This past weekend, my friends and I made the trek up to Lawrence, Kansas to see our alma mater play in the Final Four (GO Jayhawks!). It was an incredible experience to watch us win and are now playing in the national championship!

This video I took just seconds after KU won, running outside the Wheel/Hawk/Bull!

When we won, here is video I shot with my iPhone of what it was like inside the historic and legendary Wagon Wheel bar in Lawrence, KS

And this is just a glimpse of how crazy Massachusetts street was a few minutes after the game:

Your email shouldn’t be your to-do list. Break that habit and it will change your world. Promise.

— Ramsey Mohsen (@rm) March 19, 2012

i have my own organizational tips and things i do to keep it together…

I’m down in Florida this week (nice vacation here for the holidays, eh?) and I begged dragged my mom + sister to a really cool place called Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota, FL. First, I should point out- it’s not a circus. It’s a sanctuary that rescues lions, tigers, ligers, bears, and other exotic wildlife (that need a permanent home). And even better- it’s a nonprofit run by Kay Rosaires and her son (Clayton) and her daughter <– so cool it’s the entire family! I’ll be honest- I showed up just wanting to be impressed by seeing a lion up close- but this place is much more than that (it’s an educational experience).

While we were there- we were lucky enough to walk over when a few of the lions were “talking to each other”. This is crazy to hear IRL! Watch and listen.

From left to right (below) that’s a tiger, liger, and a lion!

I was amazed at how gorgeous the tigers were up close…

{fitting and yet respectful} Meredith at ABC contacted me for an interview about the passing of Steve Jobs. We decided to use Facetime on my iPhone for the entire interview. I snapped a photo with my iPad to capture what it looked like on my end

I’ve always hated buying glasses. It’s hard. I never know what shapes or styles I should be looking for. And on top of all that, they are expensive. Buy glasses is a two-’fer; it’s difficult and expensive.

A few weeks ago, I shattered my glasses while traveling (bummer, i know). I started shopping the marketing for options for my new pair of glasses. Then I remembered hearing about an online designer glasses startup company called Warby Parker. These guys got a ton of tech-blog press earlier in the year- and their business model is impressive. I even heard one of their founders Neil Blumenthal speak at “Big Omaha”. They even carry a Toms Shoes-like promise: “Buy A Pair, Give A Pair” <– which I think is really cool. The unique part of their business that will grab your attention, is every pair of glasses cost $95. Yeah, you read that right. This includes the frames -and- lenses. Now that’s cool huh? Oh and they have free shipping and returns for all orders.

It all sounded too good to be true at first...
…so I decided to look-them-up and test drive if they really were the real-deal.

Before you commit to dropping cash for glasses that you haven’t tried on (b/c you order them online), Warby Parker let’s you pick 5 frames that they ship to you (for free, and they all have clear lenses).

Here’s what it looked like when the box came in the mail:

Then, I decided …why not crowdsource my purchase? I figured- my friends likely know better than I do which glasses look best on me, so why not ask them? This is the part I struggle with a lot. Why not let my friends decide for me? So I took some photos- and posted them to Facebook. I asked people to vote by leaving a comment or a “Like”. And almost immediately, the feedback rolled in…

Option #1: (clearly was the favorite of the 5)

Style: “Thompson“

Option #2: (this one was the “super geek” pair …)

Style: “Huxley“

Option #3:

Style: “Wiloughby“

Option #4: (i like these, i called these the “hipster” pair)

Style: “Zagg“

Option #5: (these were good- i couldn’t tell if the brown is/was my style)

Style: “Langston“

…my profile page had nothing but Warby Parker “glasses try-on” photos across the top

Overall, I was really happy with my purchase. The ordering process was super easy- they called my doctor and took care of everything with my prescription verification. Check ‘em out- these guys are doing a lot of things right. www.warbyparker.com
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…that’s the headline Uni-ball wrote for their most recent blog post. I’m *humbled* that they reached out and posted this on their corporate blog!

Also, if you click the picture they posted, you can see just how bad my handwriting is… ugh, (my elementary school teachers would be embarrassed!). It was really nice they did this, i even shot a vblog to tell them thank you!

I was asked to give a presentation at a conference down in Cabo, Mexico! (what a horrible place for them to send me!) It’s been a blast since I’ve been down here (it is my first time visiting) I’ve been posting a few pictures and video blogs, here, here, and here (click those links if you can’t see the videos or pictures below).

Um. I’ve never had a driver before. With my name on a sign #dope! I’m loving Cabo, Mexico already… (i’m here this week to give a presentation at a conference)

woke up to seeing this off my balcony. wow, gorgeous here. someone was telling me that Cabo has 320 sunny days a year. my first time visiting!

just setup “my office” for the afternoon

This morning I sent another monthly email out to all my friends and colleagues. It occurred to me, I’ve never posted anything on my blog to let people sign-up for this email. Sooooo what can you expect each month if you sign-up? (i feel like i’m talking like a TV infomercial) Honestly, I just try to share good stuff. It’s not SPAM I promise (BACN maybe…). And not all of the content is just stuff from my blog. I try to also link to other interesting and helpful things that I’ve found from others. So sign-up here for my email newsletter or let’s connect on my Linkedin account.

I had extra time on my hands after my client meetings in the Boston/New Hampshire area …so I dropped by to visit the bar from the movie The Social Network (Thirsty Scholar Pub). I do also realize this is rated an 11 out of 10 on the scale of geekyiness, but I was SO EXCITED!!!! To walk the ground Mark did… I shot this video blog and took this picture with my iPhone.

Lately, I’ve been a fan with taking just short-n-simple video blogs using the front-cam on my iPhone 4. They’re not edited pretty, or HD, but I really like how light and easy it is to quickly capture and share something. Plus the vertical ratio of the videos is fun, just cause it’s different than widescreen.

I shot this video with the front-camera on my iPhone (if you can’t see it click here).

This week I’m at Timberland‘s HQ. They are a client I work with. Come to think of it …I haven’t had a chance to really expand on my blog about some of the really fun stuff we’re doing with 2 projects that are on-going with them: http://blog.timberland.com and the Timberland Community. In the future, I’ll share more about some learnings of some of the really innovative stuff we’re doing with them.

This blog post is a collection of some of the pictures and video from this year’s 6th Annual, 2010 Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. It was incredible to see all of the unsolicited coverage we received this year from the local media and bloggers. Myself and the entire steering committee continue to be humbled about all the help we’ve received to promote the cause! After all, this keg party just started in our basement!

The Kansas City Star’s INK magazine covered the party:

We were asked to come on the NBC morning show to talk about the party + the toy drive we setup @The Roasterie

A guest who attended the party, shot, edited, and posted a video blog of the night! It was so cool that Leah Stephens aka STELLABELLE did this!

Every year, we’re fortunate enough that we’ve had Zach Cobb donate his free time to take professional pictures for the party. This year, Zach and his business partner Simon, donated their time and services on behalf of their company, Westside Studio. Here are the official party pictures from this year’s party.

Some of our photos were even featured in the LA Guest of a Guest blog:

Have you ever watched someone’s face when they see someone walk into the room wearing an ugly Christmas sweater? You can’t help but smile. But it means so much more than just ugly Christmas sweaters…

In planning this party, we (the steering committee) have found there’s a lot of people out there that sincerely want to do good in this world- they just don’t have the right opportunity to do it.  We, as a group of friends, have made it our mission to do good by planning this party and empower others to have an opportunity to not only do good, but carry the message about Operation Breakthrough.

In 2008 we raised $7,125.
In 2009 we raised $18,575.

This year our giving goal was $20,000…
…we raised over $26,000 in 2010 to donate to Operation Breakthrough.
We also donated over 300+ toys to the OB Christmas Family Program.

THANK YOU for helping us make our mark.

This is YOUR event Kansas Citians, that helps our great city.

THANK YOU to everyone who donated, attended, danced, clicked the “LIKE” button, RT’ed, volunteered and helped share our story.

In planning this event, we have learned so much more than just how to throw a party. These experiences and lessons learned, have truly made us all better people.  I get chills thinking about how a small house party has evolved into something much bigger. We are making a direct impact in the community, right here, in a city we’re all proud of, Kansas City.

This is how we are making a difference.  We’ve turned something ugly, into something truly …beautiful.

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Perhaps you’ve seen the elevendy-seven-and-five posts I’ve made on Facebook and Twitter about The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. Ever wonder why do I do this? Why is it 14 of my friends and I volunteer countless hours to do this?

Why you ask?

It’s better to phrase it as …why not?

Why not dedicate our free time for just 1 night and 1 party? We get that everyone is busy in their day-to-day lives and working hard, but why not sacrifice some of our free time to plan this 1 thing a year.

It’s our way to give back…
…right here in our community.

If we can’t dedicate the time to be at Operation Breakthrough helping the kids and families every single day…

…why not do this 1 thing?

It’s our way of providing 1 opportunity that is easy for everyone to get involved and give back. Why not use the talent we have, the resources and business and friend connections to do this 1 great thing for our community? Why not ask our families and friends to help (because we so greatly believe in this) if they can?

The awareness and funds we raise for this event, have a direct effect on something we can see, right here in Kansas City. There’s no questions about what or who we’re helping. It’s in front of us. (BTW, if you don’t know what Operation Breakthrough is, take 5-minutes and watch this, it’s worth your time i promise).

This event started in the basement of our house and we still have no budget. But that hasn’t stopped us. We are determined to make our mark, and this is our terms in how we’re making it happen.

The phrase “why not”, encompasses the attitude and demeanor in which we go about planning this party. Even from the beginning, my friends and I have always dreamed big. We still do. And it’s that type of dedication + attitude that has made it successful.

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. This is *that* opportunity for us and everyone in our community. This is how we are making a difference.

• Please join us on December 10th @Tower Tavern, tickets are on sale now.

And if you can’t …you can always just make a donation (for any amount) on this page (scroll down the part that says, “I cannot attend but would like to contribute the following amount”).

One thing is for certain, the best has yet to come. We’re just getting started.
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I wanted to make a quick video blog to spread the word about this year’s Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. So, I followed my own 4:1 rule, with the goal to create a short ‘n simple + [re]markable, piece of content promoting “tickets are now on sale”. Sure I could have just filmed myself standing in front of the camera, talking about the party …but that’s no fun! So this video blog what I came up with:

For my long-time blog readers (all 4 of you) you probably already know what the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party is, and why it means so much to me. Every year, I block off most of my free time in the months of October, November and December to plan this party with my friends. If you don’t know about this benefit even my friends and I started, here’s the short’ish story of how it got started:

The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party began in 2005 as a small holiday gathering here in Kansas City. 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, Operation Breakthrough. O.B. is a local organization dedicated to helping children living in poverty in the Kansas City area. Founded in 1971, O.B. helps over 600 children everyday and strives to support the families of children through advocacy, referral services and emergency aid.

In 2 short years, with literally no budget or funding, we’ve thrown two sold-out parties and raised over $25,000 (and we’ve received press coverage in almost every major local publication). Myself and my friends dedicate time each year 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 vision for the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party is to make it the biggest and best annual holiday fundraiser in Kansas City! You can buy tickets for this year’s December 10th party at www.kcsweaterparty.com.

I’ve been anxious to share this great news with you for a while. Many of you already know that myself and 12 of my friends dedicate our free time to organizing the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party (in two years, we’ve raised over $25,000 for Operation Breakthrough). After last year’s party, my friends and I have realized that throwing just 1 benefit party wasn’t enough. We wanted to do more. We knew we could do it.

Fast-forward to now.

We’ve started the Breakthrough Crew, a volunteer group with the objectives of increasing awareness about Operation Breakthrough and furthering its mission through service opportunities. We’ve created a website, www.kcbreakthroughcrew.org + a logo for the Breakthrough Crew, check it out:

What exactly does that mean? This group’s mission is to put together fun, meaningful events and activities that will help directly benefit OB or raise awareness about their cause. For example, everything from donation campaigns, fundraisers, to happy hours and online campaigns and memes.

So, to kick things off, the Breakthrough Crew launched our first campaign called Operation: Spring Cleaning. We realized this time of year many people begin Spring cleaning around the house, and instead of throwing stuff away- we want people to consider donating to OB. Gently used clothing, shoes, books, and toys are items that children and adults at Operation Breakthrough can use. And we’ve partnered with Standard Style boutique and Tower Tavern to serve as drop-off locations, who are also offering discounts for donations.

Find out all the details on how you can help on our website or help spread the word on Facebook. You can also print this flier and hang it wherever you’d like.
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