Personal Thoughts

Jazz, Life Lessons and A Great Teacher

The world lost a great man today. I’m saddened by the loss, but grateful for a man that graced my life and shaped a good bit of the man I am today.

I was actually thinking of him this morning listening to NPR and the story about Story Corps, the National Day of Listening and their encouragement to capture the story of teachers. I ran through the list of those teachers that had the biggest effect on my life and one name stood out. Continue reading »

Don’t Lose It, Man!

My kids are constantly losing things. Toys, books, their jackets, etc.  Thankfully for password keychains on our home computer, the one thing they don’t lose access to is their Club Penguin accounts. If only the same could be said for so many people managing websites and web-based accounts on behalf of their organization. Here’s a … Continue reading »

Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Since I’ve started using this blog for more professional than personal observations, I’ve stayed away from political discussions.  However, the recent primary election results have compelled me to comment. Despite your political leanings, it is clear that the last two significant elections have been driven by voter sentiment that is the polar opposite of whatever … Continue reading »

“Good” is No Longer Good Enough

We live in a very fast moving world now.  Employee and team loyalty is won and lost in hours or minutes.  And customer loyalty (or disgruntlement) is created even faster.  This new environment requires a different leader type who can respond in a genuine way to get people to follow them. A few weeks ago … Continue reading »

Steven Strasburg’s Open Leadership Style? Humility

As we get ready for Charlene Li to be the first speaker of this year’s Buzz 2010, leadership is on the minds of many in the association and social media community.  Charlene’s new book “Open Leadership” discusses what strong leadership looks like in today’s open media environment. As I’ve been reading through the interviews with … Continue reading »

Starting a New Adventure

The past 3 days have been quite tumultuous, but remarkably – I’ve approached each one with a smile on my face. I was laid off on Friday.  In this economy one might be freaked out.  And yet, I’m not. I’ve been contemplating for a while what it might be to work for myself and set … Continue reading »

iTunes Playlists Crossing into Real Life

I created a fun new playlist this morning and one of the first songs in it is the remix of Nina Simone’s Sinnerman.  It’s a great song which I’ve loved for the past couple of years since I added it to my music library. Except it’s been hijacked by a commercial for the Eris phone … Continue reading »

Smokestacks and Empty Promises

I was inpsired on a car ride over the Thanksgiving weekend and pulled out the iPhone to stretch the creative legs. ———————— Smokestacks and Empty Promises Silent smokestacks along the Ohio Rusted metal paints the landscape A barge pushes the remnants of a now silent economy As dark skies magnify a disgruntled mood Chorus: Memories … Continue reading »

Stretch Yourself

I’m not a tech person. I know that surprises most people that know me. I like technology and use it. But I don’t write code and open up the guts of programs to figure things out.  The extent of my knowledge of HTML has been copying a YouTube video into a blog post…. until now. … Continue reading »

Working for your passion

I saw this ad over the weekend and realize I really need to find a new job. I couldn’t agree with Sam Adams more: By the way, my first batch of home brew should be ready this weekend. I guess that will really be the test as to whether or not I could work there.