It is January 6th. Everyone is officially off the couch and back to their daily routines. This week most everyone will share or think about their own “New Years Resolutions”. Anyone who knows me will attest I’m a positive person — but a part of me is pessimistic about people’s attitudes when the New Year starts. Disclaimer, I know this blog post may completely contradict my previous post

It shouldn’t take an event like the New Year to make you make a change in your life.

Aristotle once said, “We are what we frequently do”. This plain obvious quote supports my argument that those changes and goals you have should be assessed frequently — not just at the beginning of the year.

Don’t put it off.

Time is finite.

Life is too short.

If you’re driving down a path you don’t like in your life, talk/think about it first do something about it NOW. If there is something you want to accomplish, have the passion and patience to dream and dream big. Have the patience to piece together “the ladder” in what it takes to get you there. Have the passion to follow through with doing what it takes to accomplish that dream.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve switched things up and tried something different if what I’m doing now isn’t working (work + personal life). Daily routines, organization of my desk, habits — the process for me goes something like this, “Well that didn’t work — so I’ll try this. [sigh] I failed at that so now I’ll try this, OK now this”. Rinse, wash and repeat.  I’m far from perfect myself, but I think being cognitive about it is important.

So don’t buy into this “New Years Resolutions” rubbish. Frequently assess what you need and want to change, then do it. And if you don’t know where to start, it’s OK to stumble into the first step, you don’t always have to understand how it’s going end or where it will go.

The greatest possession you have is the 24-hours in front of you. And there are 359 more “fresh starts” you have.  Get inspired.  Go do it now.
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If I were Stuart Scott on ESPN and I had to use some overly fancy adjectives to assess my performance and life in 2008, I’d call this my “breakout” or “reawakening” year. Most importantly, for the first time I found a sense of solidified purpose in my life (which is much different than faith). It’s shifted my outlook and gives me motivation daily. While I know this type of blog post may seem like just plain silly string — I can attest, when I finished writing this blog post, I felt confident I can obtain achieve each of these goals (and more) in 2009.

Things I’m proud of from 2008:

• Found a new sense of “purpose” in life
• Finally launched www.ramseymohsen.com, posted 121 entries
• Connected even closer with my family than every before
• Recorded and posted 85 friggin’ awesome video blogs
• Set the foundation for a successful annual benefit party, and raised $7,125
• Achieved several professional milestones @work
• Finally embraced being a photog as a “real deal” hobby

Things I want to achieve and do in the new year, 2009:

• Learn from brilliant people (and share what I learn)
• Continue to improve on my weaknesses @work
• Play more golf
• Improve upon my Project Management and planning skills @work + @home
• Create/edit/shoot more video blogs (and try new things with it)
• Stop trying to do it all myself
• Spend more time with my family
• Plan and organize an even better Ugly Christmas Sweater Party
• Listen
• Improve upon my photog skills from others and on my own
• Continue to discover my personal passions in life (and share them)

I’m pretty sure Oprah probably would read this blog post and tell me writing this is a healthy way to start 2009 — but what do you think? What’s your take on 2008? Are there things you are proud of and are there things you need to improve upon?

I highly recommend blogging yourself about it (email me or link it in the comments below) or just go through the process of thinking through it.  It’s worth it, trust me.

We become who we believe we are.
…bring it 2009, I’m going to knock it out of the park.
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A local publication here in Kansas City contacted me in regards to a feature in their magazine — it’s called My Essentials. The writer asked me to provide her with “10 Things I Can’t Live Without”. I’ll admit, it was fun to force myself to trace my steps and daily habits to figure out what it is I must have (note: my iPhone, iPod and computers are given so they are not on this list).   I’m not sure when it’ll be published officially, but here’s the list I emailed her:

**UPDATE**
I failed to mention that the publication also said “the rules” are that these things must be tangible.  This is so other people can feel like they themselves could purchase or obtain them if they wanted to.  So things like people (sorry Mom and Dad), emotions, or things that are intangible can’t be included on the list.

1.) The Internet
I am a 100% Internet addict. I live, work and play on it. I can’t imagine life without it. I’m fortunate enough the place I consider “play” is also the same place I conduct “work” on. There’s not denying that living without it would be tough.

2.) Canon 40D DSLR
I’m a huge fan of photography — and do some shooting of my own with my Canon 40D. I consider it “my baby” and love that I’m learning something new every time I use it. I’m especially a big fan of capturing “people” and “emotion” shots.

3.) Flip Video Camera
When I shoot my video blogs, this is my gadget of choice to record them with. Why take a picture when you can take video!

4.) npr (National Public Radio)
Every morning on my way to work I listen to NPR. It’s the best start to any day to get caught up on the world and local news before stepping foot in the office.

5.) My Red Nike Running Shoes
I’ve had a pair of red Nike running shoes ever since Freshman year of college and I still run in them. While they’re obnoxiously “loud” in color, they still remain my favorite shoes to run in.

6.) Bose Tri-Port Headphones
I used to DJ in college (University of Kansas) at the bars, now I DJ here in Kansas City at weddings and parties for my friends. These headphones I swear by and love them for both work and just jamming out at home.

7.) Pinot Noir wine from Willamette Valley (Oregon)
ANY wine from this area of the country that’s a pinot noir, consider me a fan. It’s my favorite type of wine to cheers at happy hours and on the weekends.

8.) Twitter.com
Twitter is social networking site is a daily addiction that allows me to keep informed in real-time with everyone — including my friends, thought influencers and other people in the Internet industry.

9.) Brooks Brothers Slim-Fit Dress Shirts
I know, I know — not really a cool things for guys to admit certain clothes are a “must have”, but for the slim-fit shirts Brooks Brothers has can’t be beat. I love everything about how they’re tailored and the material they use.

10.) Orange Gatorade
Easily my favorite drink of choice!  This perfect blend of orangey citrusy electrolytes is awesome.  Nothing in this world beats the plain original Orange Gatorade drink.   It’s my gas station “go to” every time.

I was asked to come check out the new grocery story that’s opening up here in downtown Kansas City. I know, I know — typically a grocery store wouldn’t be that big of a deal …except, here in KC, we have no grocery store downtown so this is HUGE news. Everyone is curious on what it will offer and all the logistics around it.

I’ll say, I was pretty impressed overall. Lots of attention to detail was put into designing this store. I’d heard the rumors and talk about all the money being put into this project and it really is impressive when you see it, especially for a grocery store. I myself live downtown — and I’m STOKED that this will be opening in January. Can’t wait!

Watch my video blog of the store setup.

Here’s some photos of the store.

While I was DJ’ing my friend’s wedding this weekend — I read this great quote on the sign-in book. This quote is pretty powerful. In my opinion, fate only takes you so far. It’s up to you to make something of the opportunities you get in life …and sometimes they only happen once.
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What started as a dream, a vision, a “what if” — is now more than just a reality. This year’s 4th Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party is in the books and I thought I’d take a look back at to recap everything and give everyone the whole story start to finish. I feel since we threw such a successful party that exceeded all expectations, it reiterates my firm belief that it’s important to have the passion and patience to dream and dream big.

Here’s the story behind the party:
The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party began in 2005, as a small holiday gathering hosted by a group of friends (me +2 roommates). While cleaning up in 2007, we decided to turn all of our hard work in to good for others, and raise money for a charity.

We chose Operation Breakthrough as our beneficiary because of the great work they do with kids in the Kansas City area. During our first visit to OB, we met with the children who benefit from their programs. That was all it took for us to become a supporter. The organization is truly amazing in all of its efforts and causes it achieves!

A steering committee of 15 volunteers made time to plan this party. We aren’t affiliated with any one organization - we’re just a group of friends who want to give back to our community.

Our goal is to make a positive impact by donating as much money and toys to Operation Breakthrough as possible. Our vision for the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party is to make it the biggest and best annual holiday fundraiser in Kansas City!

What’s amazing to look back on the entire effort in organizing this party, is all the wonderful things we accomplished:

Money. This year, our first year in organizing the party as a benefit, we raised $7,125.50 to give back to Operation Breakthrough! Yes, you read that right — $7,125.50. In my wildest dreams (and our Excel spreadsheet that had our estimated financial goals) we never even thought it was possible that we could raise this much in the first year. This pleasant surprise really validates a lot of the long nights and hard work myself and the entire steering committee put into planning this party.

Awareness. I’ve had more than a handful of people tell me they are now volunteering at Operation Breakthrough and had no idea of their existence until they heard about our party. How awesome is that!?! Furthermore, it’s great to see my friends engaging in the community and actively wanting to participate. Planning this benefit party really has made me realize there’s a lot of people out there that sincerely want to do good in this world, they just don’t haven’t had the right opportunity to do it.  We were also fortunate enough that two major local publications here in Kansas City published content about our party! Lawrence.com featured us on the COVER of their December issue.  Inkkc.com featured photos and a mini-story about our party as well!

Foundation. At the very first meeting with the steering committee I told everyone that the vision for “The Ugly Sweater Christmas Party” is to become the biggest and best yearly holiday fund raiser in Kansas City. We certainly have a long way to go in becoming the “largest” — but now that we have laid the groundwork, we’ve got great momentum going into next year’s 5th Annual. We reached out on our Website (www.kcsweaterparty.com), Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube to connect with our audience — and there was GREAT reception in online the community.  Much more than we projected.

Watch my YouTube video blog from this years 4th Annual party:

Here’s some pictures (taken by Zach Cobb, a professional photographer who donated his services for the party!):

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks.  I know it’s been a while since I’ve dedicated my time to my blog — but shortly my time will be free’d up so I can invest it here again.  Stay tuned. For those of you who were worried (I know that’s a lot of you), I’m still here. I’ll be back soon.

All these emotions describe exactly what I’m feeling in regards to the benefit party I’ve been planning. What started as a dream, a vision, a “what if” — is now more than just a reality. It’s a powerful truth that has reiterated my firm belief that it’s important to have the passion and patience to dream and dream big.

I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve already got choked up given the out pour of support we’ve received. In addition, my friends, who ARE

the entire steering committee — I’ve got a huge sense of pride thinking about the fact, we’ve all just donated our time because we want to give back to the community. It’s also a totally different context, relationship and experience you share with your friends when you are “working” together.

I’m extremely happy to share that there have been two local magazine publications that have given us some great exposure. What makes it even better is THEY contacted us!

Lawrence.com’s featured us on their December cover story.

And we were featured in inkkc.com in their latest print issue as well.

We’re in the homestretch planning the rest of the party. Like I said — I’m anxious. excited. proud. and ready to rock!
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I was reading an article describing that the “end of online anonymity is here” — and I couldn’t help but think, there’s something I’d like to share about the value of the presenting the “real” you on the Internet (these are thoughts outside of my ideas regarding Personal Branding).

Let’s take the case of Facebook. I’m a huge proponent of keeping your Facebook social graph “clean” (I could care less about MySpace, the whole friending organizations and bars really screws the idea of a social graph).

What I mean is, if you only accept true friend requests (online and offline relationships) the site holds much greater value. I truly wonder how people like iJustine, Mitch Joel, Robert Scoble even can bear to login to Facebook since they’re friends with so many random people they don’t know. Facebook truly must be a PR machine for them to utilize.

The power and enjoyment of Facebook is driven by user-created content. Therefore, logging in when you’ve only got true friends represented ensures your experience on Facebook is genuine. I’ve always told people that social networks can standup on their own. I think it’s OK to friend people you’ve interacted and have only an online context. However, when you actually know the person outside of the online context (meaning you’ve met before or are friends already) — social networks then augment the relationship. It gives you a medium to interact when you can’t be face-to-face.

Furthermore, your identity on FB is much more rigid as a social graph than all those username and passwords you toss away here and there for other sites. Much of the reason why I’m excited for Facebook Connect.

My point is that if you manage your identity online as well as you likely do when cleaning up your resume for an interview — it holds much more value and utility.
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Kansas vs. Missouri — this 117th meeting has deep history. Did you know the Kansas vs. Missouri match-up is the oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi River: none got started before this one in 1891.

I had a BLAST at this year’s game. So much so, I can’t even talk today (i’ve lost my voice from yelling). This win felt great given that last year we lost in ugly fashion — this was vindicating.

I video blogged my experience and snapped some photos. The fact that this game was won on a 26-yard touchdown pass was the perfect ending to an improbable afternoon. Check out the end of the video for my reaction as well as the entire section I was sitting in.

Below are some photos I shot during Thanksgiving dinner. This year I stayed in Kansas City and shared the holiday with my friends (all of us out-of-towners got together). It was an awesome day. I had a blast just taking it easy, enjoying good conversation and sharing stories.

I found that the thing I was most thankful for had to do with concept of “fulfillment”.

Knowing yourself, where you are going and what makes you happy is critical at this point of my life. I was reflective of the fact I have several goals that I want to accomplish in life — some of them short-term, some long-term. Regardless, I can identify what they are, and more importantly there’s steps for me to keep the sense of fulfillment as I work my way towards achieving those long-term goals.

You can see more photos from my Thanksgiving dinner on my Flickr page.

For the past month I’ve been busy at work with some critical end of the year Projects. I’ve also been busy with of course the planning of that benefit party of mine I keep talking about all over Twitter, the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party benefit (I hope you are coming!!!). Anyways — in the mix of it all, I’m realizing one of the biggest investments anyone can give me and/or what I give to others is my time and attention.

Think about it. In this world where marketing is everywhere screaming for attention, alerts, electronic devices allow you to multi-task your friggin’ brains out — the biggest contribution you give that’s even larger than money, is your time and attention.

You give your time and attention is to things like this everyday:

• Read that billboard
• Attend that meeting
• Watch that TV show
• Visiting family over the holidays
• Writing this blog post at 2 AM.
• Download that song
• Look/use that website
• Attend that party
• Follow someone’s updates on Twitter
• Read that article

Today’s world is the biggest world there’s ever been with more choices than the day previous. The one thread that is common throughout it all is the dedication of your time and attention. Choosing to listen, read or watch holds more value than ever before. With so much to choose from, people are smarter than ever because there are too many viable alternatives for everyone. The days of just “telling and selling” just does not work. I’ve realized on any given day the things I choose to do (work or play), for the most part, are all very carefully calculated choices. Everything has rationale, justification and is prioritized accordingly. Furthermore, anyone who is willing to give me their time and attention is deserving enough of a good experience. If I’m lucky enough to get to hold their attention I better make best use of it. It also brings to the forefront the reason why the aspect of “conversation” is so effective and compelling. Being able to illustrate value and listening will get you the most mileage.

Experiences satisfy the soul.

Illustrating value isn’t a new concept. However, I’m finding with the advent of technologies — the importance and prominence to continually illustrate value quickly, easily and effectively is a vital skill to be especially good at.
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I’ve been busy planning the Ugly Christmas Sweater benefit party (read the full story here) and today we finally launched the website! Tickets are officially on sale! [loud cheers, noises, applause]. Buy your tickets now at: www.kcsweaterparty.com

I wanted to share what I’ve learned throughout this process thus far:

1.) There’s a lot of people out there that sincerely want to do good in this world, they just don’t haven’t had the right opportunity to do it.

We live in a world where turning on the nightly news can put even the best of spirited person in a somber mood. Most people want to help, but just haven’t had the right opportunity to follow through with it. I’ve found that once you interact with others, the passion and charity “attitude” is completely and utterly contagious.

I’d equate it to making yourself go to the gym to workout (stick with me on this one, I swear). So… you want workout. You tell yourself you want to. Your friends do it. So one day your friends finally drag you along to workout and now the apprehension to do it is over. You just needed that extra push over the edge to get on your feet running.

When I talk to friends, family and business owners about this benefit — I’m seeing right before my eyes that once you illustrate there’s a channel in which they can help and it’s RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW - they’re instantly turned on to the idea. They want to help, they just need the right opportunity and someone to believe in. The message is even stronger when it comes from someone they know, not just a TV commercial or paper pamphlet they’ve received.

2.) The word “no” isn’t something one should ever fear. Don’t ever hold back because of the fear of rejection.

Being rejected only makes you stronger and better than you were before. You’ll learn from your mistakes. And you’ll learn quick. I’ve heard lots of “nos” and “sorry wish I could help”. All of which I walk away with the mindset to think of what did or didn’t work. But never do I walk away with my head down and less motivated than before. It comes with the territory and every interaction you have must be a learning experience.

In our committee meetings people suggest countless ideas. We all have personal ideas that we brainstorm, some of which seem completely unrealistic. However, what I’ve learned is that rejecting ideas before actually investigating it — worst. thing. ever. I’ve learned not to say “that would never work” until you really have tried it. If an idea is solid — it’s enough to have legs and there’s steps to get there, “make it happen” is the only attitude to have.

3.) Surround yourself with a group of people that make you better than you would be alone.

When selecting people for the Steering Committee for this party I knew one thing. I wanted the group to be smarter at planning this party than I would be doing it alone. I know my friends who are helping me plan this are smarter than me. I constantly ask for feedback, suggestions and look to empower individuals of the group with Projects. This leadership style I’ve found allows one to play to every one’s strengths and interests. It’s a great way to establish ownership within the individuals of the committee. We truly are a group that is embodies the principle: WE is smarter than me.

4.) Don’t panic. Solutions present themselves to those who know how to keep their composure.

The benefit planning process isn’t 100% smooth sailing filled with happy dancing monkeys and toothbrushes. When problems occur (because they will occur) and things aren’t going as planned — adapt. Re-tweak. Focus. As long as you have the composure to regain your footing you’ll find yourself able to clearly see the steps to the solution.

5.) Frequently take time to step back and see the big picture.

In the chaos of it all, there are times when you need to take a step back and ensure that the big picture objectives are still being met. Getting caught up in the details can lead to dropping critical big picture goal you want to achieve. Make sure you’re able to take a deep breath and evaluate how things all fit together and if certain aspects need more attention than others.

There’s so much more I’ve learned in regards to event planning, leadership, people and things about myself that can’t be encapsulated in a “Top 5″ list. These lessons learned have truly made me a better person. I still get chills thinking about how much of an impact we’ve already made on the community. I also get excited and extremely motivated knowing how much more we can accomplish.

**One thing is for certain, the best has yet to come.**
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Slydial, a free phone service I found extremely interesting (I blogged about it when it was released) recently coded a significant upgrade to their product. What I’m impressed about is their ability to get it right based on user feedback. More first-time users will be attracted to utilize the service. When it first launched, it was so close, but still fell short as being a service people would actually use on a continual basis.

I’ve decided to divide this blog post into two parts:

PART #1:
VHS RE-WIND, for those of you who don’t know what Slydial is… it’s a simple phone service that essentially connects you directly to someone’s mobile voicemail (vs. it actually ringing to voicemail). Personally, I’ve tried out the service a handful of times. Here’s what I’ve used it for so far:

• Called my mom while I was at work to tell her my plans for my trip (my mom tends to bring up subjects that usually just plain weird to talk about in front of listening co-workers)

• Called a friend back to tell her my plans for the night (Her name is Lindsay. And she’s notorious for keeping my on the phone AT LEAST 20 minutes or more. I’ve NEVER had a brief conversation with her).

• Phoned a business client during the day (I had a great work flow going that I didn’t want to interrupt and I wanted to ask a complex question that I couldn’t do over email).

That being said — my only “beef” with the service? You have to type in the phone number you wish to Slydial. Everyone knows with the advent of cellphones NO ONE remembers phone numbers anymore. Heck, I can’t even tell you what my own parent’s phone numbers are.

Today, they released an App for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile (iPhone App pending approval) that allows you to use the service using your Contacts list. WA-LA. Simple right? Nice! The ease-of-use has increased 200%. No writing the phone number down then having to call the service.

PART #2:
Even if you don’t ever use Slydial, this product enhancement “case study” brought to mind a larger more in-depth principle regarding the Internet. The web is a “living, breathing entity.” As news happens, it’s updated. As photos are taken, it’s updated. It’s real-time. It’s happening now. This is why it holds such great utilitarian value to all of us.

For a business it should represent who you are RIGHT NOW, not 6 months ago. As things change, as you get feedback, as you conduct mini/complex surveying — your website should be constantly changing to improve based on WHAT WORKS and WHAT DOESN’T. Furthermore, it should also be changing with your business. If information changes or new things are affecting your business, consider making sure it’s up-to-date on your website.

I refer to this concept and way of thinking as “perpetual beta“. It’s the mindset that your website (no matter if it’s business or personal) should be constantly under review to ensure it’s updated and the best it can be. GONE are the days when people had the age old easy excuse, “well it’s printed all over our marketing material — so I can’t change it”(cause likely you had 5,000 prints of it).

In the case of Slydial, they had a great product idea that was good. But it’s execution wasn’t great. So they tweaked it. Fixed it. Extended it’s value by creating an App.

We’re all already familiar with the king of the perpetual beta — Google. All of their products are constantly being updated and perfected. Here’s some quick examples of what I mean in regards to adopting this mindset:

• Change that main navigation button name because no one understands what it means and what information is in that section. Try something else.

• Add that latest Project you’ve worked on to the Portfolio section of your website. Make sure a date is on it to illustrate how frequent you’re updating your website, it’ll boost your credibility.

• Update the words and vernacular, because that’s not what your employees refer to it when working with clients.

There are two easy takeaways from just this one simple product software enhancement:

1.) Slydial improved for the better — and it will possibly exponentially improve their adoption of the product. You should check it out if you think it might be useful to you.

2.) Consider adopt the mindset of the “perpetual beta” when it’s appropriate. What’s out of date for you? What should be changed? Now go update it! Try it out, experiment, see what works and what doesn’t. Carry the mindset that when things changed, take action quick, the touch point people use as the sole mechanism for information/research (the Internet) should be updated right away.
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Today I was out and about photowalking on my vaca in Florida (visiting my mom). Check out all of them on my Flickr account. Here’s my favorite ones from the set of photos I took today:

I’m down in freezing sunny Florida right now visiting my mom — we’ve been shuffling around town having fun and I couldn’t help but LOL when I came across this t-shirt:

“OMG it’s a t-shirt!”

It’s amazing to think that someone anyone has the power to create, publish and distribute all through a free medium — the Internet. Furthermore, this example proves you have the ability to affect mainstream culture with JUST the Internet, so much so that you can create product offerings around them! The OMG SHOES video has over 21 MILLION views to date. Insane.

If you want see what this silly viral video craze is/was all about — here’s the original YouTube video:

60-minutes ran a stomach wrenching story on e-waste that leaves you uncomfortable knowing the information it reveals.

The basic highlight of the report shows how in the U.S., even when you think you are recycling electronics properly, there’s a chance it’s getting shipped to Hong Kong and just dumped into a wasteland. What’s even worse is the city it’s dumped in, the people are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals which cause some pretty severe health issues.

The story (which seems award winning worthy) exposes an underground operation thats linked to a so-called recycle facility in Colorado. In my opinion — the part of the story that is like a sucker punch to the gut, is the fact people who pay or drive to e-waste facilities may not actually be helping the enviornment at all. Totally sucks.

The 12-minute story is worth watching all the way through, I’ve embedded it below or you can watch it on the 60-minutes website.

Recently I’ve been reading article after article that all seem to have the same common theme: The Internet is making us think differently. Furthermore, the debate that everyone seems to be having: is it for the better or for the worse?

Some people even say the Internet is making us stupid. Computers think for us, flattening our intelligence.

The fact is the Internet HAS shifted the way we think - being that the Internet is “always on” and you can access it whenever you want it.

One article in particular caught my eye that claims web-savvy people make bad jurors because they can’t listen. A Chief Justice described how he thinks it would be best to present information on a screen because that’s how people are used to digesting information. The complaint? While the counsel speaks and addresses the jury — people are lacking a basic skill set: listening.

In a positive light, another article presents an interesting point — technology makes people view the world as engineers; every problem can be solved if you have the right tools, enough time and you pose the right questions. This positive outlook gives technology a notch in the tree in the sense that it does make the world a better place.

In my opinion, consuming information online forces us to increase our quality of thought. We’ve formed daily routines (Google’ing) and adapted how we find information. I’m able to provide shorter, quicker, succinct communication (whatever it may be; phone conversations, emails, presentations, casual conversation). However — basic skills like listening CAN’T be lost at the expense of adapting to new technologies. It sometimes takes simple self-assessment (while it may seem completely silly) like just asking your best friends what your strengths and weaknesses are in regards to communication.

What’s my biggest communication problem? I interrupt people. I’m NOTORIOUS for it. How’d I find this out? I’ve asked my friends (and they’re not shy to tell me either, thanks guys).

That being said, I’ve got the attitude to be continually cognitive of this HORRIBLE communication trait, as well as the drive to want to change it — both vital to being successful no matter who you are or what your job is. So watch out the next time we’re having a conversation, I’m bound to finish your thoughts for you
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Tonight I had a chance to watch truly an amazing day in history.  This election was easily the most significant in my lifetime.  This is the sort of thing “I’ll tell my kids about”. While I won’t bore you with the details about my personal view points and convictions RE: politics — I will reiterate something I mentioned on Twitter this week.

“Anyone who has an informed opinion RE: politics, that’s what counts. Just having a choice is what’s makes this country great.”

I went to a watch party downtown with some friends after work (I can walk to P&L now, it’s great!), while I was there I took some photos.  Check them all out on my flickr account.

I’d like to shake the speech writers hand who wrote the final sentence of his speech:

“I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voice, I need your help, and I’ll be your president, too.”

Powerful stuff. Those words hit me like a ton of bricks.

A bunch of local bloggers were invited to the AMC 30 theater here in Kansas City.  Essentially, AMC’s social media representative coordinated with local bloggers to come to this preview of the theaters before they open later this week.  Obviously with the intentions that us bloggers would create content and spread it through the intranetz like some rabid virus.

Mission accomplished.

Confession; I hardly go to the movies anymore.  I really don’t.  Last movie I saw was Batman: The Dark Knight.  I know, pathetic eh?  I just don’t have the desire to go as much as I used to.  That being said, I was pretty impressed with what AMC is trying to do.  It’s definitely more of an argument to go to the theaters.

So these test theaters AMC created are essentially a “food and movie” experience.  The seats are big.  They serve beer. There’s tables to put your food and drink — and service comes right to your seat to deliver anything you’d like.  And it’s real food too (pizza, burgers, etc).  There’s two types of theaters they’ve got — the “big dog” is the Cinema Suites (this is the one you want to go to).  Here you get a huge recliner swivel tables and personal lighting.  Enough of me talking about it… check out the pics I posted to my flickr account and my YouTube video blog below!

This photo is in my friend’s room and I really think it’s telling of such an inspirational mindset. To me — this means the following;

Have the passion and patience to dream and dream big. Have the patience to piece together “the ladder” in what it takes to get you there. Have the passion to follow through with doing what it takes to accomplish that dream.

Have you ever thought about how much time is lost waiting for your computer to turn on each day?  This weekend, the NY Times published an article discussing major computer companies (Dell, HP) who are developing:

“…quick start computers that allow you to access to basic functions like e-mail and a Web browser in 30 seconds or less.”

…obviously a great technical feature I think everyone would appreciate.

However from a sociological perspective, it made me think of my own process and behavior each time I turn on my computer. Do you sit and stare at the screen and watch? I don’t. In fact, I get so impatient with the fact I have to wait — I do everything I can to do something productive while I wait for my machine to boot. At work, I’ll grab something to drink, skimming my project notes or arrange my desk. At home I’ll start my laundry, do quick house/room cleaning, fix a quick snack, fire a couple text messages off or make a quick phone call.

Now I might be the 1% of the population who even care to be cognitive of my time and it’s implications to my productivity — however, I’m still curious what other people do? I can’t stand it. What do you do?

I’ve seen this quote before (below) but I saw it recently on a blog that I was reading tonight and I couldn’t help but think how relevant it is to businesses AND to people living in the U.S. right now. It’s such a powerful quote.

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. - Charles Darwin

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