It's time to Put Up Your Dukes

Put up one's dukes: to raise one's clenched fists in front of one's body and stand in a threatening or defiant manner, in preparation for a fistfight.

I recently hosted one of our www.ZoomTalks.us (Coffee in the Clouds) interviews with the amazing Dan Ariely - an Israeli-American professor and author. He serves as a James B. Duke Professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. Ariely is the co-founder of several companies implementing insights from behavioral science. I am a big fan of DanAriely.com 

In preparation for the interview I spent some time on Duke.edu 

2024: With the Duke University cost of attendance amounting to approximately $83,263 per year—inclusive of the combined Duke tuition and fees—the total Duke University cost comes to around $333,000 for 4 years.

Why is Duke tuition so high?

Duke pays what it calls "startup costs" for a lot of professors, particularly in the sciences. And decisions about hiring faculty can drive up costs in other parts of the university. Duke considers a lot of that spending when it says $90,000 is what it costs to educate an undergraduate each year.

In 1984, it cost $10,000 a year to go to Duke University. Today, it's more than $80,000 a year. But according to the executive vice provost at Duke, that's actually a discount. "We're investing on average about $90,000 in the education of each student, and Duke is one of the most elite research institutions in the world."

From their website: Jennifer West is a professor of bioengineering and materials science with a long list of publications, awards and titles. To hire West away from Rice University, money wasn't enough. She came with an entourage. "I moved a whole entire research group with me, so I had to move a lot of people and then we had to move a lot of our equipment and rebuild our lab," she says. "They actually sent architects to Rice who looked at our lab facilities there, then used that information to go back and design the facility that would work for us at Duke."

OK, so now the students who are PHYSICALLY on campus at Duke, would benefit from interaction with someone like Dr. West. On campus - in a lab. So, here is the debate (more from the website):

Charles Schwartz, a retired professor from the University of California, Berkeley, who has been studying university finances for the past 20 years, takes issue with this way of accounting. He says it's unfair to place the financial cost of professors like Jennifer West, who spend most of their time in the lab, on undergraduate students. "It's just wrong to bundle all those costs together," he says.

It looks like 55% of students pay full price, over $80,000. 10% pay nothing. The rest of the students pay anywhere from $10,000 to $54,000 per year. 

So if you're a student (physically) at Duke, are you getting a massive discount on the cost of your education? Or are you subsidizing a giant educational and research complex that you (as an undergraduate student) will barely come into contact with?

If you're engaged in research and capitalizing on your professors' expertise, maybe you're getting something that's worth more than what you paid. If you've got a good financial aid package, you're definitely getting a good deal. But if you're a full-paying student, who's not learning much from professors outside the classroom, it's the research university that's getting the deal.

Where are you going with this, Tom?

I am not looking to 'put up my dukes' with Duke.edu. This blog could be about any college or university in the world, as all schools are fighting for tuition dollars. Any and all schools are now serving any and all students physically on campus - or 100% virtually (online) - from anywhere in the world. Ah, CumulusUniversity.org anyone??? 

I am huge Dan Ariely fan. I have read all of his books. I have watched his TED Talks. I am one of the 29.7K followers on https://www.youtube.com/@danariely 

If I was younger (or had a time machine) I might be a student who is paying somewhere between $10,000 and $80,000 to physically attend class at https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/ and maybe I would have coffee from time to time with https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/faculty/dan-ariely

But now, today in 2024, I have to settle with spending an hour one-on-one with Dan Ariely, and having Coffee In the Clouds (virtually) with Dan. For free. 

Would like to join us?...We have room at the table

www.JoinNYDLA.org

You better be kidding

If you are on a smartphone, hold phone sideways (landscape mode) 

Alice's Kids is the official charity of the NYDLA.org

I am not really sure how or where I came across AlicesKids.org but I sent this email on 12/10/2019 at 10:31 AM EST to: contact@aliceskids.org 

"I would like to learn about what you do, and possibly do a video podcast to help your cause."

At 3:18 PM EST the same day:

Thomas, thanks so much for contacting us.  Of course, I would be happy to talk to you more about our work.  My time is rather flexible for a meeting or phone call.  What's your time look like?    Ron

Ron Fitzsimmons, Executive Director, Alice's Kids, aliceskids.org

I invited Ron to a Zoom meeting and his response was classic:

"Not sure what a zoom meeting is, but happy to talk to Amy."

Well, 'Amy' at the time was my AI robot that managed my calendar. And Zoom was, well.... WAS ZOOM.    

And so began a wonderful friendship with my 'technology challenged' friend Ron. And yesterday, I met Ron Fitzsimmons, Executive Director, Alice's Kids, aliceskids.org (IRL)  And just in case Ron is reading this, IRL means "In Real Life". 

I don't want to steal my own thunder here, but we did do a www.ZoomTalks.us video podcast, and it became one of our most watched interviews / video podcasts of all time. That was my original intent, to use our COMMUNITY - to use the PLATFORM of the www.NYDLA.org to help to spread the word about Alice's Kids. 

I am very active on social media, Ron is not. I love telecom and technology, Ron does not. It became clear to me that one way that I could help Ron and Alice's Kids is to offer them access to our technology, our staff, our assets, our knowledge, our talent. All for the good of Alice's Kids. And when and where I could do so at no charge, I would. And, I would make Alice's Kids the Official Charity of the NYDLA.org. All of this would be the best use of my position at the NYDLA.org 

Check out https://www.aliceskids.org/our-supporters "The vast majority of our donors are individuals and some are celebrities in their field. Their support magnifies our work and helps us reach even more donors!"

A few years ago, via one of our random Tweets, Comedian/Actor Patton Oswalt learned of Alice's Kids. He donated $5,000 out of the blue. It turns out that Alice's Kids caught his attention, because Patton's daughter's name is Alice.

Because Patton Oswalt became a supporter, Writer/Actress Nancy Carell became aware of Alice's Kids and she became a supporter, donating thousands of dollars. As did her Actor husband Steve Carell. And then Actor/Musician Kevin Bacon - and you know that 'everyone in the world' is only seven people away from Kevin Bacon, right??? Or is it six? 

In a three-round run on Celebrity Jeopardy, comedian Patton Oswalt won $250,000 to benefit Alice’s Kids. This is one of many charitable efforts Oswalt has participated in for Alice’s Kids. When Ron called Patton to thank him, Patton's first words to Ron were "I'm so sorry! I just missed winning you the million by one dollar!" 

Someone from the Fairfax County, VA area learned of all of this, and reached out to Ron, telling him that "they would like to match" the winning funds of Patton Oswalt, $250,000. And so it continues...

https://www.aliceskids.org/our-story I would ask that everyone read this. I think you will understand why in 2019 it was clear to me that Alice's Kids should be the official charity of the NYDLA.org 

When I met with Ron Fitzsimmons yesterday in good ol' BOONTON USA, it was our first time meeting in person. Many years after our first Zoom meeting. Ron's first words to me: 'damn, you are tall....'  No handshake for us, it was an immediate hug. 

Here is the point of today's Sunday Blog. Show up. Take the call, make the call. Go to the meeting, go to the event. There is power and energy in activity, in motion, in movement. Everything is connected. 

Would Patton Oswalt have come across Alice's Kids if was not for that random Tweet of ours? Who knows, maybe. Would you know about Alice's Kids if you did not read my Sunday Blog today? Who can say, but we do have it in the main menu bar of www.NYDLA.org and we do get millions of visitors every year. 

Yesterday Ron shared with me that a 'big time' Oscar Winning Hollywood producer is planning on doing a documentary all about Alice's Kids. 

Yep, I guess Bacon's Law is a thing. 

The Coffee Table Book of Coffee Tables

If reading on a smartphone, hold phone sideways - landscape view 

"The Fire" is the 84th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld and the 20th episode of the fifth season. It originally aired on May 5, 1994, on NBC. This was the final episode to be written by Larry Charles. In this episode, Elaine's coworker Toby annoys her with her enthusiasm and ruins one of Jerry's shows with well-meaning heckling, Kramer becomes a hero while saving Toby's severed pinky toe, and George exposes his own cowardice when he discovers a fire at a children's birthday party.

This is the first time Kramer is at Pendant Publishing discussing his idea of a coffee table book about coffee tables with Elaine and her hyper enthusiastic co-worker Toby, whom Elaine can not stand. It is Toby who takes it upon herself to get Kramer's book published. 

OK, so if you are not a Seinfeld fan, or never saw the episodes about Kramer's book, the above makes no sense. We'll come back to this.

I run the Distance Learning Association. Which over the last 20 or so years, became DIGITAL Learning. But in 2024 it is really just DIGITAL LIVING. All things "Cloud" have changed the way that we all live, learn, work and play - on a global basis. 

While growing up, I would hear from friends, relatives and people who had my best interests at heart "Tommy, you gotta get a good education" as education was connected to quality of life. Born in 1960 I grew up in Cedar Grove, New Jersey and had the benefit of an amazing public education. Leonard R. Parks Elementary School was less than a mile from the house, and I would walk to and from school twice a day (going home for lunch, then back to school). 

Then we moved to Boca Raton, Florida for 7th - 10th grade. And to private Essex Catholic High School in Newark, NJ to finish up High School, and to get me ready for PURDUE (study Biomedical Engineering) and RUTGERS (School of Business). It seems that it was always connected to and about... education.

YESTERDAY, from my home in Boonton Township, NJ I hosted a Zoom meeting with someone that I met on LinkedIn:

Hello Thomas,

Greetings! MENA Newswire is revolutionizing news distribution across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe with our cloud-native platform. We merge advanced AI and machine learning with top-tier SEO practices and Google webmaster guidelines to optimize content impact. Post-publication, we provide detailed analytics and data. Our network reaches over 4,000 premier websites across the EMEA region, redefining how news is distributed and consumed.

We distribute press releases in 29 languages, including major global languages like Arabic, English, French, and Chinese, along with key regional languages such as Hebrew, Turkish, Persian, Swahili, Hindi, Korean, Japanese, Urdu, and Pashto. Our platform also supports six principal European languages: French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and English. We're eager to collaborate with international companies looking to amplify their footprint in the EMEA region. If this opportunity resonates with your strategic goals, please let us know your interest or connect us with the right contact in your organization. Thank you for considering this exciting possibility.

Where are you going with this Tom?

MENA reaches hundreds of millions of people who are NOT living in North America. It became clear yesterday that even in 2024, if families can afford it, they will (still) send their children to the USA or Canada for education. 

Physically sending them - their most precious thing in the world - they will try to find a way to send their children to the USA for their education. Because they want the best for them - they want to give their children the best chances for the highest possible quality of life. And in 2024, the 'perception' is that you still need to PHYSICALLY go to school. To be on a campus. 

This is false.

You can 'physically' go to Harvard and live in the Northeastern Part of the USA for a few years. Princeton, Yale, all of the Ivy League schools all now have ONLINE courses. PURDUE and RUTGERS have AMAZING online courses. The perception is that a quality education requires a student to be physically present is just simply no longer the case. The microsite NYDLA.org/Harvard has been live for many years, and thousands of students have received a degree from Harvard without ever stepping foot in Massachusetts. 

Paper Books, the true original 'distance learning' technology have morphed into Audible.com - which has become my favorite way to consume books. When I listen to a book read by the author, it feels like I am in their lecture, and they are talking directly to ME. YouTube can also be amazing to learn things, many times for FREE. 

Kramer's Coffee Table Book about Coffee Tables is not really a book - and it is not really a coffee table. But it says that it is, so... And that is what makes it funny. The episode about doing "the opposite" now makes perfect sense to me. 

If you want to visit the USA or North America - fantastic. I think that New York City is truly the best city in the world. I live 30 miles West of NYC in the "New York Megalopolis" which is home to the 55M+ living from Maine to Virginia - it is amazing for so many reasons. But for education, you don't need to LIVE there. You should not have to make the sacrifice of sending your children to live in another country - for a quality education. (true for work as well.... you can WORK from anywhere in the world....but that is a blog for another Sunday...)

It's 2024. We are democratizing education on a global basis via disruptive technology. And, you can watch all 9 seasons of Seinfeld on Netflix, YouTube, Sling TV,  Apple TV, Google Play, Fandango at Home, and of course, Amazon Prime. No need to buy the 9 seasons of Seinfeld on CD or DVD, right? 

That is so 90s.... 

www.JoinNYDLA.org (free or paid)

Well, that's hard to pass up...

So this was my post on my personal Facebook this glorious August Sunday morning:

And then this morning, via THE GOOGLE I saw this: 

And that is when it really hit me. MANY YEARS AGO.... Wells Fargo wanted to be the official "Bank" for the millions of members of the NYDLA.org - and I said....YES! And so, we built out the microsite NYDLA.org/WellsFargo  And that was GREAT! Until it was not... Remember a few years ago when the 'Wells Fargo' brand was, let's say... a little radio active? We USED to have the Wells Fargo clickable logo on page 1 / slide 1 of NYDLA.org as Wells Fargo was our Platinum Level Sponsor. Today, not so much. And just last week, we were approached by Bank of America - to become the 'official bank' of the NYDLA.org - and I said yes. 

A few years ago, Harvard (yeah, that Harvard) was also a Platinum Level Sponsor of the NYDLA and we had THEIR clickable logo on Page 1 / Slide 1 of NYDLA.org. Their microsite is still up via NYDLA.org/Harvard I remember me figuring out a way to slip 'Harvard' in to every single conversation: "Well, when HARVARD became a PLATINUM SPONSOR of the NYDLA.org ....yada..yada...yada...." The Harvard 'brand' has taken some hits recently with dumb decisions by their leadership. The Harvard University endowment, is over $50 billion - it is the largest academic economic endowment in the world. Yep, even really smart people with lots of assets and resources can screw up from time to time. I predict they will recover and be 'OK'.  

It was just a few years ago (in a curious twist of timing) the two biggest retail banks in the country — Bank of America and Wells Fargo — rolled out new logos and updated brand positions within just a few weeks of each other. That cost them hundreds of MILLIONS to do that rebranding move. Why did they do that? 

Similar to the direction Wells Fargo chose, Bank of America opted to modernize rather than replace its 20-year-old logo — only slightly tweaked. A darker, richer shade of blue was used, and the stylized flag emblem was simplified and organized. The “flag” now has more white space between the color bands, and the bank’s name is now typeset in all capital letters with the lettering stretched out, giving it a more modern look. The new logo is accompanied by the slogan, “What would you like the power to do?”

In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, BofA’s reputation was in the dog house. But the BofA brand has rebounded strongly since, whereas Wells Fargo is still suffering from a battery of scandals and fines. I remember reading a Motley Fool headline “Inside America’s Most-Hated Bank”, with a long article excoriating Bank of America’s flawed business model and culture.

In 2015, Bank of America settled with the last of the major claims stemming from the financial crisis with the Department of Justice. It has been quietly rebuilding top-to-bottom ever since.

As The Wall Street Journal describes it, CEO Brian Moynihan has been “pursuing a strategy of ‘responsible growth’ with ‘no excuses’ that values stability over swagger.” The $2.3 trillion bank has chosen to deal with less-risky customers and provide them with fewer products, and do so efficiently using automation and digital applications.

OK, Tom, land the plane... where are you going with this?

I love, LoVe, LOVE Zoom. We are the #1 promoter of Zoom in North America. But, if you go looking for trouble, you will find it. During COVID-19 when the world was indeed PoweredByZoom.us Zoom went from 10 million daily users in December 2019 to 300 million daily users in April 2020. Its security and privacy practices came under sharp scrutiny — and experts didn't like what they found. Zoom's end-to-end encryption wasn't quite end-to-end. Other Zoom meeting attendees could see a lot about you. 2024: Zoom has spent tens of MILLIONS of dollars on addressing their security issues, and today Zoom is used by schools, government, healthcare, and other mission-critical clients and vertical markets.

If you wait long enough, every brand will get its turn in the barrel. Harvard. Zoom. Wells Fargo. Bank of America. Delta. Facebook. LastPass. The list is long... And the big lesson, the big thing to look for is this: what do they do after the crisis. What do they do after 'the brand' takes a hit? 

What does LEADERSHIP do to win back the faith and trust of their brand's customers and their brand's clients.... after the bad news???

Major telecom and technology brands want to be associated with the (now global) NYDLA.org brand because "our brand" is wholesome. Lifelong Learning. Education. What did your grandparents tell you when you were little: "Timmy, Susan, you got to get a good education!" I remember when the Chairman and CEO of Verizon told me: "Tom, your brand is better than our brand - for BlueJeans. Your brand equals 'Quality of Life' - Education." 

Wow. I got the message and the lesson loud and clear. That is why Verizon made us their Tier 1 ELITE partner - for BlueJeans. 

(Alas,  www.GetBlueJeans.com is no more - Verizon shut it all down )  2024: Hey, did you see how Verizon just did a brand refresh with a new logo??? And how that branding move will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. Worth it! 

Verizon rebranded in June 2024 to reposition itself as a media powerhouse and wireless infrastructure provider, and to better connect with customers. The rebrand includes a new logo, design system, and creative approach, as well as changes to marketing, digital properties, and retail stores. 

The new logo features a lighter red "V" wordmark in a custom font with yellow-gold accents. The "V" is inspired by the company's name, which is a combination of the Latin word veritas ("truth") and horizon ("future"). The logo can be used as a standalone letter or in the company's full name. Verizon also dropped its previous red check mark logo. 

The rebrand also aims to make the brand more approachable and emotionally connected. Verizon's CMO, Leslie Berland, said the company will lean more into the color red than in the past. The rebranding campaign also includes fast-paced segments that highlight Verizon's reliable connectivity and how it allows people to do things like stream videos, make payments, and play games. 

AND SO, on this fine Sunday morning in August 2024: there are 55M+ people living in the New York Megalopolis and 579M+ living in North America. And I (TomCapone.com) thinks they should all 

GetLastPass.com  [ a new NYDLA.org/LastPass microsite is coming soon!!! ]

{ But of course - they should all first JoinNYDLA.org - free or paid } 

Also, it's 2024 and I love (and use) Harvard, Wells Fargo, 

Zoom, LastPass, GoTo and many other 'brands'