It has always bugged me that the world is full of more talkers than doers and I’ve grown to realize that this is the way it always will be. I guess that since anyone can have an online megaphone I’m hearing, reading and seeing more of it then every before. It gets me down, but it also motivates me not be one of those people and to keep pushing forward doing great work for both myself and for clients.

One of the biggest changes after selling The Advance Guard is that my brain has more free cycles to think about things. This of course has me wondering where to focus that energy. I seem to be doing more noodle favors for friends, contemplating in detail a book and looking at all the various projects I’m involved in and thinking about which ones could use some more love.

All of this also has me noticing the things that bug me more too. Guess that means I really should focus my energy elsewhere so that I don’t notice it right? *laugh*

I’m on the Acela headed to NYC. Weird taking a later train and seeing how packed it is. I’ll be coming home on Saturday afternoon and I’m curious what that is going to be like. Who knows?

Life is good. We finally got our new car (more on that later), Campfire has a bunch of cool new projects I’m involved with and my little ‘mo is starting to come in.

While there is always something in life that you can complain about is it ever really worth it? Think about that and then proceed accordingly.

But, as I watched my good friend Drew kick cancer’s ass it really inspired me that I needed to stop my complaining and start my growing. After all, I’d much rather have a horrible mustache then cancer.

So, like many men around the world I shaved on November 1st and at the end of the month we’ll see what I got. My Team Mofries is already doing well and I hope they chime in to let us all know how they are doing.

PLEASE donate any amount you can as all donations help. If you want to help spread the word feel free to share the link http://www.helpingthecause.com which I have going right to the donation page.

I’m taking pictures every day and many will be shared on Flickr and you can be sure I’ll be doing something with them all at the end of the month.

Cancer is something that all of us can relate to. It is a horrible thing that I hope future generations won’t have to worry about. If you or your company have the means to donate, I’d greatly appreciate it.

Last week I was in Los Angeles to attend and speak at the 140 Conference. Having never really been to LA before, that alone made it an interesting experience, but it was also great to connect with so many people on the West Coast that I don’t get to see that often.

I’m going to be writing a more formal review of the whole conference, but I had to share here what it felt like to take the stage where the Oscars are held.

Now, in case you don’t know I’m a huge movie fan. In 1996, I co-founded Random Foo Pictures with my close friend and cohort Dan Gorgone.

We went on to make over 75 short films and helped produce a couple of features. We did it for the love of doing it and had a blast with it all. We’d hold our own screenings and had several Foo Fests that drew friends and strangers into a theater to watch our crazy (and bloody) creations. All of this was before YouTube and all the other great tools that filmmakers have today to get their stuff seen online.

I’ll be honest. I’ve given my Oscar acceptance speech more then once in my head and actually being on THE stage where they are given hit home for me.

I wanted to focus on what I think people are forgetting when it comes to social media and boiled it all down to the subject of Be Human. It is simple. It is short. But, it works. If you can’t do that one simple thing then all the pretty ads, flashy websites and interactive nonsense means nothing.

People seemed to resonate with it and I’m looking forward to seeing the video when it is posted because when you only have 10 minutes on a stage like this the time flies by and you don’t remember much of it. Plus, that is something I certainly want a copy of if nothing else then to proove I was actually there.

Thanks to Jeff Pulver for inviting me to speak. I always dreamed about being on that stage, but I never dreamed it would actually happen and I certainly didn’t know it was going to be in this fashion. What a fun and strange life I lead some days.

Photo Credits to Steve Garfield & Ken Yeung. Click on either photo to be taken to the original.

I have not read the book yet, but I know how smart Ariel is and all the great work she has done for musicians with her company Cyber PR.

But, today I’ve got something special for you. A special free 10 chapter PDF of the book for your downloading, reading and sharing pleasure. Click on the book cover to enjoy.

I’m still trying to figure out exactly what to do for the next project that I talk about in the video. I had a solid idea, but it looks like the weather is not going to cooperate so I’m going to have to think of something else. If you are curious about what projects I have done so far you can find them here.

Disclosure: http://cmp.ly/1

But, I love the idea behind Movember and this video cracks me up. I’m still debating if I have the balls to try and grow one or not.

What do you think?

This past week I was in Las Vegas for Blogworld Expo and had two fun nights out on someone’s dime besides my own. FTC or not, I’d still write this post the same way and share the same information.

On Thursday I got the chance to check out Cirque Du Soleil’s KA. Being a smart organization with the very smart Jessica Berlin heading up their social media efforts they put the offer out several weeks in advance to all attendees of Blogworld that they’d try to give out as many free passes as possible to people who might want to see the show. How could I pass up an offer like that?

I had a great time at the show. The scale of the massive moving stage was beyond impressive. We went to a 9:30 pm show which translated to 12:30 am for me, so the middle of the show when it gets rather mellow and romantic almost lost me. I hate to admit that my head bobbed a couple of times.

But, the battle scenes and the wire work easily made up for the slow middle. I actually felt like the end came on a little too quick as I was getting into it and was hoping for even more of “the war” part of the story. With no dialogue it forces you to pay attention while your jaw hangs open at the amazing things the performers are doing. Last year I bought tickets to see Love and comparing the two I have to say I liked Love better, but then again I’m a music junkie so that makes sense.

On Saturday after the conference was over I was invited to a dinner hosted by Joseph Morin and Taste MGM Grand at Shibuya. I am not a guy to pass up a free dinner and even though Japanese would not be the first choice for me personally I went in with an open mind.

They had a tasting menu for us and the staff really made sure to fully explain each and every item we were enjoying. My personal favorite was the  Lobster and Scallops in Uni Butter followed closely by the Kobe Beef Short Ribs. I asked if I could get the seafood recipe because I’d love to try making it at home. We also enjoyed some Kikuhime Junmai Daiginjo Saki which was simply amazing. The only reason I can even know how to spell that is because they gave us a business card for the restaurant with all the information printed on it. Smart move! The picture above was taken by Steve Hall capturing us in our afterglow. *laugh*

Both nights were great times with good people, which at the end of the day is really what made both of them so cool. Yes, being given tickets or food that I didn’t have to pay for is nice, but not required. I had equally good dinners, lunches and hang outs with friends that did require my dollars and they were great as well.

I hope that brands of all sizes realize that simple things like this can go a long way. Just make sure that when you encourage attendees to share their experiences that you also stress that they fully disclose the arrangements of the event. It goes a long way in all directions and is more important then ever.

My full wrap up of Blogworld Expo when I get a chance to finish wrapping my head around my thoughts.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

I’m speaking on Saturday about Building Passionate Communities. As with any time I speak, I’ve got the deck, but depending on who is in the audience I’m ready to change it to fit what they need to get out of it. Personally I think any speaker who can’t do that really doesn’t know their topic. I watched it happen recently. I’m excited about it and anyone who comes and I hope I answer their questions.

Vegas is not really my type of town. Sure, I enjoy the meals, the shows and last year I was introduced to the fun of the tables by my partner in crime Steve Coulson, but even with all that out of all the cities I’ve ever visited in the world I just can’t “get into” Las Vegas like so many others.

The diversity of speakers at this event is amazing and I’m excited to see of the ones I’ve never seen before. Curious to hear what they have to say and if it is different then what everyone else is saying. Of course I’m also curious to talk to companies who may be in need of some help to figure this stuff out. While the title of the conference title may give the feel that it is mainly focused on the creation of written content I think we all know it is about much more then that.

If you are attending, I’d love to meet up and connect for sure. I’ve kept my schedule pretty open so that I can have meetings with as many people as possible. So if you want to grab a coffee, a cocktail or just a corner to chat let me know and we can go from there.

I still remember that day and the party that followed and can’t help but smile. We wrote our own ceremony. We were surrounded by the people who mattered the most in our lives. As night fell fireworks filled the sky. In the morning my Dad asked everyone if they heard Jingle Bells and everyone but us laughed.

Laura and I have a unique relationship and we know it. It is one that is built on trust, humor and intimacy. Neither of us would have it any other way.

We don’t make a big deal out of today because we’ve always celebrated when we first started dating and that was 20 years ago this past spring. That day REALLY makes us laugh and smile.

But, there is something fun about a baker’s dozen worth of married years. They’ve all been happy for sure and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather spend my life with.

Now and always.

This picture taken by my good friend (and great photographer) Derek Wilmot was taken during my presentation at Inbound Marketing Summit here in Boston. Episode 86 of Managing the Gray sums up my presentation so give it a listen if you are interested. Also, if curious you can see my IMS09 pictures as well.

The event was great as always. Hosting it at Gillette Stadium is one of my favorite parts about it since it is so close to my house and I love the set up of it all. Great to reconnect with so many people that I haven’t seen in a while and to meet a lot of great new ones well. Plus, how can you argue with having a location that allows you to walk across the parking lot and grab some Five Guys for lunch when the urge hits? *grin*

After this event I realized that one thing I’m going to be doing a lot of is telling people more about Campfire and what we do. This of course is exciting and fun. I was even interviewed by Nate Riggs to discuss some of our work.

I love seeing all the people and making new connections, but travel is also a drain on me. The time away from the hugs of my wife and the laughs of my kids is never an easy thing, but it is part of the life so we learn to live with it. Up next is Vegas for me an Blogworld Expo where I get to talk about building passionate communities.

As I sat on the couch, taking the first sips of coffee with my computer on my lap I saw a back and forth on Twitter happening about Sesame Street, my initials and a bunch of other randomness. Of course, as I will often do, I sent a reply to one of my buddies stating how much I’d love to some day get on Sesame Street and how I grew up loving the show.

It was an offhand comment that any of us could make, but the funny thing was that this wasn’t enough for my buddy Schneider Mike.

The next thing I know I check back into TweetDeck and see this tweet kicking off a mini push to try and get me on Sesame Street. You can read the blog post here.

Now, who knows if this will end up getting me ever on Sesame Street, but that really isn’t the point. The point to me is that this is what social media is all about. Anyone can get a spark of an idea and run with it as hard and fast as they want. No one had to give anyone permission to decide and start doing this. He didn’t think about the ROI or reason. He was just compelled for reasons only known to him and he did it. That is what I love about this space.

I also love that I’ve got a community of people around me who are good hearted souls and we all help each other out. From the littlest of gestures to the biggest of favors. The true power has always been about the people and that is why this little thing made my morning. Of course it also made me pull up my all time favorite segment from the show.

Of course I’ve also got a big grin on my face as me and the kids are laughing at how funny this all is. But, if Snuffleupagus gives me a call I’ll be sure to let you know. That would be some awesome fun for Digital Dads!

The first thought I had was that it was more of a ripple then a wave. But, I also know that this is what BETA testing is about. Seeing beyond what is there now and what it could be. Mitch Joel wrote a great post about everyone writing it off to quickly.

As someone who prides himself on playing with new technology and thinking about the big picture always I wanted to make sure that I really gave it a fair shake before ripping it to shreds. To do this I started using this for a mini project that I’m working on with a friend who I also noticed was in Wave (Google instantly shows you which of your contacts are there in real time).

At the moment it is a mashed up glorified IM, e-mail, collaboration tool. I can see them taking this and allowing organizations to install it locally and integrate directly into Google Apps to be an in house collaboration tool to take on Sharepoint and all the others. It isn’t quite ready to replace them or be a replacement for Basecamp, but it could certainly go in that direction quickly. There is a lot of potential there.

This video is the most straight forward explanation I’ve seen for what it is at the moment. But, trust me that it is going to be more as it begins to integrate with the full suite of other Google tools and becomes available on phones and beyond the browser.

This may not be a tsunami of “oh shit this is cool!” but riding waves can be fun. Grab a surfboard and try it out for a while before you give up on it.

Now, having not grown up in the ranks of the Madison Avenue mentality and jumped from agency to agency I instantly realized I had a different mentality then a lot of the people I met. It seemed that the second question out of everyone’s mouth after I introduced myself and told them I was with Campfire was “what other agencies have you been with?” I quickly realized that to a lot of people I met that it actually mattered more then what I had accomplished. Not the crowd I’m use to.

The panels, speakers, events and parties are spread out all over the city. So getting from one to the other is not the easiest of things (even though I am getting better at finding my way around). It was hot and muggy most of the time so that made it extra fun to get from place to place.

The whole event really opened my eyes to how the Advertising world works and what some of the players in that field are thinking about. It certainly has me thinking about a lot of things that I wasn’t before.

I attended the IAB MIXX Awards and I’m psyched to let you know that Campfire took home 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze for the work we did around HBO’s True Blood. This picture taken by Steve Wax shows me taking a picture of one of our Gold Statues (they were dang heavy). I’m really proud of that campaign and learned a lot by being part of it. I’m not a big fan of award shows, but it always feels great to be recognized for hard work and congrats to every member of the team who made it happen.

Overall, I think I expected more out of the week then I actually got. My perceptions of what it is were completely wrong, but I’m still glad I took part in it and I’m sure next year you’ll see me there again, but I’ll be better prepared now that I know what is going on.

I met some great people, reconnected with old friends and of course got to tell the story of Campfire to everyone I met and that at the end of the day is really why I was there. Making people realize what we do, how I fit in on the team and how we can possibly do business together. All that was accomplished so it was a positive trip for me.

But, it also confirmed that New York is a very different city from one that I’d ever feel totally comfortable in.

Then a really cool thing happened. The Best Camera application was launched by Chase Jarvis this week too. This little application has some great built in effects that make for intersting photos and of course I’ve been playing with it all week and here are some of my favorite shots from the past few days.

There are still a lot of things that I hope are added to this application to make it even better, but I’m really psyched to see that Chase is taking his game to a whole new level. He’s a hugely successful commercial photographer, but he is expanding his brand beyond just that through his always helpful blog post, the new Best Picture Book and the application as well. He’s building a pretty damn big and solid brand for himself and it is fun to watch.

This morning I was a guest on The Doug Stephan Show and as always that is a great time. You can listen to my appearance online now if you are curious. Of course out of that conversation I became aware of something horrible that happened in Arizona couple that I had to write about on Digital Dads right afterward.

Tonight I’ve got a presentation that I’m giving which I’m very excited about. A room full of life coaches, executive coaches and others who work in that field. Sort of a social media 101 hands on which should be fun to do. I love working with people outside of the fishbowl. Best part is that this came about through a Bentley Alumni connection which of course makes me extra happy.

Being in New York City for the rest of the week is going to challenging and fun. Lots of meetings, panels, parties and conversations. Looking forward to talking to people about Campfire and what we are up to. Plus, thanks to the most amazing Emmi Sorokin I’ve got all new clothes to wear. Never thought I’d get excited about that. *laugh*

When we were asked to tell a story as part of the Sony Dads project I’m taking part in I wanted to flex my creative muscles a little bit and really tell a little story. Because I’d be posting it on Digital Dads I wanted to focus on the guys of the family. A surprise trip to New Hampshire for my Mom’s birthday meant that I’d have both of Dylan’s grandfathers around and I sat them down to answer a few questions.

I had in my head what I wanted the video to look like and how I wanted it to flow and shockingly it went from my head, to the camera, to the finished product just as I had imagined. That felt good.

As I was putting the finishing touches on it I wanted to use a Tom Acousti song for the soundtrack, but it just wasn’t clicking for me. That is when I thought about Apple’s Garageband and how I had used it in the past one time to create some music for a client video and I had a lot of fun doing that. Sure, it added on some more time to the project, but to be able to say I did it all for this (short of playing the instruments) makes me feel damn proud.

This is a deeply personal video for me and emotions ran high when I first watched it back. I hope you enjoy it.

Without fail when I start up iTunes on my computer, after about 10-20 minutes everything freezes. The only way to fix is to power down the computer and start it up again. What I know

• I’m running an iMac with the latest OS on it (including the patch that came out last week)
• I tried downgrading iTunes back to8.2 and the install went fine but the locking continues.
• I do have an Apple TV and Genius turned on. I turned both of these off (including unplugging the Apple TV) and still the freezing happens.
• This began after the latest Snow Leopard patch
• I’ve isolated it to being iTunes because if I start up and run nothing but iTunes it still happens and it happens every time I open it

Any help out there? I’ve Googled and looked but have not found it. Seems some people are having similar problems when playing World of Warcraft and trying to use iTunes, but that isn’t me.

Hoping someone might see this and be able to point me in the right direction or else it is a trip to the Apple Store for me because I can’t survive without my music. *grin*

We had some friends over to the house and during dinner their youngest daughter kept pulling herself up and looking out the window.

It caught my attention so much that I had to run into my office and grab the camera. Of course she seemed to know what a camera was and kept turning around, but I finally got one of her just looking out.

I’ve always wondered what goes on in the minds of babies and kids before they can talk. I’m sure the secrets of the universe are locked in there somewhere.

Up until now I always told them to start with Made to Stick before anything else because I believe it is a must read for anyone even thinking of doing something online in today’s world. I’ll still push that one to anyone who asks, but I’ll also begin adding Six Pixels of Separation to that as well by my good Friend and mentor Mitch Joel.

I’m completely biases of course because Mitch is such a close friend, but I honestly believe it is a solid book from start to finish. It is chock full of good examples that any executive could understand and relate to. It explains the basics of the current online world while bending your brain to think about it all in a much bigger context then you are use to. If you have been looking for a book so that someone you work with will begin to understand the power of social media then this is the book you need to give them.

Plus, if you don’t buy a copy you’ll force Mitch make this face and no one wants that do they? *laugh*

I joke because I love. I’m damn proud of you Mitch and the great book you’ve written.

I’ve had this video on my computer since it came out, but wanted to wait and watch it when I didn’t have any interruptions and while a lot of what he showed, I had already seen, it still reminded me that I’m on the right path. If you don’t have time to watch the video I’ll sum it up as this. We need to do what we have to in order to sustain our lives, while doing the creative things that we are passionate about on the side at the same time. Finding that balance is key and it is down right amazing when those creative adventures shift into helping you sustain.

I very much agree with this. It is NOT easy to find that balance and to make it work, but it is critical I think to remain sane. I haven’t been doing as much of the pure creative stuff lately and I need to. Of course after watching this last night, my mind was perculating with possibilities. A bad thing when it is already after midnight.

What are you doing that is purely creative and for the love of it?

One of the cool things about Laura and her family is that it has a rich and cool history and one piece of that is her Great-Grandfather Charles Courtney Curran. He was a painter and it always amazes when I see his work in a museum.

Family history is a very important thing and while we won’t know anyone at this event this weekend, just being able to take Laura and the kids to the house where he escaped to and did some of his most famous work is something I’m excited about. I’m also interested to hear other stories that will be told this weekend.

This picture shows him as well as Laura’s grandmother (the little girl) who is the namesake for our daughter. When it showed up on Flickr I can’t begin to express how cool that was.

My camera and notebook are going to get quite the work out this weekend for sure. Hopefully the weather feels like cooperating.Famil

Today, I’m happy to announce that The Advance Guard, the company that I helped found in 2007, has been acquired by New York based Campfire!

You can read our post on our website about the deal and of course there is a social media press release with tons more details as well if you want to get to the nitty gritty.

So why did we do it? I can only speak for myself, but we’ve worked with the Campfire team since our very first project. We lease our office space from them and know them all very well. If any other agency had come to us with an offer to buy us, I’m sure we would have laughed and told them to take a hike. It just wasn’t something we wanted to do.

But, I’m excited about this opportunity because now we have a larger team, to go after larger clients. While we had a lot of success, we always wanted more. Now in Campfire I know that we are going to make a difference and develop some truly unique and kick ass campaigns for our clients. We are already working on some new stuff that I can’t wait for everyone to see.

You’ve seen me talk about passion and digital story telling for a while now. It is something I truly believe in and so does the entire Campfire team. That is another reason that made this decision easier. These guys and girls are some of the most brightest and creative people I’ve ever met and now I’m one of them. I can’t think of another team I’d be more excited playing for.

As a Creative Director and partner at Campfire I’m going to be wearing a lot of hats. I’m also going to be the one you see out there speaking and evangelizing on behalf of the company. I can finally do more speaking gigs and attend the conferences that I just didn’t have the time when also running my own company. That excites me to no end!

I’m so glad this news is finally out. If you can’t tell I’m VERY excited about it.

Last night, I suddenly found myself with a free night in New York City so I grabbed a great dinner with my friends Jane and Dan (later joined by new friend Martha) at this awesome little restaurant called Cafeteria. The conversation was awesome. The food top notch. Deep fried Oreos for dessert were something I am still smiling from. I don’t know who shoots the photographs for their menus, but I loved them!

Then this morning I was psyched to have Jeff Sass from Myxer over to the office to show me all the cool stuff they are up to. I knew they did ringtones, but I had no idea about all the other offerings that they had. Amazing stuff going on there and I hope to integrate it into some of our work when appropriate.

I also announced today that I’m taking part in a new initiative called Sony Dads. You can read my full post (with video) or to sum it up they are going to be sending me and some other Dads a variety of technology to play with, use with our family and share our thoughts about. The initiative lasts for a couple of months and after trying everything out we have to send them all back. I’m looking forward to checking out their DSLR and comparing their eBook reader to my beloved Kindle. It should be interesting.

I’ve got a million things to do this weekend and not nearly enough time to do it. Not what the weekend was invented for, but it will all be worth it.

Last night Laura and I went car shopping and what was interesting was just how different we were treated at each dealership.

1. At the first one we were barely noticed and when someone finally did come over to us to let us know that they’d have someone talk to us as soon as they can, we had already made our mind up about the car. Of course we couldn’t open up the back which is something we really wanted to check out and when we asked about it we got a boiler plate, “sorry about that” and he walked off.
2. At the second, as soon as we got on the lot we were greeted. As we walked over to look at a car that fit what we were looking for we had to stop by the show floor so the salesman could get his cigarettes. I thought nothing of it till he lit up while talking to us about the car on the lot. Talk about instant decision never to buy a car from this dealership ever!
3. At the final one we were greeted right away and shown a couple of options. They talked to us about the car and asked if we’d like to test drive it. We took it out for a spin, had a great conversation with the salesman and at the end he thanked us, gave us his business card and encouraged us to call him with any questions we might have.

Each of these left a longing first impression on me and as the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

These first interactions will determine where I will spend my money and who I will recommend to others. I’m not alone in this and no matter what your business is you MUST be making a good first impression because everyone has options and no one has to buy from you.

This reaches beyond business of course as well. Each person you meet, you are making an impression on. We all form opinions about you the moment we meet you.

What are you doing to make sure that the first impression you give is a good one?

Photo Credit: Becky Lai (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Today she released a music video and even if you don’t watch the show I think you’ll get a kick out of the lyrics. I just bought a copy off of iTunes to show support and you can watch below.

If you do watch the show then I’ll warn you now that you’ll be laughing your ass off.

Yes, that is a 30,000 foot sound bite, but as I explained myself it really summed it all up to me in a nutshell.

If people are passionate about your product and services they will tell others about it. If the people listening trust that person doing the talking then they are likely to go and try it out as well. It is overly simplified, but you know what? It is right.

On that note, I’m psyched that my good friends Julien Smith and Chris Brogan’s first book Trust Agents is finally hitting store shelves. I read an early draft of it and am reading through the finished copy now and I know it is going to cause plenty of conversation.

I’ve known both authors for a long time and consider them close friends. When they first wrote of the concept of a “trust agent” in a manifesto many moons ago I told them that it would make a great book. Obviously I wasn’t the only one that told them this and now they have what I think is going to be be a very well received book.

I’m biased I know. But, I don’t care because I love these guys and I love the book. The concepts in it show examples and studies way outside the fishbowl and the concept of trust is something that touches everyone who walks the planet so I expect to see this book on many a CEO’s bookshelf in the future.

You can buy a copy here (amazon affiliate link) or anywhere else that you buy books. For some crack head reason it is not available on the Kindle yet (Wiley, come on and don’t drop the ball here) and I know that an audio book is going to be available too since they were recording it last weekend.

I’m passionate about this book and I hope you trust me enough to buy a copy and then share your thoughts about it because I’d love to hear what others think.

I had to write a post this morning called Raising Gatejumpers on Digital Dads to talk about how I’m passing this along to my kids.

I’ve never been as passionate about this as I am now. It is amazing how a simple conversation can focus your thoughts so quickly. That happened to me. Look out!

Special thanks to Matthew Ebel for allowing me to use his music. Give his music a listen on iTunes and then consider signing up for his subscription service that will give you new music every month.

Photo by Jerome Paradis

I promise a lot of thoughts on it all soon as well as photos, but until then if we crossed paths, hugged, shook hands or glanced at each other from across the room I’m hoping we can continue beyond the weekend.

I’m easy to get in touch. Drop me an e-mail, send a message on Twitter or friend me on Facebook. We’ll chat soon for sure.

Just remember that all the koombaya of the weekend is pointless if you don’t actually move forward and do something with the energy.

This year the organizers have taken a bit of a different approach in that they want discussions rather then presentations. I loved the idea and am involved in three of them currently on the schedule.

• What’s Next? (with Ron Ploof)
  Saturday 10 am – Ballroom
• What’s On Our Minds? (with Chris Penn,Chris Brogan & Julien Smith)
  Saturday 1:30 pm – Ballroom
• What Isn’t Social Media?
  Sunday 1:30 pm – Ballroom

Of course one of the great things about any unconference like environment is some of the best discussions happen outside of the regular schedule so don’t ever feel that you have to stick to it. There will be plenty of hallway magic going on for sure. But, for everything else be sure to consult the official guide.

As I went back and looked at my photo sets from PodCamp Boston 1, 2 & 3 – the thing I remembered the most was the people who attended. The old friends I got to spend time with, the new business prospects that I got to meet and the questions that newbies came ready to find the answers to. I LOVE that mix and I haven’t found it anywhere else as powerful as at these conferences.

If this is your first time attending a conference like this, I can promise you that you’ll find some of the friendliest and most helpful people around in attendance. Ask questions. Start discussions. If you are not getting what you want to get in a session then get up and go to another one. See someone you want to meet, then go over and say hello to them and see where it goes.

Every year someone tells me after the conference that they wished they got a chance to meet me but I always looked to busy to say hi to. That is NEVER the case. I’m just a social guy and it is rare you’ll see me sitting off in a corner by myself. I love interacting and meeting people so always come up and say hello. That is how social media works.

Say hello and see where it goes….

Find out more at BlameDrewsCancer.com.

Sure, print is dying, but it is still cool when something like this happens.

Especially cool when it is the first thing you find out on a Monday morning. Not a bad way to start the week at all.

Thanks to Steve Garfield for taking the picture of the paper shown above. He takes awesome photos as well.

Over the weekend, the family was away and it gave me some time to focus. I cleaned off my desk, bought a new white board and started listing out everything that needed to get done. I don’t follow any formal GTD philosophy, but I know that a clean desk and a clean whiteboard are signs of good things to come for me so I do what I do.

How do you find your focus?

For me, I needed some time alone with my thoughts to really narrow in on what I want to accomplish. I made a reference to it on Facebook the other day about having a new sniper scope set up and that is exactly how I see it.

Rather then a bunch of lofty goals that may never get done, I’m focusing on what I want to complete in the next 30 days. Sure, I still have that list of other things beyond that, but i want to focus on the immediate first and then get to those other things. I know they will come, but they don’t have a time table that they have to happen against like other tasks.

I like that gMail has added in tasks which is already helping me. I just wish there was an integration with my iPhone in some way so that I could look at the list and complete. Amazing that I haven’t found a task management software that integrates everywhere so that no matter what computer I’m on or if I’m mobile on my phone I can look and check off. Any suggestions?

Finding focus is a critical thing for personal success. Without focus we just sort of chug along and while we may move forward we are not really getting anywhere. I’ve found mine for the time being and I’m sure that it will get a little hazy and blurry, but then it will just be time for some adjusting. It is a never ending battle.

The day didn’t start off that great as the organizers didn’t have a collective decision on if pictures could be taken or not. I was told yes by one and then told no by another. Not wanting to cause problems I said that I wouldn’t take any. Of course as I go out and look for photos I have yet to see any that I can post.

This is something events must realize is that people will be writing about the event and would love to include photos. If you don’t let them take pictures then you should insure that you have your pictures up as quickly as possible. I know they had a photographer for the event, but I can’t find them anywhere yet.

The content for the day was amazing. They put together a great line up of speakers on a variety of topics. I wish they had mixed in some of the health topics that seemed to dominate the second half with the ones in the first half just for variety sake.

You can see all the speakers on the TEDxBoston site and there wasn’t a single bad one. Dave Edwards approach to art, life and science really changed the way I think about some things and what Hugo Van Vuuren and his team are doing to bring electricity from dirt in Africa was mind blowing.

Finally, I am happy to report that I met the most passionate man on the planet and his name is Benjamin Zander. This guy lives and loves what he does and that is music. I got chance to shake his hand and instead he hugged me and thanked me for telling him how much I loved his passion.

The day ended with him conducting the Youth Orchestra of the Americas for all the attendees. He earlier said “I measure success by the number of shiny eyes in the audience” and I can safely say that as we all rose to our feet in a standing ovation filled with energy from the performance there was not a single NON shiny eye in the place.

Thanks to the organizers of TEDxBoston. I look forward to next year and hope I can be part of it as well.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao-tzu

I’ve always enjoyed and believed in that quote. The path that one’s life follows is always an interesting tale and I think that each of us makes decisions that takes us down a variety of paths.

The Chapmans firmly believe in following the road less traveled and when I look back on my life so far I have to grin at where it has gone and what I have accomplished. I smile at some of the dumb decisions and nod in appreciation of the moments of greatness. All together they make my story so far one that I’m happy about.

Looking forward where am I headed and what comes next? That is part of what makes this all a great adventure.

I know my mind is buzzing at the moment from the combination of no sleep and the energy of attending TEDx Boston yesterday. It puts me in a philosophical mood thinking about the big picture and this blue marble we call home. All is well, but the brain is in overdrive compared to the usual this morning. Add in the nice calming clickity-clack of the train and it makes for another reflective blog post.

Not sure what journey I might be taking the first step of today. Part of the fun is that you don’t always know if a new one is beginning or not. The variety keeps you guessing.

Are you taking a first step of some sort today?

I really liked this picture because I think it captures me truly relaxed which something you don’t see captured all that often. *grin* If you were not aware, in addition to having an amazing voice and being a natural story teller, P-Dub also is a hell of a photographer.

I had only been on a sailboat once in my life in never one this big and in salt water. It was amazingly peaceful for sure. We took the boat out of Dolphin Landings who I remember then name of because they had it on the sail of each boat.Good old fashion simple and smart marketing. And true to their sign of 99% Dolphin Sightings as we were on our way towards the dock we finally did see a mom and her pup. It was damn cool to see one in the wild like that.

Dylan got back from camp yesterday. He had an absolute blast and already asked if he could go back for two weeks next summer. He didn’t want to leave because he said it felt like a family to him. I’m psyched that he is realizing how powerful and quick a tight knit group of people can come together. It is something that I want him to remember and carry on through his life.

I’ve got a couple of hectic days ahead of me, but when don’t I right?

Tomorrow I’m jumping on a plane for Tampa. While I’ve got some work to do while I’m there I’m also happy that I’ll get to spend a little time with my good friend P.W. Fenton. I don’t know what is in store, but as long as it involves the grill and perhaps some photography I’ll be a happy camper. Then Tuesday I’m attending TEDx Boston and to say I’m excited about that would be a gross understatement. Finally, on Wednesday I’ll be doing one of my day long commutes to New York City. Me and the Acela have become very close friends. *grin*

Today involved some work this morning and will involve some more later today for sure. Now I’m hoping to dive into some editing on the latest episode of Emily Explains It. Have not had much time for that lately and need to get a new one out.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

I’ve been lucky to read the book and can honestly tell you that it is a book that is going to be a best seller. Why do I say this? Because it cuts through all the chatter most people are writing books about and dives into what executives and businesses of all sizes need to hear about this space we work and play in and how they can leverage it.

There are real stories and details of how to execute. It is not just a series of blog posts turned into a book and it isn’t a how to guide either. It is an informative read that will give you enough to be dangerous and hopefully get your mind going in the right direction.

Today, his team at Twist Image unveiled a new video to help promote the book. I’m hearing there will be other videos as well, but I wanted to show this one because at the heart of it, what is being said about “keeping it real” is important beyond just the book. Watch, think and learn.

Of course I’m biased about the book because he is such a close friend, but if I have any sort of trust from you the reader then you know I wouldn’t reccomend it unless I truly believed in it and I do. I’ve pre-ordered several copies because I’m going to make it required reading for several clients and friends.

Now, I’m on the Acela headed to New Jersey to work with a new client. Anytime my work involves some deep dive creative brainstorming it makes me extra happy and that is what got me distracted last night and what has me awake this morning.

One thing I love about the train ride is how I get to take some time and read, listen or watch content I might otherwise miss. This morning this has yielded a couple of things that has my mind racing, here are those links if you want to check out:

• Aaron Strout chatting with Sam Lawrence about his newest adventure BlackBox Republic
• Augmented Reality comes to the NYC Subways
• A random tweet that I can’t find anymore lead me discover and order a copy of Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision and I can’t wait to read it.

I also had a conversation with a new connection on the other side of the world that started a couple of weeks ago on another train ride. It is always fun when they are going to bed and I’m just starting my day. Extra fun when that involves them sending me links to download some stuff I’ve been hoping to get finished for longer then I care to remember.

I shared a thought this morning on Twitter that really is true for me. Just sitting looking out the window today I noticed a little park I had never seen before, a cool funky lego like building and another building full of doors. All of them, little experiences that I might never have had if I hadn’t slowed down a little, looked away from the screen and enjoyed the moment. I’ve still got another 90 minutes on the train this morning, so I wonder what other little moments I’ll get to enjoy.

Had a great weekend even if I did spend almost all day Saturday on the computer working. I took a break to dive into the neighbors pool and clear the head which was a magical couple of minutes. You can see in this photo that Dylan really enjoyed it as well.

Yesterday was spent up in New Hampshire spending time with family. It was great to hear some family stories from my Uncle Paul that I had never heard and he and I talked about capturing a lot of the memories in some fashion. He hit a soft spot with me in that since it is something important to me. Yup, another project to work on. Not what I needed at the moment, but again passion drives me and that is something I’m passionate about.

Emily is heading to camp later this week and Dylan is away all next week. Crazy how fast time flies.

What followed was a solid minute of silence while I waited for him to use the built in three way calling that the iPhone does so well. As I sat there waiting I pondered why the iPhone (a device that plays all sorts of media) didn’t have a built in hold music option. Sure, this would not be a major feature or one that would necessarily improve sales, but wouldn’t it be a great feature.

I twittered out the brain dump and of course some people brought up the licensing rights which would be a problem. But, rather then picking a random song from my library as I thought would be fun, what if just like a ringtone I could either buy or create a single track for hold music.

You know me and know that I wouldn’t pick something main stream but rather an indie artist who could use the exposure even if it is something as small as this.

So, could this be an iPhone application? Something built right into the OS? Who knows.

Please feel free to steal this idea. All I ask is if you DO go about making it happen please have me as a BETA tester because it would be a lot of fun to have.

In my mind, a vacation should be about unplugging, recharging and having a great time. All of those things happened this go around.

I’m going to be doing a full write up on the vacation over on Digital Dads, but I will say that we had an absolute blast in Orlando spending time with Mickey Mouse and the rest of the Disney gang. There were a lot of people in Orlando that I would have loved to see, but there just wasn’t any time and this was about quality time with the family.

I almost didn’t bring my camera, but I did and brought it out on the last day for the first time. Besides that the iPhone did just fine taking the few pictures I wanted to snap at any given moment.

Being off the grid (for the most part *grin*) was nice and needed and I feel very refreshed and focused. With everything going on in the coming weeks I need to be so the timing was perfect.

Yesterday, we had our annual 4th of July Chapman Chill and while small, it was just what we needed and spending face-to-face time with friends made it all worth while.

Tomorrow mornig isn’t going to be fun, but it is days like that which make you appreciate the vacation time even more.

I’ve created an Alice in Wonderland set on Flickr, but here are some of my personal favorites.

The family let me sleep in and then they made me a French Toast breakfast. I read the Sunday Boston Globe like I always do with Coffee and then we headed to Emily’s final performance of Alice in Wonderland.

It was a lot of fun and since this was my second performance, I brought my 135mm lens and moved seats so I wouldn’t have the conductors head in my shots like I did the other night. I have roughly 1300 pictures from both performances to go through and I don’t know if I’ll get to that before vacation or not. We’ll see how the week goes.

We took Emily out to dinner afterward and as if they knew I was coming they had a special which is one of my favorite dishes on the planet but one I don’t get very often – Lobster Fra Diavolo. It was spicy and amazing and completely made for a great way to end the day.

After getting home I was given my presents and now I have a new Lastolite Trigrip reflector that I’m itching to use on a photo shoot. Emily also really wanted to get me tickets to a play so we’ll be out on the town getting some culture again really soon.

My hope for Father’s Day was to stay unplugged and spend as much time as possible doing whatever with the family. I got that wish. Granted I had to blog about being a Dad because I couldn’t get it out of the brain, but I’m ok with that.

All in all it was a great day. My noodling helped me write the one e-mail I had to before going to bed and that lead to a couple, but I’m still cool with that.

How did you spend your Dad’s Day?

I’d love your thoughts over on Digital Dads.