Archive for February 25th, 2011

Stop demonizing Wisconsin teachers !

February 25, 2011

Yesterday’s post “Maybe Wisconsin kids are better off with their teachers protesting” seems to have struck a nerve.

From a reader:

“According to your statistics, Wisconsin teachers are 4% better than the nationwide average.  Which is admittedly pretty poor, but I don’t understand why you are attempting to portray them negatively when they in fact appear to be above average.  Also, can we stop ignoring the fact that the teachers are protesting largely in response to the attempt to take away their collective bargaining rights? Education reform is a hugely complicated issue and I fail to see how demonizing a whole states-worth of individuals who spend more time with kids than many parents do is going to make the situation better.”

Here’s my open reply:

First, the Wisconsin teachers are doing a nice job demonizing themselves — by cutting classes and getting fake excuse notes from doctors.  Would that conduct be tolerated from students?  It certainly wouldn’t be tolerated by private companies – employees would be terminated in a heartbeat.  Which, I guess, is why the teachers need collective bargaining – to protect their irresponsible behavior.

Second, it makes me cringe to see anybody doing victory laps over 32% of eighth graders being proficient in reading …  I don’t think that  4% better than the national average is compelling.  Why?

The bottom line: about two out of three Wisconsin eighth graders don’t read proficiently. Ouch.

Time for teachers in Wisconsin – and every place else –  to step up and take responsibility … or at least get a fake note from a roving doctor.

 

Posted in Education - Academics | 2 Comments »

Location-based Marketing hits it stride … SBUX leads the way

February 25, 2011

TakeAway: Location based marketing is exploding as restaurants and other food venues draw in  more customers.

LBM allows restaurants to reach a pool of consumers who are social media savvy and are “hyper-engaged” with the brand.

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Excerpted from MediaPost, “Location-Based Marketing To Diners To ‘Explode’ ” by Karleen Lukovitz, February 15, 2011

Restaurants’ use of location-based marketing to… “explode” in 2011…

As consumers’ uptake of location-based services continues to mushroom, with competitors “not only becoming ubiquitous, but also more sophisticated,” …

…Starbucks routinely shows the largest volumes of Foursquare check-ins with McDonald’s generally in second place and Chipotle and Burger King within the top 10, ….

… one in five (21%) consumers who consider going out to restaurants “part of their lifestyles” already uses cell phones or other portable devices to place orders, and nearly four in 10 adult consumers use social media platforms to learn about restaurants, …

…the scale of Facebook interaction …not only enables restaurant brands to imprint themselves on consumers and make relevant, well-timed offers, it is a critical means of building a pool of consumers for purposes of ramping up location-based advertising and promotions.

… Starbucks has more than 1,700 Facebook friends per restaurant unit, and Facebook users are over 70% more likely than average to visit Starbucks. …Chipotle Mexican Grill has nearly 1,200 Facebook friends per unit. Engaged Facebook users are nearly 70% more likely than average to patronize this chain, and “hyper-engaged” users are more than 85% more likely.

…Twitter and its geolocation service are offering restaurants a significant opportunity to reach a younger, more urban, multicultural audience, …also proven a critical tool for attracting patrons for urban food trucks and mobile foodservice units — which are increasingly common among big brands, as well as independents.

Mobile devices are also… driving rapid restaurant adoption of in-restaurant, point-of-sale promotions and auto payment systems.

“The restaurant industry is in the midst of being shaped by the convergence of the mobile, always connected, consumer; location-based and context-aware technological innovation; and mobile payments — all of which are already demonstrating the potential to redefine how to cultivate restaurant guest loyalty, incentivize dining occasions and better tailor marketing messages,”

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Posted in Internet - Soc Networking, Mobile Marketing | Leave a Comment »