Here's a view of the Nashville skyline when I moved here in 2008 versus January 2025 (below). Crazy, right? Did you know you can look at previous years of Google Maps Street View images? Likely, not. It’s not your fault; blame Google.

I taught this hidden feature to thousands of people when I was a speaker for Google. It boggles my mind why more consumer-facing companies don't hire outside facilitators to represent them. For Googlers, they probably assume everybody knows about this feature, but they don't.

I love the look on people's faces at networking events when I share LinkedIn's hidden QR code scanner in the app. Features hidden on purpose? Hardly, but they likely assume users know. They don't.

When I wrote my chapter on Twitter in my book, New Business Networking, I shared tips on creating private and public lists and using Advanced Search, both killer features most users had never heard of. Nowadays, I wouldn't recommend X to anyone, but I digress.

Not only should more consumer companies hire outside speakers and brand advocates, but they should also have them report back on what they discover in the field when speaking at events and networking at conferences. You'd be surprised by how many features you think your users know about but don't. It takes an outside perspective to shed light on solving your UX mysteries.

Wouldn't you agree?

This coffee catch up was way overdue. I love that Marcus Whitney recorded it and shared it with his friends, fans, and followers. I wanted to do the same here because there is so much great content within. Marcus is a good soul, be sure to check him out.

What we talk about:

• public speaking

• improving workplace communication

• book writing

• LinkedIn best practices

• entrepreneurship

• social networking

• social media

• podcasting

Do you have questions or comments? Drop them down below and I’ll do my best to help you.

I don’t care how big you (think you) are. Treat people the way you want to be treated.  

I wrote this and shared it on my social profiles the other day. It was retweeted, liked and commented on a fair amount. My message seemed to resonate with people.

What I didn’t share was the story that inspired it. As you probably know, I launched a new business a few weeks ago called Futureforth.com. 

I’ve been busy reaching out to my 1st Connections on LinkedIn who are CEOs of Nashville-area businesses. Most of these people are friends, some are people I’ve met at events or online.

Using LinkedIn’s advanced search is a powerful way to find the people you need to connect with. My message is brief. I’m asking for five minutes for a quick phone call, so I can tell them about Futureforth and ask how I can help with their businesses.

One person I contacted is a successful entrepreneur, let’s call him Bob. I won’t bore you with his accomplishments because they won’t seem that impressive when you hear what happened when I called him.

Bob’s reply to my message was curt. He wrote that I could call him. When I tried to set a time, he said setting a time was useless. Instead, I should call him mid-afternoon.

I called him at 1:40 pm.

Bob: “Hello?”
Me: “Hi, Bob. It’s Dave Delaney.”
Bob: “I told you mid-afternoon.”
CLICK.

He hung up on me. I was flabbergasted. What a jerk.

I called him back.

Bob: “Yes?”
Me: “Hi, Bob. I think we got cut off.”
Bob: “I told you mid-afternoon.”
Me: “Sorry, I thought 1:40 would be okay…”
CLICK.

He hung up on me again. Total jerk!

Thoughts raced through my head. I was tempted to share this and publicly shame him on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Who does that? Who hangs up on people? I realize he’s a successful guy who has done very well with his Nashville business, but that doesn’t give him the right.

I had to look back through emails and LinkedIn to see how we originally connected. He had asked me for my feedback on his business many years ago. We had met over coffee and I gave him plenty of free advice.

I decided I wanted nothing to do with Bob again and proceeded to remove him as a connection on LinkedIn. When you remove a connection you lose any private notes you made on the profile. So I decided to stay connected, because I never want to lose my note about Bob. My note is a little too colorful for me to reproduce for you here.

One day he’ll forget about this and ask me for a favor or an introduction. I’ll be sure to refer to my note and tell him to call me mid-afternoon NEVER. I'm all for forgiveness, but a jerk is a jerk. 

Instead of publicly shaming him, I shared a quick thought about what transpired. I have always tried to follow that one simple rule my mum taught me — Treat people the way you want to be treated.