text:
One of the speakers was discussing the concept of virtue in the workplace and during his talk he raised the question, "are you more concerned by your resume or your eulogy?"
That stuck with me. It hit home.
Last night as we sat watching television, a text from my Dad arrived letting me know about the passing of a long time family friend.
I was overcome with grief and began to cry. Dylan and Laura were not sure what was going on and it took me a bit to be able to say it.
Al Langley was a great man and had a huge impact on my youth and yet I have no idea what he did for a living.
Truly, if you were to offer me all the money in the world, I couldn't tell you what was on the man's resume, but I could tell you stories about who the man was.
We spent many hours out camping and canoeing. He was the man who I had to meet with and learn from in order to earn my camping merit badge.
He'd give me crap for never having seen a John Wayne movie and if we were not moving fast enough in the morning would shout that we were "burning daylight."
He wore silly hats and alway had a toothful grin on his face.
Al was my Dads long time adventure partner. I always looked forward to the latest story of what Al had done hiking up a mountain or paddling around a corner on the river.
I have a feeling that there will be many at his funeral this weekend who have fond memories of the man. About what he taught them. About something silly he said or did.
I don't believe there will be much talk about his resume, because good humans are about more than what they do to make a living.
Years from now, when I lay my head down for the last time I hope I'm remembered as fondly about all that I've done for others rather than only what I accomplished inside of an office.
Rest in Peace Al. I'm going to miss you.]]>
Not the simple whisper in your ear or tickle on your heart, but the full blown cry out to be recognized and used.
This morning she yelled in all of her fury.
Reminding me that while I've been spinning, strategizing and sipping, I haven't been creating.
There are blank pages that need to be filled.
Images yet to be captured.
Spaces on the bookshelves of people around the world where a combination of my thoughts and dead trees would make the perfect addition.
Too many thoughts and inklings and not enough creations.
The Muse screams and who am I to ignore her anymore.
I must create.
It is what I do.]]>
Hours were spent playing with the toys I did have. Grand battles were fought on my bedroom floor and throughout my house.
So when Verizon asked me "Would you like to go to London with us to attend the Star Wars Celebration?" the little kid in me bounced with giddy excitement as the adult in me typed out "Yes, please!"
I've been a part of the Verizon influencer program for several years and while getting to try out new phones and other technology is great, getting access to an experience like this is the coolest perk I've ever receieved.
To legally cover myself, know that they paid for all my travel expenses and access to the event. All they asked in return was that I shared my experience on my social channels.
After nearly missing my flight out of Boston, I arrived ready to get my geek on along side Chris Bernholdt and Gina Stark in London.
Traveling around the world, I prefer to travel light and that was my goal for this trip.
My plan was to shoot mainly on my NX500 and use my S7 for posting. In addition to my every day carry items, my newly patched GR0 would be loaded up with battery packs since I had a feeling there wouldn't be any free plugs while I was out and about.
Thankfully, one thing I didn't have to worry about was paying a bunch of extra fees for posting while out of the country.
Verizon now has something called TravelPass that kicks in when you land in a country that is part of the program. When I powered up my phone upon landing, I receieved a text letting me know that a daily fee of $10 was all I had to pay to use my plan as I usually do. No more having to sign up for a global data plan before traveling is such a sigh of relief for travelers like myself.
Walking over to the event wearing a badge emblazoned with a Death Trooper and the words "Special Guest" had me exited for what may lie ahead.
Our morning began with a walk through of an exhibit showcasing the costumes of Rogue One by two of the producers of the film.
Each costume had a description of not only the character who would be wearing it, but also what the costume was made of.
As a fan, I could piece together a bit more about the story by looking at the costumes. During our tour, the two pieces of information that we were told that I took to heart were "there are no Jedi in Rogue One" and that the movie is "a father and daughter story."
All of the costumes were cool, but my favorite were the new Shore Troopers that sound as if they'll be playing an important role as they defend "the secret base" in the film.
Verizon filmed our tour, but I'm not sure where or when the footage will appear online. When it does, I'll be sure to update this post.
After the tour, we found ourselves on the Expo floor before they had opened the doors.
I took the time to take a quick spin around and see what was there before the crowds swarmed in.
My biggest take away was how many different levels of Star Wars fandom there are. People focus on specific types/brands of toys, original tattoos and building R2 units.
Who knew you could go to an event like this and leave with a new tattoo to go with your inflatable remote controlled Darth Vader?
The other take away I found myself pondering still today is the dedication to Cosplay.
I saw people of every race, age and gender dressed up as their favorite characters.
I chatted with a retired Leia and a youthful Rey.
Women and men were dressed up and taking photos all around me. It was fun to see more dressed up little girls than little boys. It didn't matter what skin color was under the masks, people were united by their love of the Star Wars universe.
The first panel of the day was one with Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill. Being more of a Han Solo guy growing up, this still had me excited to see. After he pretty much missed out on the last film completely, I was hoping that he'd share some nuggets of goodness with everyone in attendance.
We were escorted in the door early and shown to four seats in the center of the front row. After seeing photos online of people camping out over night to get into this panel, I had no idea we were going to be taken this care of.
It was 100% questions and answers with him.
When someone asked about any favorite lines from the forthcoming The Killing Joke movie, I had a feeling something magical might happen so I took out my phone and recorded his answer.
Once again the network impressed me as I filmed, uploaded and published directly from my phone while sitting in the session.
Nothing new or exciting was shared, but it was fun to see him in person.
We'd skip the line again and go to the official store for the event. Loved that they had someone hand making t-shirts to order there and I picked up a few things for the kids.
Walking around you couldn't help but giggle every so often at where you were. One second you'd have a wookie walk by you and the next you'd find yourself face to face with an AT-AT.
There was a family section and another for video games. Collectibles of every shape, size and variety were there for the purchase.
The marketer in me was impressed to see that Discover Ireland even had a booth set up with a replica of their famous stairs from The Force Awakens that fans could stand and get a photo on. Very smart!
We're getting ready for @SW_Celebration tomorrow! Bringing #SkelligMichael to life for #StarWars fans! #SWCE pic.twitter.com/5QzdbxLvxC
— Discover Ireland (@GoToIrelandGB) July 14, 2016
Our last panel of the day was the one I was most excited about.
The Rogue One panel was scheduled to have the director of the film and some of the other crew involved on stage talking about the movie. My personal hope was that they'd also show a new trailer for the movie because I'm eager to check it out.
Upon once again being ushered in to our special seats, it was instantly apparent that something more was going on by the number of chairs on the stage.
Turns out that this panel was also going to include the main cast of the film too!
Hosted by Gwendoline Christie (of Game of Thrones and Star Wars fame), the panel had her chatting with each cast member about their characters and sharing what little they could about their roles.
It was a riot to watch them go to answer her question, look over at the director to check if it was ok to answer and then give a half answer so not to spoil the plot.
For the first stand alone Star Wars film ever made, they've assembled a great cast that is going to be fun to watch on screen. The sizzle reel they debuted highlighted that this is going to be grittier, while being familiar to all the Star Wars fans.
The highlight of watching this on the big screen was actually watching everyone on stage turn around, lay down on the stage and watch it themselves. Based on their reactions, I don't think they had seen it either.
It was also cool to witness the star of the film, Felicity Jones, being given her first Star Wars action figure!
The Rogue One cast is a refreshingly diverse group of talent. Star Wars has one a great job of making sure the galaxy far, far away isn't only populated by young, white, good looking males.
Emotions were high and the energy in the room vibrated through everyone as Kathleen Kennedy stayed on stage and asked if we'd like to see something more.
She asked for phones and cameras to be put away because no one else was going to be seeing this right away.
I'm sure everyone in the room was as pained as I was not to be able to share it, but they showed us a new Rogue One trailer.
I wasn't ready for the hairs to stand up or the emotions to get so hard from it, but they did.
Let's just say it ends with some very familiar breathing that had all 4,000 people lucky enough to witness it screaming with delight.
At the end of the day, as I sat down thinking about everything I had experienced I found myself getting extremely emotional. Young C.C. Chapman could have never imagined that some day he'd grow up and be able to take part in something like this. All the years of time and work has opened some down right amazing doors and for that I'm eternally grateful.
Thank you again to everyone behind the scenes who made this trip possible. I was very fortunate to have been asked to be part of it.
Oh and if you don't follow me on Snapchat yet, I downloaded my story from the day so you can watch how I shared my experience on that channel.
I keep looking at my new Rogue One poster and smiling.
Thinking back to everything I saw and did while in London and how thankful I am to be able to share it with all of you.
In addition to the photos in this post, you can view my entire Flickr album here.
I don't know what next brand sponsored adventure I'll be going on, but it is going to be hard to top this one.
Disclosure: As a member of a great group of Verizon influencers, I occasionally receive products to test drive and experiences to take part in so that I can share my honest thoughts on them. No additional compensation is provided, neither were any favorable comments promised. All opinions are my own.]]>
A roller coaster of emotions brought on events close to home and around the country.
There was death, life milestones, anger and happiness.
I was shocked as I watched two black Americans be shot and killed by those who are suppose to serve and protect.
I cheered on my son as he started his first job and worked every day and quickly realized how different the world is with a job.
I gathered and cried with my community as we came together to grieve the untimely death of one of our own.
I awoke to the news of a deranged man attacking and killing men doing their job to protect and serve.
I cheered with friends as they watched their home country win their first soccer championship.
I hugged my son deeply with a tear in my eye as he shared the news of being accepted to his first college.
Trying to wrap my head and heart around this wide range of emotions was damn near impossible. One minute crying my eyes out, the next frustrated with anger and then being filled with love and happiness.
It isn't the sort of week I want to repeat any time soon.]]>
It only takes a quick scan of the news to be buried in the madness of our world.
This week, I've been hugging my kids a bit longer than usual as neighborhood friends lost their daughter in a horrible accident.
Jackie was a GOOD kid determined to do GOOD things in the world.
I remember her and I talking before she graduated about how she hoped to find a way to take her love of dance and turn it into a career. She mentioned perhaps doing dance therapy or traveling to underdeveloped countries and working with kids around the arts.
I encouraged her to try and make it happen. That it wouldn't be an easy road, but if she really wanted to do it, she could.
When Dylan got home from work and I broke the news to him his shocked was response was simply, "but she was so nice…"
The biggest lie humans have tried to push on the world is that everything happens for a reason.
I've never believed it and when madness like this happens it just reaffirms that life is random and unknown.
Hug those you love every, single day.
Work hard every day to do what you want to do in this world.
Tomorrow is not promised to any of us and it never seems to be the bad people who are taken from us too soon. Only the good…
Sandy, Ron and Ryan our thoughts, prayers and love are with you during this time. Your words last night at the vigil were beautiful and strong. I took them to heart.
Rest in Peace Jackie.]]>
MassMutual asked me to write a post on "financial freedom."
My first thought was that I couldn't write a post on that topic because Laura and I still think about the bills and how to pay them all the time.
The more I pondered it, I realized over the years there have been a couple of moments when I felt financially free-er.
The first was when our kids were young.
Shortly after our son was born, we realized that something had to be done about our credit card debt. After a conversation with a friend who had recently consolidated all of his debt we decided to investigate our options.
We ended up using a company to take all of our credit debt, destroy our credit cards and now make a single monthly payment that would go towards paying that debt.
It was scary and even though we now had a date when our debt would be gone, it never felt like we'd reach it.
Getting out of credit card debt isn't easy, but it was one of the best financial decisions we ever made.
The other vivid memory of when I suddenly felt a bit of financial freedom was upon making my last student loan payment.
I went to a college that was far outside of my price range and was not given nearly as much Financial Aid as I needed. (This is one of the main reasons I built up so much credit card debt.)
To mail that last payment in felt amazing. It wouldn't put a bunch of extra money into my wallet every month, but like paying off our credit cards, it felt like a massive weight has been lifted off of our life.
These days there are many options for paying off student debt that I didn't have. I'm glad there are more options for our kids.
I've always said that I don't need to be rich, but I'd love to get to a point of not having to worry about money. Not sure I'll ever get there, but I'll keep on trying.
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Massachusetts Mutual Financial Group (MassMutual). All opinions are my own.]]>
When out rucking, driving or any time we are someplace new my wife will pull out her phone and see if there are any geocaches around us.
We knew we'd be visiting her parents in Arizona this summer, so when she received a notice that one of her trackables had been dropped off at a Travel Bug Hotel we were intrigued.
A three hour drive to drop off a piece of plastic and metal seemed a bit crazy without a few other stops. But, we knew we had to do it.
Pulling up the handy Roadtrippers app, I found a few other destinations and we headed out for the day.
My in-laws had rented a van for the week and since they could only drive it, I found myself as the navigator.
Our first stop was The Painted Rock Petroglyph Site located twelve miles off of Highway 8 near Gila Bend, Arizona.
I think the over 110 degree temperatures messed with my in-laws Tom-Tom unit because we soon found ourselves on dirt roads going through the desert.
I've got a good sense of direction and had no idea where it was trying to bring us.
The final straw was when in the middle of nowhere it told us to turn left and this is what we were looking at.
After that, I declared that I was only going to be using Google Maps because I didn't trust the unit.
After a little re-routing we made it to the petroglyph site and it was amazing.
Some might call it a pile of rocks, but these rocks were covered with paintings older than most of us can imagine.
I have never seen so many petroglyphs in my life so this stop meant a lot to me.
Since we were out of the car, I took some time to walk around and snap photos before me or my camera melted.
We loaded back in the van and of course Laura had found a nearby geocache so we jumped out and climbed up a short hill to find the hidden ammo box under a pile of rocks. I left a trackable I brought with me as it seemed a fitting spot for it.
There was a simple twelve mile trek back to the highway or there was an option to take a sweeping arch through the dessert and pick the highway up further down the road.
Of course, I chose the option that didn't have us going where we had already been. Where is the fun ever in that?
It ended up being longer and more remote than I had expected, but it was beautiful to be the only one on the road for mile after mile with the only signs of civilization being long abandoned.
My friend Aliza recently moved out of Yuma and suggest we go to Tacos Mi Rancho for lunch and as soon as we pulled in the parking lot, I knew I was going to like it.
One of those places that you'd drive by without a second thought, but you'd be missing out on to die for carnitas, tacos and great Mexican food.
I'll never forget Emily ordering "something with shrimp" and then being given a bowl of shimp soup on a 113 degree day. It tasted great, but we both assume the cooks must have been wondering who the silly gringa was ordering soup on such a hot day.
With full bellies we set off to visit The Peanut Patch (it was closed until October) and The Muffler Man (not as big as we hoped) before leaving Yuma.
As we jumped back on the highway, we stopped at the one spot that had brought us here.
Nestled between the road, the river and the RV park we found our Travel Bug Hotel that we had come across the country to find. We dropped a few off and pick up a few to bring with us.
It was a long, hot and giggle filled day and worth every minute of it.
Here is how I shared it on Snapchat.
When you don't have much more than what will pay the bills, the idea of saving is great, but it isn't a reality.
The older you grow, the more you realize that putting away even a little bit does help. I think we get lost in thinking we have to have a massive nut of money squirreled away in order to be considered a savings.
Growing up in small town New Hampshire, I remember the local bank did something they called "The Christmas Club" every fall.
You could open up a special account that people were encouraged to use to put aside and save money for their holiday shopping.
The way I remember it, you couldn't do any withdrawals until December.
My parents got me one and it was fun to put in a few dollars here and there. Going to the bank and getting my little passbook updated with the latest deposit and total amounts was a big deal.
I seem to recall little tickets too that encouraged you to set aside a set amount every week so that you would have a set amount of $500, $1000 or more saved by Christmas. Of course I wasn't on one of these plans, but breaking it down like that it is amazing how much little deposits can add up to.
Savings is all about putting a little away on a regular basis. That is the key.
The Christmas Club growing up first exposed me to this. Later, when we had our children and set up college accounts for them it once again reminded me.
Now that we are less than a year away from receiving our first college bills for our son, the idea that we haven't saved enough is a reality.
Few people save enough for college, but I wish I was more educated on the options when our children were young so that we could have done a better job.
Thankfully, these days there is lots of information on saving for college and I'm happy to be partnering again with Fidelity & MEFA in support of the U.Fund Dreams Tour.
This series of events around Massachusetts are intended to educate parents (and any adults thinking about becoming parents) about the importance and options of saving for college.
Stay tuned to see where it takes me and if you have any college savings tips, I'd love to hear them.
Disclosure: I have partnered with Fidelity & MEFA in support of the U.Fund Dreams Tour. As always, all thoughts, opinions and stories are my own.]]>
Growing up in New England, we learn about it on a whole new level since it happened in our backyard.
Minute Man National Historical Park is home to where some of the first shots of the American Revolution were fired.
Today it is a beautiful place to walk your dog, go for a jog or learn more about our history.
They are the only New England park in the running to receive funding as part of the Vote Your Park campaign.
In honor of the National Park Service's Centennial, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has joined with National Geographic and American Express for Partners in Preservation: National Parks to award $2 million in grants—as decided by your votes—to historic sites at our beloved national parks.
Minute Man will use the funds to clean up an old battlefield and establish a new educational center in an old barn.
The money will be used to insure that generations to come can see and learn about what happened on these fields.
I've been working with them a bit to get their social media efforts going and check out these videos they had made before I got involved.
Voting goes through July 5th and you can vote once every twenty four hours.
Raise the alarm and encourage all of your friends to Vote Minute Man!
The news was reporting on a shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, but there were no details yet so we went on our way.
We hit the ATM, grabbed donuts from a local bakery and arrived to discover that the vendors were still setting up. I decided to take a little adventure and drive up the road a ways to the Old Stone Church that I had taken some photos recently with my drone and Emily wanted to explore.
My phone buzzed, but I was ignoring it. We enjoyed the quiet of the morning. Giggled at the baby geese walking by. Laughed at the pigeon we upset by entering the old church.
We each found a memory rock, took photos and then headed back to the flea market.
That is when I checked my phone and the horrible news began to unfold.
Another week in America and another mass shooting. Now, I know it is the deadliest one so far.
Details were still not known and I remember thinking how common this has become. How the minute you walk outside your door you don't know if you'll ever return.
Between people looking to do harm with guns, people caring more about their phones than the road and the randomness of life itself we need to take every day as a gift that none of us are promised.
There is evil in the world and it must be dealt with.
There are laws that need to be changed to protect the greater good.
We need to admit that for too long we've ignored issues that are plaguing our world and hoping they wouldn't come to our doorsteps.
But, we also have the ability to insure that we take full advantage of the time we do have.
I'm glad I was oblivious to the horrible events for a few hours yesterday. While many people were sleeping, my daughter and I enjoyed the life we have.
I'm angry and sad. This toxic cocktail of emotions is one that we are having served to us far too often for my likes.
So today as you go about your day, make sure you hug those you love, say hi to those around you and do something with your time.
We never know if tomorrow's first rays of the morning will be seen or not. It isn't a decision we get to make.
SO much needs to change and we each have to do our part to make it happen. We also need to make sure we live our lives. Help our children live theirs.
My heart weeps for those effected by the despicable violence in Orlando and my blood boils with a yearn to punish all those who are currently planning similar events.
I don't know if love beats out hate. I do know that prayers do nothing unless backed up with actions.
My children just left for school. The sad reality is that for the briefest of moments I worry almost every single day.
That isn't how to live life and I know it. It is why I push the worries to the back of my mind, determined to not let it pull me down in a quagmire of doubts and concern.
I saw the morning's first rays and I'm determined to make today count.]]>
That place is Echo Valley in the hills of Vermont.
I've written about this magical spot before for one night escapes and Chapman family celebrations.
So when Clarence I began planning a little time off the grid together, I knew where we were headed and I knew what I'd be doing.
You've got to understand that my Grandfather was a pilot and loved photography. He built model airplanes and had a passion for creating. He would have loved to have access to the technology I get to create with today.
So many people in my family have grown up loving Echo Valley and I wanted to provide them with a view of it that they had never seen and that would make my Grandfather proud.
Watch it and let me know what you think.
As I edited this video together, Moby released his latest album Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep and gave it away to anyone who wanted to use it in their non-commercial projects. I jumped at the chance to legally use one of his tunes and the music set the perfect tone for what I was going for.
Be sure to choose the highest resolution your computer can handle, turn up the volume and maximize the video.
I promise it'll be six minutes of laid back beauty. At least that is what I was trying to create.
Drone photography and videography is something I plan on doing more of in the coming months. Recently I was hired to shoot behind the scenes footage for a special web series and I hope to get more work soon.
Watching the space for the last few years has been exciting. While I enjoy bleeding edge technology, when it comes to my home I usually prefer to wait and let others be the first movers in the space.
When a gadget is only being used by me it is fine, but when it effects my whole family I proceed with more caution.
There has been enough trailblazing in this space that when Verizon offered to send me a free starter kit of Nest products as a member of their Influencer Team I jumped at the opportunity.
If you were not aware, Verizon sells a lot more than just phones and FiOS. In their stores and on their site, they sell a variety of accessories that fit into your total digital life style.
I was given a Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm, Nest Cam Security Camera and a Nest Learning Thermostat.
Set up was super easy for the camera and the smoke detector. It is only a matter of downloading the app to your phone and connecting the devices to your WiFi network.
The Nest App is available on Android and iOS and serves as a dashboard for all the Nest products you install in your house. Adding a new device is as easy as scanning the QR Code on the back of it and instantly it is added to your house.
One improvement that could be made here would be to one click copy over the WiFi information. Currently have to type it in for each new device you add, which is a pain when first setting up everything.
Another design improvement I'd suggest is that since the camera is all black, the power cord should be as well. I don't understand why they chose to make the cord bright white on a device that is flat black.
We are just getting started with all the devices and I plan on sharing a more detailed review after using them for a while, but I can say that so far we are really liking having these.
I've set it up so that the camera only turns on when my phone leaves the house. I had the motion detector turned on, but with pets the notifications became too much to deal with.
While I was on the road this week, my kids had their first experience with the Protect when as they were cooking dinner it began talking to them and vocally warning them that it had detected low level smoke. I wish I could have seen their faces.
We all liked that it gave a warning rather than instantly freaking out and going off. They opened a window and no alarm was sounded.
We don't have air conditioning, so the thermostat won't be doing anything until next winter when we have to turn the heat on. I am super curious about watching it learn, but that will have to wait.
Thank you once again Verizon for feeding my digital lifestyle addiction.
Disclosure – I am a member of the #LifeOnFiOS & VZWBuzz influencer teams from Verizon. From time to time they provide me with gadgets, information and experiences in exchange for articles focused on my digital life style. I control the topics, words, thoughts and everything else. They just get to read and share them.]]>
Prince died and I'm positive he had more to create and do in his life.
Death is coming for all of us and none of us know when we'll take our final breaths and that is why I hit record today so that you could listen to Managing the Gray #147.
Links from the show.
Listen, share and create.
Hope this nudge helps.]]>
There will be two songs played at my funeral. 'Amazing Grace' on the bagpipes and 'Sometimes It Snows In April' by Prince.
Thursday as I closed my lecture at the end of class, my inbox was in the background and the top email's subject line read "Prince Dead at 57" and my first thought was "which Prince died?"
Opening the email, I blurted out "Oh shit, Prince is dead."
The students all gave me a look and Dylan who happened to be in class with me after a college tour of Bentley instantly hugged me and asked if I was ok. I didn't even know how to respond.
The first thought I had in my head was "I can't believe it died. I can't believe it happened in April."
Prince has always been the artist who has had the biggest effect on my life. His music has been used to celebrate, grieve and motivate.
Very few days of my life did not involve one of his songs out of a speaker or in my head. It is just the way it has always been.
I've been writing this post in my head ever since I heard the news. I've been listening to almost nothing but his music. Watching videos, laughing, crying, showing my kids Purple Rain for the first time.
If you did not know how big of a fan I was, you were not that close of a friend.
My phone didn't stop vibrating on Thursday as a slew of notes came in from Friends checking in to see how I was doing. While not as earth shattering as a family member passing, this death is one that won't be out of my mind for a very long time and my friends knew this and checked in on me. I can't begin to express how much that was needed and appreciated. I love you all for it.
You've got to understand that Prince has been my favorite musician since I understood what it was to be a fan of music.
Music was always playing in my house. The radio was rarely off. I grew up on a steady diet of all kinds of music and yet as a child of the Eighties, Prince grabbed me in a way that few could understand.
The first memory I have of Prince was the moment I saw the video for 1999 on MTV.
Getting cable was a big deal and I'd spend hours watching music videos. This new art form and being exposed to such a diverse variety of music was heaven for me.
I still laugh about opening up a 1999 cassette on Christmas morning and my parents informing me that they listened to it to make sure that it was ok for me. I remember this being a bit confusing because while I hadn't heard the whole album yet, I was nine years old and knew there were some questionable things on it.
Looking back I've always wondered if they actually listened to it and we're cool with me being exposed to the unknown, or if it was a fib told by parents. It was still wrapped, so I like to believe it was a combination of the two.
Two years later, my girlfriend would give me a cassette of Purple Rain for my birthday and my parents would give me a copy as well. Both copies would get plenty of play.
Shortly thereafter, my grandparents would be babysitting me and I'd plead with them to let me watch Purple Rain on HBO. I had no idea how awkward this would become, but I'm convinced this movie is what gave me my never ending love of black thigh high stockings and brunettes.
Being online ahead of most of the world, there was a special day when I learned about the world of trading Prince bootlegs. I wish I could recall how I discovered this, but these were the days of Usenet, Telnet and email being an extreme rarity.
Soon little brown packages would begin arriving from around the globe and day after day I'd send out two high quality Maxell tapes per bootleg I wanted. There was no money exchanged. It was all for the love of the music and hearing things I had never heard of before.
Again, my parents barely batted an eye. They asked me about them and I showed them.
One time I remember my dad jokingly walking into my room as I was listening to the latest arrival and him shaking his head with "where did I go wrong with this one?" in reaction to my love of Prince.
Dad, gave me lots of great music. Billy Joel, Van Halen, The Eagles, James Taylor and Harry Chapin all come from him spinning records as we fell asleep at night. But, he could never understand where my love of Prince came from.
If you are not aware, Prince played an aftershow almost every night after a concert. Hours after he completed a concert, he would play a show at a small club.
These were famous for long jam sessions, rare tracks and him at his finest. I still remember the first time I heard Small Club, 2nd Show That Night from The Netherlands and my world never being the same again.
There are so many memories of the man, his music and the way it injected itself as a core part of my life.
When Batman came out, everyone I knew was excited about it. I love movies too so that was part of my excitement, but I was more jazzed about the soundtrack. Prince was doing a movie soundtrack!! Are you kidding me? That is gold.
Or the time in college when I had to take the shuttle into Boston because I needed to buy the Symbol album the moment it came out. Without a car this was my only choice and there was no way I wasn't buying it the second it came out. My roommates were confused and baffled. Thankfully I had headphones so I didn't need to listen to them.
There were always waves of popularity with Prince. He'd have a song hit the charts and suddenly everyone liked him. I loved these moments because I loved people loving him even if it was only for a song that hit the charts.
I got shit my whole life for being a Prince fan. It didn't matter. I knew what I loved and since when have I ever rarely cared what other people thought of me?.
The bootleg days were far behind me since I was listening to CDs and the blossoming new MP3 format that was starting to come out.
Over a conversation with someone from one of my classes at Bentley the topic of Prince came up and this kid was shocked to learn I was a fan.
This happened a lot. True Prince fans loved finding others like them. There was no secret handshake, but there was an instant connection.
Chris, opened my mind again to a whole new world of bootlegs. These were not just aftershow recordings, but unreleased tracks. Studio quality stuff that had been leaked from the vault. Whole albums that were never put up for sale, but were traded around by die hard fans.
I had found gold. Lots and lots of gold!!!
If you listened to my radio show in college, visited my room or came over for a party you were exposed to Prince. Few things made a party more interesting than throwing on P Control late in the night after many drinks. I can't help but grin thinking about some of the things that went on when that was playing.
Thankfully I saw Prince live three times in my life.
First was at DOR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. A smallish venue and he tore the place up. Next, was front row at The Boston Garden. His guitar solo during a cover of Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love is still one of the most amazing performances I've ever seen.
The final time I saw prince was two years ago at Mohegan Sun.
I was SICK to the point of almost not going to the show. Laura had surprised me with tickets for my birthday and this is Prince, so unless I was on a stretcher I was going.
The lights went down and Janelle Monae came on stage. I had no idea she was the opening act and Laura didn't know who she was. I was going nuts. Especially since Prince came out on stage for the opening song.
I had met Janelle the year before and instantly became a fan of her music. How could I not when it was obviously forged in the purple fire?
To give you an idea of how sick I was, as the lights came up at the end of the show I prayed to any gods listening that I would not be given a ticket to the aftershow because I didn't know if I could survive that and if I was given one I certainly wouldn't be able to pass it up.
Prince was an artist beyond art.
He was a man full of talent and whole lived life on his own terms.
How many men could pull off heels, fishnets and still make anyone bow down in amazement as he shredded the guitar or rocked the base.
I've had fun watching people share videos on social media that I've seen a million times. Part of it makes me sad that so many people did not realize how talented he was, but I'm glad that they are discovering it now at least.
How he died does not matter to me, but the fact that he is gone kills me.
The last celebrity death that had any real effect on me was when I heard on the radio that Kurt Cobain was gone. Strange that it happened as I was heading back to Bentley from work.
That hit me hard, but nothing like this.
With every death that happens I've often said in my head how I can't imagine the day Prince dies because I know it is going to be horrible for me. I honestly thought I had many more years before that would happen, but none of have control over that.
The world lost one of its most creative last week.
There will be an endless list of tributes, posts and thoughts. I had to write mine because I had to get the words out of my head. I had to write something to remember a man who had such a big role in the man I am today.
You'll never be able to appreciate how much he meant to me. How important his music is, was and ever shall be. I may not cloak myself in purple, but I sure am hurting inside right now.
I'll always have his music. The world will hear more of it as the doors of his vault finally crack open at some future date.
It is impossible to explain how a stranger's death can have such a devastating effect on me. Perhaps it is because he wasn't a stranger to me even though I did not know him.
Rest in Peace Prince.
Thank you for all that you created.
Photo Credit: My talented friend Valerie Jardin who graciously gave me permission to use it for this post.]]>
They try to pay attention to the road, but every so often they'll drift, swerve or slow down. It is obvious they can't pay attention.
Every study has shown that it is not possible for a human to pay full attention to the road if they are using their phone.
Common sense should tell you that looking up and down away from the road is a distraction and not a good idea.
As the over twenty crowd starts using Snapchat, I've seen more and MORE snaps from people while they are driving.
It upset me so much that I put in place a three strikes and you're out rule. If I see someone snap while driving three times I unfollow them.
Of course, it is very easy to notice when this happens. When a friend tries to send me a snap and they can't it means I'm not following them and I've had two friends ask me straight up why I unfollowed them.
I tell them the truth. Both have given me excuses, but it doesn't matter.
It makes me angry and sad that I've had to unfollow six people I care about because they are stupid enough to drive and use their phones.
If you have kids and use your phone while driving, think about the life in the back seat.
If you are in a car think about every other person around you. Every other mom, dad, son and daughter who you could injure or kill because you just had to snap, tweet or share that moment.
There is nothing important enough to endanger everyone around you. Pull over. Park. Wait until a red light even.
If you text me while I'm driving, you get an autoreply that uses the #ItCanWait hashtag because it is a campaign I want to see more people to become aware of.
I want laws to be passed to make the penalties much harsher. Locally I don't believe the $100 fine makes anyone stop. I have yet to hear of anyone getting one of these tickets. I'd love to see the police start giving tickets for this. All they'd have to do is sit by a toll booth one day and they could write them non stop.
Only dangerous assholes drive and use their phones.
Maybe that is overly blunt, but it is how I feel. You don't care about those around you if you do it and in my book that makes you an asshole.
To my friends reading this who do it, I still love you and usually your not an asshole, but when you do this you are. Nothing is going to change my mind. Please stop it so that no one around you is in danger from your actions anymore.
Life is short enough already. Your Snaps go away after twenty four hours and are not worth more than your or my life.
Be safe out there. PLEASE.]]>
One of my favorite activities is canoe camping, where rule 1 is that you want everything to stay dry.
This photo is my view on a week long paddle in the Boundary Waters with my dad.
Because I don't only hike, camp and canoe when the sun is shining I was excited to be offered a Rockagator RG-25 2nd Generation 40 liter COVERT Series bag to test and review.
If you've never owned a waterproof backpack, you need to understand that most are designed for function over form. That is important because you care more about things inside staying dry than you do what it looks like or how it feels when wearing.
I own several different waterproof bags and most are no more than a big waterproof bag with straps thrown on them. Everything stays dry and you only need to carry them when doing a portage or to camp every night. You don't need to care about comfort because that isn't what is important.
The Rockagator RG-25 though is as good looking and comfortable as it is functional.
The specifications on the RG-25 are:
I brought it out in a New England snow storm to see how it held up and it kept everything inside dry and stayed comfortable when I wore it.
It has a single large capacity compartment, but it also has a handy small internal pocket to keep essentials in.
An outside pocket is handy as well for your phone, maps and other essentials that you don't want to have to open up the main compartment to get to. Just know that isn't a very large compartment.
As you can see, it also has two external mesh pockets that won't hold a standard Nalgene size water bottle, but will easily hold the skinnier variety.
I loved that it has a variety of loops and elastic chord on the outside to strap down any items that you might want to carry and not care if it gets wet.
The external handle was a pleasant surprise too for quickly grabbing and going when you need it.
If I was to buy this for canoe camping, I'd opt for their bright yellow reflective model though because then I could use it to signal people if my adventure went south.
Those of you looking for a tactical friendly go bag that can handle the elements will be happy at the blacked out look of this bag where none of the logos scream for attention.
In my tests, no water got inside which of course is the most important thing.
I loved the padded back and solid shoulder straps. For a big guy like me, I sometimes have a hard time finding comfortable backpacks.
My only worry is how breathable it is when hiking long distances. I haven't had time to put that to the test, but I certainly expect to use this bag on any wet adventures this spring and summer.
All in all I'm impressed with this backpack from Rockagator and I'm going to be curious to see what other products they roll out because this one is constructed so well.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a RG-25 2nd Generation 40 liter COVERT Series bag for free from Rockagator, LLC as coordinated by Outdoor PR in consideration for review publication. Photos, thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
Dogs have a way of becoming an integrated part of yours where it is hard to remember life without them.
Today marks a year since Nadia's 'rescue day' and in some ways it feels much longer and at the same time like yesterday.
Roxie passing occurred in the middle of dark days for me. On top of that, it was the worst winter we have ever had in New England so getting a new dog would have to wait until the spring.
The moment I saw Nadia on Petfinder something drew me to her. Looking back at the smug look on her adoption photo still makes me smile because she looks like a little punk.
We say quite often that she is not the dog we thought we were getting, but she is definitely a Chapman.
Currently at 34 lbs she is smaller than I've ever wanted a dog, but I've grown to love her compact size. Being able to pick up a dog at any time and everyone thinking she is eternally a puppy is fun and something I've never experienced before.
She loves going for walks and when I take her rucking in the woods she goes crazy. Her nose and ears never stop and I'm not sure which of her senses is better.
One thing she does that I love is play fetch. She loves to chase the ball and is quicker than most dogs she plays with. Whenever I'm having a stressful day, fifteen minutes of fetch with her and I feel better.
Working from home, I'm daily reminded of one of her traits that I love. She doesn't bark.
Roxie use to bark at squirrels and every delivery truck. Nadia only barks when she is playing or at the shadows in the woods when she is outside. It is a nice perk of my little furry girl.
It only becomes a problem when we let her outback because she doesn't bark to come in and we've all forgot her outside once or twice. Thankfully she just curls up at the top of our deck stairs and watches over the yard.
We've debated if she could become a lap dog because she loves to cuddle, but I grew up not letting dogs on the furniture and I've been flirting with the idea of a second dog and that could get out of control.
Nadia has brought endless smiles to our family over the last year and I hope we have many more years of laughs ahead of us.
You often see bumper stickers asking the question, "Who Saved Who?" and I understand those better than ever.
Adopting a pet is the best thing in the world and I'll never understand paying for a purebred when there are so many loving animals out there that need to be rescued. If you are thinking about getting a family pet, please check your local shelter or go to Petfinder.com and look at all the adorable faces that could become part of your family.
We'll never know what breeds Nadia is, but I get a kick out of telling people she is either "an all American Mutt" or "a Louisiana Cuddle Pup" since that is where she came from.
Thank you Nadia for being a part of our family.
SocialGood.Club is a new venture that I'm the Co-Founder of with my dear friend Brad Powell.
The conversations began last year as we both found ourselves walking a career path motivated by doing more good in the world.
We both have years of experience conceiving, developing and executing marketing initiatives. The amount of content we've created over the years is staggering when we stopped to think about it.
This sort of work is exactly what I love doing. Consulting with companies and organizations to brainstorm a marketing strategy or campaign that makes sense for them and will deliver the results they desire.
One thing that neither of us are great at is selling sponsorships and thus our first activation #SyncYourInk during SXSW 2015 wasn't as big as we had hoped for.
Thankfully our good friend Jeff Sass and his team at .CLUB stepped up and helped make our idea a reality. He has been a huge supporter in making this happen and we can't thank him enough!
Our goal with the SocialGood.Club is four fold:
To summarize:
Two weeks ago on March 12,2016 during SXSW we opened our SocialGood.Club shop at 1720 Barton Springs Road in Austin, Texas.
There was live music, live art and poetry on demand. Plus, lots of hugs and congratulations from new friends and old who swung by to celebrate with us.
We were lucky enough to have a kind soul who believed in our vision loan us a vintage Airstream trailer that was updated and turned into our storefront.
I can't begin to tell you how amazing it felt to sell our first product to a complete stranger.
We will be donating a portion of our profits to nonprofit organizations that Brad and I choose.
So far we've partnered with a variety of local and international companies to sell their products in our shop.
The masks, bags, hats, dog collars and other products that we are sourcing from Costa Rica are some of the most beautiful.
We are actively working on taking a trip to visit the Boruca people to further our relationship and to create more content so people can see where the money is helping directly in their community. Plus, Brad's been and I haven't so I'm eager to get there!
There are also hand decorated notebooks, gardening kits, laser etched bottles, a high tech meditation chair and leather beverage sleeves that you definitely want one of.
Our stock changes all of the time so come on down and enjoy a variety of great food from The Picnic and shop the store.
Speaking of food, we are excited to announce our campaign with Mighty Fine Burgers to raise money for No Kid Hungry. You buy a gift card and a local family gets a meal. Everyone wins.
We are still very much a bootstrapped organization driven by heart and a determination that there has to be like-minded companies out there. If we can help you in some way please reach out.
You can follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and any day between 12-7 swing by the shop and say hello to Brad.
This has been a long time coming and while I know it won't be easy, I know in my heart that it is a piece of the bigger puzzle that is my life.]]>
Technology empowers us to do amazing things.
We can connect with people around the world. We can form businesses together. We can create together.
But, with all the technology around us, many of you are losing your way and giving in to the automated tools to run your lives.
Yesterday, I added SocialGood.Club to my LinkedIn profile and instantly the automated messages of congratulations began coming in.
If you didn't know, the LinkedIn app has a handy setting where with two clicks it'll send a canned congratulations message to someone when they share news.
Sure, this makes it easy for you to let someone know you are thinking of them (kind of), but I can tell you that when your inbox looks like the image above it does nothing positive for the person receiving them.
In my mind you look lazy. You look desperate. You opted to use your thumb and five seconds instead of using your fingers and thirty seconds of your time to say congratulations in your own words.
Back in December I watched a similar thing happen when my birthday came up on Facebook.
Technology continues to make our lives easier and I love it. But, no matter how powerful the technology around us becomes, we should never lose the basics that make us human.
Thank you to those people who did take the time to send me a quick note, text or comment to say congratulations. I appreciated every single one of them.
Don't forget to be a good person.
Humans are pretty damn awesome too.
Another morning starts with the news of another attack.
They've become too common and with the global climate as it is, I don't see them slowing down.
My heart aches. My brain goes into overdrive.
Of course at the same time I think about my kids and my family. We've talked about how to react and what to do if ever faced with something like this.
I'm a firm believer in being prepared.
But, this morning as I thought about it I realized that Emily doesn't currently have her phone.
Today, the phone is a vital connection device and her not having it that could cause problems if something went wrong.
Butterfly effect in full force.
A modern day parental dilemma.
If you take away a phone for even a day are you causing more stress to them or to you?
My heart goes out to those directly effected by the tragic events today. I've been checking in with friends and so far everyone I know in the area is ok.
It is a sad reality that this is the world we live in. These are the things parents have to think about every day.
A hug and an "I love you" as you close the door every morning.
A bit of worry always in the back of my mind.
Be safe out there.]]>
SXSW is a festival of culture and creativity. My words, not theirs.
Up front, know that I'm an Advisor to SXSW. This means that every year I set aside several hours and go through and judge panels. In return, I'm given a free badge to attend. All other costs are on my dime.
I know that this week there will be posts about the good and the bad. How next year some people won't be attending. How the glory days are over.
The funny thing is that most of these will be written from the perspective of marketers. A group of people that this festival was never created for, but has certainly embraced.
This year at SXSW I learned about how the NFL is embracing sustainability, talked to a robot that is helping with elder care and giggled at real time emoji clouds from live monitoring of the primaries.
I had an amazing steak with a dear friend, chatted with a Bad Robot producer over drinks and made several new connections that I hope turn into business.
Sure there were big marketing installations and for the most part I kept walking by. The thought of standing in line for hours to possibly win something makes zero sense to me when there is so much else going on around the next corner.
We opened up our SocialGood.Club shop and even with the #SXGood crowd once again ignoring us, we planted the seeds for a lot of good in the future.
Plus, every time someone talked to me about my "activation" I was given the chance to explain to them that it was far from just that. (More on that in a separate post.)
I had the pleasure of talking to people about Digaboom, Wediko and Bentley everywhere I went.
The conversations you hear and the contacts you make is where the magic is.
There are too many panels and too much information, but that is why this is a festival and not a conference. It is up to you to prioritize what you must see and then go and check it out.
The fact that I can be learning about the expressive nature of tattoos one minute and the next learning how Nascar is using Snapchat at the same event is inspiring to me.
I approach SXSW with an open mind, a soon to be filled notebook and the willingness to see where the weekend takes me.
People need to stop looking for the next breakout _______ and instead focus on getting exposed to all that is on the horizon.
I enjoy riding the bleeding edge of the wave and SXSW always gives me a peek into the next several years (and beyond) to see what I might want to focus on and try out.
Thank you SXSW for once again refueling my fire and giving me focus and inspiration for the months ahead.
See you next March.]]>
Some days start with a bunch of little things that get in the way of getting off on the right foot.
Today was certainly one of those.
Nothing earth shattering. Nothing to worry about.
But, still as I try to find focus, be productive and get ready for the day ahead these little things pile up and get in the way of the brain doing what it is suppose to be doing.
I teach today and tomorrow and then Thursday I'm off to Austin for SXSW. The time there will be a mix of all that makes SXSW what it is.
I need to come home with at least one new client or else the trip won't be worth it.
Laura and I spent some time this weekend looking at the summer ahead. Amazing how fast and full it can become without even blinking.
Last night Nadia slept for the first time without her crate door shut. It is a little thing, but a big one in the life of a pup.
March is off to a good start all around and the rest of the month I hope goes even better.
Lambs or Lions? No idea yet.]]>
To savor or to binge?
That is a question I face this weekend as the new season of House of Cards is now live on Netflix.
Last season I tried to savor it a bit. To let it breath and take my time with it.
I made Season 3 last a full week and then it was done.
I try to keep my consumption to no more than three episodes at a time and with everything else going on in my life that is usually very easy.
The kids tell me I'm crazy for even raising the question. They are the binge culture and hate waiting to see what happens next week.
Thankfully, I'm off to do a photoshoot this morning so the temptation (and the decision) is set aside until tonight at the earliest.
I know I'll watch at least the first episode tonight and then we'll see where it goes from there.
Everything in moderation is perfect advice for life. I want to have the will power to stretch this out and enjoy it for every amazing moment that I know it will contain.
Wish me luck.]]>
Snapchat of course is the latest one that is confusing so many.
"I just don't know how I'm going to use it?"
"It is too confusing for me to figure out so I don't see the point."
"I can't figure out how to use this for marketing."
All real statements I've read, seen or watched over the past few weeks.
Remember when something new would come on the scene and people would simply play with it? Install it on their phones, click around, babble and just see what they got out of it.
Whenever I get something new to play with that is exactly what I do. I usually end up posting some stupid stuff, making mistakes and sharing it with the world.
I do this because I'm comfortable enough not to worry about "my brand" or "how can I leverage this for clients" because I know in the beginning it is not about any of that.
It is about play and experimentation.
Of course in the back of my head I'm always wondering how I can use everything to help my clients. But, I don't allow that to get in the way of the creative fun.
Before my class Tuesday night at Bentley, I set up a custom geofilter for my class so that I could have my students experiment with it. We all got a good laugh out of it and while I didn't see what they posted, I hope they enjoyed it.
With everything going on in the world, it makes me shake my head what some people choose to worry and stress about.
Take a deep breath and play.
And don't forget that the uninstall button is never far away and I promise life will go on for you.]]>
Gloomy and gray is how we find ourselves this morning in the woods outside of Boston.
Nothing was "super" about yesterday. It was more of standard issue Tuesday according to my sources.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are pumping out of my speakers. The new album isn't as 'up' as the last one, but tons of artistic commentary which I'm glad to hear.
We need more artists in all mediums to step up and address the topics of the day. A post in my head is brewing about how we might see more of this in the coming months as our country becomes more divided.
My plans to get outside today to take aerial photographs with the drone are sidelined by Mother Nature. It is ok, I still love her.
Instead, I'll focus on a magazine article that is due, a requested blog post and perhaps putting the final touches on the latest draft of a book proposal. That sounds like a productive day to me.
I'm going to create. I'm going to do.
You should too.]]>
Those were the three words that hit me right in the heart and soul.
It was a short email. It was a response to an equally quick email that I sent to someone never expecting a response.
I consume more than I create and that is problem.
It is a problem I've been trying to deal with and have been losing at.
Consuming a recent video, the person being interviewed talked about how too many people get fulfillment from clicking, sharing and commenting that it gets in the way of them actually doing.
Yup, I've been there. I call it "getting lost in the clickstream" and some days I give in and float down the constant river of drivel that hits my screen.
At the end of the day I look back and wonder what I accomplished. The truth being almost nothing.
Building things from scratch use to mean chopping down a tree and making something of it. We use to grow the vegetables, raise the animal and then cook our meals.
Today, I create with my fingers, eyes and heart. I almost never create with my hands.
Building companies, creating movements, trying to make a difference in the world.
All of this is great for my soul, but not always for my wallet.
How can I get paid for this? Why isn't someone sponsoring this and throwing their money away on that?
These questions plague me as I push forward and continue to find a way to make it all work.
Some days all it takes is an email to make the little black raincloud go away.
These three words from someone I admire and respect have become a new mantra for me.
A daily reminder that what I'm doing is with a goal in mind. It is with a purpose. It is never for the clicks. Never for the glory. It is for the good.
Tonight I'll enter a classroom like I do every Tuesday night. It might not be the arena, but for the 150 minutes I'm in there I give it my all.
The calendar flipped to March this morning. SXSW is on the horizon and I wonder what those few days in Austin will hold. They certainly aren't holding what I've been trying to make them hold for months, but I know I'm going to leave there with a full heart and a renewed soul.
Creating fuels me. Thinking turns me on.
Some days all it takes is three little words to kick start you in the right direction.
Last night Emily and I enjoyed opening night for The Boston Ballet's season with a performance of Onegin.
We were invited as press and given two free tickets to attend the show.
Ballet is an art form that I never fully appreciated until we began to attend performances on a semi-regular basis. With every performance I see, my appreciation of it grows.
Onegin is based on Alexander Pushkin's narrative poem telling the story of unrequited love in the high society of Russia.
First performed in America by the Boston Ballet in 1994, it has quickly become a favorite of audiences and dancers, everywhere.
What I've learned to appreciate most about ballet is that an emotional story can be told through only dance and music. That is not an easy task to do and last night it was a powerful moment to feel the emotions pouring forth from the dancers on stage.
This darkly emotional performance is easily the best I have ever seen and honestly makes me want to see more ballet.
It is full of themes that anyone can relate to. The first pings of young love and then being pushed away by the object of your affection. Making decisions that you regret for the rest of your life and when hope shines in the direction of redemption only to never arrive.
Onegin is running until only March 6th, so buy tickets now if you want to catch this bit of beauty.
Of course, The Boston Ballet has a full season this year including Kaleidoscope, Swan Lake and Mirrors.
Thank you to The Boston Ballet for providing me with these photos beautiful photos taken by Gene Schiavone and inviting us to the show.
These Daddy & Daughter Dates are always special experiences for Emily and I.]]>
I'm much happier outdoors than I'll ever be behind a desk. When I was asked if I'd be interested in reviewing the LifeStraw Go from Eartheasy, I instantly said yes.
From the moment I first heard of the original LifeStraw I was intrigued.
I've been backpacking and camping for years and know how important it is to filter your water. After my trip to Ghana in 2012, I had a new appreciation for the importance of clean drinking water when I traveled.
My family bought me a LifeStraw for Christmas a few years ago and I carry it in my ruck whenever I'm out hiking as a backup to our standard water filter.
The problem with the straw is I have to be at a water source to use it.
It is great to stick in a cold mountain stream and suck water through, but later when I'm no where near water it isn't helpful.
The LifeStraw Go is a water bottle with a built in water filter. All the features of the original with the added value of being able to take the water with you.
I first tried it out around the house. Thankfully it does not add any flavor to the water and it is easy to suck the water through the filter.
It went with us on a family ruck and performed great. Putting water into it and drinking it didn't make me sick so I'm taking that as a good sign the filters work.
The water bottle is slim at only 9.25" (235 mm) long and 3.14" (80 mm) in diameter so it fits into almost any outside pocket you might have on your bag. Holding 22oz is plenty since you can refill it from any water source you find.
One small addition I'd like them to add is a fill line on the bottle so that you remember not to fill it up past that and splash water all over yourself when you stick the filter back in.
The LifeStraw Go comes with an attached carabiner that is useful to clip onto your pack so you don't lose the water bottle if you are going through rough terrain or suffer a fall.
All in all, I was impressed with the product and know that I'll bring it on my global adventures in the future and use it with confidence.
Also, I'm a fan of the companies practice of donating water to children in need for every product purchased. Follow the liters here to learn more.
Glad I got to try this out and I know it'll get plenty of use this summer when I hit the trails.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a LifeStraw Go for free from Eartheasy as coordinated by Outdoor PR in consideration for review publication.]]>
I talked to a friend recently as she sat getting her latest dose of chemotherapy. As we chatted, it was obvious that she had chosen it to be a good day. She was smiling and talkative even as she sat fighting for her life.
Another day I talked to a buddy who had landed a new contract and had spent a chunk of money on some cool new gear. Yet, as we talked he was complaining about politics and how angry certain candidates made him. He had chosen to be angry and distracted by things that didn't effect his daily life.
Neither of these is right or wrong, but we do have a choice.
Some days suck more than others. The sun isn't always shining. Mondays are rarely pleasant. Sunday mornings are bliss.
Any freelancer, consultant or entrepreneur knows the daily challenges that comes with that life.
We don't know where the next paycheck is coming from. Change is a constant in our lives. We are given many freedoms, but they come with having to dance with demons too.
A phone call with a friend yesterday lead to the topic of optimism. We talked a lot about what it is and how people choose to use it in their lives.
I hope we talk more about it because it involved a client of hers and I would love to be involved some how.
Hours after we hung up the phone I was still thinking about it. Thinking about how I watch people fall into the trap of anger and argument online for no real reason or benefit.
It is an easy time of year for that with the campaigns in full swing and winter making our moods darker.
I needed time to process the words more and find the right ones to tell my tale. Instead I grabbed my camera and filmed this video to collect my thoughts.
Off the top of your head can be dangerous, but it is when I do my best creating. Doing it this way is the only way to be honest so it has always been my approach.
Watch my video and then let me know your thoughts.
Make it a great day.]]>
Yesterday, someone complained in my direction on Twitter about Snapchat being another marketing tool that she didn't want to have to deal with.
I laughed about it because this is the same argument people have used for every single app, site and tool that has been released online.
Today because of her I'm going to talk about hammers.
Most of us probably have at least one hammer in our house. I checked and we have three of them.
Over the years those hammers have been used to break up ice, hang photos on the wall and build clubhouses in the woods for my kids. Thanks Poppa!
Hammers have lots of uses because they are tools.
In the right hands they can build houses to shelter people. In the wrong hands they can murder people.
In the guy's hand above, he uses one to put nails in his nose at King Richard's Faire. He isn't good or bad, just a bit on the strange side!
YOU choose how to use a tool.
YOU can use it for whatever you want and someone else can use it for something completely different.
Are some tools more dangerous than others? Yup, but that is a whole other conversation.
Can Snapchat be used for marketing? Of course it can!
Is marketing the only thing Snapchat can be used for? Heck no!
As you go about your day using things like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Peach (ha!) or any other social empowering tool, use it as it makes sense to you and don't judge others on how they choose to use it.
If you don't want to deal with a tool, you don't have to.
After all, I like having a hammer in my house, but I'm never going to use it to smash anything into my body.
Make it a great day and watch out for the tools.]]>
My kids are teenagers and I don't think there are apps I use specifically for parenting, so I took a bit of a different approach in the hope that the listeners would find at least one that they liked.
We live in a mixed phone family with both iPhones and Androids in the house so I wanted to only share apps that work on both.
Travel is a big part of my life and I'll book speaking engagements sometimes as far out as a year in advance. TripIt keeps all of my details for traveling organized and up to date.
I've been a paying customer for years and last year had the opportunity to appear in their latest commercial.
As the person who does the majority of the grocery shopping and cooking in our house, I'm always forgetting to pick something up at the store.
After looking around and trying out several different shared grocery list apps, our family has decided on using Bring!
It works on both iOS and Android and it simply works. The kids or my wife can see and add to the lists whenever they need to. I also love that as I'm about to go to the store I can push out a notification to let them know if they have any last minute additions it needs to be now.
Parents need to use the tools their kids are using so that they are both educated about them, but also to communicate with them.
My teenagers use this to communicate with their friends all the time and by following their stories I get to peek a little inside of their lives outside of the house.
It also allows them to stay in touch with me when I'm on the road and to follow along on my travels by following what I create and share.
One of the reasons I love photography and take so many photos is I love being having a way to look back at the past.
Every day I open up Timehop and I'm presented with checkins, posts and photos of what I was doing on that exact day over the past eight years.
This morning it was showing me photos from our family trip to Atlantis six years ago and tomorrow something else on it will make me smile.
If you post on social media, I can't understand why you wouldn't be using this.
Laura has really gotten into the world of geocaching so this app comes in handy.
No matter where we are in the world, we can open it up and see if there are any hidden treasures nearby.
This is an activity that anyone can participate in and it gets that family off of the couch and out in nature.
I do have to add a late addition to this that might not be perfect for parenting, but it sure does help with this parent's sanity and that is the latest Verizon FiOS apps.
I recently forgot to set up recording of a few new shows and got in trouble for it, but quickly added them from my phone while away from the house. Any app that can help me calm down an angry teenager is a good one in my book and these certainly did that so thank you!
What apps are you and your family using?
Any break out hits that I've got to try?]]>
When asked what you'd like to see me create in 2016 many of you answered with some version of more teaching items.
So, when I was asked why I thought Snapchat was going to have such a great year, I decided to make a video explaining how I use Snapchat.
Right now it is one of the more pure social networks where marketing and advertising hasn't invaded too hard, but of course it is coming.
Watch this video if you've ever wondered "why would I ever use Snapchat?"
It has quickly become my moment sharing application of choice. I don't have to think much beyond "I want to share this" and then I do.
When traveling I definitely use it more because it allows me to share the trip with my family. If you follow me this week you are going to see lots of bourbon as I head to Louisville to speak.
As with every app, network and tool it is up to you to determine how and if it works for you and your business. There are very few MUSTS in this world.]]>
Alastair Humphreys introduced me to the term Microadventures in his latest book.
The concept is that people feel they need to go on a three month expedition to a far off land to have an adventure, when in fact a single overnight in the wild of your backyard can be just as stimulating.
This is a concept I embrace and try to practice, so when my friend Clarence asked if I wanted to take a day trip to New York City with him "for walking, talking, taking photos and eating a good steak" I instantly said yes.
3:45 am and the alarm goes off.
Snooze is hit without a second thought, yet my brain is stirred as it remembers why the alarm is set knowing there is fresh coffee and a hot shower if I rise out of bed.
6:21 am the crowd hustles up to the yellow line as the Acela glides into the train station.
I've packed light with only my fleece, Kindle, NX500, Venture 30 and notebook in my GR0. We wanted to travel light and I knew we'd talk the whole ride back and forth so there was no need for distractions or laptops.
Emerging from Penn Station is always an interesting moment.
The mixed cocktail of winter and hustle slapping you in the face always takes a couple of seconds before the body and brain figures out that it isn't a threat and to embrace it.
Yet, as we emerged both of us instantly noticed a change. A bit of confusion.
"Where are all the people at?"
Clarence wondered this allowed and I nodded in agreement. There was no taxi line, no one trying to push themselves on to you and no security anywhere.
We took in a deep breath, shared our eagerness for the release of The Division and began our walk of the city.
Clarence had a craving for people and shortly we found ourselves in Times Square where you are always guaranteed to find all kinds of humanity.
We giggled as the breeze was still bringing down confetti from the 2016 celebrations. Tourists were being tourists. We had out fun with the spectacle, but moved on to better areas.
The subway hid from us, but Alice showed us the way and we emerged once more from under the city.
Walking, without much more than a loose idea of where we may end up, we enjoyed the sights and sounds of SoHo.
You can't visit this area without checking out the boutiques you find there. A possible shirt from The Hundreds and a long conversation with the team at Best Made Company.
After the talk of axes, shirts and what makes Best Made who they are, we headed towards our steak lunch. Several suggestions had been made and The Palm won.
Far from the best steak I've ever had, but certainly done right and without any of the baggage that a good steak in New York sometimes requires.
Checking in on Path, I discovered that we were mere blocks from where the World Trade Centers stood.
To stand at the 9-11 Memorial, to read the names, look up in the blue sky and pay respect was a powerful moment that neither of us had planned for.
Emotions were raw and watching tourists with selfie sticks and families pose for photos was confusing and anger fueling. We kept walking, thinking and saying nothing.
The lack of people throughout New York City was strange. We determined it must be a combination of the first work week of the year and everyone having already taken their vacation time for the holidays.
The other trend of the day were all the Christmas trees on the street. It was sad to see some still covered in lights, but it was fun to see other people having a sense of humor with their trash.
As the sun set, we found ourselves grabbing fast-food dumplings on the NYU campus before boarding our train and heading home.
Sadly, I didn't wake up this morning a Powerball winner, but I awoke refreshed and filled with a renewed sense of purpose and a camera full of photos.
Clarence, thank you for inviting me on this creative microadventure and for taking this photo of me doing what I love to do.
New York, thank you for once again surprising me.
Since April 2014 I've been lost.
The stories of the months since then are for another time, but needless to say there have been some dark days and lonely times.
2016 is all about putting those behind me finally and successfully moving forward.
Once I had determined that focus, going through my yearly three word exercise was easier than ever. I also changed it a bit by allowing myself to choose phrases instead of single words since everything that came to me was in that format.
As I sit here typing this on the first day of the new year, I feel good. I feel positive.
I don't know where 2016 will bring me, but I know these are the three things I'll be focusing on.
I've always been able to let go of the past, but recently I've had a harder time.
That is never healthy and I'm vowing to myself to put those moments behind me, learn from them and keep walking forward. Nothing positive comes of spending months upset by the past when you've got a lot more paths ahead of you that need to be traveled.
This also means a lot more long term planning when possible. There is a lot I still want to do on this big blue marble, so today is the perfect time to start.
The artist in me loves to create and that isn't ever going to change.
There will be plenty of random photos and brain dump posts, but I want to balance those out with more creations that is done for a very direct purpose.
This also extends beyond content to a lot more. There are several projects I've been working on that I hope will come to light in the year and they certainly will be purpose driven.
I'm planning on a lot more video, tons more words, photographs galore and more physical manifestations of purpose.
I haven't been moving enough. There has been too much time spent at my desk in my home office.
I need to get up and get out. I need to move, see new places and spend time away from the computer screen.
Technology allows me to do my work from anywhere and yet 99% of the time I find myself right here doing it.
I need to take my camera for walks, my laptop to new locations and my feet one in front of the other on trails around the world.
Wanderlust is always pulling at me and I'd love to see at least one new country this year.
Only a few hours into 2016 and we've already had a mini power outage and I've eaten a bowl of Accident Hash. Not a bad way to start the year in my book.
If you took part in the three word exercise, please let me know what words you chose or a link to your post so that I can check them out.
I hope that 2016 is an amazing year for you and I'm going to work harder than ever to make sure it is for those around me.
Happy New Year.]]>
This morning I was pondering ways that Verizon could improve their FiOS App by giving me the ability to download content I've recorded on my DVR to watch anytime I'm traveling.
They now allow you to stream DVR recorded shows, but I want to watch it without a WiFi connection.
If they really want to make it sweeter, they could make it a perk of being a Verizon Wireless customer or make it so that you could stream your recordings without it counting towards your data usage.
Yes, here in Boston as the first snow of the season falls (and sadly is now nothing but sleet) this is what I was pondering.
But, as I thought about that and found a handful of bad PR pitches for new products coming out at CES, I found myself thinking about what I'd love to see unveiled at CES 2016.
Until I started flying one, I never thought about how big drones are.
Sure, there are small ones you can play with, but I'm focusing on ones for work. Drones that can shoot high quality video and photos.
I'm a minimalist traveler and thus size does matter to me. Drones are big and bulky and don't breakdown a whole lot.
On top of that the backpack selections to safely carry them are lacking. The Lowepro DroneGuard Cases seem to be the best out there, but even those won't fit mine and they have to improve before I'll buy one.
With high quality cameras getting smaller every year, I hope UAVs of all sorts begin to shrink for easier transportation.
Between the FAA requiring registration and Amazon's new drone page it is obvious this is a market segment that is going to continue to grow.
Even though I'm an Imagelogger, we don't get any inside information so please don't take this as a scoop.
The Samsung NX1 has become my workhorse camera, but I do miss the full frame sensor of my much beloved Canon 5D Mark III from time to time.
Other mirrorless camera manufacturers have begun announcing full frame sensors, so I imagine it'll only be a matter of time before Samsung announces one.
They always unveil new goodies at CES, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
It bugs me that I can wirelessly charge my Droid Turbo, but that no one else in our house has that option with their phones.
I know there are competing standards at the moment, but I'm hoping someone wins so that we can start having smart counter tops, desks and other surfaces where setting down our devices will recharge and power them.
If we reach a standard, all manufacturers would begin to add this capability to their products. I long for that day.
Everything we use doesn't have enough power to use it as often as we'd like without being recharged so why haven't better batteries been invented.
Tesla is moving things in the right direction, but I long for a phone that can be used as much as I use it for a full day without lusting for an outlet. I never want to worry about my laptop not having enough juice when I'm traveling.
Please someone make this happen.
Smart home technology will continue to roll out and as people connect everything in their house to the Internet it opens them to a variety of security holes.
There needs to be protection being built at the same time. All of these electronic locks, thermostats connected to the cloud and video security cameras can be hacked into and with people plugging in devices from all sorts of manufacturers there is an opportunity for products that will protect all of them.
As I was typing this the batteries in my mouse died. I hate changing batteries in products.
I bought a Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard a while ago and love it. The sun coming in through my office windows mean I never have to worry about it working or finding batteries when I'm in the middle of using it.
I was given several Goal Zero products as gifts and even when I'm at home I'll pop open the solar panels to recharge things. Why pay for electricity when I don't have to?
Why do we have to change batteries in our television remotes, outside speakers or other devices. Ever since we had SolarCity solar panels installed on our house last winter, I'm constantly thinking about ways we could unplug and still have our technology. Hopefully manufacturers are thinking about this as well.
Texting and driving pisses me off. Ask any of my friends who I've caught doing it, how much tolerance I have for it. (the answer is none)
While the laws are doing very little to curb this from happening, I would love to see technology help out.
Our phones automatically connect to our cars via bluetooth. When this happens all cars and all phones should go into a driving mode where texts are read, screens are turned off to the touch and the two work in combination to keep humans from being stupid behind the wheel in whatever way they can.
I've talked before about how Motorola already does this with their phones, but I want to see it built into all cars and phones so that it becomes commonplace.
I tried to use a fitness tracker. In fact, I've used them from Nike, FitBit and Jawbone.
All of them worked great in the beginning but over time broke for one reason or another.
I've finally given up on them because for an average dude like me, they are not worth the cost if I have to replace them every year.
The benefits of them were great and I loved them, but I'm holding out hope that there will be better ones coming soon.
Those are the things I'm hoping for from CES. What about you? Anything you are eager to have on your gadget lust list?]]>
The end of the year is always a powerful time for me to look back at the last twelve months and ponder where I've been and what I've seen.
Being a photographer means that I take photographs every single day and over the course of a year that means thousands of photos.
Thank you again to the team behind the Samsung Imagelogger program for having me as a proud member. The majority of these photos were taken with either my Samsung NX1 or NX500.
If you want to follow me around in 2016, my Instagram account is the place to go.
The following photos are in chronological order.
I wonder where 2016 will take me and my cameras? No matter where I go, you can be sure I'll share it with you and the world.]]>
End of the year + Christmas + My Birthday = C.C. in a reflective mood.
This latest journey around the sun was better than the last one and yet I feel as if I have not accomplished much.
I spoke on stages from Seattle to The Netherlands, had my life outlook changed by attending my first Muster and visited family in Maryland and Arizona.
But, a lot of time was spent mentally digging out of the hole I found myself in last December and trying to lay the foundation for moving forward.
Truly, I spent too much time sitting and clicking. That needs to change.
I'm blessed that my family is happy and healthy. Several dear friends have not been so lucky and recent events remind me how blessed I am.
In the coming year I want to create more. Sell my art, skills and experience without selling my soul.
After writing more on this, I decided to erase it and record a video update instead. Definitely glad I sat on this post for twenty four hours to get my head in the right place.]]>
My grandfather designed, built and flew model airplanes. These were not from kits or out of a box.
I remember the first time he handed me the controls and asked if I wanted to land one for him. What little kid would say no? Of course, I ended up crashing it.
Fast forward to this morning when I found myself standing by second base on the baseball field and flying my first drone.
The team at Horizon Hobby sent me a Chroma 4k Drone to try out and review.
Drone photography and video is something I've always been eager to try and having this arrive just before my birthday was a perfect surprise.
I'll be posting a full review once I've used it more, but I wanted to provide some initial thoughts immediately after using it.
Thanks to a "safe" mode, I was able to take off and start flying almost immediately.
Flying in this mode puts a protective barrier around the controller so you don't have to worry about hurting yourself and it limits the controls to the most basic of directions so you don't do any flips and crashes.
There is also a switch to instantly put it into "home" mode which brings it right back to where it took off from. All of my tests with this worked perfectly.
My only complaint so far is that there isn't a manual of any sort to walk you through everything I needed to know. There is no audio in the videos that follow because the default setting is for no audio. This makes sense, but I wish I had known.
Here is a video of my first flight. I went to a wide open field where I wouldn't have to worry about people, trees or buildings.
It comes with a built in stabilizer for the camera and I wanted to see how steady it would keep it and you can see it performed very well as I jerked it around.
Finally, the FAA has set regulations of 400 feet as the maximum height drones can be flown. I discovered that I could program a maximum height into the software, so being a good citizen I set it at 390 feet and sent it up to see how high that was. Definitely high enough for me.
All of these videos are straight off the memory card and uploaded to YouTube. They are compressed by the site, but I'm blown away with how great the quality is for someone that doesn't even know what they are doing yet.
The ST-10+ Controller has a built in Android touch screen so you can see what the drone sees at any time, plus giving you tons of real time data. Here is my proof to the FAA that I was flying legally.
With thirty minutes of flight time per battery, the Chroma 4K is a powerful piece of equipment that I'm eager to use in my storytelling adventures.
Sure, I could only take drone selfies (dronies?) like this one, but I've got bigger plans than that.
You can find out all the details about this drone and the complete line of Chroma Drones at FlyChroma.com.
Don't forget that if you get a drone for Christmas that starting on December 21, 2015 you must register it with the FAA.
Disclosure – Horizon Hobby has given me the drone with the expectation of a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]]>
I've served on the Board for a number of years and am now the President of the Board.
Wediko Children's Services is a non-profit organization committed to improving children's lives. Using a strength-based approach, Wediko responds to the needs of children who face repeated obstacles to development due to emotional, behavioral, environmental, and learning issues. Through a continuum of flexible services and multi-disciplinary training programs, Wediko develops enduring partnerships with children, families, schools, and the community. Wediko strives to capture success and restore a sense of competence and hope.
I like to say Wediko makes every child's life they work with better.
Started in 1934, their focus on children's mental health is what drew me to them. I love their philosophy that to make progress with any child, the family had to be involved.
Every year, the family and I take part in the Climb For Kids, which is a major fund raiser for Wediko. We climb up 46 flights of stairs. Last year we even all did it with our weighted rucks on!
Soon you'll be able to take part in next year's climb and I really want to see Team Chapman take it to a whole new level this year.
Donations are always needed to keep an organization like this going.
We also have teams race the New York and Boston Marathons (and still have numbers if you are interested).
The work Wediko does is amazing and I hope you'll consider giving to them this year.]]>
Sadly, our country doesn't treat those who fight wars for us very well.
All it takes is one look at the number of veteran focused charities to know that they exist to fill the gap left by our own government.
I'm blessed to have friends and family who have donned the uniform to protect our country and even wanted to wear one myself, but couldn't.
For years, Laura and I have donated to the Fisher House Foundation.
They build houses next to VA hospitals where family members can stay for free while their loved ones are receiving the care they need.
There is at least one Fisher House at every major military medical center. Since 1990 they've served more than 250,000 families with over 5.5 million days of lodging. This has saved those families an estimated $282 million in lodging and transportation costs.
By law, there is no charge for any family to stay at a Fisher House operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs; and Fisher House Foundation uses donations to reimburse the individual Fisher Houses operated by the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
No family pays to stay at any Fisher House!
I had the pleasure of visiting Fisher House Boston in the past and got to see first hand how beautiful the accommodations are. I still hope to bring the family back to volunteer and cook a meal for those staying there.
Your donations go towards helping them maintain current houses, build new ones and make sure that veterans from all wars are surrounded by those they love when going through a hospital stay.
If you are a frequent flyer, please consider donating miles to help fly family members and veterans to treatment.
They also do a lot of other work beyond just the houses and if you are a veteran be sure to look at their get help section to see how they may serve you.
To all the women and men who serve our country as soldiers, I say thank you.
I'm glad that organizations like the Fisher House Foundation exist to help during any time you need it in your life.]]>
With #GivingTuesday landing on the first day of December this year, I thought I would focus my writing for the next little while on charitable organizations that I love and that I hope you'll take the time to find out more about and donate to if you have the means.
I'm starting today with No Kid Hungry.
No Kid Hungry wants to make sure that every child in the United States receives the daily nutrition they need to learn, grow and play.
In a country as rich as ours, we should not have the problem of 1 in 5 kids not getting the food they need!
It is a problem that there is a solution for and you can help.
I'm a member of the Social Council for No Kid Hungry and this year I'm personally taking part in the fund raising efforts.
Please support my efforts with a donation.
Today, your donation feeds even more kids as Hickory Farms and Kettle Brand have stepped up to match all donation up to $100,000.
I love seeing corporations stepping up and caring about the world around them. Definitely take a moment to thank them for their support.
No Kid Hungry does amazing work all around our country and I hope you'll find out more about them and support in any way you can.]]>
Our phones can do amazing things, but none more powerful than connecting your voice with those you care about. Be sure to call those you love to let them know you are thinking about them.
Also, take some time to connect with friends you may not have seen in a while. No one minds hearing from someone they care about. Especially during the holidays.
Johnson & Johnson has an app called Donate a Photo that you can install on both Android and iOS that will allow you to take a photo and by posting it via their app make donations to your favorite causes.
It of course connects with Facebook, Instagram and other services so that your friends won't miss any photos.
You also get to choose the types of causes you want your efforts to donate to.
A perfect win-win!
Sadly, this app is currently only available for Android phones, but once DreamLab is installed your phone becomes part of something bigger.
When it's plugged in and fully charged, each phone is given a tiny part of a research problem, processes it and sends the result back to the research team at Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
Charity Miles is similar to many fitness tracking apps that keeps track of how far you run, walk or ruck to stay active.
One very big difference though is that you choose which charity you want to have each mile donated to. You get out and get moving and your favorite charity gets money. How great is that?
Consider installing it before your Thanksgiving morning turkey trot or as a great way to get the family up and moving after eating way too much.
Available for both iOS and Android it takes something you should be doing and adds some icing to the cake.
If you were not aware, the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving is known as Giving Tuesday. A national day to encourage everyone to give to the organizations that matter to them.
This year I'm raising funds for No Kid Hungry to insure that no child in the United States goes hungry.
Every $1 you donate can provide up to 10 meals to hungry kids right here in America.
This year your impact will be doubled thanks to Hickory Farms and Kettle Brand Chips matching all donations up to $100,000 total!
Please donate what you can and then also give to the other causes you believe in.
I want to thank everyone involved with the #LifeOnFios and #VZWBuzz teams for another great year of working together to spread knowledge about technology in the home and on the road. I've made some great friends through the program and I'm glad that Verizon FiOS and Verizon Wireless continue to support these programs.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Love it or hate it, Facebook is part of our lives.
Even with all the other technology we have in our lives, most of us learn news from our family and friends on Facebook.
As it becomes more integrated into our daily lives, it is apparent that it has also warped our basic human interactions. The way we treat other people and the forgetting of manners.
I made the mistake years ago of opening up my Facebook. This was before pages existed and when I had fans of my podcasts trying to connect and being sad when I turned them down.
Instead of an intimate gathering place of those closest to me, it turned into a mish-mash of people from around the world. Some I only knew from letters on a screen.
Someday I hope Facebook makes it easier to prune your friends to clean up the mess I made, but that is a whole other topic.
Whenever I open up Facebook I see a variety of faces from around the world. Thus, there are a variety of different religions, locations and beliefs.
This weekend as the horrible events were happening in Paris, I went to Facebook to check in on the few friends I knew lived there.
The mix of raw emotions, sharing of reports (not news) and outpouring of love and hate was enough to rattle the strongest of souls.
I also saw plenty of these raw emotions pouring out as comments on friends and strangers posts.
My rule when it comes to Facebook is I try to only leave positive or constructive comments on people's walls.
It is their wall. I wouldn't come into someone's house and start criticizing their color choices or wall hangings. I was raised better than that.
Sure, if some asks a question I will answer.
But, seeing something I don't agree with or perhaps am even offended with? There is an unfollow and unfriend button for a reason. I'd rather do that than spit hate.
I wish more people would think before they post. Every day I see people typing things and I wonder if they'd say the exact same words if they were face-to-face with the person.
A wall is not an invitation for you to spew whatever you want all over it.
If it bothers you, keep scrolling.
If it offends you, unfollow or unfriend.
Life is better when you surround yourself with a diverse group of people.
This means that if you've done it right you are going to be exposed to some vastly different opinions and beliefs than your own.
You do NOT need to point out how wrong people are every chance you get.
In fact, there are a million better ways to spend those minutes you've chosen to slam your keys and wait to see the response.
Read, get that pit in your stomach and move on. Keep scrolling until you find a post that makes you smile.
It works for me. It'll work for you.
Someone's Facebook wall is your wall. They've chosen to let you in to look at it. You don't have to be there.]]>
Autumn is my favorite time of year in New England.
The crispness in the air and exploding colors of the woods always makes me smile as I soak up every moment of it before Old Man Winter decides to roll into town.
So when the invite came from The Hermitage Club to bring my family up and spend a media weekend with them I couldn't say no.
In full disclosure, once we drove ourselves up they took care of all other expenses for the weekend.
The Hermitage Club sits atop Haystack Mountain in the picturesque Deerfield Valley of Vermont.
Founder Jim Barnes had a vision of a luxury ski resort with no lift lines and a welcoming family friendly atmosphere. As he continues to build upon this vision, it seems he is well on the way to accomplishing it.
We arrived at The Vermont House where we'd be staying for the weekend.
It is one of several accommodation options owned by the Hermitage Club where members and guests can stay. Free shuttles are provided for the short ride from any of the Inns to the mountain in luxury Sprinter vans which are only a call away when you desire one.
The kids loved that they each had their own bedroom with bathroom, while I loved sitting on the balcony rocking away the minutes with my coffee.
Now, you need to understand that I'm not a skier myself, but members of my family love to ski and snowboard so they were a bit bummed that we were visiting when there was no snow on the ground.
But, we were happy to discover that there are year round activities there and that the promise of a four season resort were true.
The 80,000 square foot Clubhouse is the hub of everything at The Hermitage Club.
Walking in, I instantly noticed the massive wood beams and antler chandeliers. A four-sides mammoth fireplace sets the mood as you look over to the bar facing the mountain on one side and the beautiful view down the valley in the other.
We would eat several meals here and I'm happy to report that everyone from your pickiest child to the most selective of foodies will find something to enjoy. Dylan still raves about the french toast he had for breakfast.
Taking full advantage of the weekend, the girls and I scheduled massages at the spa. Emily loved her first one and thought about spending more of the weekend in their serenity room with a book as she found herself at peace there.
But, we had other plans that included riding up to the top of the mountain to see the work that was going on. The Hermitage Club is only just getting started and we got a sneak preview at their mid-mountain cabin that will be completed by the New Year.
Available to rent out for events or as the perfect stop to warm up as you go down the mountain, I can only imagine how beautiful it will be when they finish it. The views as you can see were outstanding.
They will also have a new, high speed, heated, six person barnstormer chairlift installed by this winter.
I found it interesting that not only are skiers allowed on the mountain, but during certain hours in the evening so are snowmobilers.
They are also installing a couple of yurts on the mountains where guests will be able to stay if they so choose so. I wonder how many people would think of snowshoeing up to them like I thought would be fun?
With 1,400 acres to play on there really are endless opportunities for everyone to find something to do. There were kids kayaking, plenty of people on the golf course, families taking nature hikes and they even had a supervised ATV area set up for the kids the weekend we were there.
After a great meal at The Hermitage Inn, we spotted numerous cross country trails in the woods. I imagine they get plenty of use once the snow arrives. Plus, the Inn is over 60% powered by solar energy which was an amazing fact to learn.
Even on our last night, as members arrived for an intimate concert by Train, the property never felt crowded. While we were not members, we felt welcomed and you could see all the friendships around us as members greeted each other and said hello to familiar staff. Talk about a bar where everyone knows your name!
Everything about The Hermitage Club screams luxury with New England friendliness.
The family and I had a beautiful weekend and enjoyed every minute of our time on site. As you can see from my photos, my camera had a great time as well. Full photo album here.
If you love skiing, but hate lift lines and the idea of your own private playground in the hills of Vermont sounds like heaven to you, check out all that The Hermitage Club has to offer.]]>
"Be Prepared" means a lot of things.
To me, being prepared means having the mental state to cope, knowledge to solve or skills to deal with whatever the world throws at you on any given day.
This is why I was excited to be invited to attend the fourth annual ITS Muster and Skill-Set Development Excursion.
Imminent Threat Solutions (ITS) provides knowledge that empowers individuals with indispensable skill-sets to recognize and respond decisively to the threats that surround us all. All you need to do is take a read through their blog or watch any of their videos and you'll get a sense of what they are all about.
Every year, they hold a multi-day event where attendees from around the country and every walk of life come to learn a variety of skills in a practical and tactical based learning environment.
The packing list for the event was rather extensive and specific. I had to purchase a variety of new gear with my imagination in overdrive of exactly how I might end up using the camo netting, locking carabiner or MRE that all attendees were required to bring.
I arrived in Texas a bit nervous and not sure who or what I would encounter over the next five days. On the flight out, I learned my buddy Jon Gaffney would also be taking part in the event and as we waited for our luggage to arrive we talked about our wonderment and worries about what might lie ahead.
It wouldn't be appropriate to go into all the details, but the entire weekend (and even the weeks leading up to the event) were run under a detailed storyline. We'd all be learning and living under a scenario to add a level of realism to everything we did. It was mainly a mind game to keep us at a heightened level of awareness and to challenge us as our bodies and minds got worked out over the course of our time together.
All of the attendees met a predefined location and then we caravanned to the off the grid location that we'd be spending the next five days at. There were a few interesting encounters along the way, but as we parked the cars and entered the classroom our long weekend of learning was under way.
Looking around the classroom, I worried a bit about what I might have gotten myself into. Some of my Muster mates were obviously veterans from the way they carried themselves.
Beards and camo were everywhere, but so were smiles and hugs. Over half the class was alumni and it was obvious how close knit this family was and I wondered how I would gel into already established friendships.
These worries were quickly pushed aside as Bryan Black (the Founder of ITS and someone I'm becoming a better friend with every day) welcomed us all to Muster 4 and we went around and each introduced ourselves. There were lawyers, accountants, tech insiders and even a married couple.
We all came from different walks of life, but all arrived ready and eager to learn.
Everyone was assigned to one of four squads: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie or Delta.
As the squad assignments were read off, I'd find myself being part of Charlie. I knew from reading about the previous Muster, that they were the squad to beat and I sure hoped I would not drag them down as a newbie.
Squads were each assigned a bunk house and I quickly met the seven guys I'd be spending lots of quality time together.
We unpacked from our travels, geared up our rucks and headed out for our daily flag ceremony and then dinner.
The days at Muster are long. Each starts before the sun rises and end long after the moon has risen.
A typical day starts with raising the flags, heading to breakfast and then off to the classroom.
The quality level of the teachers at Muster is top-notch. Every single one of them possess years of experience in their area of expertise and each could have spent a full day of teaching and we'd still only get a slice of their knowledge.
I've never had the pleasure of learning from such knowledgeable humans all at one time. Thank you to each of them for participating.
Don't think we sat around and were lectured to though.
We studied the art of camouflage in a beautiful outdoor pavilion, practiced improvised field medicine under the shadow of trees and cooled off in the water while having fun learning how to secure a beach.
The lesson for me that I'll never forget was the key making session. It is hard to put into words the rush of accomplishment I felt as I cut a copy of a key out of a sheet of plastic from a photograph of a key and opened the lock with my copy.
I instantly wanted to learn more and my squad took it upon themselves to teach me the basics of lock picking right there on the spot. Since returning home, I've made sure that this is a skill that I continue to learn.
The truth is that 99.99% of the skills you learn at ITS Muster might never be used outside of the exercises conducted during the event.
That doesn't mean that any of the skills you learn are not valuable. In fact 100% of what I learned is another piece of knowledge that I didn't have before and thus I feel more prepared to go about my day.
At the end of every Muster there is their own version of a final exam (known as the FTX) that tests you and your squad. Taking everything you were taught and finding out how much you learned.
I'm proud of how myself and my squad performed. We worked together, stayed positive and in the end did a solid job. We didn't take home the paddles this year (well done Delta!) but I feel confident that we did our best.
Plus, there are not many other places where you spend an entire night being tested both physically and mentally and find yourself at 4 am still smiling as you discover the finish line.
I'm so glad I accepted Bryan's invitation to attend. I learned new skills, but I also learned more about myself. If you are not challenging yourself on a regular basis, than how do you know what you are capable of?
And a special thank you to the men of Charlie squad who welcomed me into their unique band of brothers even though I know they had reservations about this writer from New England who was getting stuck with them.
While we couldn't raise a glass together during Muster, I look forward to the day when we get to.
Muster is not an event for everybody.
Muster is an event for anyone who wants to learn a variety of skills that will prepare you to deal with the situations you hope never to face.
Stay tuned to ITSTactical.com to find out when registration opens up for next year. It is sure to sell out again.
If you'd like to read more details, ITS has published a detailed after action report.
Photo Credits – Gamma Nine Photography and Daniel Rodriguez Photography]]>
I hate to think about it, but the holidays are right around the corner and the other night my wife turned to me and asked, "Any ideas on what we are going to get the kids for Christmas?"
Since my kids don't read my blog, I figured a quick post to give you ideas of great gifts for the teenagers (or adults) in your life might be helpful.
These are one guys thoughts about it and I'd be curious to hear what you think.
Most links are affiliate links. I've got to pay for my gifts somehow!
Photography is a great creative hobby and if your child has or wants to get into it beyond using their phone it might be time to give them their first camera.
My suggestion would be the Samsung NX500 as a perfect starter camera that they won't outgrow quickly and it can grow with them with a variety of lenses.
I'm a Samsung Imagelogger so my opinion here is influenced, but I truly love the camera and my kids enjoy shooting with it as well.
If they need a new phone (or you want to spoil them a bit) the iPhone 6s and the new DROID Turbo 2 are both great choices.
Either one of them will have enough power, battery life and options to keep them happy and typing away for hours on end. I've actually been drooling a bit over both of them.
Our whole family are fans of Sonos speakers and if your kids love music a Sonos Play 1 is the perfect addition to their bedroom.
It'll allow them to play music directly from their phone or a variety of online services and the sound quality is amazing. Best part for us parents? You can lower the volume directly from your phone!
For pure fun check out the Star Wars Remote Control Millennium Falcon "Drone" that looks to me to be a ton of fun to play with.
If your kids are like mine and love music playing when they take a shower, the AwoX LED Light Bulb with Integrated Bluetooth Speaker is a great addition to your bathroom. Once they got past the worry that it looked like a camera, our kids have loved theirs.
To help them with their homework have you considered getting them their own computer?
While laptops can be expensive, the line up of Chromebooks are affordable and we all know that Google continues to make their platform more powerful every day. I've even begun to see some of the teachers at our High School using the platform for kids to turn in assignments.
Finally, since we are all watching more content than ever before, you need some way to stream content to your televisions.
We own a Roku, Apple TV and Fire TV Stick and all have their pluses and minuses. Personally we watch mostly through our Xbox One that use to be only a gaming platform to us, but has become our living rooms entertainment center over the last year.
These should get you going with your shopping list and I hope you found something useful here.
By the way, since kids grow up and stop writing letters to Santa, I suggest you show them how to set up an Amazon Wish List. Even if the products they want are not sold by Amazon (yes these still exist) with a browser plugin they can add from any store. These can be shared with friends and relatives and makes for easy and quick holiday shopping.
What other tech gadgets might make great gifts this year? I'd love to hear your suggestions since I need to surprise my kids.
Disclosure: As a Verizon #VZWBuzz Lifestyle Blogger and #LifeOnFiOS Influencer, I'm given product and services in return for writing original digital lifestyle content each month. All thoughts, opinions and other nuggets of randomness are purely my own]]>
Last year the world watched in horror as an Ebola outbreak spread across part of the African continent.
Through my work with ONE, I was well educated in what was going on, how it is spread and proper level of concerns.
Sadly though, I wonder if enough people realize that it is isn't a matter of if we'll ever have to deal with an outbreak growing into a pandemic, but when?
On Sunday, November 1 at 9 pm ET on National Geographic Channel they will be premiering "Breakthrough: Fighting Pandemics."
To raise awareness for the show, they are asking bloggers like myself to answer the question of:
Historical records show that another pandemic will occur, but no one knows when. How do we create a mind shift among world leaders and people in general to start planning for the next one now?
Sadly, I think it is going to take an outbreak on our own soil before we start paying attention.
Africa is a far away place and most people think that just because something like this happens there, it would never make it to our shores.
I wish I had a more optimistic outlook on this, but I don't. With so many other issues to tackle, this one I fear won't be truly addressed until it is too late. Hopefully it will be dealt with after an outbreak and not a full blown pandemic.
I'm eager to watch this new show and to see how people like Dr. Maria Croyle, who has developed a revolutionary way to introduce an Ebola vaccine into a common cold virus, are working to make sure that our world is as safe as possible.
(photo credit: National Geographic Channels/Drew Anthony Smith)
I already set my DVR so I don't miss it.
If you watch, let me know what you think.]]>
This morning began for me by attending a fundraising breakfast for a local charity.
While this was happening, I knew that a team from Save the Children would be kicking off a new campaign to raise funds for their efforts in Afghanistan by telling the story of a little girl named Karima.*
After years of war and severe poverty, combined with poor security, #Afghanistan is considered to be among the most dangerous places for children to be born.
This week, they will be sharing Karima's story across their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts.
I'm proud to be partnering with them to help share her story. I highly encourage you to follow them and if the story touches you, to share it with others.
At age 6, Karima's* father passed away and her mother remarried, abandoning the young girl and her 2 brothers. Now the siblings live with their grandparents, but in desperate conditions. Their house is made from construction material scraps with nothing more than cloths to protect them from the elements in areas that have been damaged by heavy snow and rain. Karima anxiously tells us that she's grown to expect the worst of impending winters, during which all of the family members get sick without the means to buy the medicines they need. Living conditions like these combined with limited medical resources leaves Afghan children facing one of the worst chances of survival of anywhere in the world. (2/5) Link in bio. *Name has been changed to protect identity
Donations are needed to help the children of Afghanistan have a chance at a better life and that is where you come in.
You can't currently sponsor an individual child in Afghanistan through Save the Children, but you can donate directly to their efforts in that country by donating here.
Please be sure to follow the story as it unfolds and do your part by telling others about it!
*Name has been changed to protect identity]]>
Twelve hours ago, I arrived home from ITS Muster 4 in Bridgeport, Texas.
Put on by my friends at Imminent Threat Solutions, it is five day immersive weekend to learn new skills and immediately put them into practice. (that is me in the blue shirt in the middle of the photo above)
There will be a full write up coming soon once I've been able to decompress and try to put the experience into words.
This post had to happen immediately though because the number one question I'm getting asked is "Why would someone go to an event like this?"
Sadly, I've also been asked more than once, "Did you join a militia?" or "I had no idea you were a prepper?"
I can't speak for all the attendees who were there, but for me the why is a very simple answer.
I like to learn new things and know as much as possible about the world around me.
There will most likely never be a time in my life when I'll need to patrol through a hostile environment, but I now know how to do it without saying a word to my team.
The day when I need to break out of a zip tie restraints or saw my way out with a piece of kevlar string hopefully will never arrive, but I did both this weekend.
Becoming a thief by picking locks is never going to appear on my resume, but opening a lock with a plastic key I traced and cut from a photograph of a real key was an exhilarating feeling.
I pray I never need to make an improvised tourniquet with a carabiner and a ripped shirt to save one of my family members life, but now have the skills to do so.
This patch board was given to us at the end of the weekend with patches for each of the skills we learned. It makes me smile to think about all the new knowledge I gained over the last few days.
Why does a guy like me who doesn't own a gun, a single piece of camo clothing or a truck attend an event like this?
The same reason the accountants, lawyers, detectives, college admissions staff and others all attended.
To learn what we didn't know.]]>
Last week, I took the stage to speak at my first photography conference.
Pix 2015 was an amazing event full of inspiring speakers, great photographers and enough photography gear to make your head spin.
Samsung was a Gold Sponsor of the event and brought several of us Imageloggers out to Seattle to take part in the event.
Kicking off the second day of the event was little old me with a talk encouraging photographers to use their talents and image to drive social change in the world around them.
I'm really happy with how the talk went. It was developed specifically for this event and I'm thinking of expanding it for future events because there was more I wanted to cover, but only had twenty minutes on that day.
Major kudos to the team from Digital Photography Review for putting on such a great show in their first year. I've been a fan of their site for years, so being able to meet the team behind the site was a lot of fun for me.
You can view my photo album from my time in Seattle and a special thanks to Wasim Muklashy for taking the photo of me giving my talk above.]]>
The Topsfield Fair is a New England tradition and one that after all these years I finally got to experience for myself.
Sadly, the day started off wet and cold and we were not sure if we'd be able to make it or not. Thankfully Mother Nature decided to cooperate and as Emily and I hit the road to the fair, the rain stopped and would stay away for the rest of the day.
Shortly after entering, we found ourselves at the U.Fund Dreams Tour tent.
The friendly staff were handing out cloud shaped whiteboards and answering questions about saving for college. There were fun filled games and interactive areas to keep the kids entertained while parents got the saving information they were looking for.
With our heads full of savings information, we sought to fill our bellies with the sort of crazy, fun food that you can only find at a fair.
Emily opted for a rootbeer float and I went for my first deep fried candy bar. Both left us smiling as we headed towards the barns to see the livestock exhibits.
We had a grand old time petting sheep, cows and goats. We giggled as we watched baby piglets pile into a sleep pile and awwwed at the newly born baby bunnies.
While, I'm not much of a garden guy I have to admit that the flower exhibits were breathtaking and made for a lot of fun with my camera.
There was a lot of walking, munching and good memories made.
Of course, as we left the fair my mind was filled with thoughts about college and paying for it.
Emily and I chatted a bit about school and what she is thinking of doing. She has a little while to think about it, but it is never too early to start those discussions.
The next day in a surprise twist of events, Dylan and I would attend his first college fair. Going from learning about saving options to direct discussions on tuition and financial aid options at colleges from all over the country certainly brought the U.Fund Dreams Tour goals to mind.
I wish something like this had been around when the kids were younger so that we would have been more educated on the options for saving for our children's college costs. I truly hope that everyone who stopped by the booth takes what they learned and started taking actions when they got home.
Thank you to MEFA, Fidelity and the entire U.Fund Dreams Tour team for partnering with me to make this day a reality. It isn't every weekend that you can have such a fun time and learn about saving for college at the same time!
Disclosure: I'm working with Fidelity Investments and MEFA to spread the word on the U.Fund Dreams Tour. All opinions are my own.]]>
Yesterday, another ten people were shot and killed while attending classes in Oregon.
Before the end of the year (sadly probably even the month) there will be more innocent people killed by someone angry and armed somewhere in America.
The statistics around gun violence in America hurt to see.
Guns have a place in our society.
I grew up in small town New Hampshire and remember how excited I was to go through Hunter Safety with all of my friends. It was a right of passage.
At Boy Scout camp, one of our favorite activities was going to the shooting range to fire rifles at targets or shotguns into the air.
I enjoy shooting guns and wish I could go to the range more often because I found it a great test of mental focus and stress relief.
As a father, I firmly understand people wanting to have a gun in their house to defend their family.
Guns have always been around and always will be. I have no issues with responsible gun ownership.
Yet, we find ourselves in a cycle where the minutes and days after a mass shooting there is outrage, soap boxes and calls for action. Then once the media has moved on to something else, nothing is done until the next person does harm.
I know that right now I could drive thirty minutes, fill out some paperwork and in seven days have a gun of my choice. Even easier, I could go on Craigslist, do a search, take out cash from the ATM and meet someone and have a gun before lunch time.
There are no easy answers here.
Many mass shootings are done by individuals with mental health issues. As a country we need to embrace the truth that mental illness is not getting the attention and treatment that it needs.
But, saying this is only a mental illness issue is far from appropriate.
Why can't we figure out a way that makes it mandatory (and easy) to do a background check before someone is allowed to purchase a gun?
Why can't we have sensible regulations around the ownership of assault rifles?
Where is the alternative organization to the NRA that is pro gun ownership, but anti gun violence?
I know that all politician's pockets are lined with money from big donors and it keeps them from speaking up on many issues including this one. It sickens me, but it is the truth.
All of the current presidential candidates have avoided the issue. Sure, they'll bring it up today but will anything ever happen with it?
Even President Obama has been all words and very little action throughout his entire presidency and I doubt he'll do anything before he is done.
As Americans we have the right to bear arms and that shouldn't change.
But, we must to start moving in the direction of cutting down on the number of mass shootings that are happening.
It is going to take a long time, a lot of hard work, millions of dollars and cooperation from people on both sides of the issue to make any progress.
But, the current approach of doing nothing is never going to end the violence.
How many more dead students, children and innocent lives have to be seen on the news before any changes are made?
Something has to change.]]>
The Universe has a funny way of listening to what you want and delivering it in unique ways.
At the beginning of the summer, our family put together what we called our "beach bucket list." It included activities we wanted to do and places we wanted to go over the course of the summer.
One that Emily mentioned wanting to do was to visit an old-fashioned country fair. While she has been to them as a little kid, she doesn't remember them and with her love of animals wanted to experience it all over.
About the same time, I had a few calls with the team behind the U.Fund Dreams Tour about partnering with them. We came to an agreement and part of that was for me to attend and write about two stops on the tour.
A few months back we attended the WGBH FunFest and this weekend we are excited to go to the Topsfield Fair.
Watching the Boston area weather forecast this morning, the weekend now looks ok for our planned excursion. Hopefully it holds!
Going to the fair means fried food, seeing lots of livestock and this year, learning about saving for college.
The whole purpose of the 2015 U.Fund Dreams Tour, presented by Fidelity & MEFA, is to encourage and educate parents to start thinking about saving for college. Their highly interactive booth will be staffed by knowledgeable professionals who can answer any questions you might have.
We all know it is never too early to start saving for college, so why not learn more about it while enjoying a corn dog or fried dough at the Topsfield Fair this weekend.
If you are going, be sure to find the U.Fund Dreams Tour booth and let me know so perhaps our paths can cross.
Disclosure: I'm working with Fidelity Investments and MEFA to spread the word on the U.Fund Dreams Tour. All opinions are my own.]]>
With two teenagers in the house and four very different tastes in programming, we seem to have a list of shows which are for me and my wife, my son and I or for the whole family.
More than once Laura and I have sat down and asked ourselves, "Do we have anything WE can watch?"
This morning as I realized I had not written my monthly post for my #VZWBuzz and #LifeOnFiOS commitments, I took a quick scroll through our DVR and was shocked to see the PILE of recorded shows we already have.
I took this photo as I was writing this post. 46% full? That is crazy right there
Like most families, we have lots of commitments. Dylan is running cross country, Emily is doing drama club and dance and Laura is involved with the local community chorus. On top of that, I'm doing a bunch of traveling (last week to Lynda.com outside of Santa Barbara and next week to Seattle to speak at Pix 2015) while teaching and Laura has a lot going on at work.
Needless to say, we are busy and not watching much television.
A couple of weeks ago, I realized that new shows would be arriving and I had yet to set any of them to record. Since I didn't know when any of the shows were going to be on I decided to use the Verizon FiOS Mobile app to quickly search by name and set up all of our DVR recordings.
So, what is the Chapman Family hoping to watch this fall?
Blindspot – One of the only new shows that everyone is looking forward to.
The Bastard Executioner – I'm a huge Kurt Sutter fan and have high hopes for this. So far it is dragging, but I'm hoping it picks up.
Scream Queens and American Horror Story: Hotel – Emily is a big Ryan Murphy fan so of course both of these are high on her list.
Fear the Walking Dead – I wasn't sure about this one, but now I'm hooked. Always makes me wonder how prepared I am for any sort of "happening."
The Black List, Gotham and Scorpion – These three shows are some of mine and Dylan's favorites and it is driving me nuts that our schedules haven't synced to watch any of them yet.
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown – Emily and I watch this to fuel our wanderlust. I hate having to wait to watch it with her, but I love the conversations and dreams that come from watching it together.
Heroes Reborn – There are high hopes for this in our home because I loved the original and my kids are curious about the new.
As I scan through our scheduled recordings, we've also got episodes of Best Time Ever, Public Morals, Limitless and The Muppets to watch. Plus, there are some family favorites of NCIS, Law & Order and The Big Bang Theory also queuing up.
Part of me hates that FiOS Quantum TV gives us so much space on our DVR since I know we are never going to watch all that we are recording.
But, then again I didn't like the old way of being forced to watch something so we didn't lose it. I can deal with having a backlog.
Have you watched any of these shows? What are your thoughts so far?
Not that we have the time, but any shows that you think we must watch if we ever find the time?
Happy viewing!
Disclosure: As a Verizon #VZWBuzz Lifestyle Blogger and #LifeOnFiOS Influencer, I'm given product and services in return for writing original digital lifestyle content each month. All thoughts, opinions and poor television show choices are my own]]>
Growing up playing countless hours of Dungeons and Dragons, combined with a love of the theatre and Shakespeare gave me a love of renaissance faires.
Over the years I've attended many of them and it has become a family tradition to spend a fall weekend at King Richard's Faire here in Carver, Massachusetts.
Their media team has hooked me up with free tickets over the last few years and it is a trip the kids are always excited for. This year they asked if we could get a couple of extra tickets so that they could bring friends.
An event where the parents are excited as their teenage kids? Yes, they do exist!
The great thing about King Richard's Faire is that there is something for everyone.
Throughout the day, there are multiple stages where various forms of shows are performed.
Some of our favorites include the torture show and of course the mud show.
This year they've added several new performers including a silk aerial duo and a new cat show.
The location is covered in trees, so even when it is hot there is plenty of shade to keep cool in. Plus, you only need to swing by one of the food vendors for a cold beverage (or a turkey leg) if you need the break.
We also enjoy all the artisans who set up shop. The hand made goods are always inspiring and we've bought plenty of things over the years. The best part is most will hold on to your purchases until the end of the day so that you don't have to lug them around all day if you don't want to.
Make sure to set aside a few minutes to watch the live glass blowing and candle making artists. Blows me away how creative they are!
Of course the jousting is the highlight of the day and if you make the trip be sure to stick around for the big final show which is always entertaining. You get to kick back on a grassy hill and enjoy the mayhem with everyone else.
Don't forget to check and see if the weekend you are attending is a themed weekend which can lead to extra fun and spectacle when you attend.
As an added bonus this year, I've been given a family four pack of tickets to give away for free.
Winning is easy. Leave a comment below on why you'd love to attend and I'll pick a winner at random next week.
Hope to see you around the realm.
Disclosure – King Richard's Faire has given me complimentary tickets to take my family to the event and another set to give away. All they ask in return is that I have fun and share my thoughts.]]>
The house is strangely quiet.
It shouldn't feel weird since on any other day for the last couple of months it would be just as quiet with the kids still in bed sleeping.
But, today is different. Today is the start of a new month and a new chapter in our lives. The start of a new school year in which I find both of my kids attending High School.
This day always hits me hard. Today is worse than usual.
The reality that there will only be one more back to school breakfast and photo shoot with both kids is weighing heavy on my heart.
This was the first year they didn't want to take the "silly photo" after we get a good one. We did get this funny one with Nadia though
Dylan even added a little icing to the cake by asking to borrow the car so he could get to school early and try to change one of his classes. It was a solid reason, but we all know he just wanted to say he drove to school for the first time.
Emily and I chatted about my mixed emotions. It is going to be an interesting start for her with several of her closest friends going to other high schools. But, even though I can't believe my little girl is so grown up, at the same time I'm excited as she approaches the next phase of her life.
Driving. Junior Prom. High school hijinks. Football game. Drama club. Who knows what else?
Lots of moments coming up this school year and while I reflect and look forward at the same time I can't help but feel proud.
Little things are constantly reminding Laura and I that we are doing ok at this parenting thing.]]>
Watching the MTV Video Music Awards is something I've always done.
I love the creativity shown through music videos and back when MTV showed them on a regular basis I'd quite often leave the channel on for hours on end.
Last night, me and the kids kicked back to watch the spectacle that is the #VMAs.
The performances are always over the top, the on stage hijinks always lead to conversation and you just never know when a boob (or Prince ass cheeks) is going to pop out on camera.
Kanye West received the Video Vanguard (where did the Michael Jackson part of the name go?) award.
We sat there watching this "speech" in utter confusion. It sounded like he was trying to make a solid point about creativity. It sounded like he was going to apologize for past actions. It sounded like a lot of things, but I'm not sure he completed a sentence during the whole thing.
His rant about award shows and being an artist was the first time I've ever agreed with him in my life. I wish he had actually come out and said what he wanted to rather than stumbling through it all.
Of course the whole running for president part reminded me why I'm not a fan.
Then there was all the weed talk on the show.
During the commercial breaks you had The Truth running ads about the dangers of all types of smoking and then had everyone loving on marijuana on stage.
I'm still a little baffled at all the cut away scenes with Miley smoking it up, eating pot brownies and why they decided to go in this direction.
I couldn't help but think of all my marketing friends and how awesome it would have been if The Truth released a piece of real time marketing in reaction to Kanye talking about smoking pot before going to the show. Sadly, they didn't.
In between all of this there were some great performances, a crying Bieber and of course Miley's left breast.
It was surprising to watch the morning news programs and see no mention of her nipple anywhere. It wasn't that long ago that the whole country lost it's mind when Janet Jackson exposed herself. Guess it is ok when it is on MTV and not the Super Bowl?
I love watching shows like this with my kids because it is fun to see their reactions. We all laughed at how we weren't sure who this show is for since so little of it is what they are into.
More than once the presenters came up and we all looked at each other and asked "who?"
My daughter got more excitement out of Connor Franta introducing a Pepsi commercial than she did any celebrity on the stage.
Growing up for me, MTV was a huge part of my life and held an extreme amount of influence over my music tastes and pop culture references.
They sure have lost their way and are not that for the current generation. That much was apparent at all the laughs and questioning looks from my kids last night.
I'll keep watching because it is pure, silly entertainment with a few moments of music magic mixed in for good measure.]]>
This morning marks another parenting milestone for me. The day my first child gets their drivers license.
It has only been a few hours since I saw his smiling face after passing the driving test. I'm excited for him, but also scared to death. I know how many distracted and bad drivers there are out there on the roads.
As a lover of technology, I've been thinking a lot about how I'd love to see car manufacturers and cell phone makers work together to make the time our teenagers spend in the car a bit more safe.
Here are some ideas on things I'd like to see. Some of them already exist in specific cars or phones, but I'd love to see them adopted across the board.
Phones Automatically Going Into Driving Mode
Anytime a paired phone connects to the Bluetooth in the car, phones should go into a "driving mode."
My Droid Turbo does this and I love it.
If a text message is received, the phone auto replies with a message that the user can set up.
Mine currently says:
[Auto Reply] I'm driving right now. If it is important, call me. #ItCanWait
There should also be an option where the text message is read allowed through the Bluetooth speaker and basic speech commands could have a reply sent if needed.
My phone does this, but not very well and every car and phone pairing should support this.
Outlaw Texting & Driving Across the County
I want to see this treated the same way that seat belts are.
Here in Massachusetts you receive only a $100 fine if caught doing it. It is steeper if you are a teenager, but still. I want this outlawed across the country.
I know it won't do a ton of good since we still have people drinking and driving, but it sure wouldn't hurt to make this change!
Enable Tracking of Cars to Parents
"Big Brother! Big Brother!"
Yeah, I know some people will be screaming that, but I'm ok with it.
I'd like to see parents having the ability to know where their kids are based on their phones. More just to check in and make sure they are where they should be, but also just to check in from time to time.
Even something like Glympse that I could ping would make me feel great.
In Car Controls Based on the Driver
Ford at one point had some of these capabilities, but I'd like to see them in more cars.
Many cars now have settings that remember seat positions and mirrors. I know when I get in my car it knows me based on my key.
I'd love if I could based on a key have the car lock some things down. Perhaps set a governor for speed or make it so the stereo couldn't be insanely loud. Perhaps this is what would turn on the tracking or the lockdown of the phones?
Send Maps From Home Computer to the Car
We are always looking up destinations on our computers at home.
Wouldn't it be great if we could click a button and it would use our FiOS WiFi to send it to the car GPS? Sure, we could just look up the location on our phones and if you use Google and Android they do sync, but I know some places don't allow teenagers to use their phones for GPS replacements.
I've longed to be able to connect my car to my home Wifi to be able to share media files, but being able to send maps and more would be great as well.
The more I think about these solutions, the more I wish they were options across the board. I'm not sure we'd turn them all on, but knowing that they were available would certainly give parents everywhere a bit of comfort whenever their teenager leaves the house with a car.
What other tech-based solutions would you love to see in cars and phones to help keep our kids safer behind the wheel?
Disclaimer – This post is my monthly commitment to the influencer teams for Verizon Wireless and FiOS that I am part of. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]]>
If you see me in an airport, you'll always see my trusty GORUCK GR0 with me and the contents inside rarely change since only the most critical things are allowed in there.
You'll find my iPad, Field Notes notebook, a couple of magazines, a Cliff Bar, flashlight, laptop, cable bag, Jackery charger, portable hard drive and my camera gear.
When I'm on the road taking photographs and capturing stories, I need my gear to be reliable and perform as needed. I'm not a fan of trying out new things on the road where if they fail I'm stuck.
Recently, Samsung sent me one of their new Portable SSD T1 drives to use as being a Samsung Imagelogger.
Solid state drives are great because of their speed and size, but I've never owned one.
My first impression was "damn this thing is small!"
The drive is smaller than anything else in my bag. It is even smaller than my wallet in all directions.
I received a 500 GB model, but it also comes in 250 GB and 1 TB models.
As I plugged the T1 in to my computer I was surprised to see that it needed special software installed. It only took a few seconds to do so and then another new feature popped up that made my day.
Not only are you allowed to name the drive for easy organization, but it allowed me to assign a password to it.
Now, if I lose the drive when I'm traveling I don't have to worry about someone getting at my files and data on it because I've password protected it. Sure, this adds another step before I can get to the files on it, but you should care more about your security than a few seconds. Kudos to Samsung for putting this feature on the drives.
Speed wise, it lives up to the hype. Since it connects via USB 3 it is super fast and even when doing a dump of RAW images straight from my NX1 also plugged into my computer it took no time to copy gigs of data.
I wonder if at some point Samsung will make it possible to plug the drive directly into their cameras to back up the files. THAT would be an awesome upgrade if the engineering team is reading!
If there is any drawback to the Samsung T1 it is the USB 3 cable. It is the only device I current own that requires this cable.
It is normal for me to have backup cables with me and I need to remember to purchase a second USB 3 cable so I'm never without one. As more devices migrate to this standard it won't be a problem and for most people it probably won't be an issue. I live by the "two is one and one is none" motto so it is a minor drawback for me.
All in all, I'm impressed by the drive and as I read rumors of even larger capacity ones on the horizon it gets me excited. The days of stacking bricks of hard drives will be no more!
Watch this official video from Samsung to see and learn more about this tiny marvel.
Disclaimer – Samsung sent me this drive for free as part of the Imagelogger program. Many links are affiliate links. Thoughts, words and photos are my own.]]>
Speaking to audiences of all sizes is something I love doing.
Recently, I was asked to speak at CreativeMornings Boston around the theme of "Humility."
It was one of my favorite talks I've ever given and I hope you enjoy it.
Photo Credit: Dan Powell
This post is a part of the Blogust '15 campaign. For every comment, like or share of this post, another child in need receives the vaccines they need to get a Shot@Life.
Inspiring my children to live their life to the fullest is something I strive for every single day.
But, life rarely goes as planned. The corporate ladder has fallen over, the promise of a tranquil retirement is a myth and what we love today might not exist tomorrow.
When asked to share an inspirational quote as part of this years Blogust team I wanted to chose one that was different than most and that I was sure no one else would pick.
I had a feeling other participants would choose great quotes from some of my favorites like Dr. Seuss, Teddy Roosevelt and Maya Angelou.
So, I decided to go in a whole new direction and go with one of my favorites from Hunter S. Thompson:
That is how I want my children and everyone I meet to live their lives.
To realize that you have to roll with what you are given and no matter how hard or different that might be, you are on it so you might as well make the most of it.
We have a chance to change the ride that millions of children are on.
Where you are born shouldn't be the most important factor towards if you get to experience everything in life and this is what Shot@Life believes.
If you comment on or share this post another child in need gets vaccinated. It is that simple.
We are working towards a goal of 50,000 newly vaccinated children across the globe. I'm doing my part by writing this post and now it is your turn to help by commenting or sharing.
I know you are busy. I know you have other things going on. But, I know that you have a heart and can spare the 30 seconds it will take you to leave a comment to give another child a lifetime of opportunities.
Thank you to the entire Shot@Life Team for inviting me back to be part of this and thank you to each of you who I have faith will help save a child today with your comment.
Make it a great day.
During Shot@Life's Blogust 2015—a month-long blog relay—some of North America's most beloved online writers, photo and video bloggers and Shot@Life Champions will come together and share inspirational quotes for their children. Every time you comment on this post and other Blogust contributions, or share them via social media on this website, Shot@Life and the United Nations Foundation pages, one vaccine will be donated to a child around the world (up to 50,000).
Sign up here for a daily email so you can quickly and easily comment and share every day during Blogust! For more information, visit shotatlife.org or join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.]]>
We should all strive to be lifelong students and I was excited to spend Monday morning learning from Pamela Slim on her Indispensable Community Tour when it arrived in Boston.
Pam is a friend and fellow misfit, so that alone made me want to go out and see her. But, there was more too it than that.
Community building is something I've done a lot of over the years and something I've been inspired to do more of, but I was hoping that she had pulled together a framework for doing it better and I wanted to learn.
She has in fact done this and her eight step process instantly helped me as I jotted down notes and let my brain flow with other participants.
Instantly, I found myself thinking about the communities around me online and off and how they could be stronger. An angle for my personal community I've been trying to figure out finally clicked.
Building communities is such a core part of who I am. It is work that I enjoy doing and after this class I'm inspired to do more of it.
The tour is traveling across the United States and if you have a chance, I highly recommend signing up and attending!
Thank you Pam for being a great instructor and friend.]]>
A day of searching for focus and finding none left me frustrated, deflated and not in the best of moods.
When the wall is hit and the taste of defeat is strongest I find that getting outside and away from screens is the best cure.
"Dylan, you want to go for a ruck with me?" I asked to the my teenage boy who had lived in front of screens for most of the summer no matter how I tried to motivate him otherwise.
"Sure" was not the reply I had expected.
I grabbed my GR1 and grabbed one of our bullet rucks for him and threw them in the back of the car. I grinned as I politely mentioned, "I grabbed one in case you wanted it."
My parents chocolate lab is staying with us for the week and was not happy that we left him behind.
He saw me lacing up my boots and started getting excited, but his bummed leg and size meant it wouldn't be a fun time for either of us if he came.
Nadia though was coming.
The last time I brought her to Ashland State Park, she was brand new and still fighting being on leash. She'd stop walking whenever she felt like it and I remember the amount of frustration I felt every time I tried to walk her even a little bit.
In my head I promised myself that we were going to complete the 3.2 mile loop no matter what. I'd carry her if I had to, but hoped it wouldn't come to that.
For the first few months she was hesitant to get into the car. She sulk and walk away. Our assumption was that she worried she might be taken away to a new home since she had gone through that as a pup before we rescued her.
Today she sat right by the open back and looked ready to jump. Dylan and I joked that one day she'd figure it out and the next thing we knew, she leapt into the back as if she had done it a million times.
We parked at the boat launch and saw tons of kids from the local camp in the area. Nadia was eager to meet them all and jumped out of the car before she was told to.
Funny part was, I had some Jack Burton reflexes and caught her mid-air in one arm before she could go anywhere.
The ruck felt great!
I had a 30lb plate and Dylan was using our 20lb plate. He quickly realized that he wasn't a fan of the way the bullet rode his shoulders. I told him, I have the same problem and that next time he should use a different one to see if it fits him better. We have enough of them for him to try something else.
We met other dogs, chatted with owners and Nadia smelt every other tree, bush and rock that caught her attention. At one point she walked out on a rock to get a better look at a family of ducks floating near by.
It was a bit slower than I usually go, but we made good time.
Out in nature like this is great father and son time. We got to talk about everything and anything.
When there are no screens and talking is the best distraction from the soreness in your legs and shoulders it makes for nothing but quality time.
At the end, Nadia jumped back in the car and instantly laid down. I had to take a photo of her because I knew I had a similar one from our first trip here and it would be fun to see her growth.
While she will never be a big dog, as you can see she is certainly growing up.
Looking at these photos, I think it is time we get her a new harness. While I had never used one with previous dogs, I love the control it gives me. Maybe, I'll have to look for a harness that is also a dog pack because that would be fun to have.
All in all it was exactly the escape I needed and it was a big day full of firsts.
I don't know if Dylan will look back and smile about it as much as I will, but it was a special day.
The focus wasn't out on the trail, but some of the doubt demons I was fighting certainly got left behind on it.
Disclosure – Links are affiliate links except for the Jack Burton one because you should own that movie already because it is a classic!]]>
Life without a phone got me pondering about our love of technology.
This morning getting a near real time update from my sister who is camping with my daughter and parents in Maine got me thinking even more.
Combine all that with my buddy Christine calling me out for not doing a podcast in so long made me fire up the microphone and hit record.
Give Episode 146 of Managing the Gray a listen and let me know what you think.
I figured since I'm testing Periscope, I might as well livestream me recording. Bit of bonus footage in the video if you'd rather watch instead of listen.
I'm curious to hear what you think. Let me know in whatever way works for you.
Letters completely acceptable.]]>
I finally have a cell phone again.
After a waterfall claimed my last one, I went ten days without having a phone.
Honestly this wasn't bad for me since I wasn't traveling and I could access everything I needed to from my computer and iPad.
The only thing I missed is always having a way to make photographs always with me and being able to share experiences in real time. Instagram was certainly what I missed the most!
I did learn though that society has come to depend on their phones and forget there are other ways to reach people.
Besides my family, I only had one friend who after not getting a response to their text reached out to me in a different way to get the answer to their question. Most other people kept checking in with more texts are later asked "hey why didn't you respond to me?"
We have had email and phones for longer than SMS, so don't be scared to use them.
It also became apparent to me how little some people care about original content. They create, share and consume only that which feeds the algorithm. The how to articles. The lists and what I learned variety.
Write a poetic commentary on the state of gun and race violence in America and no one notices. Share a link about a local mini tech scandal and everyone jumps.
Online human nature sure is a fascinating thing.
Bentley reached out and I'm excited that I'll be teaching again this fall!
This time for the Information Design & Corporate Communication department. The course is "Managerial Communications" and I was excited to learn that each Professor teaches it very differently, so I'm excited to put my own spin on it. I've started looking at possible text books, case studies and other components that I want to make part of the class.
The other interesting thing about this course is that it is a traditional, twice a week, during the day course. That adds to the excitement for me since it will be a first.
I'm also finishing up the scripts for three new content marketing courses I'm doing for lynda.com. Can't wait to go back out to the studios and film those!
My new knife arrived that I ordered for ITS Muster. I've been getting used to carrying it around everywhere with me.
It came in handy the other day to open up a sample box of USB flash drives the folks at USB Memory Direct sent me as a gift. I like how they are laser etched with my logo into a piece of pine. Feels very on brand for me and my New Hampshire roots.
This weekend my parents leave with Emily for their yearly summer camping trip. It was planned without Dylan this year as we hoped he'd have a job this summer, but that is a whole other story.
My favorite part of the week (besides the quality time my kids get with my parents) is that they leave their chocolate lab Abe with us. It will be fun watching him and Nadia hang out.
Speaking of Nadia, we did our first Periscope yesterday. I'd been meaning to test out this app and yesterday I had a reason to do so. You can watch it here.
For those of you not in the know, this app allows anyone to livestream from their phone. You'll hear me talking to people because I can see their comments coming up on my screen as I'm streaming. Still kind of baffled why these are not recorded in the archive. I'm sure it is a feature that will be added in the future.
Finally, the highlight of the week was having my buddy Jason ping me that he was going to be in town and us making plans to go to dinner. Turns out I wasn't the only one he reached out to and I got to share a quality few hours with several people I care a bunch about. Biggest surprise was walking in and seeing Marcus there. Great family guy that I don't cross paths with nearly enough.
All in all, a great week. I wonder if next week will be even better.]]>
Chuck Wendig is a writer who can put words together better than most. His fiction is raw and his nonfiction is inspiring.
Every week he issues a writing challenge and while I should accept more of them, today is my first in which he asks us to share why we write.
Why I write is a complex and simple answer all at once.
I write to get the constant swirling of ideas, stories and characters out of my head.
I write because I have something to say and I want other people to know.
I write because if I'm not creating in some way on a regular basis I tend to go a bit insane.
I write to know more about myself.
Those are the reasons that come to mind. They are the honest and blunt truth and not some made up story about how the words are my savior.
My mind rarely shuts down. Even in sleep, dreams are constantly swirling and tempting me with new directions to go.
Writing has become therapy to me where I can say what I want and there is no one that can tell me no. Sure, the haters roll out every so often and poke, but I've been around this rodeo long enough to know how to ignore the clowns.
Words have always been for me first and everyone else second.
This is why after the release of Content Rules you didn't see piles of "how to" and "top ten ways to" posts here. I'm proud of that book, but it is only a piece of me and not what I want to write about all the time.
Amazing Things Will Happen reminded me that I could write something purely for selfish reasons and it could help others. Every time someone thanks me for writing it, my insides warm up.
Unlike some writers, I'm blessed to get paid for my words. Freelance writing assignments are always nice, but sometimes they drain the soul as well.
Sometimes, you churn the words, cash the check and then try to forget how it makes you feel. Other times the rush of the assignment makes you laugh like a five year old on the playground as you ask yourself, "they are paying me to do this?!?!"
Part of that blend of life and work.
There is a pile of notes for a fiction book I want to write. The fear of committing to it is real.
There is a book proposal for a new nonfiction book ninety five percent complete that this week came back into my life after months on the back burner.
So many words, so little time.
Choosing what to commit to writing is the hardest part of being a writer. I could hole away in my office and churn out nothing but dribble for days on end, but how does that help my family.
Do I write a book that might "do well" but do nothing for me?
These are the daily thoughts that roll through my head as I approach the keyboard with a cup of coffee and an endless stream of ideas.
Earlier this week I tweeted this in reaction to the writing I'm seeing done by too many people.
Never create only to please an algorithm.
— C.C. Chapman (@cc_chapman) July 27, 2015
In today's world we of course have to think about the search engine monsters, but surrendering to them helps no one but the monsters.
I write because I'm compelled to do so.
Writing is not something I choose to do, it is something I must do.]]>
Red, White and Blue!
A gun for every child, but a college degree for only a few.
Where the color of your skin may determine your odds of another morning.
The kids leave for school and I worry if they will return.
Active shooters. Road rage. Libraries and prayer circles.
The street I get. In a Church I never will.
School hallways are for lockers, not glocks.
Play on the swings and pray you get home.
What happened to treating your fellow man as you wished to be treated?
The Golden Rule sure looks tarnished and blood stained.
Our politicians pat their wallets while turning a blind eye.
Headlines, outrage and then silence once more.
Hashtags don't save lives.
Revolutions begin as conversations.
They rise up out of whispers into roars.
Hearts and minds.
Clicks and shares.
We need action by all to change the evil of the few.
Cops are not the enemy, but they aren't the solution.
Every day so many shots. Too many puddles of a life cut short.
Tomorrow is not promised to any.
Today we must take action.
Yesterday must never be forgotten.
Don't hold back.
Together we must come if we ever hope to make things better.
Apart we will never succeed.]]>
Growing up, I was in the Boy Scouts and we spent a lot of time outdoors learning new skills. I can sharpen a blade, start a fire and build a shelter without any worries.
I use to joke that I was the perfect boyfriend because I knew how to tie knots and I was always prepared.
Today, I'd bet that the majority of adults don't know any of these skills. I won't go so far to say that we've gone soft as a society, but our priorities sure have shifted.
Recently when Arlo and Canary both sent me home security camera systems I got thinking about our house security.
We already have an alarm system and had never given much thought to a need for cameras in the house. Plus, knowing the kind of security holes this could open up if not secured I never really saw a need.
Both devices work amazingly well and I actually donated the Arlo system to a local family who needed a security system after a series of thefts. Recently, the footage that the Arlo captured of another attempted robbery lead to catching the person!
There are certainly a few more things we could do around the house, but all in all I feel good.
Current events have kept personal security on my mind a lot though.
I've never been an every day carry sort of guy, but I think that is going to change to be better prepared for the reality we live in.
Prepping to attend ITS Muster 2015 has me shopping for some new gear and when combined with asking myself hard questions about how prepared I am for a variety of situations I realize I'm not very prepared at all.
Sure, I try to always park so that I can pull out rather than back out. I rarely sit with my back to a door. I try to maintain at least a basic situational awareness of what is going on around me at all times.
You'll never see me being one of those zombies blaring music into their headphones and oblivious to all around them.
When in doubt, I'm always trying to follow The 12 Rules.
Do you ever think about your personal security? What about you and your family?
If the power went out this minute and didn't come back on for forty eight hours would you be able to cope at home?
If you have kids, do you have plans for if there is a fire, natural disaster or if they find themselves in an active shooter situation?
These are the things I think about and then make plans for and the answer is YES we have had all those discussions at the Chapman house.
I can hear some of you thinking I've gone over the deep end, but really I just want to be as prepared as I was when I was younger. Some of my skills are definitely not what they use to be and some refreshing of them won't hurt at all.
Plus, it'll get me up and away from my keyboard which is never a bad thing.]]>
TripIt is one of the most important tools in my life.
Whenever I receive a train, hotel, restaurant or flight confirmation I simply forward it to firstname.lastname@example.com and I can instantly forget about it.
I can do this because TripIt uses its magic to create itineraries of all my trips that I can access from the web or my phone at any time.
Never having to worry about any confirmation number, hotel location or little travel detail makes traveling much less stressful.
Recently, the TripIt marketing team asked if I would appear in a new promotional video along side Mario Armstrong, Sharzard Kiadeh, Lee Abbamonte and Rachel Rudwall.
In a funny way, I feel validated as a traveler being among these great people.
Here is the finished product.
I hope some of the other footage we shot shows up in one form or another because we talked a LOT more in my interview about a variety of things.
It was easy to be part of this since I've used and loved the service for years. I can't understand how anyone who travels wouldn't use it.
Find out more at TripIt.com.
Camping is an activity that we love to do as a family and the reality that we don't have many more summers to do this together is starting to hit home.
This was the first camping trip for Nadia and when you have a dog with you, the activities you can do become a bit limited. Hiking is an easy activity you can do with your family and dog and since I'm happiest in the woods we set out to spend quality time in nature.
Using the AllTrails app we searched for easy hiking trails where dogs were allowed in the area around us. This app makes it very easy to search, sort and save trails you find. It is a must for anyone wanting to get outside more.
Being able to sit around the campsite and look at different trails is a fully acceptable use of technology in the woods in my mind.
Our campground had WiFi, but the kids knew that the rule was phones were to only be used for photos. I was sharing mine on Instagram and now wished I had posted more before my little accident.
As a photographer I'm constantly taking photos. Today that means that I take a lot on my phone which is always with me and many on whatever camera I currently have with me.
These days it is usually my Samsung NX500 which is the current camera all of us Samsung Imageloggers are using a Motorola Droid Turbo phone that I was given as part of the VZWBuzz influencer team.
If you have a mobile phone, you need to make sure that you have auto-backup turned on for your photographs.
You can do this through Google, Dropbox, Amazon, Flickr or other services. My phones are always set up to back up to Google whenever connected to WiFi.
I do this because with all the traveling I do, I don't want to run up massive data charges.
Plus, when I'm at home this means that my phone is constantly backing up since we have Verizon FiOS and thus slowing down my home network is never a worry.
Sadly, I had not connected to the Wifi at the campground at the start of the weekend. It is usually one of the first things I do when I travel and after checking in to my hotel. Never gave it much thought at a campground before.
We laced up our boots, I threw my ruck on my back and we hit the trail.
Laura suddenly remembered we should look for geocaches while on the trail and sure enough, as I opened the Geocaching app up popped several near us.
Sadly, we didn't find any that we looked for, but hunting for them once again added to the family memories.
As we reached Sanderson Brook Falls I instantly started taking photos.
You have to understand that I LOVE waterfalls. There are fewer things in nature that give me more pause and smiles than a roaring waterfall and I search them out wherever I go.
I took and shared this photo from the bottom of the falls, but knew I wanted a better photograph.
A photo posted by C.C. Chapman (@cc_chapman) on
Dylan and I began carefully walking up the rocks to get a better view of the waterfall. With all of the winter run off long gone, there was plenty of exposed rock to scramble up without any issue. In the spring we would have never been able to do this. We were both careful and I took this photograph of the girls waiting for us down at the bottom.
Then, I turned around and took this photo of the waterfall. As soon as the shutter had done it's job I knew it wasn't the shot I was hoping for so I looked to move to a different angle.
Of course, Mr. Murphy was in a playful mood and I slipped on some wet moss. Down into a rocky pool of water I fell.
Instantly half of my body was submerged and it was the half where you'd find my phone and my camera.
I knew I had banged a couple of parts rather badly, but a quick moving of joints and fingers told me nothing was broken.
Dylan, instantly asked if I was alright and I told him to give Laura and Emily a big thumbs up down below us since I knew they'd be freaking out having seen me fall. As he was doing this, he was pulling off his shirt and grabbing the camera so that he could pop out the SD Card and battery and try to save the camera.
Turns out that Laura didn't see any of this happen. She just saw me sitting and Dylan giving the thumbs up and put the pieces together.
Dylan being my son, wanted to take a photo of me after the fall. How could I say no?
A few days later, I'm still sore and I think my pride took the biggest injury of them all. Sadly, the camera and phone were both destroyed by this, but as you can see the photos survived.
I should mention that a few days before our trip I received a Samsung 32GB PRO SD from the Samsung Imagelogger team. I had never owned or used a Samsung memory product before, but after how it performed and held up after being dunked, I have a feeling I'll trust my photos to their cards plenty more in the future.
After all this rambling, what have I learned by falling in a waterfall?
First, going forward, I will set up my phones to backup all the time. I pay for enough data that I can do this and when I travel I'll just have to remember to turn it off.
This was the first time in the woods using a wrist based camera strap (OP/TECH USA Camera Strap) and while I love these for daily use in the woods it means that one of my hands is not free and that isn't good. When I slipped, I would have much rather had my hand free to catch myself. I'll stick with my trusty Peak Design Slide when in the woods.
Finally, if I take a photograph I like while traveling, I'm going to make sure that I post it somewhere immediately. I lost at least 20-30 photos I had taken around the campsite on my phone and that bums me out. If I had posted them to Instagram or Flickr I'd still have them.
A good reminder that sharing isn't just for other people, but for you as well.
All in all, our camping weekend was a great escape full of new memories.
I missed having a device to capture photos for the rest of the weekend, but I didn't miss the temptations of technology.
Stay safe out there this summer.
Disclosure – I write a monthly post on the digital lifestyle as part of my agreement with the #LifeonFiOS and #VZWBuzz influencer teams. In return they provide me with services, equipment and experiences. This post didn't start out as one of them, but the more I wrote, the more I realized it was a perfect topic. Hope they agree. All thoughts, opinions and in this case mistakes are my own.]]>
Shoes are a perfect example of this.
When I find a brand and style that I like, I stick with it.
Shoes are purely functional for me and the fashion of them means little to me so I go with what works.
When the team from Rockport asked if they could send me a free pair of their new DresSports Luxe shoes to try and review I initially wasn't interested.
Summer time for me means that I'm wearing my Sperry sneakers almost all the time.
The only other shoe options for me this time of year are my Keen slip ons when I'm wearing jeans or my Merrell hiking boots when I'm in the woods. Dress shoes only come into play for speaking engagements or the occasional fundraiser or dress up occasion.
Kudos to the team who pitched me who saw this as on opportunity and sent me some of their shoes that would match my current favorites. That was a smart audible that most agencies wouldn't have even pursued, so job well done!
All of the shoes were extremely comfortable and I'll definitely be wearing them more.
I'm not a fan of laces, so the classic boat shoe look isn't one of my favorites. My daughter thought they looked good on me, so I'm planning on wearing them when the situation calls for casual but a bit dressy.
The new Rockport DresSports Luxe certainly is a comfortable mens dress shoe. For a long time finding a mens dress shoe that was actually comfortable was harder than it should have been. I can confidently tell you that these are nice and comfy.
Again, with them having laces, they won't replace my trusty Johnson & Murphy pair that have gone around the world with me.
If you are wondering why I'm not a fan of laces, it has to do with how much traveling I do and how much I want to speed my time through security. Laces get in the way of that speed.
Of course these are just a few of the styles that Rockport offers and after this review and looking at their site, they definitely have enough options for every type of man.
Disclosure – Rockport sent me shoes for free that I get to keep in exchange for sharing a review online. All thoughts, images and opinions are my own.]]>
I wish we had known about this event when our kids were younger. Seeing Curious George walk by and then bumping into Clifford the Big Red Dog made me smile.
This year I've partnered with Fidelity & MEFA in support of the 2015 U.Fund Dreams Tour. Part of the agreement is that I'll be attending a few events on the tour, and sharing the experiences with my readers.
Amongst all the free ice cream, face painting and live music, there was an interactive tent where both kids and parents could learn about college saving.
As you can see, it was a fun place to visit.
While the kids could slingshot sheep over the moon, parents could learn how much they needed to save, and how easy it can be to save for their children's education.
We chatted a bit with a super friendly Fidelity representative about our 529 plans that we set up years ago and the concerns we have over the rising costs of college. He answered all of our questions, and let us know how we could get more answers anytime in the future.
I liked that they made the tent so playful and welcoming. Kids wanted to come in and see what was going on, and at the same time their parents could learn and get their questions answered. That is a winning combination in my mind and not always the easiest to pull off.
Balancing out the heavy topic of college savings with ice cream and sunshine certainly isn't a bad way to spend some time on a Saturday afternoon.
I encourage you to attend one of the other stops on the U.Fund Dreams Tour in the coming weeks, and definitely consider opening a 529 Plan if you have children.
Happy saving!
Disclosure: I'm working with Fidelity Investments and MEFA to spread the word on the U.Fund Dreams Tour. All opinions are my own.]]>
Chasing light is something every photographer does. We seek it out, lust for it and when we find it, we celebrate it.
When the sun sets, we celebrate and wait for the light to be just right to capture as much natural beauty as possible.
But, in many parts of the world when the sun goes down it means a new search for light begins.
A search for reliable power to light homes and businesses. To keep streets illuminated and safe to walk down. To heat houses, cook food and allow students to study.
During a trip to Ghana, I saw first hand what life is like without reliable electricity.
The pitch black streets where our vehicles whizzed by people waiting to cross the road who could be barely seen by our headlights.
The one shop that had a single lightbulb hanging over a television and the crowd that had gathered to watch the soccer game.
For me and my family, I know that when I flip the switch the lights will come on. But, this is not true for so many people in the world.
This post is part of ONE's #LightForLight Blog Relay in which writers and photographers are sharing their stories of light to raise awareness for the Electrify Africa Act.
Take a moment and look at what happens when reliable power is not common.
How can we ever hope for progress in these countries when they don't have something as basic as safe and reliable electricity?
This is an effort near and dear to my heart and I'm thrilled to see ONE supporting.
Please sign this petition to let our government know it is important to you as well.
Because I believe you should never blindly sign anything and should know the facts, the Electrify Africa Act of 2015 would prioritize and coordinate U.S. government resources in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020 to:
We need to make this happen. Energy Poverty is something that no one should suffer from in the world.
The great thing about being part of this is that every day for the month of July someone else is writing an inspiring post and I encourage you to read a few others from my friends Karen, Whit and Heather.
You too can participate by sharing your favorite light inspired images on any social network and tagging them with #ElectrifyAfrica and #LightforLight.
I want to end with this photo of a tree in the afternoon light of the hot Ghana sun. It is a simple photo, but one that I've always loved.
I took this photo outside of a clinic where we ate lunch while out vaccinating and checking on children with a number of aid workers and nurses. This tree was reaching for the light that it had always known.
It gives me hope that we can bring light to all those children I met, so that they can grow up healthy, inspired and with the ability to do whatever their heart chooses.
Help me fight Energy Poverty by signing below.
Chasing light with a camera is fun. Chasing light with your life is not.]]>
Not all road trips need to be epic journeys through the corners of the world. Sometimes they are a simple micro-adventure over the course of a long weekend.
We jumped in the car and headed south to visit my baby sister in Frederick, Maryland. She had lived there for a few years and I was the only member of my family who had yet to visit her (a fact that my family loved to nag me about).
After last summer's road trip, I have no problem driving long distances. Plus, when you schedule a stop half way there to have lunch with old college buddies over locally made subs, it isn't a bad drive.
Frederick is a cute little town filled with new stores, cute little yards and the typical mish mash of people you find wherever you go in our country these days.
While we didn't bring Nadia with us, it was great to see how dog friendly of a town it is. Signs in many stores welcomed dogs into them and there were water dishes everywhere.
Downtown has a beautiful canal to walk along, several parks to play in and independent stores of all sorts to shop in.
We spent time looking through hipster clothing stores, falling in love with upcycled industrial furniture and browsing the shelves in one of the best named bookstores I've ever found.
We were delighted to discover a variety of public street art. I truly wished more cities would allow, encourage and commission more of this.
It wouldn't be Chapman trip without it being filled with amazing food and we certainly found that with frozen custard at Rita's, mounds of all you can eat crab at May's, hot fresh donuts from The Fractured Prune and some of the best barbecue I've ever had outside of Texas at Black Hog BBQ.
If you in town and craving pie, be sure to swing by Barbara Fritchie's for a slice of homemade goodness, but don't order breakfast because they don't seem to know how to make anything edible except for pie.
Sadly, it was one of the worst meals I've ever had anywhere in the world.
We even snuck in a quick geocaching lesson for my sister and introduced her beagle to the woods for the first time.
Bad weather kept us from seeing more of Frederick, but I'm excited to return and see more of it. It is a family friendly town with plenty of activities to keep any family busy. We can't wait to come back!
Of course this means that we are thinking a lot about how we are going to pay for college and this weekend we are hoping lots of fellow New England families will come out to learn how to start (or better continue) saving at the WGBH FunFest!
Besides live music, ice cream, and lots of fun for all ages, this is another stop on the 2015 U.Fund Dreams Tour, presented by Fidelity & MEFA.
I've partnered with them this year to help spread the word about smart planning for college and how any family can get involved, no matter their budget.
This weekend my family will be spending some of our Saturday visiting the U.Fund Dreams Tour tent at the WGBH FunFest, and I hope you'll come out and join us.
Check out the list of live performances and vendors who will be on hand. Tickets are only $10 or $35 for a family four pack.
Disclosure: I'm working with Fidelity Investments and MEFA to spread the word on the U.Fund Dreams Tour. All opinions are my own.]]>
I love receiving paid writing assignments. Few things make me happier in this world.
So when members of the Verizon Wireless team offered to pay me to write a post "that includes a story about a decision you may have made once in your life which you regretted AND chose to reverse course or would have LIKED to reverse course." I gladly accepted the assignment and began planning.
The marketing expert in me loved the assignment because they are using these posts to raise awareness for their current #SwitchersRemorse promotion where they will take back any previous customers with open arms since we've all made decisions we regretted.
But, then I began thinking about what to write.
I thought about the time that I got into breakdancing and how we use to have "battles" at the school dances. Some of those outfits were stupid and I certainly didn't have as good of moves as I thought I did.
Or what about the time I signed the paperwork to have my marketing agency acquired by another and have always wondered if it was the right decision or not.
There have been plenty of questionable on-the-road food choices, career moves and decisions made over the years the more I thought about it.
Yet, the fact is that I've always tried to live my life without regret. If I make a bad decision, I try to rectify it as quickly as possible.
Take a wrong turn (real or metaphorically) and I try to get back on a better patch immediately.
I joked with the team that I couldn't come up with a topic for this post and then the more I joked about it, I realized that was the topic of the post. The lack of a motivator for it.
We all do things we wished we hadn't. For some it is a hair style, others a man or woman. But, to linger on them instead of moving forward is something I don't think is healthy.
Perhaps that is why I had such a hard time coming up with a funny story to tell (even though I'm sure the thought of me breakdancing sent shivers through some of you).
Thanks for the thought provoking assignment. It was fun to walk down memory lane.
Disclosure: This is a paid post for Verizon's #SwitchersRemorse campaign. If you switched away from Verizon and are regretting it, don't worry. They're making it easy for customers to come back. For more information click here or head over to your local Verizon store."]]>
Thirteen years ago I typed out the first post for this blog. It was random, rambling and about the events of the recent past. Sounds pretty much like any other post around here.
Looking back, I could never imagine that writing would take me around the world, have me work on amazing projects and meet some of the best humans on the planet.
While there might have been a plan at some point, I could have never planned for the adventure I continue to be on.
The more people I talk to, the more I realize they expect to be able to plan everything out and have it go perfectly according to plan. Yes, that is possible, but it certainly isn't adventurous.
When I go camping, I know I've got the gear and a map of where we are going, but the truly rememberable moments are the ones that at the time angered, upset or pushed us. We look back now and tell the stories with big smiles on our faces and people shake their heads wondering how we made it through.
The great adventure stories don't tell the tale of the woman who sat by the beach in a chair sipping a cold drink. They celebrate those who jump in an airplane and fly around the world!
The photo above was taken on Route 15 in Pennsylvania as we rolled down the road on a weekend micro-adventure.
Seeing my tattoo in the mirror made me smile and as the miles rolled by I pondered this idea.
The morning had not gone as we hoped and on an impulse I pulled us off the road to visit a farmstand we had seen signs for. Something felt right about swinging by and seeing what it was all about.
We found ourselves chatting with David Young who I'd later find our are known as The Lion Potter of Gettysburg.
We talked about the writings of John Eldredge, raising sons and he introduced me to sugar plums.
As we waved goodbye, I promised to send him a copy of Amazing Things Will Happen and we left with fresh fruit and a beautiful hand thrown bowl he had made.
The miles rolled away. This little adventure could have never been planned for, but it stuck with me as the miles and hours rolled away.
A chance encounter with a man that thousands of people drive by every year and will never meet, but a random left turn brought me to him.
Stop trying to plan for your adventures. Trust your gut and take that turn, write that post or take that photo.
Say yes when it scares you a bit.
Today, the world finds itself in the second half of 2015.
Looking at the months ahead I have the crazy adventures of ITS Muster and a Boston to The Netherlands to Sun City, Arizona during Thanksgiving on my calendar. I'm sure there will be other bits of adventure that I have no idea about yet that will arise and I can't wait.
Not knowing what lies ahead is scary. But, for some of us it is exciting at the same time.
Those moments when your insides are tied into knots with the mix of could be, what if and am I going to be ok.
You can be an adrenaline junkie, but I prefer to be an adventure seeker.
Enjoy the holiday weekend!]]>
Todays world is full of parents who work from home. For the past nine years, I've been one of them.
When summer vacation arrives, it comes with new challenges. Our home offices are no longer the sacred, quiet spaces that we love and thrive in.
While some build a writing shed or a tiny house to escape the squeals of the summertime kids (and it is something I dream of doing), it isn't a viable option for most.
Thankfully I don't have to worry about the technology side of the equation.
Having Verizon FiOS insures that even when my son is playing Destiny on our Xbox or League of Legends on the computer, while my daughter is binge watching her latest show via Netflix on her iPad or scrolling through iFunny on her phone and I'm conducting a webinar that none of us misses a beat. I always giggle a bit when I see commercials talking about internet speeds slowing down at home depending on the usage. It just isn't something I've ever experienced in a long time.
That being said, I also want to make sure that my kids don't spend their entire summer vacation in front of screens.
The easiest way to fix this is to turn off your router every so often. Be warned that this is not the best idea in the world and you are sure to have some grumpy kids if they ever find out you did it, but it does work.
A better idea is to get away from the screens yourself and get outside. Getting your yard work done early so you can put a kayak in the water or go for a hike is always a great idea.
We also require the kids to spend a minimum of thirty minutes every day reading.
With the invention of summer reading lists (I never had one as a kid) it makes this easier. Especially this summer when my daughter has to read Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies for her AP History class. Setting up a hammock in the backyard makes this not so much of an "c'mon dad!" chore.
My kids are teenagers, so their phones are permanent accessory that go with everything. Getting them to put it away is a losing battle and I have a feeling it is a battle many parents may be fighting.
Here are a few apps that I'd suggest installing so that their phone can be used for more than chatting with their friends.
Sky Map (Android) or Star Walk (iOS) are both great for checking out the night sky and perhaps sparking a love of astronomy.
Last year on our roadtrip, we used Roadtrippers (sadly only iOS) a ton to get the kids involved with finding fun stops along the way. This is a great way to keep them from complaining on the next long car ride.
Finally, if you want them to start using their phone camera for more than only taking selfies, encourage them to install one of the many camera apps that are available. I personally recommend Camera Zoom FX on Android or Camera+ on iOS. Either will give them full control over their camera and can start their love of photography. I'm also a huge can of VSCO Cam for post production of photos to make them different than most.
At the end of the day, technology is a beautiful thing. Being surrounded by it empowers me to do the work I do, but at the same time I don't want my kids to be slaves to it this summer.
Something new we are trying this year is we had the family make a "Summer Beach Bucket List" that is hanging in our kitchen.
Everyone is encouraged to write down things they wanted to do this summer. As you can see, it includes everything from activities we want to do, to several restaurants we keep forgetting to try.
You'd be amazed at how open the kids have been anytime we announce, "ok lets check one of these off!" and head out to do it.
It would be so easy to just let our kids enjoy their screens all summer because it means you'd be able to get your work done without distractions. But, we all know that isn't the best use of our parenting skills and we need to make sure they get away from them.
Plus, don't forget that away from screen time is good for you as well.
How do you balance screen time with sunshine during summer vacation?
Disclosure – I am a member of the #LifeOnFiOS & VZWBuzz influencer teams from Verizon. From time to time they provide me with services, gadgets, information and experiences in exchange for articles focused on my digital life style. I control the topics, words, thoughts and everything else. They just get to read and share them.]]>
Last night at the dinner table, my daughter and I had a conversation about the term gender fluid.
I admitted that I didn't know enough about it to have an opinion; but that my gut reaction to it was that it didn't make sense to me.
This morning I took the time to read up on it so that I could form an opinion about it. Turns out that I didn't have a full understanding of what the term means.
Now that I do I can understand and appreciate the term. I know Emily will appreciate our follow up conversation.
Combine that with people identifying themselves in all sorts of ways and the rampart racism in the world and it got me thinking.
We are ALL humans. It is a constant and a known fact.
Everything else is an adjective.
Stop and think about that for a moment.
Common adjectives include what religion someone practices, the color of their skin, whom they have sex with or where they were born.
But, don't we each also choose some of our own adjectives?
I live in Massachusetts, but quite often identify myself as being from New Hampshire or as a New Englander because that is what I identify most with.
There are passionate arguments in all directions right now over current events.
I've seen the same people accept someone saying they are a different sex than they were born and then turning around to shame another who says they are a different race than they were born.
I know many would say those are two different things, but are they?
If you were to ask my kids what nationality they are, they love to say "Chinese Italian" and they always get strange looks. Those are two nationalities in their heritage, but there is also a smorgasbord of others that we know from tracing our genealogy but those are the two they choose.
There are so many adjectives that I'll never know what it feels like to have associated with me.
As a male, white, overweight, religious, middle-class, brunette, middle-aged, straight human I can't understand many other adjectives, but I try to accept them all.
If you don't agree with or understand something you shouldn't hate it.
Humans should treat all other humans better than we are these days, independent of anything else.
We are all stuck on this big blue marble together and it would be a lot less painful and sad if every human learned a bit more compassion and tolerance for those who have different adjectives associated with them.
We can't keep hurting, holding back and killing each other because we are different.
Take the time today to learn about those that you don't understand or know about.
Yes, I'm over simplifying things because sometimes that is what is needed get through to the people who need to understand it the most.]]>
This morning my doodling ended up with the above.
Being a small town kid at heart who grew up in a blue collar family, I tend to notice these things.
The #FirstWorldProblems trend has always rubbed me a bit the wrong way. Sure, I've bitched about things that I didn't need to and I know that. Whenever I do, I tend to feel bad about it not long after hitting the send button.
This morning as I enjoyed my bananas and black coffee (I still think that could be a fun name for a band) my mind began wandering about a lot of different things going on in the world and right in my backyard.
– Clarence and I hung out the other night and talked a lot about race and how are we ever going to make progress in fixing the race problems in America.
– I find myself filtering my feeds more and more to get rid of the constant marketing, never happy or only talk about one thing types. This has been a much needed improvement.
– The call of the clickstream has been extra loud lately and I need to shut it up. Getting away from a connected screen is definitely a key to being successful here.
– The Oatmeal once again nails it. Yes, I use them too, but I also have fun with them (in my mind).
– Amazing how hard it can be to cut down the amount of meat in the dinners I make for the family and still have the family happy with what I'm serving them.
– With summer vacation just over the horizon for the kids, I really want to make sure that while there are no epic adventures planned that we still make time for plenty of memories.
– Playing Monopoly as a family on the Xbox is nothing like playing it on an actual board. The board is better.
– The idea of shooting a short video today was nixed by the realization that the camera I wanted to use is in Laura's car.
– Dylan's phone is broke and part of me wants to wait as long as possible not to get it fixed, but then how would I reach him if I needed to. How did our parents ever survive?
– This weekend I get to watch Emily dance and see my family. I can't wait to watch Nadia play with her cousin Abe.
– Why won't this damn cold/cough go away?
– I've got a lot to talk about tonight at our Wediko board meeting.
– Where are all the female and non white male daily Vloggers? I know they must be out there, but I haven't found many and I'd love to discover more.
– I wonder if politicians will ever stop bitching and complaining and simply shut their mouths and get to work on getting things done.
– There are a lot of opportunities coming to the surface in Austin and I hope Brad and I can make at least a few of them happen.
– There needs to be a lot more face-to-face time in my life. Liking and scrolling is not the same as hugging and chatting. I'm going to start reaching out to people and getting together. It will be better for all involved I think.
See, I wasn't kidding when I said my mind was wandering this morning.
This is fairly typical and I'm sure there are a few other things going on up there that I'm just not willing or wanting to share publicly.
Make it a great day.]]>
After the two day "conference" portion of MisfitCon, I've made a tradition of going for a walk with my camera and finding breakfast alone to collect my thoughts and decompress from the 48 hours of inspiration I've just been through.
This year I found myself in a leather and chrome booth at The Boiler Room.
Being the first customer on a Saturday morning means instant attention and fresh coffee. Exactly the combination I needed.
Reading through my notes there was plenty of quotes and thoughts, but then I started brain-dumping on a fresh page that started with:
"I'm a teacher who tells stories. Shouldn't all teachers do this?
Too many have grown roots and never move, see or experience new things.
Bread grows stale quickly, so you must always be baking new loaves."
Right there is a peek into how my brain works and what my notebooks look like. It makes complete sense to me and perhaps bits of it do to you.
After my recent first course at Bentley and through all my courses on lynda.com I get a thrill out of the feedback I receive from students. Good or bad, I welcome it because I take it and make my next teaching opportunity even better.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized how it doesn't matter if I'm on stage speaking, consulting on a project or writing a new book. My goal is always the same, to inspire and teach others.
When I really stopped and thought about nothing but what I get the most enjoyment out of, it boils down to some form of teaching.
The world of education is changing rapidly. Sure, most institutions are not paying much attention to it, but just like the music and publishing industries the changes are happening in plain site and eventually there will be sink holes on college campuses around the globe.
Take one look at what The Experience Institute is doing and imagine what happens when a wealthy benefactor makes a donation to them instead of another ivy covered brick walled university?
I could spend the weekend putting together a new course, launch it on Teachery and any student in the world could pay me to take it. What if a bunch of us banded together to teach a whole curriculum around a traditional major?
I'm not predicting or rooting for a collapse of the higher education system, but I am hoping for an extreme evolution of how they approach teaching future generations.
As a parent, I wonder if my kids need to go into life-crushing debt to get a piece of parchment instead of entering the work force and learning what they want to do before they seek out a degree in it.
As a teacher, I wonder if colleges will stop requiring advanced degrees as an initial gate to jump over before teaching.
As a student, I love all the new outlets there are for learning only a search and a few clicks away. Plus, I don't want to ever stop learning!
There are a whole lot of other scribbles in my notebook from that morning, but the last thing it says is:
"Teacher is a better description than consultant for what I do. Damn teachers deserve a ton more respect!"
Yup, I still agree with those statements.
Teaching means more to me than I ever imagined it would. I have no plans on stopping.
Photo Credit: Dan Powell]]>
Technology is a beautiful thing. It allows for the world to be smaller, collaborative and innovative together.
Technology also allows us to hide behind our keyboards, be addicted to our phones and forget that there is life beyond a screen.
I returned from Fargo with a desire to doodle. It is something I use to do all the time as a kid and my father blames computers for taking me away from doing it.
Sure, I still doodle in the corner of my notebooks during conference calls and other bits of boredoms, but I thought it might be fun to focus some energy each day on doodling.
This was my doodle this morning.
I was thinking about it last night as I was reading my first issue of Sidetracked magazine. Thinking about how much I love technology, but how much more I love nature.
About how long it has been since my last time with a backpack weighting me down while my hiking boots get muddy going up a trail. About how long it has been since I smelled of campfire smoke and days without a shower. About how bright the stars are in the quite of the night in a campsite deep in the woods.
Spring always gets me itchy to be outside. To get my kayak wet and my camp mug full.
I'm excited to expose Nadia to all of these things and hopefully she falls in love with them too.
Technology is great, but I'll take outside time over it any day.]]>
Magic is hard to put into words.
How do you describe in an articulate fashion what occurs when a group of individual comes together to form a tribe that is nothing short of magical?
I've been mulling over this since I boarded my flight home. Sure, my photo album captures some of the magic, but to put it into words is a whole other challenge.
Fargo, North Dakota is a city that I've spent less than two weeks in over the course of my life. Yet, every moment spent there has been important to my well being both professionally and personally.
Misfitcon is an event with no website, very little public details and unlike any conference you've been to.
When asked my standard answer is "It is an intimate gathering of some of the best and brightest trouble makers in the world."
What other event would people pay for, fly half way around the world to attend and still be ok with simply receiving a text reading "8 am at Ecce. See you there."
This was my second Misfitcon and while there were familiar faces, it was different at the same time. The other side of the familiar pillow that you flip because things have changed while staying the same.
Travel delays forced me to miss the opening party at a treehouse out on the North Dakota prairie, but it allowed for a chance meeting with a fellow Misfit at the Chicago airport and the quality conversation that comes whenever that happens.
As is the norm, the speakers and performers were a cornucopia of amazing. Looping violinists, a man cycling around the world, a college skipper, multiple Shakespearean actors, entrepreneurs, artists and bourbon makers all took the stage.
Notebook in hand, I wrote down bits of inspiration that I wanted to take home with me to go with the emotions that would be in my heart.
Because of how raw and emotionally open the environment is, I share the quotes in bulk in the hopes that even without the context they may inspire others.
– My quotes form a boat that floats me to safety.
– Believing Works
– Human survival is contingent on everyone being able to tell their stories.
– I use to be defined by logos
– When you have a kid, it time fucks your life!
– I saw my hometown was dying and I knew I had to do something before it disappeared.
– If people call me an artist, I must be an artist.
– Seth Godin is my Beyonce.
– I wanted to live a life where I inhaled passion and exhaled art.
– Making money doing shit you don't want to do makes space for the shit you do want to do.
– Encouragement gives physics the finger.
– It takes a lot of work to make Shakespeare boring.
– I don't hate my ADD, I enjoy every minute of it.
– You have to turn away from the darkness and face where you want to get to.
– Arts education teaches people to listen and turns bubble blowers into rocket scientists.
– Courage is a decision not a feeling.
– If someone tells you no there is not enough room for you and your idea, say bullshit and make the room!
– If you hide how to do something from people too long, they'll forget they can even do it.
– If it is worth it, charge for it.
– For fuck sake, stop reading TechCrunch.
– Don't burn bridges, blow them up.
– Calvin & Hobbes is my happy place.
– This thing changes lives, other conferences just make you eat bagels.
Looking back at my blue ink scribbles in my neon orange Field Notes brings me back to the purple blue lit room and the emotions contained there.
Contained isn't accurate though since it was only a room.
A room filled with art made from the discarded and chairs with more variety than those who would sit on them. Bathed in colorful lights and filled with beautiful humans. But, it was something more while we were gathered there.
It was a campfire of creativity and inspiration. It could have been on a rug in Istanbul, camp chairs in the Rockies or on a beach blanket in Thailand. Gatherings like this have happened through the ages and I wonder what people will write about these gatherings in Fargo years from now.
I know businesses are being launched, good is being done and souls are being rejuvenated. People are being given permission to chase their dreams and held accountable to make a life out of them.
A whisper over a chocolate croissant becomes an online business.
A hug over a hand-crafted cocktail becomes a beautiful painting.
One minute you are watching breakdancers in an abandoned middle school hallway and then you are buying a piece of art from the furry chinned guy in the corner.
Magic is alive and well in this world.
The days, weeks and year since I was last at Misfitcon were not spent the way they should have been. It was dark, confusing and by all accounts not what I wanted. Yet, I know it was the path I had to walk to get to where I am today and I'm determined that a year from now when I arrive in Fargo that my story has continued to be written and in a direction of my choosing.
To my fellow Misfits, I love you all and thank you for the nagging questions, hugs and motivation to keep pushing forward. You are all extremely important pieces of my life puzzle and whenever I need a pick me up, I know I'm only a coffee mug or railroad spike away from you.
AJ, Melissa and the entire Misfit Team, thank you. Thank you for the most beautiful love letter every year and for sending it to me.
This weekend as we unplugged and headed outside to help kick off summer I got thinking about the balancing act between loving technology and being ok to leave it behind at the same time.
It only takes one look at the above photo to see the variety of things you might find laying around my office (and house) and more and more of them are connected every day.
Last night as we sat around a campfire, I took a few photos with my phone and then put it away.
My Droid Turbo gives me all the camera controls I need to take good photographs quickly and because I have auto backup turned on to Google, I knew that when it connected to my WiFi network when I got home the photos would be waiting there for me this morning when I wanted to get to them.
Of course, Google+ has an #AutoAwesome feature where sometimes they will take photos you upload and get creative with them as they did by making this animated gif of the fire.
Recently, I've received several new pieces of technology that I'm looking forward to reviewing.
The great thing is that no matter what shows up in the mail, I never have to worry if I have the capabilities because I know that thanks to having Verizon FiOS in our house, it can handle whatever we throw at it.
I'm going to be checking out home security systems from Arlo and Canary. The kids and I are also excited to play with several goodies that arrived from Wacom. There is also an NX500 scheduled to arrive from Samsung today that I can't wait to start using.
Also, if you ever want a test of your home network, have a bunch of teenagers over for a birthday party as they all ask you, "Mr. Chapman, can you please give me the WiFi password?" (btw I always type it in for them rather than giving it to them.) All that Facetiming, Snapchatting, bing watching on Netflix and my son playing League of Legends and still no body was complaining about the speed.
We had to explain to them recently what AOL was when they got bought. The concept of getting a CD in the mail that would allow you to get online was extremely confusing to them. They've never not known high speed Internet in our house which I'm thankful for, but also sort of wish they did understand the difference. *grin*
Related to this, we all keep seeing articles about how "the internet of things is coming" and as I think about these new gadgets and ones I already have, most of them are directly connected to our network. My camera pulls down firmware updates via WiFi, when I use my Bamboo Stylus to sketch out ideas on my iPad it backs up to Evernote without me thinking about it and I can check how much energy my solar panels are generating in real time from anywhere in the world on my phone. All of this happens because of the fast and secure internet access I have in my house.
Now if I could just find a new desk and kitchen counters with built in charging pads and I'd be all set!
Disclaimer – As someone who writes about living a digital lifesteyle, I receive items from brands for review purposes. I am also involved in influencer campaigns from both Verizon and Samsung. The words and thoughts I share are always my own, but I always want you to know my involvements as well so there is never any question. Some links above are affiliate links so that I can make a few nickels and buy more gadgets]]>
Last night, I took part in a panel to discuss "The Once and Future PR Professional" put on by the Publicity Club of New England and hosted by SHIFT Communications.
It was an intimate conversation that covered a lot of ground.
I was honored to be on the panel with Steve Quigley from Boston University, Erica Seidel of The Connective Good and Liz Segran from Fast Company. We were moderated by Amy Lyons, President at SHIFT and she did a great job keeping the conversation flowing and everything on track.
We discussed how colleges need to evolve to insure that students are graduating with the skills the marketplace craves. There was plenty of talk about the modern relationship between journalists and those that pitch them. Questions were varied and challenging at the same time.
I joked how I was glad we would not be appearing on the Congrats, You Have An All Male Panel site and we discussed how I'm not a fan of the site because it feels like it is shaming the participants rather than the organizers who should be if anyone is. I always prefer being on a panel full of diversity and last night certainly achieved that.
There will be other posts written and shared about nuggets taken away from the night. I just wanted to share this to say thank you to the organizers for inviting me to sit on the couch next to such a variety of talent.
Thank you to Sarah Muscarella for permission to use her photographs from the night.]]>
A year ago, I had very little appreciation for ballet.
I respect all forms of arts and creativity, but the ballet was one form that never completely clicked with me.
But, after several invitations from the Boston Ballet to attend different shows, I've grown to enjoy ballet more than I imagined I ever would.
Thrill of Contact is the final performances of the current season and I encourage you to check one of them out because there is something for everyone.
Theme and Variations with choreography by George Balanchine opens the night and was simply beautiful.
The costumes and set is of the classic variety I think of when I think of ballet. I loved watching the individual dances and the grand moments when the stage was covered in dancers.
fremd is the world premiere Principal Dancer Jeffrey Cirio.
Set to music by Chopin, John Field, Byetone, and Aphex Twin it was unlike anything I had ever seen and certainly I can't begin to try and explain it. You'll just have to see it.
The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude had the most fun costumes of the night and beautiful choreography by William Forsythe.
The final performance of the night was the classic The Concert which premiered in 1956.
I learned that ballet could be funny last year, but this took it to a whole new level of laughs. Anyone with a funny bone will walk away from this performance with a culture induced laugh.
Emily and I had a great time being one of the small number of people in the theater for the dress rehearsal.
As a dancer herself, Emily loved watching the directions being given after each performance and the behind the scenes sneak peek.
I was excited to be able to bring my camera and take all these photos. I never knew how hard it is to take photos of dancers and have a new appreciation for it. It was fun to put my Samsung NX1 through the paces in low light and with so much movement.
A huge thank you to the Boston Ballet team for inviting us to attend.]]>
If you were to look in the woods behind my house you'd see this in one little corner. It is the start of a wood pile that I made recently after chopping up some wood from a tree my father dropped the last time he was down here.
Last winter we noticed we were running low on wood, so he picked a tree that wasn't doing so well and sawed it down. He then proceeded to saw it into logs that were a good size for our fireplace and then left them for me to chop.
I thought about sharing this because if you look closely, you'll see that there is plenty left to chop. It was a tall tree, so there is plenty more that you can't see in the photo.
Chopping wood is a perfect therapy for me. It gets the heart pumping. You get a good workout of it and there is nothing sweeter than the snap when your ax goes through a piece of wood.
The reason there is still plenty to chop is that I wanted to save it. I wanted to savor my nature based therapy for a time when I needed it.
For that moment when I've had a long or rough day. When a glass of something strong or an hour of pixel based violence might call to me, but instead I can go out and with a swing of my ax take out all of the aggression while being productive.
Decisions like this make complete sense to me. They might seem like nonsense or random to others.
The key is that a decision was made. I trust my gut that it was the right one.
There are no cares for what others may think because it was the right decision because I was the only one who could make it.]]>
Bentley University is one of the best business schools in the country. I say that as a proud alumnus of the school.
Over the years I've taught online classes for Lynda.com, CreativeLive, Treehouse and USF.
Those and every talk I've ever given showed me that teaching was in my blood and something I've always thought about doing more of.
But, when offered the opportunity to teach eMarketing, in a classroom, at Bentley I jumped at the opportunity.
Now that grades are in and graduation is on the horizon I wanted to share what I learned in my first semester as an adjunct professor.
It was clear to me that I enjoyed teaching others, but after this one semester I know that I want to teach a lot more in classrooms.
The challenge of working with students who truly care about the subject, mixed with those who are taking it in the hopes for an easy grade makes each class unique.
Preparing two and a half hours of engaging class time once a week was a new and exciting challenge for me.
Teaching full time is something I'd love to do. Without a Masters Degree I've been told this won't be possible, but I'd like to think my real world experience and expertise might be enough somewhere. I'm holding out hope.
Grading on a curve was something I always hated as a student. I firmly believe that students should get the grades they earn.
But, when I sat down to grade the first assignment for my class (taking a piece of content and reimagining it into three new ones) I wasn't prepared for how stressful it would be. What makes one paper a 95 and another a 90? Where is the line between great and good?
Dr. Janet Hale from Texas State University gave me some great advice over coffee when I visited her that helped lower the stress a bit. She told me to put every assignments in piles of 90s, 80s, and so on. Then to go back through the individual piles to fine tune the grades. This helped immensely and made the rest of the semester easier.
I'm sure the more teaching you do, the less stressful it becomes, but this was a big surprise and gives me a new found respect for every teacher in the world.
I've been challenged by executives around the globe when they question something I've said. Yet, none of them are as tough as when a passionate undergraduate student challenges you.
They speak their mind. They question everything. If you are not on your toes they will eat you alive.
My class was an elective so I had a variety of majors in the room and it made for fun discussions.
Oh and you better be ready to explain why you gave the grades you did. I thankfully kept detailed notes in preparation for these questions, but I wasn't ready for there to be so many of them.
The first thing I did for my class was to set up a Tumblr site where I could share interesting things I saw throughout the week. The students were expected to keep tabs on these stories and we'd discuss them at the beginning of each class.
Over and over, I was told by the students how much they appreciated I always used real world examples when teaching. I learned that this isn't as common as it should be.
I think it is critical for anyone teaching to stay on top of trends and happenings in their industry. We need to insure that what we are teaching is relevant to the world that the students will soon be entering.
Before, I finish this post, I want to give a big thank you to Andy Aylesworth, PhD for giving me the opportunity to teach at Bentley. For a kid who was told by his high school guidance counselor he'd never get in to Bentley, it meant more than I can ever express that I had the honor of teaching there.
As of now, I have no future classes scheduled.
The students (from what I've been told) really enjoyed the class, but as it goes with adjunct professors it is semester-by-semester and you never know when there will be an opening for you.
I'm hoping to return to Bentley, but I'm also looking for other places to teach. The draw of the classroom is stronger than ever in me.
Thank you also to my students in MK-361. I learned a lot from you and I'm excited to see where you go in the world.
Go Falcons!]]>
Before that conversation, I had never heard of Give Local America, but this project would require me to use my storytelling skills to highlight, share and document the great work done by participating charities. All this while raising millions of dollars to help over 9,000 nonprofits located all over the United States. I even got to travel a bit to be part of this, so it was a perfect project.
Thankfully it was a busy day from the moment I poured my first cup of coffee. With a focused day of giving across the country, I was eager to see and share the content marketing tactics that different nonprofits would use to engage their communities and to get them to donate.
Give Local America is powered and organized by Kimbia, one of the leading online fundraising and crowdfunding platforms. The event is a well thought out campaign that showcases their solutions, while helping their customers and the nation at the same time.
I couldn't write a post like this and not mention them. Take a look at this infographic of last years results and you can see how much good this event does.
My hope in writing this post is to shine a light on the variety of charities I learned about during this event while showcasing tactics that any nonprofit can learn from and put into practice to raise awareness and donations for themselves. I want to see organizations of all sizes using technology to find success, so read on and learn.
It was great to see so many images throughout the day. It is important to show people the work you do.
The San Antonia AIDS Foundation did a great job mixing photos with clear call to actions for the day.
We feed our clients every day. Help us help them. Donate for @TheBigGiveSA at http://t.co/11klkqrv2c #GiveLocal15 pic.twitter.com/yl7n6fupZY
— SA AIDS Foundation (@SanAntonioAIDS) May 5, 2015
Hill Country Daily Bread made a point to put a face on the people they were helping with a series of individual stories and photos of those they help.
Your donation change lives for people like Bill. http://t.co/zAbHlD5rCL #BGSA2015 #GiveLocal15 pic.twitter.com/Hs0RGx2sMe — HC Daily Bread (@HCDailyBread) May 5, 2015
I especially liked how Eva's Heroes showcased directly where donation dollars would be going.
As you can see here they showed not only a photo of a recipient, but how she would be using donations. Any organization could do this with a piece of paper and a smart phone (and it works).
$10 sends our participants to a 6-week photography session. DONATE #GiveLocal15 #BGSA2015 http://t.co/ntudRhsFy7 pic.twitter.com/JIBooFVaIk
— Eva's Heroes (@evasheroes) May 5, 2015
Smiles are never a bad thing and the Starkey Hearing Foundation knew this when throughout the day they shared images of happy kids and families they have helped. They also did a nice job of watermarking all the images so if someone wasn't aware of what #GiveLocal15 was all about, they might go and investigate to find out more.
We're celebrating a national day of giving today! Take part by donating #GiveLocal15 https://t.co/2vuVv6E24n pic.twitter.com/Y8AhI45LSd — Starkey Foundation (@starkeycares) May 5, 2015
Sol Theatre Outreach created tons of images using photos from their various productions and playful copy to constantly keep their asks new and fresh.
Reasons to Give to Sol #4: They love to sing LOUDLY! http://t.co/TXe84ziG7L #isupportsol #greatgive15 #givelocal15 pic.twitter.com/oh7bxFmzMv
— Sol Theatre Outreach (@solstagemama) May 6, 2015
It was also great to see that even on a day of giving, organizations were still out doing the work as showcased by the San Antonio STEM Connectory. Talk about perfect content to share in order to raise awareness and dollars.
The Geekbus crew is over at @GirlsIncSATX teaching Video Game Design! #StrongerTogether #BGSA2015 #GiveLocal15 pic.twitter.com/DLvXLMBeHF
— SASTEMIC (@sastemic) May 5, 2015
Finally, one of my favorites of the day was San Antonio Pets Alive who throughout the day were sharing photos of their pets saying thank you to donors. I liked it so much I collected a few of my favorites and tweeted it out to showcase to everyone.
A job well done to @sapetsalive in their #GiveLocal15 efforts today ! http://t.co/JykOPKIYg3 pic.twitter.com/Ey4eISG3fT — C.C. Chapman (@cc_chapman) May 5, 2015
Take a moment to browse Instagram and you'll see lots and lots of photographs shared throughout the day for #GiveLocal15.
People love to feel inspired and nonprofits should never forget this since you are in the job of inspiring others with the work you do.
The Weiss School was a content powerhouse throughout the day using quotes and photos to inspire others.
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. -Aesop http://t.co/SkBRxWKxnq #GreatGive15 #GiveLocal15 pic.twitter.com/nredL8bk1L
— The Weiss School (@WeissSchool) May 5, 2015
Another group that gripped my attention throughout the day was Ecology Project International who used quotes and photos from students to share the work they do.
Help us create the next generation of conservation leaders. Donate today. #GiveLocal15 https://t.co/l69x8olf0n pic.twitter.com/qHVXmrhXrg — Ecology Project Intl (@ecologyproject) May 5, 2015
Sometimes simplicity goes a long way and Silver & Black Give Back certainly believed in this with a variety of well thought out and simple bits of inspiration like this.
We've got big shoes to fill! Help us continue to make an impact. #GiveLocal15 https://t.co/vGsCF8kOdw pic.twitter.com/5O3wsPxb0z
— Silver & Black CR (@Silver_BlackCR) May 5, 2015
With Meerkat and Periscope all the rage at the moment, I was surprised that we didn't see more organizations experimenting with these tools. I will give credit to the National Performance Network who smartly tweeted out when they were being interviewed on Meerkat.
WATCH OUT! Local Program All Star Stephanie Atkins is #livestreaming now on @AppMeerkat pic.twitter.com/xzyHmr1Hl6 — NPN/VAN (@NPN_VAN) May 5, 2015
And here is the interview that Geoff Livingston live streamed using Meerkat.
The Sacramento Region Community Foundation posted short videos throughout the day, but the one that I liked the most was when they got their board involved to announce that they had 100% participation from them for the day. Always a great thing when you have an active board like this.
Our board gave at 100%, and we challenge all other nonprofit boards to do the same! #bigdog2015 #GiveLocal15 pic.twitter.com/8fy59YykgE
— SacRegCF (@sacregcf) May 5, 2015
Maryville University took the time to get their students involved to create a video promoting the local giving day.
We all know that the work most nonprofits do is serious work, this doesn't mean you can't have fun too. The Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties showcased that with their fun too sexy tractor video. One word of caution though: Always make sure you properly license the music you use in videos or else the lawyers can come calling.
The UpTake also had fun making an informercial style video to showcase their work and ask for donations.
I'll be the first to admit that personally I'm not a meme fan, but I from a business standpoint I know how popular they are online and how they can be playful, fun ways to get people's attention. They were definitely very popular during #GiveLocal15 The Give Local America team encouraged this and even created several of them.
WAKE UP & GIVE – join us and donate http://t.co/5IVFPxD0VI @GiveLocal15 #GiveLocal15 spread the word pic.twitter.com/yv2EmsovlI — mike mostransky (@mikemost) May 5, 2015
Let's Go America! Snap Into A Giving Day! @GiveLocal15 #GiveLocal15 #GiveBIG http://t.co/5IVFPxlq4a pic.twitter.com/dKvo6iTh6D
— mike mostransky (@mikemost) May 5, 2015
I especially liked this one because it called out my home town to get involved. I'm still bummed that New England was almost completely non active in #GiveLocal15 and it is something I hope to change next year.
Hey #Boston @WCVB @JennyWCVB @BostonDotCom Pass It On – Time To #GiveLocal15 http://t.co/allJporH2q @GiveLocal15 pic.twitter.com/3rkIDBj51M — mike mostransky (@mikemost) May 5, 2015
Other organizations got in on the fun too with Seniors First being one of my favorites who used numerous popular memes to encourage donations throughout the day.
Come down and see us from 4:30-7:30 @FilmAtTheState #BIGDoG2015 #GiveLocal15 @givelocalnow @sacregcf @placercf pic.twitter.com/tRjT1txjeS
— Seniors First (@SeniorsFirst1) May 5, 2015
The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties used them to highlight the massive matching donation pool they had to use.
Every online gift made during #GreatGive15 gets amplified with a $550,000 bonus pool. Please GIVE now! #GiveLocal15 pic.twitter.com/hk28nF1crI — Community Foundation (@cfpbmc) May 6, 2015
With programs out there like Meme Generator it allows any organization to quickly create them for use and I think The Unicorn Children's Foundation realized this as they seemed to be a meme creating factory throughout the day.
Help us build communities of support, acceptance and opportunity. https://t.co/FyUR1TAy8Y #GreatGive15 pic.twitter.com/38kFYktt9i
— Unicorn Children's (@ucfoundation) May 6, 2015
I even gave in and created a meme using my puppy to help promote the day.
No that isn't a typo, but rather a service that allows you to take a series of words and create a unique image from them known as a word cloud. Several organizations like Angels' Arms, Spooner House and African American Teaching Fellows all used them to call out and thank their donors.
Thank you so much to all 43 donors who helped us raise $17,490 for the hunger & homeless initiatives @SpoonerHouse! pic.twitter.com/LU1igF9YC2
— Spooner House (@SpoonerHouse) May 7, 2015
Wow, #givestlday was too much fun! Still can't believe the outpouring of support from our community! #fostercare #STL pic.twitter.com/kJ7rb7hrTi — Angels' Arms (@AngelsArmsSTL) May 6, 2015
Thanks to you, we raised $6,600! Special thanks to our donors! http://t.co/XrxJ6ihtBl] #cville #teachers #GiveLocal15 pic.twitter.com/wYmiVIJ6C6 — aatf (@aatfnews) May 6, 2015
Making raw data interesting is where a well done infographic shine above all other forms of content. They are even more interesting when you can make them uniquely yours.
Culpepper Air Fest did an amazing job throughout the day sharing fundraising milestones as only they could.
$300 so far! Thanks to everyone who has donated. https://t.co/5oBUpw3GAL. #GiveLocalPiedmont #GiveLocal15 pic.twitter.com/yM56j5nioX
— Culpeper Air Fest (@CulpeperAirfest) May 5, 2015
Survival International used one to remind everyone how important individual donations are to their success.
Please RT – we depend on you! #GiveLocal15 https://t.co/ovcHEJFgy5 pic.twitter.com/iAGncQjINN — Survival (@Survival) May 5, 2015
This is one of the Content Rules and I wanted to use it to highlight the amazing work that ATD Fourth World New Orleans did.
One look at their Twitter stream and you'll instantly notice that they decided to create their own meme for the day using messages hand written on hands to inspire and showcase the work they do.
This simple idea, executed flawlessly was the biggest win for me of the day. Scroll through some of these and I hope you'll join me and applauding their efforts.
Support our work with kids and families on the streets of #NOLA > http://t.co/tJ66Z6d9kv < #crowdfunding pic.twitter.com/KWMbUuFrnB
— ATD FourthWorld NOLA (@FwmNola) May 5, 2015
COOPERATION! Dreams 4 #NOLA kids! #GiveNOLA on may 5 http://t.co/tJ66Z6d9kv #GiveLocal15 #nolaed pic.twitter.com/Sdr7vrMqtH
— ATD FourthWorld NOLA (@FwmNola) May 5, 2015
Support @ATD4thWorld Street Library in #NewOrleans! Join #GiveNOLA day http://t.co/tJ66Z6d9kv #GiveLocal15 pic.twitter.com/tvczZmay8W
— ATD FourthWorld NOLA (@FwmNola) May 5, 2015
CARING ADULTS! Dreams 4 #NOLA kids. Join us nowfor #GiveNOLA http://t.co/tJ66Z6d9kv pic.twitter.com/xEh9x6AJeE
— ATD FourthWorld NOLA (@FwmNola) May 6, 2015
A BIGGER #SCHOOL! Dreams 4 #NOLA kids! Join us for #GiveNOLA! http://t.co/tJ66Z6d9kv @GiveLocal15 pic.twitter.com/hzk6fNKFhn
— ATD FourthWorld NOLA (@FwmNola) May 6, 2015
As I type this, the offline donations and final numbers are being calculated, but Give Local America 15 has raised over $68.5 million dollars! It is also exciting to see that it includes donations of all sizes from over 106,000 first time donors. That makes me very happy to see.
Thank you to all who donated. Thank you to all the foundations, communities and nonprofit organizations who stepped up and took part in this national day of giving. I hope to see many more take part next year and not miss out on being part of something so special.
One way or another, I'll definitely be part of it.]]>
As a photographer, I take pictures with whatever camera I have with me.
Today, that quite often means the phone in my pocket which currently is a Motorola Droid Turbo (provided to me for free as a member of the Verizon Influencer program I am part of).
This also means that I get asked by friends, family and strangers for advice on how to take better photographs on their phones so I thought I'd write this post to share the advice I most often give.
All of this advice is non device specific, so that everyone can use it no matter what kind of phone they own.
We are not shooting on film when we use our phones, so why not take multiple shots?
I'm not encouraging you to shoot in burst mode all the time (but definitely use it if trying to capture an action shot), yet I am telling you that having options is always better than having a single shot.
It is easy enough to go back and delete the ones you don't want to save space, so why not take them?
Anytime I see someone open Instagram, EyeEm or VSCO Cam and take a photograph directly in the app I get a bit twitchy.
Sure, I do this sometimes when I'm taking a quick snapshot, but I try to always shoot in the native camera app or in an app that shoots in full resolution.
I do this because I want to make sure that I always have the full sized original image for use if I need it. Also, all apps tend to crash more than any native camera app on a phone. Nothing worse than setting up a perfect shot and having the app crash.
Plus, in doing this you have more options for printing (yes people still do this), publishing and other options beyond the cropped desires of the app.
More and more applications have the option to auto backup your photos to a private area of their site. Flickr and Dropbox both do this, but personally I use Google+.
Google never figured out how to use Google+ as a social network, but it handles photographs perfectly.
I travel a lot and would hate to lose my photos if I lost my phone while on the road. I have my phone set to auto backup anytime it is connected to WiFi. That way at the end of the day when I get to the hotel or in an airport lounge I know the latest photographs are saved.
All services allow for these to be saved in a private folder so it is up to you to decide if anyone else sees them. The reason I've chose to use Google is because I know they are not going away anytime soon. I like the stability of that knowledge.
Also, keep in mind that this feature is great when you are at home and not just on the road.
I'm also a member of the #LifeOnFiOS team and love that whenever my phone is connected to my home WiFi, it quickly uploads a backup of all my photos. Because of the speed and reliability I get from Verizon FiOS (I was a happy paying customer for years before they ever approached me to be part of their influencer program) I never have to worry about them not being there.
Make sure your phone is set to connect to your home WiFi and that you've got fast Internet at home. That makes everyone happier
You may not do any post production on your photos, but I do. Most photographers do.
When I take out my camera to take a photograph, I'm already thinking about what I might do with it in post. Some shots I know will be black and white. Others I frame to crop to a square for Instagram. Finally, if the light isn't quite right I know I can boost it a bit in post.
I personally use SnapSeed on my phone and Lightroom CC on my computer for editing.
Never depend on post production to save your photograph, but the more pictures you take and edit, the more you'll think this way when shooting.
You can pick whichever social photography communities you want (Instagram and Flickr are my big ones), but I encourage you to share the photos you take with others.
Nothing feels better than someone liking or commenting on a photo you've taken. It feels good and it'll make you want to take and share more.
Tagging means you need to add hashtags that describe your photo. Also, be sure to look at similar photos to yours to see what other hashtags you might want to use.
This will allow other people interested in say #dogs, #travel or #breakfasttacos to find your photos. They also allow you to go back and find your photographs in the future when you know you took one, but can't remember where you put it.
Technology has empowered everyone to to be a photographer and take photos anywhere they go. Don't stress out over the quality of your photos if you have no reason to.
Photography is suppose to be fun and I promise that the more fun you have with it, the better your pictures will be.
Happy shooting.
Want to see more of my photos? Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Flickr or EyeEm.
Disclosure – I am a member of the #LifeOnFiOS & VZWBuzz influencer teams from Verizon. From time to time they provide me with gadgets, information and experiences in exchange for articles focused on my digital life style. I control the topics, words, thoughts and everything else. They just get to read and share them.]]>
This past weekend found me in San Francisco working on a project for TripIt, but had lots of free time before the video shoot happened.
My buddy David volunteered to meet me at the airport and go from there.
After checking in to my room at the Hotel G, we grabbed some steaks and cocktails at John's Grill and then walked around San Francisco with our cameras (him a Fujifilm X-T1 and me with my Samsung NX1) to see what we would see.
Here is what I saw.
Photos taken with a 16mm f/2.4 lens and processed using VSCO Film 3.
All links are affiliate links. I'm a Samsung Imagelogger.]]>
Last December, I had to say goodbye to my dear Roxie and our house has not felt the same without a dog in it since.
This weekend that absence went away as Nadia joined our family.
Last week I began getting the itch. The snow was melting and the days were getting warmer. The urge to be outside was getting stronger and with it came the urge to adopt another dog.
We will always adopt our pets. With so many cats and dogs being abandoned every day, the idea of not rescuing a pet is completely foreign to our family.
Looking around Petfinder, I saw her. The cool markings and the the lab mix we were looking for.
We talked about it as a family and surfed around looking at other available puppies. While I wanted another black lab mix, I also didn't want one that would remind me of Roxie so I was very open.
We kept coming back to Nadia, so I filed the adoption application along with another one to New England Lab Rescue since they had two puppies we liked as well.
Tuesday night as I was picking up Emily from dance the call came. Cenla Alliance for Animals was calling to interview me about our application. It had been a very thorough application, so we had plenty to talk about.
It was a fun chat and that was when I found out Nadia was in Louisiana. The woman on the phone was using Google Maps to look at our house and yard and we had a great conversation that ended with the question of "Nadia would love to become part of your family if you'll have her?"
If you've ever seen a child on Christmas morning, you've seen what the smile on my face looked like.
Turns out the shelter uses Rescue Road Trips to transport their dogs to the north and they were doing a pick up the next night or we could wait two weeks until the next run. It wasn't much of a choice
We went from a house without a dog, to embracing the plans to adopt another dog, to we are getting a dog in less than 72 hours!
The minute I saw this photo of her being put on the transport, I was smitten. I texted the photo to the rest of the family and everyone fell in love as well. It was finally real that she was on her way to us.
Saturday, we drove to Connecticut to meet our little girl.
We arrived early and the little parking lot was full of other cars filled with anxious families just like us. When Greg and his Rescue Road Trips truck pulled up everyone emptied out and you could feel the excitement.
It was fun to watch as Greg walked over to the littlest of kids to ask them which dog they were there to adopt. It wasn't hard to tell since everyone is encouraged to make welcome home signs and every family had one.
After he had a name, he'd go into the truck, find the dog and then bring them out held aloft with a Lion King vibe and announce the name to everyone. There would be cheers, he'd hand the dog directly to the new owner and then take a photo of the happy family.
He posts these photos as updates from the road to his Facebook page so that other families still waiting would know where he was. Plus, talk about content that rules!
Thankfully Nadia rode home perfectly. Even though the kids weren't happy with it, Laura held her for the ride home and she curled right up and fell asleep.
I'll never forget the look on her face when she jumped out of the car and ran directly on to a pile of snow. Being a southern belle, she was completely confused by it and instantly showed us that she isn't a fan of it yet.
She did what any adopted dog will do in a new house. She sniffed every corner of it, wondered what the cats were and why they wouldn't play with her and tried to figure out what was going on.
We were ready for a skittish weekend, but she took right to her bed, toys and loving family. We were happy that she was comfortable almost immediately.
She does have a bit of kennel cough and it seems worse when she wakes up. It'll pass quickly enough and we've got her first vet appointment this week to get her all checked out.
All of us were shocked at how small she was. At only twelve pounds, she is the same size as our smallest cat and we were expecting her to be around ten pounds heavier. We also found out from her paperwork that she is a few weeks older than we thought. For those who are curious we've been told her parents were a yellow lab and a Siberian husky. It is going to be interesting to see what she looks like as she grows up.
In no time she'll be huge so we are going to enjoy the extra small puppy time while we have it.
Easter is not a big holiday for us, so Sunday was a quiet day around the house. We gave Nadia her first bath (in the sink, which I don't think will ever happen again), took her for a walk around the neighborhood and played a bunch.
Some friends swung by to meet our new family member. We were happy to see that when one brought over their dog that Nadia instantly started playing with him and is eager to have playmates. The neighbors dog who is still under a year was a bit confused about having someone more playful than her in the yard. I can already tell they are going to have many fun play sessions together this summer.
The biggest surprise is that she has slept through both nights here. Last night she wined a bit when we put her in her crate, but as soon as the lights were off that stopped. It was funny to hear her make noise since she has been almost totally silent.
Today starts the work week and I'm hoping she does well. We put a little bed and a few toys in my office so that she gets use to spending time with me where I can keep my eye on her.
I'll also begin training today. I'm hoping I can get her to understand the basics without any classes and then we'll see what we have to do from there.
Her temperament is very chilled and playful which is great. With any sort of lab you never know how hyper they are going to be and she isn't at all.
I've been thinking a lot about Roxie these past few days. It made me smile to think about how she might have reacted if she had met Nadia. I know she'd approve of us adopting a new dog.
If you are thinking of bringing a dog into your family, I highly encourage you to consider rescuing a dog over buying one. There are so many dogs out there needing loving families to adopt them and I promise you'll love them just as much.
The Nadia Chapman story is just beginning and I can't wait to see where it takes us.
After reading Tim Cook's great op-ed in the Washington Post, I felt I needed to share my thoughts.
I knew I'd have a hard time typing the proper words, so I hit record on my microphone instead so share my raw thoughts on Managing the Gray #145.
Give it a listen and then I'd love to hear your thoughts.]]>
As an itinerant, hours spent in airports is a common part of my life.
Recently, I found myself alone at a gate early on a weekday morning waiting for others to arrive.
Still in the haze of waking up, I mindlessly watched the television that was cycling through the standard airport fare of news and travel information.
An ad rolled about a new show called The Wonder List that would be premiering on CNN. As a fan of Phillip Bloom's work, I had been keeping an eye out for this show, but completely forgot about it.
I had recently downloaded all of the Verizon FiOS apps to my phone and tablet, but hadn't really paid much attention to them yet. Sure, I could stream live television programs through them anywhere I was, but I hadn't tried it yet.
But, did any of the apps have connectivity to my DVR? I seemed to remember that one of them did, but I wasn't sure.
In fact, the FiOS Mobile app does connect to your home DVR.
I was able to search the channel guide and program my DVR to begin recording The Wonder List with all the same controls and options as if I was sitting on my couch.
Instantly I loved the app. Being able to manage my DVR from anywhere isn't a must have, but it sure is a nice to have.
Hopefully they'll add the ability to stream content from my DVR to my device in the future because that would be amazing and would certainly make all my travel a bunch more enjoyable. Allow me to download my DVR content to my device to watch offline and I'll love them forever.
It was also fun to discover that I can see what is being watched on the televisions at home and change it if I wanted to. While I don't expect to use this feature, I can see many parents loving being able to check in what their kids are watching when they are not home. I wonder if they'll ever add a quick feature to type out a message to pop up on the screen at home. Just think of the kid's reactions.
If you already have Verizon FiOS, you are missing out if you have not downloaded all of their apps to take their service beyond the television screen.
I'm looking forward to future enhancements because knowing them, they'll be coming. I'll let you know if anything new and exciting pops up on my radar.
Disclosure – I'm a member of the #LifeOnFiOS influencer team. We are given free service in exchange for sharing our thoughts monthly on how we use the technology. I had been a paying FiOS customer for years before this opportunity came along, so it was easy to say yes when they approached me.]]>
I never thought I'd use Ted Cruz and Taylor Swift as examples in my online marketing course I teach at Bentley, but last night it happened.
After discussing the difference between smart and stupid brand management online, I thought it would be an interesting side topic to discuss the upcoming election.
This will be the first election with no incumbent for all of the students and at most only the second election that they've been able to vote in.
I set the ground rules that I didn't want to discuss any candidate or party specifically, but rather focus on what any candidate needs to do in order to reach younger voters and get them to show up and vote for them on election day.
There was a variety of discussion, but the clear advice they'd have for any presidential candidate was:
I was also happy to hear that none of them are fans of attack ads.
Universally these were a turn off for them and they'd much rather hear the positive side of why you'd be the right candidate rather than you saying why the other person isn't.
They want you to embrace social media and all the technology that goes with it. They are not watching campaign ads on television and they certainly are not paying attention to lawn signs.
The biggest surprise for me was how important endorsements are from celebrities and influencers.
In one case a student honestly told the class that "Whoever Lebron James backs, I'm going to vote for." He was serious because he trusts that a celebrity like Lebron would not publicly back a candidate lightly.
The class believed that any smart candidate would focus more on lining up big name endorsements from a variety of influencers to make their reach as broad as possible.
Perhaps the most fascinating discussion for me was when I asked them what specific issues they'd be casting their vote based on.
They responded (in no particular order):
No talk of war, security or budget. They want to hear how candidates are going to address the issues that are in their immediate future.
Sadly, all agreed that they don't think the candidates are going to pay enough attention to their demographic as much as they should. Many feel as if their vote doesn't matter.
So, to every presidential candidate that decides to run this time don't forget about young voters and embrace the world they live in which is online and real.
They don't want another bunch of hollow promises and fund raising stump speeches. They want real women and men who they can relate to, see that they are going to do a good job and then they'll cast their vote for you.
Good luck in 2016!]]>
When a friend asks for help, I do everything in my power to assist them.
So, when David Baeza asked me to be part of a new conference he was organizing I wanted to make it work. When I saw that he had asked several of our closest friends for the same favor and they had already said yes, I tried even harder to make it happen.
WTFconf stands for Wine, Technology and Food and David assembled a diverse group of speakers to enlighten and inspire the sold out audience.
The Santa Ynez Valley is a beautiful slice of California full of creative and smart people, but there was not yet a true community pulling them all together. David had seen all of the amazing things happening in Fargo, North Dakota and wondered if he could start something similar in his corner of the world. Something that would keep people in the area and encourage kids to stay put after graduation.
I've traveled to Napa and Sonoma in the past, but had never found myself here and I'll tell you now that I can't wait to go back.
The conference was top notch and held at the Sedgwick Reserve. It was the perfect mix of nature and beauty while we learned about technology.
Seeing drones fly around as we ate lunch and checked out vintage hot rods made for a fun contrast of worlds that David wants to bring together as one.
We drank wine, ate great food and laughed a ton. Three keys to a good time in my book.
Thank you to Paul and Firestone Vineyards for taking us on a barrel tasting. I had never done one before and it was a great start to the weekend. Plus, when it is THE person who is in charge of making the wine, you certainly learn a lot about the squished grapes in your glass.
I must return to this area because I want to explore the town of Solvang more. I woke up and took my NX1 for a walk and the whole town was still asleep.
There is something magical about wiping sleep seeds out of your eyes as the sun rises over a windmill in the middle of town. The young redhead serving me coffee seemed equally half asleep as me and we shared several laughs over breakfast.
Thank you to the Hotel Corque for the warm hospitality and hot coffee in the morning. I'll take a great boutique hotel over a major chain every single time. The workers are always more helpful and the atmosphere more relaxed.
David, thank you for inviting me to be part of this special event (and for making your famous tri-tip sandwiches). Spending time with you and our friends was priceless and needed for my soul. The bottle of bourbon that AJ and I opened and finished probably wasn't needed, but I'm smiling as I type these words.
Next time your thinking about taking a trip to "wine country" give this area of California a look. It is a beautiful 30 minute drive from Santa Barbara airport and I can't wait to return with Laura some day so we can take even more of it in.
Keep an eye out for WTFconf 2016 when it is announced. I'm sure it'll sell out again.
Until then, you can flip through my photo album from the weekend.
Special Note: All of my photos were processed using the new Amazing Presets from Tammy Lee Bradley. Not only is she a great photographer, but her Lightroom presets are affordable and useful!]]>
Family is the most important thing in my world.
I'll take quality time with those I love over almost anything else in the world and this past weekend certainly qualified as quality time.
My dad turned 60 and we made plans to spend it together as a family.
My youngest sister drove up from Maryland with her dog Bow, so all of the siblings were there.
I'm blessed that our family not only can spend time together, but genuinely enjoy it. We certainly made the most out of a gorgeous weekend by heading up to the Echo Valley in Vermont to burn some brush, eat ham stew and enjoy a quiet afternoon away from the madness of life.
Happy birthday Dad. Glad we could spend the weekend together.
I've certainly got older as SXSW has grown and every year I look at my experience with a fresh set of eyes, while remembering what it use to be like.
This year was different for me on all levels. I wasn't just there as an attendee, but I was there with a campaign that I was helping execute and thus my time was limited for some of the hallway magic that I love about the event.
SyncYourInk.club was an idea hatched from many conversations with my partner in crime Brad Powell. The idea was a simple one where anyone could swing by our nomadic studio and tattoo parlor to receive a custom air-brushed tattoo that represented one of the tenants of the triple bottom line: people, planet and profits.
The tattoos would last for several days and as our branded advocates walked the streets and attended sessions, they'd see others with a tattoo and start a conversation with them.
Our hope was that by finding fellow members of the SyncYourInk.club they'd make new friends and take a moment to snap and share a photo of their tattoos and share them using #SyncYourInk on whatever social platform they chose.
Even after no brands stepped up to support our effort, we decided to move forward. We believe that the concept of social good is one that not enough people know about and if our efforts could help educate and inspire even a handful of people, we were ready to put in the time and effort.
No matter how much you plan and organize, the universe loves to mess with you. Ours came in the form of a pizza truck that would shut off our installation from the masses walking up and down the streets. Never mind the fact that it also killed the concept of doing interviews in our studio.
We evolved our idea on the spot, making it smaller and more nimble and continued on.
The conversations we had with hundreds of people as they paused to see what we were doing and then as they received their tattoos was amazing. Many had never heard of the triple bottom line, social good or the simple fact that businesses could be about more than only making money. We talked a lot about how more of us are choosing the brands we support in a similar way to how we choose our friends.
We had families with their kids, executives, musicians and students all stop by. While our planet tattoo was by far the most popular, there was plenty of all three walking the streets of Austin.
Personally, I'm disappointed in how few friends and colleagues swung by to see us. Here we were planted at a single location for hours at a time and yet I saw more friends when I was walking the streets between events than I did when we were set up. This theme of only seeing people when moving is one I'm still trying to process.
To those that did stop by at any time, I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
The second part of our activation occurred on Sunday during the Austin+SocialGood portion of SXSW.
We spent the day at Austin City Hall attending a variety of panels on social impact and talking to attendees about the great work that our friends from 2 Feet Firm are doing in the world.
Our tattoo artist Michelle from On the Spot Body Art is also an accomplished body painter and as the panels wound down, we ramped up our efforts again with our living "Tree of Giving" that we used to raise more social good awareness.
Starting with bare branches on her head, we'd ask festival goers and anyone we crossed paths with to make a $20 donation for a piece of jewelry from The EVE Project. The money would go back to the women artists in Swaziland and the jewelry would be donated to local women's shelters in Austin. As a thank you, the donor would be given a colored ribbon to tie on the branches.
As the sun set, the tree branches became illuminated with LED lights that instantly grabbed more attention everywhere we went. In the midst of the SXSW chaos, it was refreshing to see people react so positively to something that wasn't about marketing or another new app. They got excited about us looking to help rather than pimp something new.
Talk about restoring your faith in humanity!
We woke up the next morning to the news that USA Today had posted a photo of our project on their Instagram feed. Never a bad thing when passion leads to promotion like that.
It still warms my heart to look at this photo I took at the very end of the night and all the ribbons hanging from her branches. Each of those represents someone who wanted to make the world a little bit better around them and we helped make it happen. That makes all of the long hours and hard work completely worth it.
All in all, we are very happy with how it turned out. It is an idea that we executed in its smallest form and we know that it could expand exponentially at other events and with bigger budgets.
We've already had some conversations with people interested in taking it to a new level and that excites me.
Even with how busy I was, I snuck in quality time with some important people.
I missed spending time with many more and that bums me out, but it is how it goes at an event like this. There were no late night parties for me, but there were quiet drinks at The Driskill, gingerbread pancakes at the Magnolia Cafe and a bucket of cream corn and wet brisket at Rudy's.
The ideas and inspiration I received from the sessions I attended still have my mind swirling. They helped reinvigorate me even more than the Texas sunshine did after a rough and dark winter here in New England.
Thank you to the team at .Club who helped make this activation possible. They've really got something amazing going on over there and I finally understand when a domain extension can be about more than a series of letters and can become an integrated part of a company's or marketing campaign's core being. I look forward to adding more members to the SyncYourInk.club in the future.
Austin, I already miss you and look forward to attending SXSW again next year.
While plenty will puke up snark and critique towards you, I don't think they are the ones who understand what the event is truly all about. They need to stop lusting after "the next great thing" and instead look for the next great idea, person or organization.
SXSW continues to be an important yearly event for me and I don't see that changing anytime soon.]]>
We will be spreading our love of all things social good and why it is important to us. The hope is also that we'll find like-minded individuals and organizations who we can work with in the future.
I'm excited to share with you #SyncYourInk
The Sync Your Ink initiative is to empower socially conscious individuals to identify themselves to others through a piece of unique temporary body art.
We believe that profits are important and vital to the market system, innovation and progress. But, we also believe that with it comes the responsibility to not only to use it for good, but also to earn it in a manner that benefits the whole.
The cost of doing business should include the cost of doing good.
We know that thousands of globally aware individuals will be in Austin and we are encouraging all of them to show the world their belief that business should be about more than only money by getting a #SyncYourInk tattoo and being part of this unique social good initiative.
Friday – Monday from 2 pm until people stop showing up, we'll be set up at the corner of Red River and Sixth Street with our nomadic studio/tattoo parlor.
Our resident tattoo artist will be on site and ready to decorate whatever location of your body you decide. You'll be able to choose between one of the three above that represent people, planet or profit.
The hope is that enough people will come and get tattoos that we can show the world how important having a social good focus is for business in todays world.
We will be encouraging everyone who gets a tattoo or who finds someone else with one to take a photo and share them online with the #SyncYourInk hashtag.
Plus, by getting a tattoo you'll become part of an open club that all are invited to. The use of a .club domain is very deliberate and their team has been extremely helpful in getting us up and going.
Seeing another person with a #SyncYourInk tattoos means you can instantly say hello and see where it takes you.
Also, if you are a business that believes in the triple bottom line and social good be sure to visit so that we can sit down and interview you.
Finally, we are excited to be collaborating with The Love On Revolution and Austin+SocialGood teams. Don't miss the full day of activities going on Sunday at Austin City Hall!
As you can see, I'm going to be busier than ever, but I'm excited to reconnect with friends and make the most of my time in Austin.
I've heard "it is just too late" a few too many times over the past few days around looking for sponsors for something I'm working on during SXSW and I had to record a new episode of Managing the Gray to share my thoughts.
Hope to see you all at SXSW.]]>