Dave Morin

I love Tom Peters. You should too. This comes from one of his posts from today. Brilliant!

—
Retirement Sucks!

Stay angry!
Change the world!

Never give up!
Never give in!

Die trying!
—

Thanks Tom! You couldn’t be more right! You rock!

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Everyone’s getting into it. Some people have been into it for awhile. Some haven’t. But, I think the best thing about blogging is that it gives everyone a way to carry on a conversation. All the time.

Today someone left me a comment. A great old friend from high school that I rarely get to see. She happened upon my site, dropped me a line, and lit up my life with experiences from her own. Her site led me to other Helenan’s sites. Their Pictures, their friends, their Montana. Seeing smiles, lives, and more experiences. An open door to endless ongoing conversations.

That is priceless.

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I spent the weekend at the Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education for work. I also got to hang out with a wonderful product marketing guru from my company. He’s a physicist by trade, but has honed his skills in product management for many years. He’s one of the most revered in the industry.

Dr. Ernie, as he’s called, has started a website/movement called Radical Centrism. And, quite frankly, I love it.

Radical Centrism is based on the premise that in every debate or exchange on global topics there is a radical and common center that can be reached. And thus, a global balance. This comes most of the time through one common truth that both arguments acknowledge, and one common falsity that both choose to consciously ignore.

Check it out.

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St. Louis’ airport is blue.

A little kid is kicking the back of my seat. I can’t really fault his hyperactivity, I’m sure I annoyed quite a few people on planes as a kid. But, being from Montana, I didn’t have the chance to fly all that much. Times have changed.

STL is interesting. Seems to be deteriorating since the last time I was there. Sad in a way, as the architecture and history are fairly rich. The new mayor has taken an interest in changing this, and seems to be marketing/advertising the revitalization of a once “great city.” Billboards, ads on TV.

I can’t help but wonder how much just marketing this idea is costing the city. Why not put that money into actually changing the city? Re-vamping neighborhoods, cleaning the streets, concentrating on developing a fun urban community downtown. Attract youth. Seems this would be a more effective use of the city’s capital.

Running a city is just like running a company. Quality of life is your product. Why not change the product, innovate its design, revitalize why it was so great in the beginning? You have to engage with the customers on a level that makes a difference in their everyday lives. Don’t waste capital marketing changes you want to make. Make the changes, innovate the product. Your customers will love you, and you can spend less money marketing your revitalized product. People will talk about it, remember why they loved it in the first place. Then, they will tell their friends.

You’ll win.

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Restaurants all over the world compete with each other to see who can fill their menu with the biggest words possible. They also compete to stay in business. A quick Google search will show you that close to half of the restaurants in San Francisco close within 6 months of opening. How do you stay in business as long as the veritable Moose’s North Beach in San Francisco? Cut out the crap:

“Serious Chocolate”

‘nough said.

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