MoMA Century of the Child

After Istanbul, I spent a few days in New York.  I ended up going to MoMA, which is always fascinating.   I enjoyed a very interesting exhibit called The Century of the Child - Growing by Design 1900-2000.    For anyone interested in design, furniture, toys and inspiration for product and packaging design... worth spending a few hours exploring.


 

 This was a poster that I saw on one the walls. Pretty inspiring. I hope it happens soon...

At the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul

I was in magnificent Istanbul last week.  At the end of a busy business agenda, I managed to go to the Spice Bazaar, a place I had been many years ago, but I wanted to go back.  For anyone who enjoys the art of selling, this place is absolutely fantastic.  A marketplace that has been a trading post for centuries, the people who work in 88 vaulted stores know their craft like no one else.  Here you'll find the finest caviar from around the World, Iranian saffron, flower teas, to the very local Turkish Delights.

Take your time to speak the salesmen and you'll quickly understand why these are the best negotiators you'll probably meet in your life.

Another reason to celebrate Santiago de Chile...

The frustrations of online customer service

My younger daughter was recently admitted to the Swiss-Brazilian School here in São Paulo, so the other day, I ended up buying a Rosetta Stone German Level I software at the Miami International Airport.  I heard good things about this learning program, so I was excited to come home and install it.  Valentina was excited too, as she sat next to me and we went through the different steps.  To our frustration we couldn't get the program to run.  We tried several times, installing, uninstalling, reading the instructions over and over to find out what the problem was.

We finally decided to go to their website and call them with our doubts.  No luck.  We couldn't get anyone to answer the phone.  Ok, so then we tried the 'chat now' button.... wait.... wait... wait... no luck.

Online service is supposed to be a wonderful resource, a natural evolution of the old call centers... are companies taking it seriously?