March 2015

The Several Things I did This Weekend

SxSW

Unlike most weekends, I only did one major thing this past weekend – I went to South by Southwest (SxSW). I had no idea what to expect, it was overwhelming, I saw cool stuff, and I can’t wait to go again.

I left early Friday morning out of Orlando to Austin, Texas. South by Southwest is nine day event that features film, music and technology. I had an “Interactive” badge which focused on technology. I had no instructions from work as to what to do, how to tackle the show, or any goals. So, I made it up.

Friday I managed to register and work my way around some of the basic areas. My biggest breakthrough was attending my first session, “How to take your gap year.” This session focused on the idea that anyone can, and everyone should, take a long trip. The goal of the session was to help turn the dream of an one year trip abroad into reality. Kristin Zibell led the group and the session was based on her personal experiences and the workshops she now does as part of her web site, TakeYourBigTrip.com. The process, maybe obvious in hindsight but useful in a workshop is to: (1) Write down what your trip looks like, (2) write a mock postcard to a friend from your trip, (3) Identify each place/activity and write it on an index card, (4) add days to the cards, (5) and build an expense worksheet from the concept. What struck me most was her capturing the need to consider left behind expenses – mortgage, power, cell phones, etc.

Next, with the trip coming to reality through a budget there was another exercise on how to move from where we are today to the departure day.

The entire workshop made sense and I would strongly suggest to anyone with a desire to travel checking out Kristin’s web site.

At the workshop I learned a little more, from others, about things to do. It was near the end of the day though and I went back to the hotel to rest up for Saturday.

Saturday was different. I hit the Samsung studio and made a t-shirt. I went to Google Fiber and experienced Google Cardboard. This is the coolest thing ever for Android users. I strongly suggest checking it out. You cannot imagine what virtual reality is like without trying it. I felt it was easy to dismiss, but after the experience I feel differently. The rest of Saturday was spent exploring and finally making it to some of the SxSW parties – yes – free food and drink.

Sunday started with packing and heading into downtown. I had a 10:00am breakfast with a prospect and then went to the SxSW Tradeshow. The show is very much B2C, not B2B. However, I was able to make some contacts with prospects. What was more interesting was to see the range of technology offered, definitely my thing.

I finished the afternoon seeing some highlights that stuck with me. First, I attended an innovation accelerator finalist presentation. Three presenters highlighted different wearable technologies. Think “shark tank” meets “wearable.” The three companies were: (1) Feetz, (2) SoleEnergy and (3) Tinitell. Check them out. They are cool. I also stopped by the Garmin booth and think a new Garmin Fenix 3 needs to be in my future. It combines all of my sport watch, fitness monitor, and smartwatch needs. Hmm.

Lyft

Do you use ride sharing? I have used Uber in the past and of course we rent our cabin on AirBNB. This was my first weekend as a regular Lyft user though and it worked great. Rides always came within 2-3 minutes, the cars were clean and the people were great. My first ride was with a man named Augustine, from Nigeria. He was driving a brand new Toyota FJ that he hopes to send to his family in Nigeria. I asked how many Lyft rides he had give, about 700!!

Americans love big empty cars. I suspect if gasoline goes back to $5 per gallon everyone might get on the ride-sharing bandwagon.

My Screenplay

I talk about my screenplay because it keeps it in front of me. I have two actually. The first I have written 30 pages of script. The second is being developed differently as I am writing the synopsis first and then will work on the script. Last weekend Noel and I worked on storyline ideas and I spent a good part of Sunday afternoon and evening working on the story since my flight on SWA was delayed. It felt good to make progress and it is more interesting to see something in my head coming to fruition on paper.

It will be hard to keep up the momentum this week as I jump right back into work tomorrow after a, now, late arrival home. But, I want to keep working it as the screenplay is taking on personality.

Jim Gaffigan

The final thing I did this weekend was remind LeeAnn that Jim Gaffigan is coming to concert in Atlanta. I had no idea when, but it turns out August 16. Since we own a cabin in the woods near Atlanta I said we have to go – and we are!!

The Several Things I did This Weekend

A trip to the Cabin

On Thursday I made a trip to the cabin. Unlike prior trips I did not take the boys, this time it was just me. I had planned to go to work on my screenplay drafts, focus on work, and spend time with my parents. I left the house at 4:15am Thursday morning, worked on the way up on the phone, and managed to arrive just after 1:00pm. The drive took longer than expected because I pulled off the road to handle some calls.

The weather was cold, but a nice change from Florida. I was able to quickly settle in and enjoyed my weekend. This was also my last trip prior to starting AirBNB rentals again so I had to do some work around the house. Thursday worked out to be a relaxing evening.

Friday was spent working, with a fire burning most of the day. My buddy Noel came to visit. Saturday we did some hiking after a great breakfast and then Noel headed out. I grabbed a nap and shower before dinner at my parents. I finished the evening buying supplies for the cabin.

Sunday was about getting ready to head home. I had high hopes of studying, riding my bike and doing several other “things” but managed none. I hate leaving the cabin and could have stayed for a week. But…

Spent time with Noel

My friend Noel came to visit. Noel is a former colleague and a good friend who lives in Atlanta. He arrived just prior to dinner and we headed into Helen to track down food. Over dinner I started sharing with Noel my screenplay idea. We worked our way through the storyline over the next several hours. With a 1L of beer drank and then hitting Tito’s and tonic our creative thoughts started to flow. Noel’s help was invaluable. His experience in the movie industry due to his Dad’s writing went a long way to helping me.

On Saturday we hiked to the top of Mt. Yonah. Along the way we talked about a lot of issues that guys our age face. There is a conflict between finding satisfaction, having been robbed of success in the Great Recession, fear over the next stages of our careers, and just being happy. Happiness was once defined by our jobs and our success at work. However, happiness seems to be more about family, hobbies, and time.

We shared thoughts of what-ifs. What if you found out tomorrow you had a year to live. And, every time I offer that experiment to someone work is never a consideration. Instead, time with family is the priority. Asking Noel what his bucket list would look like was interesting. I then shared my concept of PRA (Projected Retrospective Analysis) with Noel as we continued exploring what lay ahead in our lives. I rephrased the question to Noel with PRA in mind, “ten years from now we are hiking like this. What will you be glad you accomplished in the last ten years?”

I personally had one huge takeaway from my time with Noel. I need to live in the moment.

?  — what — ?

While we sat on Mt. Yonah, 1500 feet about the surrounding land, seeing Atlanta 90 miles away and watching nearly a dozen hawks fly I forced myself to enjoy the moment and disregard the “Agenda” I carry in my head. For instance, I knew once Noel left I needed to study and wanted to ride my bike. I am a believer that my success in life has come from constantly allowing an agenda to drive everything. But, at 47 years old maybe it just doesn’t matter. I am wondering what harm might come?

Spent time with my Parents

After Noel left I went to spend time with my Mom and Dad and have dinner. Our visit was much shorter than I had planned, but that was o. We were able to just sit and talk. My Mom and Dad are facing decisions regarding whether to move and we are trying to get them to move to Florida. I am hopeful family will prevail and they will choose the road closer to us.