"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." John Lennon
The bowling club was a big deal. In the 4th grade, two days a week, you could get on a charter bus after school, and go straight to the bowling alley -- which equaled having a great afternoon, in the winter time with friends.
The Bowling Club started in January and ended in March. The timing was important because it afforded kids like me, an opportunity to do something different than go home after school and watch re-runs of both Magilla Gorilla, and the Brady Bunch.
The permission slip needed to be handed in by 3pm on a certain date in order to qualify for the Bowling Club, and secure the coveted spot (on the bus) that saved you two days a week from the doldrums of a New Jersey winter -- relegated to either Channel 11, or Channel 5 afterschool.
On the way home one day, my friend said -- "This year, I'm gonna bowl a 100!"
My heart sank, I forgot to hand in my permission slip, it was still in my backpocket, on the walk home from school. The deadline was 3pm that day -- and I was upset.
I ran as fast as I could back to the school. I always felt something weirdly odd about going back into school when I did not have to be there. (like afterschool) I ran back into Mr. M's classroom, and handed him the slip.
"Monfried, its 3:15pm, you missed the deadline."
I apologized up and down, and told him I forgot to hand it to him, and that it had been in my back pocket the entire day --- I just plain forgot, and telling him it was my fault.
I cannot recall the exact the conversation that ensued, but I got super emotional -- as he told me that he was going to teach me a lesson, and that he would not accept my permission slip, and that he was denying me a winter of fun afternoon's, in the bowling club that winter.
The afternoon bowling club had not filled up with sign up's from other students -- meaning that there was still space for me, but he would not make an exception.
Mr. M had always been nice to me, but it made me wonder.
Was it something about me, other than the fact that I was 15 minutes late to the deadline? Was it that my Mom was the President of the PTA and was making some changes at the school? Was it the fact that I was NOT the best student in the class?
What was the reason?
It bothered me alot to say the least. I missed bowling club that year, all because I missed the 3pm deadline -- by 15 minutes.
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"You have alot of publishers as your clients, dont you?"
I replied, "Yes, we do."
I had invited her to speak at our client summit.
And, just like handing in my permission slip 15 minutes late -- which resulted in my being excluded from the Bowling Club --- answering that question, "You have a lot of publishers as your clients, don't you?" -- resulted in my company being excluded from an industry study.
I can't help but think, if I was not 15 minutes late to the deadline, or if I did not invite this woman to speak, and get access to our customers, would I have been included in something where I felt as though I belonged?
One involves time, the other involves flawed criteria, and possibly my allowing access to someone (client summit) who used that access against me, to keep me out.
And, like John Lennon's precious quote: ""Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Over planning sometimes involves neglecting your life, and just accepting consequences without communicating frustration.
My other plans in life, will alwys involve me being honest, and transparent with my family, our employees and our customers -- no matter what.
I had no way of responding or sharing my frustration in 1978, to Mr. M -- or anyone who would listen at that time. I had no way as a young kid, to express the frustration, anger or resentment -- that the criteria of being 15 minutes late, caused me.
And, in both cases (one being time, the other client mix) I cannot argue or refute what goes into their decision, to keep me off the bowling club -- or to not include me in the industry study.
I can just tell you, or anyone -- that they are bogus, wrong, and self-serving reasons -- but now I can share them, expressing what I want to.
I've survived watching Magilla Gorilla in the winter of '78. I surely will make it in 2013, being left off, "The Wave Report."
Below is my note to our clients, about our NOT being included in the industry wide review of our technology.
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Dear Valued Clients,
On August 21, 2013, Forrester Research released a DMP WAVE report. We congratulate longtime partner BlueKai, for receiving top recognition in the DMP for Marketers category, but were extremely disappointed with Forrester's decision to exclude Lotame from the report.
It is important to emphasize that this report was designed to evaluate DMP's that earn a majority of their business from marketers. Forrester's decision to declare us ineligible for the DMP WAVE reports based on this flawed criteria makes us seriously question their credibility on our industry, and even more specifically question the judgment of the analyst who took lead on this report.
We feel strongly that this flawed methodology compromised the entire purpose of the report, which is to give professionals like you a fully transparent, objective and panoramic view of the entire leadership group in the DMP space.
While it is true that many of our clients are supply side / publishers, in our experience both publishers and marketers alike want to license data management solutions from experts in data management. There is little distinction today between supply and demand functionality of a DMP, and the bottom line is that as companies realize the amounts of data they are creating and collecting, there is no limit to what can be done with that data. The lines will continue to blur between supply and demand as data become further connected and activated.
As a valued client of Lotame, we felt an obligation to reach out to you personally and explain Forrester's regrettable decision to deem us ineligible for consideration. Most importantly, we wanted to make sure you understood the facts and heard it directly from us. We look forward to servicing you -- Publishers and Marketers, Agencies and Ad Networks -- with the same level of quality, innovation and trust that has helped Lotame become a leader in the data management space.
We appreciate your time, your continued commitment and I want you to know that you may reach out to me at any time.
Sincerely,
Andy Monfried
CEO and Founder
Lotame
www.lotame.com