tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509334391271602772024-02-07T04:59:32.312+02:00@ Face ValueA no-frills ride into the brutally honest opinions of a digital veteran and critical thinker
Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-90579379832283758322020-09-22T16:49:00.009+03:002022-07-25T12:35:47.498+03:00Lebanon & The Culture of Mediocrity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzGX00osWxBbfQej1WzmJmbs5OMWn09K9nqxNzjyjB_nPAzCcScHLNWUjYz6YCyQZ0uc-t4FiAlvwc055zCINYbCBO2jDRizYu1UiAKPg5Du_U5RCyMWZMbpcQ2aSu0ZED7qBjHs4rXA/s1280/mediocrity.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Lebanon & The Culture of Mediocrity" border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzGX00osWxBbfQej1WzmJmbs5OMWn09K9nqxNzjyjB_nPAzCcScHLNWUjYz6YCyQZ0uc-t4FiAlvwc055zCINYbCBO2jDRizYu1UiAKPg5Du_U5RCyMWZMbpcQ2aSu0ZED7qBjHs4rXA/w640-h426/mediocrity.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoTitle">Think about the last time you were genuinely satisfied, happy, or even amazed by
something in Lebanon. Now, take a moment and think about what made you feel
this way. Chances are, in 9 out of 10 cases, you had such low expectations,
that the simple fact of things being done properly left you with unprecedented sentiments
of elation. You even probably rushed to tell your friends about it using
expressions such as <i>“For a moment I forgot I was in Lebanon”</i>, or <i>“they
were so professional, I thought it was a foreign company”</i>, or even <i>“The
finishing was amazing, like imported brands”</i>.</p><p class="MsoTitle">Why do we do this? Because Lebanon has fully embraced a culture of mediocrity<a href="#mediocre">*</a>. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I understand that, at this point, some might already feel the need to crack their knuckles to type that
scathing comeback, while revving their fake patriotism engines on indignation fuel, but how about we embark on a joint mea culpa and examine how we are all contributing in making our culture a mediocre one.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In business, we like to add fancy labels to this phenomenon.
We call Lebanon a <i>“price-driven market”</i> to infer the idea that the
client is more likely to take the cheaper offer, regardless of the quality of
the work being offered. When recruiting, we will hire the guy, that knows a guy, that knows a guy, instead of the brilliant candidate that aced the interview. We give the TV series part to the beauty queen that can't act to save her life, over the exceptionally well trained girl-next-door-looking actress. The supplier we deal with is usually the one who will
slip a few gifts to the procurement manager around the end of the year, even if
their product is inferior to that of the competitor. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Our companies are pure examples of mediocre quality and compromise along all
the lines. This culture permeates across their entire value chain, and is often
driven top-down. I was once contacted by the owner/CEO of a major construction
company in Lebanon, who wanted me to help him, for free, over the phone, in
creating a website for his multi-million-dollar company.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A recurrent saying by a manager I reported to in a major
Lebanese telecom company was that we should <i>“work on a quick and dirty
solution instead of the neat and slower one”</i>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But this extends beyond work into personal habits: Take
driving for example, the average Lebanese driver will go against traffic on a
crowded day claiming that they need to do this to get to where they are going.
They will do the same thing on a Sunday morning on an empty street because,
there’s no one here so why not!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How about that lovely restaurant you wanted to go to, and
booked at a week ahead, then showed up ahead of time and waited for your seat
only to get bumped to a lousy table because they want to fit in one more lousy customer?
Or that wonderful food chain that insisted on giving me free vouchers after I
got food poisoning at their premises, because for them, it’s all about money,
not about quality, and a free meal should erase their lack of hygiene protocols from my mind.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And you didn’t think I would forget the plumbers, the
carpenters, the car mechanics with their few remaining extra bolts & nuts. Those
professions are the Petri dish of mediocrity. From the water faucet bursting in
the wall of a new apartment, to the closet that slams because installing that
special hinge is too much to ask, all the way to the dealership that wants 5000$
to fix a car but won’t offer a warranty on their work.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Naturally, I will skip giving examples on banks, insurance companies
and the entire public sector because…well…they are the bank, insurance
companies and the public sector.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And then there’s you and your soul-mate to be, the <i>“she’s
cute but not very smart… she’ll do”</i> or the <i>“He’s ugly but he’s loaded, I
can get used to him”</i> or the re-trending <i>“he/she has a foreign passport”</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I don’t blame you entirely, it’s also the fault of
Lebanese parents. They will raise you to be educated but dependent, learned but
chauvinistic, modern but bigoted. You’ll rely on them in everything while you
perpetuate the myth of joie de vivre, until you are able to reproduce the same
cycle again.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s enough to read old newspaper clippings to realize that
we are a culture that refuses to improve on anything that matters. We are the
perennial embodiment of the <i>“if it ain’t broken don’t fix it”</i> attitude.
Our streets are ugly, our parks are inexistent, our innovation are in misappropriation
of funds, our trees are charcoal for shisha, and our laws are tools for
repression. The only things that are truly exceptional, are things that we had
no contribution in creating: from the country’s geographic nature to some of
its inhabitants’ raw talents. Those we are proud of are in majority people who
have escaped the country’s culture and thrived elsewhere. We like to make lists
with their names and invite them to meaningless celebrations.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mediocrity is not only the omnipresence of bad quality but
it’s also the capacity of the inferior in maintaining their dominance in their
social groups. It’s the systematic subversion of social norms to exclude the
high performers in favor of the least adept. In simpler terms, the game is
rigged from the inside to exclude anyone who by their performance can expose
those who are happily soaking in their mediocrity.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps the bigger indicator of Lebanon being a culture of
mediocrity is the ever-recurring cycle of immigration and emigration by the
most talented members of the workforce. Year after year, I have heard friends,
students and young hopeful talk about change, about their desire to build
something better, to fix this place but I have seen them all either leave or
simply give up and go on to create their own micro-cosmos like a drop of
excellence in a sea of mediocrity. Ironically enough, a lot of people advocating for change, usually on social media, are the same one perpetrating the same old mediocre habits in their daily lives.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“What then?” might you ask. The road out of this is long,
and hard and will require systemic change. Perhaps the beacon of hope we saw
with the young volunteers after the August 4<sup>th</sup> explosion can serve
as a spark to kindle the flame that would light the way out of this never-ending
tunnel? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No, it won’t, they will eventually be chewed up by the system
and regurgitated into some foreign shore from where they will send money to
support their ailing elders.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I can already hear some of you pointing out the obvious:<i>” You can’t just talk
about what’s wrong, you need to offer the solutions”</i> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No, I don’t!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">These lines represent all the effort I am willing to
put into this for now. This won’t be the most comprehensive piece you’ll have
read and I am ok with that. This is a moderate effort, of low to average quality, to put things in perspective, because, let’s be real, if you made it
this far down these lines, then you probably already agree that, right now, we are not headed in the right direction.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><o:p>*</o:p><a id="mediocre" name="mediocre">Mediocre</a> is an adjective that refers to something as being of moderate or low quality, value, ability, or performance.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p></div>
Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0Beirut, Lebanon33.8937913 35.50177675.5835574638211511 0.34552670000000063 62.204025136178842 70.6580267tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-66444572205146141282017-06-10T14:35:00.001+03:002021-06-12T11:17:37.649+03:00The Barnacle & The Whale<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If you are a fan of the majestic creatures that grace our oceans (unfortunately in declining numbers), then chances are you probably heard of the crustacean creatures that latch on to them, for a full-board free ride.<br />
Whales are avid of plankton, and Barnacles are filter-eaters that relish on this meal. This match made in heaven seems totally logical, the whale in all its grandeur is able to carry up to 500Kgs of barnacles on its skin without batting an eyelid, the plankton in return, occasionally offers a layer of protection of some sort in times of conflict, and acts as the first line of defense for incoming blows.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whale Covered in Barnacles</td></tr>
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Scientists define the relationship as Obligate Commensalism, neither Symbiosis where both organism benefit, neither Parasitism where one specie benefits at the expense of another.<br />
This is mainly because the whale is rarely harmed (except by some drag and an occasional infection) and the barnacle is always taken into feeding territory by its host where it lives happily basking in its own irrelevance. It is worth mentioning that barnacles species are picky about the whale species they associate with and never cross from one specie to another (trust me I googled it).<br />
When a barnacle is detached from a whale, it will often undergo necrosis and die, which is a key point in the analogy I am getting to.<br />
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Let's say Whales are the big investors, the capital holders, the cigar-wielding, yacht-owning, panel-speaking faces we have been bombarded with day after day, under the guise of <i>"Making Lebanon Great Again"</i> through Entrepreneurship (yeah yeah yeah) and all the smoke and mirrors that come with this hype. If so, then those of you with trained eyes will have probably noticed the barnacles that are always stuck on the skin of those whales. The brisk-applauding, elbow-rubbing, hyper-dynamic, porte-paroling minions that always tell you what you need to do to succeed.</div>
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While human barnacles share the lack of backbone with their crustacean namesakes, they often stand-out in their unique capacity to detach from their current host and navigate spontaneously into a new one that promises to drive them into <i>Paradise City</i>. where the plankton is green and the sums are pretty...big.</div>
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"So what's your point?" I hear you ask already with the arrogant stance of a Lebanese who has been told that their mom's Tabbouleh is not that tasty.<br />
I am not sure what my point is really. Perhaps I just love cetaceans and maybe I do agree with what you're thinking: "No, we cannot all be whales". <br />That is indeed often a unique genetically-bound situation, but you don't have to be a barnacle either!<br />If you think about it, after all, there are plenty of fish in the sea...</div>
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-35420074523390683252017-02-24T08:54:00.000+02:002017-10-13T10:19:16.459+03:00No, Privilege Is Not Inspirational !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Privilege:</b> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.</span></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">We all know what "privilege" is, those of us who are not able to define it in words, have felt it or seen it at least once in their life, unless, of course, you are the privileged one, then chances are you think everybody has it easy the same way you do, and you feel like you should always tell people that their dreams at the grasp of their hand and all they need to do is reach out and grab them.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">It's a fact of life that some of us are born having won the geographic lottery or the genetic lottery or just the plain old lottery and I am perfectly fine with that. After all, l</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">ike the song goes: "</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tEH_YYqEH0" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">it takes every kind of people, to make the world go around</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">".</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I come from a blue collar family, and while growing up, I did not need too much effort to quickly grasp the complex yet straightforward circumstances that made it easier for our more privileged peers to cruise all the way to success a highway paved just for them. <br />Hell, </span><a href="http://blog.chemali.org/2014/01/the-eternal-return.html" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">I even drew you a diagram</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> if you are curious enough (and if that still doesn't help here's an <a href="https://brightside.me/article/what-you-should-think-about-before-you-judge-others-10155/" target="_blank">excellent illustration done by Toby Morris</a>).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">More recently, all I seem to see around me is a sprout of inspirational con artists shoveling so much bullshit down the throats of youth in an institutionalized manner under the guises of Entrepreneurship, Mentoring, Fast tracking, Accelerating and Incubating.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">So here are a few things you need to keep in mind whenever you see a Linkedin/Facebook/Twitter (et al) posts inviting you to come get inspired by someone:</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Most of the so-called successful (local) entrepreneurs you see around you come from wealthy and privileged families. They can afford to bootstrap their company while pursuing the "passion that makes them jump out of bed every morning" because their personal lives are secure in the knowledge that in the worst case scenario, family is going to bail them out.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The names you see on billboards of workshops often held on beanbags in venues intentionally made to look like shelters from the 1980s and promising insights into success are mostly 2nd or 3rd generation heirs to successful businesses. They will tell you perhaps what they do in their daily life to maintain their success but they can never tell you how to get there, simply because "there" is where they have always been.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The friendly patrons of young ideas that swarm the panels at all the regional conferences are simply businessmen. They may talk a sweet game and tell you all the things you want to hear but make no mistake they are here because they see an opportunity to grow their capital, that opportunity is you and your desire to pull in long hours for free. They could care less how their money doubles or how you repay that guaranteed loan if your business fails. So treat them as business partners not as Angels! #btw do you know who else started off as an angel?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">When it comes to peers or youngsters from your same generation, who always brag about their first business they made and sold as a teenager and which was a blast, the rule of thumb here is this, if you have never heard of that company and how successful it was, then it was not. The cookie shop, the beads creations and the e-man2ouche are just adolescent dreams paid by mom and dad so you actually play entrepreneur instead of tennis (especially if you have zero game) and so you don't get into trouble hanging with the wrong crowd in the real world.</span></li>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">No, privileged people flaunting their skills is not inspirational. What's inspirational are the various creative and ingenious ways that a manual laborer, a craftsman or a small-time shop owner can come up with to make ends meet, to pay for their kids' school, or to settle a tax imposed by a state, that much like all the organizers of all those conferences, only feels inspired by the achievements of the privileged while trampling on the average joe.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In the midst of all the self-congratulatory crowds who always hang out at the same events, all know each other, and all attribute prizes to each other, there is a very fine line that you need to walk where you balance your expectations with your income, your family situation and the desire you have deep down to change your current situation, or simply... not.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Remember, you are not obliged to be a millionaire just because everyone says you do. You are not obliged to change the world because a picture of a blurred landscape with nice typography instructed you to do so.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Your only obligation is to yourself, your only obligation is to be happy and content in the life you lead, in spite of all the naysayers and the yes-men, and to know that one day you can look back and say "screw that shit, this is just fine and I am feeling good"</span></div>
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-77625784852460059692017-01-09T22:00:00.001+02:002017-01-09T22:40:42.033+02:00GroupThink: It's Not You, It's Them!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I dare you, I double dare you...(no, not to "say <i>What</i> one more time") but to say that you were never coerced into agreeing with a decision that a group of friends or coworkers came up with, in spite of your reticence, just out of desire to fit in.<br />
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In these times where work ethics, and personal relationships have grown into a mushy pile of political correctness, touchy-feely soul-crunching-heart-wrenching "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" emotional sensitivity, the biggest victim to such practices has been undoubtedly critical thinking.<br />
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A critical thinker in any entity or group is the thorn in the side of the applauding masses. In the quest for cohesiveness among groups in meetings, in decision making processes, or most business processes, people have simply chosen the easy way out by choosing to agree with the majority and shunning any disagreeing opinion as just not the right fit to the group, or the weird one, or the annoying one.<br />
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Those of you who are fans of classical movies can recognize this pattern of behavior in the iconic "12 Angry Men", where Henry Fonda's character raises the ire of his co-jurors for disagreeing with a fast"guilty" verdict which could cost a man his life. I highly recommend the film for its artistic value and for the takeaway it brings to this subject and will refrain from giving away any more details.<br />
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Located somewhere between Peer-Pressure and Dictatorship, GroupThink is defined as "a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome."<br />
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Interestingly enough, this opens up the door for unscrupulous manipulators who know their way around this phenomenon to position key players who would subscribe to their agenda and alter the collective consciousness of the others through passive intimidation.<br />
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So what happens exactly when, in a business context, the primary goal of a group member becomes to achieve group satisfaction rather than to find a truly successful decision based on their own expertise and point of view?<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPolGJ79xjFqbPaCOgw_lOVWIOjUlAa6i9mOnvh_14M7-DJ4FCpnGzbr9SzBtQVTNwfyGgIEFipK1CMRZVYUPRkRFYEO2FT02mBYgfoJgA_okznyKWbEhDEc3jjaeBq7h5flsbbsPcGk/s1600/GroupThink.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPolGJ79xjFqbPaCOgw_lOVWIOjUlAa6i9mOnvh_14M7-DJ4FCpnGzbr9SzBtQVTNwfyGgIEFipK1CMRZVYUPRkRFYEO2FT02mBYgfoJgA_okznyKWbEhDEc3jjaeBq7h5flsbbsPcGk/s640/GroupThink.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Summary Illustration of GroupThink Dynamics</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In a real life example from my various consultancy projects, someone in a position of power was systematically trying to introduce into their company, in various open vacancies, an array of people with whom he has personal ties. He had already a core team of "groupies" around him that bullied everyone else into signing up into their way of doing things (regardless of how correct or NOT it was).<br />
<br />
The meetings I attended with these individuals were always plagued by the same pattern of behavior. The inner circle persons to this influential individual would always advance an idea or an agenda or a solution and the rest would systematically fall in line. While there might have been some debate and [constructive] discussions at first, as more groupies were added to the team, the dissenting opinions were less outspoken and tended to agree faster with all the nonsense advanced by the others.<br />
<br />
Naturally, the quality of work suffered and was obvious in several key opportunities being lost. To an external observer this was an inescapable truth but to the applauding masses, everything was just peachy.<br />
<br />
As these dynamics tend to destabilize work and create problems it's a must for oversight bodies and individuals such as the HR department, or a highly placed manager to detect such anomalies and introduce remedies that work aim to mitigate and eventually eliminate this tendency.<br />
<br />
Dissenting opinions are not troublesome, they are a healthy to critical thinking, managers should be always willing to listen to these opinions regardless of who is advancing them. Even someone who is being negative because they are unhappy can bring about important wake-up calls to the sleep-walking corporate environment.<br />
An idea would be to assign always in each project a devil's advocate whose job would be to poke holes at the presented idea. Such divergent thinking when incorporated into the companies processes and procedures allows for early trouble-shooting and anticipatory measures rather than after-the-fact fire-fighting.<br />
<br />
So, if you occasionally [often] feel you are a nuisance to colleagues who all seems to flow in unique harmony <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[think <a href="https://goo.gl/qfm6wC" target="_blank">The Blue Danube - 1939 MGM Cartoon</a> ]</span> </i>simply because you present a different point of view, keep your chin up, it's probably not you, it's them!<br />
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<br />
<br /></div>
Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-87262154825584140212017-01-07T00:52:00.000+02:002017-01-09T21:26:54.277+02:00How Essential Is Employee Engagement For Your Brand?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On Friday, I was asked to tag along to visit several dealerships in a hunt for a new car. Having grown up around cars in my late father's car repair shop, my entourage believe that I bring added insight to the matter, a misconception I maintain thanks to Google and the internet.<br />
<br />
When we set out on our grand tour, my companion told me beforehand which brand dealerships they had visited and which car had ranked more points in in the quest for it to be The One.<br />
<br />
As we hopped from one dealership to another, met with their salespeople, discussed the various vehicles specs and budgets and eventually had our own post review discussion, it dawned on me that there was a close correlation between some specific wording used by the salespeople and how we perceived the brand from our angle as customers.<br />
Out of 5 dealerships we visited I noticed the following:<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>3 dealerships left us unimpressed, one of which was completely unpleasant</li>
<li>2 dealerships were great, one of which was really excellent.</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rpmHQKNC8la7i8wBV_q5xxZvHdbSYhVZTbDpNci_xEL96aZrl1kmQu6FmxcrEBvCGooCGXQj5bcaVhQKEGq3ObNrd6Sq2HKCtzCDFPmCOzvDGNpFeUGpXJWr-qVUVQtfCgf0SiJa1qo/s1600/employee_engagement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rpmHQKNC8la7i8wBV_q5xxZvHdbSYhVZTbDpNci_xEL96aZrl1kmQu6FmxcrEBvCGooCGXQj5bcaVhQKEGq3ObNrd6Sq2HKCtzCDFPmCOzvDGNpFeUGpXJWr-qVUVQtfCgf0SiJa1qo/s320/employee_engagement.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
I am not going to mention which is which because this is not the point of this piece and because there are enough people on blogs whoring themselves out to brands. What I will mention though is the common denominator among the 3 dealerships which offered the most disappointing experience. During our visit to each of those, we naturally asked a lot of questions about the exhibited vehicles, their features, the lack of certain options and models and whether they might be bringing those into the local market. In retrospect, I noticed that in each case the salesperson would refer to his own dealership as "they". To be clear, they did not refer to the brand but to the local dealership (management)</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>They chose not to include these options in the car</li>
<li>They chose not to bring this model to Lebanon</li>
<li>They decided to raise the price</li>
<li>They prefer not to sell this...</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br />
This was aggravated by a more detached body language that made us feel that the salespeople just wanted to be done with answering the questions in order to go take a break.</div>
<div>
Compared to the two locations where we had a good experience, this inferred a major disconnect between management and its employees. In both locations that made it to the final selection lists, salespeople distinguished themselves by:</div>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A more upbeat demeanor: they would immediately notice a new client walking in, greet promptly and engage in helpful but non intrusive discussion.</li>
<li>They ALWAYS talked about their offerings and vehicles by using "WE":</li>
<ul>
<li>We have the best rated vehicles</li>
<li>We have superior after sales</li>
<li>We have the best deal in this range of vehicles</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
This forced me to do some introspection about my own behavior in various instances of jobs, associations and activities that I had been a part of. I can safely say that the correlation applied also to me. The best example I can give is my past experience in the Telecom sector:</div>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>While working with Cellis (FTML) one of the first two mobile operators in Lebanon, my speech always used the "We" form.</li>
<li>When Cellis was substituted by what is now Alfa and the plethora of companies that have subsequently managed this brand name ("managed" being an overstatement here), myself and several of my colleagues drifted slowly but surely to using "They" when referring to the company even while we still worked there.</li>
</ul>
<div>
In essence, no matter how deep business owners, management teams or any person in charge of brands choose to bury their heads in the sands of "employees are here to slave for me", at some point they need to wake up to the smell of disgruntled staff passively sabotaging the business just by their demeanor and body language (to begin with).<br />
The only time a business can carry on not giving a damn about it's employees and not suffer the consequences is when it is monopolizing a sector (and we know all about that in Lebanon).<br />
<br />
It goes beyond any doubt that whatever you seed internally in terms of employee engagement will surely trickle down to you customers. It won't matter how many discounts you do, how many offers you release, your brand will be always associated with the resentment emanating from your customer-facing staff. <br />
Good luck getting rid of that stench!</div>
</div>
</div>
Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-55286855567551708872016-08-01T16:03:00.002+03:002016-08-01T16:51:14.947+03:00They watched an Andes Beer ad, you'll never know what they did next...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>First of all apologies for the clickbait title...but I found it very ironic and innocuous to use, compared to what happened to the Andes Beer ads here below.</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
One upon a time, there was this excellent beer brand out of Argentina called <a href="http://www.andes.com.ar/" target="_blank">Andes</a> beer.<br />
They were famous for groundbreaking ads like the "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejxUdNrJeU" target="_blank">TeleTransporter</a>", <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUt8MAWKtP4" target="_blank">The Female Name Tornadoes</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWjidANk0N0" target="_blank">The Fairest night</a>... but their best ads and my favorites are by far the "Lost" ads or Decubiados.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3Bk9k1uj0TG2t1oBOiu0P6AyNhhXpSti1qNfoOM7M7PTACNUQXX8jMnH6BlsqUNFOgjk6cHF4Rp_KUZXbZ_uGd1TPPpra_bz0iseUHWeTxqUGCGS7GUSRA-I5_I68KuJOiCtMx0PPFE/s1600/andes6%255B1%255D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3Bk9k1uj0TG2t1oBOiu0P6AyNhhXpSti1qNfoOM7M7PTACNUQXX8jMnH6BlsqUNFOgjk6cHF4Rp_KUZXbZ_uGd1TPPpra_bz0iseUHWeTxqUGCGS7GUSRA-I5_I68KuJOiCtMx0PPFE/s400/andes6%255B1%255D.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">source: <a href="http://www.andes.com.ar/" target="_blank">www.andes.com.ar</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The ads, designed to promote the new can and stickers on the bottles that change color when the beer is at the optimal temperature for drinking, were done in an amazingly funny and dark humor twist, showing friends or loved ones in very delicate situations acting insensitively towards their friends who are suffering. The voice at the end comes out with a very serious and deep tone to declare:<br />
"If you don't know when is the right time to drink a beer, we are going to tell you"<br />
<br />
I'll let you watch it for yourself:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1kzeWJNVSGc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1kzeWJNVSGc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SkFhtITfIlM/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SkFhtITfIlM?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
I made it a purpose to show this to each and every person whom I had known to be in the ad industry or an ad lover. I enjoyed the brilliance of these ads and wanted to share it with as many people possible....until the day where I saw these pathetic examples of advertising soiling our screens.<br />
<br />
I can only imagine what happened because I have a vivid imagination, but the public will never know the beauty of the original ads, just the silly stereotypical "men are from mars women are from venus" lame attempt at humor without any point behind it.<br />
You can watch them below and admire the voiceover work that attempts to mimic the same tone in the original ads...<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
It starts off bad</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/c_RaZIpqLWY/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c_RaZIpqLWY?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br />Gets worse afterwards</span><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4DWdLU6F6Bs/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4DWdLU6F6Bs?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Turns to boring</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sDjJ1sxuxmg/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sDjJ1sxuxmg?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Ends up totally lame<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p_9rOyYSHZ8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p_9rOyYSHZ8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
So now you know what they did next...<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-34749888059448671082016-07-01T10:05:00.000+03:002016-07-01T10:05:21.308+03:00If Magazine Covers Were Honest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_FEdFMTiL6Rd0S8SnchkDZmBCs4bGu2FWtyH9e54Y6qbRNfhAUlZ5ODphAhYF6XePgxoTlIqhoo5Ekc0Mq1IKsRCGrs8vcue5moVqSepnYLGZze19IUAaPy6BJT-IMybAKVAILm6dEIo/s1600/magazine-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_FEdFMTiL6Rd0S8SnchkDZmBCs4bGu2FWtyH9e54Y6qbRNfhAUlZ5ODphAhYF6XePgxoTlIqhoo5Ekc0Mq1IKsRCGrs8vcue5moVqSepnYLGZze19IUAaPy6BJT-IMybAKVAILm6dEIo/s640/magazine-cover.jpg" width="509" /></a></div>
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I almost never buy any magazines, aside from the Smash Hits & Photos magazines I bought as a teenager, my only encounters with magazines are at doctors' clinics and when they run TV ads citing their headlines. This has not stopped me from being highly admirative of the amount of bullshit that these magazines can dish out, especially in their titles a.k.a the ancestors of clickbait.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I conceived this cover a couple of days ago as an attempt at satire, based on first-hand experienc with the topics I chose to highlight. Many people picked-up on the gest of it but others were not on the same frequency and asked me to explain. So here goes nothing:</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Mashrou' Leila: </b>This highly overrated and barely audible Lebanese band rose to international fame by using the openly gay card of their lead singer, thus creating controversy in a region not receptive to such a public declaration. Their die hard fans usually accuse their critics of being homophobic to suppress the fact that their sound closely resembles that of a squeaking door.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Facebook Posts: </b>In these tumultuous times that we live in, where the world seems to implode on itself, with a war raging next door, refugees flooding the country and other continents, and a general malaise swarming up globally, one cannot escape the numerous "humanitarian" status updates by individuals who claim to support or defend a good cause but who in fact use a passive-aggressive approach to advance their political views at the expense of those who are actually suffering.</div>
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<b>Freebies: </b>I don't need to explain this much, as it's become public knowledge the amount of bloggers who just echo promo material offered by brands or agencies. Some of them still hide behind their finger (ironically so), others are just outright shameless about it. Of course it's fine if a blogger monetizes their presence, just make sure you still offer valuable content not just act as a billboard, because we're on to you...yes, you...you know who you are!</div>
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<b>Brexit Nightlife: </b>That's basically putting a buzzword which is trending now (Brexit) with another buzzword which seems the only thing going for us in Lebanon since the end of the civil war. Who would not want to know more how a Brexit is going to help the Lebanese nightlife? Woohoo Lebanese F***ing Joie de Vivre baby!</div>
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So folks, scurry along now and don't forget to pick up your edition before it runs out...it's selling like hotcakes!</div>
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<br />
<i>Links to the original posts:</i><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://tumblr.chemali.org/post/146654435489/magazine-cover-fake-satire-mashrouleila" target="_blank"><i>Tumblr</i></a></li>
<li><i><a href="https://twitter.com/chemali/status/748152249239494658" target="_blank">Twitter</a></i></li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156994490295214&set=a.10150721402795214.715410.903960213&type=3&theater" target="_blank">Facebook</a></i></li>
</ul>
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<br /></div>
Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-52811094859603813372016-04-29T00:44:00.000+03:002016-04-29T00:56:48.629+03:00Social Media Workshop with Rotary Club of Metn Gate, in Support of Sesobel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sesobel is a Lebanese NGO founded in 1976 acting as a Social Service for the Welfare of Lebanese Children. Their work is highly known and very few are the chances for someone living in Lebanon to have not heard of them yet. Rotary Clubs a,k.a Lions Club are an international organization known for its clubs which usually attract people from different walks of life and expertise who are usually organized as chapters that work towards addressing and improving many social issues while upholding ethical behavior.<br />
<br />
When a Lions Club is organizing workshops and courses in order to support an association like Sesobel, no matter how busy you are, you tend to say "I'll be there". That's what happened when a friend of mine reached out and proposed I become part of this effort, organized by the Rotary Club of Metn Gate.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLZfdR4UpGovmEaEysvcx1djlVI9UfoaXP6KORyVHz1-5ueg1GEXAqJNeaUxblG5un1wGtjWln3BKwLnVem8pqJI2EwPFn4hW0f7L-Ezh_t9PeBDyz_iB16Y-SIw0pREKcaD8FmuH094/s1600/Summary+Poster+for+RC+MEtn+Gate+Fundraising+for+SESOBEL.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLZfdR4UpGovmEaEysvcx1djlVI9UfoaXP6KORyVHz1-5ueg1GEXAqJNeaUxblG5un1wGtjWln3BKwLnVem8pqJI2EwPFn4hW0f7L-Ezh_t9PeBDyz_iB16Y-SIw0pREKcaD8FmuH094/s640/Summary+Poster+for+RC+MEtn+Gate+Fundraising+for+SESOBEL.png" width="456" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
So on May 2nd, 4th, 9th and 11th, I will be facilitating 4 sessions of 3 hours each discussing various aspects of social media.<br />
<br />
Our plan is to cover the following points:<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br />
</span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<li><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b>May 2nd:</b></span></li>
</span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Introduction on Social Media</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Business Value of Social </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Choosing Your Medium</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Building Your Team</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Dos & Dont's</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b>May 4th:</b></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Facebook Intro</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Business vs Personal Pages</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Advertising on Facebook</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Hands on exercise: Launching a Page</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b>May 9th:</b></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Twitter Intro</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Best Practices & Examples</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Tools & Useful Sites</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Hands-on Exercise: Launching a Twitter Account</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b>May 11th:</b></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Overview on Instagram</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Overview on Snapchat</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Overview on Pinterest</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Social Media Crisis Management</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Putting it all Together</li>
</ul>
</span><br />
But those of you who know me or have attended any of my workshops, know it's never a clean cut syllabus but more of an explorative journey where we dive into the subject and navigate it based on the audience's feedback and interaction.<br />
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If you are interested in my workshop or any of the other workshops offered by other distinguished professionals, I strongly urge you to subscribe on the following link a.s.a.p. You would be gaining valuable insights and also giving back to those in need of assistance via Sesobel.<br /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For additional information and registration.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.ihjoz.com/companies/490" target="_blank">https://www.ihjoz.com/companies/490</a></span></div>
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-18788671381570383542016-04-25T14:18:00.000+03:002016-04-25T14:35:12.245+03:00From Crisis Communication to Roman Ruins: Euromed PPRD Workshop in Jordan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My long experience in facilitating courses and workshops has taught me that no two audiences are alike, much less when you are moving into an entirely new country and culture.<br />
The EUROMED PPRD SOUTH II program landed this past week in Jordan. A country rich in history tradition, sunshine but most of all in warmth from its people. As a Lebanese, I can assert that there is a special bond that always connects us Levantines with each other. We have shared history, geography, climate, traditions, family ties not to mention woes and troubles.<br />
Jordan has always been one of the most welcoming places I have visited and I was extremely enthusiastic to be back there again, this time with the PPRD team.<br />
In case you have not caught wind of what our workshops are about, they are part of a bigger effort to prepare mediterranean countries to face crisis and disasters. Our team addresses Communication in times of Crisis more specifically and helps countries create the awareness needed to build their communication teams and apply the right communication strategy for those difficult times.<br />
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The audience in Amman was similar in structure to what we had noticed in <a href="http://blog.chemali.org/2016/02/empowering-crisis-communication-workshop.html" target="_blank">Beirut</a>, in the sense that attendance extended beyond the Civil Defense forces to include members of various ministries and official bodies. We did however have members of the (official) press present with us like in <a href="http://blog.chemali.org/2016/04/algeria-leading-by-example-in-civil.html" target="_blank">Algiers</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxcmWnTj6_GG91vFT7TYgItHpGdkttu0uLokgU_t7fvL4xHYuurgYpVE7qdjILdJVx_ZPLarZ6Fugh76U0xWu1SerTWZ3PZ_hVy_DsiOsdW5yK6ThF5UwRT3f12ZXTPffrsSRYHEhQ5yc/s1600/Jordan-PPRD-final-pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxcmWnTj6_GG91vFT7TYgItHpGdkttu0uLokgU_t7fvL4xHYuurgYpVE7qdjILdJVx_ZPLarZ6Fugh76U0xWu1SerTWZ3PZ_hVy_DsiOsdW5yK6ThF5UwRT3f12ZXTPffrsSRYHEhQ5yc/s640/Jordan-PPRD-final-pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excellent Workshop with my Colleagues Laurent Vibert & Veronique Ruggirello</td></tr>
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The Jordanian hosts' enthusiasm for the learning process was no less than their counterparts in previous workshops. Although hesitant at first, and not sure what to expect from this workshop, they quickly got into the motion, with some taking-on leading roles among the group in various exercises, such as the simulated TV interview or the Social Media Crisis simulation.<br />
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The Civil Defense members extended their hospitality further by offering us an amazing trip into the ancient but well preserved ruins of Jarash, located roughly 45 minutes north of the capital. This trip was extremely exciting for me personally, as I am a big fan of historical sites. My previous shorter visits to the country had not left me enough time to go admire such beautiful pieces of history.<br />
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In our free time, we also managed to uncover beautiful parts of a city that is friendly, safe, vibrant and with a great potential for more achievements.<br />
We left hoping that our visit helped bring valuable insights to the brave men and women of the civil defense and other public protection services with whom we managed to build friendship and camaraderie ties.<br />
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As for me, I can only say one thing: See you soon Jordan!!<br />
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-39723664620131170832016-04-10T22:50:00.000+03:002016-04-10T22:51:54.158+03:00Algeria: Leading by Example in Civil Protection<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUakIS_n_13MjI4Wvn1z5-WIvrLgsVcEp29j4Yc3sQu8mbqOgPBbWBKDyANPmSo7-aCGILl-NqbYVWCRLx9SD-ZNTRYz6m04eqGuX7ZhlsxuC0JhvxXpdLdu3PeMcger6ylfXDZWAB6c/s1600/Me-Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUakIS_n_13MjI4Wvn1z5-WIvrLgsVcEp29j4Yc3sQu8mbqOgPBbWBKDyANPmSo7-aCGILl-NqbYVWCRLx9SD-ZNTRYz6m04eqGuX7ZhlsxuC0JhvxXpdLdu3PeMcger6ylfXDZWAB6c/s320/Me-Collage.jpg" width="320" /></a>Within the series of seminars and workshops, part of the EUROMED PPRD SOUTH II program. Funded by the European Union, and after a previous stop in <a href="http://blog.chemali.org/2016/02/empowering-crisis-communication-workshop.html" target="_blank">Beirut</a>, we headed for the Algerian capital where the <a href="http://www.protectioncivile.dz/" target="_blank">Civil Protection</a> Communication Team was eagerly waiting to be part of this global endeavor to empower similar public bodies in Crisis Communication.<br />
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On a personal level, this was my first trip to Algiers, a place not to be missed. The city rich in history, architecture and cultural diversity is impressive to say the least. The welcome we received by our hosts was beyond compare, even in my home country Lebanon where we usually take pride in how we receive travelers and guests. <br />
I am here inclined to start thanking people by name but that would simply mean I would be either leaving someone out or just having a blog post consisting mostly of names of fine people who put their lives daily on the line to save others, so I will just throw out a big thank you to everyone involved in making our stay a memorable one.<br />
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In terms of work done, the attendees came from various units within the Algerian Civil Protection located in different parts of the country. We were also graced by the presence of local public and private media institutions representatives.<br />
I have always been a fan of having more varied profiles in workshops and courses I have facilitated over the years. This was definitely the case, as different backgrounds joined in to deliver more insights into our discussions, to allow a more comprehensive approach to hands-on exercises and to keep the conversation alive from different perspectives.<br />
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Our workshop which focuses on a 360 approach to communication in times of crisis, took off with the usual theoretical approach to the subject on day 1 followed by a custom conceived crisis scenario mimicking a potential incident that could happen in the country.<br />
The hands-on approach lasted for the remaining 3 days tackling respectively communication with the written press, TV and Radio interviews and culminated in the digital and social media communication part where we discussed the various strategies and tactics alongside the tools that can be used.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyjKbH4qGx4ZYYyRJQRb-t11AiSjdQZbnSf6sjmpRAywz43g585L6r-Y5KAYTaACWVZzR8adrHj9WeePMW_seSmo2OlEf0IF66XZ0-mBa1OwviyIdsgeof3PPOpb6IRk2-5zsA6xGzIkI/s1600/group-photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyjKbH4qGx4ZYYyRJQRb-t11AiSjdQZbnSf6sjmpRAywz43g585L6r-Y5KAYTaACWVZzR8adrHj9WeePMW_seSmo2OlEf0IF66XZ0-mBa1OwviyIdsgeof3PPOpb6IRk2-5zsA6xGzIkI/s640/group-photo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Each phase of the work saw the attendees investing themselves fully in role playing and tackling the hard interview questions or the snappy tweets and comments in an extremely professional way.<br />
If something stood out most from this workshop, it was the team spirit with which everyone was working. Boundaries between the media and the civil protection members dissolved quickly and they were each bringing their own expertise to the mix.<br />
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This has been one of the most fruitful workshops we have facilitated during the whole program. There is no greater reward for a facilitator than to see that the information is flowing in a productive way and seeing that one's recommendations are being followed.<br />
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Algeria, it has been both a pleasure and privilege to have met the brave people that go beyond the call of duty in protecting the public. Here's to continued success!<br />
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Next on our agenda is Jordan, where we will be conducting a workshop in Amman on the 18th of April.</div>
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I leave you with some photos I snapped from our day out in Algiers with the Civil Protection teams</div>
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An amazing day out in Algiers with the awesome members of the Algerian Civil Protection members, discovering the city and their impressive headquarters.</div>
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Posted by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=350933439127160277#" role="button">Patrick Chemali</a> on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/patche/posts/10156598509750214">Wednesday, March 23, 2016</a></div>
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-24895033436578072882016-02-28T20:15:00.000+02:002018-04-25T09:37:36.981+03:00Empowering Crisis Communication through Workshops<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For slightly more than a year, I have been actively involved in a series of seminars and workshops as part of the <a href="http://www.euromedpprdsouth2.eu/" target="_blank">EUROMED PPRD SOUTH II</a> program. Funded by the European Union, the program aims to increase <b>P</b>revention, <b>P</b>reparedness and <b>R</b>esponse to natural and manmade <b>D</b>isasters.<br />
One of the cornerstones of this effort resides in managing communication in times of crisis. For this purpose, we have been enabling public sector entities across the southern mediterranean with the know-how to implement an effective communication strategy, with the right mix of written, audio-visual and digital elements.<br />
Workshops that initially received participants from multiple countries, allowed cross cultural barriers to be taken down and gave insights on how each country would communicate during a crisis, giving a much clearer image on what needed to be done on the national level.<br />
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Earlier this week, we embarked with the national workshops: a more focused "on steroids" version of the introductory workshops. The target is for national authorities to designate representatives of various entities that would be playing a key role in a smooth communication in times of crisis.<br />
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Beirut was the first to benefit from this, and I was thrilled to have kicked off this effort in my home city that, I believe, stands to benefit the most in these difficult times we are facing.<br />
Further workshops are planned in the coming months in both <b>Algeria</b> and <b>Jordan</b>.<br />
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The Beirut workshop, held at the Grand Serial under the auspices of <b>Lebanon's Prime Minister's Office</b>, grouped members of rescue services, security forces, public ministries and official press agency.<br />
Spanning over 4 days, we were able to introduce attendees to the general basis of communication, print media, radio, TV interviews, press conference and , most importantly, the proper use of digital tools and social media channels.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWfdIdEiLTZB25Qgowut0gCoaqka1elInRUo7GSWAmeemo8MXKkom8g4gwTBBmMzdNYMyhYWVK-8Dp6Ad1SaSMzk1E9IBhXuO2WYvCix79JLCd3EI3UDAcvOp8BIEWzmbyKLwr3hyphenhyphenUN84/s1600/20160228085658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWfdIdEiLTZB25Qgowut0gCoaqka1elInRUo7GSWAmeemo8MXKkom8g4gwTBBmMzdNYMyhYWVK-8Dp6Ad1SaSMzk1E9IBhXuO2WYvCix79JLCd3EI3UDAcvOp8BIEWzmbyKLwr3hyphenhyphenUN84/s640/20160228085658.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Initially met with resistance from some of the attendees, who deemed themselves to be already well versed in these disciplines, we were glad to later discover a cohesive group of individuals who invested themselves in each simulation. Q&As were elaborate and diverse and the audience emphasised at the end of the workshop the skills they acquired, wishing there had been more time to dwell on topics even longer.<br />
There can be no greater satisfaction for a group of facilitators than to see that the message they have tried to deliver was well received. This group of attendees was exceptionally committed to learning and applying what they had learned in terms of crisis communication management.<br />
While I hope they will never be faced with a crisis big enough to require them to all gather again to address it, I am twice thrilled, as a speaker and as a citizen, to see such a commitment from the public sector into issues of national importance.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFdc87yAEVPajyygFyZovuMI6XLlwdLkspK815Bih9lPk3lq9k1J5GsQdF8hKLfQv5KAWZvGFD5Xn-Qp1o3mA9h8IP_soDpPz99Ok4X96TbsUh_QpWYdt_gB6QkhX22SAxyzNdXYz92U/s1600/experts-beirut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFdc87yAEVPajyygFyZovuMI6XLlwdLkspK815Bih9lPk3lq9k1J5GsQdF8hKLfQv5KAWZvGFD5Xn-Qp1o3mA9h8IP_soDpPz99Ok4X96TbsUh_QpWYdt_gB6QkhX22SAxyzNdXYz92U/s200/experts-beirut.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Experts Team</td></tr>
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I share the credit for this success with the fine people from the Prime Minister's Office: Veronique Azar, Nathalie Zaarour and other staff, and my excellent expert colleagues: Veronique Ruggirello (<a href="http://kalimatcommunication.eu/" target="_blank">Kalimat Communication</a>) , Laurent Vibert (<a href="http://nitidis.com/" target="_blank">Nitidis</a>) and Cherine Yazbeck (Reporter at France 24)<br />
Our team of experts is currently working on a Communication Workshop tailored for the private sector. If you are looking to empower your teams with the help of multinational experts, feel free to reach out to me on <a href="mailto:patrick.chemali@sharplemon.com" target="_blank">patrick.chemali@sharplemon.com</a> or to any of my colleagues and we will gladly work with you to address your needs.<br />
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You can check out below some photos from the event:<br />
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-11764660919864262022015-12-31T13:19:00.000+02:002016-01-01T13:35:01.534+02:00Time After Sometime<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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On the brink of another year, we are often bombarded with all the wishy-washy resolutions, recommendations and inescapable avalanche of hopefulness. We are often socially cornered into reciprocating greetings that are founded on nothing but the governing rules of planet rotation in a vast universe where what you wish for and what could happen are totally independent.<br>
So why do we indulge in such self-deluding practices in spite of the accumulated payload of broken resolutions, unfulfilled wishes and thankless self-investments in misguided endeavors?<br>
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The long answer would involve diving into the history of civilization, the local customs of ethnic groups and the anchored superstitious beliefs handed over from one generation to another.<br>
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The short one is that <b>we are afraid</b>.<br>
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Time being the only irrecoverable and irreplaceable commodity during our limited existence, we try to bend it and wield its unstoppable progress by putting roadblocks in its way. We plan for that diet to start on Monday, we get that 6 months gym subscription, we prepare that 3 year business plan, we celebrate anniversaries for our relationships and offspring and magically expect that when a number on the calendar changes, it will divert the path of events previously set in motion by all the choices we made before.<br>
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Although my rambling here might make me sound like a Bond villain whose world domination goal is wreak havoc in the world by destroying all the clocks and calendars, I am not.<br>
I am quite the opposite actually, a very precise, time-efficient professional<i> (heck, I've even been recently reproached that I am not a team player when it comes to coming in late and dragging my feet all day to be in sync with the others after hours)</i>.<br>
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The finer point I am trying to make is that, although we need our lives to be regulated by a quantified notion of time, we should not rely on these quantifications to auspiciously or ominously bring about change. So on this last day of the year, I'll gladly take your wishes for a happy 2016 and will reciprocate them with goodwill, but deep down inside (and a bit at the corner of my mouth) I will be saying that it doesn't really matter what you or I wish. Things will happen and we'll have to deal with them as they do. After all, like Omar Al Khayyam once said:<br>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”</b></i></span></div>
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-33432018133404835662015-11-21T02:02:00.000+02:002015-11-21T02:02:13.182+02:00Noise, A Modern Affliction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Not one day goes by without me reading some article on how some expert has designated something as the disease of the century. Be it a real physical affliction or a quirk in our social norms, there is a label ready for each to make it much more sensational. Therefore, I am jumping on the bandwagon with my own theory and I double dare you to stop me.</div>
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From Heart disease to bad posture through smoking all the way to mobile device addiction all these observed issues could be interpreted as a byproduct of noise. But what is noise exactly?</div>
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In its most basic and common definition, noise can be explained as any unwanted sound. Mozart (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7k2819bGqo" target="_blank">who was a great composer</a>) could be considered noise if you are not into listening to his genius compositions.</div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">This acoustic definition was extended into many disciplines where noise is considered as an unwanted interference any type of signal that a person is trying to pick up on. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">I must confess that the spark behind this idea came when I recently plugged my earphones at a location I was in, without actually turning on any music or sound. I realized that all I was attempting to do was to dampen the noise that was throwing me off balance.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Perhaps the auditory noise is the one I need to explain the least, but still, it is amazing how much of it we accept without questioning. The indistinct sound of a laptop fan, the silent humming of car tires on the asphalt, the distant rumble of a backup power generator, the infinite amount of beeps that electronic devices emit. Each taken separately may not amount to much but when piled up together they can take a toll on one's nerves and focus.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">One thing I was struck by when I first visited East Europe over 15 years ago was how uniform (and dull) their soviet era architecture was. It was shocking for me to imagine all these people living in a place that lacks the individualistic character and creativity which perhaps that was a contributing factor in the demise of those regimes. But the opposite case is not any better. In Lebanon we have become accustomed to a complete lack of urban regulation. From the old refined architecture of houses in Ashrafieh to the adjacent skyscrapers (oh those skyscrapers) everything is just flooding you with a million styles in a total lack of harmony. You can delude yourself and call it charming and unique, inject words and expressions like amalgam and melting pot, but but it's just noise. My colleagues in the ad industry will hate me for this but the amount of billboards and message boards scattered everywhere does not help make things better and is often a major source of visual noise. But it's not just on the scale of the city, it's everywhere: window dressing of shops, graphic designs of brochures, the layout of websites, the menus of restaurants, everybody is shouting louder with visual elements to cover the competition.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Ironically enough, even this blog post is noise. Among the plethora of publications , news sites, technical review sites, bloggers, vloggers, podcasters, instragrammers and duckfacers we are swarmed by a huge amount of information that makes it really hard to establish the single most important thing for a knowledge seeker: Relevancy!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">By the time I have identified that a published piece is relevant to what I trying to inform myself on, I have already wasted precious time that I could have used more productively or leisurely. This issue is perhaps the biggest problem facing the internet. A problem that Google aimed at solving through its innovative algorithm since they started their brilliant journey but which still escapes them to greater degrees. Facebook's social graph and attempts at making information sort-able have been equally shy at best.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">The omnipresence of handheld devices, multiplied by the advent of wearables, makes it such that we are always responding to a bleep, a buzz or a nudge. Others have also grown to meet such notifications with indignation should you miss out, ignore or delay responding to any of them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">I am not sure if this is a pure Mediterrano-Arab thing, but even our face to face encounters have to be fraught with constant "telling" and nagging and flaunting to a point where sitting quietly enjoying the moment has become a sign of malaise leading up the proverbial "shou bek?" (what's wrong?)</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> </span></div>
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So, now what? </div>
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Well, if you are basking in the sunshine of you mobile screen, shaking it to the sound of your mobile notifications on a rooftop, under a well lit billboard of the latest discounted offering of a sportswear brand, listening to a bunch of friends tell you about their exploits, while a 40 something year old adolescent revs his Harley at 2 AM in the street below, then there's nothing to do and you are just fine as you are. Just live it up!</div>
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On the other hand, if you feel this is overwhelming then you need to start figuring out what are the essentials that you cannot give up and then gradually tailor your day-to-day life around them, doing away with all that you feel is impeding on your well being. </div>
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Perhaps a week-end out of town is worth much more than those smart gimmicks you've been craving. <br />
Perhaps as a creative you don't need to hammer people with all those messages, colors, tunes, watchamacallits...</div>
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Perhaps as an architect you can let your ego take a nap and not try to outdo the building next door by making that purple facade...well..purple..</div>
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Cultivating a culture of silence or more accurately a culture of "the absence of noise" is definitely easier said than done. It starts by identifying one's priorities, what we really care about in our essence as opposed to all the gimmicks we have grown accustomed to, and eventually shedding that extra weight we have picked up along the way.<br />
If you can't understand what I have rambled about throughout this article, I invite you to take a trip abroad or just a walk in one of Lebanon's few remaining pristine natural escapes. The symbiotic nature of the great outdoors offer much to learn from and are a screaming contrast (yes, yes I know ) to the noise ridden urban life we have all come to lead.</div>
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-61711270173873455162015-03-11T23:57:00.000+02:002015-03-11T23:59:36.944+02:00And it's back...ArabNet 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yes it's that time of the year where tech enthusiasts, business professionals and various professional and financial bodies get to rub elbows with all the real and wannabe entrepreneurs.<br />
Of course not everybody there really know why they are attending, it remains however essential for any professional in digital and innovation to be present.<br />
The various insights into new industry trends on the local and regional scenes have always proven their value. <br />
It also a very good opportunity to extend one's network reach. Just make sure you are not behaving like a used car salesman handing out business cards. Careful selecting whom to connect to and how you can synergize with them is a cornerstone of building solid business relationships.<br />
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As a blogger evolving in this ecosystem, I was invited once more this year. I will be warping my business schedule to make it there. Give me a shout if you want to connect during the event.<br />
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PS: Below is the event's official press release:<br />
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-18819990538931914812015-03-04T10:15:00.000+02:002015-03-06T15:18:04.289+02:00Appeer Makes App Discovery Social<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Those of us who are regular twitter users might have noticed when, a while ago, twitter started pushing updates that inform us about what some of the people we follow have been up to. I would wake up and find that A, B & C users have favorited a tweet, or retweeted user X, or followed user Y.<br />
Although I initially had mixed feelings about this feature since I didn't really solicit that info, I grew to like it as it often offered valuable insights into interesting updates and users to follow.<br />
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<a href="http://getappeer.com/r/chemali" target="_blank"><b>Appeer</b> </a>does just that to the process of discovering interesting apps for your (Android) smartphone.<br />
Once installed and activated Appeer will introduce the user to a community of...yes you guessed it...peers, who each would willingly allow the community to discover when they install an App in exchange of knowing what others are installing. After all sharing is caring as they say.<br />
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Using the follow and follow back approach, along with a timeline tab and a recommendation tab, one is definitely bound to receive custom tailored recommendation based on community interaction.<br />
The app also allows the user to export their own list of installed apps as well as bookmarking of interesting suggestions for later review.<br />
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I joined their beta community and I must admit that in spite of being still in beta and several bugs being reported, the app seemed already mature enough. Of course large scale adoption might bring to light more user requests or bugs surfacing but that's just the nature of the beast. The team behind the app seem dedicated and responsive enough to ensure smooth sailing.<br />
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Appeer is the sort of app that you probably never knew you wanted or needed but that would succeed in surprising you once you start using it. The app is due to go live for the public on March 6<sup>th</sup> 2015</div>
Below is the official release statement:<br />
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<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E77" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E77" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0pt;">
<i><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E78" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E78" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-size: 15pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Appeer </span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E79" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E79" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-size: 15pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Announces The Launch Of Its Recommendation Platform, Aims To Provide Users With Personally Crafted App Recommendations</span></i></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E80" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E80" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E81" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E81" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-size: 10pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>- Appeer will give users an unprecedented insight into the world of apps based on their own app inventory and the personal network of people they follow.</i></span></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E82" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E82" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E83" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E83" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-size: 10pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>- Using an algorithm based on app inventory and social connection to build a tailor-made list of app recommendations, Appeer improves on the current app discovery process.</i></span></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E84" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E84" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E85" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E85" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-size: 10pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>-“This app bypasses so many of the issues that consumers have when trying to discover the next great app. Apps can now discover you.” — Co-Founder and CEO Jason Allen,</i></span></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E86" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E86" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0pt;">
<i><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E87" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E87" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-size: 10pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E88" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E88" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-size: 10pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> According to Nielsen, users spent an average of 30 hours, 15 minutes on their apps in Q4 2013, a full half-day more than the 18 hours, 18 minutes spent in Q4 2011. However, this rise in use does not mirror the average number of apps used, which only increased from 23.2 in 2011 to 26.8 apps per month in 2013.</span></i></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default hideBullet" id="E89" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E89" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
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<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E90" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E90" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<i><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E91" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E91" style="color: #ff2600; display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;">March __ 2015,</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E92" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E92" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E93" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E93" style="color: #00000a; display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Austin-based</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E94" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E94" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></i><a class="qowt-field qowt-field-hyperlink" contenteditable="false" href="http://appeer.co/" id="E95" qowt-divtype="qowt-field-hyperlink" qowt-eid="E95" target="_blank"><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande qowt-stl-Hyperlink.0" id="E96" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E96" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Appeer</span></a><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E97" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E97" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> announces the launch of its app recommendation platform, aims to provide a personalized app discovery experience for its users.</i></span></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E98" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E98" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<i><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E99" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E99" style="color: #00000a; display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Available </span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E100" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E100" style="color: #00000a; display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 6, 2015 for free via Google Play for Android devices, Appeer will</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E101" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E101" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> give users an unprecedented insight into the world of apps based on their own app inventory and the personal network of people they follow.</span></i></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E102" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E102" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E103" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E103" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Designed as a sleek app recommendation engine that is both user-friendly and powerful, Appeer app looks beyond paid app ads, review sites, and “popular app” sections of app stores to pair its users with the perfect app or game. </i></span></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E104" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E104" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E105" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E105" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Utilizing an algorithm that automatically follows people on behalf of a user in order to build a tailor-made list of app recommendations, the Appeer improves on the current app discovery process.</i></span></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E106" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E106" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<i><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E107" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E107" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E108" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E108" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Within 30 seconds of opening the app for the first time Appeer offers dozens of personally tailored recommendations that will update regularly,” says Appeer Co-Founder and CEO Jason Allen. “This app bypasses so many of the issues that consumers have when trying to discover the next great app,” he adds. </span></i></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E109" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E109" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<i><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E110" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E110" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">The app</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E111" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E111" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">’</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E112" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E112" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">s suite of features include push notifications that allow users to install a recommended app directly from Google Play, a viewable timeline of recommendations, and the ability to export the user's app inventory to four different formats.</span></i></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E113" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E113" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.32; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 10pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<i><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E114" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E114" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E115" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E115" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Additionally, users will be able to bookmark recommended apps so they can check them out later, even if the recommendation comes to them through a push notification,” says Appeer Technical Co-Founder Komra Beth Salo. “If they really like an app, users can share the recommendation via Appeer to their contacts or </span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E116" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E116" style="color: #00000a; display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">friends on social networks</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E117" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E117" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">,” she adds.</span></i></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E118" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E118" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<i><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E119" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E119" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E120" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E120" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our competitors are being paid to recommend apps to their users. Appeer only gives organic recommendations because our focus is on providing the best recommendations for our users,” explains CEO Jason Allen.</span></i></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E121" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E121" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E122" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E122" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>As the adoption of smartphones continues to rise on a global scale, so does the overall time we spend using apps or playing games. According to Nielsen, users spent an average of 30 hours, 15 minutes on their apps in Q4 2013, a full half-day more than the 18 hours, 18 minutes spent in Q4 2011. However, these figures are not mirrored by the average number of apps used, which only increased from 23.2 in 2011 to 26.8 apps per month in 2013. </i></span></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E123" is="qowt-para" named-flow="FLOW-3" qowt-eid="E123" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E124" is="qowt-run" named-flow="FLOW-4" qowt-eid="E124" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>With thousands of new apps being developed everyday — a large number of which are available for free — it is hard to look beyond these numbers without seeing a real need for a powerful and dynamic </i></span></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" is="qowt-para" named-flow="FLOW-3" qowt-eid="E123" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" is="qowt-run" named-flow="FLOW-4" qowt-eid="E124" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>app discovery tool like Appeer.</i></span></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E125" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E125" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<i><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E126" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E126" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aiming to change the way we discover new apps, Appeer moves beyond the “</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E127" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E127" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Top App</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E128" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E128" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">” charts highlighted by the App Store and Google Play, and places the focus back on the individual user.</span></i></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E129" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E129" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E130" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E130" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>About </i></span></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E131" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E131" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<i><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E132" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E132" style="color: #00000a; display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Founded in 2014 by Jason Allen, Komra Beth Salo and Milan Cubic, Austin-based</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E133" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E133" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Appeer is a new Android app, which aims to change how users discover great new Apps and Games. The Appeer app creates personally tailored app and game recommendations based on a user</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E134" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E134" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">’</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E135" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E135" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">s profile. Recommendations can be viewed in the app or received by the user via notifications on their device. </span></i></div>
<div class="qowt-stl-Default hideBullet" id="E136" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E136" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.295; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
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<div class="qowt-stl-Default" id="E137" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E137" style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 26.1pt 0px 0pt; padding: 0pt 0px 8pt; text-indent: 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E138" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E138" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="line-height: 1.295;"><b>Contact </b></span></i></span><br />
<span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E138" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="line-height: 18.9933338165283px;"><b> </b></span></i></span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E140" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.32; text-indent: 0pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Name: Eddie Arrieta</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E141" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E141" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.32; text-indent: 0pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E142" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E142" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.32; text-indent: 0pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />Phone: 1-646-480-0356</span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E143" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E143" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.32; text-indent: 0pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font4-LucidaGrande" id="E144" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E144" style="display: inline; font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.32; text-indent: 0pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />Email: eddie@publicize.co</span></div>
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-54060802785952938022015-02-16T09:47:00.001+02:002017-02-26T00:11:42.499+02:00Google's URL Shortener Blocked on Alfa Telecom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #38761d;">IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN MORE PHONE REVIEWS ON YOUTUBE CLICK HERE:</span></h2>
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<a href="https://goo.gl/hh2y5e" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGnshm0cEkiRP9FtN7DzdocJvhp6W_mqvtxlEcnXWjZnAmoOQIMjfDZeA1_1ONo2flIQ2CRDIUljtbe4EEUABVi3H5eGY_xN5DMbkJwVSE_xRJLOlmNm2qvaqL_zuDpZIe566neRt0AcU/s1600/ZH-Leaderboard-Banner.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div>
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Earlier today during my morning ritual, I was browsing my twitter feed on my mobile, powered by <a href="http://www.alfa.com.lb/" target="_blank">Alfa Telecom</a>'s mobile data, and came across a couple of interesting tweets. I clicked the link in the tweet only to land on the page below:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGXiYLCUVRoYMi70jec2xvplmBhKCbd32_nv8ZuJsLt8pThyphenhyphenFNsI3ByS2uq5waoeziXAhvXmj1mV9eTpaFEyuLv0o997T9H5Amx3zPTjD5ePU_qYQVLPPh9AjwQHEAJoD1RcL81qdakuI/s1600/goo-gl-blocked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGXiYLCUVRoYMi70jec2xvplmBhKCbd32_nv8ZuJsLt8pThyphenhyphenFNsI3ByS2uq5waoeziXAhvXmj1mV9eTpaFEyuLv0o997T9H5Amx3zPTjD5ePU_qYQVLPPh9AjwQHEAJoD1RcL81qdakuI/s1600/goo-gl-blocked.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The text reads:<br />
This site has been blocked upon order from Lebanese courts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Naturally my initial assumption was that the target site or article was blocked and it seemed plausible since it was a news site. This sort of things is not unusual around here. Then I noticed that the URL was still showing Google's URL shortener <a href="http://goo.gl/">goo.gl</a>.<br />
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I tried a few other links that had this service and they all returned the same blocked page. The last verification step involved trying to open the serice itself on the bare URL <a href="http://goo.gl/">goo.gl</a>. Receiving the same page I private messaged some friends and took it to twitter to see if others had been facing the same issue.<br />
<br />
The findings are as follows:<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Some users on Alfa Telecom like myself reported the same problem</li>
<li>Surprisingly <b>others on Alfa's</b> network were opening the site normally.</li>
<li>Touch users I contacted were issue-free.</li>
<li>I was able to personally verify that Sodetel was working.</li>
<li>IDM & Cyberia users reported it was working fine</li>
<li>Corporate users on Ogero have reportedly been able to open the URL</li>
<li><b>Furthermore at the time of writing this piece I was able to open again the URL on my Alfa subscription</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
With so many conflicting reports one is unable to draw any conclusions on this matter. My best guess is that it's a mis-configuration of some sorts on their DNS or Cache Engine. Let me know in the comments if you were able to open this on your local ISP or if you also encountered the blocked page</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-50349450699889728232014-12-23T00:57:00.001+02:002014-12-23T12:31:22.781+02:00365 Days Later, Do First Impressions Still Count?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On December 23<sup>rd</sup>, 2013, I started blogging with <a href="http://blog.chemali.org/2013/12/the-mandatory-first-post.html" target="_blank">nothing</a> in mind, one year later this blog is still about nothing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmiZcsyrIK4TSUr4fOlFSxB42oAbBVLMfDc4rjcJR6F7E0I9OJfB_b09yBCO2pr_oImPl8VFQCumcyuG8Ba3XeCtqIyYQqAJVW0QN8UVIl8BIeSZwILu-7Jl8Dft1siPLJlYtvY6Eff-w/s1600/hand-1-year.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmiZcsyrIK4TSUr4fOlFSxB42oAbBVLMfDc4rjcJR6F7E0I9OJfB_b09yBCO2pr_oImPl8VFQCumcyuG8Ba3XeCtqIyYQqAJVW0QN8UVIl8BIeSZwILu-7Jl8Dft1siPLJlYtvY6Eff-w/s1600/hand-1-year.jpg" height="640" width="615" /></a></div>
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-88615738694540527042014-12-16T13:40:00.001+02:002014-12-16T13:40:33.913+02:00Build Me a Shop: ShopBuilder.Me<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>The internet is a wonderful place that allows you to promote your products and services to people in the blink of an eye and achieve overnight success...</i>well...no, not really!<i><br /></i><br />
If you are thinking about starting your online commerce venture any time soon, you need to be aware of many hurdles to that overnight success and the pool-side margaritas that come with it.<br />
<br />
Deciding to build from scratch or to use a pre-existing framework (OSCommerce, Magento, Prestashop...), creating the right graphics and layout to match your identity, deciding on a payment gateway (local ones like Audi or Netcommerce or international ones like 2CO vs services like Paypal & Skrill), working with a shipping partner for tangible product sales, are just a handful of the many details that the eCommerce devil usually chooses to dwell in.<br />
<br />
I was approached, not long ago, by the people from <a href="http://shopbuilder.me/">ShopBuilder.me</a> who were pitching their new concept of a turnkey solution that allows anybody to be up and running with their own online shop. Their key feature: a preset platform that connects them to payment gateways and shipping partners.<br /><br />
I was willing to take them up on their request and, in turn, they agreed to let me run loose with my own demo access, asking me to mention the bad before the good, something rarely found in local businesses.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdMpSkrrfyl-ZPTlfSc8Ubke65O1jB6tIAHZhKIQgLBBQwrer3ehaKCkzgske65mWiNwgFDoRaFHdG_Rt7jLzAfp-zUG8s4GOVRGlWghKwOBLVrHWdvBW1_FK1DdJr8OtofCc29dvKRY/s1600/shopbuilder-me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdMpSkrrfyl-ZPTlfSc8Ubke65O1jB6tIAHZhKIQgLBBQwrer3ehaKCkzgske65mWiNwgFDoRaFHdG_Rt7jLzAfp-zUG8s4GOVRGlWghKwOBLVrHWdvBW1_FK1DdJr8OtofCc29dvKRY/s1600/shopbuilder-me.jpg" height="442" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
Here are my summarized findings:<br />
<br />
<b>The Good</b><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The registration and account activation process is smooth and flawless.<br /></li>
<li>The theme selection makes it super easy to personalize your shop if you are a non-techie<br /></li>
<li>The Audi Payment gateway module is just a matter of filling some info to connect. No tricky SDK and no endless lines of code.<br /></li>
<li>The Shipping module is also easily configured to connect to Aramex (and other suppliers soon?). Who doesn't hate filling all those zone info etc...<br /></li>
<li>The SEO fields are available to help you in that area.<br /></li>
<li>The excellent after-sales service: The company makes sure to follow-up with a phone call with each person undergoing a trial period to ensure everything is going nicely with them<br /></li>
<li>It's super fast to configure just look at what I did in under an hour with pre-existing graphics I had from my blog and facebook page: <a href="http://chemali.shopbuilder.me/">http://chemali.shopbuilder.me/</a><br /> </li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJ3olYpaz3F5iCtwsZUKI0px2I-Ub7zIA1YA-oUQ9kI0H0F1Ikxox55weyB4dkoxG0ho31KTUhEUSUEJZb8FkH6huLDBFTnUH8Sbbf5PKQ5wukgTFMtcgYVvC3AdORA2mw_W9i9jhBzQ/s1600/chemali-shopbuilder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJ3olYpaz3F5iCtwsZUKI0px2I-Ub7zIA1YA-oUQ9kI0H0F1Ikxox55weyB4dkoxG0ho31KTUhEUSUEJZb8FkH6huLDBFTnUH8Sbbf5PKQ5wukgTFMtcgYVvC3AdORA2mw_W9i9jhBzQ/s1600/chemali-shopbuilder.jpg" height="340" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
<b>The Bad </b><br />
or rather what can be improved to make the site stand-out even more <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(you'll pardon my penchant for movie references)</i></span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The shop set-up process does not have a clear flow for someone engaging in building their shop for the first time. One needs to be familiar with the glossary of the various sections to really be able to systematically complete all fields and sections needed to end up with a shop. While this was not a particular challenge for me, I suspect the site's target audience is a bit wider than 15 year digital veterans with computer science backgrounds.<br /> </li>
<li>The navigation in the back-office is tricky. Clicking on Home will take you to the preview of your shop not to the administration home page. The administration homepage can only be accessed from the breadcrumbs menu on top. The left menu does not offer a link back to that initial page.<br /> </li>
<li>Social media integration needs to be more in-depth. It is important for some who want to make it easier for their customers on various channels to log-in using those credentials.<br /> </li>
<li>No customization of CSS (at least) for the available templates. Adding this possibility will catapult the site further.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<b>The Ugly</b><br />
or what makes the experience less pleasant without taking away from the functionality and concept.<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In all honesty, I was initially put off by the user interface. In a time and age where Microsoft spearheaded flat design, and Google is overhauling the majority of its interfaces with the slick Material Design guidelines <a href="http://www.shopbuilder.me/">www.shopbuilder.me</a> failed to deliver in design what it offered in features. With a dominating light grey background adjacent to white areas the entire design just felt like a cloudy autumn day.<br /> </li>
<li>Other design related issues include the lack of definition is obvious in the bottom grid whose top separator is overlapped by the omnipresent 14-day trial promo box on the right hand side...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJHJ_4HmypHDKzYTgB3PsfzJetsnkWBnNz36_2T_rzGp9kWQMsLeLf0O-T8xXxGbLYVwwUVlOp8kz14QKTOeHSp6eNisoEmvcRiLKOFVUM2hB59d7smXr5G2G44ir__W4N9OyQwykX8c/s1600/sb-bottom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJHJ_4HmypHDKzYTgB3PsfzJetsnkWBnNz36_2T_rzGp9kWQMsLeLf0O-T8xXxGbLYVwwUVlOp8kz14QKTOeHSp6eNisoEmvcRiLKOFVUM2hB59d7smXr5G2G44ir__W4N9OyQwykX8c/s1600/sb-bottom.jpg" height="190" width="400" /></a><br /></li>
<li>The current template selections is not very rich and require a good deal of additional tweaks.<br /> </li>
<li>Some notifications in the back-office overlap with page design and turn in into a gooey mess<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkXYbI_IeYseV5tFJFNgl5TU0qJ4ePArHeX_p74UMubqZYlcnycq-E65uosJlRXAHK6dX0z9HN5tOqfPk2J7ojTItMdr-x5I1K4F47XckS8wIeug4ssF-Ya9Ra49VxNX8xuUp3eqmxHQ/s1600/sb-backoffice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkXYbI_IeYseV5tFJFNgl5TU0qJ4ePArHeX_p74UMubqZYlcnycq-E65uosJlRXAHK6dX0z9HN5tOqfPk2J7ojTItMdr-x5I1K4F47XckS8wIeug4ssF-Ya9Ra49VxNX8xuUp3eqmxHQ/s1600/sb-backoffice.jpg" height="162" width="400" /></a><br /></li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Final Thoughts</b><br />
<br />
Shop Builder is a valiant effort to bring eCommerce to the masses in the most transparent way. By eliminating the tricky parts of setting up your own shop they promise the wannabe merchant a fast lane road into the market.<br />
<br />
I am not sure how much large businesses would want to resort to using the site in its current form for selling their products, as I imagine them more concerned about having their own branding. Perhaps this is an idea for the founders to offer premium customization for large client.<br />
<br />
However, if you are a small business, and are not ready to invest half of your capital into building an eCommerce site and doing all the leg work that comes with that, then you have just stumbled into the right solution for you.<br />
<br />
Shop Builder might just need a bit of tweaking and dressing up but it's on the right track towards becoming a killer product for your eCommerce needs.<br />
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-23916050036696609682014-12-11T12:21:00.000+02:002014-12-11T14:39:55.716+02:00One Does Not Simply "Connect" from Sodetel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After having seen their promos and heard some good words about them, I wanted to check out the website for "Connect" one of the new ISPs in Lebanon.<br />
As I sat there waiting for their <a href="http://www.connect.net.lb/">www.connect.net.lb</a> site to load, my initial thoughts were mostly skepticism about how good they are if their website was taking that long to load.<br />
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When the browser eventually gave up and gave me an error I quickly resorted to smartphone and tried to open the site. You guessed it folks, the site loaded like a charm and it it was responsive, something that other well established ISPs seem oblivious to.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4NNhaJB9pS7UJ_s0CKyazDChqjA57m9YeVR8nZS1sC5c3l9Eo_zsamMuxZ3QeLElc5sj8uCLTUBypq205ae8OI8nnrn0-6YAjaqEq50MOOnV37750Sh463gQ4Qy687DFDfBt08MBR6g/s1600/connect-net-lb-sodetel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4NNhaJB9pS7UJ_s0CKyazDChqjA57m9YeVR8nZS1sC5c3l9Eo_zsamMuxZ3QeLElc5sj8uCLTUBypq205ae8OI8nnrn0-6YAjaqEq50MOOnV37750Sh463gQ4Qy687DFDfBt08MBR6g/s1600/connect-net-lb-sodetel.jpg" height="320" width="291" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laptop via Sodetel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPv3NaqfgVZYMufmURMw4T2rHnWzMwrwY8VyF5OlCYRLDd_vi7T7t_qjLzVLgLYWSXR1f6J6uwrCPJHGrMzN0hVU338welQ7dO1A7Fxh4v-pFLhYsfpmnp24z5WH0Jom0SmJ1SB6qK2k/s1600/connect-net-lb-alfa.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPv3NaqfgVZYMufmURMw4T2rHnWzMwrwY8VyF5OlCYRLDd_vi7T7t_qjLzVLgLYWSXR1f6J6uwrCPJHGrMzN0hVU338welQ7dO1A7Fxh4v-pFLhYsfpmnp24z5WH0Jom0SmJ1SB6qK2k/s1600/connect-net-lb-alfa.png" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smartphone via Alfa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Wanting to rule out any issue on my own wifi, I did the usual restart on my router and laptop but things were the same. It was when I asked friends from different ISP connections to try out the link that the truth became obvious.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQvpGtDKqgFmFwSc69y-GOZLyriB1w1FrIDqKqGGkEF87Fs-AQME0QGkxXRrM82nqh4xxkkRRp8sbWAkJQw4svh6KTbJ0Rm_BVhRgYHV1DhL796TxLCwuOvvHHdywoxyDKqHoYR85PCU/s1600/other-people.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQvpGtDKqgFmFwSc69y-GOZLyriB1w1FrIDqKqGGkEF87Fs-AQME0QGkxXRrM82nqh4xxkkRRp8sbWAkJQw4svh6KTbJ0Rm_BVhRgYHV1DhL796TxLCwuOvvHHdywoxyDKqHoYR85PCU/s1600/other-people.jpg" height="320" width="185" /></a></div>
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<br />
Connect's website was exclusively inaccessible from Sodetel's DSL connection. The reason behind this issue is still unknown.<br />
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<br />
I will not jump to any conclusion here but one cannot but wonder why from all the sites out there Sodetel's connection just won't let open that new competitor. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNr6h303EGYjckqTUfJrVyU1b5G289SiNK8sbHASrG6H24PgGZW55H9A8JaEU14n_RgmTXeM_S10hrYow_sKrPpVithToDhLWDiZPbZlHGXOGmfpg7vY1ktpO5KuF-UEyIglRcvSwp_Go/s1600/one-does-not-simply-connect-from-sodetel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNr6h303EGYjckqTUfJrVyU1b5G289SiNK8sbHASrG6H24PgGZW55H9A8JaEU14n_RgmTXeM_S10hrYow_sKrPpVithToDhLWDiZPbZlHGXOGmfpg7vY1ktpO5KuF-UEyIglRcvSwp_Go/s1600/one-does-not-simply-connect-from-sodetel.jpg" height="235" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
<b>Update - Time: 14:25</b><br />
After a Sodetel representative reached out an hour ago asking about the details of the issue and assuring it was opening normally from his end, it seems that the site is now accessible.<br />
<br />
<b>Update Time: 14:35</b><br />
ok stop the press people, I spoke too soon and the site is again unreachable. This could be an indicator of someone working to fix the issue or some other deep rooted issues with their DNS, routing or Cache Engine.<br />
<br /></div>
Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-67948792554166966442014-12-02T13:40:00.000+02:002014-12-02T19:28:38.745+02:00Lebanese Comedy Act 3as3usTakes On Sensodyne Arabia Saves Youtube<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJLwpfi8lZygrY8S2AA6NJ_BQ-j9uwlwww0q9XP00f9emQCsnfbS5R52kjzAYmbIsfIKKEwHDoKKZ8uDyc8zt_Xa8COMRtt4d4BBqMXnN0Gp12lls3YkPUPNRfvwyjijjq6D76LuTRLiA/s1600/3as3ous.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJLwpfi8lZygrY8S2AA6NJ_BQ-j9uwlwww0q9XP00f9emQCsnfbS5R52kjzAYmbIsfIKKEwHDoKKZ8uDyc8zt_Xa8COMRtt4d4BBqMXnN0Gp12lls3YkPUPNRfvwyjijjq6D76LuTRLiA/s1600/3as3ous.png" height="292" width="640" /></a></div>
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Not long ago, I went on a rant on Twitter about the annoying Sensodyne Arabia Youtube videos which had been hammering us for a while. A month later, others joined in expressing their frustration and this led to my previous blog post <a href="http://blog.chemali.org/2014/11/thoughts-sensodyne-arabias-youtube-ad.html" target="_blank">Thoughts On Sensodyne Arabia's YouTube Ad</a><br />
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Today, YouTube was saved by Lebanese comedy act <b>3as3us</b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSfQnMioJ3dLYl0TopeYojQ" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCRGV0_iTOWoRS5hP7e0EKQGjuTqoRCytBXOGjZmYuGv2sFScDSzKo3AmwscbbfT26rkjH1_gtLqVGzq8lEqozc8of31rNESCRgBOJC3KYxGTti2tJbZHcJ1oy8Cj8PFnjHWFiCwT3hAg/s1600/youtube-icon-small.jpg" /></a>. The two man comedy act of Anthony Hamawi and Shant Kabakian vented out everybody's frustration in a parody clip, where the actors took on the two effigies of the annoying Sensodyne (parodied as "SenseYourSpine") spokespersons with extreme prejudice.<br />
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<br />
Thank you to <a href="https://twitter.com/mich_h" target="_blank">Michelle Hamaoui </a>who pointed out the video to me and<br />
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<b>Long live <a href="https://twitter.com/3as3us" target="_blank">3as3us</a> for coming to the rescue of all of the region's YouTube users!</b><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/C5LNua3WiZ8" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-22750212440500970052014-11-25T21:15:00.004+02:002014-11-25T22:01:36.269+02:00Thoughts On Sensodyne Arabia's YouTube Ad<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_hbbqR7eU-wHkQ-19nzxiR1DoYT-bpMiuyLV50mvy0MZ_HrDBTytNLChlTRixY17ghLENuVTG6wjS2EQRuR6-mVFLtENEh5EEeFIhZT9p8gKz5w87GTBWR8WgUHu0J-rpiwKBaR4nxiU/s1600/sensodyne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_hbbqR7eU-wHkQ-19nzxiR1DoYT-bpMiuyLV50mvy0MZ_HrDBTytNLChlTRixY17ghLENuVTG6wjS2EQRuR6-mVFLtENEh5EEeFIhZT9p8gKz5w87GTBWR8WgUHu0J-rpiwKBaR4nxiU/s1600/sensodyne.jpg" height="212" width="640" /></a></div>
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If you happen to live in the Middle East region namely the Levant and the Gulf and enjoy YouTube as much as the next person, then you probably have already been subjected to Sensodyne's True White video ads which have taken by storm this channels to a point where it has become a nuisance.<br />
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First, the ads:<br />
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Aside from the fact that the ads are omnipresent on any video you might be attempting to watch there are several issues that might be open to discussion about the type of ad that's been chosen and its targeting.</div>
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<li><b>Type of Ad</b><br />
The ads are following a technique which used to be adopted in the 60s for promoting, you guessed it, cigarettes. Doctors were spokespersons for brands such as R.J. Reynolds the manufacturers of the Camel cigarettes.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bnKLpO9qhOE" width="420"></iframe> </div>
You might say, fine, toothpaste is not cigarettes. The point I am trying to make is that this technique is ancient and antiquated and perhaps still valid on traditional media. But on the internet where people watch viral videos and clever ads by brands that utilize technologies like augmented reality this sort of 2 dimes a dozen advertizing does not fly and it actually insults the intelligence of even the most average internet user </li>
<li><b>The Frequency of the Ad</b><br />
While we can understand the eagerness of any brand to push their latest innovation, this is becoming very similar to what radio stations usually do when they are trying to push a hit onto the airwaves by hammering it all day long. Of course it's gonna get into the subconscious of a large number of people but it's also going to irritate and infuriate others to the point of hating the song or in this case the brand (I present exhibits A, B & C)<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
Thanks to the new annoying <a href="https://twitter.com/YouTube">@YouTube</a> ads by <a href="https://twitter.com/sensodynearabia">@sensodynearabia</a> I've gone out and bought another toothpaste brand for the 1st time in 30 years<br />
— Patrick Chemali (@chemali) <a href="https://twitter.com/chemali/status/526499969109225472">October 26, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/sensodynearabia">@sensodynearabia</a> I pledge to never again purchase Sensodyne toothpaste, way to go with your brilliant marketing strategy on <a href="https://twitter.com/YouTube">@YouTube</a><br />
— Nadine Mazloum (@MazloumNadine) <a href="https://twitter.com/MazloumNadine/status/537193370246856704">November 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
<a href="https://twitter.com/MazloumNadine">@MazloumNadine</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/chemali">@chemali</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/sensodynearabia">@sensodynearabia</a> i usually don't mind ads but they are the reason i finally downloaded an ad blocker!<br />
— Michelle (@mich_h) <a href="https://twitter.com/mich_h/status/537200772828516353">November 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
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</li>
<li><b>The Choice of the Spokesperson</b><br />
Sensodyne Arabia chose to have both ads above to cover the native Arabic-speaking audience, alongside the large number of English speaking expats living in Dubai.</li>
<ol>
<li>The gentleman in the first ad described as a practicing dentists without a name (isn't there some legal requirement for real names?) represents the majority of the foreign workforce in Dubai, but the problem with him as a spokesperson is that he sounds like a heavy smoker. A dentists that sounds like he smokes 5 packs a day is not someone I wish to take advice from, not to mention that he looks bored and just wants to finish filming the commercial.</li>
<li>The female counterpart is for starters inexplicably overzealous. Furthermore as a native Arabic speaker (and by arabic, I mean both classical form and Lebanese dialect) she fails to deliver the message to me a potential client for the new product and a regular fan of the brand. Her performance leaves me too busy getting stuck on the way she uses certain words and more on the pronunciation. Perhaps other countries that do not have the same dialect as this lady were considered irrelevant by Sensodyne Arabia and we should just "suck it up princess" and appreciate the product.</li>
</ol>
<li><b>Ignoring Comments on Social Media</b><br />
It was almost a month between my initial rant on twitter and the one that took place today by others and triggered this post. In that span of time, Sensodyne Arabia who is supposedly on social media to be social (pardon my french) didn't even bother replying or inquiring about what would cause, not one but two (and more) previous advocates of the brand, to rant out and promise to never buy their product again. I think this takes me back to how relevant the brand considers us. </li>
</ol>
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So there you go Sensodyne a bigger rant, perhaps it can attract your attention on what we honestly felt was an ill conceived advertising campaign. And if it doesn't well...who cares? Certainly not you!</div>
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-16653264525363470432014-11-22T14:25:00.001+02:002014-11-22T14:25:47.578+02:00Exclusive Q&A with IDM-Cyberia CCO Bassam Jaber<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IDM-Cyberia Biggest Private Lebanese ISP</td></tr>
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The best thing about attending events like <a href="http://blog.chemali.org/2014/11/bdl-accelerate-2014-day-one.html" target="_blank">BDL Accelerate 2014</a> is that you get to bump into many of the tech leaders in the country. Although they are usually surrounded by the organizer who are trying to get them to meet other decisions makers during the event, I managed to get a quick and exclusive Q&A with <a href="https://twitter.com/Bjaber1968" target="_blank">Bassam Jaber</a> CEO of Cyberia and CCO of the joint IDM-Cyberia operation (for the tiny percentile among you who didn't know this: yes, the two ISPs are now a single entity)<br />
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Here is the transcript of our short discussion:<br />
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Q:</b></span> How long has it been since IDM-Cyberia have merged and when should we expect to see a new brand emerge from this deal?</i><br />
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<i><b>A: </b>It's been 2 years since we merged our operations, however we do not forsee in the near future the emergence of a new brand name to replace the two brands. The major reason is a regulatory one, as we are currently operating two different licenses and replacing those with a new license or acquiring a third license is a lengthy and difficult process.</i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Q:</b></span> On digital and acceleration for startups, have you provided support, or would you be interested in supporting start-ups that might benefit from your position as Lebanon's largest ISP?</i></div>
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<i><b>A: </b>Definitely, if we see a good start-up that would benefit from our support we'd go for it.</i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Q:</b></span> What can you disclose on future projects that IDM-Cyberia might be launching soon?</i></div>
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<i><b>A: </b>We are currently looking into IPTV and have considered launching such a project but it all depends on the regulatory hurdles we are facing. A lot of projects are still blocked with the regulator (The Ministry of Telecom) in the same manner we are struggling with bandwidth and speed.</i></div>
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<i>Today our main mission and goal remain to work on speeding up the internet on a national level and providing the user with the necessary bandwidth and access.</i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Q:</b></span> Final question: why aren't you as brand on social media?</i></div>
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<i><b>A:</b> We are currently focusing on improving our core services. We want to be able to help customers when they reach out to us on social media if we do join these channels. Currently many problems are out of our hands, and we need to fix the problems on the government entities side, otherwise we will be disappointing our fans and followers. </i></div>
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As you see, even Lebanon's largest ISP seem to have their hands tied with so much red tape that they are very careful when exploring new ideas such as IPTV or even when considering joining the rest of us on social media. Will we see an end to this technical nightmare anytime soon? </div>
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Would someone fill my glass, it just seems so empty all the time.</div>
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-643264070702254852014-11-22T12:14:00.000+02:002014-11-22T17:50:03.575+02:00BDL Accelerate 2014 Day Two<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After a successful first day, BDL accelerate unraveled yesterday it's second line up of speakers, with a fiery morning where two panels Lebanon’s Ecosystem and Lebanon’s Investors stole the show. An all star line up was composed of names such as previous ministers <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.6000003814697px;"><a href="https://twitter.com/NicolaSehnaoui" target="_blank">Nicolas Sehanoui</a> (</span>telecom) and <a href="http://twitter.com/mar1_k" target="_blank">Marwan Kheireddine</a> (state), who both happen to be successful businessmen not unlike co-panelist <a href="http://twitter.com/marounchammas" target="_blank">Maroun Chammas</a> a serial entrepreneur with activities ranging from Oil and gas to telecom and or tech-activist <a href="http://twitter.com/halafrangie" target="_blank">Hala Fadel</a> who started and chairs the MIT Enterprise Forum of the pan-Arab region along side <a href="http://www.bdlaccelerate.com/events/" target="_blank">other names</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWQAH7no2vP1q6RFKqwphGMt5vvgOQUU_txwbaSb74PKtY2Zjay5W1yBzCTig1Ft4rzfhofFy-_w5EfqLPrQjSSI66S44jNAcPcKH2G3IeudTDgGQYfY0llvHdsVaFjzU2Ru0EnDKimx8/s1600/IMG_20141121_100117865_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWQAH7no2vP1q6RFKqwphGMt5vvgOQUU_txwbaSb74PKtY2Zjay5W1yBzCTig1Ft4rzfhofFy-_w5EfqLPrQjSSI66S44jNAcPcKH2G3IeudTDgGQYfY0llvHdsVaFjzU2Ru0EnDKimx8/s1600/IMG_20141121_100117865_HDR.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://twitter.com/mikebutcher" target="_blank">Mike Butcher</a> made sure that the usual Lebanese diplomacy in public speaking did not have its way as he hammered the panelists with direct questions, all the way to ousting the name of the person who most were hinting at when discussing hurdles that prevent Lebanon from having decent internet access. For obvious reasons I shall refrain from naming anyone as well, and play along the Harry Potter theme of "the one that shall not be named".<br />
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Other panels and speakers of the day provided interesting glimpses and insights into their respective experiences such as being an expat entrepreneur or their assessment of the benefits of being an entrepreneur in the USA.<br />
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The event culminated in the announcement of the winner of the Start-up Competition out of the eight finalists chosen on <a href="http://blog.chemali.org/2014/11/bdl-accelerate-2014-day-one.html" target="_blank">day one</a>.<br />
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With So7ati and Presella walking away as runners up, the winner after 15 minutes of jury deliberations was <a href="http://www.myki.co/" target="_blank">Ki</a> an interactive password manager with proximity features.<br />
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One cannot but applaud the huge effort that has gone into organizing this event which, I must remind everyone, offered <b>free access</b> to the large numbers of participants that were eager to learn more about the BDL initiative and looked to learn from the experiences of participating speakers.<br />
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-23616608205841323482014-11-21T00:18:00.001+02:002014-11-21T00:18:24.149+02:00BDL Accelerate 2014 Day One <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">People standing in line outside the building</td></tr>
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After the huge build-up until today's event, we were all psyched to see if this event will live up to our expectation and the associated hype. With a set of successful speakers in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, from Lebanon and abroad announced, there was a huge turnout, to the point where we started the day by queuing for over half an hour to make it to the registration booth.<br />
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This led many people including myself to take it to twitter to express frustration or to let others know they were in for a wait. <br />One tweet I found particularly amusing was by <a href="http://www.twitter.com/farrahberrou" target="_blank">@farrahberrou</a><br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
The irony of this conference is that it's called <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Accelerate2014?src=hash">#Accelerate2014</a> and we've been in line for a half hour<br />
— Farrah Berrou (@farrahberrou) <a href="https://twitter.com/farrahberrou/status/535350442562445312">November 20, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br />
One has to mention however the excellent catering services, where people waiting in line, even outside the building, were being served beverages and snacks by very courteous dedicated staff.<br />
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Fast forward past this little hiccup, the set-up inside was what you would expect from an event of this magnitude, with the various start-ups spread across the floor showcasing their ideas and products.<br />
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In another corner the Lebanese banks that support the Banque Du Liban circular 331 had set-up shop and welcomed the public near the Workshop Area, where various sessions were taking place throughout the day, simultaneously with the big event.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A SelfiesBox picture with Friend & Fellow Blogger <br />
Chadi AbouNohra from Tech Ticker</td></tr>
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One has to mention the <a href="https://twitter.com/SelfiesBox" target="_blank">SelfiesBox</a> stand which was undeniably the most visited for obvious reasons, up until the icecream stand started serving free treats.<br />
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The main event itself saw the opening ceremony hosting 4 key speakers including <b>Mr Riad Salameh </b><i>the Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon</i>, <b>Mr Francois Bassil </b><i>the Chairman of the Association of Banks in Lebanon</i>, <b>Mr Mohamed Choucair</b> the <i>Chairman of the Federation of the Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Lebanon</i> and last but not least the socially active and always flamboyant <b>Mr Tom Fletcher</b>, the <i>Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Lebanon</i> who delivered a very up-beat speech (when is he not so?) about his faith in Lebanon's future prospects (you're on for that 2020 bet Mr Ambassador).<br />
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The rest of the day's agenda saw various successful and upcoming entrepreneurs share their thoughts, their struggles and also their drive towards what makes an entrepreneur succeed. The panels were quite eclectic and something every wannabe entrepreneur should attend.<br />
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The first day wrapped up with a selection of 8 finalist from the original <a href="http://www.bdlaccelerate.com/frontpage/startups/" target="_blank">28 startups</a> that competed for the “Lightning Round – Startup Competition. The ones that made it through are:<br />
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<a href="http://cardiodiagnostix.com/" target="_blank">Cardio Diagnostic</a>, <a href="http://www.saily.co/" target="_blank">Saily</a>, <a href="http://yellowpay.co/" target="_blank">Yellow</a>, <a href="http://www.myki.co/" target="_blank">Ki</a>, <a href="https://presella.com/" target="_blank">Presella</a>, <a href="http://goejaza.com/" target="_blank">GoEjaza</a>, <a href="http://feedeed.com/" target="_blank">Feedeed</a>, <a href="http://www.tari2ak.com/" target="_blank">Tari2ak</a><br />
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Not entirely what I would have chosen but the "people" have spoken and this was their selection.<br />
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For those of you who missed this first day, you can still make up for this by hurrying up tomorrow to catch the final day of what has been so far an event that should become a recurrence in our local business scene.<br />
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<i>PS: I hope there will be a power outlet at the press table for tomorrow and a stable accessible wifi connection</i><br />
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350933439127160277.post-3375917975441145452014-11-03T09:46:00.000+02:002014-11-03T18:17:10.648+02:00BDL Accelerate 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I am not an entrepreneur, I don't like being called one and I am very allergic to the unjustified <a href="http://blog.chemali.org/2014/01/the-hypentrepreneur.html" target="_blank">hype</a> that has been pumped up about this topic in recent years.<br />
I am however a 16-year veteran in digital, a business owner, and a professional that has been involved in various ventures that brought to light many services for the corporate and start-up ecosystems, and I know a good opportunity when I see one. The <b><i>BDL Accelerate 2014 </i></b>is it!<br />
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With Banque Du Liban putting its weight behind this year's Accelerate International Startup Conference on November 20<sup>th</sup> & 21<sup>st</sup>, you are set to connect with an array of expert stakeholders who will be attending this exclusive invite-only event.<br />
The right mix of local and international participants from the various corners of the professional world includes 50+ names and spans into several industries, allowing each participant to find the right beacon that will lead them to their desired outcome.<br />
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A window towards a $500,000 USD investment opportunity will be the cherry on the cake through the participation in the Seedstars World International Startup Competition.<br />
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Perhaps, my assumptions that not everyone can be an entrepreneur are flawed, like several of my colleagues point out, but what better way to know if you have what it takes to be the next big start-up than by <a href="http://www.bdlaccelerate.com/application-form/" target="_blank">applying for an invitation</a> to attend Lebanon’s 1st International Startup Conference?<br />
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Looking forward to meeting you all there during the conference days!<br />
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<a href="http://www.bdlaccelerate.com/" target="_blank">BDL Accelerate official Website</a><br />
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Patrick Chemalihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13689210630239864082noreply@blogger.com0