If you are allergic to seafood, avoid CT scans.

The contrasting agents used in CT scans are made from shellfishes’ iodine, not protein which is the cause of most shellfish allergies.

<3… B4…LYLAS…TKU4UK

Translation: heart, before, love you like a sister, and thank you for your kindness, respectively. Would you have guessed that these seemingly random combinations of numbers and letters are just a few among hundreds of acronyms of text message lingo? I pulled these from Netlingo.com, which boasts the most extensive list of text message lingo, 95 percent of which I am completely unfamiliar. When I receive text messages from friends or younger family members comprised mostly of acronyms, I scratch my head, puzzled at what the message is supposed to say.    

For a long time, I was resistant to text messaging. I thought it was a waste of time. A simple phone call would take half the time to get to the point than a text messaging conversation. In fact, I was so resistant that until a few years ago, I didn’t even have a cell phone that enabled text messaging! And now, I find that I text more than I talk on the phone simply because people are more responsive to a text message.

However, my text messages are not cryptic codes of letters and numbers. Instead, they are grammatically correct and complete sentences. I have yet to give in to the LOL, BRB, TTYL and other acronyms. As a spelling and grammar nerd, seeing these acronyms and period-less sentences make me cringe.

What sparked this evaluation of my text messaging habits was an article I found while perusing through the day’s news online that took text messaging to a new level. The headline read “South Korea team wins text messaging world cup.” The LG Mobile World Cup Championships pitted 24 participants from 12 countries against each other in an intense competition of who could type phrases projected on plasma screens the fastest with no typos or abbreviations. The winning team from South Korea took home the championship title and $100,000. A new record was set by a 27-year-old from Portugal who typed a 264-character text in 1 minute and 59 seconds. I’m fairly certain I could only type a 100-character text in the same amount of time with several typos.

Fifteen years ago, I never would have guessed a phenomenon like text messaging would ever come to pass. Now, people are competing to be the most accurate and fastest of all the avid text messagers in the world. OMG!

 -Mary Nhotsavang

Think nothing good can come out of having your credit card number stolen? I would have thought the same before having my Wells Fargo Visa Check Card number swiped just before the New Year. Sitting here at my desk going about the daily flurry of work, the phone ran and my caller ID revealed it was Wells Fargo. “Uh oh,” my gut muttered. I picked up quickly and discovered, much to my surprise, that Wells Fargo had detected “unusual activity” with my card number. Within a few minutes, the diligent Wells Fargo representative and I came to the conclusion that my card number had been stolen (given that my day’s activities hadn’t included making multiple unsuccessful attempts to set up Yahoo! Personals accounts and I hadn’t charged $1.62 to an attorney in Portland, Oregon.) Within seconds, my card number was deactivated and the thief’s buying power was disabled.

While this experience temporarily rattled me (since my physical card was securely in my wallet), it enhanced my faith in banking with Wells Fargo. Sure, I’ve read their marketing materials for the WellsProtect^® program that claims I’m automatically covered at no extra cost and not responsible for unauthorized charges if reported promptly. But this comfort-instilling marketing message was really brought to life by experiencing this service in action. And let’s not forget, it was the Wells Fargo representative who alerted me to potential trouble, ensuring that prompt action was indeed taken.

Last week, Pat Henning blogged about the benefits of having a shared values culture for achieving business results. One of Wells Fargo’s internal brand promises is that they will “wow” customers to retain their existing base and grow, at least in part, by word of mouth. While I’m not privy to precisely how Wells Fargo has informed, involved and inspired its employees (the Inside-Out Model SCG uses for  internal communications programs) to be their ambassadors of this brand promise, one word most aptly describes my recent experience with Wells Fargo—Wow!

-Steph Haugan

Staying out in the cold and wind will give you a cold.

Colds are caused by viruses, not from cold air, slush, wind or other wintery conditions.  Cold viruses are more active in the winter and that’s why people get more colds this time of year.

In addition to the countless hours of football I watched last weekend (Go Vikings!) I was lucky enough to catch the Men’s figure skating competition at US Nationals. And what a duel it was as reigning champion Jeremy Abbott prepared to defend his title from longtime rivals Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir. But Jeremy was up to the challenge, and delivered two spectacular programs to land him in the top spot (in fact he led the entire competition). His final score of 263.66 points was 25 more than that of world champion Evan Lysacek — a landslide for those of you (myself included) still confused by skating’s new judging system.

Some questioned Jeremy’s coaching change last May and relocation to the Detroit Figure Skating Club, but all doubts were soon dispelled after this competition.

I especially enjoyed Abbott’s smooth confidence and exuberant attitude—both missing from many skaters I watched. I also appreciated his costume choices—understated and modern yet reminiscent of greats like Paul Wylie and Brian Boitano. Abbott didn’t need glitz or glam to succeed—his cool confidence was gold medal worthy. With this win, he also clinched his berth to the Winter Olympics. Both Evan and Johnny will join him this February. Go Team USA!

How did Jeremy first get interested in skating? Check out his story on iSkateRiedell.com! And be sure to catch the Ice Dance Free Skate this Saturday at 2 p.m. central, and then the Ladies Free Skate at 8 p.m. all on NBC. The perfect pre-cursor to a football-filled Sunday!

-Jenny Silgen

 NBC’s plans to return late night host Jay Leno to the 10:35 pm CST spot while pushing co-worker Conan O’Brien back a half hour to 11:05 pm has caused quite a ruckus – creating good entertainment all in its own right. In fact, who needs to tune into the Tonight Show for a laugh when Conan issues a statement addressed to “People of Earth.” His statement continued, “In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me.” Blah, blah, blah.

 Well, I don’t feel sorry for Conan. NBC owns the Tonight Show property and they can pretty much do with it want they want. However, I do feel sorry for the other employees that must work in this mess.

 It’s no laughing matter when an employee airs grievances publicly. Sure, most companies don’t deal with mega stars like Conan and Leno, but most companies do have a couple of super-talented, overly confident employees. You know who they are. While stars like Conan have instant access to the national media, your employees now can make a similar impact through Facebook, blogs, Twitter and the like. Without defined expectations and an established culture, these folks’ energy can migrate to advancing themselves rather than working for the common good of the enterprise. The results can be devastating both financially and culturally. The financial element for NBC could likely run into tens of millions but what of the untold cost to the culture or its brand?

 Again most companies’ playing field is much different than this situation at NBC, but the network’s plight is still instructive. Does your company have guidance in place to filter out the Conans before they begin destructive behavior. Do you rally the troops around the common cause with their every action every day? Establishing a shared values culture provides just that. While morally neutral, these values define expected behavior and enhance each individual action. The shared values provide customers with a consistent experience from shipping to sales, and allows a company to more readily achieve it goals. Investing in internal communications and the culture is often a tough sell, but take note; it ALWAYS provides a positive financial return.

 We know NBC has worked hard in developing its cast of employees over the years and maybe its culture. In entertainment, a guy like Conan probably seemed liked a great talent who could connect with audiences and advertisers. But I’m not sure the People of Earth (including those who watch late-night television) hold Conan in higher regard now that they know of his grievance with his employer (a clever ploy to distribute his resume broadly) or how he feels about his hair.

 -Pat Henning

1 dog year is the equivalent to 7 human years.

When Fido is 15 his human age is 90, not 105 as the general rule of thumb states.

My son’s Peewee hockey team participated in a tournament recently in Anoka, MN.  His first game was scheduled for 7:50 pm on a Friday night.  When I saw the schedule I immediately began thinking about my options for getting to the game on time.  My dad is retired and loves to watch all activities involving his grandkids (including practices) so I knew I could count on him to bring my son to the game! But how would I get there? 

On most days I commute to work by bus from a park and ride lot in Cottage Grove.  My first thought was to drive in to work that day and just meet them at the rink but then I started thinking about the costs and time associated with this decision.  Driving to work adds a considerable amount of time and aggravation to the commute (particularly with freshly fallen snow).  Not to mention the extra gas coupled with paying for parking in downtown Minneapolis.  I knew there had to be a better way.  And then an idea hit me like a train, the new Northstar commuter train to be exact.  I went online to find departure times and fares to Anoka.  Much to my surprise I learned that the train station in Anoka was less than two miles from the ice arena!  For $4.00 I could ride the rails to Anoka and be there in 25 minutes—during rush hour no less.  That made my decision easy.  When Friday came I parked my car at the Cottage Grove lot, hopped on the bus which took me to downtown Minneapolis and after work I walked through the skyway to the train station.

The passenger cars on the Northstar train are double-decker and each car is equipped with cushioned seats, onboard restrooms, tables with electrical outlets as well as storage for luggage.  The ride was very smooth and quiet with the train capable of reaching speeds of up to 79 miles per hour.  There was one minor five minute delay as our train was forced to come to a stop to allow an approaching train to pass before we could continue.  Despite the delay I was able to step off the train and into my dad’s van (he had arrived five minutes earlier).  Unfortunately for him his commute wasn’t quite as smooth.  It took him an hour and thirty-five minutes to travel 50 miles due to rush hour traffic. 

This worked out so well for me I hope to do this again when my son plays in another tournament in Elk River in February.  Too bad there isn’t a commuter rail line connecting more of the metro area.  

-Randy West

While stopping in our SCG break room for a cup of coffee, this story on CNN caught my eye. As a new year begins, it’s time to reflect upon changes we’ve witnessed this past year and decade. In the story, correspondent Josh Levs highlights this Huffington Post article on the 12 Things that Became Obsolete this decade. They are as follows:

1. Calling
2. Classifieds in Newspapers
3. Dial up Internet
4. Encyclopedias
5. CDs (and the stores that sell them)
6. Landline Phones
7. Film and Film Cameras
8. Yellow Pages and Address Books
9. Catalogs 
10. Fax Machines
11. Wires
12. Hand-written letters

As a marketer I take exception to number 9: catalogs (I take exception to number 1 also, but that’s future content for 41 Stories.) Yes I get many unsolicited catalogs that land in the recycle pile before they are ever opened. But those catalogs I actively sign up for? I look forward to receiving them and furthermore often order from them. Yes I know I could easily view them online but I actually want to touch the paper I’m reading (no Kindle for me!), write notes in it, dog-ear it and maybe even pass it along to a friend when I’m done. An eVersion is great, eye catching and fun, but to me it’s an addition to the printed piece, not a replacement.

Call me old-fashioned but this 2009 Wall Street Journal article agrees. “Why does the catalog, which helped Richard Sears launch his eponymous retail empire more than a century ago, continue to thrive in the electronic age? Because glossy catalog pages still entice buyers in a way that computer images don’t.”

By definition, permission marketing is: anticipated, personal and relevant. A printed piece is personal. Don’t take that away, no matter what the Huffington Post says!

So what about you? What items on the “12 Things” list will you miss, and which are you glad to see vanish?

-Jenny Silgen

That spoon from your kitchen drawer is perfectly fine for your medicine. 

A spoonful of sugar may help the medicine go down, but don’t use it to measure your cough syrup.