The RussCo Idea Buffet

Pay senators and house reps in US Treasury bills and bonds instead of cash.

My First Interview for my new Business Venture

Check out the interview I did on Blog Talk Radio with the Vibrant Coach.  There is about a 5 minute introduction then the interview begins.

Taking It Lightly: Getting Work Done Outside the Office at Your Convenience.

Iphone Scavenger Hunt

Create an Iphone app that uses some GPS and camera functions to do a live scavenger hunt in cities.

Follow all posted signs, placards & crewmember instructions, even those you can't read

It is hard to see from this picture, but if you look closely, there is a line there that says, "Please contact a USair Express crewmember if you are unable to read, speak or understand English..."  Now maybe its just me but I would think that the only people that need to read that sign can't read that sign.

Early flight

As a follow-up to that last post, counting the pilot, co-pilot, flight attendant and all the passengers there are exactly four people on my flight this morning. Yes after years of traveling I finally cashed in my frequent flyier miles for a private flight from Rochester, NY.

When you know you have a ridiculously early flight

Travel tip - Don't give your plane a black eye

This is the plane I am about to get on to Seattle. Apparently some bigger planes were picking on it at lunch today and gave it a black eye. So now the nice repair man is icing it's eye.

Good bye to a friend

After 6 years on the road an airline was finally able to damage you Mr. Samsonite. You have been a good friend you TSA approved roller board. You were lost on 3 different continents but always made   your way back home. While you will soon be reunited with Mrs. Lands End you will never be forgotten. You have been the best suitcase a nomad could ever ask for. Good bye my friend.

Travel Tip: Pick up airport arrivals in the departure area

At many airports, the arrivals and departures are on different levels or at different locations. Generally, the arrivals (where you would normally pick someone up) is very congested and has those annoying TSA workers making you keep driving even if you haven't picked anyone up. If you tell your arrival ahead of time that you will meet them at the departures, you can wait there as long as you need to. I have never seen a TSA worker tell people to keep moving at the departures.

Post Authored by Charles Marr

Travel Tip: Use your travels to show your brand all over the world

One of my colleagues used his travels all over the country to participate in a contest for his school showing the Fresno State name everywhere. Feel free to pass this along as well to help my man Healy win his contest, I promise you no one loves their university more than this guy, he is Fresno State.

Travel Tip: Take advantage of a different location's pricing structure

Today I am in Oklahoma City for a business trip and in between meetings I slipped into a spa near my hotel for a massage.  The particular place I went into was Massage Envy, which is a chain of spas.  After my massage I decided to get a membership which for $49 a month I get 1 massage a month at any of their locations in the US.  Now the trick is that that same membership in Charlotte is $59 a month and in more expensive places such as NYC, DC, etc it is even more.  But the rate you pay is based on where you join.  So on your next trip see if there are places you can take of a cheaper pricing structure.

Travel Tip: Save credit card cancel numbers in your phone

The last place you want to get your wallet, purse or briefcase stolen is while you are away on a business trip or vacation.  As someone who has had their rental car broken into while on a business trip I can assure you it is a royal pain.  To be ready I suggest saving a list of everything you have and where it is, in your phone's contacts or in your email.  Simply writing it down will do you no good if where you have that sheet of paper is stolen as well.  But if you hide it in your contacts or even your email somewhere you could go to any computer and access your email or contacts and quickly work through your list of credit cards, insurance cards & identifications.  If you do it in your contacts, put it in the notes section & make up a non obvious name, but be sure to add a telephone number in one of the fields so it appears to be a real contact.  Also, be sure to include whenever possible the number to call if you are out of the country.  
 

Welcome to the Idea Buffet

We at Russ & Company hope you will find our ideas at least entertaining and maybe even helpful.  We are calling it a buffet 1) because we like buffets 2) it was the best way to describe this random assortment of ideas.  Product, business, marketing, movement & entertaining ideas will appear in the main blog area as well as Ninja Travel Tips.  To the left you can view the Russ Recommends map of places all over the country to visit, see, eat, etc.  So welcome to the Buffet, grad yourself a plate and if you see something you like by all means take a double helping.  Bon Appetit. 

Russ

Travel Tip: Portable Shoe Horn

Since Johnston & Murphy has not been reading the Idea Buffet and installed shoe horns at TSA check points I have found an alternative. Pack a lite portable shoe horn like this one in your briefcase so you don't beat up your shoes after you get through security.

Travel Tip: Know how to work the system

So you can show up 47 minutes before your flight with all these bags and pay $0 to check all of them.

Travel Tip: Picking the Right Security Lane part 2

Around the country the TSA has started implementing this new self select security line as a way to herd passengers into different groups.  They are using the ski trail system with the green line for families/new travelers, blue for casual travelers & black diamond for expert travelers.  Each airport has it set-up a little differently with some having you go through one large line then sorting out into these three options or you choose one of these from the start. 

There is a trick though to choosing the correct lane.  As someone that flies roughly 100 times a year which lane do you think I pick?  8 out of 10 times I pick the family lane.  Why?  Because everyone thinks they are an expert traveler and that line is usually the longest.  You must actually look before you jump into this line just to make sure but I guarantee you many times it is the quickest lane.  And if the TSA asks you why you are in that line, just tell them you are new to traveling.  If you look at the sign for that lane it says it is for families, those with a lot of liquids and those new to traveling.

Where's Russ going to be April thru June?

Save Money by Buying Gift Cards Off eBay

The other day I realized that I needed some new clothes. Since times are tough for everyone and penny-pinching is in vogue now, I decided to see how I could get some great threads cheaply. I went on eBay and did a search for some of my favorite clothing retailers to see if they had any gift cards available. I just would search "[name of store] gift card". Whatever would come up, I would bid on (make sure to factor in the shipping charges). It is important to decide how much of a discount you want before bidding. I started out bidding up to 75% of value. For some retailers, that worked, but for others I had to go higher, up to 85%. When you start, make sure to bid based on percent saved, not on dollar amount saved. I have seen many auctions go for 90% of value where the person is saving $5-$10. That may be worth it to some, but not to me. If you have patience, you can get a great deal and save 25% on your purchases.

Post Authored by Charles Marr

Upgrade to eliminate checked bag fees

When I checked in for my flight to Miami this morning I had to pay $40 to check two bags. However after that I was asked if I wanted to upgrade for another $40. Guessing they are like most other airlines and waive bag fees for first class I decided to give it a shot. As soon as I did select the option to upgrade I was notified my checked bag fees were in fact waived.

Bratwurst shaped buns

Make buns in a curved shape similar to bratwusts so I can enjoy one without breaking the bun.

How to minimize the number of receipts you accumulate on a business trip

Starbucks - Instead of collecting a receipt for every cup of coffee you buy, purchase one gift card worth at least $50 and expense that card.

Rolls of quarters - Instead of getting a receipt for every toll booth, parking meter & vending machine purchase, expense a few rolls of quarters and only use them for business purposes.

Knocking out as much work as I can before heading to Denver to catch my flight to Orlando.

Playing with my new Ping.fm application to see how well it works in updating all my various accounts.

Word Cloud of my Monkey Business Wrapping post

Odd & Obscure Objects Website

The Idea: Create a merchant website that offers very random, odd & obscure items for purchase.  Instead of having to spend hours on ebay looking for weird things to give as gag gifts you can have a one stop shop for those things.

A Modest Proposal

I have an idea to make college football conferences better. I think that they should be slightly realigned to make them more geographicly consistent. That is, to have schools play schools that are close by. This would really increase some rivalries and make for overall good football. I also think the BCS conferences should be 12 teams with a championship game so that we don't have this crap we have with the Big-Ten and Ohio State not having to play anybody while the Big XII (and other conferences) takes each other out every year with a championship game. And don't even get me started on a playoff. Anyway, here is my idea.

iphone Business Card Scanner

The Idea: Integrate a scanner into the iphone screen.  This way you could then lay a business card on it and scan it.  Then with software the contact info on the business card can be imported into your address book.

Russ Recommends in Charlotte, NC

View Larger Map

The Pundit Cup Debates

The Idea: Host an Oxford Style debate series between all the pundits and talking heads that are on TV.  Have them debate a series of issues and have them judged by actual debate competition judges and also the audience to see who actually has something to say and who is full of it.  My dream match-up would be Stephen Colbert vs. Nancy Grace.

Travel Tip: So you made it to first class, does it matter which seat you get?

So by the grace of the travel gods you were upgraded to First Class for your trip.  Hallelujah!  So should you settle there or can you set yourself up even better?  Those that have had the luck to make it to first class a few times know that while they count their blessings, they hope and pray to not be in the last row of First Class.  And what does the last row in First Class get you that so bad?  Tuna Salad.  Most airlines only serve meals on first class and usually have two choices when they do serve you.  However they never have enough of both to serve everyone exactly what they want.  Therefore since they usually start taking orders in the first row by the time they get to you in the last row all they have left is the Tuna Salad, or whatever the worst sounding of the two choices is.   

Timeline Feature for Facebook

The Idea: A feature on Facebook that lets you make one of those nice, graphics heavy timelines for your life.  You could obviously put in their schools, jobs, trips, awards, marriages, kids, etc.

Fraternities revert to using their non-letter names

The Idea: Many organizations such as my own, Sigma Nu Fraternity actually have other names that they have gone by in their history.  For example one of the original names of Sigma Nu was actually, Legion of Honor. 

The Background: As there has been for so many years, a very distinct stereotype exists about greek letter organizations, namely fraternities and sororities.  So much so that I fear sometimes this stereotype becomes the brand itself to some groups and instead of trying to fight that image they actually try to live it.  So why not revert back to some of the names our groups had before they took on the greek letters.  While the letters do mean something, a phrase in Greek that is meaningful to our members, the name, Legion of Honor, I think speaks even clearer to what we are really about.     

Post office box keys double as letter openers

The Idea:  Design post office box keys so that they can also be used as a letter opener as well. 

The Background:  When I moved back out to Colorado since I am in a ski town there is not any residential mail delivery therefore I had to get a post office box.  So when I go to the post office now I often want to open at least a few of the items I have received.  However opening a letter with a key does not work as well as one of those smooth letter openers.  So I would love to see a key designed with a normal key design on one edge and a letter opener design on the other edge. 

Laptop SPA Kiosks in Airports

The Idea:  Create kiosks in airports to give your laptop the spa treatment.  Some of the menu of services that could be offered could be:

• compressed air to blow the dust out of the keyboard
• screen cleaning
• test all USB and other ports
• offer hard drive back-up service
• sell screen protector and privacy guards
• clean cell phones

Travel Tip: The airport security line formula

With the holidays approaching and many that will be traveling I thought I would share my formula for picking which metal detector/x-ray line to go through at the airport.  I have tested this formula on many trips and believe in its merits and I invite anyone to develop a better one if you can.

The formula is simple, you assign points for each person in line and then add/subtract from that points given for the TSA workers. 

Points for those in the line:

• -1 point - average business traveler
• 1 point - average male leisure traveler
• 2 points - average female leisure traveler (no I am not sexist, but with the liquid restrictions, I see it everyday where a female forgot she had lotion or hand sanitizer in her bag and gets called out)
• 3 points - any traveler over the age of 70, or any traveler that still thinks you must get to the airport 3 hours before a flight
• 4 points - every kid that is walking on their own
• 5 points - every kid in a stroller
• 10 points - Mr. T

Points for the TSA employee reading the x-ray machine:

• subtract 1 point - if they are talking to all the other TSA employees around them
• add 3 points - if they are squinting at the screen

To use the formula, you add the points for the different travelers and then add or subtract from that the points for the type of TSA employee reading the x-ray machine.  Then like golf, the line that has the lowest score is your winner.

To give an example.  In line A there are 1 average business traveler, 2 female leisure travelers, 2 kids that were not being carried and then the TSA employee was talking to other TSA employees. (-1+2+2+4+4-1=10) 

Then in line B there are 2 travelers over 70, 1 average male leisure traveler, 1 kid in a stroller and the TSA person is squinting at the screen. (3+3+1+5+3=15)

Thus you will want to choose line A.

Travel Tip: Use frequent flyer challenge programs to beef your status in a bad economy

Many airline's frequent flier programs offer challenge programs that let you try to hit a certain amount of miles in a short amount of time to reach elite levels faster.  For example, earlier this year I participated in US Airways challenge program to try and go from Gold status to Platinum mid year.  It takes 90 legs in a year to get to Platinum status but I did it while only having around 30 at the time.  The terms of their challenge program were that I had to fly 30 legs in 3 months.  So I waited till I had a 3 month window when I would be on the road a ton and went for it and made it.  That put me at Platinum status for the rest of the year even though at that point I only had 60 legs for the year, 30 short of actual Platinum status.

If you had ever considered doing this, now is the time.  I can tell you first hand that with the economy doing what it is, many of businesses have cut their travel budgets.  This means less people are traveling and less people are buying expensive business & first class tickets.  How does that affect you?  Well if your airline does automatic upgrades if there are open seats, this means the higher you are, the more you will get upgraded.  So if you can do a challenge program, by all means jump on it, you will be one step ahead of everyone else hoping to get upgraded.  

Slotted Croutons

The Idea:  Make croutons for salads with a small slot in them just big enough that your fork can pass through it and pierce the lettuce beneath it.  Thus the crouton remains intact and on top of the lettuce.

I love croutons but hate how they get broken up into tiny pieces when you try to pick them up with your fork after you have some lettuce on your fork.  So instead, why not create a crouton with a slot that allows it to remain on top of the lettuce and now will not need to be crushed when you want to pick it up with your fork.

Refunds on campaign donations for politicians that commit crimes

The Idea:  Write into the laws regarding campaign finance that if a politician ever commits a crime that they have to payback every donor that contributed to their most recent campaign.  Realizing this could likely take years as they raise quite a bit of money, if they can't pay it all back at once their salaries should be garnished till they pay every one back. 

The Possibilities:  A few other rules that could serve as corollaries to the above are to pay every politician the average salary of the citizens of the area that they represent.  This would give them a big incentive to work hard to raise the standard of living.  Also in cities you could require the mayor live in the poorest or most violent neighborhood.  Again this would give them more incentive to address those problems head on. 

Type Writer Printer

The Idea:  Create a printer that is actually much like an old school typewriter.  This way when you type a letter it will not only have that classic typewriter font but will actually have the impressions of the letters from being stamped. 

The Background:  When looking in the archives at my office or when visiting Presidential libraries and you see some of these old letters created on a typewriter it just gives a certain genuine feel. 

Add windmills to cell towers

The Idea:  Instead of trying to hide cell phone towers by trying to make them look like trees, why not put a wind turbine on there to capture some wind energy which at the very least could be enough to power the tower if not put more energy in the grid.

What if your ad or branding messasge was in another language?

The Observation:  After going to France for a few weeks for a vacation and being thrown into a culture that speaks a different language I started thinking that a good test for any marketing or branding message (ad, commercial, etc.) would be to think if that message was shown in a country that does not speak your language would they still get the message?  Would they know what the focus of the message was, what you were trying to communicate about the focus, and what message you wanted to leave them with. 

Sand Paper Sandals

The Idea:  Make sandals with the top of them (the side where you foot touches the surface) made out of sandpaper or similar coarse surface.  I believe this would obviously help with the grip between the foot and the sandal.  It could also possibly exfoliate your foot while wearing it as well.

Frequent Flyers in Safety Video

The Idea:  Airlines could redo their safety videos each year and as a reward for the top frequent flyers or given out lottery style among all the frequent flyers, they could use those people in the video. 

Send Power Point Slides before conference

I just returned from a conference and after sitting through several painful sessions I came up with this idea.  I wish for every conference you go to that before you arrive, they send out a link to a site that has the Power Point slides for every presentation/break out session/etc.   Every presenter at these things can make their topic sound good in the paragraph that is given to them in the program, but they are often misleading.  However by seeing their slides you can get a much better idea of exactly what it is that they will be presenting.  Plus you may get a clue as to what type of presenter they are and if it will be good. 

Monkey Business Gift Wrapping Kiosk

The Idea:  They have trained gorillas and monkeys sign language, how to act, and sent one to outer space.  So why not train a couple of them to wrap presents.  Likely you could train them to wrap one specific size and then train different ones on different sizes packages.  You would just have to put the item to be wrapped in the specific size box, then let the monkey go to town.  To finish it off, the monkey could then slap a sticker on the top that says "wrapped by monkeys". 

I Love my (insert dog mascot here) stickers

The Idea:  As a play on those stickers you see on cars all this time now for pure breed dogs, make a whole line of them and just insert the mascot for a College or University.  For example take JMU where I went to school, you could make several variations on, I LOVE my DUKE DOG.  

 

City Wide Scavenger Hunt through You Tube

The Idea:  Create a city wide scavenger hunt open to anyone.  Kick it off with a video from the final destination with the final prize.  The hunt could be organized so that it lasts a few weeks with a new video debuting every week to pace it out or once it is started it runs till someone gets the final prize.

The Possibilities:  Are literally endless.  You could make this a big marketing tool.  You could franchise it out city by city or even make it nation wide.  Everyone wants to be an Indiana Jones and go on a treasure hunt.

You Tube Movie Studio

The Idea: Create a movie studio of sorts just to make You Tube movies.   The goal would be to make viral videos that would catch on like a wild fire online.  Advertising could be sold on each video either through product placement, banner ads, etc.  You could bill the client one penny for every click the video gets on You Tube in stead of them having to pay a flat rate on TV.

Use a rank/degree system to guide development of members for life

The Idea:  Most fraternities, including my own, Sigma Nu proclaim that membership is for life.  However after graduation there is very little to do as a member, unless you work with a local undergraduate chapter.  To organize and guide the alumni's development process after college, we could develop a degree/rank system similar to what the Freemason's use.  I believe there are 32 different degrees or levels of Freemasonry that can literally take a lifetime to achieve them all.  We could create a similar setup based on volunteer/mentorship with undergraduates, further study of the history/ritual of the organization, donations made (time & money), positions within the different alumni organizations, etc. 

The Possibilities:  Some of the different martial arts systems use coloured belts to signify levels of accomplishment.  The colours are not random but symbolic of where the student is in their development.  For example the 2nd belt is the orange belt.  The color orange       signifies the changes of Autumn, as the student's mind and body begin to       develop and grow as a result of their training.  Then the progression of belts leads to the black belt.  The black often signifying that they now are entering the unknown world of the art and it is now their job to advance and explore new parts of the system.  The point is that after a certain level with any degree system a fraternity may use, it could signify that they are no longer just accomplishing goals but also responsible for advancing the fraternity overall. 

Also when electing the alumni leaders of the whole fraternity on a national level, a certain degree level could be a possible prerequisite. 

Online lectures by successful alumni

The Idea:  A fraternity or university alumni association could leverage some of their successful alumni by asking them to give a lecture via Microsoft Live Meeting, GoTo Meeting, or similar tool.

The Possibilities:  The range of ideas could be massive, from business to government to sports.  The alumni giving the lectures would be happy to be asked to give something other than their money.  The alumni groups organizing these could require that you must be a donor to attend the meeting and use that as a way to get more people giving.