The Greg Walters Show with Mike Stramaglio

Copiers, Family, and Frank.  

What is up with all the industry shows? A candid conversation about the changes we’ve seen in the industry over the past few decades – media, consultants, merges, OEMs, motorcycles, and Frank.  What’s around the corner and over the horizon.  Yes, there will be bourbon.  Yes, there will be Frank and maybe a cigar or two.

Today's Artificial Intelligence is Like an Abacus

"The ratio of total digital to total biological compute is the key metric to watch – it is rising incredibly fast..." - Musk.

This guy just Tweeted the above but there have been many (including me) saying for years, 'digital AI will always be artificial until computers are biologically grown, carbon-based*, and analog."

Digital is 'on and off' at a faster and faster rate. But nothing in nature acts this way.

The Difference Between Analog and Digital -

What did CIOs Read in 2022?

Inspired by the WSJ article, here.  Paywall.

Patton said it best, "...I read your book!"

Relevance, shared experience, and trust are currencies of the Post-Fear-of-Covid Age so knowing what your prospects view as important enough to spend time-consuming is a step in identifying with prospects and improving your worldly knowledge.

Will Artificial Intelligence Take Your (copier, MPS, IT) Sales Job?

Artificial Intelligence Tells You How to Sell Managed Print Services

I tried it.  I asked the screen, 

"How do I use artificial intelligence to sell managed print services?"

Then I asked it again.  I asked the same question twice and was given two separate responses.

Proof Social Media is Rigged

Diana Rigg as Emma Peal, The Avengers

How Twitter Rigged the Covid Debate

The platform suppressed true information from doctors and public-health experts that was at odds with U.S. government policy.

Inspiration from an article about the connection between the US Government and ALL the tech companies written by David Zweig at The Free Press, here.

Summary via ChatGTP:

It is alleged that both the Trump and Biden administrations in the United States pressured Twitter to moderate content related to Covid-19 and the pandemic in a way that aligned with their agendas. The Trump administration was concerned with preventing panic buying and sought help from tech companies, including Twitter, to combat misinformation. 

Attracting Employees Back to the Office: Challenges with the Supply Chain and Selling Office Technology

As the world continues to grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies are struggling to attract employees back to the office. This can be a challenging task, as remote work has become more popular than ever before and many people have grown accustomed to the flexibility and convenience it offers.

One of the biggest challenges companies face when trying to bring employees back to the office is the supply chain. The pandemic has disrupted supply chains around the world, making it difficult for companies to obtain the necessary supplies and equipment to create a safe and comfortable working environment. This can be particularly problematic for office technology, such as computers, printers, and other types of equipment that are essential for employees to do their jobs effectively.

To attract employees back to the office, companies must be able to provide a safe and comfortable working environment that meets all of their needs. This includes having the right office technology in place to support their work. However, with the supply chain being disrupted, it can be difficult to obtain the necessary equipment in a timely manner.

The Uncertain Future of Technology: Google & Facebook Will Not Survive.

It is difficult to predict the future of technology with certainty, as it is constantly evolving and new companies and technologies can emerge and disrupt the market. However, it is possible to make educated guesses about the direction in which technology is headed and to consider the potential challenges and opportunities that different companies and technologies may face.

One argument for the idea that Google, Facebook, and Twitter may not be a part of the future of technology is that these companies are reliant on business models that may not be sustainable in the long term. For example, Google and Facebook rely on targeted advertising as their primary source of revenue, which has come under increasing scrutiny due to concerns about privacy and the manipulation of public opinion. Twitter's business model is based on the sale of advertising and the collection of user data, which may also be vulnerable to changing regulations and consumer preferences.

Merry Christmas - 2022

How Does AI Learn?

Specifically, how does chatGPT learn?

ChatGPT is a variant of the GPT (Generative Pre-training Transformer) language model, which is a type of artificial neural network that is trained to generate human-like text. It is trained using a process called pre-training, where it is fed a large dataset of text and learns to predict the next word in a sequence based on the words that come before it.

During pre-training, the model is not given any specific task to perform. Instead, it is trained to learn the statistical patterns and relationships present in the training data. This allows the model to capture the structure and style of the language it is being trained on, and enables it to generate text that is coherent and grammatically correct.

SNL D in a Box

#ChatGPT and the Albatross

So...this happened. 

I decided to test the #ChatAI thing-a-bob.

I said, "Tell me about the #albatross signifying doom and gloom."

Trading Places: A Merry Christmas Movie Ignored

Christmas classic!

The Next Wave in Social? The Printed Newsletter.

The inspiration from Scotty Millar, on LinkedIn: 

 Why your MSP needs to start a printed newsletter 

From the article:

"That’s one reason why the printed MSP newsletter works so well – it does not matter if the contact has opted in or out – legally, you can mail them the newsletter, and your not breaking any spam or privacy laws."

WAIT JUST ONE MINUTE!!!??? Are you saying, from the viewpoint of a highly influential MSP Person, that IT service providers should re-connect their HP Series II, print words on actual paper, and then...place said communique in an ENVELOPE, and send it? In the mail? Like it's 1954?

Savage. And supporting my views on 'getting back to the basics in selling with one added caveat - sell better.

Activate Selling As a Cause of Good. 

Newsletters are hot right now. Longevity does not depend on the mode of transit - today it's snail mail, and tomorrow it is projected 3D holograms.

Content is the Plastics of the Aquarian Age of Business.

https://lnkd.in/etcHc2XF

How do I use chatGPT to sell managed print services?

The Adolescence of P-1

ChatGPT is a chatbot that uses the GPT-3 language model to generate responses to user inputs. To use ChatGPT to sell managed print services, you would need to train the chatbot on relevant information about your business and the managed print services you offer. This could include information about the features and benefits of your managed print services, pricing, and any special offers or promotions you may be running.

Merry Christmas in Wisconsin, Actually.

One of the best modern-day Christmas movies, Love Actually, covers just about every angle of the holidays.  

Tops on my list, right up there with Family Man, Elf, A Christmas Story and Die Hard.

#Elon Musk and The #Twitter Entanglement on #LinkedIn

From a LinkedIn post from Scotty Millar, from IT RockStars for inspiration:

"Tricky question - what do you think of Elon Musk and his opinions at the moment? I went back to Twitter once I heard he purchased it - mainly because I was outraged that so many people had been banned for expressing their views on something.

Not their actual view but the fact that they had been silenced.

Commercial Real Estate 'StarChamber' Calls on #Biden to Fight #WFA

Here they come.  

The powers of the commercial real estate kingdom, a roundtable no less, are enlisting the US Government as return-to-office heavies, asking the Biden administration to consider back-to-office mandates for government workers.

Merry Christmas - 2022

Time passes.

It started in the winter of 1980 remaining a tradition for another four years. Out the window from the 9th-floor dorm room.

Merry Christmas.

A-B-C "Always Be Cobbling"

"Oh, yeah.  I used to be in sales.  It's a tough racket."

Don't blame the tools, the weather, the time of year, the recession, the war, the President, your manager, your OEM, or your dog.

Ten Voices of the Industry - 2023 Reflections & Prodictions

Reality

Merry Christmas - When did 'they' ban The Little Drummer Boy? Detroit, 1991

NOT MY WORDS -

From Wiki -

The Little Drummer Boy is a stop motion television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, based on the song of the same name. It was first televised in Canada on December 15, 1968 on the CTV Television Network, followed four days later by its American nationwide release on NBC. A sequel was broadcast in 1976.

The Greg Walters Show With Mike Stramaglio

Fly Me Too The Moon

New to the copier industry?  You want to hear the three things you should be doing to thrive in this world (of selling) and the next(of selling).

Indiana Jones 5. One. Last. Time.

OGs Rule, GenX, Mils, Z, et al, drool.

"But a few times in my life, I've seen things.  Things I can't explain and I've come to believe it's not so much what you believe, it's how hard you believe it."

December 7, 1942 Pearl Harbor

It was a Sunday morning.  Ben Affleck is nowhere to be seen.

As golfers started off, civilians went to church and sailors woke up with hangovers, Mitsibushi-powered planes dropped bombs and staffed American battleships, and soldiers.

So it began.  The sleeping Giant was kicked in the chin, and he was pissed.

The end would come three years later over two cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  

To this day, still the ultimate, "F around and find out".

Remember.

Looking for productivity in the Hybrid Office? "You're digging in the wrong place."

A new report, "HOW HYBRID WORKING FROM HOME WORKS OUT", reveals a few interesting points after studying the #Hybrid work environment to an in-the-office model; results, are inconclusive.

    When it comes to the new way of work, I feel 100% #WFH is more productive than the #Hybrid model.

From a purely 'man on the street' perspective -  I have always FELT hybrid would negatively impact overall productivity when compared with 100% #WFA. 

From the report:

Connecting the Dots: How the Copier Industry Pioneered Modern Business Models

You Think I'm Crazy When I Connect the Dots

Humans tell immortal stories about figures in the sky. Illusions are created by drawing imaginary lines from one point of light to another and another and so on.

Connecting the dots illuminates a pattern and tells a story.  For instance, do you understand the following 'lights in the nighttime sky'?

Alnitak - a triple star system located at a distance of several hundred parsecs from the Sun

Alnilam - a massive, blue supergiant star some 2,000 light-years distant

Mintaka - a multiple-star system some 1,200 light-years from the Sun

Three seemingly singular points of light, to us, form the belt of the constellation Orion - visible throughout the world.

We are adept at making connections and telling stories - it is in our nature. 

At first, industries appear unrelated and vaguely disconnected. But just like the constellations, when observed from afar and with a fanciful imaginative eye connected, great stories are revealed.

As more disparate items converge, a common thread(technology) is observed between and defined. 

Am I the only one who thinks China has weaponized #TheFearOfCovid and is attacking the supply chain?

They have a "1,000-year plan..."

The question is this:  "If one country wanted to take down the US, would they be able and willing to do it with guns, missiles, and troops, or is there another way?  Why would there be motivation to do so in the first place?"

Numbers Up, Volumes Down, and A3 or A4, "Just. Doesn't. Matter."

Do dealers exagerate?  Hell yeah, we all do, every single day about every single thing to every single person we meet.

Over the past 5 months, I've heard more and more positive feedback about sales than I have in the past 36 months.  

The first inkling was tales of customers initiating leases without expecting delivery for 120 days.  When was the last time a customer would willingly wait more than 30 days for their device?

Heard in the back alleys and sidebars of the industry:

 

More Than a Newsletter - The Office Tecnology Tap

Decades in the making.

I've been writing, speaking, and commenting about the copier industry since 2008.  I've built dozens of websites, and multiple versions of this blog, spoken at all the major shows and held conversations with thousands of folks in the technology realm.  From DOS to the Cloud; from the OCe 3100 to Edgeline and all things between and beyond.

I'm an advocate for change, I've pontificated on the benefits and dangers of technology, and with the support of a select few, I've been fortunate enough to maintain a presence in this crazy mixed-up world of toner and fire.

It is with great pleasure, that I am announcing an alliance with Gap Intelligence a great team of analysts in Office Technology and beyond.  I look forward to tapping into the cumulative knowledge this company possesses and bringing to you, the best cutting-edge, relevant office technology content on the planet.  

The first fruits of our collaboration are The Office Technology Tap newsletter and website.

The newsletter is the portal into the future of office technology with relevant, curated content and rapier commentary. We'll submit articles, opinions, and reflections and conduct live streams and podcasts.  You may even catch us at a show or two.

Subscribe, here.  Join us!

The Rise of WorkFromAnywhere Deniers

Virtual, Live Performance Art.  A New Form. Anna Zhilyaeva 

It was good while it lasted. #WFA Deniers.

The #WFA movement is taking hits all over the landscape as the hierarchies struggle for control and begin to inflict 'return to the plantation' mandates.

There are no reasons to force people back to a centralized, physical location to perform tasks in front of a monitor.

Numbers and Three Words: Why Not to Watch the Iran vs America Soccer Match, 11/29/2029

Numbers:444

Wiki - 

On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took them as hostages. 

The hostages were held for 444 days, being released on January 20, 1981.

The Three Words

"Death to America!"

Russia, China, and even North Korea don't have throngs of people in the street yelling for our demise.

But Iran does.

Why #Musk is Correct in His Work From Anywhere(#WFA) Stance

Shaking off the chaff - getting rid of the parasites, too many slackers.

Musk is taking it on the chin, if only he cared.  He's evacuated half of Twitter's workforce and demanded the remaining population return to the office AND expect to work long hours.

Poste Malone Writes a Song About You & Hewlett Packard

Words about The Break Up Artist - Mother Blue, Hewlett Packard -  

She's been quiet.  After years and multiple 'break-ups', has she self-actualized and come to the realization that it isn't us, it's her?

Criticize all you want: lots of layers, too big, a 90-degree turn takes an eternity, ego, myopic, self-centered, etc., etc., etc.

The Greg Walters Show with Fran

How did the office become the office and what will it be in the future?

Click For More Information

#WFA vs. #RTO is Pisces vs. Aquarius

In a recent article, "Are Offices Going to Make A Comeback" Steve Todd at Open Sourced Workplace, compares a few benefits and disadvantages of working from anywhere and getting back to an office.

From the article.

#WFH and Collaboration - study this...culture and results, not process and dogma...

This is how we put together The Greg Walters Show - paying neighbors to keep it down and Mcdonald's drink holders stapled to the wall.

Eight minutes - 

Face-to-face, no rules, just creating, getting from A to B.

Happy Thanksgiving - "50 Million Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong..."

Another year, another turkey.

Enjoy!

The Greatest Turkey Event in Thanksgiving Day History - Les Nesman

"Like sacks of wet cement...not since the Hindenberg tragedy..."

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

Millennials Have (Finally) Figured out Bigger Salaries Are a Scam

From a post on LinkedIn.

"Some join cults. I joined the corporate ladder cult and fell in love with the devil in a pinstripe suit.

This devil promised me bigger paychecks, more status, and lots of office fun. As a millennial, what I got became my worst nightmare. Us younger generations are getting smarter.

We now see bigger salaries as a scam.

The modern-day corporate nightmare

Cutting Edge #Comedy is Offensive - So Is Cutting Edge #Selling

Arrested for comedy.

Good comedy is cutting-edge and offensive.

Good selling is cutting-edge and offensive.

Lenny Bruce. 

"Climate Change", False #WFH Claims and the State of Fear

Food has become more expensive...

Shelter has become more expensive - can you not see...?

How much short-term pain will you be required to sustain?..decades worth?..

"For your own benefit.  Remember that..."

They are all wrong.  More importantly, articles like these are nothing more than propaganda.  Did Musk ever say WHY he evolved into a less harsh position?  Isn't it possible this was the plan all along? -GRW

No matter how you feel about climate change, human impact on the planet, and who is to blame - step out of your beliefs for one second and consider the effect of a system dictating behavior for an entire planet.

__________

"The best part of any office job is the fact that...you can print."

"Have you ever thrown away...warm paper?"

In less than two minutes and thirty seconds, the entire work-from-anywhere-but-the-office movement and the PaperLess Office Deniers are exposed for all to see.

This guy hits printing all your emails, returning to the office simply to access the printer, and not backing up in the cloud, but on 'Trees'. 

E*Commerce: Where B2C Thrives and Old Business Systems Go To Die.

Summary: DOTC argues that selling office technology has become a commodity, with e-commerce platforms replacing the need for sales reps to pitch the product. The author suggests that instead of focusing on the hardware, companies should shift their focus to managed services and helping businesses increase sales, reduce costs, and grow profits.

______

You've heard it, "If you aren't on my e-commerce platform, you're going to die."  or this one, "Today, you don't need any outside sales reps.  Your prospects don't want to talk to your pushy, commission-breath, hired guns anymore...they'd much rather tap a few keys and have the copier show up at the door."

Well, not that bad.

To be certain, having an ecomm presence is a good thing- for ribbons, toner cartridges, staples, highlighters, and white out.  Groceries, bicycles, and yoga pants are easy to purchase online as well.  So are motor oil, shampoo, peanuts, air compressors, and even lawnmowers.

Do you see the common thread?

Commodity: a mass-produced unspecialized product

Happy Halloween: Grover's Mill, NJ - October 30, 1939

"...We know now that in the early years of the twentieth century this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own. 

We know now that as human beings busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacence people went to and fro over the earth about their little affairs, serene in the assurance of their dominion over this small spinning fragment of solar driftwood which by chance or design man has inherited out of the dark mystery of Time and Space. 

Yet across an immense ethereal gulf, minds that to our minds as ours are to the beasts in the jungle, intellects vast, cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes and slowly and surely drew their plans against us. In the thirty-ninth year of the twentieth century came the great disillusionment."

It was near the end of October. Business was better. The war scare was over. More men were back at work. 

Sales were picking up. 

Level Up With West, Ken and Me

I had a great time with these guys talking about office technology and the new way of the Worlds.

Check it out, here.

New to Copier Sales: The Three Levels of Prospects, P1

I once believed selling was selling — that no matter where I lived, or what I was peddling, the act of selling was the same.  From personal computers and insurance in mid-Michigan to corporate identity programs and copiers in Southern California, I was told by many learned sales managers, trainers, and “experts” that “sales is sales is sales.”  They were wrong.

Of course, there are differences across the selling spectrum. Geography, local economics, and social norms impact decision-making on a varied and personal level.  To treat everybody the same is an injustice.  Advanced B2B selling has moved beyond a cookie-cutter methodology.

As far as I see it, there are three levels of B2B prospects:

Read the rest, here.

"Chips Are the New Oil"

The copier industry strikes again. 

We were one of the first to implement M2M in our assets. 

We were a premiere user of remote data collection - yes, even before 'probes' were all the rage. 

You may ask yourself, "How are microchips produced, and is there a parallel with copiers?" 

You may ask yourself, "How did I get here?" - that answer is for other content... 

Anyway - Behold.  The projection of light, creating an image, upon a surface. 

Look a little familiar?

The Biden administration is continuing the weaponization of silicon - it all started back in the 60s - this issue has global and historical ramifications, much like the lack of oil for Japan spurred WWII, cutting off the chip pipeline has economic and strategic implications.

Wars have started for less.

LAUSD Gets Hacked, Does Not Pay, "Secret and Confidential" Data is Released.

Is Anyone Surprised?

From a LinkedIn post by Michael Bruner, Technology Consultant, Managed Print and Content Services, Flex Technology Group.

"I'll just leave this here...

Los Angeles School District gets hacked?

I've called on ALOT of school districts and .GOV letting them know I'd like to meet and talk about the potential security vulnerability of their desktop printers and MFP's. #itsecurity #managedprintservices

What will it take to understand this is a serious threat?"

###

Of course, I chimed in...

New to Copier Sales: The Three Levels of Prospects, Part 1

I once believed selling was selling — that no matter where I lived, or what I was peddling, the act of selling was the same.  From personal computers and insurance in mid-Michigan to corporate identity programs and copiers in Southern California, I was told by many learned sales managers, trainers, and “experts” that “sales is sales is sales.”  

They were wrong.

Of course, there are differences across the selling spectrum. Geography, local economics, and social norms impact decision-making on a varied and personal level.  To treat everybody the same is an injustice.  Advanced B2B selling has moved beyond a cookie-cutter methodology.

As far as I see it, there are three levels of B2B prospects:

Here.

Remember When Twitter Banned anyone Talking about Fouci

Remember all those neighbors calling the police because there "are people standing in a line outside a bar..." or "...there are too many people sitting in the park, next to each other..." or "...that business is open during a pandemic..."

Citizens trusted the government and they believed the talking heads, the experts, on the evening news. Why wouldn't they?  

Well for one reason, the experts lie.  All the time.

Remember when aliens and spacemen from other planets were fake?  Not anymore - UFOs are real - and now everything is in question.  

For 60 years flying saucers were the subject of 'crazy people' nothing but swamp gas and weather balloons.  The pandemic was worse.  It is like the gov't telling us to believe in flying saucers and shame those who do not. If you don't believe in little green men, you can't go to work or leave your home, and your 'friends' ridicule you as a UFO Denier - follow the science.

How to drink like Greg Walters...

I wish...

Ricoh Speaks with Andy - October, 2022.

I RARELY do this. But this video is good. 

Nuggets - 

1. Chips are freeing up (A3 devices only?). 
2. They've found a West/East passage through the Panama Canal. 
3. The numbers are Good and the future of Ricoh includes output devices. 

Caveat One - 

Ricoh is comparing THEIR pre-covid numbers to current...which is like saying, "Last year I had one hit, this year I had 3, so I increased by 300%." Meanwhile, the competition went from 300 hits to 250, showing a decrease and still leagues ahead of you... 

Caveat Two- 

Listen to the narrative in the attached video(8:46) and tell me it wouldn't fly pre-Covid or even in 1999. 

 I like Ricoh. 

 

"Number Two always tries harder."