Purple Wren

Can you believe it? It's time for Bathroom Blogfest '08

OK - it took something special for me to stop my crazy schedule and logon and write some new blog posts. Bathroom Blogfest '08 has been going on all week. This is the third year I have participated.

The topic  is ‘cleaning up forgotten spaces around us’ and how this affects the customer experience. Take a look around your store, office, restaurant, etc. What does the customer see? Maybe you ought to approach it with a new eye for details. You want the customer experience to be positive. After all, that's why you are in business.

Take a look at your entry ways, changing rooms, checkout areas, or any spaces that affect the customer experience but haven't been paid the attention they deserve.

Here's a couple photos I took on a recent trip to Sioux Falls, SD. We visited a local Panera. What a pleasant surprise to find this great shelf next to the sink. Very simple and... the perfect place to hold your purse, jacket, drink, package, or whatever while you wash up. Do you have convenient shelves or hooks for your customers?


 











Here's the official list for this year's Bathroom Blogfest Community. Check out these sites for some fun and informative reading. It might open your eyes!

Susan Abbott at Customer Experience Crossroads
Katia Adams at Transcultural Marketing
Shannon Bilby at Floor Talk!
Laurence Borel at Blog Till You Drop
Jo Brown and the blogging team at Kohler Talk
Lisbeth Calandrino at Lisbeth Calandrino
Sara Cantor at The Curious Shopper
Becky Carroll at Customers Rock!
Katie Clark at Practical Katie
Iris Shreve Garrott at Circulating
Ann Handley at Annarchy
Marianna Hayes at Results Revolution
Elizabeth Hise and C.B. Whittemore at The Carpetology Blog
Maria Palma at Customers Are Always
Sandra Renshaw at Purple Wren
Kate Rutter at Adaptive Path
Claudia Schiepers at Life and its little pleasures
Carolyn Townes at Becoming a Woman of Purpose
Stephanie Weaver at Experienceology
C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer

Bathroom Blogfest '07: Automatic Flushers - Pros and Cons

Automatic flushers on toilets. They seem like a good solution. People don't have to deal with the whole germ issue and touching handles. And the toilet gets flushed when needed.

But - they need some work. Have you ever walked by a toilet or into a stall and it just flushes because the sensor was triggered by the light or lack of it?

Or - how about when you are sitting down and it starts flushing unexpectedly? Have you ever had this happen?

Again, there is an environmental price to pay when toilets flush unnecessarily. And the customer inconvenience is not to be ignored.

Read what other participants in Bathroom Blogfest '07 are saying:

• Kate Rutter—Adaptive Path
• Laurence Helene Borel—Blog Till You Drop
• Iris Shreve Garrott—checking out and checking in
• Susan Abbott—Customer Experience Crossroads
• Maria Palma—Customers Are Always
• Becky Carroll—Customers Rock!
• Toby Bloomberg—Diva Marketing
• Stephanie Weaver—Experienceology
• Linda Tischler—Fast Company Now
• C.B. Whittemore—Flooring the Consumer
• Ed Pell—K+B DeltaVee
• Helene Blowers—Library Bytes
• Claudia Schiepers—Life and its little pleasures
• Katie Clark—Practical Katie
• Sandra Renshaw—Purple Wren and Around Des Moines
• Reshma Anand—Qualitative Research
• Marianna Hayes—Results Revolution
• Carolyn Townes—Spirit Women
• Sara Cantor—The Curious Shopper
• Anna Farmery—The Engaging Brand
• Dee McCrorey—The Ultimate Corporate Entrepreneur
• Katia S. Adams—Transcultural
• Katie Konrath-- getFreshMinds
• Jennifer Brite, of Kitchen and Bath Business

Bathroom Blogfest '07: What About Those Sprayers?

One of my pet peeves is those automatic fragrance sprayers they have in some restrooms - like that's going to get rid of bad smells? All it does is add to the odors in the room and cause distress to a lot of people who have sensitive respiratory systems (asthma, etc).

There's recent information that spraying in particular is adding to the numbers of people that have asthma. Sorry to say, not a surprise to me. Finally it's becoming recognized so we can do something about it.

According to a recent article on BBC, "Spray air fresheners, furniture cleaners and glass cleaners carried the highest risk [of asthma]."

And another article in MSN claims "Using household cleaning sprays and spray air fresheners just once a week can increase your risk of developing asthma, new research suggests."

How about some fresh air - through the ducts or open windows.

It's well documented that indoor air is significantly more polluted than outside air and that can't be more true than in a bathroom that's enclosed and has vast numbers of people spraying and spritzing in addition to the fragrance from the automatic sprayers and the cleaning products.

An EPA article on indoor air quality states "In the last several years, a growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities. Other research indicates that people spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors. Thus, for many people, the risks to health may be greater due to exposure to air pollution indoors than outdoors."

What do you think about it? We all need to protest.

I know people who disable the devices. That's a short-term answer.  Sometimes people ask for the MSDS (material safety data sheet). Start asking questions.

Have you seen the ads about heart disease that feature women with really messy hair. The point is if we could see the heart disease as easily as we can see our hairstyles, we would make changes. We can use that argument here - if we could see the damage that is being caused to our internal organs as a result of these chemicals, we would immediately stop using them and would be lining up to protest their use in public facilities.

Read what other participants in Bathroom Blogfest '07 are saying:

• Kate Rutter—Adaptive Path
• Laurence Helene Borel—Blog Till You Drop
• Iris Shreve Garrott—checking out and checking in
• Susan Abbott—Customer Experience Crossroads
• Maria Palma—Customers Are Always
• Becky Carroll—Customers Rock!
• Toby Bloomberg—Diva Marketing
• Stephanie Weaver—Experienceology
• Linda Tischler—Fast Company Now
• C.B. Whittemore—Flooring the Consumer
• Ed Pell—K+B DeltaVee
• Helene Blowers—Library Bytes
• Claudia Schiepers—Life and its little pleasures
• Katie Clark—Practical Katie
• Sandra Renshaw—Purple Wren and Around Des Moines
• Reshma Anand—Qualitative Research
• Marianna Hayes—Results Revolution
• Carolyn Townes—Spirit Women
• Sara Cantor—The Curious Shopper
• Anna Farmery—The Engaging Brand
• Dee McCrorey—The Ultimate Corporate Entrepreneur
• Katia S. Adams—Transcultural
• Katie Konrath-- getFreshMinds
• Jennifer Brite, of Kitchen and Bath Business

Bathroom Blogfest '07: Interesting Ceiling in Ladiesroom

This is a photo of a ceiling in a local Mexican restaurant. Kind of interesting. Don't know how easy it would be to clean though. I've never seen this technique and wonder if it is a custom in parts of the world. Do you know?

The above photo is the ceiling.
Below is a photo of the brown cork cedar chip wall  and part of the ceiling.

Wordless Wednesday: Hotel Bathroom in Chennai, India

 

 

Participants in Bathroom Blogfest '07

• Kate Rutter—Adaptive Path
• Laurence Helene Borel—Blog Till You Drop
• Iris Shreve Garrott—checking out and checking in
• Susan Abbott—Customer Experience Crossroads
• Maria Palma—Customers Are Always
• Becky Carroll—Customers Rock!
• Toby Bloomberg—Diva Marketing
• Stephanie Weaver—Experienceology
• Linda Tischler—Fast Company Now
• C.B. Whittemore—Flooring the Consumer
• Ed Pell—K+B DeltaVee
• Helene Blowers—Library Bytes
• Claudia Schiepers—Life and its little pleasures
• Katie Clark—Practical Katie
• Sandra Renshaw—Purple Wren
• Reshma Anand—Qualitative Research
• Marianna Hayes—Results Revolution
• Carolyn Townes—Spirit Women
• Sara Cantor—The Curious Shopper
• Anna Farmery—The Engaging Brand
• Dee McCrorey—The Ultimate Corporate Entrepreneur
• Katia S. Adams—Transcultural
• Katie Konrath-- getFreshMinds

Let the Bathroom Blogfest '07 Begin!

It's already the end of October and time for the annual Bathroom Blogfest! held the same week as during the National Kitchen and Bath Month. This event started out last year with 9 bloggers and has gained momentum with 22 bloggers signed up to participate this year. During the week you'll find many posts from bloggers around the globe writing about the importance of bathrooms in the customer experience.

This is a subject that's near and dear, so I was pleased to join the blogfest last year and again now.

To start out the week, let's talk about the environmental impact of a new gadget found in bathrooms. During a recent stop at an international airport, I noticed they have a machine that with the touch of a button or the automatic sensor, a new and clean piece of plastic slides over the toilet seat. While it seems like an easy solution to clean toilet seats, how much plastic does this take? What is the cost? How is it disposed of? Is it making life better for those of us who use them? How about the workers - do they like them? It leaves me with more questions than answers.

I'll be posting all week. Go ahead and drop by the other blogs to read their perspectives. It's definitely interesting reading!

Participants in Bathroom Blogfest '07

• Kate Rutter—Adaptive Path
• Laurence Helene Borel—Blog Till You Drop
• Iris Shreve Garrott—checking out and checking in
• Susan Abbott—Customer Experience Crossroads
• Maria Palma—Customers Are Always
• Becky Carroll—Customers Rock!
• Toby Bloomberg—Diva Marketing
• Stephanie Weaver—Experienceology
• Linda Tischler—Fast Company Now
• C.B. Whittemore—Flooring the Consumer
• Ed Pell—K+B DeltaVee
• Helene Blowers—Library Bytes
• Claudia Schiepers—Life and its little pleasures
• Katie Clark—Practical Katie
• Sandra Renshaw—Purple Wren
• Reshma Anand—Qualitative Research
• Marianna Hayes—Results Revolution
• Carolyn Townes—Spirit Women
• Sara Cantor—The Curious Shopper
• Anna Farmery—The Engaging Brand
• Dee McCrorey—The Ultimate Corporate Entrepreneur
• Katia S. Adams—Transcultural

Previous Bathroom Blogfest '06 Posts

• Bathroom Blogfest '06
• What About Electric Hand Dryers?
• Ladiesrooms Need Fresh Air!
• Update on Bathroom Blogfest '06
• A Fine Ending to the Bathroom Blogfest '06