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.