Last week Huawei sent me to CES 2016 in Las Vegas to cover the experience for my blog. The Consumer Electronics Show is one of the largest electronics shows that takes place during the year and the largest event that takes place in Las Vegas period. If you checked any electronics or gadgets blog last week like Gizmodo or The Verge then you were probably overwhelmed by all the CES related posts that they published. Well I’m not going to do the same here, instead I’m going to highlight just some of my favorite things I saw at CES this year.
The whole experience was insane since the Las Vegas Convention Center is HUMONGOUS. I thought the watch expo Basel World was huge when I visited it in 2013 but CES is so much larger. It’s hard to explain how big it is, I mean just the lobby of one of the halls was larger than any of the halls at the Kuwait International Fair Ground. CES was so huge that it took me more than 2 hours of fast walking to cover all the halls and then after I left I found out I had even missed one hall completely. There was so much stimulation everywhere I looked that I felt like I was having out of body experience at one point.
Anyway, below are some of the things that stuck out for me, if you follow me on twitter (@mark248am) then you’ve probably already seen most of the below but with less details.
One of the theories behind why The Address fire in Dubai spread so quickly was because of the flammable exterior building panels. The panels are similar to the ones seen all over Kuwait on many skyscrapers and other buildings like Coops and Hospitals. I personally think the grey colored panels should be banned for esthetic reasons. They’re like white Toyota Corollas, practical and affordable but look bland and lack any kind of personality.
Now, because of The Address fire I found out that theres even a better reason to ban them, they’re extremely flammable. According to the Daily Mail, the metal cladding has a very flammable plastic core and has been banned in the UK since 1980. In the UAE they were banned on new buildings in 2013 after a high-rise caught fire in 2012. So if its not for cosmetic reasons, I hope the panels get banned in Kuwait for safety reasons.
Update: Gizmodo have an article on this as well [Link]
LEGO have just opened their first shop in Kuwait at The Avenues. According to my friend whom I stole the snapchat screenshot from, he spotted the LEGO Architecture, Star Wars, Friends and Elves series all on display at the shop along with the regular LEGO sets. They also sell LEGOs by the bowl where you get to pick different LEGO pieces and colors like you’re buying jelly beans. If you’re interested, the LEGO store is located in Phase II near the That Al Salasil bookshop.
With the release of Star Wars Force Awaken, a lot of new Star Wars merchandise has gone on sale like clothing, Lego’s (the Millennium Falcon is KD170!), new figurines and now a new addition, the Sphero BB-8. Being a big Star Wars I’m pretty much on cloud nine. Not only was The Force Awakens a great movie, the new toys look great and even the clothing isn’t bad at all. So I was excited to test out the BB-8 and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked.
So what’s so cool about the Sphero BB-8? You can control it using your smartphone and it’s compatible with both iOS and Android devices so no one is left out. This little guy can move fast and can take a beating. When I first tested it out, the first thing that popped into my head was that BB-8 would make a great (albeit expensive) toy for my cat. It was impressive watching it speed across the floor especially that the BB-8’s head is attached to the body using a magnet and two little wheels so it stays in place while the rest of the body rolls. It has barely fallen off, even as I’ve hit the wall multiple times and the legs of chairs. The body itself has an “upright” position that corrects itself with the help of the stabilizers that are part of the internal mechanism. There’s also a gyroscope and accelerometer that will assist in controlling BB-8 by being aware of its movements and make subtle and slight adjustments to help you out.
If you get tired of controlling it you can set it to patrol mode. Patrol mode works similar to the way a Roomba does. The BB-8 will roam around your room on its own and will move around objects, like chair legs or people. What’s cool is that there is an event log that that lets you know if BB-8 hit a wall or detected an object.
The price tag for the BB-8 is steep, it costs KD69. Ultimately, this is a cool piece of tech, but it’s not something I would play with everyday. Right now I have it on my shelf next to my Samus figurine and my Super Mario Amiibo and sometimes I’ll tease my cat with it once in a while, but at the end of the day it’s a glorified figurine. House guests will find it impressive and it makes for an interesting topic of discussion. I love the BB-8 and it’s unique in a world of cheap toys. It’s a Star Wars toy that can be enjoyed by kids and adults.
If you’re interested in the Sphero BB-8, it’s available at the Avenue’s branch of Fantasy World which has a new section catered towards adults called THE EDGE. Fantasy World also has the largest collection of Star Wars toys that I’ve seen in Kuwait so far, including nice figurines of Kylo Ren, Finn and Rey.
Post by Patrick
Full Disclosure: The Sphero BB-8 was provided by Fantasy World to review on the blog.
A reader emailed me a few days ago letting me know they had found another Korean supermarket in Kuwait. According to the reader they were trying to find danmuji so they went to Singarea Supermarket and couldn’t find it there. So they asked their favorite Korean restaurant if they knew where they could get it from and they were told about another Korean supermarket in Shuwaikh called Ginza Market. So I passed by over the weekend to check it out. The store is small and seems to be catered more to restaurants than consumers since I was offered a list of all their items to keep with me in case I needed to order anything. But as a consumer you can also pick up whatever you want from their shelves. They’re open from 8AM to 8PM and their phone number is 22205091. Here is their location on [Google Maps]
While looking for Ginza Market I also ended up finding a Chinese Supermarket called Chinese Food House. It’s located in the same building block as Ginza and the store specializes in food products imported directly from China. I couldn’t figure out what they had since everything was written in Chinese but I did find some odd items like century eggs and salt baked chicken feet. They’re open from 8AM to 5PM and their phone number is 97533702. Here is their location on [Google Maps]
Both those stores have very friendly and helpful staff so don’t be afraid to ask them newbie questions.
Update: Ginza Supermarket has moved and the Google Maps link above has been updated.
Infamous Kuwaiti rapper Big D retired earlier this year with a pretty odd resignation letter. The main reason he left music was because he started believing music was a sin and that the rap industry as a whole were advocates of the Devil. I guess he no longer believes that because he’s back out of retirement with a new video. Sadly it’s a pretty boring video, he really should go back and get the guy who produced my favorite video of his that had the trashy looking girls drinking fake wine. At least that was entertaining to watch even if you didn’t like his music.
One of the things that got me excited about checking out The Burrow Life gym was their teaser photos and videos which they shared on their instagram account. They set a very trendy tone to the gym and because the production of their photos and videos were so good I just assumed they had gotten them done outside of Kuwait. Then last week I found out from a friend that all their photos and videos were shot locally by a small production house called Blank Production.
Since it turns out their office was in the same building as mine, I passed by awhile ago to meet up with them and check out their work. They’ve only been around for three months now but already from their small portfolio it’s obvious they’re super talented. You can watch their showreel above or check out their website with more of their work [Here]
The other day while at KIPCO tower I spotted a books donation box by an organization called Raqsh. Turns out they collect unwanted books and then send them to small scale societies such as refugee camps. Right now they only have this one donation box located at KIPCO but they’re looking to set up more of them around Kuwait. For more information on the organization, here is a link to their [Website]
Poêle is a new cafe and bakery that opened up recently in KIPCO tower. I passed by last week for lunch and its now officially become my new favorite spot (for now). When you first walk in to Poêle you’re greeted by a beautiful display of baked goods, salads and deserts. The interior is subtly stylish with lots of white and beautiful large artwork by the extremely talented Ghadah Alkandari. Theres a huge communal table right in the middle surrounded by smaller white marble top tables all around. We sat near the window because I wanted as much natural light possible in case I was going to take pictures but really, because of the large windows, the whole place is beautifully lit.
Their menu mainly consists of salads with a secondary menu for daily specials. There were four specials to choose from on the day I passed by and I ended up going with roasted seabass while my friend went with their chicken special that was stuffed with turkey. I also ordered their quinoa and butternut squash salad while my friend ordered their chargrilled broccoli. The presentation of all the dishes was really impressive and made my life so much easier when it came to taking pictures. Everything we had was delicious and I wouldn’t mind ordering the exact same thing again the next time I’m there. After we were done we headed to their food display near the entrance and chose our desserts. I ended up going with the chocolate and praline tart which was rich, savory and didn’t leave me feeling too guilty afterwards. The presentation of the desserts were also visually pleasing and comparable more to a high end restaurant and not a small cafe.
One more thing I wanted to highlight before I ended this post was the staff, from the host to the waiters everyone was very professional and knowledgable. Price wise its on the high scale but because of the whole experience from start to finish it doesn’t feel over priced. My quinoa and butternut squash was KD2.650, my sea bass was KD6.700 and the chocolate and praline tart was KD2.750. There really wasn’t anything I could knock about the place and since its down the street from my office I’ll probably be passing by very frequently from now on. Poêle is located on M2 in KIPCO tower and you can check out their instagram from more pictures and information [Here]
Last week, a solopreneur in Kuwait approached me for help after reading my Business Therapy intro post. Her main product is gift boxes containing genuine gold, frankincense and myrrh (a.k.a. in a Christianity context as the gifts given by the three kings or wise men). Apart from how niche her business is being in a Muslims-dominated country selling to Christians, her problem is quite common to many solopreneurs I met before. For what it’s worth, let’s call her Jane. She came across the products accidentally. She was emotionally engaged. Jane felt she could purchase the raw material and package it herself and make it available for others whom would appreciate what the items stand for – a classic lightbulb moment.
Quickly, Jane learned about what really meets the standards of gold, frankincense and myrrh. She worked on the packaging and started to sell at local seasonal bazaars with modest revenue and managed to have her products displayed at an important cultural centre. A basic website for the EU market was setup. Her social media accounts got activated. Yet, so far not so good: no sales. What Jane did, as many small businesses do, is spend great energy on the product or service side and not much, if any, time on understanding who the key customers are, where they are, what they want, and how to reach them. Controlling quality is essential to offer good value. However, what’s the point of the greatest service ever designed if nobody is aware of it and using it?
In celebration of being in business for 20 years I’ve been giving away one-hour strategic business therapy sessions to micro businesses and charities that can’t afford it. Jane and I had a session online and discussed a few possible directions. For the Kuwaiti market Jane is targeting churches, embassies and cultural centres that target foreign newcomers to Kuwait. She’s also seeking out a low-cost chain management services provider to store some stock in the EU and ship directly from within the EU considering how slow and costly shipping from Kuwait to the EU would be. And finally she’s also arranging to meet a few churches in the UK during her summer trip next year. This week’s tip: Knowing your own industry is one thing, knowing how to grow a business is another. You need both to make it.
Post by Loaay Ahmed, a strategic business therapist since 1995. He currently lives and works in London, UK, while earning his master’s in Service Design Innovation, and managing knightscapital in Kuwait. For Loaay’s advice on business or work matters, send a short email to [email protected]. Regrettably, only the questions chosen for publishing will be answered.
In case you’re wondering if the new Star Wars film has any scenes that were cut in Kuwait, based on people who’ve already watched it here, nothing is chopped.
Until Uber comes to Kuwait we’re kinda stuck with alternatives for now and the most recent one I found out about is the Q8 Taxi app. I haven’t ordered a cab with it yet since I haven’t had a need for one, but I have been playing with the app and noticed two interesting things about Q8 Taxi. The first is that there always seems to be a cab nearby. The second is that the taxis they use have working meters. The description under “Car Type” in the app is “Meter Taxi” but I thought that might just be a generic description so I called customer support to confirm their cabs actually use the meters and they confirmed to me that they do. If thats the case then this could be the best app to use until Uber becomes available.
If you’ve used the app before, let me know below of your experience. For those of you who are interested in downloading the app, it’s available for both iOS and Android. [Link]
As you can see from the picture above, the garbage situation in the sand pit behind my house still hasn’t been sorted (it’s been years of me complaining). I’m not sure why it’s so difficult to just add more bins.
But the reason I’m posting about this today is because I wanted to see if you guys could spot something. The picture below was taken this morning after the garbage trucks came. Notice anything?
Yeah the garbage trucks cleaned the garbage on the ground but didn’t empty the trash bins. Back in August I posted a timelapse of the garbage being cleaned up and the trucks were leaving one of the bins full while emptying the other three. Turned out that one of the bins belonged to the previous company that had the garbage contract and the new company, not to cause an issue with the previous company was leaving their garbage bins alone. Really stupid shit but now I have no idea whats going on because all four bins aren’t being emptied and the already terrible garbage situation has become worse.
I just want them to add more bins, clearly the bins in the area aren’t enough since I’ve been talking about this issue for years now. I don’t know, am I asking for too much here?
And for those of you who are going to argue back by bringing Lebanon into this, yes yes Lebanon is a big garbage dump, I know that. But, I think of Kuwait more highly and would rather compare it to the likes of Calagary, Canada’s oil capital instead of Lebanon.
In a recent business event in Kuwait, I asked the audience: “What would you do if one of your employees rushed over to you saying, “There’s a long queue at the counter in the new store”?” Most of them replied, “Open another counter.” The long queue issue disappears and everything is back to normal, right? Wrong. While opening another counter might be a quick fix to minimise the customers’ negative experience, a long queue is a result of an issue, not the issue itself. And without knowing what the actual problem is how can you tell if you have the right solution?There are many reasons why such an incident occurred: the employee may not have been well-trained; he or she is just slow; your process is too long; an IT meltdown; the store is poorly designed; or some customers are queuing for the wrong reasons, just to name a few. To start go to the store with your team and observe. Take pictures and videos if possible. Discussing a long queue is one thing, being there or at least seeing photos of it helps framing the challenge. Next, map the customer journey (and the employees’ too). Breaking down the current customer experience step by step allows you to spot pain points that may have led to the long queue or to even bigger issues. One particular advantage is that it allows you to see the business from the customer’s perspective – a critical tool for innovation and development that many managers and business owners don’t practice enough.
What follows is analysing your value chain, a formal way of referring to your suppliers, vendors, or strategic partners’ interactions with the business. What areas is the business weak in because of the quality of the services you receive from your value chain and what areas are strong because of it? This analysis helps to realistically evaluate solutions. Last step is mind mapping. Basically, layout all the data you gathered and look for insights and repeated patterns that can give you clues for possible solutions.
You might think by now that the steps above are theoretical and needless because you understand your business, your industry and your customers well enough to jump straight into the solution. That’s exactly where you’ll miss great opportunities for development. Innovation is a process that depends on design thinking principles and tools. Not knowing such tools makes managers rely only on their own experiences and intuition, which are great but not enough for sustainable growth. This week’s tip: Only when the right problem is identified can you explore possible solutions.
Post by Loaay Ahmed, a strategic business therapist since 1995. He currently lives and works in London, UK, while earning his master’s in Service Design Innovation, and managing knightscapital in Kuwait. For Loaay’s advice on business or work matters, send a short email to [email protected]. Regrettably, only the questions chosen for publishing will be answered.
