The Color Pink

Last Friday, I attended the Microsoft Office Live Small Businesses – Vision to Venture Event held on the MSFT campus. Two speakers stood out: Rich Sloan and Susan Wilson and had their tips to share.

I have to confess, there is something unique about women-only events – a different energy. My other observation is that everything is very pink -

Why is that?

I appreciate the need to distinguish babies, prepare for a wedding with the perfect blush color, and why it was chosen as an integral color in the prepster’s palette. However, I don’t get why it’s on everything “woman.” In fact, I would go so far to say:

The Susan G Kohmen Foundation has invested so much in their marketing and education efforts to have officially purchased the color pink.

There, I’ve said it. You heard it here first.

I just don’t understand why smart, well-educated people sit around a conference room table and entertain presentations that are bathed in pink and think that is the ticket to marketing effectively to women. It works for some things – but software?

No Purchase Month – Feb

So I’m prepping for February – not only the shortest month of the year, but the month I intend to not purchase. This is a yearly exercise I do to detach from the ongoing habit of consumption we find ourselves in. I only buy gas, pay my mortgage and pay bills – basically, keep from being put in jail.

The idea first came to me a few years ago when visiting family in Europe. We spent the entire day in each other’s company, did some sight-seeing, but barely spent any money. I looked over receipts and saw that there weren’t any for coffee in paper cups or other non necessities.

A great post from GoodExperience here. When was the last time you went a day without buying anything?