Jorge Quinteros
Blogger, web enthusiast & avid photographer based in Brooklyn.

28th January 2010

One More iPad Post

The combination of being an Apple enthusiast and the introduction of a new product is a wild mix because when you admire a company that excels in creating simplistic and effectual devices, you expect for that latest invention to add something to your lifestyle but if it doesn’t, maybe that’s a sign that it’s not for you. That’s the sole reason why I don’t own an AppleTV.

Personally the way I see it, I think you first have to define what type of relation you currently have with your iPhone before investing on an iPad and the easiest way for me to interpret that is to anaylze what the iPhone has done for me.

So far it’s replaced the generic mobile phone, a point & shoot camera, an iPod, a GPS and to a certain extent the need for an inexpensive video camera for those unexpected moments. What will the iPad replace? For me, absolutely nothing.

In fact what it will do is add to the list of things I need to carry because I already rely on the Kindle to read and on the iPhone to stay abreast with emails, blogs and social networking and plus a notebook for work related entries.

I rarely ever play games, watch YouTube videos or rejoice on movies with the iPhone and if the iPad is to elevate the experience of these two mediums, then I’m more convinced that I’m not the audience that Apple has in mind.

In one day alone, since the announcement there’s been a slew of great writing around the topic and I’ve purposely lost myself in the invaluable responses and reactions but I’ve come to one conclusion about everything: if you’re spending more time criticizing the iPad while still justifying the purchase of one, it’s clear that investing on the device is fueled more by desire rather than need.

Is it really going to do something for you or do you want it because everyone else is going to be bragging about it when they get it and you don’t want to be left out?

I’m officially stating that I won’t be purchasing one but I’m still interested in seeing how it goes. I’m excited for developers, for advertisers, for people that just want mass consumption on one beautiful device and also for companies that are already mocking up stunning accessories for a device that’s not even available yet.

18th January 2010

The Presence of Spanish

It’s sometimes difficult to avoid a cultural assumption if we have no idea we are making one. For example, the assumption that a Hispanic should be fluent in Spanish for both written and spoken is an expected trait but as the rate of Hispanics who are raised in the United States rises, so does the likelihood that their skills may not be as sharp as you may assume.

Learning The Language

Growing up, Spanish was the predominant language at home largely because that’s all my parents knew and spoke at the time. The English learning portion eventually took care of itself once my brother and I attended school and although the idea of having to juggle two languages may have seemed overwhelming, in hindsight I value the experience and realize that I would not have wanted an alternate upbringing.

The added fluency in the language came more from the yearly summer vacations we took visiting my family in El Salvador. At one point, we enjoyed our stay so much that our parents arranged for us to move with them, where we eventually attended school for 5 years and had front row exposure to what has become the foundation in how we seamlessly shift between both languages when speaking or writing it.

Some Just Don’t

When I come across Hispanics that don’t speak Spanish, the answer to my question of “why” is the same one many other monolingual Hispanics will give you: “My parents didn’t teach me”.

Some can speak but can’t write it, some can speak but not effectively, some can understand it but respond with a mixture of English and Spanish or otherwise known as Spanglish. Either way, at least coming from the people that I know personally, the number of those who manage both languages very well is low.

Random Hispanics that come up to me at work intially start off the interaction speaking English and when I see that there’s a struggle on their part, I reply in Spanish and there’s nothing more gratifying than seeing the sight of relief on their face when they know that I can. These are the moments when in my mind I thank my parents for providing me with the ingredient that makes me who I am now.

The Need to Know Both

I’ve always found interest in believing that the things that come natural to us are the ones we’ve never had to put extra effort in learning. Of course that’s not the reality of things because the confidence we’ve created for ourselves for knowing something is deeply atrributed on the practice we’ve put into it.

Being bilingual and having a multicultural mentality is now more than ever a valued attribute for anyone not just because of the competitive job market or the easier communication aspect when traveling but for me personally because when you’re passionate about your ethnicity, your knowledge of the native language should be something to be waved also and not just the flag.

Of course all this is dependent upon how you’re raised and I was fortunate enough to be exposed to both worlds. My wife was raised in a predominately English speaking environment which generally tends to be the case when you’re a second-generation child, so her fluency in the language is not as fully developed but I like to think that it has improved since we’ve been together. There’s times when I just speak to her in Spanish just to get her practicing more.

We don’t have kids yet but we’ve already had the conversation in that they will gain an equal exposure to Spanish as much as they will to English.

Although there might be a few, I like to think that the reason some Hispanics don’t speak the language is not because of them being ashamed of their culture but more just a result of it and based on the multi-cultural experience I had growing up, I would never want to take away from my children a privilege that is rightfully theirs already, which is knowing Spanish.

17th November 2009

More Than A Salesperson

I’ve been blogging long enough to know that disclosing confidential information about your employer is a “no, no” and while I’ve never necessarily have fought the urge of wanting to, it’s harmless to state that as a retail manager, a fraction of my work entails conducting interviews.

The process in time has become a well memorized screenplay carried out several times in a month, each encounter being different, strenghting of experience gained through each one but an element that remains unchanged is the expectations we set on doing our best of bringing people on board that really care about the company, the product and the culture.

As much as I frequent stores like Target or Sports Authority, the one thing you’re likely to find in each one is just workers. Absolutely nothing wrong with that admired attribute but I can’t recall the last time I ever found anyone in those stores to assist on a purchase either because there wasn’t anyone around or the ones that were visible cared only enough to finish their projects and not on servicing.

So the question to myself is, does this staff really want to be there? Perhaps a few do but Jonathan Christopher’s description of what he loves most about his profession and industry is what would make a shopping experience in any store an even greater one -

I sincerely doubt that you’ve come across a fellow [Web] designer who talks about his job as though it only pays the bills. I find that extremely endearing about our industry. We’re all here by choice, and apart from unavoidable frustrations found in everything, we love what we do.

Despite our current economic hardship, I think it’s easy finding a job but the difficulty relies in finding one that you truly enjoy and want and not just have because society and bills says you need one.

The same goes for hiring. We can hire anyone to fold a shirt, to break down a box or ring at the register but if all those attributes overshadow the likelihood of providing an exceptional customer service, what’s the use for them. As associates, it’s about being versatile enough to handle everything in the spectrum without jeapordizing one or the other.

Equally important is about us as managers being meticulous in hiring candidates that will highly represent the company name and not accepting a bunch of people connected together by the fact that they work in the same buildilng with nothing in return.

A large quantity of employees in a store with the intent to service customers does nothing if half of those staffer don’t care about anything other than not being approached and their paycheck.

Finding the Right People

In an ideal world, everyone that worked in a store would care about their line of work and it would be clearly visible from a customer’s perspective. Mark Sanborn says “there are no unimportant jobs, just people who feel unimportant doing their jobs” and as a leader, that’s where the training, coaching and mentoring comes from us in valuing the employees we have and instilling the mentality that being of service isn’t an obligation, but an opportunity.

Nobody decides to become car salesman because they feel they need a job. The people employed in the industry do it because they have a passion for cars, they care enough to become knowledgeable about the product and because making a sale is not about actually selling things but about building relationships with hopes that customers come back and do more business with them.

As taxing as the hiring process can be, it’s a critical stage for any great company wanting to build a core passionate team. A team that will always go the extra mile for each other, their customers and by extension the company simply because the staff loves what they do.