Have you ever attended an educational event believing your learning experience would be a certain way, only to have it go a completely different direction?  That has been the case for me, this week, at the SOBCon 2010 Conference.

As I prepare for day two of this event, I spent some time reflecting on my first day’s experience.  To provide some context “SOBCon” stands for “Successful Outstanding Blogger Conference.”  In my opinion, it’s logical to expect this would be an event focusing on education directed at the business of blogging.  As it turns out, nothing could be further from the truth.

About midway through yesterday’s sessions I realized this conference was more about business thinking, and not so much about sharpening blogging skills.  I am not disappointed.  I am just surprised.

Truth is I registered for, and am attending SOBCon at the suggestion of a close friend, and power blogger.  He was so passionate in his recommendations that I pretty much ignored the conference promotion materials, and headed to the registration page.

So what is SOBCon?  What is it’s value?  Here are some thoughts:

• Incredible Thought Leadership — I am impressed with the caliber and intelligence of people I have met at this conference of 150ppl. (sold out)  Their incredible insight, and savvy business perspectives are game-changing.
• Highly Interactive — The SOBCon session design lends itself to terrific dialogue, encouraging discussions, shared experiences, and uniquely alternative points of view.  That is a potent formula for stimulating audience engagement!
• Powerful Networking Opportunity — Make no mistake about it, participants in this conference are here to make connections and learn from one another, myself included.  That universal spirit has led to some amazing connections.

“Throw yourself a curveball and break from your comfort zone!”
Terry Starbucker, SOBCon Co-Founder

I truly look forward to what today’s program will generate.  I am certain it will not be boring, and most likely there are some more pleasant surprises coming.

I look forward to sharing them with you!

Question:  If you are a SOBCon Attendee, or following this event, what perceptions can you add regarding the impact and quality of this conference?

About 10 days ago, I wrote an article which, in part, was critical of MPI (Meeting Professionals International) for deciding to charge “non-members” a hefty fee for their Virtual Access Pass (VAP) to the 2010 Meet Different Conference.  (occurred in Cancun, Mexico this week)

Learning can be Painful!!

Putting aside my disagreement with MPI’s pricing model, I registered anyways for the VAP and attended this conference as a virtual participant. I am glad I did, because, as it turns out, there were some good learning moments.  As a bonus,  I also made some new quality connections with other MPI attendees.

The virtual experience, from my perspective,  was by no means perfect.  In follow up, I promised to share my feedback with MPI, via this blog, and so, through the lens of a virtual attendee here are my observations, both positive and negative, of this Hybrid conference:

What Went Well!

• MPI “VAP” Customer Service — the MPI customer service team, led by Theresa Davis, did an outstanding job of embracing VAP attendees, as well as assisting them with their challenges.  The service was impeccable!
• Opening General Session – featuring Jeremy Gutsche, Innovation Expert was in my opinion the finest education moment of the conference.  For a more detailed recap of his presentation please click here.   His energy, knowledge, humor and connection with the audience (including us VAP folks) was compelling.
• Virtual/Face2Face attendees Interaction — MPI did a nice job of promoting use of the conference hashtag, #MD10.  For the three main days of the event (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) there was excellent dialogue amongst attendees using this Twitter conversation channel.

Twitter Activity for 2010 MPI "Meet Different" Conference

• 

  Glenn Thayer

  Emcee (Glenn Thayer) — Over the years I have experienced many Conference “Emcees” and by far I am most impressed with Glenn Thayer.  In addition to having immediate stage charisma, which is important for the “Emcee” role, Glenn was very engaging with both the face2face and virtual audiences.  Glenn even posted many tweets before, during, and after the events.  I would recommend Glenn in a heartbeat to anyone looking for a highly engaging, charismatic Emcee for their event.

• Knowledge Session – “Hybrid Meeting Dissected and Demystified” – An outstanding session, led by Midori Connolly of Pulse Staging.  Midori’s approach was very interactive, engaging and she did a great job of blending the participation of the virtual and face2face audiences.  Questions/comments from VAP attendees were both encouraged and addressed!  Glenn Thayer assisted Midori being the Twitter Moderator, for this event.  That was a real nice touch!

Midori Connolly, "Hybrid Session Leader" Multi-tasking

• Audio Quality in all webcasts was excellent!
• Archives of the Video and Audio recordings – are available for access by VAP customers.  As far as I know copies of slide presentations are still not available.

What Didn’t Go Well

• Pathable Conference Community– Disappointingly, no access was granted to VAP attendees, to the Conference community site.  This was a large mistake, for two reasons:
  • The attendee segment (VAP Pass Holders) that could have most benefited from the social community, had no access.
  • Access to this community would have helped to build credibility for MPI, with non-member attendees, and facilitated relationship building, ultimately leading to possible new MPI memberships.
• Significant Internet Access Issues — The Internet connection crashed on several occasions, denying VAP holders access to the webcast content.  I also understand the WIFI in the Conference space was inconsistent, and failed as well.  This is a major problem that can turn a successful Hybrid conference into a disaster.  Thanks to the hard work of the MPI customer service team the glitches were corrected in a reasonable time period.
• Powerpoint and other Media Not Available — To our dismay slide presentations and other media utilized were not available to the virtual attendee, really diminishing the impact of the sessions.  When I last checked these visual aids are still not available post-event.
• Webcast Interface — A twitter chat interface was missing from the webcast window, creating an awkward user experience.  In order to interact in the hashtag channel attendees were forced to switch back and forth between Twitter feed and webcast windows.
• Speaker Communication with Attendees– With many sessions there was very little, if any  engagement by speakers with the virtual audience, leaving us feeling left out.  During group exercises VAP attendees were left in limbo with nothing to do.
• Breaks and Lunch — Once again, no engagement with Virtual attendees, or involvement/access to Iron Chef competition.  (that could have been very exciting for VAP attendees to watch)
• Sessions Offering Webcast –  Poor choices of sessions webcast vs. those not webcast.  For example, in the first track of sessions on Monday, both sessions featured material addressing C-Level Executives.  At the same time, a “Tweet Different” session occurred, which was less valuable to VAP attendees, when offered in an “audio only” environment.

Learning Lessons

So what are the real lessons with this experience?  Well, there are clearly some things that could be done differently, in the future, that will significantly enhance the experience for the virtual attendee.  Here are some thoughts:

• Selecting Sessions for Video Streaming– MPI should identify sessions for webcasting that will really benefit from that media channel.  Sessions where there is hands-on instruction, or significant interaction are great candidates for this type of broadcast support.
• Social Community Access — I can think of no downside to providing virtual attendees with access to the social community.  It will only heighten the overall buzz of the conference and create stronger connections between the virtual and face2face attendees.  Furthermore it will help to build a case for MPI membership, for non-members.
• Internet Connections and Bandwidth — There is no room for compromise with this critical element.  During site selection process MPI should identify the venue’s competency in this arena and plan accordingly.  Internet bandwidth is the lifeblood of any conference, with virtual components, and should be a top priority.
• Speaker Coaching — All presenters, regardless of experience should be briefed  and coached on expectations regarding attendee engagement and the importance of interaction.  This component of the event is as important as the logistics themselves.  If there will be group exercises, during a particular session, then the leader for that session should have some engaging provision which speaks directly to the virtual audience as well.
• Session Breaks, Coffee Breaks, Etc — I would recommend hiring a professional “journalist style” interviewer, to interview speakers and/or participants during breaks in the action, to enrich the experience for all concerned.  We did this with the Event Camp Conference earlier this month and received fantastic feedback from attendees.  An excellent resource is Emilie Barta, who is really terrific for adding value to webcasts and other virtual events.
• Slide Presentations and Other Media — Must absolutely be incorporated into the webcast, or the value of the session is diminished significantly.  There are applications available that will integrate slides, a Twitter Feed and the Video together on one page.  This is really a rich environment to provide to Virtual attendees.  An example of this type of interface is Twebevent, created by Robert Swanwick.

Congratulations to MPI for really making an effort to embrace the virtual attendee!  Hybrid events are still in their infancy, so there is a huge learning curve for all of us.

Question:  Do you have any suggestions to address the issues which arose with this conference, or any other Hybrid event?  If you do please bring them forth in the comments section!

I read a couple of tweets this afternoon that really got me fired up.  They were from someone who was very critical of the hashtag community”#Eventprofs.”  I believe criticism, when delivered constructively, and accompanied with proposed solutions, is healthy.

Here are the tweets (without User’s name) … you decide if they were appropriate or not:

First Tweet:  “#eventprofs tag makes me cringe. It used to be cool but now all I see is RT & FF spam from self-promoting suits. I’m not learning anymore”

Second Tweet:   “….but now #eventprofs is just used to advertise events themselves & promote useless tweeps who RT each other’s useless articles & quotes.”

While I don’t take these comments personally, I am an active member of the Eventprofs community, so I gotta say, I am not feeling the love here!!    In response to this person my two questions (via tweets) were:

• Why (do you feel the way you do?)
• Are you contributing?

I believe those are fair questions.  Those of us connected to the Eventprofs community (myself included) are always interested in learning and getting better at what we do… that has always been the spirit of the group.  And, when I hear someone say they are not learning anymore, I tend to wonder whether they are making any effort themselves. Hmmm…. what do you think?

So, really, I have three thoughts to share here, based upon my own perspective and experiences.

• If a person is  interested in building relationships with other people and growing their sphere of quality contacts, it will really serve them well to treat others in the manner they would like to be treated.   Yes… the good ole fashioned “Golden Rule“  I learned that simple truth  long ago and it appears to be timeless in its meaning!
• Criticism is a good thing, as long as its delivered with dignity, and with solutions.
• I believe a person receives value from an opportunity proportionate to the effort they put into it.  For example, if I spend positive energy and reasonable effort into my interactive experiences on Twitter, then most likely I will receive the same type of response headed back my way from those I am communicating with.

You can refer to this as “good Karma,” you can label it “considerate behavior” …  I just call it “Common Sense.”  What’s your opinion?

I read an article today written by one of my online colleagues that was very timely.  Lara McCulloch-Carter, in her Blog post “Ten Creative Crowdsourcing Ideas For Event Planners,“ offers some great insight into best practices, for leveraging the collective knowledge and creativity of your event audience.

As Lara’s article stated, according to Wikipedia the definition of Crowdsourcing is

“the act of taking tasks traditionally performed by an employee or contractor and outsourcing them to a group of people or community through an open call to a large group of people (a crowd) asking for contributions.”

This year I have been appointed by PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) as the co-chair (along with Bob Hancock) of the 2010 PCMA Education Conference taking place in Montreal June 13 -16, 2010. This event is a robust three day program designed to gather meetings industry professionals for a highly interactive program based on the hottest issues, topics and trends in meetings today. If you’re looking for a conference focused on shared ideas and solutions to our industry’s challenges, this is the event for you.

One of the objectives of this event is to experiment with alternative conference formats and new technologies.  As part of the schedule (15) peer-to-peer networking sessions (divided into five tracks of three for each time slot) will be offered. The topics will be determined through a Crowdsourcing process. The conference planning committee met on January 10 and developed the following list of potential topics to get the brainstorming started.

• Greening Practices
• Knowledge of financials and impact on event budgets
• Hotel poachers/Internet pirates
• ROI
• How to build influence within your organization; managing boards; managing up; new trends in management and leadership
• Medical Meetings; Legislation; Tarp; PhRMA
• Event design; branding and theme
• Attendance Building (Registration)
• Co-location – build alliances (i.e. Two Associations. combine Trade shows)
• Supplier/Planner collaboration & relationship building
• Social Media with Events
• Time Management and
• Creating Sponsorship Opportunities
• Justification of Meetings/Face to Face
• Adding Fun to your events
• How to get Attendees Engaged in Events
• Team Building

As I previously mentioned this list of topics is a starting point.  We are very interested in hearing from PCMA members, and other event professionals, to identify which subjects and issues are of the greatest interest.

The committee’s goal is to have a final listing of topics developed by March 15, 2010. Please respond to this Blog article, in the comments section, and share your thoughts and ideas with us. We look forward to receiving your feedback!

Have you ever been in a situation where you discover something really exciting, lets say a new technology, game, or food/beverage item?  After experimenting with it, for a bit, you are ready to share it with all your friends.  Here’s the problem… you learn that 1/3 of your friends won’t be able to enjoy it with you, because they are not located in an area where the item is available!!!!

That is exactly how I am feeling about Google Wave right now.  I discovered a tool last weekend, to embed a Google Wave into my blog posts.  As if that wasn’t exciting enough I also learned readers can interact with that embedded wave from within the blog post itself.  Think of the endless collaboration possibilities and the traffic that could be created by using a feature like this.  My mind was racing with excitement, the adrenalin was surging through my veins and then I decided to test this new functionality with different web browsers to determine how they would perform.  Here is what I learned:

• Challenge #1:  Reader Must Have Google Wave Account — To even view the wave that is embedded in your blog article a user must have a Google Wave account.  Since the vast majority of people do not have accounts yet, and this application is still in beta testing mode, Bloggers are best advised not to use this feature until Google Wave goes public.
• Challenge #2:  Internet Explorer  — When I tried to load my blog page embedded with the google wave, in Internet Explorer, it would not load properly and I ended up viewing a page showing only my blog header.  The only fix to this problem is to download a plugin available from Google, called Google Chrome Frame browser plugin.  For those IE users already having this plugin there will not be a problem.  For everyone else, they either have to switch to a different browser, (Firefox, Chrome, or Safari)download the plugin,  or not read my blog.

Since 35% of my traffic at my blog comes from users of Internet Explorer, I can ill afford to risk utilizing this exciting new Google Wave feature as I may lose readers due to the incompatibility of Google Wave with “native” Internet Explorer.  My hope is that at some point in the near future, either Microsoft, or Google, or perhaps both, will get their act together and play in the sandbox more effectively eliminating this problem.  Until then, I (along with other bloggers) am left in the frustrating position of not being able to use what could be a pretty exciting new blogging feature.

If there is someone out there that knows of a cure to this sickness… please let me know

Its funny about human nature.  We come up with a cool idea, or a new way of looking at things… it appears to put our own lives into perspective… and makes us feel good about ourselves.  Then, embracing our newly found “holy grail,” we write a “self-help” book, teach a seminar, or write a song convinced the rest of the world will see things the way we do.

Some folks have made their fortune in the “self help” arena… I am happy for them!  The rest of us are scratching our head, wondering why no one bought into our magical formula for living life!  Well, if life were that simple we’d all be rich and famous.

Alfred E. Neuman

Remember “Mad Magazine“???  That brilliant magazine, which is still published, always found some way to put a smile on my face.  Satire has its own unique way of fixing the world, as it  helps us to see more clearly the humorously light-hearted side of life.  Alfred E. Neuman, the Mad Magazine mascot, is one of my heroes (tic) in life.  That little guy really knows how to put things into perspective.  And besides, after 50 years, he hasn’t aged a bit!  :)

Frequently I hear people tossing around the statement “You need to find balance in your life.”  So what exactly does this scale look like?  Is it a “one-size-fits-all” device.  Does this magical tool measure everyone’s balance the same way?

I think we can learn from our own practices in the business world.  We clearly understand customers are unique and have different operating styles and we tailor our business communications to them.  We need to have the same expectations of ourselves!

Needs are unique with each person so subsequently their balance point is different.  We also live under different realms of responsibility.  Whats appropriate for one person may be completely impossible for another.  For example a devoted father with two young children will usually structure his priorities differently than a dad who is an  ”empty nester.”

There is nothing sacred about having a routine… we don’t all have to live in Pleasantville.  Some of us thrive in a world of change, or even chaos.  A business friend of mine, Cindy Novotny,  travels 350 days a year for her job as a motivational speaker.  Cindy is one of the happiest people I know, and yet her life resembles nothing similar to what would be considered “normal” or “mainstream.”  She even wrote a book on this subject, which I highly recommend, “Living With No Balance… And Loving It.”

People are unique creatures, living in their own distinct set of life experiences and realities.  The road to balance can not be measured with any kind of scale.  It is determined by self realization, aligning one’s lifestyle with their heart!  And maybe, just maybe not taking them self too seriously!

How do you view the world around you?  Is there a special technique or practice you employ to keep yourself on track in your life?  Please share it with us as I’d love to learn from you!

Since I published my first article on the Boston Hyatt Hotels debacle on Tuesday many new developments and details have emerged.  Sadly, it is  now certain that aspects of the action taken by Hyatt at the three Boston hotels were inappropriate at the very least!  As an ex-Hyatt employee and a historically loyal fan of the Hyatt Hotels Enterprise I am sincerely disappointed.

This morning, over coffee, I was reflecting on this situation.  If nothing else this incident has demonstrated the power of the Internet as a communication forum.  Once the news of this event broke on September 17, it spread like wildfire the past week across the social media world.

It would be interesting to see some statistics of how many comments have been posted on this subject, how many bloggers have expressed their opinions, and subsequently how much business Hyatt will eventually lose over this mistake as a result of those communications. It is heartbreaking!

An equally important lesson is the value of transparency in communications with a workforce.  Without question Hyatt should have fully disclosed its intentions (to layoff its housekeepers) openly and honestly.  While the reaction would not have been pleasant, that simple act of candor would have demonstrated integrity, preserving the dignity of all concerned.

To sneak in the backdoor with this news, regardless of intent, was hurtful to the affected employees and damaging to Hyatt’s reputation.  I am sure if the clock could be turned back, Hyatt would do some things differently.

One thing is for certain… the damage is done, and who knows what the complete fallout will be.  I sincerely hope Hyatt is successful in making things right!  Clearly, they have some work to do …

It has really been a difficult year for most of us.  I have watched organizations, peers, colleagues, suppliers, customers, friends and family all suffer at some level because of this recession.  The wounds go very deep in many cases, and unfortunately in some situations businesses have had to close their doors.

The recent controversy emerging in Boston, with the mass layoff of housekeepers by (3) three Hyatt Hotels is a textbook example of an economy forcing a company to make tough …. actually unpleasant decisions!!!  Over the past several days I have watched this situation unfold with the goal of learning the truth.  For full details of this story two articles to read are the original Boston Globe article of September 17th and then the Official Hyatt response, published by USA Today on September 18.

Here’s a summary of the facts as I understand them:

• (100) Housekeepers, many with long tenure, were terminated from their positions at the three Boston Hyatts.
• Hyatt Management replaced those employees by contracting their housekeeping needs to an outside firm.
• The housekeepers were invited to apply for open positions at the three hotels, however there are very few positions available due to economic conditions. They will continue to be welcome to apply for jobs at Hyatt hotels as positions become available.
• Hyatt worked with local hotels and provided each housekeeper with current job openings elsewhere.
• Hyatt provided them with an Employee Assistance helpline, and assisted them with benefit transition paperwork.
• Hyatt provided severance benefits.

Now here is where it gets sticky.  An allegation was made by the Boston Globe article (although no names of witnesses were identified) that Hyatt assigned these “soon-to-be furloughed” housekeepers the task of training their replacements without advising them of their imminent termination.  Hyatt categorically denies any truth to that statement, stating “Press reports suggesting that we “tricked our associates into training their replacements” are absolutely false.”

This morning I received a phone call from Gus Vonderheide, Vice President Sales – Group, Hyatt Hotels. His call came in response to a conversation I had on Friday with Hyatt National Sales contact, Mark Henry.  After a short, yet cordial conversation Gus said he would be emailing me a letter shortly with a full explanation of the incident, from Hyatt’s perspective.  Here, for your review is his letter:

Text of Letter received on 9/22/09 from Gus Vonderheide, VP Sales – Group, Hyatt Hotels

“Thank you for your inquiry regarding recent news about our Boston properties.

The difficult decision to outsource the housekeeping function in Boston was made in response to the unprecedented economic challenges those hotels are facing in the current business environment. As a result, a large drop in revenues has made major cost cutting measures necessary.

We value and respect all our associates, and deeply regret whenever staff reductions are necessary. We are providing resources and support to assist employees who have lost their jobs as they seek new employment. We have provided them with severance and are working with them to help them find new jobs. Our Boston management teams have formed a task force led by the human resource directors from each of the properties and supported by the regional management team to develop and administer a support program for the affected employees. The support program will have several features, but will focus on retraining. We are also extending healthcare coverage through the end of this year to provide additional support. Through the task force, we will remain committed to utilizing every commercially reasonable means available to support and assist our former employees to secure new positions. We intend to remain committed to this as long as is necessary for those who are seeking new jobs to find them.

Unfortunately, a number of inaccuracies regarding the circumstances of this decision have been reported in the media and on the Internet. The change in our housekeeping services was not sudden. We have worked very successfully with this staffing firm in two of our Boston hotels for years. During this time, the firm has demonstrated that it can provide excellent services, which deliver a level of quality consistent with Hyatt’s demanding standards.

We appreciate your interest and understanding. Please be assured that these actions were not taken lightly and that we remain committed to the highest levels of hospitality and service.

Sincerely,

Gus Vonderheide”

For clarity I asked Mr. Vonderheide this question in a follow up email — “So I need to ask this one tough question … as you know the Boston Globe reported that housekeepers were asked to train their replacements not knowing they were actually being replaced by them. Is that true, or not true, and if it is not true, then what were the circumstances?”

Vonderheide responded to that question with the following:  “No, that is not the truth!! This company has had involvement in these hotels for sometime and have been working along side the housekeepers as peers. A number of the housekeepers interviewed and were hired by the staffing firm and will remain on property.”

Clearly, many people inside and outside the Hospitality business are enraged by this incident.  So upset, in fact some are advocating a boycott of doing business with Hyatt.  The beauty of America, is we have the freedom to express ourselves, and of course I support that liberty.  However, I do not embrace the viewpoint of boycotting Hyatt…. it simply does not make any sense to me whatsoever.  Here’s why:

• Since the recession began in December of 2007 (according to  National Bureau of Economic Research) more than 4,200,000 Americans have lost their jobs.  In July alone 206,971 workers were furloughed.  This is a serious problem universally across America,  not just an isolated incident.
• There are companies that have laid off tens of thousands of workers.  These are unprecedented times and absolutely no one is enjoying any moment of all this.
• Rather than focusing on negative things, such as boycotts and demonstrations, I believe we need to work energetically in communities of collaboration, to rebuild our businesses and jump-start the economy.
• We need to leverage the lessons learned in this recession incorporating them into our personal and professional lives.  In fact we can learn from each other… lets start conversations to share new best practices and develop innovative ways of delivering customer service to our clients.

I don’t applaud Hyatt for their business decision, but I don’t condemn them either.  What they (Hyatt) did was not personal… Outsourcing is a survival strategy being used by many companies in the events industry.  In fact many business people believe it may emerge as a more common business practice as we exit this recession.

What is personal is the pain many people are feeling across the USA.  I am deeply saddened by all those around me that have suffered through this economic crisis.  I  certainly feel badly for those 100 housekeepers in Boston.  There is no good news in any of this….

So… Where do we go from here….???

Do you have some thoughts you’d like to share regarding this situation and others like it.  How can we as a business community bring about change that will light the fire under our economy again…. Please share your perspectives!

Most folks following this blog know my articles are usually focused on somewhat serious topics. Well, this morning I had an inspiration … at least once a week I am going to post something humorous, or light-hearted.

Today’s post comes to you thanks to my friend Jeff Sacks. My hope is these little quips will put a smile on your face!  Thank you Jeff!! 

Note:  There are a few adult words in this article, so consider yourself warned! <smile>

Random Thoughts of the Day

1. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
2. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.
3. The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase “Regards” again.
4. There is a great need for sarcasm font.
5. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.
6. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
7. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
8. Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, All I hear is “I’m not really smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.
9. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?
10. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a “dick” from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
11. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
12. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
13. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
14. Bad decisions make good stories.
15. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I’m from, this shouldn’t be a problem….
16. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you’ve made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
17. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.
18. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
19. While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA . No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don’t win, they are executed.
20. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
21. It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
22. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
23. I think that if, years down the road when I’m trying to have a kid, I find out that I’m sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.
24. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day “Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?” How the hell do I respond to that?
25. I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

Thanks to @jarondo (Julie Ann Rondo) for the following cartoon strip from Dilbert… Have a wonderful day   !!!!

I am (at least in my mind) a Chicagoan, since I have spent nearly twenty years of my life in the Windy City.  This city has many very positive attributes, but one painful aspect of life in Chi-town is traffic.

Yesterday, those Chicagoans (myself included) unfortunate enough to be present on the Kennedy Expressway during rush hour endured one of those ugly traffic days.  Realistically, those of us choosing to travel by automobile accept the inevitable traffic challenges that accompany living here.  But yesterday was different… this traffic jam was caused by the arrival of President Obama, in our fair city.  His trip downtown featured a theatrical, but ridiculously overstated procession traveling down the expressway, during rush hour.

For the record I am an Obama fan, and think our newest President is doing a pretty reasonable job with the tasks before him.  What “grinds my gears” is enduring a miserable commuting experience due to a logistical nightmare created by an unnecessary Presidential Motorcade prancing from the airport to downtown Chicago (Lincoln Park) at the worst possible time of the day.

Folks, I readily admit I am not a security expert by any means.  I am not employed by the Secret Service, FBI or CTU (aka Jack Bauer).  But C’mon…. was this really necessary??  Would it not have been more convenient, less expensive, and equally secure to Load Mr Obama into one of our fine “Blackhawk” Military Helicopters and make the quick trip to Lincoln Park without incident???

According to opinion polls most of us appreciate our President, but on any given day I personally would prefer a 20-30 minute commute  home, rather than cope with a 1 1/2 hour crawl down the Kennedy Expressway all in the name of Presidential Hoopla!

Question:  What do you think about our Governments choice of transportation for these types of situations?  I would love to hear your opinion.. all secret agents, FBI agents and Secret Service folks are welcome to respond… in fact I would love to hear from our President on this one!

He is, after all, one of my Twitter Followers.