Last week I had the pleasure of leading a cooking class at St. Martin de Porres in New Haven Connecticut. We had a blast! For the past 10 years I've fished for Lobsters off the Connecticut Coast as a hobby, and I took the catch of the day down to the boys at St. Martin de Porres.
These Lobsters were pulled from the waters off Guilford, Connecticut. Long Island Sound suffered a massive lobster die-off over a decade ago, and stocks have recovered nicely in some local fisheries. For $60 per year, the state allows you to tend as many as ten lobster traps.
To say the boys were happy to add some seafood to their lunch menu would be an understatement! They loved checking out the creatures - One of the boys wanted to take one home as a pet. He was eating lobster 20 minutes later with no regrets.
I also brought along an old lobster trap with me. They got to see how the lobster enters the trap and gets caught which was really neat.
St. Martin de Porres Academy is a faith-based nativity middle school that provides tuition free, extended day education for underserved girls and boys from low-income families in the New Haven area.
The lobsters we cooked were steamed - in my opinion the best way to cook lobsters. Boiling can produce a waterlogged & overcooked lobster. I've been cooking lobsters for a long time and if there's one piece of advice I'd give, it's to cook them for less than you've been taught. It's amazing how the flavors come out if the lobster is cooked for even a minute or two less than you'd expect.
In case anyone's interested, here is the Keyen Farrell go-to steamed lobster recipe:
1. Fill the pot with two to three inches of water.
2. Add 1/4-1/3 cup of salt per gallon of water.
3. Insert a steaming rack into the pot if you have one. If not, you can use a bed of smooth stones.
4. Bring the water to a boil.
5. Add the lobsters to the pot, cover, and begin timing
6. Place the lid on the pot and return the water to a boil.
7. Plan on 10 minutes for the first pound of lobster, and two additional minutes for every additional 1/4 pound. A 1 1/4 pound lobster will take 12 minutes, a 1 1/2 pound lobster should get 14 minutes, and a 2 pound lobster will need around 18 minutes.
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Zero-Threshold Rule in Incentive Marketing
It still surprises me how many incentive marketing & cash back websites maintain minimum payout thresholds. In a space where trust is paramount, payout thresholds destroy credibility. If users must accrue $10 or $20 in rewards before seeing those earnings, many will invariably hit the eject button. Site owners mostly use payment thresholds as a means of withholding payouts from low-earners under the guise of covering transaction costs. The transaction cost argument no longer holds water given the efficiencies of bulk e-payments. PayPal mass payments cost a mere 2%. If you choose to go the snail mail route and cut paper checks, your costs will be astronomically higher. I, Keyen Farrell say, "Don't do it!" Unless you are operating at enormous scale (think Ebates, NetFlip circa 2002), or have unusually lucrative offers, the price of cutting checks is simply too high. Keeping your transactions purely electronic will save you time and avoid needless headaches for you and your users. You can even designate a single bank account into which commission revenue flows and from which incentive payouts are drawn.
If you follow the Zero-Threshold Rule, your visitors will be inclined to complete more, not less offers on your site. You may find that users complete one or two offers to test it out. Yet once you hold up your part of the bargain, they will almost always return. The Zero-Threshold Rule builds trust with your users and should not be ignored as a selling point. You can further leverage the rule by working it into your site's messaging. It's astounding how many incentive websites have not only minimum payout thresholds, but bundle offers together, forcing users to complete several offers at one time. Bundling offers is the antithesis of the Zero-Threshold Rule and not only destroys your user base but compromises the quality of transactions. Sustained incentive marketing rests upon happy users and happy merchants. The last thing you want is low-quality, chargeback-prone transactions caused by bundled offers. If your site contains a varied selection of offers, and users are given the flexibility to complete which offers and how many, everyone comes out on top.
If you follow the Zero-Threshold Rule, your visitors will be inclined to complete more, not less offers on your site. You may find that users complete one or two offers to test it out. Yet once you hold up your part of the bargain, they will almost always return. The Zero-Threshold Rule builds trust with your users and should not be ignored as a selling point. You can further leverage the rule by working it into your site's messaging. It's astounding how many incentive websites have not only minimum payout thresholds, but bundle offers together, forcing users to complete several offers at one time. Bundling offers is the antithesis of the Zero-Threshold Rule and not only destroys your user base but compromises the quality of transactions. Sustained incentive marketing rests upon happy users and happy merchants. The last thing you want is low-quality, chargeback-prone transactions caused by bundled offers. If your site contains a varied selection of offers, and users are given the flexibility to complete which offers and how many, everyone comes out on top.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Keyen has worked in Googles Media and Entertainment Vertical
Since joining Google in 2007 as an Account Strategist, Keyen has worked in Google's Media & Entertainment Vertical. As Account Strategist, Keyen is directly responsible for a paid search portfolio consisting of several top Media & Entertainment advertisers.
Since January of 2009, Keyen's work has been focused on the Big Three Television Networks. He is currently the lead east coast Account Strategist assigned to ABC, NBC, & CBS. In his role as Account Strategist he executes on integrated advertising campaigns spanning Google.com, the Google Search Network, and the Google Content Network.
His area of focus in the television space resides in leveraging paid search to drive tune-in and reach branding goals.
Prior to his work with the major television networks, Keyen worked on Google's Web Publishing business where he partnered with clients including Rolling Stone, Ancestry.com, US Weekly, Martha Stewart Living, Consumer Reports and others. In addition to experience with leading brand advertisers, Keyen has extensive experience with direct response initiatives. He has executed on successful subscriptions campaigns for Google's top Web Publishers, enabling advertisers to drive large volumes of sales within a defined cost per order. In addition to his expertise in AdWords, Keyen is a Google Analytics expert. In particular, he's worked extensively with the Google Analytics Jumpstart Program, a pilot program designed to facilitate Google Analytics adoption among top advertisers. His work has enabled the implementation of Google Analytics for several top advertisers in the Media & Entertainment space. In addition to his work on Jumpstart, he leverages Google Analytics in his Strategist work.
At Google, Keyen has also served as Products Specialist for AdWords Editor. AdWords Editor is a free, downloadable application that allows advertisers to easily make changes to their AdWords account from their desktop. During his time on the team, he served as the lead AdWords Editor Product Specialist for the North America Direct Sales Organization. He worked closely with a select team of engineers to improve functionality and latency of what is the primary AdWords tool used by tens of thousands of Google advertisers. During his tenure as Product Specialist, three versions of AdWords Editor successfully shipped.
At Google, Keyen has also taken an active role in the Google Grants Program. The Google Grants program provides in-kind advertising for accredited non-profits. The Google Grants program empowers non-profit advertisers to achieve their goals by helping them promote their websites via advertising on Google. In his work with Google Grants, Keyen has assisted a variety of causes including the arts, public health, as well as human rights groups. In his role on the Google Grants team, Keyen provides tactical strategy for these advertisers.
Keyen is also active mentor in Google's New Hire Training Program. The program gives new Googlers ' Nooglers' a fundamental understanding of Google systems. In his work with New Hire, Keyen trains classes of incoming Nooglers on Google systems.
Prior to Joining Google, Keyen founded Topaz Financial, a network of e-commerce sites providing cash rebates & rewards to shoppers. With no outside startup capital, Topaz Financial grew to generate well in excess of $1MM in revenue while dispersing over 100,000 individual cash rebates to consumers. Topaz Financial was featured in the 2006 spring issue of Colby Magazine.
Keyen is a 2007 graduate summa cum laude from Colby College. He holds a B.A. in Economics with a Financial Markets concentration.
Keyen with Special Olympics Contestants
Keyen is also active in the Connecticut chapter of Special Olympics. Since 2000 he has served as coach for the Pilot's Point Pirates sailing team. This September Keyen will participate in the Northeast Sailing Championships hosted by the US Navy at the War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
In his spare time Keyen enjoys windsurfing, sailing, and flyfishing. He currently resides in Manhattan.
Since January of 2009, Keyen's work has been focused on the Big Three Television Networks. He is currently the lead east coast Account Strategist assigned to ABC, NBC, & CBS. In his role as Account Strategist he executes on integrated advertising campaigns spanning Google.com, the Google Search Network, and the Google Content Network.
His area of focus in the television space resides in leveraging paid search to drive tune-in and reach branding goals.
Prior to his work with the major television networks, Keyen worked on Google's Web Publishing business where he partnered with clients including Rolling Stone, Ancestry.com, US Weekly, Martha Stewart Living, Consumer Reports and others. In addition to experience with leading brand advertisers, Keyen has extensive experience with direct response initiatives. He has executed on successful subscriptions campaigns for Google's top Web Publishers, enabling advertisers to drive large volumes of sales within a defined cost per order. In addition to his expertise in AdWords, Keyen is a Google Analytics expert. In particular, he's worked extensively with the Google Analytics Jumpstart Program, a pilot program designed to facilitate Google Analytics adoption among top advertisers. His work has enabled the implementation of Google Analytics for several top advertisers in the Media & Entertainment space. In addition to his work on Jumpstart, he leverages Google Analytics in his Strategist work.
At Google, Keyen has also served as Products Specialist for AdWords Editor. AdWords Editor is a free, downloadable application that allows advertisers to easily make changes to their AdWords account from their desktop. During his time on the team, he served as the lead AdWords Editor Product Specialist for the North America Direct Sales Organization. He worked closely with a select team of engineers to improve functionality and latency of what is the primary AdWords tool used by tens of thousands of Google advertisers. During his tenure as Product Specialist, three versions of AdWords Editor successfully shipped.
At Google, Keyen has also taken an active role in the Google Grants Program. The Google Grants program provides in-kind advertising for accredited non-profits. The Google Grants program empowers non-profit advertisers to achieve their goals by helping them promote their websites via advertising on Google. In his work with Google Grants, Keyen has assisted a variety of causes including the arts, public health, as well as human rights groups. In his role on the Google Grants team, Keyen provides tactical strategy for these advertisers.
Keyen is also active mentor in Google's New Hire Training Program. The program gives new Googlers ' Nooglers' a fundamental understanding of Google systems. In his work with New Hire, Keyen trains classes of incoming Nooglers on Google systems.
Prior to Joining Google, Keyen founded Topaz Financial, a network of e-commerce sites providing cash rebates & rewards to shoppers. With no outside startup capital, Topaz Financial grew to generate well in excess of $1MM in revenue while dispersing over 100,000 individual cash rebates to consumers. Topaz Financial was featured in the 2006 spring issue of Colby Magazine.
Keyen is a 2007 graduate summa cum laude from Colby College. He holds a B.A. in Economics with a Financial Markets concentration.
Keyen with Special Olympics Contestants
Keyen is also active in the Connecticut chapter of Special Olympics. Since 2000 he has served as coach for the Pilot's Point Pirates sailing team. This September Keyen will participate in the Northeast Sailing Championships hosted by the US Navy at the War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
In his spare time Keyen enjoys windsurfing, sailing, and flyfishing. He currently resides in Manhattan.
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