I’m a big Walt Disney fan and was recently watching a film featuring a preview of EPCOT Center before it opened in 1982.

Backed with pulsing electronic “futuristic” music from the 80s, the film builds excitement and features images of EPCOT Center being built in Orlando, Florida.

What stood out to me was the dedication speech given by Card Walker, the Disney Chairman of the Board.

“EPCOT Center celebrates human achievements and innovation born from imagination. We want to first entertain, then inform, and inspire all who come here. And above all, instill in our Guests a new sense of belief and pride in mankind’s ability to shape a world that offers real hope to people everywhere in the world.”

What Card said about “entertain, inform, and inspire” jumped out at me.

That’s what Idea Sandbox is about. But first to Inform, then Inspire, and finally Entertain.

I hope I meet these goals for you…

• Inform you by providing relevant tools to help you (and your teams) think and work more creatively.
• Inspire you with ideas and stories that you can apply to your life and business.
• Entertain you with content that’s interesting, not dry. And presented in a way that’s fun to read.

You probably heard the news yesterday that Starbucks is closing around 600 of their least profitable locations. The Associated Press story on CNN Money has the best details.

While your first reaction might be “yikes!” - good or bad economy - I think this is a good for Starbucks.

But before I get into that, let me provide a little more background…

While it may seem excessive to have “a Starbucks on every corner,” Starbucks is no dummy. Site locations have been strategically selected using sophisticated traffic-mapping tools. They’re not opening simply to open. They’re putting them where their customers are.

For example, in New York City, a store to the left of a subway exit gets a completely different group of customers than a store to the right of a subway exit. Despite the fact you may be able to read the menu board of one store while sitting in the other, there has usually been enough customer volume to support the closely arranged locations.

However, the challenges of the U.S. economy and reduction of traffic to Starbucks has changed the game. Cannibalization is having a considerable affect on overall sales. As Starbucks Chief Financial Officer Pete Bocian commented, closing these locations will help return some of that revenue to the remaining stores.

Not only is it going to be a messy process (termination of leases, severance packages to those let go, etc), but these are issues never before faced in the history of the company.

So, why do I say this is good for Starbucks?

The company has been pushed to grow faster than it should by Wall Street and shareholders. Like a high-potential student pushed by its parents and teachers to not let everyone down because “we all expect more from you than the others,” the company has stretched itself to the point of exhaustion…

Starbucks says they’re in the “people business serving coffee.” However many of the baristas are merely “serving coffee.” And at that… not steaming fresh milk or pulling quality espresso shots. So while they’ve been efficient, the quality of the products and services are not where they need to be.

The best thing for Starbucks to do is use the store closings and slow-down as a timeout to focus on training and keeping partners (employees) who can deliver the “Third Place” service experience and hand-craft the best beverages on the planet.

The lesson for your company?

I’m proud to share with you that Idea Sandbox has contributed to the Age of Conversation ‘08 book project. This is the second collaborative book spearheaded by Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan. The first book featured over 100 writers talking about 1 topic. This edition features 237 “dream team” writers offering marketing insights and stories.

Not only will it be an interesting read chock-full of insight… but income from the book goes to the charity for children, Variety.

Variety the Children’s Charity is dedicated to promoting and protecting the health and well-being of children around the world … to offer financial assistance and services to children … with special needs.

I’ll post more - and the link to purchase - once it gets closer to print!

Each of us chose from a pool of topics… this first one is what I wrote about…

• Moving from Conversation to Action - Talk is cheap, or so they say. What are the practical steps that businesses and brands can take to move from conversation to something more valuable to their business? And if it is so easy, why don’t they just do it?

Here are the rest of the topics…

• Manifestos - Declarations, up front, on the Age of Conversation. Why don’t people get it? What about companies? Where are things going? What can you help clarify?
• Keeping Secrets in the Age of Conversation - With everyone talking so much, why do we need secrets? What is the role of privacy? What about different personas and identities? Why don’t consumers understand that their online conversations are tracked and can come back to haunt them?
• The Accidental Marketer - People “fall into” marketing. They may study and qualify in a different discipline but somehow find themselves in marketing and advertising. What is the attraction? Or…have you known a company or brand who just seemed to naturally fall into marketing success? How do you think that happened?
• A New Brand of Creative - With the changes in the way that people communicate and collaborate online, marketing and advertising companies are needing to reach out and work with a new type of creative team. What do these “creatives” look like. What are their skills? Why do they evangelize digital and new media? And what are the challenges that they face?
• My Marketing Tragedy - A topic only for the brave… Do you know a project that failed? Was it yours? What prevented success? What worked? And most importantly, what did you learn? Who didn’t “get it” — was it your client, your boss, the board, or (dare we ask) you?
• Business Model Evolution - Just as the markets and people are changing, so too are the business models around both clients and agencies. What is your take on this? What is working and what is not? Where will things go? What happens if an agency doesn’t “get it”. How do you measure “it”… and where will things go?
• Life in the Conversation Lane - Bringing it all back to the individual - how is life in a digitally connected, social world impacting our lives? What is the personal cost and what is the attraction? Is there a balance or are we just kidding ourselves?

The Contributors

While this is a tall list, you should spot the sites you visit because the links will be a different color. The rest may be new to you.

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi,

Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich,

C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson,

Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner,

Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller,

Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson,

Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming,

Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber,

J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster,

Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski,

Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux,

Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel,

Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice,

Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz,

Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman,

Rachel Steiner, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen,
Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw,

Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Sreeraj MenonStanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood,

Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman,

Uwe Hook,

Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau,

Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, and

Yves Van Landeghem