Topic: Harry Potter

End of Potter Frenzy May Be Bad for Business

Potter mania is taking over the world . . . again, for the seventh and possibly last time. US publisher, Scholastic, and JK Rowling, the now famous billionaire Brit, announced yesterday that the final installment of the beloved Harry ...READ»

Innovation: The REAL Magic of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is Customer Service

It started as a kind gesture. It has become the ultimate party. To the children lining up to wait for the sales of the last installment of Harry Potter magic the bookstores’ opening doors at midnight on Saturday (July 21) represent ...READ»

Watch: Harry Potter 6

Accio ticket sales! The Hogwarts crew returns with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on July 15. So far, the films' grosses have been stunningly consistent. Here's how other major franchises compare.READ»

• Now July/August 2009
• Drill: The U.S. Oil Industry Turns 150
• Numerology: Hawaii Five-O

Innovation: The REAL Magic of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is Customer Service

It started as a kind gesture. It has become the ultimate party. To the children lining up to wait for the sales of the last installment of Harry Potter magic the bookstores’ opening doors at midnight on Saturday (July 21) represent ...READ»

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The boy wizard is back, but these days he's not looking so boyish. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, in theaters today, has been called the best Potter film yet, as our formerly pubescent students of sorcery find themselves very ...READ»

The Hogwarts Master Class: How to Make Your Team Fly

Who couldn't benefit from a magic spell or two right now? Tough times call for enchanting solutions, so one Massachusetts company is looking to Harry Potter for team-building strategies to spark a positive transfiguration in the workplace.READ»

Innovation: The REAL Magic of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is Customer Service

It started as a kind gesture. It has become the ultimate party. To the children lining up to wait for the sales of the last installment of Harry Potter magic the bookstores’ opening doors at midnight on Saturday (July 21) ...READ»

2nd Anniversary of the Final Harry Potter Book

Though overshadowed by last week’s release of the sixth Harry Potter film, today marks the second anniversary of the final Potter book, the Deathly Hallows. So while the media fixates on The Half Blood Prince’s record-breaking ...READ»

Work/Life Balance, The Ride

In what may be the first instance of literature being turned into its own theme park, an interactive Harry Potter environment is set to open in Orlando in 2009. I can already see the anti-Satan worshipping crowd lining up to picket ...READ»

Is Social Media Passing Your Business By?

Social media - everything from Facebook to Digg to Twitter to Flickr - has been quickly snagging the attention of small business owners and employees of big companies across the world. The business applications for these tools are ...READ»

"I Forgot" Day

Forgot to preorder your friend's Harry Potter tickets? Missed yet another anniversary? Today's the pseudoholiday when we pledge not to let it happen again. (We tried to find out who started this, but it seems everyone has forgotten.) ...READ»

The New Harry Potter Film and Business Culture

Just as Rowling, Lucas and Tolkien built worlds for their readers, CEOs and managers too have a responsibility to build a world for their employees—although not one of fantasy, of course. The culture and environment in a workplace is almost if not as important as the work itself. READ»

What Do Glenn Beck and American Idol Have In Common?

With consumer outrage at financial institutions egregious misconduct, there has been a renewed attitude about good vs. evil. This polarization has reflected in pop culture with such films as Monsters VS Aliens and web sensations like Red VS. Blue. However, the top TV shows of 2009 illustrate that it's more complicated than just black and white, good vs. evil -- everyone has their own winner. Increasingly, we want get behind "our guy or girl" and cheer them on. The Cheers and Jeers trend is about being passionate and getting behind people...READ»

Twitter Abracadabras Weasley Whereabouts Clock Into Reality

Oh Harry Potter, you may be the stuff of fantasy for kids everywhere but you're not real. Which is why Twitter is more awesome: It's really real, and someone's just used it to make a version of the Weasley family's locator clock. If ...READ»

Harry Potter's Corporate Parent

Behind the Harry Potter juggernaut is a London-based company that is rewriting the rule book in publishing. Its formula: Stay nimble, share the wealth, and work the way your authors do.READ»

Kidults and Controversy

Jon Gertner's story in The New York Times magazine yesterday about the Geppetto Group, an advertising agency that exclusively works on kid-oriented campagins, didn't really offer the new insight into the marketing-to-kids debate that ...READ»

The Lost Symbol

Cryptografreaks and booksellers, rejoice! Brown's newest novel, which covers a 12-hour period in the ever-puzzling life of Da Vinci Code protagonist Robert Langdon, hits shelves with an initial print run of 5 million. That's only half ...READ»

Work/Life: The Mind of the Working Person, Part One: Perish the Thought

According to the new book “150 Best Jobs For Your Skills” by Michael Farr and Laurence Shatkin, the highest-paid jobs these days are the ones which require, above all, thought-processing skills. Now, I always assumed we were ...READ»

Networking Never Takes a Holiday

Vacation doesn't have to be the end of your networking efforts. Get an expert's tips on how you can continue to build relationships with powerful people even when they’re out of the office.READ»

Design to Improve Life

Good things are happening in the world of design and innovation. One of the best is INDEX, a new world event for design and innovation to be held, like the Olympics, every four years; it is also an international network of designers, ...READ»

D’oh! The Plot to Simpsonize America

I confess, I was a little sad that I was out of the office the day the Fast Company class photo that appeared in the June issue was taken. One crummy reporting trip and I missed my chance to finally get my mug in the magazine! But ...READ»

The Soul of Leadership

Integrating personal and professional development is driving leadership development programming in the public and private sectors. Is B-School the new self help movement?READ»

Meet the 27-Year-Old Who's Hijacking Twitter, One Quiz-Crazy Tween at a Time

In just over a month, Dave Zohrob's Twitter app, LOLquiz, has amassed more than 300,000 users and spawned at least 20 trending topics. WTF?READ»

Next-Gen Cloaking Devices Even Better At Hiding

The clever chaps at Duke University have been busy beavering away for years to make the sci-fi staple cloaking device a reality, and their recent results mean a real product is closer than ever. They've fabricated a better ...READ»

Your Guide to the Summer Blockbusters

CEO DAD’S TUESDAY TIRADE Being a fictional character, I like to believe I have some insight into other fictional situations. And so, with Memorial Day weekend officially over, and summer officially begun, I thought I would take a ...READ»