The website I work for, GenoNow.com, is a training site for working professionals. I have posted about it before. We are excited about some new content that is focused on the Wal-Mart Vendor community specifically. We have partnered with 8th & Walton, a vendor-training company located in Bentonville, AR to provide learning objects for professionals selling to Wal-Mart.

One of the latest developments coming out of Bentonville is Wal-Mart’s target customer segments moving on from here. Wal-Mart has identified three customer groups that are key to its success going forward; Price Value Shoppers, Brand Aspirationals, and Price Sensitive Affluents. Knowing who these shoppers are and how Wal-Mart defines them is key knowledge for vendors moving forward.

Our newest piece of content from 8th & Walton addresses that in great detail. This is important information that everyone who has a vendor relationship needs to be successful.

It’s also exciting for us because it marks a new strategic tack for GenoNow.com. We have always had training content that is targeted towards a wide audience. Now, we are starting to also bring focus on vertical markets. The first vertical market for us is the vendor community in Bentonville. This was borne out mainly because of where our company is located. It is a market that is immediately available to us, but we are looking for others.

Finding good training that is affordable and convenient to use is hard to find, and that is what GenoNow.com offers.

We are looking for trainers and content owners who are looking for a distribution channel for their training content. If this sounds like you, please contact me at mwilliams (((AT))) sviworld (((DOT))) com.

Darwin Award Nominee, Kevin LePage

I know, I know, the vast majority of the readers of my blog could care less about NASCAR, but I can’t help myself. I have to say something about the dumbest thing I have ever seen in sports. Yesterday at Talladega during the Nationwide Series race (used to be called Busch Series) a driver who is old enough to know better took out $3 million worth of racecars in one fail swoop. Kevin LePage, #61 was coming out of the pits with 71 laps to go. He was down on the apron with the pack coming from behind at a MUCH faster pace.

LePage’s spotter (his eyes and ears on the track) was telling him to stay low (off the track) because the pack was coming fast. For no apparent reason, LePage started pulling out on the track going a heck of a lot slower than the traffic he was pulling into. The first car he pulled out in front of managed to get out of the way but the next in line, Carl Edwards, absolutely drove through LePage’s car. This was a wreck where the cars invloved were going over 200 mph, extreme danger.

What kind of moron simply pulls out into traffic that is going MUCH faster than you are? Now, let me add to that, what kind of moron pulls out in front of traffic that is going 70 to 100 mph faster than you are driving? Apparently that moron is Kevin LePage.

I had never heard of the aforementioned moron before yesterday, and when they said his name in the broadcast, I figured he was some young 20-something who was just learning the sport through the school of hard knocks. I was wrong. LePage is mid-forties, maybe fifties (I am not sure cause I don’t care enough about this doofus to be sure). I think he’s been racing since the 80’s. At any rate, he should know better. He should know better.

Can NASCAR fine a man for being stupid? I sure hope so! They fined Carl Edwards $100,000 for an infraction in the first race of the year and lost his pit boss for 6 races. All of that for a loose oil lid. LePage destroyed $3 Million worth of equipment…his racing license should be revoked.

Response…Where’s the Response?

I got online today to try and find the response for this titanic blunder, and for all intents and purposes, the web is fairly silently about this so I thought I would say something.

One last thing, if you aren’t a fan of NASCAR, I have something for you to try. It probably won’t convert you, but it was what got me watching. Watch a race in HD on a big screen and with surround sound and a sub. Any man would be hard-pressed to say that isn’t a little cool. Loud engines and cars going fast… I mean come on… that is pretty cool.

I am still here. It is just that I have been way busy for the last two weeks. Blogging unfortunately has to take a backseat in times of extreme work. I have been busy doing something cool though. We have been working with Tyson (SVI, the company I work for) to help them equip and raise up its next generation of leaders and in the meantime we are going to feed some needy people in Mexico.

For the last two days people from Mexico and the U.S. have gotten together to do some thinking about how to make a struggling food bank in Mexico flourish. It will be an uphill battle and the problem is multi-faceted and fluid, but who said leadership was easy.

There was a lot of work needed to make sure this event went off and all in all I would have to say it was a great success.

Now on to the ongoing project that was just kicked off. Our hope is that the food bank will be stronger, growing, and more self-sufficient a year from now.

High Water, originally uploaded by cormack_nette.

Ummm…bridges are like supposed to be above the water…duh

White River below Beaver Dam 005, originally uploaded by cormack_nette.

Downstream from the Beaver lake dam while flood gates are open… Holy bajolies!!!

Beaver Dam floodgates 007, originally uploaded by cormack_nette.

This is the Dam at Beaver Lake with its floodgates open… This happens very rarely. Incidentally, it has happened 3 times in the last month.

3-19-2008 016, originally uploaded by Celluloid Android.

Dang it!!!

Doctor Tiki (Jeff McPherson) found this first and put it in his Pownce Feed. So for those of you who have seen this already, sorry… but for the rest of you… YOUR WELCOME!

I am showing one of my friends how WordPress works.

What do you know, I was right! Admittedly, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to read the tea leaves on this one, but on the latest version of Tekzilla, Veronica Belmont is indeed introduced as the new co-host. As in my earlier prediction post, I still say that the addition of Belmont is exactly what that show needs.

Veronica’s name is now added to a growing list of Internet Hotties who have moved on from their original post. At the top of the list is Amanda Congdon who was the host of RocketBoom, one of podcasting’s earliest hits. She left to go on to bigger and better things. …haven’t heard from her in a while. Maybe it was a bad move.

I don’t see a similar fate for Belmont. Revision3 is fairly established and is getting stronger and stronger each month. It is capitalizing on the audience left behind after the death of TechTV. That is a big audience when compared to the audiences gathered by other Internet ventures. Add to that the growing interest borne out of the web 2.0 era, and it looks pretty sweet for Rev3.

She is leaving behind Jason Calacanis after a fairly short run on Mahalo Daily. I wonder if there is a reason other than the grind of putting together a daily video podcast with a very small team? Also, there is the question of who will take Belmont’s place on Mahalo Daily?

Revision3 looks like a fun place to work.

Good luck Veronica, break a leg!