Congratulations to the National Juvenile Justice Network on the launch of its new Web site.

We are proud of the work you do, and we enjoyed working with you.

Check out the new site at http://www.njjn.org

I actually think my headline captures the lessons better. It’s about the customer and training your employees to think about the customer.

At the core of Apple’s in-store success are three things:

1. Customer interaction
2. Staff training
3. Attention to detail

I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty much like every business success story I’ve ever heard or read.

What was really interesting was what the Journal called Apple’s “unusual sales philosophy,” to help customers solve problems. Quoting from the employee manual:

“Your job is to understand all of your customers’ needs — some of which they may not even realize they have.”

As a consumer, I can tell you that’s dead on.

As a business owner, I can tell you that’s what I want from my colleagues.

Get that, and you’re a winner. (Just like your customers.)

Worker No. 1 sends an email addressed to Worker No. 2 and cc:s Workers No. 3-6. (Or worse, No. 1 sends it to multiple addressees AND cc:s even more.)

So, who is responsible for responding? Just the primary addressee? Or all of the cc:s as well?

It’s an epidemic of CYA, for sure. As the email sender, if I don’t leave anyone out, no one can blame me for not seeking their input/informing them.

Well, all right, but who’s responsible for answering. (Generally, the more people listed, the fewer answers generated. Everyone assumes everyone else is taking care of it.)

I say, only addressees need to respond. If multiple addressees are listed, coordinate. Everyone can just ignore it.

What do you say?

Our quick answer is, no and yes.

Social media experts — people who ONLY consult on which social platform to use and how to use it — had a future only as long as social media was a sideshow.

Those sideshow days are long gone.

Social media have become another tool in the digital communications toolbox. Like Web sites and email and interactive DVDs and on and on.

So just as we still need design experts and technical experts to come together to implement an overall digital strategy, we also need people who focus on what the latest social media tools and techniques are and who track the best social practices.

But all of those efforts have to be integrated into a digital whole — and that digital piece (or pieces) has to fit into the overall communications, marketing or advocacy strategy. Many pieces working as one. That’s how it has to be.

Back in the day when the “webmaster” sat off in a corner all alone, those of us working in digital encouraged (begged for) the inclusion of the WWW address on the stationery and prints ads and TV buys.

That cross-pollination that we were after makes even more sense in a world with a plethora of media consumption options.

The gurus who thought social media could be a stand alone were wrong then and are a dying breed now.

What’s your take?

We remember those who served in our armed forces — and those who died in the name of our country.

The online world provides ways to learn about and observe Memorial Day. Here are just a few places; there are many more.

National World War II Memorial – Has a place to leave a memorial message.

Korean War Project — Contains multiple ways to search for the names of the dead.

Persian Gulf Wars — Includes sections with names of the dead from Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

To the families and friends of those who died, we can only offer a sincere thank you.

Nielsen, in reporting earlier this month on our family dynamics, media and purchasing trends, found “a multi-layered, multi-cultural construct dominated by older, childless households.”

A lot of diversity. This, we knew.

The takeaway for those of us in the communications business:

Advertisers need to have a multi-channel strategy for reaching different types of families, one that accommodates differences in media preferences, device usage and time-shifting behavior.

Forgive me for crowing, but that sounds like an argument for integrated strategies.

One commonality among all this diversity struck me: “… the smartphone … has emerged as an equalizing agent across households of all income levels.”

I would add that it is an equalizing agent across generations as well. What 12, 13-, 14-year old doesn’t have a cell phone? They sell throwaways in dollar stores for less than $20.

It’s not all new research, but it pulls a lot of strands together and is worth reading. Thanks to Nielsen for a useful piece.

I have certainly felt blessed, and even more so as I await the birth of our first child.

So I am really pleased to extend my volunteer work to service on the board of our Phoenix Symphony.

The symphony is more than a collection of musicians who play classical music inside a concert hall. Symphony musicians are out and about in our community, promoting the arts with individual and group performances for young people in our schools and around the holidays for everyone in our churches.

I’m proud to help them and honored to serve. I hope you will support the symphony as well when the opportunity arises.

Rebecca has more than six years of content development experience and for the last two years spearheaded social media efforts at a local interactive agency. She has already put her expertise to work for our biggest clients.

With digital communications becoming the dominant form of reaching audiences today, we believe social media and content are vital to the success of any business, non-profit or political or advocacy campaign. This umbrella of online communications encompasses community management, page creation and development, monitoring and reporting, friend and follower development as well as content development. And Rebecca will be an important part of delivering those services to IWS clients.

Because not everyone is perfectly comfortable with social media, we will be offering some social media seminars in the coming months. Watch our Facebook page for details.

Welcome aboard, Rebecca.

comScore’s latest Mobile Year in Review report not only confirms that but gets into the detail of what we are using our mobile devices to do.

Talking isn’t one of them. The number of people using mobile devices just for voice dropped 16%; that group represents less than three out of every 10 people (27.6%).

Our big takeaway involves apps: People who use apps — more than one-third — also use a browser and vice versa.

This has real implications for our clients, some of whom can’t afford a custom app for every platform out there. It means that building a Web app that can be used on a mobile device will have a broader reach at a smaller price.

We’re excited for our clients and everyone who uses mobile.

Here we see Sarah Trees trying to get her Top Model on. Vic and Gabe are just trying to make some coffee.

We had Dean, our photographer extraordinaire, come take some shots of the office and take portraits of the IWS family. For days before of the photoshoot, we discussed appropriate outfits, the many ways in which Vic was going to avoid getting photographed; the many ways I was going to photobomb everyone’s picture, and, more importantly, which man-blouse Andrew should wear. On the day of the shoot, we all wore our best outfits, and non-functioning watches (but that we wanted in the pictures anyways).

We’re excited to show you the results very soon, but for now I’ll leave you with a behind-scenes look at our day in front of the cameras.