Recently I completed listening to Tom Friedman's "World is Flat" on an audiobook had to agree with a lot of his statements, especially given how my life has been spawned over several countries and continents in the last decade. But when it comes to immigration requirements - I have to tell Mr Friedman - The world is still has a while to go before it really becomes more flat. Ofcourse Mr Friedman wouldnt mind - his book seemed a lot more focussed on how Americans (And ppl in developed countries) should innovate than worry abt ppl from developing countries are competing with them in brilliant ways.

Even though this post might could not be any more ill-timed given the recent developments (Terrorist attempts which were foiled) in the UK-Heathrow airport about it is still true: Travelling for most immigrants who are not part of the developed western world is not a walk in the park. Most of my American colleagues and good friends' vacation plans start and stop at scheduling tours, vacation packages, hotel and OOF (Out of Office) notices at Microsoft - they can walk into most countries for 90 days and out with just their passport, and credit cards.

On the 3rd edition of my "Hello World" Tours (I was lucky to go to abt 12 countries in Western Europe for 45 days after school in 2004, Egypt in 2005) - The plan for this year is to make it to Berlin and Prague during Labor Day Week for which as an Indian passport holder - I need 2 Visas.

Enter the concept of the "Tourist Visa" - the most easy annuity revenue for most countries. At an average of 50$ a pop the tourist visa for most countries last abt 30 days (Czech/Switzerland) - 2 yrs (Canada). But if the expenses do not get to you and the varied levels of paperwork required in propreitary formats: copies of insurance, bank statements, payslips, Tax forms, birth certificates etc - just raises your frustration - The fluctuating exchange rates (and therefore visa fees) combined with the non-updated websites - makes ur hands curl into fists - its the photo requirement that is usually the last straw that ultimately makes u ram that fist through a corkboard on the wall. Newton's third law does the rest. Action and reaction are equal and opposite. Well when your knuckles showcase the pain that your brain has had over the last few days in the immigration, Newtonian physics is the least of your issues.

The American Immigration which is one of the most stringent that I have faced have strict rules on their photos but the German "photo police" raised that bar in their document of "FotoMusterafel 2005" where it shows how you cant move, smile, laugh, turn, tilt or do anything but look like you were a zombie. A Zombie with all necessary documents. There are lot of similarities with the American rules - but the Germans also suggested that flash reflection on your face is Verboten! A little light on your glass? Nein Das ist verboten auch!

Ofcourse I do what every independent, self confident, well educated person from the biggest socialist democractic country in teh world would do - Comply to the last word.

But it does make me wonder - Why is this example (of Erika Mustermann) on the german photo-requirements website not complying to any of the guidelines mentioned in the FotoMusterafel 2005? But then again I cant figure out why an "Erika Mustermann" would apply for a German visa either.

Late June, I had managed to get myself 2 tickets within a week which were to be contested at the Bellevue Court and one at the State court. The fines for the infractions were initially to about $300 (total) though the potential damage it could do to my insurance given that I drive a sunset-6spd 350Z Touring could have easily sky rocketed.

Enter Jeannie Mucklestone a lawyer who specializes in traffic-law in the state of Washington.

2 short Emails later the guidance she gave me was to snail-mail her the original citations and copies of the notice of hearing that I would receive from the courts. An agonizing silence that last 4 wks later - I get the good news snail mailed to me by her:

From the City Court: "The judge dismissed your case because my motions to suppress evidence were granted and there was not enough evident to find you committed the infraction..."

From the District Court: "The judged dismissed your case because the State did not meet their burden of proof after our motions to suppress were granted..."

What was really awesome about this (expensive) experience was that Jeannie absolutely minimized my involvement once I had her represent me. She took all the burden on her, didnt even have me go to the court during the hearing (both times) and got a great result. Brilliant and impressive.

The obvious question in my head - What does "Motion to suppress evidence" really mean?

Howe & Howe from NJ state: (The paragraphs below are cited from Howe&Howe's web pages)

"A motion to suppress evidence is a legal proceeding designed to challenge evidence on constitutional grounds."

How would this exactly work in a court?

"Defense counsel initiates the motion to suppress evidence by filing formal papers with the court.  The prosecutor and defense counsel then submit legal arguments in an official document known as a brief.  If there has been an arrest or a search without a warrant, then the prosecutor files the first brief.  In the prosecutor’s brief, he or she must justify each step taken by the police. The defendant then responds with a legal brief explaining how and why the police violated the defendant’s constitutional rights."

"After the briefs are submitted, the court then holds a hearing with testimony and exhibits to resolve any contested issues.  The state has the burden of proof at the hearing.  If the court grants the motion to suppress evidence, then the prosecutor is barred from using the challenged evidence against the defendant in court."

Interesting read. And from experience - Great strategies on paper is one thing, to implement them consistently to get desired results is entirely another. And on that regard Law and Business have the same concept.

Thank you Jeannie Mucklestone :)

If you are away from your office for a while at Microsoft - then dont expect it to remain intact by the time you are back.

While I was out for MGX 2006 (Microsoft Global Exchange - Akin to the global sales-Kick off meeting at the ending of every fiscal and beginning of the next) and TechReady3 (Akin to the Technical Kickoff for the field) - I also had my Birthday.

So yes - this time my birthday was in Orlando while I was running around from one conference room to another in the Orlando convention center while living out of one of the Disneyworld resorts (Port Orleans-Riverside).

But this post is not about MGX or TechReady (there will be some more posts that I will be doing which will detail about those two events). Pictures they say speak a thousand words - I will let the following tell their tale:

In case you havent figured it out yet - I Am a Steelers Fan and the Cleveland Browns get along just as great with the Steelers just as great as the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams get along with each other on the field.

SIX ppl have been already identified to have had a hand in the trashing of my mess:

Rew Adams from Editorial (chief orchestrator), Kathleen Holmes from Communications, Nancy Apthorp our Exec Admin, Angelle Pruitt from Product Management, Allison Awasthi, Eric Knutsen from Program Management.

So if you are out for more than a week - and happen to have a bday during that period. Make sure you make a call to the facilities management to book a cleaning date. Mine is later this wk.

Last Friday the Annual Sunset cruise in Seattle had its 2006 version kick off at Pier 55 even grander than last yr! The Seattle Business School Alliance which organizes this every year gets about 320+ MBAs from the region to congregate on a cruise for about 2 hrs with 4 rounds worth of Wine and beer on tap. Ofcourse we had more sponsors than last yr and recruiters in the area are beginning to notice the value such a niche networking event as this can bring!

What was especially a number that I am particularly proud of was that this year Tepper featured #2 on the list with about 21 ppl attending (guests being excluded) second only to Michigan which had a outnumbering 34 on its roster, Harvard came in #3. It was a great evening, meeting old friends and making new connections.

All in all some excellent work done by the organizers to put this up and ofcourse it was always great to get away from the heatwave on a mini cruise.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
Peter Johnson (Microsoft), Mudit Garg (Amazon), David Bolotin (Weyerhaeuser), Yue Jing Lee (Premera Blue Cross), Robert Sappington (Weyerhaeuser), Sade Fashokun (Microsoft), Monica Robinson, Pradeep U.N. (Microsoft), John Robinson (Vulcan), William Grdanski (Weyerhaeuser), Matt Hill (Boeing), Lisa Hill, Ozgur Dogan, Michael Kuentz  (Microsoft), Jim Tarr  (Microsoft), Yuhang An  (Expedia), Abhishek Jain  (Amazon.com), Raju Gupta  (Amazon.com)

 Less than a month ago I had the opportunity to catch up with Jenna Adorno and she blogged about it too at Jobsblog which really was more a lunch to get to know the new face behind the Jobsblog than anything. Jenna shared her true passion for recruiting and her opinions about where she would like to take it towards and ofcourse various other odds and ends. I had previously had lunch with Gretchen when she was still with MS. What I have noticed in these meetings is that its always fun to know the evangelists of Microsoft. As a common trait they are smart, outspoken, go-getters and extremely fun :)

A week after that I got to meet Maria Curry who is a recruiter working for Heather Hamilton who was more excited about my involvement with The Seattle Business School Alliance  and how it could be leveraged some quality talent. What a great idea. Infact we even discussed on how we could leverage the SBSA to get the Seattle chapter leaders of the various bschools to have their alums touchbase with Microsoft recruiters. In fact for the recent Career networking event at Redmond we tried to leverage the Tepper alumni as a testing bed to see if this idea works and maybe try it with other alumni networks with other bschools soon.

Before Christmas on my first attempt to buy a Nano on the internet I was scammed by some scam artistes who had a history of scamming and changing their names. Ofcourse having bought everything on Ebay from books, to batteries, to digital cameras to even my Saab 9-5 (before I got my 350Z) I thought Ebay was foolproof. Until now. For the second time in 2 attempts I have been been Ipod Nano-Scammed!

Well after I won the Bid (and paid $230 or arnd there) for it - I get this mssg:

Item Number - 9743118990
Item Title - Apple iPod nano Black (4 GB, MA107LL/A) MP3 Player

Seller's Name: MATTHEW DEDEWO
Seller's Email: MD7931@YAHOO.COM
Our records show that you were a bidder or buyer of one or more of this seller's items. We recently removed this seller's active listings and suspended the seller's trading privileges. Due to privacy concerns we cannot share further details about this seller.
If the seller asks you to complete this transaction outside of eBay, we strongly recommend that you do not proceed with the transaction.

UGH.

I raise the issue with PayPal (who I used to pay) and they came up with the following in a wk or two:

It has been determined that the seller was at fault, and as a result, we have recovered funds on your behalf. $175.00 USD has been credited to your account. This is the maximum amount covered by eBay's Standard Purchase Protection Program.
If your claim was for more than the amount covered by eBay's Standard Purchase Protection Program, the balance of the claim is due to you directly from the seller. We will make our best effort to recover the remaining balance from the seller on your behalf.

There goes another 50 bux for nothing! Danggit! And All I really wanted was a chic mp3 player for hearing some podcasts while running!

Another of my longfound truths of life was deemed false today.

LongFound Truth of Life # 671: "Any email that usually starts with the words - "Congratulations" is a Junk Mail from a newly minted "multi-Millionaire" from a faraway country to wants your help to move money into the US in exchange for a share of the millions.

Oh well Today#671 was deemed false for once.

"Congratulations" began the mail - "We are pleased to inform you that the I-140 petition filed on your behalf has been approved by the Immigration Service. This is yet another step on the road to permanent residence. As of July 2006, visas in your category are available to Indians with a priority date of Jan 1 2003 and since your application date is April 14, 2006...."

As any immigrant would know, There are three phases to the Green Card process:

1. Labor Certification (ETA 750 Application for Alien Labor Certification); (Estimated time to complete: 1-2 yrs)

2. Preference Petition (I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker); (Estimated time to complete: 4-10 months) and,

3. Final Application for Permanent Residence (I-485 Application for Adjustment of Status) (If visa is available, then Estimated time to complete: 10-18 months).

Details of myApplication:

Perm Labor Certification Applied: April 14th, 2006

Perm Labor certification Approved: May 2nd 2006

I140 Petition Applied: June 8th 2006

I140 Petition Approved: July 5th 2006

So yes - the immigration dept has decided to twiddle its thumbs for 3-4 more years atleast before a visa will be "made available" to me, even though I was deemed "worthy". Efficient. Not! 2010, here I come...

Scott Adams in his blog today makes a passing point abt "competitive strategies", and I quote:

"And what’s up with the people who pray for material things? If you believe that God answers prayers for merchandise, it means the gap between the Almighty creator of the universe and Walmart is closing.

God still has the lowest prices and widest selection, but how long can that last?"

Now to this assertion (That I do not really agree is true) and I have a question:

Why is God not Value-Pricing??

I know the one in Thirumala-Tirupathi (that I was taken to this summer when I was in India) does.  Here is a wiki article about the temple for background:

"Hindus believe that this richest Hindu temple is the second most visited religious center after Vatican City. About 60,000 to 150,000 devotees visit the temple complex every day donating nearly $2 million every month (This number is NOT adjusted for PPP* Purchasing power parity). Complex queueing theories and emerging technologies have been evaluated and implemented to manage the large and unmanageable crowds by the TTD. The deity has also over 1000 kg of gold and diamond jewellery, making it one of the richest temple treasures."

Now back to the question - why is God not value pricing? At Tirupathi it is a working example of how value pricing works:

• Sarvadarsanam (Visit for all): FREE as it is open for 50,000 ppl a day!!
• Special Darshan Queues: For about $1-$1.5 (Token queuing system)
• Morning Sevas (offerings): $3 (for batches of 200 ppl)
• Special Morning seva: $5 (for batches of 1000 ppl)
• Various levels of other (about 15) sevas: $25-$300 (for batches of 5-10 people)

Obviously for higher prices, the queue is shorter, quicker and the "time" in front of the main deity is longer. When I Was there we were on the $150 ticket which still meant we had to wait 4 hrs in a queue standing barefoot in Indian summer to get our time in the main idol, wherein the actual "viewtime" was about 30 seconds. If thatz for a top tier $150 ticket - go figure what it is like for the FREE crowd where 50,000 ppl queue at 70% humidity on a 120 degrees Indian summer!

*That* is Value pricing. And God does it excellently. Atleast in Tirupathi!

So Scott, I am not sure God has the lowest prices, but She/He defnitely does value price for a really vast portfolio.

Two words Heather - Marketing Power. That's my answer to Heather's "Does not Get it" question when she focuses her attention on IKEA and its maniacal shoppers. Allow me to respond with an even better example of MarketingPower that drove customer buying maniacal-frenzy of an even more scarier order.

Back during the millenium 6 years ago when I was in Singapore - the McDonald’s chain in Singapore introduced a series of 6 wedding costumed Hello Kitty dolls with the purchase of Happy Meals. Licensed to McDonald’s for its promotion by Sanrio, customers buying a Happy Meal were entitled to buy either a Hello Kitty or a Dear Daniel (her lesser known male counterpart) that came in matching wedding outfits at S$4.50 each. For each of the 6 weeks, a new pair of these dolls was introduced, each featuring a different wedding costume. The first saw the space age wedding outfits to celebrate the new millennium, culminating with the Chinese wedding. Wedding outfits from other nationalities such as Korean, Malay and even Indian were also featured. For each design, 400,000 pairs of Kitty and Daniel were produced. Each store received an average of 2,000 pairs to sell, depending on sales volume. Yes! Math geniuses - thats abt 200 McDonalds in the island of Singapore.

Did the IKEA-Effect happen? Well Yeaaah - only worse!