Tourist Trip to Thailand

Disclaimer: This post is written primarily to preserve these memories for myself, rather than for a third person.

My last foreign trip was to Langkawi, Malaysia — where Kathy and I went for our honeymoon. While we got Sheryl’s passport 6–7 years ago, we hadn’t travelled outside India since then. Mostly because it’s expensive — with flight and stay costs involved — and when you travel abroad, you typically need to take at least a week off. This time, we decided to go abroad no matter what the situation.

Why Thailand?
It’s affordable and felt like an exciting new place to explore.

Where in Thailand?
Kathy and I are always interested in the history, culture, and local life of a place. So we wanted to visit the capital, Bangkok. While I did consider going to Phuket, it would’ve meant wasting a day on travel and booking an additional flight. Instead, we chose Pattaya — more accessible and cost-effective.

Where did we stay?
In Bangkok, my first choice was Old Capital Bike Inn (oldcapitalbkk.com), but they didn’t have rooms available for our dates. So we booked our second choice — Carlton Hotel in Sukhumvit. It turned out to be a blessing, as Sheryl loved the hotel pool.

In Pattaya, we stayed at Rabbit Resort, located on Dongtan/Jomtien Beach — on the quieter side, away from the main Pattaya Beach. In fact, we didn’t see a single Indian in the area during our walks. Some had warned us that Pattaya might not be suitable for families, but thanks to Rabbit Resort, we didn’t face any issues and mostly saw other families around the beach.

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Day-wise Itinerary

Day 1
We flew from Delhi to Bangkok. Bought a SIM card at the airport — cheaper than international roaming from India, though slightly more expensive than outside the airport.
My first impression of Bangkok? It looked like any Indian state —

• Just cleaner

• Lots of pickup trucks on the road

• Toyota seemed to dominate the car scene

Visa-on-arrival was smooth and quick.

We settled into the hotel and dined at a Michelin-listed restaurant. Loved the soup and the duck pancake.

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Day 2
We visited the Grand Palace, the Emerald Buddha Temple, and the Reclining Buddha Temple. What stood out was the unique Thai architecture — especially the Garuda wings on the temple roofs.

The highlight was lunch at Thong Lee Restaurant, near the Grand Palace. Tried mango sticky rice and stir-fried meat with basil on rice, topped with a fried egg — absolutely mind-blowing. Until then, I thought Thai food was just green curry.

We also took a ferry tour and saw temples built around Bangkok’s canals — quite fascinating.

Another food discovery: Teppan Fried Rice at Terminal 21.

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Day 3
We went to the famous Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. It was fun negotiating and buying touristy items from a boat. We also visited the popular Instagram-famous Railway Market, which was a unique experience. Tip: If you want to buy souvenirs, buy them at the Railway Market — better prices than the floating market.

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Day 4
Sheryl was getting a little bored with temples, so we took her to Safari World & Marine Park — and she loved it. It was my first time watching a dolphin and sea lion show. Sheryl enjoyed feeding giraffes, birds, and other animals. I also saw zebras and giraffes in large numbers for the first time.

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Day 5
Time to pack up and head to Pattaya.

General Thoughts on the Bangkok Stay:

1. Loved visiting 7-Eleven stores every day and picking up snacks.

2. The breakfast spread at Carlton was excellent — Korean, Japanese, Thai, pastries, and other Asian options.

3. Used Grab extensively for local travel — cabs arrived in 2–3 minutes.

Staying in Sukhumvit was a great choice — lots of food and shopping options nearby.

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Day 6
Checked into Rabbit Resort and simply enjoyed the peaceful beach setting. Rabbit Resort is located in a slightly forest area in Dongtan beach. Dongtan/Jomtein Beach is at the other side/away from Pattay Beach. So you see only locals and families in this part of the beach. Hotel pools were again lovely and the staff was very helpful.  After seeing the rabbit resort, i now believe Pattaya would be a better option than going to Goa for Indians (considering the good hotels are cheaper than Goa)

Day 7
Went to Ramayana Water Park. It’s spacious (note: it’s just a water park, no amusement rides). Sheryl really enjoyed it — her first time in a water park. It’s pricier than Indian parks but much less crowded.

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Day 8
Visited Koh Larn Island — my first experience at a white sand beach. Beautiful views and fun activities like jet skiing, banana boat ride, and parasailing.

But the highlight was the sea bed walk — a bit scary, but fascinating and totally worth it.

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Day 9
Packed up and returned to Delhi.

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Final Thoughts
Rabbit Resort was perfect — just a few steps from the beach. Morning walks and evening dinners at the beachfront restaurant, with the sea breeze for company, were unforgettable. Morning prayers by the beach were a personal highlight.

Food was a major highlight of the trip — and the fact that this was our first overseas family trip made it all the more special.

Future of Online Advertising - Google & Facebook Platform Dominance

Not everything is rosy in the world of digital advertising. P&G announced last week it has cut more than 100$ Million (equivalent to INR 635 crores). It cited 3 primary reasons for this

·         Ads were simply ineffective

·         Ads were being served to bots

·         Placement of the advertisements

My uninformed guess would be that the primary advertisement cuts would have happened in

• ·         Branding campaigns that focused on reach as the primary performance metric
• ·         Non-Google & Non-Facebook advertisements

This broad trend of advertising shifting to Google & Facebook was reflected in Mary Meeker’s 2017 Internet Trends – where she clearly illustrated that growth in online advertising in US is largely being driven by Google & Facebook.

And multiple machine learning algorithms that is optimizing the campaigns in Google & Facebook networks serves as a very effective moat against any new player entering the space. And Google & Facebook are expected to further deepen their moat – by artificial intelligence and machine learning.  My bet is that in a 3-4 year time frame, >80% of the online advertising spends would be done through Google & Facebook platforms only.

But as marketers, should we be worried about Google & Facebook Advertising Dominance? We all remember how Facebook killed the organic traffic for brands inside its closed network. The day Google also faces similar challenges with revenue creation – we can expect it to do the same. If the history shares any trends, a category that was dominated by one or two players – will result in poor services and higher costs for the customers. Interesting Times for a Digital Marketer. 

Business Momentum - Underappreciated Concept in Corporate World

Disclaimer: This post is cross-posted from my linked post @ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/business-momentum-underappreciated-concept-robin-samuel

While we all appreciate the bravado of Snap Deal founders terminating all merger/buy-out talks and going ahead with an independent path, my two cents is that Snapdeal would find itself in this same place in another few months and waiting for a white knight to buy it or close-down the business operations.

This is because the biggest challenge facing Snapdeal today is not competition or the business model. But the business momentum lost by Snapdeal– post its lay-offs and merger talks with Flipkart. It has lost significant talent, resources, word of mouth – during this period.

In business, when there is momentum, everything seems to happen, sales managers overachieve, marketing managers generate better return on investment, operations manager bring better efficiency with higher customer satisfaction. Word-of-month and referrals are high. And employees  in the business feel pro-active, whatever they touch becomes gold.

In today’s world, the biggest challenge facing any business is either sustaining the momentum with better products, better offers (e.g. Apple) or bringing the lost momentum back to the business (e.g. Microsoft). And the leadership at organizations generally undervalues the impact of momentum in the business.

While the website traffic at Snapdeal (thanks to organic) – has not shown any major decline, business volume and consumer mindshare has taken a beating. Most importantly business momentum – w.r.t. actions and focus has been lost in the last few months. Regaining the momentum – requires either significant money or significant resources(people), both of which are not in abundance for Snapdeal. 

Letter to my 1 year old

Personal blog post - written on the eve of the first birthday of my baby.

Dear Sheryl,

First something you should never forget. You are a part of God's plan - Can say this with 100% confidence, because few days before your conception, we prayed for the first time, committing our baby & timing of the birth to God's plans & his will. So whenever you read this - Know this, You are a part of God's plan. Wherever you go, whatever you do, God is going to be always be with you.

Your 10 months of pregnancy - went like a breeze to me [I am sure that Mommy has more experiences to share :)]. But we had decided to name you 'Sheryl Samuel' if you are a girl. But we felt that God has been graceful to our family - during the entire experience. So we named you Sheryl Grace Samuel. So do remember that our God is a graceful God.

Right from the Minute, I held you in my hands, the love started. Right from changing your first nappy to seeing you sleep for the first, you felt a part of me. I should confess that I have never been as happy as seeing your first 'poop'.  You were a darling right from day one.

More than 'big' moments (commonly depicted in media) like

• saying 'Dada' for the first time
• standing up for the time
• sitting up for the first time
• laughing for the first time
• tickling for the first time
• sleeping on my chest for the first time 

It is your gradual & incremental growth & change that i love you the most. Whatever you did 'new' it never surprised your daddy. 

I love the way you enjoy our walks. I love the way you are happy when i come back from office. I love the way you hug while sleeping. I love the way you know me - right on the day of your birth. I love the way we enjoyed our first vacation at Neemrana. I love the way you want to do everything your mommy & dad does. I love the fact that it is the simple things - rather than your expensive toys that excite you. I love the way you can keep yourself engaged with your own plays.. But still need an assuring look at your parent every few minutes. I love your energy. Most importantly, I loved how you changed me. 

Thanks for the truly exhilararting ride as a 'dad'. Loving every day. Exhilarating also because there is mommy to take care of all my shortcomings and to take care of both of us - twice over. 

With evergreen love, 

 - Daddy

P.S: Mommy is asking where is my 1 year letter? So keep this letter a secret. :) 

Tamil Student Movement - Why Now?

Quite a lot of people on  social networks don't understand the reason/timing of Tamil Student Protest Movement - after four years of the war. Writing this post to outline my thoughts on the same. 

Murder of Rajiv Gandhi

To understand the current Tamil Student Protest Movement across arts, engineering, medical and law colleges, we need to look at the murder of Rajiv Gandhi. Thanks to this unforgivable act by LTTE, it lost the Tamils Support & TamilNadu Logisitcs Chain for the continued war. And the support for Eelam was always interpreted as support for LTTE in TN - the organization that killed a beloved Indian PM.

That is why, the Tamils did not protest - even when the genocides organized killings were happening in Sri Lanka.

Street-Smart Karunanidhi:

Whatever your opinions are about Karunanidhi, everyone will agree on his street-smartness. Rather than being reactionary like Jayalalitha shutting down colleges after the protest started. Karunanidhi shut down all the colleges (arts, science, engineering, etc. ) even before the first whisper of protest happened. So the protest movement never had a chance to take root then. 

Media-Blanket

Worst of all, the media channels in India & newspapers continued to ditto the Srilankan army press releases - rather than finding out the real truth. But thanks to the growth of online media & rise of new Tamil Channels, Tamil people came to know the other side of the story. 

Sustained Influencer Movement:

Over the last four years, a lot of key influencers in media & entertainment  have been giving a lot of support, credibility to the entire Tamil Eelam movement. e.g. Dialogues in Aayutha Ezhuthu. This resulted in simmering Tamil Support for Srilankan Tamils - but not knowing what has to be done to show the support. 

Final Nail in Coffin

So when US brought a resolution against Srilanka in UNHRC, it gave the movement a new meaning. So the Loyola Students first started the movement - followed by multiple colleges, giving a lot of credibility to the movement. 

What Next?

While Vaiko & Co. would like to see the movement continuing, I expect it to fizzle out. Do expect the Congress(including Chidambaram) not to win even a single seat from Tamil Nadu in the upcoming Loksabha elections. 

My Earlier Posts on the Topic

• Indian Tamils Don't have any Tamil Pride
• Renewed Srilankan Tamil Movement
• Is Genocide Happening in Srilanka?

Thank You London!

Slow Star & Ending with a Bang

London Olympics 2012 - that started off slowly and smoothly - reached a crescendo with the athletics event and finally finished with a bang yesterday. As an Indian, this was the first time I was looking forward to Olympics - primarily because of the various Indian Olympic Medal prospects  - Deepika Kumari, Saina, Abhinav, Gagan, Paes + Sania, Sushil, Virender. I was convinced of the Indian support for the team at Olympics and also of the potential of the Olympic Participants. And they did not disappoint my faith in them. 

Unexpected Delights

Among the qualified players for London Summer Olympics, some of them fell short of their potential on the 'D' Day and some of them brought their best performance to the table. But my biggest delight was seeing the unknown/unheard/unexpected like Gowda & Krishna Poonia qualifying for an Athletic finals (6th and 7th Indians to do so), Kashyap qualifying for Q/Fs, Yogeshwar Dutt's bronze, etc.  Thank you all the Indian players, for making us proud in the last two weeks. 

Thousands of Stories

If somebody writes an account of Indian performance in London Olympics 2012, there are many stories to say

• Sania falling against the Chinese Hurdle
• 2 Indians Qualifying for London Athletic Finals
• Expected Medals in Boxing, Shooting & Wrestling
• After all the fighting and squabbling on the press, tennis players having the expected poor performance. 
• Mary Kom wining her deserved medal and fame in India
• Yogeshwar Dutt ensuring that his name is not forgotten in Wrestling History
• Sushil Kumar establishing himself as India's premier sports player
• & many more. 

And I am thankful & happy for all of them. 

Thank You OCQ & MCT

But the biggest thanks should go to organizations like Olympic Gold Quest and Mittal Champions Trust. And I am sure that the team is thrilled to see their efforts in the last few years bearing fruit Hope these organizations (or similar organizations) don't lose sight - because of India's best ever Olympic Performance and Continue to find ways to support new & upcoming Indian athletes. 

Challenge 2016

But the biggest challenge for the Rio Olympics 2016 is whether a new set of athletes - who are inspired and buoyed by these 6 medals  - will go and win 6 gold medals for India. Hope 1.2 Billion Indians receive their deserved haul of gold medals in Rio Olympics 2016.  

Bye & Thank You London! Here we come Rio!

P.S: Seeing the Olympics also reminded me of my beautiful trip to London - a year earlier. 

Why I love Quora?

For some of us, who are hearing about the word Quora for the first time - Quora was created as Yahoo Q&A done for the Web 2.0 world. You can read more about it at http://www.quora.com/about.

But the reasons I love the service is that i generally come to know stuff about the things i really want to know. For example, what the heck does Olympic medallists do in London after they win the medal.  Yeah, the kind of the questions the interviews are supposed to ask from famous personalities. But they never ask. I get those answers at Quora.

e.g. Go read at Quora - What is it like to be an Olympic athlete after winning (or not winning) the Olympics? and also Do Olympic or competitive swimmers ever pee in the pool?

National Holiday in India Too???

After Kirani James won Grenada first ever Olympic Gold, the government has declared Tuesday afternoon a holiday. So when Mary Kom wins India's first ever women Olympic Gold medal, we should declare a national holiday too.. Right? :)

Read more at BBC News

Bye 2011! Welcome 2012!

As another year comes to an end, I can't stop myself from looking at the year gone by and remember the key moments of the year. As the famous quote goes, 

We don't remember days, We remember moments

This was an year characterized by change. Also this was an year when everything looks the same as the last year.  When i look back, the moments that WOWed are few but the moments that brought a change in me were a lot.. 

WOW Moment:

2011 will be remembered - for India's World Cup Win. Personally, my WOW moments happened after the matches: quarter-finals (Excited in Tawang Cold that i was going to see India-Pakistan @ Mohali LIVE), semi-finals (No Words can describe the elation, the pure joy of walking & sharing the triumph with fellow cricket fans in the stadium and the people from Mohali) & finals (Spontaneous Outpouring of Delhities on the streets). 

In the field, it was not Dhoni's Six in the world cup final that wowed me..  but Gambhir-Kohli innings at the final. Finally, Indian Cricketers did not choke and had the winning mentality. Thank you! Gary Kirsten!. We miss you!! 

WOW Moment - 2:

Anna Hazare's Protests caught media and public attention. India Media gots its 'Tahiri Square' Moment. From the perfect timing ('No News' seasons) to well-planned strategy & tactics, ensured that India took a step closer to its Lokpal bill dream. Hope this would be the beginning of much more active participation of civil society in the major policies of the government. 

Surprisingly all the major nations had one protest or the other. US - Occupy Wall Street Moment. UK - London Riots, etc.. 

WOW Moment - 3

 By far, this would be my most traveled year. Memories of 2 Wonderful Trip Posts here - Assam & UK

Hope 2012 to have many more memorable moments for all of us. Wishing you all to have a lot more memorable moments in 2012.

Indian Leaders! Where are you?

As the nation moves to a new year, the lack of leadership especially political leadership is the biggest national problem. As I am back in Tamilnadu, I am able to experience it - better than ever  The state today is grappling with multiple political issues

1. Fight with Kerala regarding Mullai-Periyar Dam
2. Fight with Central Government regarding KoodanKualam - (while the entire state is grappling with daily 4-hour electric power cuts. )
3. Srilankan Tamil Issue - Mostly on the Fringes

Thankfully, the rains are good this year. Otherwise, the age-old struggle with Karnataka for Cauvery waters would have started again.  None of these issues have easy answers or solutions. 

Successful 'Past' Protests:

Protests like Siliguri & Lokpal has given enormous confidence to other protesters that continuous & sustained protests by a minority will bring desired results in today's media covered India. So expecting the protests to die away (like yester-years) is not going to happen. 

Compromises & Quick Decisions:

So the government requires to be quick on feet. Need to be quick to 

1. Kill Protests - right at the budding stage. Like how Karunanidhi shut off colleges to prevent any pro-Srilankan Tamil protests during the final stages of Srilankan Army - LTTE war. And it involves compromises & quick decisions. And the nation requires have a leader who is trusted by the nation and who brings states/groups to accept compromises. 

2. Make Decisions - Prolonging decisions like Telengana State Formation is not going to help both the parties. 

3. Create Process to handle fasts & protests: As creating a policy of not negotiating with plane hijackers, the government needs to create a policy of not negotiating with people who pressure by fasting or protesting. 

Require 'Connected' Leaders:

And government & political parties can be quick only when they have leaders and not managers on the top. And the recent advances in communications and technology means these leaders can afford to be connected 24*7 with the people. 

Why I love this nation?

While Leninist China can bull-doze over people's wishes, India's democracy needs it to take care of the wishes of a small group. But that is exactly the reason i love this nation - even though it is painful. 

Amazon entering Indian Markets??

It does not take much to guess that Amazon would soon enter into Indian e-commerce. But my prediction is that it might be sooner (soon as in middle of 2012) than later. 

How I am making this guess?

Because of the recent FREE Super Saver Delivery from www.amazon.co.uk. Though the super saver is currently applicable only to purchase more than 25 USD (Approximate Rs. 1250/-) and only books, music and DVDs are eligible, it surely shows the current interest from Amazon management team on India. The offer is available until January 15, 2012. 

I want a free India!!!

As Indians we are proud about our democracy and hard-fought freedom won from the British. But even after sixty years, India is still not free from corruption, racism, etc.. And the recent incident in Kashmir  makes me to add "Freedom of Religion" to that list. 

Indian Constitution clearly states that

"all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion."

So as a Christian, I should not have any fears about 

1. Claiming that I am a Christian
2. Proclaiming that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life (From the Bible).
3. My Belief that "Choice of Religion" should be also decided by market forces. And people should have access to all information and have 'real' freedom of choice

But regularly i do fear. And the recent arrest of Pastor Khanna - based on a youtube video of a few baptisms (Video does not have any information about where & who took baptisms), only increases that fear. A lot of times, these incidents are shoved under the carpet and are ignored by the media. Thankfully, this time around - Times of India gives voice in its opinion article today - Break Those Walls - 

Worries about conversion pass over the individual's right to religious freedom, guaranteed by the Constitution

 This is not the first time that such arrests of Christian ministers happen over "forced conversions". And I am not naive enough to believe this would be the last time. My only hope is that there is an increased awareness among the common man about these incidents. 

Sneha-Prasanna Shock Wedding & My Losing Connection with Tamilnadu

Though i have rarely seen Tamil movies in the last 5 years, I am used to tout my Tamil gossip knowledge as my connection with Tamilnadu & especially with Kollywood. So I was shocked to read about  the upcoming marriage (or) affair of Tamil movie stars - Prasanna and Sneha.

It seems that I did not know the rumor that every Chennaite knew. It made me realize that I am becoming a part-Delhite now and losing my touch with Tamilnadu slowly. Sad but true. :(

Anyway my wishes to Prasanna & Sneha for a happy marriage. And hope this does not end up as another famous celebrity divorce - after a few more years.

Escort Services Advertised through OLX.IN - Is it Legal?

Adult Services & Online Classified:

Like all other industries, even prostitution benefited from the rise of online classified - by cutting the middle man in the process. But in USA, this led to a major controversy. Craiglist - USA's leading online classified player, was forced by law enforcement to pull down its separate section on erotic/adult services.

But considering the taboo around prostitution and the general public image around prostitution, I was not expecting a similar controversy in India. So it was a  surprise for me to see adult ads in OLX when I was posting my ad for selling my split ac.The ads were clearly showing the fee for a single night and contact phone number for the services. 

Adult Ads in OLX

As per the Indian constitution, organized prostitution is clearly illegal. (Thanks Wikipedia). But the ad clearly shows the existence of organized prostitution. For an ignorant customer, it would seem as if Olx is aiding prostituion by the perpetrators. Hope OLX figures out mechanisms to stop these ads before a similiar controversy erupts in India.

Currently Running Ad on OLX.in

One among Seven Billion People!!!

Want to know where do you stand among Seven Billion People in the world. Visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15391515 and know the exact number of human births before you. My details are below.

While the world celebrated the birth of symbolic seventh billion child in UP, India, let us not forget the idea about choosing the seventh billion girl as a girl child. Plan India picked seventh billion child as a UP girl child  to bring exposure to the "missing children" in India.

According to a recent UNICEF report, around 50 million Indians are missing today because of female infanticide. Here hoping for a day when female infanticide disappears from my country.

P.S: Also read "Are we really seven billion of us" in BBC News. 

Thinking about buying Samsung Galaxy SII? Wait

Are you thinking about buying anAndroid Phone?

And have you zeroed on Samsung Galaxy S2 as the best option available in the market?

If yes, my advice: WAIT.

If you have not heard, Samsung along with Google recently launched "Samsung Galaxy Nexus" @ Hong Kong. Read more about it @ http://www.google.co.in/nexus. 

Samsung Galaxy Nexus, uploaded with Android 4.0 - Ice Cream Sandwitch, is the best available Android phone out in the market. Unlike Apple & Unlike last time, when Google launched Samsung Nexus S only in USA, this phone would be available in India. So Indian Android buyers, it is time to wait for Samsung Galaxy Nexus and wow your friends in the party with the new Face Unlock Feature.

No Excuses for Gurgaon Metallica Stage Riot

Whatever might be the reason 

• Poor Management
• No Security
• No Proper Arrangement for Food & Water
• Waiting for 2 hours in Queues
• Travelling from other places,

We, as Indians, have no right to damage other's property. Hope the police uses the Youtube evidences (1, 2, etc.) to nap the culprits. 

P.S: By the way, it is BS to point this as a mistake of Delhities. 

My Secret Sauce to Office Popularity

Want to know my secret sauce of knowing answers to colleague's difficulties ranging from designing the right chart for a set of data points to setting up a collegue's outlook account.  My Simple Solution is "Google".

Google Search Result Page

I even figure out how much googling does a person know in an interview. :) And I believe knowing the right words to google is one of the key skill required for a modern day working professional. 

If you are not using Google to find answers to your work issues, please start now. Who knows? It might even win you a 1 Million US Dollars.

Steve Jobs - The Master of Presentations

We have all heard that Steve Jobs as the master of Presentation. See the video below to know why. Nancy Duarte makes a case for why Steve Jobs, the Great Presenter can even rival Steve Jobs, the Great Innovator. 

Jobs Sparkline Resonate Workshop from Duarte Design on Vimeo.

In a short summary, Steve Jobs regularly did four things

1. Passionate about what his company makes
2. Get a physical response from the audience e.g. Laughs or Claps
3. Share repeatable sound bites
4. Use memorable dramatizations

Though I had written an earlier post about Steve Jobs - A Man Who Inspired a Billion, I learnt a lot about public presentations through this video. 

P.S: Seeing the iphone launch video, it makes you understand on the mobile revolution brought by iPhone. Thank You Steve!

Social Networks Has arrived in India

I was surprised today to find out that the recently elected Chennai Mayor has a facebook profile(https://www.facebook.com/saidaiduraisamy) and updates it regularly. But the real surprise was that he also has a Google Plus Profile - https://plus.google.com/101033117702722643248

You will know that social networks are in the advanced technology cycle when a TN politician started using the social network. I believe Facebook has entered to "Late Majority" in Technology Adoption Life cycle. Be sure to see soon all the politicians being using one or the other social network. 

Technology Adoption Lifecycle