Avoid the pink cliche

Let me just say this outright: if you have a product and you are suddenly deciding to tailor it to women, DO NOT make it pink. Just don’t. Painting it pink and thinking women will automatically dig it is a cliché. It’s unimaginative. It’s an insult.

This has been a beef of mine for awhile, but I’ve recently noticed more than a few examples of this happening and so it seemed timely to mention it. (I won’t name names – I don’t intend to call anyone out specifically, I just want to encourage everyone marketing to women to be smarter than this.)

Now don‘t get me wrong – I like pink, sometimes. I own things that are pink, and I am not insulted to own them. But make no mistake: I chose pink in these instances. It wasn’t handed to me along with a condescending note stating, “Here you go, this one‘s pink so you‘ll love it!”

So if not pink, what color should you pick that offers universal female appeal? Trick question – there is no such thing!  If you’re tailoring something to women, you’ve got to stretch your brain past the pink and get to the idea that women are different and like different colors. Some like the colors of nature… some like the colors of the garage. Some like pastels, some like bold or jewel tones.  Some like every color under the rainbow, at different times and for different purposes.

If that makes it too difficult for you to tailor your product, consider the notion that maybe a designated “female color” isn’t needed at all. In fact, I can just about guarantee you that color is not what’s keeping women from using your product. Maybe all you need to do is tweak  your  advertising or your outreach program to acknowledge that your product is suitable for women. Use a female spokesperson  (in a non-sexual way). Encourage the women who do already use your product to show their support. (This is easier than ever in the age of social media.) Maybe your product has more serious problems that are keeping women from embracing it. The fact is, to successfully market to women, you‘ve got to uncover the real issues and address them.

All this is not to say you can’t offer a pink product. Go ahead, if it’s easy to do and you have other color options available as well. Just don’t put pink out there and proclaim, “Now in pink – just for the ladies!”

Super spy glasses… or cheap piece of crap?

I have a history of buying crap you see on television and then being disappointed in it. Ab Cruncher, Egg Rings, the Esteban Electric Guitar. Well recently at the Good Guys car show, we came upon a vendor selling products that are undoubtedly over-priced and destined to disappoint. But, one of them offers what quite possibly could be the solution to a problem I’ve had since the very first day I rode my own bike across the Mile Bridge at Saylorville Lake: I’ve been looking for a way to safely take pictures of my beautiful state, from the bike, without having to coordinate a pull-over of the whole merry band and without having to fumble for a camera stashed in a pocket.

Maybe the solution is “Mobile Eyewear Recorder,” a pair of sunglasses with a tiny still and video camera embedded between the eyes.

Let me say that after my many experiences with “As Seen on TV” products, I was skeptical. The printed instructions for the glasses did little to boost my confidence, proclaiming:

“Use USB line connect computer, click can to moved computer on the tabletop playing (when will to use PC Camera, must standby status.”

Ultimately we decided to take a chance given the price. We took the glasses for a test ride on July 4 and as these pictures prove, I still have a little to learn about getting decent results.

This photo of a rustic barn illustrates the need to snap the shutter button just a tad sooner.

This photo of Steve on his bike illustrates the point that the center of your forehead doesn’t see what you may actually be seeing in your peripheral vision.

This photo of Saylorville Lake illustrates both of the above points, and also shows that the color captured by the camera may not be the greatest. (But hey, it’s a pin-hole camera embedded in sunglasses, not Ashton Kutcher on the back of the bike taking coolpix with his Nikon.*)

Finally, I took a few segments of video with the camera too. This taught me a couple of things as well: a). I move my head around a lot when riding – and that’s good, it means I’m always looking for potential hazards on the road. And b). Watching video taken from the center of my forehead makes me queasy. The one advantage of the video? Well it appears I can snag some pretty good still shots out of it (examples below).

*Note to self: investigate Ashton Kutcher solution ASAP.

 

Good Guys 2011

Here’s how we spent the first part of our July Fourth weekend… baking in the sun at the Good Guys Rod & Custom Heartland Nationals! Twentieth year in Des Moines – we’ve gone to (and had a car in) every show but one since they’ve been here. I posted a Good Guys 2011 photo album on Webshots with all the pictures I took, but here are a few of my favorites!

When we first started “rodding” a little more than 20 years ago, the paint trend was quickly moving toward bright colors that were a far cry from the subdued tones of everyday cars. I’m glad to see this “trend” still holding its own!

These old Caddy’s are LOADED with style and fab-fifties FINS!!

Not every car at the show is painted… there was a slew of “rat rods,” some clear-coated and some not, but all exhibiting their natural rusty goodness. I really dig those wide-white-walls and wire wheels!

Not even a rat rod… just a great old Studebaker in a condition I like to call “Faded Glory.”

Love this Willy’s coupe…

 

This is an early 60’s Nash Metropolitan – I had a project car just like this for a year or so, but eventually sold it to gather the cash to buy… a motorcycle! This one’s for sale for ten grand… might be a tad pricey, but man they are NEAT little cars! I’d love to have one again.

Here’s a view of the main drag – the “Grand Concourse” of the show.

And finally – it was a little painful for me to see this ’37 Chevy 2-door sedan. We owned this car – in fact we BUILT this car. This is the first street rod my hubby and I built back in 1990-91, and the car in which we had all of our first ten years’ worth of rodding adventures, and the car in which our now-grown daughter took all her early car show trips. We sold the car about ten years ago and haven’t seen it around town at all – except this weekend, at this show. I looked in the windows – the guy hasn’t changed a thing since he’s owned it. It looked exactly like I remembered… like I could open the door and put my baby girl in the back seat with her Crocodile Dentist game, and take off down the road for a small-town show or even the Street Rod Nationals in Louisville. I got a little emotional looking at the car after all this time – pretty much a time capsule holding a LOT of great memories!

 

 

Bike shopping? Try a side-by-side comparison

If you’ve poked around here much, you might have stumbled across my Short Rider Grid comparing seat heights of various cruisers. Of course, there’s more to choosing a bike than seat height, and now there’s a good resource for those researching a bike purchase. The motorcycle comparison tool built by www.findthebest.com lets you view a variety of specs and features on different bikes in a side-by-side view. The screen shot above gives you an idea of what the results look like, though there’s a lot more to it than what’s shown. (See a full sample comparison of an HD Heritage Softail Classic and a Yamaha Roadstar Silverado.)

Kyle Espinola of FindtheBest tells me that their research team built the comparison by first determining what data should be included, then populating the data fields with data directly from the manufacturer or government databases.

The comparison also includes “expert ratings,” which are weighted averages of industry sources, including Motorcycle.com, CycleWorld.com, and Motorcyclist Magazine.

“(Users) can also give their own reviews on the product at the bottom of each listing, (and) can also add/edit listings. Every add/edit is quality checked by our staff and then sent live,”  Kyle said.

He notes that the FindtheBest team also adds bulk entries at different times – for example, a major addition will take place when more of the 2012 bikes are out.

Bikes aren’t the only things you can compare at FindtheBest – the site has created a “one-stop shop” of comparisons covering a broad range of interests, allowing users to find and review both objective data and user reviews all in the same spot. You can read a little more about the site in a December, 2010 write-up on the blog Mashable.

Disclaimer: Although FindtheBest.com invited me to take a look at their motorcycle comparison tool, they did not compensate me for writing about it. They *did* add my blog to their blog comparison tool, but only after I was too lazy to add it myself :)

 

 

Our other car is a 65 Corvair

Just thought I would share a few pictures of the 65 Corvair Convertible that’s been occupying my hubby’s time for the past couple of months. He has spent countless hours on bodywork, painting, polishing, trouble-shooting, repairing, fixing, fussing, screwin’-and-gluin’… our whole family is looking forward to the Good Guys Rod & Custom Heartland Nationals this weekend!

Solo ride to Creston… er, Osceola

I’m not always “good” at riding by myself – it feels funny riding without a group of friends behind me, and after a fashion I can even start to feel a little guilty leaving Steve to his own devices. But, I know he’s working hard to get the Corvair ready for the Good Guys Heartland Nationals next weekend and I felt like I’d been pretty helpful on Saturday by cleaning the car’s interior, so I decided to take a ride on Sunday almost in spite of myself.

My plan was to ride to Creston about 80 miles southwest of Des Moines. Nothing there in particular I wanted to see, but I wanted to stretch my solo riding a bit and this was a little farther than I usually go.

I took off heading south down R63, but turned west before I got to the most scenic bits and took G14 through Norwalk and then G4R west to 169. This is a really scenic (if sometimes rough) route – we’ve ridden it heading east before, but I’m always amused/surprised at how different these roads can look going the other way.

I turned south where G4R ended, and could have gone around the town of Winterset following 169, but in fact Winterset is one of my favorite Iowa towns – it’s not only the birthplace and childhood home of actor John Wayne, it’s also the birthplace and childhood home of my mother and her family, going back to the mid-1850’s. So I’m familiar with a lot of the local landmarks, history, and even a couple of graveyards, and decided to ride through town and snap a couple photos.

I took a little detour around the Winterset square to see the work being done on the courthouse (well-deserved – she’s a beauty!), spied Biker Diva Apparel as I was heading south (closed on Sundays – drat!) and stopped to snap a couple pictures of Kitten in front of this classic little storefront. (Whatever this building used to be, it’s likely my great-grandfather once traded there!)

The road south becomes P71 as you leave Winterset, and I followed that til it met up again with Highway 169 (“Pavement Ends” – woops, backtrack to actually get to 169, then backtrack again to snap a photo of a really cute little homestead) then continued south to Highway 34.

It was in this area that I started to notice a few sprinkles of rain, and a look off to the west left no doubt that it was raining in Creston, just a few miles away from the junction I was approaching.

So to my right was Creston and certain rain… to my left was Osceola and a brighter sky, but I’d been there before. I took the left and headed toward Osceola (yeah, I’m chicken like that), and took a quick Casey’s break to plot the route home.

Left Osceola on Highway 69, veered off to travel the “missing link” of R45 from last year, and picked up the piece of G76 that junctions again with 69 at Medona.

I continued to catch sprinkles along the way, but I must’ve been on the leading edge of the actual rain. Anyway, from Medona it was an easy northeasterly shot into Indianola and then home via 92 and R63.

Guess I will have to try again to get to Creston, but I managed to totally enjoy all 120 miles even though I kinda missed having my merry band behind me!

Scavenger hunt ride: Lacona, Bussey & Reasnor

A couple Sundays ago, Steve took a break from his Corvair project and we set off for a ride that included three of the towns on this year’s HOG Chapter Scavenger Hunt: Lacona, Bussey and Reasnor – all tiny towns east of Des Moines in central Iowa.

The day was hot standing still, but absolutely perfect when riding. We started with brunch at the Home Plate Diner on Des Moines’ east side – we initially consisted of myself and Steve, Garry and Shirley, and Kristin on her new-this-year Road King. We took off to the southeast and stopped first in Carlisle to top off our gas. We lost Shirley at this point due to a stomach bug that was trying hard to get the best of her, and the four of us continued on to Lacona via S23. (This is where Shirley and I had ridden a couple weeks earlier and discovered the First Saturday Biker Lunch.)

The boys took their photos in front of the Lacona Post Office, and we proceeded east to Bussey, taking G76 to the tiny town of Attica at Highway 5. Turned south on 5 and just a short piece to the southeast was the turn-off to Bussey on G71. These county roads were interesting each in their own way – G76 had the feeling of being really isolated to me… very pretty, and not a lot of traffic. And G71 – wow! From Highway 5 you could see about three miles straight down the road to where it veered right into the tiny town of Bussey. Quite an amazing view, really.

We took our photos at Bussey, then a break at a convenience store where we plotted our route to Reasnor. The glitch in the planning was that we couldn’t tell whether Highway T17 went all the way through to Pella – there were letters on the map covering part of the road. A silly little detail, but we figured out a Plan A and a Plan B and took off.

Back out G71 to Highway 5, right turn on Highway 5 just about a quarter-mile to T17, and then north on T17. The primary goal was to get through Pella, and shoot out the other end on T14 into Reasnor. Turns out T17 does indeed go all the way through, and it’s really beautiful as well. We hit a detour going through Pella but found T14 (known as Main Street in town – original, right?) and proceeded to the north, where it eventually turned left and became F62 into Reasnor.

And Oh. My. Goodness!! I simply can’t say enough about how pretty this ride was – rural homesteads, sweeping curves, greenery everywhere split by the asphalt ribbon (in decent condition, even!), and at either end of every leg of the trip, an Iowa town enjoying a slow-paced Sunday afternoon.

By the time we finished taking pictures at the Reasnor Fire Station, it was about 5 pm. We took F62 westward and picked up Highway 163, which is a four-lane that comes into Des Moines’ east side. The whole trip was about 150 miles. I was really glad to get the chance to ride – this first part of the summer has been really rainy, and coupled with the fact that Steve is more focused on getting the Corvair ready for a July 4th weekend car show, my saddle time has been limited!

More soon I hope!

 

Finally a little bike time

On the one hand, I’m so grateful to finally have a job that I swear I am not complaining. On the other hand, having a job is really cutting into my riding time! Haven’t got to do too much on the bike lately, as I am back to waiting for good-weather weekends.

Last week, having watched two glorious blue-sky days go by outside my office window, I did have the bright idea of taking an evening dinner ride, and that was really nice – we rode our old favorite “up around the Lake” loop around Saylorville and then stopped for dinner at our friend’s bar/restaurant, Sambetti’s, for dinner. The lake level is actually pretty low right now compared to previous years, but the colors are still beautiful coming over the Mile Long Bridge – steel blue water, golden bluffs, and lush green trees.

The whole weekend turned off great weather-wise… Saturday was hot and humid, feeling like it would rain any minute, but not windy. It was the type of day where you felt over-heated standing still, but the moist air was cool once you got moving. I left Steve at home working on his Corvair and took a short ride down to Route 65 Harley-Davidson for their annual Spring Open House, where I visited with Cassie, Marla and Cuddles and then met up with Garry and Shirley.

We didn’t stay too long (but sure enjoyed our lunch, didn’t we?? “HA! YEAH, COPS DO THAT!!” bleated our uncomfortably loud tablemate) but took a nice scenic ride west to Winterset on Highway 92, then north to County Road G4R. Ninety-two is quite nice – one of my favorites of the higher-traffic two-lanes in Iowa – but G4R alternates between lovely smooth asphalt and wretched crumbling cement. Still, it has loads of beautiful curves and well-kept homes lining the way back toward Des Moines via Norwalk. (Later, we realized we had forgotten – !! – the “first Saturday” lunch at Lacona… SO sorry, Erica! We will catch you again before summer’s over!)

Sunday was another hot (but beautiful) day, and since we always get a late start on Sundays anyway (what with our traditional brunch and all…), Steve decided to take the afternoon off from the Corvair and go for a ride with me. More on that one later, it gets its own write-up if only to keep this post from being 2,000 words!

What have you been up to? Leave me a comment and tell me the most fun (on the bike – LOL) you’ve had so far this year!

Angels for Sam benefit ride June 12

And the winner is…

Selected via Random.org, the winner of the J&P Gift Card is….

Comment #4, Froggi Donna!

I honestly wish I had more of these to give away – I REALLY enjoyed reading everyone’s comments and I appreciate each of you popping in to enter the contest!

 

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