2009-2011 Archived Blogs

Occupy Customer Experience: We wish you a fabulous 2012
PAKRA Games Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Thanks to our customers, users, game-players, partners, advisers, employees, we met and surpassed all our goals and milestones that we set for ourselves in 2011. Being a Remarkable Learning Company®, we ourselves learned a lot in 2011. Some of the key learnings were:1. The value of "failure" from Jeff Stibel's blog post "Why I hire people who fail?"2. The value you get from continuously experimenting, measuring and adjusting 3. The value of using social media channels effectively for sales and customer service4. Helping businesses and organizations understand the buyer, especially millennial end-user and mindset 5. According to Horses for Sources[…]
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Conversations with Jeff Weinberger – A marketing strategist, problem solver, and disruptive thinker
PAKRA Games Thursday, December 22, 2011
As a marketing strategy innovator and sustainability visionary, Jeff’s career has been focused on identifying strategic opportunities and creating actionable outcomes for companies such as WebEx (Cisco), Saba, and SAP.MS> Jeff, Are you a gamer?JW> I’m not a gamer in today’s typical sense of electronic, console, or internet games, but I have always been interested in gaming. The games I’ve always gravitated toward are strategy games. I enjoy games that require a tremendous amount of thought and problem-solving, as well as a lot of complexity. I enjoy games where there is no specific set of steps you need to follow. Each time[…]
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Conversations with Darren Suomi – A sales and marketing innovator, Social Selling advocate, and outdoor enthusiast.
PAKRA Games Friday, December 16, 2011
As a sales and marketing innovator and Social Selling advocate at companies such as HootSuite and SAP AG, Darren is passionate about using social media to engage customers, manage the user experience, and drive user adoption of new technology.MS> Darren, are you a Gamer? What types of gaming do you enjoy?DS> I do like games. I’m extremely competitive. I’ll make a game out of the most mundane things. I’m not a gamer in the sense that I play video games till 3 AM with my friends, but I definitely like a good challenge.MS> Do you play application-based games like Angry Birds or Words[…]
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Leveraging Social Media Channels – Lessons Learned in 8 hours
PAKRA Games Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Sure, you’ve got a Social Media strategy. You’ve even got several channels under your Social Media strategy. But how well do you know the effectiveness of each channel? How long is it taking you to pilot, test, and determine the effective of each channel? What if you were able to determine the effectiveness of a marketing strategy before you invested significant time and effort? Every Social Media effort at PAKRA must have a defined purpose and measurable outcomes before it’s launched. This allows us to implement a program, measure, and adjust. With many strategies, it’s possible to collect data and[…]
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Conversations with Garry Schultz - a customer care visionary, author, and classical musician
PAKRA Games Friday, July 8, 2011
As a customer care visionary and past customer service leader for global organizations such as Sonic Solutions, Roxio, and RIM; Garry Schultz is passionate about delivering best in class service with a relentless focus on the customer.This interview with Garry is part of our series about learning, games, social media, crowd-sourcing, and work performance. RD> Are you a gamer? If yes, what are your favorite Games? GS> Rini, yes I go way back with computer games, from the very start with the command line games. You know - 'pick up gold', 'run fast', and literal typed commands. From there I[…]
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Conversations with Peter Delgrosso, SVP, Dun and Bradstreet Credibility Corp., golfer, active VOC listener
PAKRA Games Friday, May 27, 2011
As an innovator, avid golfer and SVP, Business Development of Dun and Bradstreet Credibility Corp., Peter Delgrosso proactively stays ahead of customer's needs by actively listening and diligently assessing the voice of customer channels. This interview with Peter is part of our series about learning, games, social media, user-adoption, crowd-sourcing, and work performance.RD> First, on behalf of the PAKRA team, we would like to thank you for taking the time to talk to us. Your company is a spin-off of the parent company D&B. What does the word “credibility” used in your company’s name mean to you?PD> We see credibility[…]
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Conversations with Mick Mancuso, a design instructor, video game enthusiast, avid reader, and skeptic.
PAKRA Games Monday, April 25, 2011
As Level Design Instructor at Southern Methodist University, video game enthusiast, avid reader, and skeptic, Mick applies his vast experience to teaching college students at one of the premier graduate video game education programs in the US – The Guildhall at SMU. Mick has been in the game industry since the late 80s and is passionate about theory and design of games, education, and the use of technology in today’s society.This interview with Mick is the thirteenth in our series about learning, games, social media, crowd-sourcing, and work performance.MS> How have you been? It’s been a long time since we’ve[…]
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Finally! A neurologist illustrates how video gaming can train the brain and enable learning
PAKRA Games Friday, April 15, 2011
We have been claiming that repeated game play helps to learn. Finally! the fMRI studies provide evidence. Judy Willis, a neurologist, provides an engaging and lucid evidence-based explanation of our conjecture on Edutopia's blog. Enjoy!
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Conversations with Anneke Seley, a Sales 2.0 and social selling thought leader, surfer, questioner of the status quo
PAKRA Games Thursday, March 24, 2011
As the thought leader of the Sales 2.0 and social selling methodology, a surfer, twelfth employee of Oracle and CEO and founder of Phone Works, Anneke Seley questions the status quo, promotes sales 2.0 best practices and social selling. Her team at Phone Works, improves the operations of sales organizations ranging from global multinationals to start-up organizations.This interview with Anneke is the twelfth in our series about learning, games, social media, crowd-sourcing, and work performance.RD> First, on behalf of the PAKRA team, we would like to thank you for being completely instrumental in us selling in the Sales vertical and[…]
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Conversations with Harlina Sodhi, SVP at Reliance Industries, a change catalyst and Learning visionary
PAKRA Games Wednesday, March 2, 2011
As recently appointed Senior Vice President of Learning and Organization Development for Reliance Industries, an ultimate Change Catalyst, and a believer of the “Tao of Cricket”, Harlina Sodhi is leading the effort to bring progressive and process driven, workforce training and development to Reliance Industries that is in line with company’s Strategic and Business Transformation goals.This interview with Harlina is the eleventh in our series about learning, games, social media, crowd-sourcing and work performance.RD> First, on behalf of the PAKRA team, we would like to thank you for being completely instrumental in implementing PAKRA system at your past employer -[…]
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Conversations with Kevin McLaughlin, inside sales leader, and business technology advocate
PAKRA Games Friday, February 11, 2011
As an Inside Sales Manager at NetApp, technology advocate, and sports enthusiast, Kevin is responsible for building and leading high performing sales teams. In this conversation, we discuss how Kevin enables and drives results in the B2B sales world through technology, motivation and social media. This interview with Kevin is the tenth in our series about learning, games, social media, crowd sourcing, and work performance. MS> Hi Kevin. My first question for you is, are you a gamer?KM> Not at all. I’m probably going to be very much in the minority here - but board games, video games - I[…]
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From UX Magazine: Interview with Harley Manning Vice President at Forrester Research about customer and user experience
PAKRA Games Wednesday, December 15, 2010
This interview was not done by us. But we think for our series Conversations, this interview by UX magazine is very relevant and important discussion. UX Magazine interviews Harley Manning Vice President, Customer Experience at Forrester Research at the Forrester Customer Experience ForumMaking User and Customer Experience a Business CompetencyThe only question we would ask Mr. Manning in addition to what UX magazine asked is "How to crowd source the user interface design?"Enjoy!
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Conversations with Marianne Curran, EVP of Go Daddy, discussing Social Media as a channel to provide Customer Care
PAKRA Games Friday, December 3, 2010
As Executive Vice President of Media & Communications for The Go Daddy Group Inc. , a Hawkeye, and a yoga enthusiast, Marianne Curran is responsible for the strategic expansion of Go Daddy’s communication efforts. She oversees Public Relations, Go Daddy Productions and Social Media. She also leads Go Daddy's Culture Team, which ensures that Go Daddy preserves its unique qualities and internal brand. This interview with Marianne is the ninth in our series about learning, games, social media, crowd-sourcing and work performance.RD> Are you a gamer?MC> I haven't been a 'gamer' since I was a teenager. Back in the day,[…]
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In the "Instant" world of "Push" Technology how long is 4 minutes?
PAKRA Games Thursday, December 2, 2010
Question: In the "Instant" world of "Push" Technology to upgrade web solutions, how long is 4 minutes to a user?The answer: Per minute delay in instant connect, increases the probability of losing a sale (a customer) or disengaging an employee by 5%. First, a disclaimer, our company blog is not a bully pulpit to bring personal gripes. This is a case study that I share in order to help us and our readers learn about critical thinking skills, crowd-sourcing, social media and customer service.We are a remarkable learning SaaS company. We consider ourselves small, but innovative and agile and have[…]
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Conversations with Jill Konrath, a sales thought-leader, author of best-selling books and avid Gamer -- Part III
PAKRA Games Friday, November 19, 2010
As an author of several best-selling books such as SNAP Selling (#1 Amazon sales books) and Selling to Big Companies (Amazon Top25 sales book since 2006) , founder of the Sales SheBang and a premier thought-leader for building high-performing sales teams, Jill Konrath brings passion and well-articulated wisdom daily to deliver results to her vast and diverse group of clients.… Continued from Part IIRD> Do you envision that salespeople have to be trained and coached differently to meet the needs of today's crazy-busy buyer?JK> Look at the current buyer: The amount of information they're exposed to daily through all their[…]
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Conversations with Jill Konrath, a sales thought-leader, author of best-selling books and avid Gamer -- Part II
PAKRA Games Friday, November 19, 2010
As an author of several best-selling books such as SNAP Selling (#1 Amazon sales books) and Selling to Big Companies (Amazon Top25 sales book since 2006) , founder of the Sales SheBang and a premier thought-leader for building high-performing sales teams, Jill Konrath brings passion and well-articulated wisdom daily to deliver results to her vast and diverse group of clients.… Continued from Part IRD> Your website and our website are probably the only ones that talk about critical-thinking skills for sales professionals. What is your definition of critical-thinking skills?JK> When I started doing sales, charisma and networking skills were considered[…]
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Conversations with Jill Konrath, a sales thought-leader, author of best-selling books and avid Gamer -- Part I
PAKRA Games Friday, November 19, 2010
As an author of several best-selling books such as SNAP Selling (#1 Amazon sales books) and Selling to Big Companies (Amazon Top25 sales book since 2006) , founder of the Sales SheBang and a premier thought-leader for building high-performing sales teams, Jill Konrath brings passion and well-articulated wisdom daily to deliver results to her vast and diverse group of clients.This interview with Jill is the seventh in our series about learning, games, social media, crowd-sourcing and work performance.RD> The first question for you, are you a gamer?JK> I am a gamer. My favourite games right now are word games. I[…]
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Conversations with Bill Forquer an entrepreneur, strategy consultant and a soap-box derby enthusiast -- Part II
PAKRA Games Thursday, November 18, 2010
As an entrepreneur, angel investor, executive leader, and soap-box derby enthusiast, Bill Forquer delivers strategic consulting using game-theoretic modeling that produces roadmaps for C-level executives on their best strategic moves that will preempt market changes and mitigate competitive responses. He is out there preaching the virtues of game theory every day.... Continued from Part I RD> Tell me more how these game theory models actually get used.BF> Through a series of surveys and workshops given to the executives and thought leaders of our client, we extract the three components required in a game model . First, is the “who” ─[…]
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Conversations with Bill Forquer, an entrepreneur, strategy consultant and a soap-box derby enthusiast -- Part I
PAKRA Games Thursday, November 18, 2010
As an entrepreneur, angel investor, executive leader, and soap-box derby enthusiast, Bill Forquer delivers strategic consulting using game-theoretic modeling that produces roadmaps for C-level executives on their best strategic moves that will preempt market changes and mitigate competitive responses. He is out there preaching the virtues of game theory every day.Prior to working at Priiva, Bill pioneered the “Enterprise Content Management” market beginning his career at Battelle Laboratories. At Battelle, he developed software catering to library and legal users which eventually spun off the company “Information Dimensions” which was then acquired by Open Text Corporation. At Open Text, he worked[…]
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Conversations with Maria Palazzi - a commercial animator, decoder of choreographic thinking, user of metaphors for communications, polymath
PAKRA Games Wednesday, October 13, 2010
As, a pioneer in commercial applications of computer animation, Maria Palazzi, the director of Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD) at The Ohio State University, shares her views on merging arts, humanities, design and technology to further understand creative and other thinking processes. Prior to her academic appointments, Maria was a senior animator and director for Cranston/Csuri Productions. Her work has been nominated for awards from Clio, and screened at ACM SIGGRAPH and international film festivals. She is an unrelenting champion for increasing participation of young women in computer animation.This interview with Maria is the fifth in[…]
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Conversations with TA McCann - a sailor, a CEO, a person "just interested"
PAKRA Games Thursday, September 9, 2010
As a serial entrepreneur, sailor and someone just interested in stuff, TA McCann CEO of Gist. Gist provides a next generation contact manager and social media hub delivering value to users as a crowd-sourced solutions to search, to learn and to communicate and to make valuable connections. Prior to starting Gist, TA founded “Jump2Go - providing innovative solutions for the radio industry, HelpShare - a web Q&A company, and Soft Labour, a web design and development consultancy” as well as running the Exchange business for Microsoft.This interview with TA is the fourth in our series about learning, games, social media,[…]
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Conversations with Ray Taylor - a Sales 2.0 manager, a biker, a digital native Part II
PAKRA Games Monday, August 9, 2010
As a Regional Sales Manager at Standard Register, Ray Taylor leverages Sales 2.0 tools and social media to give the best value proposition to his customers. He is a biker, a marathon runner, and a digital native. This conversation with Ray is the third in our series about learning, games, social media, crowd-sourcing, user-adoption and work performance. ... Continued from Part I RD> Do you see more of a training need for how to maximize the use of a tool, or is there more need for training where you say, here is a bag full of tools, and teach them[…]
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Conversations with Ray Taylor - A sales 2.0 manager, a biker and a Digital native Part I
PAKRA Games Monday, August 9, 2010
As a Regional Sales Manager at Standard Register, Ray Taylor leverages Sales 2.0 tools and social media to give the best value proposition to his customers. He is a biker, a marathon runner, and a digital native. This conversation with Ray is the third in our series about learning, games, social media, crowd-sourcing, user-adoption and work performance. RD> My first question for you is, what games are you playing now?RT> I am addicted to Angry Bird on my iPhone. RD> How do you learn?RT> I learn by first reading, then doing, and then teaching.RD> What do you see as key[…]
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Conversations with Nate Riggs - a disruptor and social media content engineer -- Part II
PAKRA Games Saturday, July 31, 2010
As a “social media content engineer” and business communications strategist, Nate Riggs of Social Business Strategies helps businesses determine their branding and marketing strategy using social media. In 2009, Nate was named a mentor in Len Kendal’s “Constructive Grumpiness” blog Top 30 under 30 Tweeters. Interview with Nate is the second in our series about learning, games, social media, crowd-sourcing and work performance.Part IIRD> So far, we discussed social media in the context of marketing. What does Sales 2.0 mean to you?NR> To me, Sales 2.0 is how-to use new tools and technology innovations to do something in a more[…]
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Here is Alvin Toffler on Education -- Retweet of post from Sir Ken Robinson
PAKRA Games Sunday, July 25, 2010
Alvin Toffler -- I read Future Shock -- Oh! Gosh! 25 years ago. I found the book immensely path-breaking but I did not like the neo-cons embracing his forecasts in the 1990s. Having said that, I like his idea about teaching kids "critical-thinking skills" as he says in this video with his wife in 2008 talking about the future of education: Alvin Toffler on Education It is definitely worth watching. This is a Retweet from Sir Ken Robinson.
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