Personal Thoughts

Long Days: A Bit of Perspective

I don’t know about you, but yesterday was a long day for me. 5:30 AM – Alarm 5:45 AM – Let dog out, feed pets. 6:20 AM – Make wife’s latte, get her out the door.  Work until I wake up the kids. 7:30 AM – Wake up kids, get them started on breakfast. Jump … Continue reading »

Less is More: Refocusing on Clarity

Thank you Georgia O’Keeffe, Roy Lichtenstein, Edward Hopper. You reminded me of an important tenet I need to embrace more often. I regularly tell clients that if you remove clutter, you make it easier for web users to make a decision and know where to go on their sites. It’s a principle that is even … Continue reading »

The Tastiest Takeaway from #ASAE12

ASAE’s 2012 Annual Meeting had many amazing things. Thought provoking sessions, controversial speakers, an expo that included a carousel, an amazing opening session… and food. So while more thoughtful posts are marinating, this is a good opportunity to share perhaps the tastiest takeaway I got from this year’s annual meeting. You see, I love to … Continue reading »

Father’s Day Thoughts

One of my favorite hit a splash of reality a few days ago with a post about the fact that You Can’t Parentshift.  He’s right. Work-shifting and telecommuting is common-place with today’s technology. Heck, I work for a company in Chicago and live in Washington DC! And when you do have to hit the road … Continue reading »

The Road Ready Family

I travel enough for work that I have the walking-strip-show down pat as I prepare for security. I’m pretty much unfazed by travel delays and can deal with schedules being off as I go across time zones. But ask me to travel with my family and I become a different person.  (Just put me in … Continue reading »

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 »