trip TLV-Newark, CO 080 went much more smoother than I thought a 12.5 hour flight will be. The Boeing 777 is amazing and the Continental service was great!
Don't fly Alitalia
Anyhow, back to Rome. We landed at 08:00 on Sunday April 11th, with a plane to catch at 09:25, from another terminal (Gate G). The horror began at the security check, as some 400 passengers (2-4 planes) waited in one of the most un-organized processes I had even seen. Six Italian officers with English similar to my Italian, lost control of things, and it took us 50 min to pass a security check, which had little to do with security: Some took their shoes off, others didn’t; watch/belt/rings were on/off, depending on your line; Laptop stayed in the carry-on bag; Our passports were NEVER opened; No designated line for handicapped passengers, which meant every 5min an officer let a handicap passenger into the front of the line – the same line each time (ours of course); Five Italian couples were also let into the front of the line, for a reason I (and others) couldn’t fathom; The crowd formed way behind the actual conveyer belts into a single line, only to disperse 5 meters before the belts, into 4-6 different lines (I mentioned only 3 belts, right?); a passenger came up to the security officer, saying he’s going to miss his flight – the officer sent him back, mumbling something in Engtalian.
The flight was scheduled to leave at 09:25, with boarding set for 08:50 via gate G10. Boarding started at 09:15, with a single line. At 09:25 another line opened, both leading downstairs, to a bus. The bus stood, full, for 10min, before taking us 100 meters to the plane itself. We waited for another hour on the tarmac with the AC turned OFF (!), finally taking off at 10:30. Alitalia – it’s 2010, and I know several teenagers that can produce a movie 10 times better than the poorly-animated-using-cardboard-figures-excuse-for-a-movie you showed. Drop me a line, I’ll send over some names. I only hope our 3 suitcases found their way in all that mess to our plane (post written in-flight).
Update: our luggage were a no-show of course, all 3 of them – left at Rome. Unfortunately, we were not surprised. They did arrive at our house at 11:00pm, 8 hours after we landed.
I love Rome, and Italy (very cool snowboarding slopes), but in the future, traveling abroad, Alitalia just made my bottom 2 airlines, alongside Iran Air.
