From the Tweetup
January 23, 2009
We’re recording Jon Zemke from Metromode on a project he’s working on – will post soon.
My Thoughts From The Inauguration
January 23, 2009
I am filled with pure joy, pride, and amazement amid my exhaustion from walking, standing, flag-waving and shivering.
Wow~ what an amazing event! It was great to experience this historic event first hand, knowing how crowded and hectic it was going to be. I really wanted my 15 year old to this event, as something she will remember and cherish for the rest of her life. She shared the moment with me but also with friends who are students in NC without a place to stay, but gladly opted to sleep on the couch in our suite.
It was great to see patriotism exhibited on a large scale as the result of something positive (with the election of the first African American) instead of something negative (like 9/11).
The National Mall was tighter than a Michael Jackson concert in a high school gym! I’ve told everyone there are three phases to attending an event on the National Mall. First, the excitement of being “ in the house”; second, the possible unpleasantness of realizing the much-anticipated event you “had” to see may not have been all that (definitely, yesterday wasn’t in the category) and third, the unpleasant reality when you realize that everyone probably will be LEAVING at the same time! As soon as the 18- minute speech from the President ended, the crowd shifted stage right. It took all of an hour and ½ to get off the mall. I spoke to some attendees who were closer to the stage and they indicated that it took them three hours to get off the mall. This is my only real criticism is that there was a lack of guidance and crowd control after the event ended. The National Guard and mounted police could have been better prepared.
What was remarkable is that with the huge crowd and folks being pushed to and fro everyone kept their cool. There were zero arrests reported for excessive demonstrations or fighting. Everyone was cordial, peaceful and tolerant of one another. Civility was the word for the day.
What made the event so memorable is that:
- A barrier was broken with the election of the first African American to lead the country,
- The peaceful transfer of power in the midst of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the great depression, and
- The emotional connection that has been formed between the new President and the community through the use of social media which has led to a resurgence in political and community activism in this country.
This as a true symbol that the country is ready to look past race to choose an intelligent leader who has the best interest of everyone in the country at heart. I see this victory as validation and the fulfillment of MLK’s dream. Obama, looking out over the crowd from the Capitol face the Lincoln Memorial, could have taken this opportunity to focus on the racial implications of the realization of King’s dream; however, he obviously didn’t see a need to do that. Everyone is fully aware of the significance of this historic election and he has chosen to focus on what really is at stake, the survival of our society. It’s time for everyone to “get to work”.
Dealing With Issues
January 23, 2009
It’s important sometimes to face issues when they come up – so I will here.
Unfortunately, things didn’t work out so well with a particular client. We did our level best, but due to a scheduling mistake, we definitely upset Dennis Fassett. It was not our finest hour.
And our apologies for our honest mistake, which now we need to talk about in public.
I had inadvertently double-booked time (as I had mistakenly written down 11a for my time with Dennis, because of a previous conversation around recording things on his lunch break) on the day we were to record between the home and the work studio. However, I canceled the one recording and got downtown as fast as I could. We would of had plenty of time that morning, as I live 15 minutes away from work, to lay down the tracks we needed to, and then the plan was to wrap up the re-edit of the first episode to get it up that night.
I attempted to explain that, and that I was only going to be a few minutes behind, but that was impossible because Dennis wouldn’t pick up his phone when I called him four times that day. I was already going to tell him about the discount I would give him for our scheduling mistake upon my arrival… regardless of the fact that the first contact I had with him that morning was him texting me to tell me that he was running a bit behind because of a car problem.
My phone was off because I was recording at home earlier. I don’t leave my phone on when I’m recording for interruption and technical reasons. Even if I put it on silent, the GSM radio waves interfere with recording equipment something fierce. After all, and this is my mistake, as I had him down for 11a.
We worked 11+ hours on the project, delivering outlines, consulting, graphics, paying license fees for music, etc. I was more than willing to work something out, but as email is an imperfect medium for communicating, and it didn’t work so well this time.
I probably shouldn’t of emailed anything and just kept trying Dennis until he answered (which I proceeded to do, and he has not has answered a call from me since).
As to “pitching services,” we’re a business. I won’t apologize for doing that, and I included more because I was asked to during a lunch meeting.
As to “learning about his business,” that’s part of our responsibility, but also part of the work that’s involved in creating great content. If you had a copywriter who didn’t take the time to learn about your business as part of their work, then they’d deliver a pretty bad product. And that takes time, time that most agencies I’ve worked with charge for, as they should. This was a flat-rate project, and whatever time I took to learn or needed to I was willing to spend, even if it put me “in the hole” in an hours estimate at first because that’s what makes great stuff.
And yes, with the holidays, things got busy. But we had agreed on adjusted time lines together, were ready to roll, and release that night.
I’m not going to post the first episode because it’s not our place to without permission, but I gotta say, Dennis has some pretty compelling and interesting content. And I’d still tell you that if you want to learn about cash flow real estate, go talk to him. He can teach you a lot, despite our issue on this matter; you should seriously consider the $500+ for his two day seminar if you want to learn about how to make money with property in this economy.
I apologize for any mistakes that we made. Nobody’s perfect, and I sure am not. Dennis, you know how to find me to work this out, I’m going to be running around taking care of things for tonite’s tweetup, but I’ll make sure to get back to you if I miss you. And I will leave my comments open for anyone for anything respectful and cooperative.
Podcamp Speech Tomorrow at 11am
November 7, 2008
Wanted to mention very quickly that I am speaking tomorrow morning at 11am at the very kind invitation of Mark Iljal.. I will be sharing the stage with Beverly Cornell, the 2008 Connectech blogger of the year, talking about how podcasting and blogging is the cornerstone of your online and social media strategy.
Podcamp is free (great price!) and will be located at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 28100 Franklin Road, in Southfield, MI and runs from 9a-4p.
Open City Detroit Helping People Succeed
October 23, 2008
Open City Detroit had their October meeting on Tuesday the 21st, at the stunning Cliff Bell’s, located on Park, in downtown Detroit.
The focus of the meeting was “Learning from a panel of Detroit’s newest business owners.”
The meeting was hosted by Claire Nelson, owner of the Bureau of Urban Living, and Liz Blondy, owner of Canine To Five: Detroit Dog Daycare.
Liz Blondy moderated the discussion, and the panelists were Kelli Kavanaugh and Karen Gage, owners of Wheelhouse Detroit (located on the riverfront), Greg Mudge, owner of Mudgie’s (located in Corktown), Torya Howell, owner of Good Girls Go to Paris Creperie (located downtown), and Richard Ban, owner of Urban Grounds (located in Eastern Market).
There were about 50 attendees at the meeting, and tons of good advice to be had.
The panelists answered questions about their businesses, why they decided to locate in the city, experiences with finding locations, and starting up their businesses.
One of the most informative segments was when the panelists were asked to share their experiences of going through the process of licensing and acquiring permits. The panelists were very open and honest about their individual experiences, and offered many good tips and strategies for dealing with this process. This was very good information for anybody who may be thinking about opening or expanding a business in the city of Detroit.
The panelists also discussed experiences with business partners, “greening” of their businesses, seasonal challenges, future expansion, and advice to people thinking about opening a business in the city.
The panelists were also asked how their businesses were going, and their responses were remarkable positive, most notably, the amount of good local media coverage they have gotten, and the strong word-of-mouth publicity within the community.
The panelists offered a wealth of knowledge about starting a business in the city of Detroit, and I would strongly advise any person who is starting, or wants to start, a small business in the city of Detroit to attend future meetings.
For more information, visit http://opencitydetroit.com/
