Nine Shift

Geek Squad Founder Foretells "Excess Capacity"

We heard Geek Squad founder Robert Stephens talk about the Internet beyond web 2.0 recently. He was amazing.

One of the central business and economic concepts moving forward, he says, is "excess capacity."  Maximizing the use of things. 

You've heard of renting a car, and now sharing a car for just a few hours.  Now here's the next level:  rent your own car when you are not using it.  97% of the time cars are not used, says Stephens.  At Get Around, you can rent a car, but you can also rent your own car.

Want to rent your apartment while you are gone? Try airbnb.com

Want someone to do a task, or do you want to be available for hire to do a task?  Try TaskRabbit.

It's not kooky, not just a fad, or even a trend. It's about reducing tangible goods. And it is changing retail, manufacturing and how tangible goods will be (long lasting, durable, not throwaway) for the rest of the century. 

WiFi Boosts Train Ridership 3-5%

^{Not that we need to boost train ridership, which is at a record. But it does show how everything in the 21st Century is coming together, and that a big reason why Gen Y is riding trains is because, unlike driving a car, you can work and ride the train at the same time.}

"In an April 13 letter to Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Amtrak Vice President Joe McHugh said that when Wi-Fi service has been introduced elsewhere, Amtrak has documented a 3 to 5 percent ridership increase from that feature alone," as reported in Badger Rails, the newsletter of the Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers.

Young People Driving Less

We broke the story two years ago that young people are driving less.

First Advertising Age interviewed us, then Kiplinger, and then the story ran all over the place: Yahoo, The Atlantic, Forbes, Chicago Tribune, on and on.

This spring there has been a spate of publicity coverage on the same story, only without naming or quoting or referencing us at NineShift.  I am not bitter.  Corect that - - I am bitter.

All the stories seem to reference the same database we discovered. None of them seem to have new info, or other researchers on the topic.  So am thinking this is a replay of our story.

So this week it was nice to have a journalism student at Northwestern University call and interview me, noting that "your name popped up in several stories" on the issue.  Thank you Mary.

New Non-Political Progressive Organization Created

Here in River Falls, Wisc., my brilliant co-author Julie Coates has started a new grassroots organization, progressive but not partisan politically.

It is called The Awareness Project, or TAP, and they have a huge office and meeting rooms downtown where people gather for poetry readings, potlucks, organizing rallies, holding community group meetings and more.  Check out their web site. Below, poster party for the rally for women's rights. 

Has NineShift Changed Elections?

Has NineShift changed elections? 

Union organizer Miles Campbell read NineShift.  Then he talked with my brilliant co-author Julie Coates about it.  Then based on the NineShift analysis of networks, he went and created a new campaign strategy, which he has named Relational Voter Plan (RVP).

Instead of calling strangers or knocking on doors, with RVP campaigners only contact 20 friends. And those friends contact 20 others.  Miles found that RVP was 16 times more effective than calling people one doesn't know or knocking on doors.  Miles is talking about the new strategy all over Wisconsin, which is at the center of both the Recall elections and also the Presidential Election this year.

Future of Suburban Colleges

What is the future of suburban colleges, especially community colleges?

Suburbs are in decline.  Colleges are currently taking advantage of empty malls by getting cheap rent for classrooms.  But that won't last.

Soon students won't want to travel out to the suburbs for college.  And most won't be able to travel to the suburbs - - they don't and won't have a car.

What do you think will happen?  

Me leading a reception for college administrators last month in Tucson.  The prickly pear Margaritas are wonderful.  And with the higher education model being totally broken right now, I need two margaritas to be able to talk about it.

Wal Martians test new store

With suburbs going into decline, Walmart is testing a small store suitable for dense neighborhoods.

We have a friend who lives in Bentonville, Ark, the HQ of Walmart, formerly Wal-Mart.

When the ever faithful Walmart employees gather there, they are referred to by the locals as Wal Martians for their fanatical faith in Walmart. But here's the real story:

On the campus of the university there, Walmart is testing a very small store, the kind that would make sense in dense neighborhoods (the housing of the present-future).  They survey all the students coming and going about what they wanted, didn't find, etc. 

All part of the big huge move from the suburbs into dense communities. (This post intentionally devoid of a photo of Walmart)

 

We did it again! Another big Prediction Comes True!

We nailed it!  This time we got the exact year right! 

Two years ago we predicted in writing that suburbs would go into decline in 2012. Last month the government came out with statistics showing that suburbs are now starting to retreat. In a New York TImes story on it, a leading housing expert said that indeed suburbs are now in decline.

Of course, Nine Shift predicted this well over 10 years in our book.  Right now we are just celebrating. Say goodbye:

Fighting the Tea Party

NineShift brilliant co-author Julie Coates organizes a rally of women against the anti-women campaign by the far right.

In our little town, Julie got 90 women out in 39 degrees with sleet last week to demonstrate for women's rights. The State of Wisconsin just passed a law saying women do not have to be paid the same as men for the same job. 

Here's Julie, dressed as a suffragette, with Tawni Kind, the wife of our Congressman Ron Kind. Mrs. Kind also addressed the rally.

The Best Titanic Story You'll Ever Hear

Thanks! More than 400 people viewed our YouTube video on The Best Titanic Story You'll Ever Hear.

On the 100th anniversary of the event.  As told to us by a 102 year old man who knew someone on the Titanic.