Business Thoughts

Completing an 18 year long goal–The Royal Edition

2011-11-09T06:36:25Z

So let me give you some history. When I was in High School in the early 90’s I played in some Wind Ensembles and other bands. However, my musical knowledge of the “Classical” genre was not very strong. I knew I liked Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, and Holst but other than that I didn’t know a lot of the style. If it wasn’t Yes, Rush or Stephen Sondheim I didn’t listen to it. I realized slowly that if I was to make it as a Music Education Major I would have to expand my knowledge. So I walked to the local Strawberry’s Records (yeah, they don’t exist so don’t bother looking them up) on a work break and looked at the Classical Section.

The problem with looking at any vast CD store is where to begin. I started at the place I knew: Stravinsky. Out of the corner of my eye I saw it. A Blue cover with a picture of Leonard Bernstein and a water painting from Sony Classical. I remember wondering what it was because the same style of CD cover was peppered throughout the classical section. I picked up the CD and flipped it over only to see a picture of Prince Charles, “His Royal Highness”. The other thing that stood out was a number on the top of the corner: No. 87 of 100. “Could this be the answer to my problem?” I asked myself. “It looks like a whole series of CDs that contains all of the great works I was interested in getting.” I looked at the price of the CD ($15.99) and thought, “If I keep working I could buy 2 CDs a week and have the whole collection in a year!” I looked at my wallet and broke out my first $20 in a long line of purchases to come and walked up to the register to pay for my new journey.

I walked back to my job and opened my CD to see what I just gotten myself into. Turns out the CD was an amazing find. Not only were the liner notes amazing histories of the works, but they also gave a little insight into the composers as well. They weren’t just filler pieces like I found in so many CD’s I owned. And there was a larger detailed picture of the water color painting on the cover with a little aside from Prince Charles:

“I began to take up watercolour painting some 20 years ago when I found photography less than satisfying. I simply experienced an urge to express what I saw through the medium of watercolour. I very quickly discovered how incredible difficult it is to paint well in such a medium, and the feeling of frustration at not being able to achieve on paper the image that you eye has presented you with is overwhelming! The great thing about painting is that it is your own individual interpretation of whatever view you have chosen. Because it obliges you to sit down and make a careful observation of the chosen subject you discover so much more than by just pointing a camera. As a result you become increasingly more aware of the quantity of light and shade, of tone and texture and of the shape of buildings. In short it has revolutionized my life and through the requirement of intense concentration, it is on of the most relaxing and therapeutic exercises I know.” – HRH The Prince of Wales

So I quickly started to do the math on my new “year” project. 100 CDs x $15.99 = $1599.00. So I knew my goal was to save and spend that much money. Then I turned the page in the book and saw two things: Some CDs were Double CDs (sigh); and they had box sets of 25 you could purchase at once (cool). So I after work I decided to put some money aside each pay check and pursue my goal of purchasing my new Classical CDs. I went to bed with the excitement of new musical/watercolour landscapes I could discover. Then I woke up! Sometimes life is simple when you have a vision. Sometimes that vision get’s cloudy by life. And like most things that I set my dreams on when I was younger, I eventually forgot about the dream and ended up with other CDs. Periodically I would look at the classical section and remember the dream of the 100 Royal Edition CDs and pick up one here and there. But it was never the full excitement that I once had.

Then I went to college. Going to school for music had a strong classical influence on me, and my new found love of music theory re-sparked the dream. It was at college that I met another kid who had the same idea. “How many do you have?” I replied, “13 CDs!” “Oh cool. I have 32.” If anything the idea of competition now made it more pertinent. I didn’t want to be the last one to collect them all. So every time I would walk into a CD store I would check to see if there was a Royal Edition I could purchase. By the time I left college I had around 31 CDs.

Then something happened. Life again got in the way. In 1996 Sony stopped producing the Royal Edition CDs. My life also took an odd turn. I was working temp jobs barely making enough to make end’s meat. So the dream was once again on the back burner. Occasionally I would look in a CD store (new and used) for the odd chance there was a Royal Edition, but It didn’t pan out that well. It was nothing more than the occasional opportunities that I would ever find these CDs so the dream was again put on the back burner. Until a couple of years ago …

It was around the time I was listening to a lot of my friend, Larry Stevenson, talk about goal setting. Sometime about this presentation made me think of my little dream. I had a number of Royal Editions that I scrounged over the years but didn’t know my exact count. I went home and tallied them up: 57. Over half … It was doable. I slowly started going to work and attempted to find the remainder of these CDs. Being long out of print the only option I had was to troll the internet. Over the past 4 years I have diligently been searching for a title and picking it up when I had the chance. First it was all of Copland, then all the Sibelius Symphonies, then onto Mahler. I would look at the numbers I had and check to see which ones I was missing. My first complete set of 10’s where the 80s: 80-89 where all mine. And slowly, ever so slowly another grouping of 10 would be completed. And after each purchase I would listen to the CD and revel in the amazement that I found another one I was missing.

Enter last week. I was looking at my collection and thought. I don’t have them all do I? It’s not possible. One last time I counted through my stash of Royal Editions. “1, 2, 3 … 22, 24. Ok. I’m missing 23. 24, 25, 26 … 56, 58. Ok. I’m missing 57. 58, 59, … 100. Is that it just those two? Am I almost done?” I jumped back on to Amazon and started rooting through used CD places to see if I could find the missing two. And suddenly there they were. Royal Edition Vol. 23: Brahms and Sibelius Violin Concertos and Royal Edition Vol. 57: Pictures at an Exhibition. I jumped at the chance to order them and patiently waited. And slowly they both came in the mail: First, Pictures then followed two days later by the Violin Concertos. I opened them, placed them in my computer and quickly burned the discs to mp3 so I could listen to them throughout my house. Then I sat back and laughed. It was done. It was over. I completed something I set out to do 18 years ago. I have them all. 121 CD’s in total. 100 watercolour paintings by Prince Charles. 1299 tracks comprising over 350+ works from the masters. It’s an amazing collection with works that are wonderful to listen to repeatedly.

No I haven’t listened to all of them, and yes I do have my favorites. There are pieces I never imagined before and pieces I imagined incorrectly all these years. There is a lot of money poured into CD stores and a lot of time poured into researching, but over it all I discovered one thing which up until now I didn’t really believe too strongly. I can accomplish something. Even if it takes me a couple of years …. I can finally accomplish something. Just see what I accomplish next!

The Royal Edition CD Covers

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Things to Learn from Modern Day Hip Replacement

2011-08-14T05:23:24Z

So I recently traveled home to be with my parents as my father went in for Hip replacement surgery. Originally I thought the surgery had something to do with his liver. However, once I landed and discovered what the surgery was about I felt a little foolish for lugging all those onions, but that’s for another tale. This is about hip-replacement and the modern day Steve Austin my father has turned into.

So I arrived two days before the surgery. Just enough time to uproot my parents life but be here for the emotional support they needed. It’s always important to understand how far in advance to show up so you disrupt just as much as you help. I ‘m a firm believer that showing up announced to people’s places is always a disruption. The cleaning, preparation and general wanting to set a good example is something most people take pride in accomplishing. Even if their homes or places of work are spot free, the impression they want to set is important. Family, even though they know most of your weaknesses, are still prone to these thoughts. And my parents are no stranger to this behavior. So it is important to me to let then know I was coming (usually it’s a surprise) and to give them the heads up so I didn’t disrupt their lives to much with the preparations for my arrival.

The night before my Dad’s operation we were sitting around watching the tele and my Dad got a phone call. My Dad’s hearing is almost gone so his phone has a loud speaker on it that pretty much ruins the concept of privacy for everyone. It was his surgeon ( a Dr. Wiley) for his operation the next day. He wanted to call to make sure Dad was ready for surgery, if he had any questions about what was going to happen and if he knew what time he was supposed to be there. The phone call lasted about 5 minutes, but it showed care and concern in an industry that sometimes forgets how important that is.

The next day we traveled up to Concord Hospital in Concord, NH. It’s about 55 minutes from my parents house. My dad needed to be there by 7:15 AM so we left our house @ 6:00 AM. We got dad checked into his room and waited as a whole procession of doctors and nurses came in and out of the room. Around 9:45 they wheeled my Dad out of the room towards his surgery and moved my Mom and I to a “family waiting area”. At 10:10 they started the surgery and around 11:45 they were done with the surgery. At this point they told my Mom and I that we had over an hour before he would be awake so we decided to go out and get some food. We got back to the hospital around 1:15 and my Mom was rushed into the recovery room so she could see him. I was told only one person was allowed in the room at a time, so I held onto the bags, read my nook and then decided I needed to use the restroom. When I came out of the restroom my mom was sitting in my seat. She said, “He’s too loopy right now. He kept saying how disappointed he was that he couldn’t oversee the surgery. I’ll wait until his room is available.” So we waited another 30 minutes and he had his room. So we went up to his room and sat with him for an hour or so and came home.

This was the majority of what my Dad kept saying. “I’m hungry! I haven’t eaten anything since last night. I feel great! I was in this position @ 8:30, fell asleep, woke up in this same position @ 3:00. I know something happened but I’ll be damned if I could tell you what it was. I’m hungry! I don’t have any pain. I’m a little sore, but no pain!” And so on and so forth. He called a couple of people on the phone and said similar things to them. Around 4:00 Mom had enough excitement and asked if I could take her home before rush hour traffic. I said, “Of course” and we said goodbye to Dad, told him we would be up the next day and made our way through the maze like structure of the hospital to the car.

That night Mom got a number of phone calls from Dad giving her updates on what was happening. He eventually was given a menu to get food (even though he was supposed to be on fluids the nursing staff finally gave in to him), He walked around his bed a couple of times, and he thought he might be good enough to be discharged the next day. “Gentlemen, we can rebuild him … we have the technology.”

So the next day comes and I take Mom to physical therapy. Afterwards we get some lunch and head up to the hospital. We get to Dad’s room and he looks great. He is standing up and shuffling around. There are a flurry of nurses who come in to check on him. All leading up to the inevitable “It looks good. Let’s get you discharged.” And he is happy with that. Mom is a little nervous but starts to feel better knowing that Dad can start taking his Ritalin. There were a number of people who were planning on coming up and visiting him, so I jumped on my phone and started making calls to people to tell them that he’s heading home. Good health can really be an inconvenience at times. That’s one commercial Koshi won’t show you. So they finally ask Dad if he would like a wheelchair to leave the hospital and he said, “Nope. Do you want this cane back now?” almost defiantly showing the medical institution that he didn’t need no stinking cane. Or at least as defiantly as a 78 year old can thumb his nose at an institution that just gave him mobility back. And as we walked out to our car we drove away from the whole experience thinking about how great it was.

So what can we learn from this stint into the medical marvels of my Dad’s Hip-Surgery? Here is what I took away from it:

Make a phone call ahead of time: Even if it is just a simple verification about time a simple phone call ahead of time, making the extra effort to show the person you are meeting with they are important is invaluable.
The right preparation is essential to easing ones mind: My Dad and Mom had faith that the operation was not going to be too difficult. Not only because of the confidence of the operating team, but also because Dad was doing preparations before the operation. He was walking up and down staircases, exercising on his stationary bike, eating the right foods, and generally preparing for the outcomes, good or bad, of the surgery. Because of those preparations both my Mom and Dad knew whatever happened they were going to be ready. It made the day of operation not nearly as difficult.
Having someone else to lean on, even if asleep, is comforting: So I’ll admit I was the most dutiful son, because I kept falling asleep during the day of operation. No matter what I did as soon as I sat down I was out cold. However, my Mom told me that even though I wasn’t really “there” knowing that I was there to jump in and help was really important to her. Sometimes we forget how important it is to have another person “around”, even if only to jump into action when we need them.
Never underestimate the determination of someone wanting to go home: I don’t like hospitals and neither does my father. It reminds him of his Mother and her last few moments on this great planet. Also, I believe that as many good things that happen in hospitals there are just as many difficult moments that people remember. And those difficult moments generally are more hard hitting then the good moments. So Dad was determined to get home to a place where his Fluffy Dog lives and a lot of good things occur. Because of that he did everything right to speed up his recovery and recuperation. With all that in place he definitely exceeded everyone’s expectations and astonished almost everyone with his recovery.

It has been fun coming home and visiting with the folks again. These spry, wily, aging kids are fun to watch operate. Some days it’s enjoyable to just sit back and see them interact with each other. I often wonder what I’m going to be like at that age. I can only hope that I’m as youthful as they are.

Life, Death and the Value of a Good TinFoil Dinner

2011-03-16T07:33:10Z

Recently I was sitting at my local LDS Employment Resource Center talking to Sam Baugh and Larry Stevenson. Sam mentioned he was leaving to go home, start a fire and eat smores and tinfoil dinners with the family. The whole thing sounded like a fun night and if I had tinfoil, a fire and a family I would have loved to gone back to my home and done the same thing. However, immediately my mind went to an old friend of mine who passed away several years ago: Jon Folk.

Jon and Donna (his wife) were extremely influential to me during my time as a child/young adult. Both of them attached themselves to our family through the community of Boy Scouts. I don’t remember how we first met, but I am thankful for the chance to have had these wonderful people in my life. When I graduated Tiger Cubs, Donna and Jon were there. When I was awarded my Arrow of Light, Jon and Donna were there. And when I received my Eagle Scout, Donna and Jon were there. I don’t remember a more staple among Derry, NH Scouting as Jon and Donna Folk. And they were fantastic. One of the most memorable weekend overnights I went on Jon and I sat making tinfoil dinners. We made dinners for the whole troop and at the end Jon put all the remainder of the supplies into his Dinner (he saved his for the end). It was a HUGE tinfoil dinner which I commented “That’s a Hungry-Man Dinner!” Jon laughed his raspy laugh, walked over to the fire and started cooking the meal. The rest of the meals were almost eaten when Jon was finally able to start eating his because of the amount of food. “I guess that’s the problem of being a HUNGRY Man, eh, Enoch!?!” I don’t think I’ll ever forget that laugh. Ad it wasn’t until Monday that I had thought about that laugh in a long while and the people who greatly impacted my life.

My mother called me around 2:00 in the afternoon today (Tues) and told me that Donna Folk passed away. She drowned in the ocean. When Jon passed away his ashes were spread in the Atlantic Ocean in Maine. Donna would walk out to the pier and sit and talk with Jon when she missed him. From what I understand she was on a visit, lost her balance and fell. I like to think it wasn’t a violent end, but a warm embrace knowing Jon was so near.

Now I have lost a lot of great friends in my life. People who have influenced who I am to really close confidants. Every time I hear of a passing of a truly great person I revel in the knowledge I was able to share a moment of this life with them and mourn in the understanding that others will not be able to partake of them anymore. Possibly it was fate; remembering Jon and hearing about Donna. Maybe coincidence. But I choose to believe some higher power (God, Yahweh, Allah, The Great Spirit, etc.) uses these moments to help direct our thoughts to where they need to be.

My thoughts turn to the potential of people. Donna and Jon saw something in my they wouldn’t let go. Possibly that’s why I see so much awe and wonder in others. In business sometimes it is so easy to focus on the problems that the greatness of the individual gets lost. There are so many more successes our lives contain, but we occasionally fail to look at that potential and just see the struggles. Jon and Donna pushed me forward and strived to make me know about the successes I could have. We all need those pushes. And it is easy to forget they exist without a little reminder.

So, for we the living, take a small lesson from my great friends the Folks … Remember no matter what your station in life, you impart greatness in this world by recognizing the greatness in others. Thank you my dear, dear friends: Jon and Donna. It has been too long since I’ve thought of you, but your influence has never left me. And when I see you again, as I know I will, we will revel in friendship and once again share a tinfoil dinner fit for the heavens.

The Red Cross Response on Today’s Japanese Earthquake–3/11/2011 @ 12:15PM

2011-03-11T19:24:00Z

Some of you may know that I volunteer at the Mountain Valley Utah Chapter of the American Red Cross Board. We help in raising funds for our chapter as well as participate when possible in other Red Cross events. Today I received an email from our Chapter Community outreach specialist Liz Merrill in response to the devastation that occurred in Japan with the earthquake and tsunami. Here is the email.

At 2:46pm local time today, March 11, 2011, a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck the eastern coast of Japan. The quake triggered a tsunami with 7-meter waves, causing massive destruction and 28 reported deaths. At this time, neither the Japanese Red Cross nor any other national society has issued an appeal for international assistance. The Federation is working closely with the national societies in the region to monitor the situation. Therefore, at the current moment, the American Red Cross is not collecting funds for an international response. We stand ready to respond as needed.

You can help people affected by disasters, like the Japanese earthquake, floods and tornadoes across the U.S., and countless other crises at home and around the world by making a donation to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for and provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance in response to disasters. Visit www.redcross.org or call 1-800-Red Cross. Text “RedCross” to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Contributions may also be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.

Additionally, the American Red Cross has been in touch with its Services to Armed Force (SAF) staff in Japan. SAF staff members are located at Camp Foster, Kadena, Yokota, Iwakuni, Yokosuka, Camp Zama, Atsugi, and Misawa. All American Red Cross personnel have been accounted for. SAF Station managers are currently stationed in the military Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) for their respective installations and assisting as needed. In Yokota, SAF staff is assisting with evacuating non-essential personnel and some passengers who were diverted to Yokota.

We will continue to update you as more information becomes available. As always, we appreciate your support of the American Red Cross and the global Red Cross network. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

________________________________
Liz Merrell
Development and Community Relations Director

American Red Cross
Mountain Valley Chapter
865 N Freedom Blvd
Provo, UT 84604
801-373-8580 (p)
801-375-8434 (f)

If you feel inclined to help out our brothers and sisters in Japan through the Red Cross please contact your local chapter or take one of the highlighted steps here. Thanks all!

American Fork & Lehi Joint Chamber and Rotary Bowling Shindig–November 2010

2010-11-02T19:12:43Z

What do you get when you combine four of the best civic/business organizations together? Mayhem, Madness and so much more. But what happens when you include Laser Tag and Bowling? Nothing short of trouble with a Capital “T”. With a bowling high of 160 and a bowling low of 27 we certainly didn’t wow any MLB scouts, but the fun and camaraderie present certainly solidified American Fork and Lehi as the place to have fun in your business.

Jack & Jill’s Family Fun Center was the place that brought us together today. Upon entering the facility was a welcoming sign directing us sent us to a special VIP room decked out with Sofa’s and individual stands. Sporting 10 private lanes and five movie screens this room is a great place to host private events. And for the 60+ people in attendance today … it was plenty enough room for us to talk, bowl and poke fun at each other.

Situated next to our private bowling haven was a longer room with plenty of pizza, salad and dessert to feed those parties interested. And once one pizza was eaten … the excellent staff was right there on site to replenish the table. There were about 8 different pizza’s and 16 different drinks to partake which meant everyone had something they could walk away with to fill their tummy.

And those in attendance certainly eat there fill. There were familiar faces, like Josh Walker, Rod Martin, and Chris Jones from the various groups. Also there were new faces coming to get together for the first time. Was there business discussed? Of course, but in between frames it seemed less like “here are my services” and more like “If you bowl that bad …”. But with all the friendly ribbing and jesting everyone walked away smiling and having good positive thoughts as they went back to work.

Thanks Debby Lauret, Donna Milakovich, and Jennifer from Jack & Jill bowling for such a great event.

Thom Reed–American Fork Chamber Luncheon Presentation

2010-10-14T19:31:00Z

Thom Reed presented to day at the American Fork Chamber luncheon on “How Small Business Can ‘Crush It’ with Social Media”. He is a marketing professional who works with small business owners getting their marketing materials, social and traditional, to find ultimate results. He just recently came out to Utah from the great state of Illinois. He used to work with Proctor and Gamble as the Senior Brand Manager. He is a passionate and creative marketing leader.

Thom is an extremely high energy presenter who talks about Social Media in a very exciting way to get business owners up and running to use these social media tools. He started with describing certain technologies:

freebinar.com – Free webinar software
wordpress.com – Free blogging system to get out in the public
flickr.com – Free photo sharing community
foursquare.com – Free localized community about you for your clients
LinkedIn.com – Free business profile in a professional business network
eventbrite.com – Free event organizing solution

After describing those technologies Thom gave a perspective about setting up your social networks by proposing business owners to create a schedule of activities. These schedules can be defined in different criteria. Create schedules for initiating networks. Create schedules for being found and being engaged the next week.

As he started talking about a 4 week program to help get people involved:

Week One – Be Found, Be Engaged in the Community:

Blog:

M: Post
T: Comment on other posts
W: Post
TH:
F: Announce Facebook Promo
S:

Facebook:

M: Cite Blog & Ask for feedback
T: Status/Comment
W: Cite blog & Share other’s links
H: Ask 3 Questions
F: Promo Offer
S: Congratulate on Promo

Twitter:

M: Cite Blog & Retweet others
T: Ask 3 questions
W: Cite blog & search for hashtags
TH: Comment on others
F: #FollowFriday
S: Share weekend plans

Other:

M: Email friends to follow you
T: LinkedIn – update your profile
W: YouTube – create your channel
TH: Write Video Blog Script
F: Update website with promo offer
S: Flickr – Add pictures

Week Two – Be Found, Be Engaged in the Community:

Blog:

M: Post
T: Invite comments
W: Video Post
TH: Comment on other blogs
F: Guest Blog
S:

Facebook:

M: Cite Post
T: Seed video post
W: Link to video post
H: Seed the webinar
F: Cite guest blog
S: Pictures from Flickr

Twitter:

M: Build by following
T: Seed video post
W: Cite post
TH: Solicit video feedback
F: #FollowFriday & follow others
S: Tweetphoto

Other:

M: Review Video blog post script
T: LinkedIn – Join a group and discuss
W: iTunes – create profile for podcasts
TH: Eventbrite – send invitations to webinar (Wk4 day 3)
F: Foursquare – create profile
S: Flickr – fourquare check in

Week Three – Be Engaged in the Community, Be the Expert :

Blog:

M: Post about upcoming webinar
T:
W: Audio post
TH: Customer survey (no more than 10 questions)
F:
S:

Facebook:

M: Status and comment
T: Recommend other groups and pages
W: Link to audio post & Promo for webinar
H: Ask top survey questions
F: Status and comment
S: Share an event you will be attending

Twitter:

M: #Music Monday
T: Twitter only RT promo
W: Cite Post
TH: Drive to Webinar
F: #FollowFriday
S: Retweet favorites

Other:

M: Update website with webinar info
T: LinkedIn – Add to your network
W: iTunes – Upload audio post
TH: Email – Send survey out
F: Foursquare – check in
S: YouTube – create playlist of favorite videos

Week Four – Be the Expert:

Blog:

M: Post
T:
W: Host Webinar
TH:
F: Testimonial from webinar participant
S:

Facebook:

M: Status and comment
T: Webinar promo
W: Promo Video from Webinar
H: Webinar participant promo
F: Post links to commented blogs
S: Foursquare – check in

Twitter:

M: Post top survey finding
T: webinar promo
W: Nuggets from webinar
TH: Webinar participant promo
F: Share testimonial
S: Foursquare – check in

Other:

M: Review survey results
T: Freebinar – Webinar dry run
W: Email – Webinar participant promo
TH: LinkedIn – Create a group discussion
F: Foursquare – check in
S: Flickr – Add pictures

“The trick behind social media is that it is not hard, but it does take a commitment.” With the outline that Thom describes he does show the commitment needed to increase your exposure and needs. However, if you do follow the plan you will see results that will improve your presence and standing in the social media world. It’s a fabulous plan that will take time to implement, but will deliver results because of the follow-up and participation in the spaces that makes Social Media so powerful.

It was a great presentation from Thom Reed (@TLReed97 on Twitter). Thank you Debby Lauret (@afchamberlady on Twitter) for setting up this wonderful lunch event!

Five lessons for putting on a great conference #WABCON

2009-10-20T07:52:40Z

So roughly five years ago my business partner and I formed a Software Development company named Wasatch Dev. At the time we started looking into the normal Business opportunities for a startup. We ventured to many organizations to find which one would work best to help us grow. We ended on the Provo/Orem Chamber of Commerce. Unfortunately, we found out all to late what many people before us had found. It didn’t really give us an opportunity to grow as a business.

The PoCoc had one event we found rather interesting: a program called Chamber University. The idea: to give any business the opportunity to train other business owners in a technique or trick to help them grow their business. This was perfect! It was the program we were looking to help us grow. We went to a couple of the events and were greatly disappointed. These weren’t trainings, but glorified sales pitches to business owners. “I would love to teach you about simple accounting skills, but their rather complex so you should have me do your books.” What a joke.

Being that I love education, I brought up the idea to my business partner about doing a Chamber University that was pure education. Our rates were a little too high for the small business owner, but if we could get them to be more successful they would be able to afford us. So we started brainstorming through ideas that would could teach small business owners. And we came up with about 100 different ideas. We could have been doing Chamber Universities for many years. We needed another thought.

Enter WABCON. A day long business education event that trained business owners, no sales pitches. But who would come and see two relatively unknown computer geeks talk about technology all day? We needed something else. A lot of small business clients we worked with would ask us questions about marketing, finance and business management so we decided to find the greatest minds in those areas and see if they would help us present for the day. And low and behold they loved the idea and wanted to be a part.

Lesson #1: Find an idea and stick with it unapologetically

We wanted to create the ultimate business education conference focused in four key business areas: marketing, finance, technology and business management. There were often times were people came to us and asked if they could present on a new book they just wrote or about a new product they wanted to sell. We would tell them if that we do not sell anything @ WABCON. WABCON was about pure business education. We have lost a number of presenters, but we have maintained a level of integrity with our clients that is important. We make sure that our clients know when they hear WABCON that they hear education.

It is important to be passionate about your idea. Now you can get too focused on the idea that you might miss some of the picture, but that’s where getting people to help comes into the picture. The trick is to compromise where it does not alter the original focus. Back of room sales, a new program this year, does not interfere with the pure education presentation, but it can entice certain key note presenters. Altering the program around the idea does not mean that you are altering the idea. It could, but the trick is to have your vision defined so you know where the boundaries can be pushed. Enhance your idea … don’t alter it.

Lesson #2: Find key people who share your vision and ask for help

We made sure that when we partnered with companies and people that they shared the same vision as we had. I know that the business decision maker needs to know about changes in the business environment. Having those people who understand that same idea is equally as important. Not only will they drive your message to their spheres of influence, but they will also help you keep on track when you begin to wax and wane. Making sure you have people around you who support your same ideas and want to see them succeed helps grow the brand and make it more of a reality.

When we first started WABCON it was Bryce and myself, with a few others helping spread the word. The second year we started planning the conference about 8 months prior with a few other people. Now we have a phone meeting every two weeks to plan events throughout the year. And each monthly event we have is a unique experience for the business decision maker. We have a rotating volunteer staff that helps on the phone calls to create the best education events possible for our clients. We want to see them grow! Success breeds success!

Lesson #3: Broadcast the word as much as possible

Stephen Sondheim once wrote, “A vision is just a vision if it’s only in your head.” This is true of products and services just as it is with events. Our first year we were involved with the PoCoC and did a lot of information through them. Granted they had a great person working with them who ended up getting a job in Texas. Once we lost connection with the PoCoC representative we stopped attending their functions. This dried up an aspect of the business community we were drawing new clientele. When we stopped our numbers started to dwindle. Sure we had a pool of people we were pulling from who would bring in contacts, but it wasn’t enough to make our conference grow where we wanted to be.

Enter in Kristin who started helping us spread the word in local networking groups.She joined the Orem chapter of BNI (Business Networking International) and starting attending the American Fork Chamber of Commerce (a phenomenal Chamber to belong). With the help of Kristin we were able to bring our numbers higher and get more clients. The key? Broadcasting the word. Bryce and I were so busy keeping Wasatch Dev alive that trying to get to all the networking opportunities was extremely difficult. But with Kristin helping out it made it easier and more effective.

Lesson #4: Get INCREDIBILE presenters who you TRUST

I have been charged with playing favorites when it comes to the presenters and instructors we have at WABCON. And to be honest, I am guilty of this accusation. But in my defense it is because I trust these presenters with the integrity of WABCON. There have been many people who have wanted to present, but after a little time with them, hearing their presentation ideas, and learning what other people have to say about them … I decline. It is important to me that our clients learn something from the presenters they can implement in their business and see results, than to have someone just speak and present in front of an audience. And the presenters we have are amazing people who I greatly trust with my clients. I do my research and make sure that others know what they are getting into.

I have been to many conferences where a key note presentation did nothing but ramble about the latest party they attended, or just talked about the latest gadget they acquired and gave no information pertinent to the business owner. Sometimes the presenter doesn’t understand the audience and speaks too technically or sophisticated for the attendee. We make sure that each of our presenters understand a couple key points: 1) Experiential is more meaningful than Lecture; 2) Teach to the Head (intellect), the Hand (implementation) and the Heart (excitement); and 3) Make sure that the participant walks away with something they can implement immediately. When you have a pool of presenters that you trust to get that message to your clients how often do you accept a source who does not care about those ideas?

Lesson #5: The Attendees are the most important people

The people who come to WABCON are the most important people in the world. To see them get excited about our events and come prepared to get education and learn tricks that they can use in their businesses is important. I love hearing stories from people about the exciting things that happen because of our events. And knowing that we are a part of those activities is greatly rewarding.

Many people ask what we get out of the conference. “You must be making a lot of money?” The truth is we don’t. We put on WABCON to give back to the community. We do it to help business grow and succeed. We do it for the fun of putting on a conference that helps people. Some day we are going to break the 250 attendee threshold that we have set for our conference. That would be great, however, I know if we ever get to that number then it will become increasingly more difficult to sit with everyone and see how they are doing. I love working together on the goals of the attendees. I love helping them get to the next level. I love engaging in those conversations. It’s because of the attendees that I hold fast to the integrity of this conference.

If you are in the Orem UT area around October 22nd, 2009 and want to see a great conference event. Please come and visit us. You can read all about our conference @ http://www.Wabcon.com and register for the event. And if I don’t know you, please come introduce yourself. I would love to see what I can do to help your business grow. And possibly, just possibly, show you how important you truly are to us.

The Budding Roses of Business Growth

2009-08-05T11:19:00Z

In hopes of trying to get a little sleep in the evening I’ve been listening to a lot of different songs on my computer. I’ve almost burned my entire CD collection, which has been great to have in a portable organized fashion that doesn’t require me to scroll with my thumb. In listening to my eclectic collection I stumbled upon an old favorite of mine … the Shaw Brothers.

For those of you who don’t know the Shaw Brothers, they are a folk duo from New Hampshire that pretty much sum up the feeling of NH days in a simple musical style. The folk music is very Irish sounding and will by no means awe and inspire you if you are listening to them for the first time, but I was dragged to many a Shaw Brother concert growing up and found a closet love for them. They have a couple of songs that are traditionally sound: New Hampshire Naturally (NH’s state song), The Ballad of the Concord Coach and Seven Daffodils to name a couple.

The song that hit me pretty hard this evening though was “Take Some Time to Smell the Roses.” A simple phrase that is mentioned over in over with great platitudes from people. But this sentiment got me thinking about some of the clients that I work with in my Social Interneting strategy sessions. Most importantly about the breakthroughs that certain clients have had over the last couple of weeks.

One of the important aspects that I talk about with business owners is the importance of self reflection. We turn the mirror on each other and take a moment to answer 5 simple questions: What makes you special?; What are you Passionate about?; How do you communicate?; What are your strengths?; and finally what are your weaknesses? These appear to be simple questions that any person could take about 5 minutes to answer, but I spend a couple hours with a client to really focus on these ideas. Most people don’t analyze themselves with great depth and because of that struggle to position themselves in the world: virtual and physical.

Usually after working with a client in these arenas an idea will open up that makes the business owner smile and realize that there are areas they should be focusing. I have yet to have a client leave a strategy session where we work through these concepts leaving unsatisfied with the new direction they should be heading. The reason why the approach works is the simplicity of questions and where they can lead. The other trick behind it is taking the time to actually work through the answers. And it’s amazing what roses of realization occur when you take the time.

What are the roses? Some are ideas of who they want to become. Some are understandings of what they want to be doing. Some are just realizations of where they want to focus their lives. What we create is a simple blossom that needs to be tended and cultivated into something amazing. Most of the business owners I meet take very little “time to smell the roses” because of the busy schedule they live. When we work together we focus on themselves in a safe focused environment so that we can find the sprouting buds that have been hidden for so long.

So if I can give a little advice to business owners beginning and established. If you are finding the situations that currently exist a little challenging and burdensome, take some time to smell the roses. Look at yourself and what you are doing and ask a simple question, “Am I working smarter or just harder?” Find an exercise to focus a little attention to yourself and discover what is amazing about you. Then turn that into something that increases your business. You’ll be amazed at what an exercise like that can produce.

Oh … and if you find yourself having a little trouble … don’t hesitate to drop me a line. :)

“Take some time to smell the roses” lyrics

Take some time to smell the roses
before the summer time slips away

I was born on a farm in west Virginia
My daddy worked hard for a living all of his days
there was a whole lot of work to be done
but we always took time to have fun
And I remember what my daddy used to say

Take some time to smell the roses
As you hurry on your way
Take some time to smell the roses
before the summer time slips away

I left home one day to seek my fortune
When I think of the things I've seen and the places I've been
Oh I've been up and I've been down
but through the toughest times I've found
you can always rise and face the world again

If you just take sometime to smell the roses
as you hurry on your way
take some time to smell the roses
before the summer time slips away

Well I'm a married man with a young son of my own now
And I'm as proud of him as any daddy can be
But if I could give him some advice
That would last him all his life
I know for sure just what those words would be

I'd tell him take some time to smell the roses
As you hurry on your way
take some time to smell the roses
before the summer time slips away

The #SMCSLC February Panel of Love … and fame

2009-02-20T07:00:33Z

So after a LOOOOONG day at work I was excited to see the alarm on my phone go off. "90 minutes to SMCSLC" was the alert. 5:00 already? That meant I only had 15 minutes to finish my coding and jump in the car. @DeanGirls was waiting for me to pick her up and ride up to Salt Lake City for the Social Media Club event and last time I was late … well …. Let's just say I can't be late again.

So we were talking about what was going to happen that evening. A Meet and Greet. Door prizes. And then a panel discussion. What were we going to discuss? Who knew? It didn't really matter because the last event was pretty cool (see Last Night at the Social Media Club …) so we were excited to see what was going to happen. I've been doing a lot of Consulting with local business owners so seeing other people's viewpoints is always exciting and educational. People grow by being willing to listen and understand various viewpoints.

So we drove and talked for the hour it took to get there. The location changed to the Neutron Interactive facilities in Downtown SLC so finding it for a non-local always takes a few more moments. So we found the place and parked. There were a bunch of people walking into the same building and heading up the elevator to the event so I hoped we didn't miss it … And you couldn't. Not just because @paco_belle and @jyl_MomIF were waiting for everyone at the door, but because IT WAS PACKED WITH PEOPLE!! This was great because a bigger crowd meant more people to meet with and connect.

But I was really hungry, so I mainlined to the drink table to get some water ignoring everyone around me. My apologies to all the people I was rude, but … I really needed something in the tummy. Afterwards I saw @ThomAllen looking at the big Twitter screen and I thought that I would say hello. @ThomAllen has been working REALLY hard on setting up the second PodCampSLC and I wanted to make sure things were going well. I also thought that I would offer help since I also put on a semi-big conference in the fall (WABCON) that Thom has presented at. Just as we were starting to converse the announcement came that the panel was about to start.

So first there were door prizes given out to a number of people. Some pretty cool ones to: Ski Passes to Park City, an eBay gift card, Tickets to Hoogle Zoo and various other items. Then the panel was introduced and given time to talk about themselves. Here are the people and a quick précis about what they said.

@apowerpoint – Anthony Power – A very diverse technological man with a degree in Psychology, Anthony talked about TRUST and what that means to the conversation in Social Media. He stayed very focused on marketing throughout the meeting and had some great insights and points. For a snippet of insight: http://apowerpoint.blogspot.com/2009/02/explaining-social-media-and-marketing.html
@todaysmama – Rachael Herrscher – A very insightful woman who spoke about mothers and how influential that demographic is becoming in the world of Social Media. She urged us to be mindful of this growing group and utilize that understanding in how we create campaigns and strategies for Social Media.
@jesse – Jesse Stay – A hugely popular Social Media connector and author who spoke about creating the "Real Connection" instead of just the virtual connection. He shared a story about a business startup that he was tweeting about that took the time to send him a thank you card and attention about his needs and desires for using their product. It showed that there are real people behind some of the these virtual personas that we sometimes fail to connect with.
@sarabanut – Sara Brueck Nichols – A strong mannered woman who spoke with great passion about not abusing the connections you have with people. She spoke about non-profits and how by providing information about what services you are provided how powerful that is in the minds of the people you are asking for donations. She also mentioned the power of twitter in the world of @Tweetsgiving and how there are other means of connecting with people who don't know who you are and what your organization is about.
@comcastcares – Frank Eliason – A surprise panel presenter who arrived a little late. Comcast Cares Frank has become a celebrity in the Tweeterverse with all that he has done for support with Comcast. He didn't have time to talk about himself, but shared some wonderful insights about being personable, connecting and dealing with people who are haters.

So the panel took about a half an hour to give their introductions which left a half an hour to ask questions.

How do you make a conservative executive take notice of Social Media?
- Get started using the technology and then show them how it's used
- Show how being connected can improve product quality and customer satisfaction
- Build excitement as people see what is happening
So is "Less is More" truly effective when it comes to getting your information out to the public?
- Yes. Engage the people who are like minded and you find successful in the future
- Don't focus on just making money, focus on the relationships
How do you differ from the "company" brand to the "personal" brand when you become a bit of a celebrity?
- It's better have advocates for the company than just the company
- Recommend looking at the "Zappos" model how to interact in Social Media
- Branding employee is also Branding himself
- Train employees to use the Social Media effectively and make the presence known
What are the psychological trends that make people want to share their lives?
- A tough question because that if it get's answered the experts would like to know
Do you fear of spoofing that might ruin your credibility/integrity?
- Having proof that you are who you say you are is important
- Link your social sites to your web-sites to prove that it's you
How does one manage the amount of people when you get above a certain number of connections?
- Twitter is about the information stream, utilizing applications will help manage the information

I wish I could remember all of the comments made during the evening. Unfortunately my memory isn't that strong but you can find out all the information by watching the UStream video that's online. It shows most of the Panel conversation so everyone can participate in what went on during the evening. On the whole … it was a great event with some very excellent insights.

But it wouldn't be a post without a couple critiques. Here we go:

Problem		Resolution
The "Meet and Greet" portion was a little unruly for first time people to feel super welcome in the group. You could tell the people who knew each other because they congregated and stayed close together. This makes new people not meet as many as they could.		Organize the "Meet and Greet" in a networking situation where people could meet others easily. Possibly a "Greeter" who could shuffle people to a "local celebrity" they could be introduced to and meet. Or possibly a "quick introduction card" that could be handed out that could gather information about Name, Twitter, Facebook, etc account.
Panel introductions and moments were TOO long.		It's great to have people talk about who they are and what they do, but without time restraints some people will start talking about things that lose relevance and pertinence. Plus it gives more time for questions that are what people were interested in hearing.
Panel answers were too long.		Same problems with the introductions above. Towards the end of the evening the moderator started putting pressure on the answers time, and great information was shared. More questions could have been answered with more insightful information if there were tighter time constraints.
Panel discussion topic was too broad		Having a panel of experts is impressive, but centralizing what the topic of the panel is about would allow the attendees to come prepared with questions and discussions. When the topic is so broad you can get some good insights, but some people will start to lose focus
The end was too noisy		You could tell that by the end of the evening people were ready to finish. The noise in the back of the room became overwhelming compared to the comments on the panel. It was distracting and undermined the "expertise" that the panel established.

But even with my insignificant critiques the evening went very well. Congratulations to SMC SLC on a wonderful evening. Keep us all updated on what's goin' on next. We're all listening.

Last Night at the Social Media Club “Out-Of-The-Box” Social

2009-01-16T22:53:23Z

The dust settled across the room. Anticipation was in the air as the visage of "Chris," founder of Social Media Club, spoke from beyond the wall. The crowd anxiously waited to hear what this Orwellian person was going to say. The room was filled to capacity … twice, a pleasant surprise since no one really understood what the first meeting of the Salt Lake chapter was going to bring. @ThomAllen said it best during a Facebook chat: "not sure what to expect but I'm game for something new :)"

We were late, @deangirls and I, so we were part of the "standing room only". As I perused the crowed, straining to make my 5'6 ½" (yes the ½ inch is important) body taller to see people I recognized, it became apparent that this was the place where influential people in the Utah Social Media community were that night. Peering out of the corner of my eye I noticed the magnificent @RickGalan in his authoritative style @ replying me on his phone to glance over and say hello. I did … briefly, probably too briefly. I mean what do you say to a person that you stumble upon and follow on Twitter? Especially a person of influence? "Um … I follow you on Twitter." Was all that came from my mouth. Simple, straight and to the point. Friendly? No. But then again sometimes it's easier to be smooth talking in 140 characters than in person.

So Chris, the main SMC dude, finished up his little presentation. He was cool enough to have as a welcome/keynote, but I was anxious to find more people to follow, to get some information and actually put some of the thoughts and ideas we were to learn into action. The room dispersed and the whole motley crew moved downstairs. All of a sudden faces that I followed were alive and in person: @CarySnowden, @travelgirl521, to name just a few. And to see the herd move to the basement of "The Summit Group" was a little like watching the old R.C. Willey Memorial Day commercial: people rushing to get to the new thing. There was excitement in the air about what was next … but what was next?

After a few "Hellos" to those people we knew (the extraordinary @ThomAllen, mad shout out!). A person, I'm assuming a leader of the SMC, stood up and mentioned that we would break into 7 different groups to talk about Social Media: Newbies, Marketing, Development, HR, Non-Profit and two others that slipped my mind. I was stumped about where I was going. I could jump in Marketing, but it seemed that there were a lot of people in the marketing group. I didn't think that I would be of much help there. @DeanGirls was going to the Newbie class, so I figured I should do something different then her. I could jump into Development, but I wanted a different perspective then what I'm around every day (my company, Wasatch Development Studios, is a software consulting house). So I decided that I would jump into the Non-Profit for two (2) reasons: 1) I do a lot of work with various non-profit organizations so I thought I could help, and 2) It was all women (To be a geek in a sea of estrogen is a very powerful feeling, even if all of them were out of my league … and married).

The group's process went like this: 1) Read a scenario and 2) discuss different Social Media techniques to resolve the scenario. Our process went like this: 1) introduce ourselves and our organizations, 2) read the scenario, and 3) forget the scenario and ask what each person in the group was currently doing in the social media world. Which I think worked really well, because our scenario was pretty much, "You have a non-profit. How do you raise funds using Social Media?" It was much better our way because we could help the non-profits by giving useful ideas specific to what their needs were. And we had all sorts of entities there from Dancers, Mentors, Moms who wanted to find support organizations, and much, much more. (For those I forgot please message me and let me know!! http://www.twitter.com/dellojoio). Almost all the groups were on 'Da Book in various forms: Groups and/or Pages. So we had a brief discussion about the pros and cons of each. We then mentioned some of the applications that can benefit a page (such as My Blogs and Causes applications). I also piped in and mentioned that with the pages our organizations could create pay-per-click ads to target people during the "tax season" to remind them of the tax benefits of donating: "Need some additional tax relief? Remember the Children!!!!" – Link to your non-profit for donations.

We discussed for a short time and then came the "Okay people let's wrap up!" segment of the evening. Every group had a "spokesperson" that would deliberate the large ensemble about what the Social Media splinter cell discussed. Our moderator asked if I would be the spokesperson. I said "Sure." I wasn't really going anywhere and I like to hear myself talk … even when others don't. So the spokespeople talked about their scenarios. We all listened to see if there was anything that could impact our lives. For me, I was pretty aware of the technologies out there, but there were a lot of people who thought, "Oh …. That's a good idea. I need to remember that," which is what the whole evening was about: sharing information. Then it got to our turn.

So I need to take a quick aside. The whole evening I was tweeting (twittering? Posting? Updating? Texting the Bird?) away little things that I thought were interesting. As is the Twitter.com convention, I included the hash #smcslc in all of the tweets. While the evening wore on the group hosting the party had a TV monitor with http://search.twitter.com on and was refreshing the search so the new "Tweets" were put up on the big screen. Seeing this, and being the ego-maniac that I am, I saw my tweets and want to make sure I was always on the screen. So I continued to tweet away so that I wasn't being pushed off of the screen. The reason why I bring it up? I tweeted: "I'm gonna be the spokesperson for our group about non-profit. I hope i get refreshed on the bi g screen #smcslc". And just as I got up to speak … they refreshed the screen. I know at least one person got the joke.

So I spoke. We then concluded the meeting with a rousing version of Kum-Bye-Yah, Hugging your neighbor, and the obligatory sacrificing of a portable egg timer. Okay, so maybe we didn't do any of those things, but we did leave with a "thanks for coming" and a "mark next month" as well as "Get some pizza!" I stayed chatting for a while with this lovely woman (@mentors) from the non-profit circle, who's name I don't remember (all you white people look the same to me J ). We talked about views on social marketing and how it can help their organization. Some of her questions were very simple ideas and others where more complicated which got me to thinking about the meeting. Was it a good meeting? A worthwhile meeting? Or just a chance to meet people I only see virtually?

Here are my insights, take them for what they're worth:

Pros	Cons	Con Resolution
It's always great to see people in real life that you only know in a virtual world	Without structured time to meet everyone you never have a chance to meet as many people as you would like.	Possibly create a structured networking portion where you could meet and (more importantly) connect with those people
Seeing Chris the main SMC dude was really cool. It's great to have leadership be a part of the satellites	I got bored listening to his resume rather than his insights. A keynote speaker is great as long as they deliver "Meat" and not Fluff	If you are planning keynotes, bind their hands to a short presentation with guidelines. Enforce the information so people walk away with great insights.
Breaking into smaller focused groups to discuss is a great way to generate ideas and thoughts	There was no structure in the "group dynamic" so I didn't know if we were to introduce ourselves or start right into the discussion. I feel the introductions were important to who we were and our perspectives, but it took away from our time to be able to properly discuss the issue.	Possibly structure the group's time so that both items can be accomplished. Each person get's 20 seconds to introduce themselves, who they are and what they do. Then give the allotted time to the issue.
Tons of ideas flowing. Tons of good information. Tons of good people.	No way to capitalize on all of the discussions.	Possibly publish the list of attendees so we know who all was there. Promote Tweeting of thoughts and insights so people can garnish the information afterwards with the Hash search (#smcslc)
A great event that brought people together	I missed the focus of the group. Are we a networking group? Are we a problem solving group? Are we an information promoting group? Or are we just a bunch of people who like to get together?	If there is a focus possibly promote it better during the meeting so people can stay alert of what the reason for being there is. If there is no focus … possibly find a focus.

The whole evening was really fun. And as @DeanGirls and I drove back to Provo we talked about the evening and how it went. Both of us thought that it was a good time and that it would be something that was great to return to. In this day and age we need as much help as we can get to be better at what it is we're doing. Organizations like this allow the best of breed to come and educate the non-experts to a higher level. Let's keep it going and moving forward. Plus if I actually lose a little weight I might impress the "ladies of the non-profit." (New Years goal #1208). See you all next time!!