Chris Busch

Remembering the Miracle at Lake Placid

2013-02-22T08:12:00-06:00

Today, February 22, marks the anniversary of one of the great stories in sports history. Lake Placid, New York. The 1980 Winter Olympics. The Soviet National Hockey team. Team USA. And Coach Herb Brooks.

The US team consisted of 20 college players. It was a time when only amateurs could compete on US teams. The Russians, well, they were older, bigger, more talented and all around the best hockey team in the world. Yes, in the world. They had beaten the NHL All Stars 6-0 in the Challenge Cup one year earlier and had demolished Team USA 10-3 in an exhibition game just prior to the Olympics in Madison Square Garden.

For most baby boomers, singular memories include the assassination of JFK, the first man walking on the moon, and the USA/Soviet hockey game in the semifinals of the medal round in the 1980 Olympics. As a nation, the USA entered the new decade still mired in the malaise of Vietnam, Watergate, stagflation, and the Iran hostage crisis. There had been little to celebrate in the 70’s unless you were a Steelers fan.

Team USA had won Olympic gold only one other time, at Squaw Valley in 1960. Then a player, Herb Brooks found himself 21^st on a roster of 20…the last man cut. A fierce competitor and a relentless coach, Herb drove his team physically and psychologically to this moment. Team USA skated brilliantly. Jim Craig was marvelous in goal.

Trailing 2-1 with seconds to go in the first period, Davey Christian took a desperate slap shot from 50 feet which the invincible Soviet goalie Tretiak kicked away. But much like Franco Harris and his Immaculate Reception, Mark Johnson had hustled through two defenders and planted the rebounding puck into the net with one second remaining. Suddenly those of us watching, indeed millions around the world, began to wonder if perhaps a miracle might be in the offing.

The Soviets led 3-2 after the second period, but Team USA was not retreating. With 8:39 remaining in the final period the Americans tied the game. And two minutes later, in the midst of a relentless attack against those they formerly regarded as hockey gods, Mike Eruzione guided the puck past a screen and into the Soviet goal for a 4-3 lead.

The next six minutes were beyond tense as everyone knew the Soviets still had time to tie, and yes even win this game. But it was not to be. As Brooks had told his team in the locker room before the game, “This is your time!”

As the final seconds ticked off, young sports commentator Al Michaels offered the question we would have shunned pre-game, “Do you believe in Miracles???” And as the clock struck zero, he, and we, shouted a resounding, “YES!!!”

How a young hockey team can turn the mood of an entire nation is hard to grasp, even harder if you weren’t there. But Americans began to believe in America again. Later that year they would elect a President who talked of a new “morning in America.”

In my view, that morning dawned February 22, 1980.

Here is the text from Herb Brooks locker room speech. Is now “your time?”

"Great moments are born from great opportunity, and that's what you have here tonight, boys. That's what you've earned here tonight.

One game; if we played them ten times, they might win nine. But not this game, not tonight. Tonight, we skate with them. Tonight we stay with them, and we shut them down because we can. Tonight, we are the greatest hockey team in the world.

You were born to be hockey players - every one of you, and you were meant to be here tonight. This is your time. Their time is done. It's over. I'm sick and tired of hearing about what a great hockey team the Soviets have. Screw 'em.

This is your time!

Now go out there and take it!"

Wired for Struggle

2012-11-06T08:30:00-06:00

Some time back I watched a TED video by Brene Brown. She was talking about raising children and how most parents are obsessed with trying to make their child’s life as easy and free from difficulty as possible.

It’s almost like we think a life that goes smoothly is the optimal life. Yet, Dr. Brown points out, children are born into this world “wired for struggle.” And while being alive and staying alive may not be the same struggle it was thousands of years ago, every human is faced with almost continuous struggles throughout life.

And this is normal.

So whatever your struggles are today, know this…you were born wired for struggle. You may not know how to sing, dance, paint, solve quadratic equations, program a mobile app, or pilot a missile-laden drone, but this you know inately…you know how to struggle. And you’ve been doing it since birth.

It seems that the nature of struggles often change over our lives. But if we realize that we were all born gifted for struggle, maybe it will add some hope and enjoyment to our journies.

Sometimes just a small tweak in perspective can produce a tidy dividend.

The eBook Revolution - More Than a Digital Photocopy

2012-11-05T08:46:00-06:00

Extinction - We’ve studied about it from our early years in elementary school and we’ve observed it almost continuously throughout our lives.

Growing up in the shadows of the smokestacks of the mammoth Pittsburgh steel industry, it seemed like there could be no end to the dominance of Jones & Laughlin, US Steel, Babcock and Wilcox, and their ilk. But they, and their stacks, and their smoke are seen no more along the rivers of Western Pennsylvania.

78 rpm vinyl records gave way to 45’s. Then LP’s. Then 8-tracks. Then cassettes. Then CD’s. Then mp3’s and other digital downloads. Now, music no longer requires a hard media at all. What became of those who produced the high tech of their day? They adapted, withered, or vanished.

And what of Eastman Kodak, Fotomat, and even MySpace? In 2006, MySpace was bought out for $580 million dollars. Then came Facebook. In 2011, MySpace sold for an estimated $35 million.

In recent years, having ravaged dozens of stalwart companies and destroyed entire industries, the gods of change began to focus on the publishing industry with one of their favorite weapons, technology.

The response from the industry was much like the other dinosaur industries of music and photography…”this too shall pass.” But it didn’t. It isn’t. And it won’t.

And so, publishers began to reluctantly adapt to digital technologies, but in essence, their best efforts have been to produce digital photocopies of the paper and ink variety of books. And charging a handsome fee to boot. Most are still missing the landscape of the new technology. And that is...interactivity.

With its iPad, Apple redefined the publishing business. The Kindle at that point was a good reader for the digital photocopies of print books that publishers were producing. But Apple laid out a new challenge to publishers to produce eBooks that were beautiful and aesthetic throughout. eBooks where there could be a mix of text, slides, maps, video, audio, - a panorama of media. And the biggest game changer of all, a book experience that is interactive.

While 64% of publishers are creating digital books, only 21% are actively creating these “enhanced” eBooks. And maybe the greatest change of perspective needed to avoid extinction will be for the book industry to realize they are no longer in the publishing business, but in the “experience” business.

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent article on this phenomenon.

The change that is upon us is far more than the digitizing of text to be read on a screen that mimics the page of a hardback book. The entire experience of “reading” is changing. Reading is becoming much more than merely decoding text.

Your children and grandchildren will be profoundly affected by these changes in the way they consume knowledge. In the way they learn and think. And we will be as well.

What happens to education when the professor can be embedded in the textbook along with discussions among students unlimited by geography, links to other knowledge resources, notes from other readers…?

Pretty exciting, eh? It’s big. Perhaps the biggest thing since Gutenberg?

This video gives a glimpse of the impact of interactive eBooks on the curriculum of the future.

Nielsen Multi-Screen Media Usage Survey

2012-06-25T22:35:17-05:00

According to Nielsen’s global survey of multi-screen media usage, watching video content on computers has become just as common as watching video content on television among online consumers.

"While the in-home TV and computer are still the most popular devices to watch video content, usage and growth in online and mobile technologies is making a sustained impact. Three-quarters (74%) of global respondents report watching video via the Internet (on any device), up four points since 2010, and over half of global online consumers (56%) say they watch video on a mobile phone at least once a month and 28 percent at least once a day."

Vulnerability Is Our Most Accurate Measurement of Courage - Brene Brown

2012-04-15T16:13:27-05:00

This TED talk by Brene Brown is profound, enlightening, and encouraging. Enjoy and share.

Nielsen Social Media Report

2011-09-20T08:42:00-05:00

Nielsen recently released their latest report on the state of social media. Here are a few of the highlights:

    •    Social networks and blogs continue to dominate Americans’ time online, now accounting for nearly a quarter of total time spent on the Internet
    •    At over 53 billion total minutes during May 2011, Americans spend more time on Facebook than they do on any other website
    •    Tumblr is an emerging player in social media, nearly tripling its audience from a year ago
    •    Nearly 40 percent of social media users access social media content from their mobile phone
    •    Internet users over the age of 55 are driving the growth of social networking through the Mobile Internet
    •    70 percent of active online adult social networkers shop online, 12 percent more likely than the average adult Internet user
    •    Across a sample of 10 global markets, social networks and blogs are the top online destination in each country, accounting for the majority of time spent online and reaching at least 60 percent of active Internet users

To view the entire report click here.

Content Is Job One

2011-09-02T08:18:00-05:00

The failure rate on new infomercials is estimated at 90%. Ergo, only one in ten infomercials are commercial successes.

Is this low success rate because of bad media? Poor time slots, overpriced airtime, and the like? Rarely.

Almost always it’s the show. The content. And that can be anything from a product nobody wants, to a value proposition that fails to motivate, to poor scripting, lousy demonstrations, non-genuine testimonials…

Somebody has a new mindle. They love it. They buy the company that makes the mindle. Every home in America, no… in the world needs this fantastic product. The marketing commences. Wal-Mart won’t return calls. Dozens of other retail channels yawn. These idiots just can’t see the vision, the massive appeal this mindle would have with the right exposure.

Traditional channels have failed, so the owner and lover of the mindle decides to bypass all the distribution channels and go straight to the consumer. After all, look how successful George Foreman was.

So 100 mindle lovers descend on television, and 90 limp away with lighter bank accounts. It looked so easy when George Foreman did it.

There are several parallels in religious television. Most people think it is simply about getting the right time slot. But almost universally it’s primary to get the right content. Make a program that people want to watch. Speak to the issues that matter to the listener.

Don’t assume that the same message that glows in the Sunday morning tribal gathering will wow a broader and largely disinterested television audience.

Play small ball until you get the content right. Test. Test. Test. When you find the resonant combination, then go for more media exposure.

Content first.

The Power of Vulnerability | Brene Brown

2011-08-19T23:26:38-05:00

TED talks are some of the most thought provoking videos on the net. This talk by Brene' Brown is one of my recent favorites.

You Need to Stop Dressing Like a College Student

2011-05-17T21:19:33-05:00

These were the words I heard from my first boss about two months west of graduation. "That is, if you want to be taken seriously," he added. I felt my ears turning red as sweat began to literally drip inside my shirt.

I was a bit embarrassed, but I also knew what he was saying was true and that he cared enough about my career to say what he did. After nervously clearing my throat, I told him I thought he was right, and that he would quickly see a change.

He knew his remark had cut me a bit, but he also left me with a molecule of his philosophy that I never forgot – “The sting will pass…but the stuff will stick!”

Ron was not only my boss, but also we became friends and I often asked his advice on a wide range of issues, knowing he wouldn’t spare my feelings for the truth. He died much too young, and I’ve missed him for nearly 20 years now.

But, I haven’t forgotten him or that the real lesson for me that day was about more than clothing.

The Boys of Summer

2011-04-21T16:57:16-05:00

Last weekend I attended my grandsons' first T-ball game.

Pure fun.

About the only rule any kid remembered was to hit the ball and run (sometimes had to be reminded to run). Mass confusion on defense every time the ball was hit into play. Coaches and parents all trying to give helpful direction.

It's a wonderful thing to watch children simply enjoy the fun of the moment. Didn't matter who won. Nobody even keeping score. Swing. Run to first. Scamper to second. Plant a totally unnecessary slide at home, just to get dirty.

As adults we remembered. And yearned.

Beware boys of summer, for there lies a road of domestication ahead of you. Well meaning adults will channel you down a familiar and well-worn way. A path of rules, conditional acceptance, limited options, and a paucity of fun. You will be ill equipped to resist unless you somehow cling to that kernel of life your heart discovered somewhere between second and third.

Remember how this feels. Remember the delight.. the abandonment… the carefreeness of it all. You may have to play along with the adults for a time, but hold on to your heart. Don't surrender your winsome spirit, your positive outlook, your childhood dreams.

Don't give up on fun.

Online at 30,000 Feet

2011-01-04T09:49:40-06:00

Trusty iPad in hand, I decided to try out the on board wifi. As we pass over Arkansas, I'm also looking for aliens or whatever killed all those birds. So far, I give the wifi two thumbs. However, I hope they never allow cell phone use on board (unless they replace oxygen masks with mini cones of silence). These people who talk on their cell phones at the urinals and in the stalls at airports also get to me. Honestly, is anything really THAT important? Gotta go. Need to focus on surveillance for alien craft.

How can I have a more productive year? ~ Hitting the January-May Window

2011-01-03T07:40:00-06:00

Have you noticed the increased drag coefficient on getting things done that hits every holiday season from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day? There’s a similar slo-mo period from June through August.

Today is exciting, because it launches the longest annual time frame of productive potential, the January-May window. If you are hoping to increase sales, grow attendance, expand your markets, initiate an innovative idea or two, effect some change… this is your time. The race starts today.

A lot of what you accomplish this year will depend on how well you sprint these first few furlongs out of the gate.

Fall presents a similar but shorter window running from the day after Labor Day through the Friday before Thanksgiving. The Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving used to be more productive, but now that entire week through New Years marks a time where progress becomes more difficult as more energy turns toward leisure pursuits and the anticipation of same.

But now, people are mostly back from the holidays. The kids have returned to school. There is a faint scent of optimism wafting about.

A great season for achievers, and near-Nirvana for over-achievers.

It’s a dash to Memorial Day. Don’t get caught watching the paint dry.

How will this year be different?

2011-01-01T11:25:18-06:00

In many ways, each year is different. But what we imply when we ask this question is - Will my circumstances be different (better) at the end of 2011 than at the end of 2010?

Several factors weigh on the answer to that question. Some out of our control. Some not.

Most people will wind up in pretty much the same circumstances at the end of this year. The main reason? Changing circumstances usually involves changing our behavior and that change has to be preceded by a change in thinking or even a change in believing.

But change is not comfortable. And most of us will opt for comfort over change. We are comfortable talking about change…wishing and hoping for change. When it comes to doing change, we usually opt out or peter out.

We feel the excitement of a “new” start at the beginning of a new year, but in truth, that feeling fades rather quickly as we return to the same ruts of thinking where we have remain comfortably ensconced for years.

Often, what we really want is to “have changed.” And until we confront this truth about ourselves, we won’t embrace the discomfort that comes from change…even helpful change.

So, do you want to change? Or do you want to “have changed”?

My hope and wish for you this new year is not “Good luck,” but rather for “Good choosing.”

50 Hours In Haiti

2010-08-09T06:15:00-05:00

A few weeks ago, I spent a couple of days in Haiti with our LightQuest Media clients, Bobby and Sherry Burnette, founders and executive directors of Love A Child. Walter Warren, our EVP at LQMI was with me.

It was my first time in Haiti, not just since the earthquake, but ever. I still remember our relief on January 12 a few hours after the quake when we reached Bobby via Skype and were able to confirm that Bobby and Sherry were alive and their orphanage, medical clinic, and ministry center were all intact. In the days and weeks that followed, the Love A Child compound was converted into a field hospital with the help of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative as the injured streamed and were hauled into the little town of Fond Parisien.

Bobby and Sherry moved to Haiti in 1991, to become full time missionaries. Little did they know that all of their efforts, sacrifices, and heartaches were preparing them for the day when the entire country would be transformed in less than one minute’s time.

During my 50 hours in Haiti, I witnessed and heard the overwhelming mass of the problem. Over 220,000 dead. 1,500,000 homeless. Tent cities everywhere. Hurricane season approaching. A weak economy by Western standards now on life support.

On the approach into Port au Prince I looked down on a beautiful blue/green harbor, not at all dissimilar to Oahu, or Cancun. Then the city slowly appeared in ever denser white dots on the green hillside. A little less altitude and I could see many of those dots were piles of rubble, not buildings. Homes, offices, businesses, churches... still lying there in a hopeless heap, uncounted bodies of thousands still buried beneath.

Then I noticed the tents. Pockets of tents everywhere. Dirty white, faded gray, and many with blue tarps (the Wal Mart kind) as a second roof to cover the weather-worn holes in the mostly-donated tents. I knew what I would see in Haiti would be in many ways horrific, and as we touched down I began to prepare myself mentally for an experience beyond all my frames of reference.

We landed at 7:30 AM. It had to be over 90 degrees F with a similar humidity reading. By 10:00 we were in Fond Parisien touring the Love A Child compound and Camp Hope - currently a tent city but with new, permanent housing being built by Love A Child via private donations. There was a special section of the Camp Hope tent city for the amputees in an attempt to be able to address their special needs most efficiently until the housing was completed. Grandmas on crutches, young men, teenagers, children. It had rained the night before, but the people seemed undeterred by the mud and the ferocious heat.

Sherry told us about the people in the camp. Many were teachers, secretaries, artists... but now they were living in tents redefining for me the definition of a meager existence. We saw the new houses being built, a pocket of hope in the midst of massive destruction and despair.

Up the road just a mile or two we turned off onto a dirt road, and I am being generous with the word “road”. About one-half mile off the main road next to the lake lay the village of Le Tant. Stick and mud huts with thatched roofs. It was like we had driven through a stargate of sorts and been catapulted backwards at least 500 years. These were the lucky people. The quake may have capsized their huts, but those could be easily restored and a collapsed hut was not likely to cause death or limb removal. Still, even these people, struggling daily to survive before the quake, now found themselves not trapped under concrete rubble, but mired even deeper in the economic abyss which is now Haiti.

The situation in Haiti is not bad. Such an improvement that would be, to be just “bad”. As the images come back I find myself even now choked up a bit, as I diffuse the feeling with a quick sip of iced coffee. That’s Starbucks iced coffee, a grande, with skim milk and one Splenda, thank you.

There are pockets of hope like Love a Child. I saw many private organizations, many of them Christian ministries, that were doing great work down there. It’s just that there are too many homeless, and not enough pockets. Yet, the spirit and the attitudes of the Haitian people are remarkable. They will make you cry, I don’t care how grizzled and tough you are.

Next January 12 the world news will once again be focused on Haiti as the one-year anniversary of the disaster arrives. There will be some miraculous stories, some incredible tales of people who are making a difference... but the big story will likely be that not all that much has happened in a year. There will still be mountains of rubble to be removed, acres of city to be rebuilt, countless homeless people...

And then, as the remembrance of the first year anniversary comes to a close we will be tempted to once again acknowledge the tragedy, express our sympathy for the victims, toss a buck or two in the bucket to salve our consciences, and move on with the next big news and our busy lives.

Bobby and Sherry Burnette have a slogan for their ministry that is impressive because it embodies the way they have lived their lives. It’s simple - “Love Is Something You DO!”

It certainly is, Bobby and Sherry...it most certainly is.

Clay Shirky on Cognitive Surplus - Ted Talks

2010-07-01T08:51:00-05:00

Clay Shirky, author of Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age in a recent Ted Talk.

Link to video for RSS readers.

On this blog I've often discussed generational cycles starting back in 2004 with this post. If you've read other posts sprinkled through the years, you know that as a culture and society we swing between two major perspectives which influence thought and behavior at an individual and societal level. These two cycles, often illustrated by a pendulum, are the idealistic generation and the civic generation. The last idealistic cycle ran from 1963 to 2003 at which time we tipped into a civic generational mindset.

In Clay Shirky's short TED Talk, he makes a lot of good points but perhaps even unwittingly reveals more evidence that the culture has indeed changed and we are well into the 40-year civic cycle of the generational pendulum.

Why Entrepreneurs Need to Get Involved in Government

2010-06-28T10:28:00-05:00

David Rehr, former President of the National Association of Broadcasters with some perspective for entrepreneurs on their involvement in government.

Latest Nielsen Three Screen Media Research Report

2010-06-24T21:14:11-05:00

Nielsen Research recently released their Three Screen (TV, PC, Mobile) Media Research Report for 1Q2010.

Some surprises and some yawners.

"In the past year, Americans have significantly increased the amount of timeshifted TV they watch and decreased their PC-based internet usage, according to Nielsen’s Q1 2010 Three Screens Report."

You can read a summary and download the full report here. Some additional highlights -

—292 million people in the US own at least one TV.
—More than half of US TV households now have HDTV, up 189% from Q1 2008.
—High-speed broadband internet access is in 63.5% of homes.
—Nearly 25% of homes have smartphones.
—Fifty-five percent of mobile video viewers are adults 25-49.
—The average monthly time spent simultaneously watching TV and using the internet increased 9.8% year-over-year in Q1 2010 to three hours and 41 minutes.

In related research, the Pew Research Center reports that in the past year 52% of U.S. adults, and 69% of U.S. adult internet users, have used the Internet to watch or download video. More on that research here.

An Old Hero and a New One

2010-06-07T08:42:00-05:00

This week past for me was one of losing one hero and quite unexpectedly finding a new one.

Coach John Wooden’s feat of ten national championships stretched from my seventh grade efforts to walk and chew gum at the same time well into graduate school. Many of those years through high school I played ball under a streetlight at the south dead end of Fifth Avenue in New Brighton, PA. In the winter we’d bring our snow shovels to clear the street, though the slick spots made a jump stop an amusing spectacle.

I grew to love and admire the UCLA Bruins and while marveling at their accomplishments I wondered how they managed to maintain such a high level of play over such an extended period of time. John Wooden was indeed a remarkable coach and teacher, but first he was a man of character…a fierce competitor but always under control. For someone I never met, he had a most profound influence on my life. My love of the game of basketball and my tendency to apply its lessons to most of life is probably his fault. He was a man of grace in victory or defeat, and I’ll always be grateful to him for his example. He died last Friday at age 99.

Some 48 hours before Coach Wooden’s passing, another drama was unfolding in Detroit that would bring me to the edge of tears, much as would the news of this great coach’s death.

The runner was out. The game was over. We all saw it. Over and over. From every angle. Out. Out. Out.

In what will likely be remembered as one of the most unfair moments in sports history, the veteran umpire at first base called him safe, snuffing out one of the rarest accomplishments in all of sports – the perfect game. Armando Galarraga was the victim, and while that is a word I rarely allow myself to use, if it is to ever be used in the arena of sports, this would certainly be that occasion.

But it was not the blown call at first base that brought the mist into my eyes, but the amazing grace displayed by Armando Galarraga in the wake of a sudden, massive, and universally unfair disappointment. While the rest of us yelled and screamed and possibly cursed the umpire, Galarraga smiled, kept his composure, went back to the mound and got the final out. What a display of grace in a moment when he was robbed of a place in baseball history not only by losing his bid for a perfect game, but also losing out on several other firsts in the record books.

It didn’t end there. Being interviewed after the game by voracious reporters Armando smiled and said, “We’re human, we all make mistakes.” What? Are you kidding me? What kind of response is that when you have clearly been shafted with all of sports America witnessing and decrying the unfairness of the umpire’s call. And then there was umpire Jim Joyce who seeing the replay after the game sought out Galarraga to apologize for blowing the call and costing the young Venezuelan his place in baseball history.

The following day Joyce would draw home plate duties, and rather than one of the managers or coaches taking the starting lineup out to the home ump, Galarraga asked for the duty. Joyce once again apologized and when Galarraga gave him a respectful pat on the shoulder, the gracious umpire wiped his eyes, once again overwhelmed by the character displayed by this young competitor from South America, and gratefully returned the respectful gesture.

With the mess in the Gulf, in Washington, and on Wall Street it was good to be reminded of those who remain big when smallness is so prevalent.

Goodbye Coach Wooden.

Hello Armando Galarraga.

And thanks to you both.

PS. And to umpire Jim Joyce a grateful "Well done" also.

US Homes Average 2.93 Television Sets

2010-04-30T09:00:00-05:00

The average American home now has 2.93 TV sets per household, up from 2.86 sets per home in 2009, the largest year-over-year increase since 2006 according to Nielsen’s latest Television Audience Report. This year the number of US homes with three or more TV sets increased to 55%, 28% have two sets and 17% have one set.

Nielsen Wire article here.

TVA Report (pdf) here.

Inside Online Video Advertising

2010-04-29T08:45:00-05:00

While online advertising fell overall in 2009, ad spend on online videos grew 41%.

And, with good reason. Nielsen Research has recently released a report based on 14,000 surveys to measure the impact of video advertising online vs. video advertising on television.

The patterns they uncovered were consistent: video ads run during online full-episode TV programs yield deeper brand impact than corresponding on-air TV ads, with the difference most pronounced among younger viewers age 13-34.

"What accounts for this variation in impact between online video and traditional TV? Data shows that web video viewers are more engaged and attentive to the programs they are watching, which is likely a function of the viewing environment and the oft-required active mouse-clicking to initiate and continue content. Online video is also still a relative novelty compared to traditional forms of media. Further, and most significantly, reduced ad clutter and the inability to easily skip ads are considerable recall-enhancing factors."

Another conclusion - "online video ads help to reinforce and strengthen the impact of a traditional TV campaign."

More data and analysis here.