Five Ways to Keep Your Ideas Fresh

Recently I read an article that stated, "The number one word used in LinkedIn profiles is 'creative'." 

Considering so many people describe themselves in that manner, I've come to believe being "creative" comes in a many different shapes and sizes. But for purposes of this article, I'm going to center on one aspect of being creative - specifically being able to coming up with new ideas.

Generating a new idea involves allowing one of the most complex machines on earth to synthesize a tremendous amount of information, connect dots that were not necessarily connected before, and come to a conclusion previously not arrived at. 

While that seems rather simple, I bet if you ask someone who regularly seeks to be creative, they would admit that coming up with a unique idea can be be challenging. 

We are creatures of habit after all. Our brains like to follow paths we are already familiar with, and breaking those patterns can require a bit of effort. For me, I try to make that effort on a daily basis.

So here's the top five ways I try to keep my brain engaged and ideas flowing freely. 

Five Ways to Keep Your Ideas Fresh

1. Don't go full steam ahead.

In our eagerness to approach a project head on, we forget the value in looking at things from multiple vantage points. I like to describe this process as turning things upside down, inside out or flipping (reversing) them. In essence, it's re-evaluating what exactly it is you are trying to solve. It's a good discipline to develop, particularly when approaching things seem they are more of a problem than an opportunity.

2. Ask the most basic, simple questions upfront.

Ever walk into a meeting or dial into a conference call not completely sure what the agenda is? You are not alone. All to often we are pressured to accomplish a task or project we lose sight of the real purpose. Fully understanding "why", or strategy, behind something will make all the difference in the eventual outcome.

3. Expand your horizons.

What are you expert in? Whatever it is, you likely spend a lot of time honing your skills and expanding your knowledge base to stay on top of your game. But just as valuable is spending an equal amount of time learning something new. Select something that might be adjunct to what you do, or even polar opposite. Learning about something completely different can eventually turn into a rich, fertile ground for avant guarde ideas and inspiration.

4. Read voraciously.

Let's face it. We live in the age of information. The amount of readily available content is mind-blowing. Google a phrase or topic and there are billions of results. So there is never a lack of information to digest.

While it might feel overwhelming, develop a discipline to read articles, white papers, news, blogs, etc. - it matters little the delivery channel but more about keeping on top of what is current and trending. Most executives devote an hour each day (usually very early in the morning!) to the quiet solitude of immersing themselves in consuming content.

On occasion, including things you normally would not gravitate towards - even topics that you purposely avoid. Reading something that you are not intimately familiar with makes your mind slow down and dissect the information in order to grasp the meaning or fully appreciate the concept or point of view.

5. Unplug, unwind and don't be afraid to jot things down dripping wet.

When do you do your best thinking? If you are like me, it's when you are disengaged from the daily reality of life. When you are focusing your concentration, it is very difficult to "let go" for short spurts of time.  The best way to let your mind wander is to give it the freedom to do so. Yes, even in our busy lives, it is possible to carve out time to "just think". It might mean during a quick shower. Or while on a solitary walk through a park. Or even during a traffic-snarled cab ride to the airport. The point is, you can find the downtime if you make it a priority.

Hope you find these tips useful and your next big idea waiting for you right around the corner.

The One Question that No One EVER Wants To Be Asked

"Can you help me move?"

Even the most articulate people become speechless as they wrap their minds around what they have just been asked to do. 

Eventually they notice the awkward silence, signaling that the person who's asked them is patiently waiting for an answer. That's when the stammering kicks in. It's almost painful to watch the person struggling to respond. In any way, except, of course, "Yes".

It's so universally abhorred, there's even a TV commercial that cleverly brings it to life.  Xfinity's "Help Moving" spot shows friend after friend declining some poor guy's pleas for help. 

I mean come on, who do you know that would answer that question with, "Oh absolutely! I was really hoping you'd pick me to help you move. It's something I've always wanted to do. A secret ambition, really."

There must be hundreds of reasons why. But I can't help but wonder, assuming no one in their right mind would voluntarily help someone move, that their isn't some violation of general human nature at play.

Here are some hypothesis:

• It's too physically painful. Especially on the back, legs, neck, arms and back.
• It's too emotionally painful. What if you really like the person and they are moving far away? Or you lost you beloved teddy bear in a move years ago and not yet over it?
• It's unsatisfying work. No one praises you for your wrapping, taping or lifting ability.
• It's dirty, dusty and smelly work. Seeing what's behind a refrigerator that hasn't been moved in 10 years can turn just about any one's stomach.
• It's TMI. It never fails. We see that weird, surprising or unusual "thing" in a yet-to-be sealed box that just alters our perception of the friend we are trying to help.

Not to mention the fact that we all have moved one time or another and have battle scars to prove that's its not fun. I think I remember reading somewhere that moving qualifies as one of the five most stressful times in your life - right behind Marriage/Divorce, Childbirth, Death of a loved one and Job Loss/Change. Oh and stepping on a Lego with your bare foot.

Of course, I speak from experience in making these observations. Recently I helped a family member pack up and move. A mere 4 miles away. But it might as well have been half-way around the globe.

Oh, there were the usual hiccups. The number of boxes we estimated we'd need wasn't enough. We ran out of tape. Twice. It snowed on the day the moving trucks pulled up. The only item that somehow got lost on moving day was my rollaboard luggage (later retrieved from my nephew's car).

But all in all, and quite by surprise, I found myself happy. It was only by a twist of fate that I was available to help out my sister. We had a little bit of fun and got to do some serious shopping. We learned that I am way more "particular" about stuff than she is. That her husband is an unsung hero and loves her deeply. That her teenage kids are, teenage kids, and I was thrilled to get to spend some time with them. That they were SO happy about their new home and couldn't wait to settle in.

In the end, it occurred to me that being asked to help someone move is actually a huge compliment. Because the person asking knows that you might be one of the very few people they can turn to in their greatest time of need. And therefore, the only person in the world that will truthfully say, "Yes. Sure. I'll help you move."

So the next time someone asks you that dreaded question, just keep that in the back of your mind and make sure you pre-schedule a full body massage for when you are all done.

"If you build it, he will come."

The actor Ray Liotta, playing Shoeless Joe Jackson, in the movie “Field of Dreams”, immortalized those words. 

And for some bizarre reason, when I think of that line, I think of building a brand. Bizarre because a) I am not a film critic and b) I am not a particularly ardent fan of baseball. 

To give you a quick memory jog: in the movie, Ray Kinsella, an Iowa farmer played by Kevin Costner, is urged to build a baseball field in the middle of his crops by a somewhat creepy, yet commanding off-camera voice - so that some unknown entity will "come". After he's completed this task, Ray and his family had to wait a whole year before anything came of it. Talk about patience! There's a lot more to the movie, but this is not a review of the film.

So, why do I think those words represent an important lesson when it comes to building and managing a brand?

What's important to note is that Costner certainly was not an expert in building baseball fields. But as the movie unfolds, we see him as an "expert" in listening, looking for clues and possessing a deep-seated desire to fully understand what the real meaning was behind that commanding voice.

Which is exactly what someone who understands the concept of branding should be doing, day in and day out.

Listening - to customer feedback - both good and bad. Looking for clues - among the data, emerging market trends and your competitors.  And understanding that consumers of a brand are, indeed, that commanding voice. Do those things, and they very well could bring your brand to places you never imagined or dreamed possible. 

Are companies successful in only building what they are expert in? Of course. And that is the trap. It's far easier (and faster) to stay only focused on what a company is good at creating, and then go build it over and over again. Tweak it from time to time. Launch line extensions and offer it with a new array of features, colors or sizes. 

But the risk in this approach is that you may eventually wind up building something that no one really wants.

So when I think of that line as it relates to building a brand - I insert a few extra words.  "If you build what they want, they will come." Not nearly as catchy, but it works for me.

Here's to the upcoming 2014 baseball season and for all brand builders out there to knock it out of the park.

Super Bowl Car Ads - A Lesson in How Not to Connect with Your Audience

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/madaise/

This is a personal review of the automobile advertising that appeared during Super Bowl XLVIII.

To be clear, I'm not a professional ad reviewer or critic. I've never worked in the automotive industry or on a car account. However, I have spent my career involved in branding, marketing, advertising and communications. All that disclosed, most of what follows was gleaned heavily from discussions during Super Bowl XLVIII between a few of my friends. 

My aforementioned friends (M/F, 50+, Middle to Upper Middle HH Income Brackets, Multi-Car, Suburban Families) presumably fall within some of the car manufacturer's target audience and as such, I considered their comments germane and insightful.

So here's how we wound up talking about why many of the Super Bowl commercials clearly missed the mark in making an impact.  

As the game began, I mentioned to the group I had registered to be a USA Today Ad Meter panelist and would be rating the commercials. This sparked a discussion about Super Bowl advertising in general, and soon everyone wanted to vote on the commercials as they aired. It added some much needed excitement to the evening as the game itself was fairly uninspiring - this considering it was rather one-sided and no one in attendance was a Seahawks fan. 

By the third quarter, as soon as a car ad began, it was followed by a chorus of, "oh no - another car commercial."

Just to make sure we weren't over-reacting, I took a look at the list of ads that appeared between kick-off and through the end of the regulation game, courtesy of Super Bowl Ad Meter Final Results. A whopping 14 commercials out of 57 - or roughly 25% of what we viewed during the game - were ads for automobiles.

The USA Today polling results seem to echo the sentiments of my fellow Super Bowl watchers - the commercials were at best, average. Excluding the highest scoring car commercial - which made it into the top 10 with a score of 6.82 on a scale of 0 to 10 - the average among all the other 15 car ads was an unimpressive 4.936 - just about dead center mediocre.

So what happened? In a nutshell, my small test group felt the advertisers were talking to themselves.

In other words, the advertiser (and their agency partner) strayed from the most basic rule of creating effective communications - connect with your audience in a meaningful, relevant way. 

The one exception was the high-scoring Hyundai "Sixth Sense" ad. It nicely connected a key product feature (auto emergency brakes) to a benefit the audience cared about (accident avoidance). This was told in a relevant manner that resonated with this target - tapping into their own experiences performing "accident avoidance" as a parents. Sure the ad used exaggeration tactics to get the attention of the audience, but hey, it is the Super Bowl after all!

Here's a quick recap of my small test audience's reactions to the remaining car ads, grouped into three main categories: Disinterested, Dumb and Disingenuous.

Disinterested
Advertisers: Maserati, Chrysler, Jeep

All these advertisers used long, sometimes disjointed, monologues coupled with arresting images delivered by a spokesperson the viewers were supposed to connect with - ultimately to demonstrate key brand attributes/values the target should care about (i.e. being a nimble company, American ingenuity, being a risk taker) . It occurred to me later that perhaps the famed "Farmer" Ram Truck Super Bowl commercial was the inspiration for this approach - but instead of coming off inspiring, each execution fell short and ended up being labeled as outright boring.

Dumb
Advertisers: See specific notations below.

Some of the brands in this group had a product attribute to tout, but the actual execution went way overboard and distracted the viewers.  The commercials were deemed too silly (Toyota Highlander, Honda), stupid (Ford, Hyundai/Nice, Kia, Jaguar), or disturbing and/or disgusting (Audi, Chevrolet/Romance).

Disingenuous
Advertiser: Chevrolet

While some might consider this harsh cynicism, the group did not warm up to any of the advertisers that highlighted corporate goodwill efforts. While those efforts are indeed laudable, the group believed advertisers who opted to use Super Bowl level exposure to highlight being a good corporate citizen were doing so only for a self-serving purpose. That said, the group agreed the Bank of America effort was a better way to execute on corporate philanthropy, since there was some level of action that could be taken immediately to benefit the particular charity/cause (free downloads turned into a donations to support (REDTM).

In closing, I am left wondering... were the ads run through any copy testing? Perhaps my group is not in the target at all? Or maybe they are atypical of the the targets' behavior?

But I have to circle back to the USA Today results which suggest an average effort. Which is disappointing given each brand's opportunity to be a part of an exceptional event like the Super Bowl.  

Guess we will have to wait until Super Bowl XLIX to see if there is any improvement.

My Top 10 Professional Resolutions for 2014

Here we are, hours away from 2014.

And right about now, plenty of people are thinking about resolving to make changes (presumably for the better) in their lives.

Since I'm doing a lot of introspective thinking about my career, I thought this year I’d make a list of things I’d like to change or do differently in 2014 as it relates to my professional life.

Initially, it was a long list. I whittled it down to items that, for me, will hopefully result in greater satisfaction or sense of accomplishment.

Some are about getting more organized. A few have to do with the way technology has altered my life. Others involve strengthening relationships. And some are simply things I would like to do better, or more often.

What do you want to change in 2014? Please feel free add your own 2014 “professional” resolutions.

My Top 10 Professional Resolutions for 2014

10. Break out of email jail.

It’s time I heeded the advice of countless time management professionals. I need to get back to using email as a tool. Practically speaking, this means closing my email client and only checking it at specific intervals throughout the day. After all, if a matter is that urgent, I should get a call, not an email.

My success will depend on reducing self-inflicted email – by lowering the frequency (or turning off) email notifications and alerts, plus culling newsletter subscriptions down to only those I read religiously.

9. Drop the phone.

I am a mobile phone addict. Any free moment I have, I’m checking email and text messages, stocks, weather, and social media channels – even playing a few Words with Friends games. I know it’s annoying to those around me and can even be a dangerous distraction.

Most of all, I believe my idle time could be better used. As idle time. I don’t know about you, but it seems the minute I let my mind wander, great ideas come to light.

8. Delete time-sucking apps/games.

If I'm vowing to stop fiddling with my phone every waking moment, then I probably should delete some of those non-essential apps/games that are begging me to open them up.

7. Develop a more disciplined approach to consuming content.

I'm suffering from content over-load. My "articles to read later" file is bursting at the seam (metaphorically speaking of course, since I'm sure it can hold much more than I'd ever be able to save/bookmark).

It's time to develop a system to prioritize the inflow and then systematically catch up on content I'm definitely interested in reading/viewing.

6. Develop a more disciplined approach to creating content.

If I wean myself from my inbox and schedule time to read relevant content, it will free up some serious time for my “real” work. My underlying goal here is to get in the habit of writing on a more disciplined and scheduled basis.

As an added benefit, if I can lessen the number of times I am racing to finish a presentation or write a critically important document, I am sure it will have nothing but a positive impact on the quality and quantity of my work.

5. Filter out the non-essential.

Wouldn't it be great to have a pair of glasses that would only allow us to see the things that really mattered? Not the proverbial rose-colored ones, but more like a pair equipped with a yellow highlighter?

As already noted, I need to be more discerning when it comes to how I spend my time. That means skipping meetings where I’m invited as a nicety rather than necessity, resist raising my hand every the time there is a call for volunteers, more rapidly recognizing when something is a lost cause and it’s time to move on, and so on. By cutting out the extraneous, what’s important will probably shine so bright I’ll be reaching for sunglasses instead.

4. Find the time to lend a hand.

In what might seem contradictory to my previous comment about not volunteering at every opportunity, I do want to help or assist colleagues more often. Not that I haven’t in the past, but connecting with or providing support to my professional friends sometimes gets relegated to the bottom of my to-do list.

A meaningful introduction, constructive suggestion, word of encouragement or sending a hand-written note of appreciation goes a long way to show people you value that your relationship with them matters.

3. Teach.

When I was about 10 years old, I wanted to become a teacher. My parents salvaged some old desks being thrown out by a local school and I quickly set about creating a classroom in our basement for my younger siblings and kids from our neighborhood. Convincing them to “play school” after school or on a Saturday wasn’t always a popular idea, but it forced me to find ways to make education fun and engaging.

Whenever I’ve been able to be an instructor, coach or mentor into my life, it has provided me with a great deal of personal satisfaction – plus the added benefit of giving back to the individual, community or company at large.

2. Talk less. Listen more.

I have quite a bit of Italian blood coursing through my veins, and apparently the gift of gab and gesturing while speaking goes along with that part of my heritage (at least in my family). While I love telling stories to illustrate a point, I need to keep it short and concise. And occasionally sit on my hands.

Being a good listener is an essential part of being a good manager, co-worker, employee, friend, spouse or parent. Yet there are times I could listen more deeply, stifle the impulse to express my opinions or recognize that a response is not always required.

1. Learn something new every day.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela

Given the amount of information that swirls around us each and every day, coming across something I did not already know is not that difficult. So what I am really after is finding or observing something will spark my curiosity and imagination. Entice me want to learn more. Ask questions. Challenge the consensus. Formulate my own opinions.

As my greatest passion is idea generation (and problem-solving), constantly learning is an occupational must and something I need to keep in front of me every day.

I would like to wish everyone a happy, and professionally satisfying, New Year. Cheers!

Trusting Your Gut

In our life's journey, we get to a point where we need to make an important decision that involves two or more potential choices. 

Typically, each option is a viable one, but each one presents positive and negative ramifications. 

How do we decide which is the best option to pick? The right path to take?

There are scores of books, articles, flow charts, processes and people ready to give an answer to that question. Interestingly enough, just like the complexity facing the decision-maker, the solution providers offer just as many choices further exasperating the task at hand.

But it seems to me that the most important driver in these important decisions tends to be a non-scientific, unjustifiable, indescribable one. Well, there is one universal term I'm aware of for it....

Your gut.

We all have had that experience. That moment when something just feels right. We are filled with a sudden sense of calm. Sereneness. A small smile may emerge or even a gentle nodding of our heads.  We might even think to ourselves - ah yes, this all makes sense now.

Sometimes it's not what we logically anticipated as the right answer at all. It might even be the polar opposite. Or an option not seriously considered or maybe one not even thought of in the first place. It may be just acknowledging that what we felt was the best option really is the best, but perhaps reconciling it will be the toughest to implement. The more difficult road versus the path of least resistance. Or visa-versa.

Of course then the question becomes - how is our gut formed and should we trust it? On this, there are scores of opinions too. 

Here's mine: our "gut" is a combination of two things - logic and intuition. Our gut is the beautiful swirling together of these aspects of our human-ness as they reconcile the struggle to unify and agree to a final decision.  

Our logical side wants the decision to be bullet-proof in it's selection rationale. This is fed by a tremendous amount of external input - our own life experiences, opinions of others, facts, data and trends that may be overlaid, intertwined and pulled apart to systematically review each option and winnow away the inferior option. Leaving just the best for last.

Our intuition wants us to solely rely on the intangibles to make the decision. Feelings and emotions. And how we "read" the feelings and emotions of others as they react to the various choices. Past experiences also come into play - but often recalling the emotional connection tied to those past decisions - not necessarily the resulting outcomes.

In the end, all this information stops swirling and comes to rest. Whether in a quiet moment or while walking among thousands on a busy city street, the decision, and realization we have made the decision, just seems to hit us in the pit of our stomach. Our gut has spoken.

Should we trust our gut? I believe so. We have read countless stories of times where individuals have made a decision despite being adamantly urged or pressured to select or choose something to the contrary. When they are proven right, the words, "it just felt like the right thing to do at the time" seem to magically appear over and over.

Can our gut be wrong? Of course. But I believe that the vast majority of times we can sense the right path to take, decision to make, future to pursue, if we dim the chorus of complexity and listen closely to what our simplistic inner-self is trying to say.

Photo By Mitya Ilyinov (originally posted to Flickr as crossroads) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

My soft, snugly bathrobe

Today's musing surrounds a simple fact: I stayed in my bathrobe all day.

It wasn't rainy. It wasn't cold (actually it was unseasonably warm and sunny here). I wasn't sick. I wasn't waiting for something to finish in the dryer.

I just didn't feel like getting out of the one piece of clothing I own that I find most comfortable. And comforting.

My soft, snugly bathrobe was a gift from my kids (my daughter picked it out) a few years ago. A plush, mid-calf length white spa-quality robe. It is the softest robe I've ever owned.

But back to the why.... I had all sorts of plans for the day mapped out in my head. Get some holiday shopping done. A few other small errands. Even thought I was going to get in a run. None of which happened.

I didn't even do anything of real substance inside the house either. Didn't get to tackle re-organizing a closet or clearing out an over-stuffed drawer. No cleaning of any real sort - didn't even make the bed. No cooking other than reheating some pasta for lunch.

So what the hell happened to me? In pondering why I just couldn't seem to muster the energy to do anything productive today, it occurred to me that my mind and body were completely in sync with each other and were no-so subtly trying to tell me something all week.

Rest.

For anyone that knows me, they know that I am rarely ever at rest. And when not doing something, I'm planning to do something. Even when I am quietly sitting at a keyboard, my mind is racing to infinity and beyond. Some describe me as having a touch of ADD. I'm just one of those "go-go-go"people versus the "laid back" kind.

And no matter which side of that spectrum you fall on - I can attest that crossing over to the other side every now and again is well worth the trip.  It's not that one side is better or worse than the other, but like all things in life, finding a balance can be extremely rewarding on many levels.

For me, puttering around the house, looking out the window at the beautiful foliage, catching up by actually talking (not texting!) with a friend, petting my cat and doing a bit of personal writing was completely fulfilling and restful day for me.

All in my soft, snugly bathrobe.

I See Weirdly Dressed People Everyday

I fell in love with NYC a long time ago and still enjoy coming here every day*.

The desire to work in NYC is something that was probably set into motion during my childhood.

My dad used to take me to work with him on a few occasions when I was younger and I just loved it. Initially, it was likely because the secretary pool thought I was cute and allowed me to pretend I was working and use one of their fancy electric typewriters.

As I got older, the trips turned into short forays into the exciting world of "The City". I was joined by the twin daughters of one of my dad's colleagues from Long Island.  Armed with nothing more than a subway map and a bunch of tokens, we'd head out for some shopping and adventure. Bloomingdales almost always was on the list of places to go and lots of other stops in between the 2 Broadway office and mid-town. We had no cell phones and probably didn't even have the number of our dads' office. All that was expected of us was to not to go above 59th Street and be back by a certain time to start the commute home.

Those trips were tons of fun and the thrill of exploring and people watching was forever seared into my brain. Although I consider myself a veteran city worker, part of me just loves the energy and vibrancy in NYC.  I believe it is like no other place on earth.

And sometimes I can't help and stop and stare at the often bizarre things that seem to be a "natural" part of NYC. Especially people dressed weirdly. Very weirdly. As in stuff you probably would only see at Halloween anywhere else.

Now, more often than not there is a logical reason for these costumes (promotions for a show or event), but it still makes me laugh inside.

Of course some of the get-ups are just people being weird too. Or somehow thinking that what they have on their backs is in some twisted way a unique fashion statement.

Since starting this blog, I decided to try and snap pictures of some of these sightings. Here's a few taken in the span of two days on my short walk to Penn Station.  I wasn't fast enough to catch a few others - there was a woman walking with what appeared to be a grey shag rug with a whole cut out for her neck. Hopefully she'll be around tomorrow....

I <3 NYC.

*Disclaimer: Days that the transit systems are mucked up are rightfully excluded.

What makes life worth living?

Today I learned that someone I know tried to kill themselves. Commit suicide. Die.

They did not succeed.

I'm left with an difficult range of emotions and reality to comprehend.  Disbelieve. Denial. Wanting to pretend it didn't happen.

Then the grief sets in. What if they had succeeded. Will they try again? Why did I not see this coming? What could I have done to prevent this?

What does it take in us as humans to drive us to the ultimate deed - purposefully cutting the life God granted (and can take away) short? Diverging from His master plan. Trying to control destiny.

Life is lots of things seemingly all at once. Blessed. Unfair. Joyous. Grief-stricken. Happy. Rebellious. Pleasurable. Confusing. Fulfilling. Regretful. And a thousand emotions in-between.

But if I could offer one thing to anyone who is unsure that they should be living... is that in life we are connected. Even if we feel we are completely cut-off and all alone - there is someone out there who would be devastated if you altered the natural order of your life. Devastated, as in unable to ever reconcile the belief they could have somehow changed the outcome. Responsible. Guilty. Defeated.

Find help. Take one more breath. Pick up the phone. Look in the mirror and remember one time in your life that you made someone else smile. Laugh. Hug you. Because whether they are in heaven or still walking this earth, they would be forever devastated if you purposefully ended your life.

Please. Just. Don't.

And I love you.

Thanking Bob Sherman

I kinda can't recall how at this point, but tonight I discovered Bob Sherman's Linked In profile and his blog which I never knew existed. I'm tremendously sad that I'm too late to reconnect with him, as Bob passed in 2011.

Bob was my first "real" boss.  He and Jon Olken took a chance on hiring me for their admin back in the 1980's - I was a fresh college grad desperate to break into the advertising business.

I have so many vivid memories of working at Della Femina Sherman & Olken, which I remember fondly and with tremendous gratitude. And, truth be told, with lots of smirking and laughing at the shenanigans that were a daily part of life working for an ad agency at that special time.

Now, looking back not only am I in awe of his overall career, but so grateful to have had the opportunity to have rubbed elbows with him. I was able to get a glimpse into his amazing talent, salesmanship and advertising genius - all right alongside of his tremendous love for his family.

Sometimes, you don't realize who the most important influencers in your life are until they are no longer here to thank.  If I could see you tomorrow, I would thank you, Bob Sherman. For taking a chance on me and teaching me how to succeed. I will never forget you.

Government Shuts Down

Typically I love waking up on October 1st. It's the start of my very favorite month of the year.

But as I woke this morning, I heard the news of the Government shut-down starting today from our bedside Sony Dream Machine clock radio. (Yes, it's ancient, I'll post a pic soon).

This means a half day's work for my spouse, which when unexpected, is greeted with the same joy as a snow day when you were a kid.

But hopefully this won't turn into an protracted vacation. With two kids in college, having even one paycheck compromised is a scary thing. (And my paycheck will be going through some changes too. We'll get to that in a later post.)

For all the Federal employees who really work for a living, I sincerely hope our elected officials can get this straightened out quickly.