Next in Queue

John Travolta’s turn as Vincent Vega in 1994’s Pulp Fiction revitalized his career. His character has returned to the US after a 3-year stay in Europe, mostly in Amsterdam. In this memorable scene, he colorfully explains to Jules, played by Samuel L. Jackson, how Europe is similar, yet different. While Vincent’s amusing explanation gave us one of the great movie quotes of all time, it digs into the very real differences in culture ...

The 1999 Dance hit, “Praise You” by Fatboy Slim uses NINE samples, including vocals by Camille Yarbrough from the opening of her song, “Take Yo’ Praise.” It was incredibly successful, reaching #1 in the UK charts and #36 in the US, simply by using building blocks already established by others. Fatboy Slim recognized bits that worked in other compositions, from the Steve Miller Band to Isaac Hayes. He then simply took pieces that al...

Ask 20 people to define customer loyalty and you’ll likely get 20 different answers. Some might give you an academic treatise on different types of loyalty. Some might quote CX experts or companies specializing in measuring customer experience. Others might break out “4 C’s” or “3 R’s” to help define loyalty. When Tara Paton joined Next in Queue – she reached for perhaps the most succinct and accurate definition, courtesy of Kendri...

The Goonies were kids who lived in the “Goon Docks” – a blue-collar neighborhood whose existence is threatened by the development of a country club. Sean Astin, playing Mikey, has led them on an adventure in search of One-Eyed Willy’s rich stuff – a treasure everyone else had dismissed as mythical.

For decades, contact centers have been like the Goon Docks – a place where good people do good work but a place that never garnered muc...

Disillusionment and discontent was alive and well before the rise of smartphones and AI. The 2003 Sofia Coppola film, Lost in Translation, is an exploration of experience. The unexpected friendship between Bill Murray’s Bob and Scarlett Johansson’s Charlotte is accidental, but it’s rooted in shared experiences that will only ever happen once.

The demand for analog, human experiences may rise again, says Kento Morita. As AI-create...

The 1948 Ford Deluxe that Kenickie worked all summer for was a car in the academic sense – it had 4 wheels and an engine. But with a little imagination, effort, and teamwork, it could become something special – a car so fast it could be compared to greased lightnin’. In the 1978 film adaptation of Grease, this car wouldn’t just get fixed, it would become something magical.

The typical model of customer service is well known but ...

Unless you’re a huge fan, you’ve probably never heard of Prince Rakeem. As a solo artist, despite his enormous talent, he flamed out. But when Robert Diggs, aka Prince Rakeem, aka Bobby Digital, aka the Scientist, aka RZA assembled a team in 1992, it would be the beginning of an empire. The now-iconic C.R.E.A.M. was the second single from Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), released in January 1994. It was RZA who realized that on his...

The last hit single by the English ska revival band, The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, came in 1984 just before the band dissolved. Free Nelson Mandela became an anti-apartheid anthem and even reentered the UK Singles Chart in 2013 following the news of Mandela’s death. While the lyrics mention 21 years in captivity, it would still be another 6 years before Mandela was set free in 1990. 4 years later, he would win the P...

When the “Prince of Darkness” aka Ozzy Osbourne was kicked out of Black Sabbath, he formed his own band with Randy Rhoads and Bob Daisley. Their first album, Blizzard of Ozz, spawned one of the greatest guitar riffs in Heavy Metal history. Crazy Train hit the Mainstream Rock Top 10 on Billboard after its 1980 release. The 1987 live version hit the top 100 in the UK. And this 2002 re-issue peaked at #1 in the US Digital Song Sales c...

You probably don’t know the singer/songwriter of the 1982 song “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.” But since it’s considered perhaps the best TV theme song of all time, you likely already have the bar from Cheers in your mind’s eye. Gary Portnoy wrote or co-wrote songs (including themes) for many other shows in the 80s, including Fame, Mr. Belvedere, and Punky Brewster but this one still resonates today.

When Norm enters the bar,...

In 2001, after having been dropped from their label, Jimmy Eat World released their 4th album, Bleed American. Because they were financing the recording themselves, they decided to keep things simple. “The Middle” reflects how the band was feeling – “left out or looked down on” – but it was also a song about encouragement. As the song says, sometimes “it just takes some time” to find that place where “everything will be alright.” ...

The Ohio band, The McCoys, scored this #1 hit in 1965. While the narrator of the song loves Sloopy, it seems the rest of the world feels very differently – “everybody tries to put my Sloopy down.” The song is a signature at The Ohio State University football games and it also played prominently during games of the Cleveland Guardians, Cleveland Browns, and Cleveland Cavaliers. In 1985, it was designated the state’s official rock s...

John Sebastian is probably best known for his time with the ‘60s band, The Lovin’s Spoonful. But in 1976, he scored a #1 hit with Welcome Back, the theme song to Welcome Back, Kotter. A sitcom about a wise-cracking teacher who has returned to his high school alma-mater to teach a remedial class of students, Welcome Back, Kotter featured a group of students who are viewed by most as misfits. But they are also their own close-knit li...

Bruce Campbell’s return as Ash in the 1992 cult classic, Army of Darkness, illustrated how the specific words we use are critical to success. After his accidental transportation to 1300 A.D., Ash must retrieve the Necronomicon, the Book of the Dead, before he can return home. But to close the portal opened by the book, he must first recite the 3-word phrase, “Klaatu Barada Nikto.” It turns out that using a single wrong word has se...

20 years ago, American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, blanketed the airwaves with Since U Been Gone. The song explores the aftermath of a now-ended relationship. While break-up songs often express longing, regret, and sadness, Since U Been Gone is a realization of how much better things are now. It also expresses the feeling of finally recognizing red flags that have been in plain sight for a while.

These feelings are not exclusive t...

NSYNC’s 2000 hit, Bye Bye Bye, has been streamed over a billion times on Spotify. The late 90’s and early 2000’s saw a resurgence of the “Boy Band” – a term applied to vocal groups consisting of young men whose performances were marketed primarily to girls and young women. Boy Bands were often “created” rather than forming organically. The 60’s band The Monkees, is perhaps the first example. The template for success had already b...

A long time ago, in a podcast season far, far away, it is a dark time for the inhabitants on planet earth. A novel virus has caused a global pandemic. A year in, many are adjusting to a “new normal” that includes working from home when possible. The social isolation has resulted in an explosion of media including niche podcasts.

Relentlessly pursued by one of these aspiring Rebel podcasters, the renowned CX expert, Brian Dunphy, ha...

It’s highly unlikely that you’ll start a podcast and quickly gain the kinds of fans depicted in this scene from Only Murders in the Building. Selena Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve Martin’s characters not only share an interest in true crime podcasts, but they also start their own podcast while investigating a murder in their apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start a podcast. Pod...