Ignite Phoenix 7 wrapped up, and I’m in that lull where I’m excited by how well it went, and partially relieved to not have it looming for another few months.  This Ignite was by far bigger and more complicated than any we’ve tried before. It was the first time with a theme (Art Of…), first time at the Phoenix Art Museum, biggest audience (600), a live band, catered food, an ATM, and geeze… I don’t even know all what else.  In the course of this process we managed vendors we’ve never had to before for chairs, projection systems, a stage, pipe & drape, bartenders, security, and that danged ATM.  We also had out whole site nuked to some malware, took on new sponsors, participated in a design contest, and drank a whole crapload of coffee.

It’s quite possible we’ve lost our collective minds on this, and the post-mortem was definitely a high-energy meeting, but overall the event was just incredible. That happens as a result of many great groups of people coming together – the presenters, our sponsors, the audience, and of course the team that puts it all together. We start months in advance ot get everything going, and by the time Ignite happens we’re meeting weekly to keep on top of things. It’s a huge commitment and effort, and I wanted to take a minute to acknowledge some of these kick-ass people:

• Michael Barber – In spite of picking to run an Ignite at least twice the size of the past two combined, he knocked it out of the park. He kept a ton of moving parts from colliding or stalling and did whatever necessary to make things come together. He also is some sort of doughnut zombie, and if if your ever hear him grunt out “Loooong jooooohnnnzzz…” get the heck out of his way.
• Brian Carson – The man, the myth, the coaching machine. He doesn’t get rolling until the presenters are selected, then we all dive for cover.  I don’t think many people realize how much he works with the presenters in a ton of personal and technical ways to help often novice presenters step up their game. From his coaching sessions to whipping together the final videos, he helps makes the presenters shine and their message get heard.
• Oden Hughes – The Grand Taskmistress kept track of all the things needing doing, and there were plenty! From organizing our meeting locations to smoothing out our event project plan, she kept it all aligned. As wrapper-upper of our event post-mortem she is often one of the first in and last out of every event.
• Jana Knapp – Not only did she make sure we had enough funds to pull this nutty thing off, but also helped coordinate our great shirt contest with the PHX Design Community and put together our incredible programs. Her Scotch consumption likely tripled during this event, but she never wavered.
• Matthew Petro – Communication and blog machine! This guy kept all the info flowing and people up to date, and single handedly had more bandwidth in motion than AT&T. This was also his first Ignite rodeo, but you would not have been able to tell the way he rode – and dealt with – the bull.
• Dannie Moriarty – My poor, long suffering wife handled the budget, venue items, and a whole lot of ticketing. How she manages to do all this and not stab me through the eye as I grumble and churn over each event is a mystery to everyone who knows her.
• Alan Dayley – If there is a job this guy won’t step up to do, quietly and without complain, I have yet to see it. Even the horrible Ticketing Role cannot slay him. He is a voice of reason in a lot of what we do, and a great balance to the team whose contributions are a lot more significant than he gives himself credit for.
• Andy Woodward – A close friend for the past millenium, he grabbed technical issues, video grunt work, layout coordination, and stage managed with an incredible finesse and a Checklist of Destruction that keeps everything rolling seamlessly.
• Fred von Graf –  Our video maestro, he juggles and maintains our video process with a level of determination that also disappears behind the scenes sometimes. This has been an area of considerable challenge for us with the past few events, but Fred is always there with ideas, solutions, and a way to make things work.
• Brandon Franklin – Though I think we often drive the guy crazy, our ticketing wizard ran one of the most infuriatingly complicated parts of the event – getting people to their tickets and into their seats. If you think that sounds trivial, I highly, highly suggest you do not say that to his face. You may feel the business end of of a Taiko drumstick.

This group of people collectively kicked ass with one foot, because with their other feet they were doing things like putting on music shows, helping raise money for epilepsy, supporting mini-Ignites, launching acting careers, starting families of their own, creating energy guides, teaching training classeses, running non-profit groups, putting together conferences, organizing meet-ups, having full time jobs, and I’ve truly lost track of all what else.

So many great companies, presenters, and volunteers go into making Ignite Phoenix happen that this is in no way meant to be an exclusive list. Just a bit of a fan letter to some really great people who I consider myself priveleged to know, work with, and learn from.

Related posts:

1. Some Ignite Phoenix whyfors and wherebys
2. What I love about Ignite Phoenix
3. Changes of Season

One of my gifts is the ability to completely and utterly think myself into a corner. I’m like the WOPR playing Tic-Tac-Toe with itself in the movie WarGames.

It creeps up on me most times. A big portion comes from over-commiting myself to projects (another gift of mine). A dash comes from trying to make too many people happy. A smidge comes from prioritizing too highly the things I Must Do entirely over the things I Want To Do. Frost it all with my insatiable need to be forever trying new things, and you get a Cake of Unbelievable Paralysis.

I realized I was baking another one of these a few weeks back when I discovered I’d nearly lost my desire to talk on Twitter and Facebook with people I dearly admire and value. Every time I’d go to type something into Twitter, Facebook, or any of my blogs, I ask if this is relevant? Is it too snarky? Will someone misinterpret it? What am I trying to say here? Who will it piss off?  So I post nothing and it goes nowhere. Just dumb.

I draw some solace from the fact that this happens to others. It is my form of what the most wonderful Havi calls being in need of destuckification. This knowledge helps because it is a fiercely frustrating state of mind for me, and being aware others go through it keeps me sane(ish) while I work it through.

This Memorial Day weekend I’m hoping to put some of this to rest. Zen Habits has a nice article on the top habit(s) of highly creative people.  The first is Solitude – spending time with yourself and your thoughts. The second is Participation – connecting with other for energy and inspiration. I’m way too skewed to the second at the moment and it is contributing to my burnout. I think a little time with myself may start helping me get back into alignment.

In the end, you have to be true to yourself and let others choose their own paths based on that.  The world has a tendency to make unreasonable demands, there will forever be things clamoring for your attention, and there will always be someone unhappy with what you’ve done or failed to do. Trying to make everyone else happy is a strange game.

The only winning move is not to play.

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I am not a person who has regrets, but one of the few things I wish I had done differently was learn to play a musical intrument as a child.  I could still do it, I know, but my life is so slammed with stuff going on I don’t know where I’d work it in. Which is sort of my point here.

As a result of not learning to play and instrument, I have very little understanding of music at any deep level. Yet I’m curious about nearly every damned thing on the planet, so on my morning commute several years ago I was listening intently to a radio show talking about the way we perceive music and the structure of songs. At one point the speaker, whose name I’ve long forgotten, made the statement that it wasn’t the notes that made the shape of a song, but the silence between them.

The silence makes the song.

It is a simple thing, and probably self-evident to any student of music, but was such an epiphany for me that I almost rear-ended the car in front of me. For all the power and beauty of the notes, without the space between them – without the moments of quiet – the song itself had no shape. Silence takes a wild crash of cacophonous sound and creates the structure. It makes the order out of chaos.

We fill out lives with tasks, duties, deliverables, projects, people, and goals. Yet without the moments of silence there is no shape to it. It becomes a rush, a blur. An endless motion without form. The moments of silence in our life where we reflect, breathe, and do something quiet and personal are often the first things we sacrifice when things become hectic, but they should not be compromised. Without them, you’re simply making noise.

Rest.

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Image via Wikipedia

Hoping that under all the holiday turbo-commerce and mandatory-cheer that you find a little more peace in your life.

Maybe it is a little more peace of mind, or peace in your family. Maybe it is a sense of peace in the future, or a few extra moments of peace in the morning before the world wakes up.

Maybe it is just an extra piece of cake, which is some of my favorite peace.

Just something to make your breathing and days come just a little bit easier.

Peace out.

Related posts:

1. The power between the notes

I’ve never been a big celebrator of the New Year – a reset of our planetary lap timer – as having any particular meaning.  I reset my life, goals, directions, and attitude whenever it seems time. But 2009 was a completely crazy year for me in nearly every possible sense.

I rode the Light Rail with no pants on, leading to the formation of ImprovAZ.  I posed as a coroner, welcomed back strangers at the airport, and dressed in spandex and a skull mask in broad daylight.  I left my job at Intel at the height of a recession, started to launch my own venture, then left-turned into joining a digital marketing firm. Ignite Phoenix went from 140 people to nearly 600, with the last one including a band, a radio station, and a t-shirt firing robot. I started chairing the Phoenix Social Media Club. I helped found the non-profit Phoenix Innovation Foundation to support local events. I attended a mountain of great local events, and a most excellent SXSW for the first time. I was featured on the cover of the Phoenix New Times. I met so many great and interesting people that I think I could have a full time job just trying to have coffee with them all.

I also received quite an education about social media, the Phoenix community, and most importantly about myself.

During much of all this there were interesting conversations that flew about on blogs and Twitter, but I became less involved as the year wore on. Partly was for lack of time, and partly was due to the nature of some of the conversations. Hindsight being what it is, in some cases I think I made the right call, but others I’m not so sure.  Sitting here now, there are some things I want to say. Nothing profound, nothing earth shattering, just things I want to clear out of my noggin’ for my own year end restart.

I’ll likely start here, then kick some topics over to Improv Media as I get going.  Hopefully it won’t be too much navel-gazing, and hopefully it will help me get back into a regular writing cadence.  We shall see.

As always, comments and thoughts are welcome.

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After a most bizarre and educational few months, I’m clearing some time to get back to writing.  I’m working my way through my many blogs, starting with this one and Writing is Cake.  I just migrated this to a new host and cleaned up a lot of out of date plug ins. This post is primarily to test the RSS feed and other asundries.

Writing is Cake should be back on a thrice weekly schedule with myself and my other writing group members.  I have a post up tomorrow.

Feels good to clean out the cobwebs. Like hitting the gym after a long absence.  Not entirely sure what will need to get dropped from my dance card to make ongoing time for writing, but it will have to be something. One of my educations has been the folly of trying to do to much.

So for those of you still with this dusty feed in your list… hello there. How’z it hanging?

Related posts:

1. Blogaholism… a dangerous disease

In the past year I’ve gone through more career and personal changes than I have in decades, driven largely by my renewed interest in writing, yet have been unable to find time to write about them. I suppose this could be ironic, but it’s just annoying.

The most significant of these recently is that I left Intel after nine years of employment to try something new. Why would anyone be stupid enough to leave the stability of a behemoth like Intel to take a gamble in our current economy?  The answer is in the question.

Intel was good to me. I had my beefs with the culture at times, but they gave me incredible opportunity and tolerated all sorts of shenanigans on my part. Its open and direct culture really allows a lot of leeway for those willing to take it. I also had a great team that I genuinely enjoyed working with, and in the end it is the people at Intel I will miss the most.

In the end, I am someone who likes to try new things. Wondering if I can’t do something is a personal incentive for me to get out and try it.¬† I’ve learned an enormous amount about blogging, social media, writing, events, and a crazy salad of community topics that I’ve been itching to trying out on my own. Ignite Phoenix had grown from a quirky session in a downtown conference room to a theater sized event in downtown Tempe in less than a year. ImprovAZ has taken off strong, getting lots (perhaps too much) coverage in local media. I’m part of a non-profit Phoenix Innovation Foundation that is getting started, and working on the Phoenix chapter of the Social Media Club.

I had been planning to work on developing my own effort – Improv Media – as my source of income while I developed my community efforts, but an opportunity presented itself I could not pass up.¬† Sitewire Solutions, a Tempe based marketing company run by two old friends and colleagues from my days at MicroAge, made me an offer to come in and help them ramp up in social media. So about half my time will be going to Sitewire, and the rest will be going to Ignite Phoenix, ImprovAZ, and many of my other local projects. Yes, somehow I’m managing to make money doing what I love… and it’s kind of freaking me out.

The other thing freaking me out is my lack of writing. I need to get back on the writing horse, for my own sanity at least. I love writing, and may have an opportunity to do quite a bit of it in the near future so had better get the rust off the engine. Most of it will likely happen on Writing is Cake and my Improv Media site. This one will just be for personal random silliness, which of course you are welcome to read, but isn’t on the regular update schedule at the moment.

I want to thank all the people who have sent me emails, DMs, and comments since I left Intel. Also thanks to Pam, Havi, Naomi, and all the other people I mentioned at Improv Media. I want to give a special shout to Heath “The Heat” Buckmaster, who was not only a regular ear for writing topics while I was at Intel, but has kept after me in the comments to get the lead out on my blogs. Heath’s become a blogging, book writing, and Tweeting machine, and I genuinely appreciate all his nagging.

The future is exciting again, just like it used to be!

Related posts:

1. Year in review and the Ghosts of Topics Past
2. What I love about Ignite Phoenix
3. Some Ignite Phoenix whyfors and wherebys

In my meandering exploration of this whole idea of personal branding, I decided it was past time to get some personal cards. “Business cards” doesn’t quite cover it, since I’m not exactly an “all business” kind of fellow. I was inspired (again) by Tomas Carrillo and his new Moo cards, but my creative talents are in a very different arena than what was needed here.

So I turned to the very talented Luz Galusha-Luna for some help. She is yet one more in the army of amazingly talented people I’ve met through Twitter and the related stomping grounds. We shot back and forth a few ideas, and the results are what your peepers are now feasting upon.

The different fonts for my first and last name were Luz’s idea, and intended to capture both the playful and professional parts of my personality. I asked for a nice, simple pattern on the front, and she came up with this wonderful, mildly-retro looking pattern… and in a gorgeous selection of colors.¬† I told you she was talented.

I struggled with what to put on the back, not wanting to turn it into a full resume. I went with my phone, email, and twitter account to cover the basics. My LinkedIn, Facebook, and websites are easy enough to find with a little help from Mr. Google.  Beyond that I just went with a few keywords: creative, technical, passionate, writer, developer, igniter, explorer, inventive, high in fiber.

Most of those are self-explanatory. “high in fiber” you can take in a number of ways, and I think they all apply.

I had the cards printed by Moo, and absolutely love them. Good quality and fairly inexpensive, so now I always have plenty to give away at Ignite, lunch, or whenever I make a new connection. If you’re thinking about making any cards up for yourself I highly recommend both Luz and Moo to make something that is distinctly you.

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On Twitter yesterday Ronji talked about a poll which asked which Super Power you would have. Most people at his work chose Invisibility, but I would personal take Flying. In fact, you would never get my butt back on the ground if I could fly. Easy choice.

So I wondered what Trivial Super Power you would have, like Never Having To Wait In Line or Always Having Correct Change.

Below are all the replies I received from Twitter and Facebook. Parking and laundry related powers seemed to be the most popular, but I really liked being able to detect Wi-Fi hotspots.

• emantion: Would “being able to sense Wi-Fi hotspots *and* if they are free or not” fit into your list? I would love that
• burpingdog: Trivial superpower I’d love … the ability to mute the real world… but with closed captioning
• KRGiron: Always Know What To Say, Having the right words for every situation
• alandd: Asked my lunch buddies: Being a Kept Man, Always Have $10 in My Pocket, Always Have Ironed Shirts
• HatshepsutGenie: Folding bedsheets without another set of hands? That would be a pretty handy superpower!
• tdhurst: being able to clean and iron clothes just by shaking them.
• billpearson: I’d like to need less sleep. I envy the people who can function with three or four hours a night of sleep.
• Kinchie: Is healing sickness a trivial superpower? That’s the one I would want, at least today since I’m feeling horrible but must go on.
• blogan: I’d like to be able to remember names flawlessly.
• jakressaty: never waiting in line.
• TDJensen: Dumb detector – being able to visually pick dumb people out of a crowd and avoid them…..I see dumb people.
• WhiskeyChick: I would want super-fast laundry folding skills. Or the ability to chart music by sound. How’s that for trivial?
• halfacat: i choose never having to wait in line as cash is going away. soon it will be known simply as visa.
• JacquiD: i would want “snapping my fingers for perfect hair/makeup/clothes” for my trivial superpower.
• austinmiles: i kind of like waiting in line, it gives me a break that i don’t normally get. So i think i am in favor of change.
• todd_logan: How about killing fail whale by snapping my fingers? Probably not trivial enough, but it could be a lucrative and *secure* job.
• Jerry_Makare: I always wanted to be raffle winner guy. That’d be pretty sweet I think.
• ScottGentzen: Convenient Parking
• mensan98th: My trivial superpower: Always get a good parking space. (Hey, I live in DC.)
• MelonCamp: Never running out of coffee cream!
• ronji: that wasn’t a choice, so i picked ability to fly. i’m hoping the people in or running the line will let me cut to the front =)
• crazeegeekchick: always being able to find lost objects
• Tony Johns: Fear my Nuclear Conversational Zingers
• Aaron Tersteeg: Never having a hangover
• Michele Gartner: Perfect red lipstick, even after eating an apple
• Sorina Popescu: Never having to iron
• Sarah Gregory: Remote Mute – I want to be able to silence someone *else’s* phone line on a conference call, not just my own.
• Sharon Greenfield: Owner of Cats Who Can Feed Themselves Instead of Clambering Onto Owner at 5am Mewling, Kneeding, and Sticking Cold Noses Into Ears.

If I missed any good ones, let me know.

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