I’m pretty much the worst Dad ever!

Blog World Expo (BWE09) was last week and if you happen to be working at a start-up in the social space, it could be a good idea to participate! Problem is, with just under 50K miles logged in the past three months, one more social media “whatever” (no offense Rick, BlogWorld was great) is not really solidifying my prioritization schedule of Family First.

But participate we did! As the sponsor of Brand/Blogger speed dating, Collective Bias worked to foster the conversation between brands and social communicators of all types. The CB team also built direct relationships with the BWE closing party and through the sponsorship of over 20 Bloggers to the event. Word.

My week began pretty much as usual; I boarded a plane late Sunday for a client pitch, flew back to Arkansas to kiss the Marys Monday night and then turned to go to a Shopper Marketing conference in Ft. Myers Tuesday and then on to Vegas Thursday.

Here’s the deal, by poor scheduling (definitely my fault) I managed to not make it back for my daughter’s school’s track and field day on Sunday afternoon. I could have easily booked a red-eye on my original itinerary, but missed the timing. When I called to switch, as anyone knows that has missed a flight in Vegas recently, there were no seats (nice capacity management airline industry). Undeterred, I headed to the airport at 4 AM seeking to go standby for the earliest flight I could get. I did get on a flight to Dallas at 6 AM, but on Sunday, connections to XNA are few and far between until the evening.

I missed the event.

I am still devastated. I really want to be an entrepreneur and run my own company but I refuse to do so at the expense of missing moments in my daughter’s life. She fully recognized that I was not there to see her win a trophy in her race and she was crushed. I can assure you this will NEVER happen again. So, if I am late calling you back, miss a meeting or don’t attend an event, it doesn’t mean it’s not important to me, it just means I have a higher priority. I hope you understand.

"bye, mommy..."

Mary Shannon left for NYC today to shoot a commercial and take in various meetings. Mary Catherine and I took her to the airport and then went to watch planes take off until we saw Mommy's plane (Sunday morning is not the busiest time at XNA). MCA is obsessed by the idea of New York and can't wait to go. I brought her a children's book "A Walk in New York", by Salvatore Rubbino (great book, I highly recommend) when I was in the city a couple weeks ago and she has a remarkable comprehension of the things she'd like to see. She asked her mom if she was at the Statue of Liberty today when she called to tell us she arrived.

I've traveled non-stop this year logging over 50K miles to date, Shannon has done a masterful job of being here for both of us. We both knew and agreed to the travel commitment Collective Bias would require before I took the plunge. So now, I'm making the most of my time with my daughter, we left straight from the airport and went to the Tulsa Zoo http://whrrl.com/experience/story/18356123, it was a perfect day. My daughter has gained my love of car travel (not shared by her mother) so I look forward to many road adventures to come. Whatever the opportunity, I cherish these moments. I realize with each day, the moments pass, never to return. I watched with some future angst this week as parents moved their Mary Catherine's into the University of Arkansas dorms. As we drove Mary Catherine to her first day of classes on Tuesday in her new teacher Ms. Jodi's class, I watched Shannon stare wistfully at the move in scene undoubtedly thinking the same thing.

None of us can slow the clock, but we can all take part in those insta-moments. I finished the evening fishing for magnetic fish, sharing a meal and 3 1/2 year old philosophy on optimal fruit, milk and dessert ratios (guess how that one goes).

I'm determined not to look back and regret missing one of these moments to make a presentation a little better.

This is the coolest thing I've ever done!

I recently took Mary Catherine to the 111th Tontitown Grape Festival fair. Her mother was having a girls night out with a friend of ours so it was just the two of us. Mary Catherine's excitement begin to build a couple days before the event as I told her we'd be going and she pretty much asked questions about it 24/7 (as 3 year olds do about pretty much everything). She had never been to a fair before but was enthralled with the concept of rides, food and especially that they would have ice cream there.


Needless to say, when we finally arrived, she was thrilled! It was a hot day so we waited until late in the afternoon (we got a quick lesson in demand based pricing when the rides all went from 1 ticket a piece to 4-6) so we could not only ride the rides but have dinner at the fair as well (next to a nice four course meal with a wine paring, fair food is high on my list of eating experiences). What really started me thinking though, was just how completely amazed my daughter was at this new experience. She approached each ride with gusto and even rode some things that I thought would frighten her but the scarier the better in her eyes. The entire experience started me thinking how we maintain that sense of wonder not only in our children but also in ourselves.


As many of you know, I have recently started a new media company called Collective Bias. The company has just completed its first 90 days and landed it's first huge client opportunity. It has dawned on me that my excitement and immersion in this venture are similar to my daughter's wonderment of her first fair. I have always been a brand marketer at heart, way back to my first job with Dominos Pizza and a simple brand promise of a hot pizza that shows up at your door in 30 minutes. After marketing roles with consumer brands such as L'eggs, Goody and Kodak and finally at retailer Walmart, I've gained a respectable grounding in the interaction between consumers, brands and retailers. Add to that the experience of building the Walmart Elevenmoms platform picking up an education in social media along the way and this is well, the coolest thing I've ever done! (also the hardest).


The thing is, I'm here, at the most amazing fair I've ever been to. I often relate that this is the 1950's and TV has just been invented. The most intriguing part is that the fair attendees are building and running the rides (and in many cases collecting the tickets). The list of fresh new ways to build real relationships between consumers and brands is longer than the line for funnel cake.


Collective Bias and partners One2One Network and Mom It Forward recently hosted an event called BowlHer during BlogHer's Chicago conference. Over 700 highly influential new media attendees bowled, played pool, networked and enjoyed the live music from Brooke White, Suai and Anya Marina. Many people asked me, what the heck does bowling have to do with social media? My response was simple, absolutely nothing. I find that the social part often gets omitted in the process and the media approach becomes strangely similar to traditional media. I firmly believe to be successful in this space, you have to attend the fair, in other words, participation is the key.


Our clients that sponsored the event all attended BowlHer personally and well, they bowled. In the process built great relationships with people like Beth Davis, Kim Janocko, and Debba Haupert (and inspired them to create loads of content about their BowlHer experience) New media company CEO's with broad networks of influence (they are the fair owners now). Did they convince them to buy their products or services? Probably not, but they do now know them personally now and can begin to build a real relationship with them and their networks.


Ferris Wheel anyone?

Forget the technology, it's about relationships

The Wilkins are some of our best friends. Ceri and Rolf are a wonderful couple with a beautiful family of 2 boys and a daughter who is roughly Mary Catherine's age. We attend church together, have dinners, go to events. We have a shared passion for good food and wine. What's more interesting is that we've only known the Wilkins for two years, (we met them when we moved to Arkansas) but we might as well have known each other much longer.

Rolf is a life-long entrepreneur who owns a pizza chain called Eureka Pizza (@eurekapizza on twitter). I've always admired his business ability and he doesn't know it, but he helped inspire me to take the biggest chance of my life and leave the corporate world where I've spent my entire career to begin a new chapter in the agency world.

The reason I'm sharing all this is I believe that life presents opportunities and often provides some help along the way. I didn't realize this myself until we attended the Art of Wine event last Saturday and Rolf started asking me about my new job. His questions were very directed and made me think about the process I'm going through building this new company. We also discussed his use of social media to build his business and various tactics both he and his competitors are employing. What was ironic is that our entire discussion didn't involve any technology and was more real and authentic and meaningful than many of the electronic exchanges that seem so important. I think in many of the communication plans I've seen lately, the human element is lost in the rush to influence social platforms.

Shannon and I appreciate the Wilkins friendship and are thankful that they are in our life during this transition. Look for those guides in your life, they may already be there and you don't even know. Sure I'll keep up with Rolf using social tools, but the personal influence will always be more important.

Welcome to Spring

Renewal is Good

The past few months have been a bit trying. First we were hit with the most powerful storm I've ever experienced. A massive ice storm that wrought an amazing amount of destruction. It completely paralyzed the Northwest Arkansas area for almost a week and created a rain of tree limbs that still litter the ground 2 months later. Our family lost power for 6 days but managed to keep our fireplace going so we did not have pipe and water damage. We were fortunate actually as many trees fell on our property yet none hit our house. We've spent many week-ends since cutting through downed limbs and burning the refuse and still have much work to do.

A couple weeks later, a storm hit our workplace as many of our co-workers lost their jobs as have many in this trying economy. Once again, we were blessed as we kept our positions yet there is a sense of shared loss for our friends that were displaced. Our hearts and prayers go out to all that are suffering during this time. The combination of these events has definitely given me pause to reflect on what is important not only to me and my family but also the greater national and world community as well. The parallel of the physical storm and the economic storm ravaging our global economy is not lost on me. Both have left me in a melancholy funk and somewhat dampened spirits (a feeling I realize is shared by many I speak to daily).

With this perspective I welcome the arrival of spring. Redbuds, pears and crabapples are blooming in our yard (including a broken limb that is in full bloom). I spent the week-end again cutting damaged branches but the beauty of the greening landscape made the view much more pleasant. My parents are visiting from Atlanta as well and helped us work through some of the damage as well. This has been a great proxy for the teamwork needed to get back on course to the prosperity we all wish for our families. Pulling together we can help others to find new jobs, rethink our well worn patterns and build a new future.

Today we all shared a day in the mountain hamlet of Eureka Springs and the drive and day were inspiring. Watching my lovely daughter reveling in flowers, sunshine and fresh air brought me hope and inspiration. I hope that you too will take a look around and soak in the Springtime energy and renew the growth of yourself, your family and your community. Quite possibly, you will inspire someone else as well.

2009 - The Year of Opportunity

Welcome to 2009. Every year a prepare a list of written resolutions and for the past 7 years, I've shared those only with my wife Mary Shannon. This year I thought I would publish my list and use the extra motivation of that public revelation to help motivate me. Also, I'm going to publish a quarterly update to track my progress. I try to keep a balance of family, physical, professional and spiritual goals. (editors note: I published these Jan 18 after working this list several times. I will update in late March on my progress)

1. Run 1000 miles
This works out to about 3 miles a day. It's a big commitment but I think I'm up for it. I have several training opportunities that will help. I'm going to complete a 5K in under 21 minutes, win a medal in my age group in a 10K and run two 1/2 marathons.

2. Eliminate discretionary spending
Like many people, I spend money on many things just don't need. I'm going to challenge myself to go an entire year without buying any new clothes, which tend to be my biggest weakness. This includes gadgets, accessories, pens, sunglasses etc.

3. Maintain a professional marketing blog
I've cut my teeth with this personal blog and now I would like to try my hand at a professional blog. My goal will be to write about a relevant industry topic once a week.

4. Complete 12 acts of random kindness
I have no idea what these will be but I know the opportunities will present themselves.

5. Actively Conserve
Eliminate unnecessary paper/plastic usage, no newspapers/periodicals, water bottles, shopping bags when not absolutely necessary.

6. Participate actively in my Daughter's education
I'd like to teach her to read by age 4. She is doing well with the alphabet, numbers and counting and even some complex problem solving. I want to make sure I'm augmenting what she's getting at school.

7. Give Mary Shannon a couple weeks of days off
Spend a day a month with Mary Catherine doing something out of the house all day.

8. Continually Learn
Expand my knowledge of my profession, interact with industry experts and learn something new in the marketing field.

9. Take a couple Ferris Bueller days
Occasionally, we all need a complete day off. No responsibilities (work, family, civic etc.) I call these Ferris Bueller days becuase I want to enjoy them to the fullest. Here's an example, in February, I'm going to go to the Chicago with my good car enthisiast friend Alex to attend the Chicago auto show. He and I will spend the entire day at the show looking at every single car. Then we'll have a fabulous dinner and go to hear some live Blues. The next morning, I'll fly home.

#resolve - Day 0 - Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2009! 2008 was certainly a challenging year on many fronts and I'm motivated and excited by all the possibility this new year holds. Approximately 40 days ago, I started preparing for 2009 by starting two of my perennial New Year's resolutions early, those being get in shape by running and to lose weight. My goal was to run 100 miles by today and lose ten pounds. I am happy to announce that I fell short on both accounts. I completed 77 miles and lost 5.5 total pounds.

So, as a very goal oriented individual, you'd think I'd be disappointed and I am. However, now beginning the first day of 2009, I'm way ahead of where I normally sit. I've gone through the reconditioning process to put a running base on and I am 6 pounds away from my permanent goal weight. As part of this process, I've learned another great skill thought completing my first blogging experience and I've spent a bit over a month thinking about what really important self-improvement goals I want to focus on this year. I'll post my entire list this week-end.

Thanks for all the supportive comments and emails!