Frontiers in Service Conference, San Jose, California

In July I attended the annual Frontiers in Service Conference.  This year it was held in San Jose, California and was hosted by IBM.  At the conference I made a research presentation there entitled, "The Effect of Service Recovery Strategies on Social Media Buzz and Financial Performance."  But, the highlight for me, as the 2014 recipient of the Christopher Lovelock SERVSIG Career Contributions Award (from the American Marketing Association) was to announce the 2015 recipient at the conference awards dinner.

And the 2015 Recipient is...

Kay Lemon, from Boston College

I should also mention that, in order to keep costs down (it's going to be a sabbatical filled with a lot of traveling), I stayed with my brother- and sister-in-law, John and Ann Little.  Actually, I was probably only there for about 5 hours over three days (other than when I was sleeping).  (They probably liked it that way!)

John and Ann Little at breakfast (after church) before I headed to the San Jose Airport

I did not get to see much of San Jose, and so my choices of steps to take a picture of were limited. However, I thought this step had character:

Front step at John & Ann Little's house, San Jose, California

University of Roehampton Business School, London, England

The last stop on my England university tour was in London at the University of Roehampton.  My visit was arranged by Sabine (Mueller) Benoit, a colleague I have known for several years.

Sabine treated me to Thai food while in London.

At the hotel I stayed at, The Alma in Wandsworth Town, I found some amenities I do not recall ever seeing at any other hotel I have visited.  They included a "Love Kit" and a "Hangover Kit."  A bit pricey, though...

The "Love Kit" and the "Hangover Kit" at The Alma in  Wandsworth Town, England

I had a couple of extra days before I returned to the U.S., so I took the train up to Cambridge and attended a Marketing Research Camp at the University of Cambridge.  I went "punting" in the canals around the university, and one of the more interesting sites was the Mathematical Bridge. Although it appears to be an arch, it is composed entirely of straight timbers built to an unusually sophisticated engineering design, hence the name.

Mathematical Bridge at Queen's College at the University of Cambridge

While in London I also met up with a BGSU Alum, John Bernard, that I had in class a few years earlier.  He married another BGSU student, and they now live in London.  John works as a  Senior Strategic Planner at AKQA. He has been involved in doing work for Nike, Eurostar, and GSK.  As John explained to me, much of what we discussed in class about customer-centric experiences and outstanding service is applicable to this work.  When in class, John created a couple of commercials about my class.  Click here to see one and click here to see the other.

BGSU Falcon John Bernard and Dwayne in Hampstead Heath.

Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle, England

The second stop on my "Publishing Scholarly Research" tour was the Business School of the University of Newcastle.  I spent two days with PhD Students from Newcastle and surrounding universities. My colleague, Christof Backhaus, took me on a brief tour of the city afterwards, including a walk along the river to see the Millennium Bridge.  (The bridge, by the way, pivots about 45 degrees to allow ships to go under it!  Click here to see how it works...very cool.)

The Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian/cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne in Newcastle.

I take all of the pictures with my (relatively cheap) Canon PowerShot Camera.  Occasionally I forget to take it with me, and thus I am forced to use my phone's camera, as in the picture below.  But, it is not nearly as good.

Dwayne and Christof Backhaus (outside of my hotel, just nest to the Newcastle Business School)

Loughborough University School of Business and Economics, Loughborough, England

I arrived for my "England tour" on May 26. Starting on May 27 I spent two and a half days conducting my "Publishing Scholarly Research" seminar at Loughborough University School of Business and Economics in Loughborough, England.

Dwayne at the School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, England

This visit was initiated during a conversation about a year earlier at the Frontiers in Service Conference (in Miami, Florida) with my colleague Thorsten Gruber (tallest guy in the back row in the picture below).

"Publishing Scholarly Research" Seminar Attendees in Loughborough

The next day, after the seminar was completed, Thorsten Gruber took me to Nottingham to visit (where "The Dark Knight Returns" was filmed...the setting for Wayne Manor).  This was a really cool castle (see below).

Dwayne at (D)Wayne Manor (Wollaton Hall in Nottingham)

While were walking on the grounds at "D-Wayne Manor," I captured another picture of steps...

Steps outside of Wollaton Hall in Nottingham, England

Mallory's High School Graduation

Mallory graduated from Perrysburg High School (Class of 2015) today at Stranahan Theater in Toledo.

Mallory Gremler, Class of 2015

Candy, Dwayne, Mary Little (Candy's mother) , Mallory, Samantha, Bob Boggs, Pat Boggs (Dwayne's mother)

One week earlier, my niece (Aubrey Hale) graduated from Miami University.

Tom Hale (her father), Tammy Hale (my sister and her mother), Aubrey, and Nathan Hale (her brother)

Academy of Marketing Science Doctoral Consortium at the University of Colorado at Denver

It has been suggested to me by several people that I keep a blog of my travels.  So, that is what this endeavor is all about. (The BGSU College of Business has published it in an October newsletter.)

My sabbatical unofficially started in Denver.  I was invited by Sharon Beatty and Linda Price to be part of the faculty for the first Academy of Marketing Science Doctoral Consortium at the University of Colorado at Denver, on May 14-16.  My presentation was entitled, "Setting Research Priorities: Being Synergistic and Opportunistic." About 30 Ph.D. students from around the U.S. (and a few from abroad) received advice and insights from faculty from such places as U of Washington, Texas A&M U, U of Alabama, U of Texas, U of  Georgia, Florida State U, U of Florida, Boston College, and U of Arizona.

Where's Waldo (er, Dwayne)?

While in Denver I stumbled across an interesting business concept, called "Canvas and Cocktails."  The place looked so inviting from the outside, and so busy on a Saturday night, that I had to stop in to see what it was about.  I found about 65 people learning to paint...the focus that night was on learning how to paint Van Gogh's "Starry Night" painting.  So, at 8:00 p.m. on a Saturday night these people paid $35 each to spend two hours painting and drinking their favorite beverage (wine, beer, sangria, or whatever).  They looked liked they were having a BLAST!

One artist's work.  Perhaps he had too much wine?

Afterwards, I visited some old friends (i.e.,  friends I have know a long time) in the Denver area.

Dwayne, Amy & Mike Nappa, and Winnie & Norm Wakefield

When I was on sabbatical in 2007-2008, I had a chance to develop a new hobby...taking pictures of steps.  I love the symbolism in steps...going up them is a challenge...some are easy to climb, some are very difficult...some are short journeys, some are long...sometimes there is a great view at the top, and sometimes there is not...sometimes getting to the top simply reveals that there are more steps to climb.  So, with my trip to Denver, Randy Duzan took me on a trip to look for steps.

Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Colorado