Mailife : Paranoia

The theme for this month is paranoia.

Although it’s been evident all around us for the past 14 months, it’s really shifted into high gear during the past six weeks culminating in claims that phone calls are being tapped, emails are being read, faxes are being scanned and neighborhood animals are being interrogated. Actually, no one is claiming that last one as far as I know but one of the cats from next door definitely gave me a funny look this week then ran off in the direction of the local police post.

Digital Talanoa : Customer Service Part II

The Digital Talanoa published two weeks ago regarding lacklustre customer service appears to have hit some kind of nerve, spawning people to share their own stories of frustration, for which there were plenty.

One reader commented on a visit to a local movie theatre with her children. Prior to the start of the G-rated film, an adult horror movie trailer was shown, essentially leaving her no choice but to scramble to try and cover the eyes and ears of her kids. Not a great experience.

Another reader was purchasing items from a store that offered a “Buy 4 for $5” deal. She only found three items she wanted so asked if she could just pay $5 for the three. The staff at the retailer, however, were adamant that this was against the rules. They obviously had difficulty fathoming that honouring this request would be actually saving them money. Not a great experience.

Fiji Rugby - HK Sevens

Big weekend for rugby here.

Coming from the states, rugby has never been a huge deal for me. In fact, my memories of rugby are entirely defined by my college years where autumn-time games on cold Saturday or Sunday afternoons with kegs of beer along the sidelines were a weekend staple. Unfortunately, I have effectively no memory whatsoever of the actual games. I only remember the decadence on the sidelines.

The Hong Kong 7s (and 7s rugby, in general) is great fun to watch and culturally, I love seeing this country forget about all the other bullshit going on and just focus on their boys.

Head over to fijirugby.com and start up a discussion in the Talanoa. Go Fiji...

Fiji, Google, Tourism, Fail

As if there weren't enough challenges facing tourism operators in Fiji. I've found myself thinking about this a bit during the past few weeks. Check it out... A Google query for "fiji" results with the following:

Although it's good to see that the bulafiji.com link still presents itself at the top, the problems facing the country are a bit too evident further down the page. Fiji has obviously been in the news and those stories are high up in Google's results for the country. For someone contemplating a trip here, seeing search results referring to how Fiji needs to be "fixed" and how Fiji is "supporting Tibet's crackdown" and how groups are "lashing out" all communicate a general unrest (read: undesirable holiday destination).

 

Digital Talanoa : The Talanoa of Serving Customers

[Note to blog readers: This week's Digital Talanoa in the FijiTimes is very much an extension of my "When $1.60 costs $1,680" posting from a few weeks ago. Clearly, I have not gotten it out of my system and my need to have a few hundred thousand read this versus just a few thousand speaks for itself. Thanks for understanding.]

Let me apologise in advance for this week’s column. It appears to be coming from my dark side.

I was recently reminded of a dining experience I had about 15 years ago in New York City. I was with a friend who had been raving about a restaurant run by an old, black woman (affectionately named “Mama”) from Louisiana in the deep American south. The food she served was traditional, southern “cuisine” and my friend’s reviews were mouth-watering. So off we went to eat at Mama’s place.

Activity of the Week : Whack Your Boss

I love this and am posting here to share with my staff because I'm not the easiest person to work for, perhaps.
Better they get their stress out in this fashion. Besides, it loads faster on the network connection at the office requiring them to be there to fully enjoy it. Everybody wins. ;p

It did take me a while to find the 17th way of killing the boss but I finally did. Wanton, gruesome violence via Flash was never so much fun.

[Notice this blog post is listed in the "business" category.]

Digital Talanoa : e-lusive e-legislation

If we’ve ever needed a reminder of the challenges Fiji faces growing into digital communications, the past few weeks has been it. Email, the most widely used Internet application for people in Fiji (as well as the rest of the world) is, once again, in the news and also getting a bit of a bad rap.

There is clearly a misunderstanding some people have about email and more specifically, email security. Although I’m not intimately-versed on Fiji’s laws regarding the privacy around electronic communications, suffice to say it lags a bit behind some other countries around the world, if it exists at all. I don’t personally believe this is a sign that people in Fiji are dragging their feet either. The reality is that the number of people in the country using the Internet in their daily lives is still quite small. Although it may be increasing, I’ll still estimate that less than 10% of the population is connected. If this number is correct, then clearly there are other things our lawmakers might find more pressing. However, the impact of not having legislation in place is what appears to be painful right now and that’s what’s making a difference.

When $1.60 Costs $1,680

It's not safe to rant on the government now. I don't think it's safe to rant on the media either. The topic of customer service, however, stirs more emotion in me than the first two combined. In that spirit, it's rant time.

Today, I had a real "Fiji day". I don't know if people who are from Fiji actually experience "Fiji days" but I suspect they do, even though they may live through them without ever implementing a fancy designation like mine. To me, a "Fiji day" is a day where very little works as expected. Before anyone attacks me for being an inconsiderate and overacting foreigner, I need to clarify that "Fiji days" don't automatically represent a negative experience. On the contrary, some of my "Fiji days" signify the best times I've ever had in the country. In that light, a "Fiji day" is simply a day that could only happen here.

Unfortunately, today was one of those negative "Fiji days". Here's my story about one of the hours...

FijiMe.com : FVB stirs the pot

I was pleasantly surprised to see the UK office of the Fiji Visitors Bureau show some boldness with an advertising campaign pushing Fiji. The campaign shows an image of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown with a hibiscus flower behind the ear and was beamed onto numerous London landmarks. It was inevitable that controversy would come out of it given the recent political strain Fiji has been under from much of the world. The controversy, however, has nothing to do with the FVB and they would benefit from keeping the momentum going.

Digital Talanoa : Politics Goes Online

Henry Kissinger, an American diplomat and former Secretary of State under Richard Nixon said that “ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.” A fitting quote in today’s world regardless of where you happen to live.

I’ve always been a bit weary of politics myself and tend to vote only in American elections when I desire to see real change. I voted in 2004 but alas, George Bush remained in the White House. Even though Bush will relinquish his power from next year, I wish I could still vote him out again, if only for good measure. I’ve realised that pretty much every time I have voted, I seem to be voting AGAINST someone rather than FOR someone. I’m not certain that’s what the founders of American democracy had intended.