Month: July 2010

Earlier this week, I got around in a Zipcar. My car was getting fixed up in the body shop (lauren hit the the basketball pole in our driveway, long story :)

Anyway, I’ve used Zip several times before and I’m pleased with the service. Cars are clean and available. I dig the website and iphone app. 

But here’s the thing: I wish i didn’t have to get a ZipCar. I wish I could’ve carpooled with someone instead.

Every day as I make my way into the office I notice the highway is filled with cars with just one passenger. Last weekend we drove to Long Island and noticed the same thing. Tons of cars filled with just one passenger. 

I see this all the time. It seems so inefficient on so many levels. 

Here’s what I want. I want a way for people to make open seats available in their cars as they go to work every day. I want a way for people to make their open seats available when they drive out of state. The driver/owner can decide if they want to give that open seat for free or charge for it. The owner or driver could also decide if the open seat can go to strangers or it has to be someone in their social graph or maybe even a 2nd or 3rd degree network on facebook, linkedin or whatever. There are lots of ways to think about this. 

It’s a modern day version of that cork board we had in college in the cafeteria where people would “post” that they need a ride to NYC for Thanksgiving. 

I’ve been thinking about this idea for a long time. Perhaps the best way to do this is by focusing on one city first. 

Love to hear if someone is already working on this. 

A few years ago we moved to a different suburb outside of Boston. It made my commute a bit better and the public school system is supposed to be one of the best. The reputation came from a few parents we knew in the town and from various test scores.

Our kids are 11, 8 and 4 yrs old. We have a decent amount of public school experience. And so far we are pleased.

Each year we visit the teachers at least twice – once in the beginning and ten again towards the end of the year. It’s a great opportunity to understand how our kids are progressing and to brainstorm areas of concern or ask questions.

But the one thing that always surprised me is that no one from the school has ever asked us to review the teachers. Ever.

There is an article in today’s NYT about how students are commenting on their exceptional teachers decades later on Facebook (sorry, no link, writing this on my iPhone). I think this is wonderful but we (parents, teachers, kids, principles) need this info and much earlier.

I imagine there could be many ways to do this. Public vs private reviews, endorsements, etc.

I think the current model doesn’t give enough credit to our great teachers and doesn’t shine a bright enough light on the teachers that aren’t delivering the goods.

I’d welcome your thoughts and suggestions here. And would certainly love to hear if someone was working on this.