A little over two years ago as I sat in a quiet, very remote lodge in the Himalayas, I sat looking out a window at some of the tallest mountains in the world and had one of those deep thought moments about my future that I never thought I’d share with anyone…little did I know that I would someday be a semi-regular blogger.
I spent the better part of that afternoon thinking about legacy, more specifically what my legacy in this world would eventually be. Ever since I returned from that trip I have spent a fairly large amount of time thinking about the type of legacy that I wanted to leave behind. Well, that process is about to bear fruit. After months of planning, tweaking and tweaking some more, I will soon be formally launching Virtual Shows Canada. Over the coming months and years, I trust that this new venture, and all of the different components that it will encompass, will have a transformative impact on the region. As boastful and as illogical as that might sound, I believe it in my gut and my job for the foreseeable future is to make that happen. As they say…stay tuned for more details.
I am also in the process of setting the wheels in motion for the creation of a foundation that has as its goal to develop a program that will make a difference in the lives of kids growing up in communities of all sizes, especially in small communities like the one I grew up in. I already know who I’d like to run this foundation for me but I’d have to pull her away from a government job and quite frankly I can’t afford to! She actually reads this blog on a regular basis…and, no its not you JUNO, although you’d be great at it! I’m not in a position to provide many details at this point but suffice it to say that I will build this foundation, brick by figurative brick to keep a promise I made to myself way back in 1999. This foundation will be the real legacy that I leave behind.
So now that I have all of you thinking I was writing this blog while smoking a very large reefer, all I’ll say is stay tuned…and on to the rest of the blog
Who’s coming to dinner?
So I was having coffee with a couple of people a few weeks ago when someone mentioned a TV special they saw a while back where Larry King had a number of celebrities over to his house for a dinner party where they all shared stories about their lives and careers. As you might expect, the conversation turned to whom each of us would invite to such a dinner at our house. Well, here is my list of 7 guests in no particular order…note that they had to be alive and individuals that we had not met before…
Wayne Gretzky – Why? Because I’m Canadian and he’s Wayne Gretzky…need I really say more?
Bill Clinton – Love him or hate him, the man is really intelligent, specifically when thinking with the head that sits between his ears, and I’m guessing that after a few drinks he could tell some really cool stories!
Lech Walesa – It was a toss-up between him and Nelson Mandela. However, I spent more time while in university focused on Eastern Europe and the Warsaw Pact (…yes I am that old). It would be great to hear first-hand how he and his colleagues sowed the seeds that eventually led to the end of communism in Europe.
Sheryl Landsberg – She is the COO of Facebook…she is the business and marketing genius that combined with Mark Zuckerberg has turned Facebook into the social media giant it is today. She also used to be a VP at Google and was once the Chief of Staff for the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Look her up on Youtube, she is a great speaker.
Christy Turlington – I would invite her partly because she was one of the really hot women in the world when I first started paying attention to women; but mostly because she has used her fame as a supermodel to make a difference. She is well educated, speaks with passion…and did I mention that she is really hot.
Oprah Winfrey – Don’t roll your eyes, I am not a member of the “Cult of Oprah”. However, that woman built a business empire from scratch and has had access to, and learned from, some of the most prominent thinkers of the past 50 years. I would not so much want to hear her preach, I’d mostly want to hear her tell stories as shared to her by others.
Taylor Swift – Laugh all you want but this kid GETS IT! She has kept her nose clean, literally and figuratively, despite becoming famous at 15, is the CEO of her own business and has an endearing way about her. I've seen her in interviews on 60 minutes and on Charlie Rose and she has a head on her shoulder, way more than you'd expect from a 21 year old. Plus it is always good to have someone who can sing (…ok, sort of sing) and play the guitar if the party starts to wane a bit.
So there you go…an eclectic group that I’m sure would change if I had to write a similar list a week from now. It would be really cool to hear from some of the people reading this blog about who they would invite.
Random thoughts:
· A few weeks ago, I found out that my favourite bartender was a regular reader of this blog. I know exactly how many people read each blog…and I still can’t believe that many people bother reading my random rants, it is humbling…but it kind of struck me when she referred to something I had written in my blog. I had a “…where did you hear that moment”. Anyhow, she mentioned that she found my blogs to be a bit on the short side…so, now you know who to blame for this one!
· As much as I’ve become a fan of social media and all of its positive impacts. I do have a problem with trends on Twitter where people start random rumoura about a celebrity dying or of a disaster happening simply to see how many people they can get to re-tweet or comment.
· So last week when Jeremy Lin, the newest sensation in the National Basketball Association and the first Asian-American to play in the league had his first bad game; a producer for ESPN came up with the headline “Chink in the Armor” only to state afterwards that he had no idea that the term is often used as a slur against Asians...really, that the best you could do buddy, “I had no idea it was a slur”. Listen I grew up in a community where the closest thing we saw to an Asian was Mr. Sulu on Star Trek and I even knew when I was younger that the term was not proper.
· Then there is Rob Morris Congressman from Indiana who refused to support a resolution honouring the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts for the following reason; “…many parents are abandoning the Girl Scouts because they promote homosexual lifestyles.”. I’m always amazed at how some politicians find the most idiotic issues to take a stand on.
· Ran into one of the most honest salespeople I’ve ever met the other day while I was shopping for an iPad. It was refreshing hearing someone tell it as it is. His suggestions to me did not get him a sale that day (…he pretty much told me I should wait a couple of weeks to buy) but he did guarantee that he will get my business and my commission when I go back to that store to my iPad!
· I wanted to take a second to congratulate Dave Carroll…you know the Timmins boy who got his guitar broken by United and went viral online as a result. Well, Dave took his 15 minutes and has turned into a huge profile boost that is not only benefitting his career but is helping people and businesses throughout the world enhance their social media awareness and deal with customer service issues. If you haven’t been to his new site yet www.gripevine.com.
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