WOMEN & BEER

No, that’ s not the start of a bar song.

In the spirit of the season, we turn our thoughts at Bandwidth to food and spirits. And this new beer line caught our attention.

As you may know, women are becoming a bigger part of what was traditionally a male market for beer, in the US and abroad.

Some beer manufacturers have lowered the carbs and the calories to women, but Polish company, Carlsberg Polska, is making a bold move to create a beer just for women.

Their brew, Karmi, brings sweet flavors and complexity to the palette without pumping up the calories or alcohol content, so it’ s more in line with what health conscious women are looking for in a beer.

So far, Karmi comes in a handful of flavors: Classic (caramel), Poema di Caffé (coffee), Selua (pineapple/piña colada), and Lamai (guava, dragonfruit and mint.) All are sealed up in a luxurious bottle that feels far more elegant than most dude brews.

Clearly time to cue up a Dudes and Daquiris bar song after Auld Lang Syne.

Happy New Year!

Leadership Lessons in a Rock Fan's Dance

Many of you may be familiar with TED videos, the online video library of great talks from the TED (Technology Entertainment Design) Conference.

This talk in particular was great in its simplicity. Far faster than Gladwell's Tipping Point read, and just as cogent in its dissecting a video of a concert dance to make a point about how group movements start.

The lessons for marketers, leaders, teachers, party-throwers are readily apparent: it's the second "follower" that has real guts, turning the bleeding edge into the leading edge.

The second person to follow a lead:

• turns a solo into a group
• commits his or her credibility to a possible lone wolf, person, or idea
• enables the more risk-averse to join in

It's time to value that first convert in following the lead or idea. Seconds, anyone?