NYC part three

Last week, I was sitting at Comix in New York City surrounded by Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business. People who made the list ran the gamut: a physician from the Cleveland Clinic, the head of Bono’s organization Red, a futurist, Jesse Dylan, early adopters of virtual reality, and a Hollywood studio development director, to name a few.

Today, I am sitting aboard a… Continue reading

NYC part two

The big day has arrived. I’m New York City bound. But, before I head out, I have some other important business. It’s my middle son’s last day of school, and it’s my pleasure to escort him to kick off his day. I throw this in because no matter how passionate I am about my career, it doesn’t hold a candle to my family. In many ways, my boys… Continue reading

NYC part one of three:

I just spent two whirlwind days in New York City with my colleague and friend Laura Desmarais. We flew down for Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business event. But before I get into the details of our trip, let me backup and share how it came to be in the first place.

So, I am flipping through the May issue of Fast Company, and I… Continue reading

I met amazing people at SXSW. One of them was Traci Fenton, founder and CEO of WorldBlu, an organization created to unleash human potential and inspire freedom by championing the growth of democratic organizations worldwide. In other words, Traci works with and promotes companies that “get it.”

Talk about refreshing. This is a vision I can get on board with. It’s simple, yet powerful: choose organizational democracy (www.worldblu.com/organizational-democracy) and help… Continue reading

Last summer I started a bucket list. So far, I have 114 items on my list. It’s a random list. No particular order. Simple pleasures. Crazy goals. But, all things that I believe will contribute to my overall hope in life, which is to be happy. Perhaps this hope is what led to number 14 on my list:

Meet Tony Hsieh.

Tony is the CEO of Zappos, the online retailer that Amazon… Continue reading

Today marks one week since I came home from SXSW with high hopes of spending some time reflecting on my experience. Well, let’s leave it at this…time management is not my strength. My thoughts remain jumbled. So, I am going to improvise, which is fitting because I am going to write about an improv workshop I attended at SXSW that could change the way I work, maybe even the way… Continue reading

Wow. What a week. I am flying home from my first ever SXSW Interactive, and I am looking forward to the next few days to process every thing I learned and to truly reflect on my experience. Perhaps the irony I least expected is that I just spent five days at an interactive conference, and technology is, in some ways, far from my mind.

Technology is a medium – a channel… Continue reading

I could spend hours, heck weeks, thinking through all I’ve learned over the past 15 years in marketing. Instead, I am going to share what comes top of mind because these are the ideas that live in my head. This is not an end-all-be-all list. It is a rapid reflection of lessons that keep me afloat and moving toward excellence:

(Top five lessons that came to mind, unedited, in no particular… Continue reading

I participated in a LIVESTRONG event in Austin, TX, nearly six weeks ago. I don’t think I’ve gone a day since without reflecting on my experience. First, there’s the obvious: The overwhelming gratitude I felt toward an organization that is confronting cancer in a big way. To witness the difference LIVESTRONG makes firsthand and to celebrate life in the company of survivors was simply awesome.

I will hold steadfastly to my… Continue reading

Well, being that my goal here is to spill my thoughts on paper rather than sit and contemplate for hours on end while spontaneity slips away, today I will write about the first thing that came to mind: SXSW. For people who don’t know what these letters stand for, I am referencing South by Southwest – or as I describe to people, “A huge conference/festival where innovative people with an… Continue reading