Business Case for Chicago Manual of Style Online

I use the Chicago Manual of Style as my primary and de facto style guide when writing.  I paid about $45 plus shipping for this book on Amazon.  It costs $100 to pick up a copy here in Australia.  The online version is $35 as an annual subscription.

As I continue to improve my authoring work flows, I am using more and more cloud-based systems and apps which are now licensed on a subscription basis.  I made a major foray into subscribing to the Adobe Creative Cloud and have been very happy with the results.  I get access to 20 major applications, including the big four in the Adobe line-up of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Dreamweaver.  These apps are being constantly updated and would have cost several thousand dollars to buy.  Additonally, I would have to occasionally substantially pay for upgrades.  I am paying $49 per month which was far easier than finding several thousand dollars  and worrying about future upgrade costs.

But the Chicago Manual of Style only cost me $57 (including shipping) and seldom changes (even though it is constantly adding content, especially for sourcing and providing citation of online and alternative material) .  My initial reaction was why would I pay $35 per year and $350 over ten years when I can get the same content for $57 over that period of time.  I was not looking at the business case properly though.  I was only looking at the buy versus lease costs and making the wrong decision.

I love serendipitously sitting down with my Chicago Manual of Style book to browse and learn and do that occasionally and with enjoyment.  During the last month, I have been heavily copyediting my current writing project, a book on wine.  This has been a serious effort.  I have outlined at least a dozen mechanical copyediting phases, plus have frequent question on how to handling particular editing issues.  Relying on my physical copy of the Chicago Manual of Style, I could usually find my answer within several minutes.  But I needed to have a good idea where to look in the first place.  And after doing this several hundred times, I recognized the many hours I was burning by researching from the physical book.

Since Chicago Manual of Style Online provides a 30-day free trial and I was into heavy copyediting, I signed up for the free trial.  Within minutes, I knew I would subscribe annually and pay my $35 year after year.  As an example, I used the online version to check the proper use of 'de facto' in the first sentence of this blog.  Was it 'defacto,' 'de-facto,' or 'de facto?'  Within seconds I had my answer.  Similarly for 'copyediting' versus 'copy editing' or 'copy-editing.'

The online version provides a hyperlinked Table of Contents to immediately go to the section you want instead of flipping through pages in the physical book.  It also has a search capability in which I can enter different phrases to find what I need if my first phrase does not yield results.

Overall, I expect I am saving several hours a month using the online version.  If I price my time at $50 per hour, then I am saving at least $100 per month.  Not a bad return for spending $3 per month.  That is the proper way to build the business case.  Subscribing to the online version is an obvious decision when reviewed properly.  My authoring workflow has improved in that I now spend only seconds researching an editing issue and can correct it up-front while I write.  Previously, I was parking these issues into a special Scrivener Binder or Evernote as dealing with them distracted from and slowed the writing process.  Now my copyediting phases are much shorter in duration and my draft copies of higher quality which is important if you are sending drafts to potential agents or publishers.

Use the right approach to building your business case and, if you are a writer, use the Chicago Manual of Style Online - you will not regret it.


Steve Shipley
SAZ in the Cellar Facebook page
Twitter: @shipleyaust
My wine blog SAZ in the Cellar
Still Stupid at Sixty (published under my writing pseudonym Blake Stevens)
Steve Shipley Pinterest Boards

My journey to the Adobe Creative Cloud for design and publishing

I have become fascinated by the technology to support writing and publishing.  My first book Still Stupid at Sixty (published under the pseudonym Blake Stevens) was written in Microsoft Word and converted into Amazon Kindle format using Calibre.  That is how easy it is to self-publish these days.  Anyone who can type claims they are an author these days, including me!

But my current book Wine Sense is a different matter.  It will be published electronically and as a physically printed book.  It is almost twice the size at 125,000 words or the equivalent of roughly 350 pages based on format.  It will contain almost forty photographs, multicolored tables, and a couple of QR Codes to link to videos.  I researched over twenty other wine books and multiple research papers, therefore requiring numerous citations for the original source.  The total effort involved is estimated to be ten times what was required for my first book.

I started to use a cloud-based approach in order to work more appropriately across multiple platforms.  The apps used included Dropbox and Evernote on my laptop, iPad, and iPhone, along with some ongoing collaboration with my wife's desktop computer.  It also included converting from using a word processor to using a real writing management system called Scrivener which tripled my productivity for addressing a more complex project such as Wine Sense.  And I learned some basic HTML and CSS to have more direct control over the final formatting of the book in electronic format so it would work properly across multiple devices and eReaders..

It is still my intent to still involve a support team, especially a graphic designer.  While I am somewhat innovative and creative when it comes to systems and technical problem solving, I lack creative visual design skills.  However, the more and more I worked to develop and optimize an integrated writing and publishing workflow, the more I fell in love with computers and technology again.  I wanted the ability to work collaboratively with my graphic designer and editor in an interactive and back-and-forth manner without having to pay designer for multiple changes in final layout.  Nor did I want to pay heavily for small tweaks to a basic layout design when I could do that myself.

Therefore I started to study and become more intrigued with some of the freeware tools to manipulate photos and other images.  My initial reaction is that the Adobe products were too high-end and too expensive.  I felt I had neither the budget nor the capabilities or experience to utilize these products.  But then I found out about Adobe Creative Cloud which includes Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver and about twenty other products for publishing and it was all for $49 per month if I signed up for one year.  I took two months reviewing strategies, continuing to optimize my writing workflows, and thinking about the commitment of time required.  Ultimately, I felt the $600 or so I would spend per year was well worth it in terms of what I would save by reducing the charges from graphic designers  and much more in the time it was taking fiddling around with integrating and trying to get precisely what I wanted from the freeware apps available.

So I have committed to the Adobe Creative Cloud.  Be aware that these products are extremely high end and have a very steep learning curve.  The products have matured over 25 years and they have thousands of features and thousands of different ways for doing things.  Some of the keyboard shortcuts require the use of three different keys and a mouse click!  These apps require some serious investment in time to become proficient.  I have read books, viewed online videos by Adobe, and tried to play around with the apps myself.  What is really getting me up to speed though is the tutorials I am taking with Lynda.com.  This is a great training site to provide training in many different areas including outstanding training courses and videos for the Adobe Creative Cloud product suite.

While the tools take some getting used to, they provide amazing capabilities to do exactly what you want.  It takes years to become a professional in just one of them and I am trying to come up to speed on four of them quickly.  But I am certain the savings in time and money for my current book and many books in the future is worth it.  While this approach works for me, I understand it may not work for everyone.  But if you need to have high-end design and want control over what you are doing, then the Adobe Creative Cloud is worth considering.  And if you want to learn the Adobe apps as quickly as possible, I would recommend signing up for Lynda.com.


Steve Shipley
SAZ in the Cellar Facebook page
Twitter: @shipleyaust
My wine blog SAZ in the Cellar
Steve Shipley Pinterest Boards

Scrivener and Evernote - a perfect pair

Several weeks ago, I wrote a post on how Scrivener has more than tripled my writing productivity.  I continue to optimize my writing workflow daily as I become more comfortable with Scrivener.  While most of my writing productivity gains are from Scrivener, they also come from the integration of several other tools, such as iThoughtsHD for mind mapping a new book outline (and key points / notes) on my iPad.  I then export the mind map in OPML format to Dropbox to sync with my laptop for importation as OPML into Scrivener.  It works beautifully!

I also use Scrivener Compile to ePub, then use an ePub editor Sigil to make final HTML formatting changes for a very few things the way I like it beyond what I been able to figure out in Scrivener.

But outside of Scrivener itself, it is Evernote used in conjunction with Scrivener that provides the biggest productivity improvement.  For my current non-fiction book, Wine Sense, I researched over twenty different books on wine, including both physically printed books, and books in Kindle mobi format.  I also used some PDF files in my research.  Previously, I was tagging my physical books with Post-it stickers and highlighting my Kindle books and then reviewing my notes on the Amazon Cloud.  My notes (and my thoughts) were all over the place.  Plus I would have to put in significant effort to source and provide accurate citation for quotes and direct references to others work.  This on its own was going to be a tremendous effort.  I frankly was getting to the point of wondering if it would be possible to finish the book .  And I still had about eight of my most complex books to research!

Taking notes in Evernote on iPad

So I starting using Evernote and created a Note called 'Wine book to-dos' to capture everything I was doing outside of just writing in Scrivener.  It also let me 'tag' and source immediately upon reading any note I thought I may reference later.  Once synced with my laptop, I enter Evernote on the laptop and cut and paste all my notes into a work Binder in Scrivener.

Notes on iPad Evernote now sync'ed to laptop Evernote

These notes can have anything to do with my research or just be random thoughts (such as "Should I use the word 'mouthfeel' or two words 'mouth feel' in the book?") which may be added to my general editing to-do Binder.  Therefore, whenever copying in my notes, I always first copy the notes into a Scrivener Binder entitled 'Evernote In-Box To-Dos.'

Notes from Evernote copied into 'Evernote In-Box To-Dos' Binder in Scrivener

Once I copied the notes from Evernote into my Scrivener 'Evernote In-Box To-Dos' Binder, I then delete the notes from Evernote on laptop (which then syncs and deletes them from my 'Wine book to-do' note on the iPad also.  Then I start the process again as needed.

One of the great things about Scrivener is the ability to establish non-manuscript Binders and I have a Folder of 'To-Dos' including To-Do Binders for a wide variety of things required to turn my writing into a finished work.  Instead of accumulating (or worse, forgetting) these tasks, they are now integrated into my workflow in an organized manner.  Therefore, I am managing my work and doing it in the most efficient manner possible.  And one of these Binders is the one I created for Evernote as described above.

Then from my 'Evernote In-Box To-Dos' Binder, I copy out specific notes as required into the Chapters (represented as separate Binders in Scrivener), to be dealt with when I was either initially structuring, writing, or substantiating (by validating or reinforcing the content of my writing with specific points).  In this case, the note encircled in red is copied into Chapter 7: Wine and Smell (as are most of the notes in this collection of Evernote notes are).  I parse out the notes based on their intended use.  Since I was reading about wine and smell, in this case most of the notes are being copied into my Notes associated with Chapter 7: Wine and Smell.

Original Notes on Wine and Smell now in Notes for Chapter 7 to be dealt with when rewriting later

Therefore, from the very first time I research a topic, I am able to trace the concept into where it should reside in the book with proper sourcing and citation (to be able to easily build the Bibliography and Footnotes).  Using this process, I was comfortable that I had researched and had the content I required to address the topic of my book and that I would be properly sourcing my material. This was done in one integrated workflow, instead of previously having multiple, non-linked workflows that I was always trying to keep consistent.

I had to cut and paste between Evernote and Scrivener, but this was very easy to do.  My next step in optimizing this work flow will be to write a script using specific Evernote Note name ('Wine book to-dos' in this case) and Scrivener Binder name ('Evernote In-Box To-Dos' in this case) to export the Evernote note as a .rtf file and then open my Scrivener Project and import the .rtf file into the Binder defined.  But this process is so easy to do manually, that I do not have a great deal of incentive to write the script!

I know a number of authors who love using Evernote and Scrivener together.  You may have thought about using Evernote with Scrivener, but uncertain about how it would work.  If that is the case, then hopefully this post has helped show you one method of using the two apps together for improving your writing work flow.  The only think I love more than Scrivener is using Scrivener with Evernote!

Steve Shipley
SAZ in the Cellar Facebook page
Twitter: @shipleyaust
My wine blog SAZ in the Cellar
Steve Shipley Pinterest Boards

Writing code helps writing words

Early in my career, the only writing I did was code.  I was an IBM mainframe and early IBM PC coder, mostly in Assembler and COBOL.  I also wrote IBM PC BIOS routines and screen drivers for Louts 123.  And I was good at it.  At the time, I could not write a lick of English.  I learned to write the hard way, as an adult and as a necessity for my job and my career.

I was truly fortunate to have some mentors who appreciated the technical skills I could bring to consulting and helping clients and they took the time to teach me to write and present.  I learned a great deal from following the Barbara Minto style of pyramid writing which is fundamental to consultants who worked at McKinsey and Booz among others.

I lost touch with my technical roots though, as I started managing technology more.  I taught others how to deliver technology, extract value from technology, and I sold technology solutions.  But it has been some 25 years since I did hard-core coding.  I am getting back into that now and (1) loving it, and (2) learning that it helps with my 'word writing.'  Coding is just another language with grammar rules, structure, etc.  But it is far more precise - no slang, no alliteration, and no mistakes allowed!  But as with writing a story or a non-fiction book, you do require an outline and a structure, and you do need to develop the plot and scenes and characters.  They just take the form of procedures and subroutines and definitions of style.  And you need to have a good eye for copy-editing.  It has renewed my push for perfection when writing words, and provided some discipline to my writing process.

I got back into coding about three months ago.  Originally it was so I could tweak some simple HTML statements to modify ePUB files to enhance simple formatting issues in the final text and to provide hyperlinks that were not provided within the Windows platform of Scrivener (even though they are available on the Mac version).  Then I started to play around with Wordpress and blog posts by switching from the Visual Mode for writing blog posts the the Text Mode (where you are presented the blog in HTML format.  Again, it was to start to get a bit more control over the final editing and formatting.

But the big breakthrough for me came when I realized that by taking more control at the HTML level at the end of the formatting and publishing cycle, that I could continue to do revisions without having to pay for 'professionals' to finalize things for me and then pay them again when I made changes later.  I will still use professional graphic designers for the final output, but I will be much closer to completion when I turn things over.  It has also allowed me to create templates and experiment with templates to continue to improve the quality of output and the manner in which I work and then use that at the beginning of the writing cycle without having to worry about what it will technically look like at the end.

However, I was not expecting that it would improve my word writing discipline and process as much as it has.  I started with the technology to improve the writing process and it certainly has accomplished that.  But it has also improved my writing and my approach to writing.  There is not that much difference, no more than there is between writing erotic fiction, historical fiction or non-fiction:  Coding is just another genre of writing!

It may not work for everyone, and in fact, may be a large distraction from actual writing for many.  I benefited from having been an accomplished coder earlier in life.  But I know a few other authors who are getting into their coding and I expect they will be better writers because of it.


Steve Shipley
SAZ in the Cellar Facebook page
Twitter: @shipleyaust
My wine blog SAZ in the Cellar
Steve Shipley Pinterest Boards

Tripling my writing productivity with Scrivener

First of all, I would not have believe it had you told me prior to using Scrivener that it would be possible to triple my productivity as a writer.  But I am certain that my productivity has increased that much or more.  In addition to Scrivener, I have been using several other tools such as Evernote and Dropbox which have helped also.  But Scrivener on its own is the heart of my writing management workflow now and is the primary reason my productivity has increased so much.

I describe my previous writing process in a blog I wrote recently.  To summarize, I was using Microsoft Word for writing and had a few different to-do lists of activities to finalize the efforts and get ready for publishing.  But my current WIP is much more complex and it is was clear that using Word and a few to-do lists was going to be extremely onerous in terms of bringing this effort to readiness for publication, yet alone to do so with high quality.  Read my previous blog to understand the research I did and why I choose Scrivener.

But where did the productivity from Scrivener emanate from?  How is it possible to see a three- or four-fold improvement?  The productivity gains came from the following areas:

• Scrivener is not just an editor and word processing system, but also a project management system and publishing system
• Scrivener has 'binders' which the manuscript comprises (divided into Parts, Chapters, and Sections as you see fit), but the binders can also be used for non-manuscript tasks (under a section called 'Notes' which means they are not to be included in final publication), for use such as research, to-do folders, links to editing and grammar tools, etc.  This greatly integrated into one file all aspects of the writing process, including content, tasks, links, etc.
• I have multiple Notes binders to keep status of and links to research folders, URLs, etc. so within one window, I can work and swap between all the elements of the writing process
• Each binder has a separate window for notes, comments, thoughts, etc. and there is an overall one at the writing project level (you can toggle between the project and the individual binder [usually a Chapter] sections)
• I can annotate comments, endnotes, footnotes, etc. as I am writing to later build a Bibliography and respective citations which is integrated into my writing and not an onerous task to do later 
• The same is true for my use of photos and 'Fun Fact' insets.  These would be major undertakings later in the process, but now they are integrated into the writing process and a by-product of my writing
• Scrivener provides multiple split windows to keep two different parts of the manuscript on the screen for cross-referencing and being able to cross-check linked sections.  This has saved me a tremendous amount of scrolling back and forth in Word when comparing related sections and ensuring I have placed the content in the appropriate section
• Each binder maintains meta-data used for status, binder type, etc. which helps you understand where you are and to manage the writing process
• I use Evernote and my iPad to take notes, regardless if I am highlighting research in a Kindle book or using post-it notes with a printed book to capture the citation when it is first identified.  These notes then are synched (I do a manual cut and paste) from Evernote into a general binder into Scrivener and then into the individual chapters and section of the book to help me complete my writing or re-writing
• I use Dropbox and Evernote to provide PDF files and other research to study on my iPad and then create notes into Evernote to be loaded back into Scrivener
• Scrivener has sophisticated 'Compile' options to many different formats including ePub, Kindle, RTF, PDF, etc. which can then be tested immediately (using Kindle Previewer) for formatting issues and your final publication can be debugged early on in terms of technical formatting issues

The previous individual tasks and lengthy processes of writing, re-writing, photography, citation, editing, and publishing are integrated into a single workflow which saves a great deal of time.  I have also integrated mind mapping with Scrivener which has worked great, but that is a topic for another blog.  Scrivener supported by Evernote has been a 'close to perfect' set of tools for a significantly improved writing workflow.  It matches perfectly the way I like to work, fits my sense of order and integrates writing with project management to ensure you get the job of writing completed expeditiously.

Without Scrivener, I would probably have to spend another eight to ten months to finish off my current effort for my book, Wine Sense.  As it is now though, I have hopes to finish it by the end of this year.  And if you want to follow the progress on the book and also win a bottle of wine, please follow me on SAZ in the Cellar, either on Facebook or at my wine blog and website!

© 2013 Steve Shipley.

Steve Shipley
SAZ in the Cellar Facebook page
Twitter: @shipleyaust
My wine blog SAZ in the Cellar
Steve Shipley Pinterest Boards

Living in the cloud

As children, most of dreamed of living in the clouds and being able to look down at others to see what they were doing.  Well, that has taken on quite a different meaning today with cloud computing.  I am assuming that anyone who is reading this has a basic definition of what cloud computing is.  In simplest terms, it is computing power to be consumed without really knowing or caring where it comes from.  I am writing this blog on the Google cloud or 'blogosphere.'  I do not have a copy of this blog on my laptop anywhere nor do I care where the contents resides.

That does not sound safe, does it?  What happens if the cloud goes away?  Or if the cloud owners deny me access?  How do I know that someone who works for the cloud company is not viewing or even stealing my ideas or data?  After all, didn't that just happen with that Snowden fellow in a big way?

But more and more I am using the cloud and using the cloud much more effectively.  For my day job, I work for one of the largest and most successful cloud companies there is - EMC.  Our livelihood is dependent on your data being safe and secure.  We also know there are tremendous benefits in cloud computing for large corporations and for individuals.

I am an individual who likes to be in control.  I want to manage my own fate and have control over how things function.  On a personal level, I have been a late arriving user of cloud computing, but that is changing rapidly.  I was getting tired of carrying around a laptop everywhere I go to have my data on hand with me.  Even then, not all of my data is with me as I have a lot stored on our NAS.  While much of the NAS is backed-up copies or archived information, but I occasionally require access to it and I never know when or how often that occurs.  But it has several times in the last few years, and I have had to do without.

But cloud computing removes my data from any given device such as my laptop and makes it accessible wherever I can tap into a computing device, be it my smart phone or my tablet, or another laptop or desktop computer somewhere.  Therefore, the first big benefit of cloud computing is that I can get access to my data, anywhere and at any time as long as I have mobile access.  (I am never without mobile access!)  I can then share my data across a multitude of platforms and with other individuals.

I have over 1,000 electronic books and can share them across my phone, my tablet and my eBook reader as required, and the point I left off and any highlighting or marginalia is synchronized when I leave one device and go to another.  I also started using Evernote to clip websites, email, pictures and other useful things for which I wanted a record.  I used to use Notepad to write to-dos, ideas, and record other information, but have now found Evernote to be so much better.  I can brainstorm and mind map one of my writing projects on my tablet and then send it to myself (to be loaded into my authoring management system) or another person.  I also use it to collaborate and share information on writing projects with other people.

More and more of my applications are used 'in the cloud.'  By choosing the right applications and establishing the proper workflow, I have increased my writing productivity by 300% - 400%.  That is a significant improvement!  By using cloud computing, I have achieved the following benefits:

• 300% - 400% increase in productivity in many areas
• Much better end-to-end workflows without losing train of thought
• Virtually no capital outlay or expenditure
• Significantly reduced need to carry data and computing power around with me, and be able to use the simplest of devices to get most things accomplished
• Ability to collaborate and share workloads with others in controlled manner
• Ability to retrieve things even if I forgot to bring them along
• Significant reduction on physical notepads, post-it notes, and hand-scratched to-do lists

And what about the issue of backing things up and making sure I have access to them?  For really critical things like my 150 wine blog posts, I regularly export them and store a copy on my local NAS (or even a USB stick now that they store so much!)  Or I back up and synchronize between clouds.  I have free access to 120 GBs of Cloud data across four cloud environments, which is far, far more than I require.  Therefore, if I truly was concerned about the risk of not having access to my one of my clouds, I could retrieve the information from another one.  And things are so easy now that I set up my own self-hosted website and built the website in several hours, having moved 150 wine blog posts from Blogger to Wordpress.  

More and more I am living in the clouds!  And really enjoying it and benefiting from it.  You should consider the same if you have not already.  And if that Snowden guy really wants to see what my wife and I have on our joint shopping list, accessible by all of our devices, then he can have at it!


Steve Shipley
Twitter: @shipleyaust
My wine blog:  SAZ in the Cellar
My Blake Stevens blog: From Blake's Bookshelf
Still Stupid at Sixty in Amazon Kindle Store

Service providers should understand client requirements, right?

I take great care in providing services to clients and do my best to serve them according to their needs.  I have a hierarchy I always try to follow when serving clients:

• Client first
• My company second
• Me third

I remember winning a very large consulting / project management engagement a little while ago.  While we put in a lot of preparation, careful thought as to clients needs, and effort, I was surprised that my presentation to the CEO only took twelve minutes and consisted of him asking and me answering about six questions at which point he told me we had won and to finalize contracts.  About a month after starting the engagement and in my first 1-1 status review with him, he mentioned how easy it was for him to select me and my firm.  He was the first one who told me of the hierarchy mentioned above and that I followed it while my competitor (and the Partner at the other firm) was clearly thinking in the reverse order.  I was really impressed that the CEO picked up on that and am thankful for him being able to articulate that to me.  It was a great lesson learned.

A friend of mine is drinking a 2003 Kilikanoon Oracle Shiraz today and it reminded me of  a time when a  service provider did not put in even the minimal effort to determine their clients needs and they became a laughing stock.  More importantly, they precluded themselves from doing business with a number of important executives who would be using similar services repeatedly in the future.  I expect they are no longer in business today, but would not know as I have never reached out to engage them again!

I was working for SAP, one of the worlds most renown IT companies, and the time was 2007.  SIBOS, the worlds largest Banking Payment conference was being held in Sydney that year.  SAP was a major sponsor for the event, and we spent a great deal of money, promoting our products, creating thought leadership, and spending time with analysts, the press and our customers, along with a budget for client entertainment.

We had organized an evening boat trip on the Sydney Harbor which is always a great time, and we were fortunate that evening to be blessed with great weather, especially since it was early September.  We invited 100 guests, had a band and speakers, a great buffet dinner, and also organized a wine tasting where the price per head for the tasting had been settled on, and the rest left to the wine tasting company to arrange.  Unfortunately, I was not involved in that particular aspect of it as I had much other client facing and public relations activity I needed to be involved in.  More unfortunately, our event coordinator also was not aware or involved and left everything on trust to the service provider to take care of the details.

The wine tasting company made a big deal about keeping secret what wines we would be tasting that evening which built anticipation, but was unfortunate in that they made two very large gaffes.  They made a big deal about us comparing two superb and iconic Australian wines.  We had an international audience that evening, so that seemed to be a good start to the tasting and would be a treat for the participants, especially my colleagues from overseas.

The first gaffe was to select the just released vintage of the Penfolds Grange which was only five years old when released.  I cannot possibly phantom why anyone in the wine business would consider doing something so stupid.  20 year-old Grange would not have cost any more than the current release and would have been much more drinkable.  An extremely young Grange is just not pleasant to drink!  A great deal of money was wasted on this and the results were very disappointing.  Many of our clients and partners were dismayed and in shock.

But then the gaffe of the evening occurred when they presented the second wine to sample.  It was the Oracle shiraz!  People starting laughing.  Oracle is SAP's largest and most demonized competitor!  To serve and promote the 'goodness' of Oracle at an SAP event is beyond stupid.  It was careless and representative of a firm which does not think about their customer's needs or requirements.

While the evening overall was a great success, the wine tasting was a debacle with the criticism being leveled at the wine tasting company and their attendees throughout the remainder of the evening (and unfortunately they had to put up with at as they could escape the boat until we docked!).  Service providers really do need to think about their client's requirements and put them first.  I expect this wine tasting company did not do much thinking at all and felt they had a formula that would work with anyone by just using iconic brands.

Fortunately I was able to recover nicely later in the week.  I had arranged a bus, a wine tasting expert (who I knew personally and worked with to prepare for the trip) and we had 20 of the same group of us go to the Hunter Valley the Saturday just after SIBOS finished.  We got to sample older vintages of the Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz, visited six of the Hunter's best wineries through the day and had lunch at an estate overseeing kangaroos hopping around.  Most people who made that trip said it was the highlight of the week and their trip to Australia.

I spent only a quarter of the amount of funds for the day in The Hunter Valley that we spent for the wine tasting on the boat and it was a far greater success.  We had the CEO of Swift, the CEO of Postbank Systems, and many other executives where we forged a real bond and lasting relationships that day.  We associated SAP as a successful company with very successful wineries.  We had the wine makers talk to us directly and be available to answer questions.  We put a little time into thinking about what our clients and partners wanted and delivered that with little effort, yet great results.

I am a service provider and as such, I also value other service providers and am willing to engage them to help me.  However, I do expect them to understand my requirements and needs and then adequately respond to them.  If they don't, they will never be given the opportunity to be considered to serve me again.  I try to keep that in mind when I am asked to serve others.

Early in my career (and while still living in the US), I had to get out a proposal for the United States Postal System (USPS).  We had to deliver it the following day.  I had enough sense to use the the USPS Express Mail system with guaranteed overnight delivery to deliver the proposal.  My competitor used Federal Express.  Can you guess who won the business?  I hope my proposal was better value, but I will never know and it never made the difference anyway.  I was smart enough to not use my client's competitor to deliver the proposal!  (BTW, in that situation now, I would have both sent the proposal USPS Express Mail and have spent a couple hundred dollars to hop on a plane and hand deliver it.  Half a day in travel and $200 in expenses is a good insurance policy when going after $300,000 of work, especially when we are looking at that amount in 1980!)

Always think of the client first and understand their requirements.  You will have a lot more and a lot happier customers!


Steve Shipley
Twitter: @shipleyaust
My wine blog:  SAZ in the Cellar