My previous class for grad school was "Competitive Intelligence", in which we were split into groups to take on the job of amassing intelligence for particular industries.  My group chose sports apparel, and I jumped at the chance to do research on Adidas.

I'd always thought of the brand as a cool one, even from my youth when I briefly played soccer.  High school and college often found me in the three stripes.  I realised the brand had reached some very high standing when it was picked up by the Yankees, and when the band Korn offered their own take on the name "Adidas".

It wasn't until I researched the company, though, that I realised it was named after its founder, ADI DASsler, and as part of that research, I picked up a book entitled "Sneaker Wars" by Barbara Smit.  I didn't actually get the chance to read it for the class, but I've read it now, and it's quite a book.

Yogi Berra might say "You're never impressed with the things you don't know until you know you know them..." and this book was certainly an eye-opener.  Far more than just a book about sneakers, it details not only the history of Adi Dassler's company for almost seventy years, it also provides a history of his brother Rudi's company, Puma, for the same time.  It also takes a look at the sports and sports-marketing industries as they've grown from their beginnings over the last half-century.

Starting in World War II Germany with Adi and his brother, the book details their early beginnings and the rift that eventually caused Puma to form in competition with Adidas.  This rift was never healed, and the two brothers remained competitors for their entire lives.  Their families continued the tradition well into the early 2000s, and the book chronicles this through the successes and failures of the particular companies.  Adidas is well-known to have been the more successful (though it certainly had its share of failures), but the book does conclude with the recent successes that both companies have enjoyed, including the significant turn-around that Puma has achieved after it was all but gone in the 70s.

It's stunning to learn the details behind the various deals that went on in the sports world of the last fifty years.  With back-room deals, envelopes of cash paid to athletes, family squabbles, and corporate upheavals, the book reads almost as if it could easily be adapted for soap opera television.  Not content with merely company history or the dealings of just the sneaker industry, it is also a treatise on the creation of the sports-marketing industry, and a very thorough one at that.  The latter is provided mostly through the lens of the life of Horst Dassler, Adi's son, who was responsible for a large majority of how sports-marketing is done today.  Rightly painting Horst Dassler as a one-man fire-brand, it shows how he and the companies he formed are largely responsible for much of the marketing and broadcasting we associate with sports today.  It continues past this, and details how the companies we know of today (Adidas, Puma, Nike, Reebok, etc.) have fought their battles in an attempt to gain both market- and mind-share.

Having read this book, I'll not be able to watch a sporting event in the same way again, now knowing exactly what went into creating those brands and the marketing associated with them.  The author compiled the book over the course of five years, and her writing style takes advantage of the extensive research and obvious access to first-person material.  Well-written, it is an easy and informative read, and allows one to marvel at the intrigue that was present, but largely unknown, in the sports and sports-marketing worlds, and behind some of the most successful brands in history.

The comments are very interesting.  Vote at http://mashable.com/2010/01/17/new-york-times-pay-poll/ and then see for yourself.

Rather than detail everything before you're forced to read the conclusion - let me say that outsourcing has NOT worked for me so far.

I first started with AskSunday.com.  Recommended by Tim Ferriss as well as Time.com, I figured it would be an easy way to start with a virtual assistant who could get things done for me quickly.  I signed up, and sent in a relatively easy request: find a Toyota Dealership near my address to which I could take my car in for lease maintenance.

I submitted the request on Monday, 4 January, at around 1020, which was about ten minutes after I signed up.  I didn't hear anything from them on Monday.  I didn't hear anything from them on Tuesday.  Wednesday rolled around, and I sent a request asking what was going on with my initial task.  They replied saying that "it could take up to 24-48 hours to complete a request".  Ignoring the fact that it had already been that long, I replied that it was ridiculous in the Internet Age that I would have to wait 48 hours for someone else to perform a request that I could complete myself in fifteen minutes.  On Thursday, I got an email from them stating that they had completed the request, locating two dealerships, but that since the dealerships were going to charge money for service that they didn't make any appointments.  By then I had already cancelled my account.

The following Monday, 11 January, I decided to try GetFriday.com, the other outsourcing firm of which I'd heard.  Their sign-up process was "more mature" than AskSunday's, in that they make you actually verify who you are.  Once you sign up on the web, they send you a code on your cell phone that you then have to type in to make sure that you actually have that number.  They also make you sign and fax (or email) back their Terms of Service before you can start using the service.  I completed all that on Monday afternoon.

Tuesday I got a call from a woman in India.  This was problem number one - getting a call from India.  First, how much am I paying for incoming calls from India?  Second, as someone who has a security clearance, I don't exactly want calls from foreign countries showing up on my cell phone bill.  (Admittedly, it's a democracy and easily explainable, but still.)  The lady I spoke to was nice, and she was genuinely trying to help, but this led to problem number two - communication.  She asked what kind of tasks I might want to outsource.  I told her about the usual appointment making (including the lease maintenance task), but then I also included the possibility of having someone tag uploaded film clips for a project I'm doing.  It was this latter point at which communication broke down.  She could not understand the concept of what tagging an uploaded film clip meant.  She said that she'd have to have me email instructions as to what that meant.  I told her that that would be acceptable, and then she asked if it would be okay she set me up with a "Guide Friday" within three days.  While three days seemed like a lot to me, I agreed.  She then proceeded to ask me about my hobbies and my family.  While I suspect that this was an attempt and being outgoing and pleasant in the traditional American custom, it came off as slightly creepy and I told her that I would not reveal that information to someone across the globe that I hadn't met.  She was okay with that and the call ended.

Wednesday came and went.  Thursday came and went.  Friday came and went.  I did not hear from them!  As it turns out, that was my fault.  The emails from the gentleman who turned out to be my Guide Friday were being spam filtered as I found out on Saturday.  However, since they had previously called me, I was expecting them to call again, and was not looking for an email from them!  The first woman I spoke to did not mention that they would be emailing rather than calling.

So I retrieved the email from my spam filter, and set about responding.  I started to compile instructions on how to go about tagging film clips that I uploaded.  After fifteen screenshots, and several paragraphs of explanation, I realised that I could have tagged several clips myself in all the time that it was taking me to compile these instructions.  (As it turns out, I could have tagged ten - I timed it.)  I responded to the gentleman that I had changed my mind and asked that he cancel my account.

So far, my experience with outsourcing as has been anything but successful.  I suspect it's largely my fault: I really don't have a significant need for it yet.  I can make appointments and tag a hundred film clips myself with little effort.  I'm single and work 40 - 45 hours a week, so I'm not hurting for time.  The idea of outsourcing, as I've read it, is to alleviate some of your burden to provide you with more time - but I already have enough time, and I don't do anything overly burdensome.  While there is definite appeal to having someone help out, or even do tasks for you completely, right now, it doesn't outweigh the hassle of actually setting all that up.

There are other programs I'm going to look at - such as John Jonas's "replacemyself.com".  At $100 a month, that program seems like a very good bargain as compared with some of the ones like AskSunday or GetFriday.  (Though that $100/month is on top of what you'd pay to your VA.)  However, for now, I'm going to hold off until my secondary income plans have generated a burden that actually requires me to get virtual assistance.

Rating: Five Stars

Yes, I only just got around to reading "The Alienist".  Admittedly, I'm many years behind the times, but better late than never!

This was a FANTASTIC book.  There's a reason that it was a best-seller.  It combines so many elements in such a great fashion that it's hard to know where to begin in a review.

First, no one should confuse this with an actual historical novel as opposed to fiction, but it would be easy to do so.  The book is well researched, and taking place in the late 1890s is as accurate in its rendition of the times as any history I've read.  This goes for the places (New York, Washington) as well as the people (to include Theodore Roosevelt and JP Morgan).  The fictional characters are well fleshed out, and the ones based in history are accurate.

Those same characters are on the hunt for a serial killer, only it's 1890s New York and they don't have the same technologies or methods we have today.  The tale of what it is that they do to find the killer is what composes the crux of the book.  The author's descriptive powers match or exceed those of many I've read, and he draws you into the narrative and keeps you there with his fast-paced style.  The ending of the book has a neat little twist, and is very satisfying.

If you're a fan of the TV show "Criminal Minds" or work of similar ilk, then you will enjoy this book immensely.  Even if you're not, I suggest you give it a read - it stands on its own and will be a novel that stands the test of time.

I hope to do this prior to work, but realistically, since that involves getting up earlier, I suspect I'll be doing it after work.  For at least the winter, this will involve going to the gym and running on the treadmill. Thankfully, there's a small gym in my apartment complex that has several treadmills.