Looking Through a Volunteer’s Eyes

“Consciously or unconsciously, 

every one of us does render some service or other. 

If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, 

our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make, 

not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large.”

- Ghandi

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Do you volunteer for other organizations? Do you serve on any volunteer boards? Do you donate your time to a charity or service organization?

As association professionals, we tend to look at our respective organizations through a unique lens. We do this for a living…every day…and we generally get it when it comes to understanding and appreciating how all of these moving parts come together to keep our machine moving down the road.

For better or for worse, a significant part of our job requires us to work with a variety of volunteers on a daily basis. Those volunteers come to us from a range of personal, professional and additional volunteer backgrounds. Because we rely to various degrees on our volunteers, we tend to get frustrated (ok, I’m going out on a limb assuming I’m not the only one) when they don’t meet our deadlines, they don’t communicate, they forget the things we know we've told them a thousand times, they delay decisions, they change decisions, and they generally don’t act the way we would prefer. Well, before condemning them too readily, take a step back and try to look at your organization through their eyes.

I have always encouraged the staffs I work with to get involved as volunteers themselves. Whether it’s through the association that supports you professionally (ISAE, ASAE, MPI, PRSA, AFP, etc.), a service organization (Rotary, Kiwanis, Sertoma, Scouting, etc.), or any number of family and local interest activities (local film festival, schools, church, chamber, etc.), your volunteer involvement isn't only good for you, the community and the organization, but professionally you will develop a better appreciation for the expectations we tend to place on our own volunteers.

Consider this… On a good day, at best your respective association may rank 3rd on your average volunteer’s list of priorities. Most of your volunteers probably have family (or at least a significant other) in their life, and they have their own jobs that take priority over their volunteer commitments. Add to that the host of other potential distractions that we all deal with on a daily basis, and you can begin to see why our professional priorities and focus may not be met with the same level of urgency and attention by any given volunteer.

As a volunteer, myself, I’d be lying if I didn't admit that I have certainly been guilty of missing information the first time, over-committing my ability to meet a deadline, asking the same question more than once, and I’m sure other blunders that cause us professionally to roll our eyes and bang our heads. I've been managing volunteer boards and committees for more than twenty years, but as I’ve gotten involved as a volunteer on more boards and committees, I have developed a better understanding and appreciation for the commitment we expect from our volunteers. As an example, I have the honor of currently serving on the Indiana Society of Association Executives (ISAE) Board of Directors. We are fortunate to have an incredible professional staff, any of whom I’m sure have had their share of colorful thoughts as I ask a question that they probably answered more times that they can count, or they hear me responding to something publicly in that not-so-correct way (sorry, ISAE staff!).

We need to remember that our daily world of acronyms, member questions, sponsorships, event management and association PR is not the same world that our volunteers deal with day-in and day-out. The answers and information we provide seem common sense and second nature to us only because we work with it every day. So, the next time you find yourself hitting yourself in the head with the phone or your laptop (I've heard people do that sometimes) because of your volunteers, take a deep breath, try and see it through their eyes, and remember they are the reason we have our jobs!

Take Some Advice

Originally published February 2013
Sweeping, The Journal of Chimney and Venting Technology

"Fear less; hope more.

Eat less; chew more.

Talk less; say more."

-Swedish quote from "Dear Abby"

Last month the world lost a syndicated icon when Pauline Phillips, better known to many of us as “Dear Abby,” lost her battle with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 94. Her column lives on in the pen of her daughter, Jeanne, but when I reflect on the legacy that she created in the 57 years of her column, I can’t help but think of the correlation between the influence of decades of her accumulated advice and the volumes of invaluable counsel association members give each other every day.

So I thought I would share.

One of the advantages of being in an association is the opportunity to pick the brains of your professional peers to get ideas and find solutions. A couple of years ago I facilitated a group discussion at a convention about practical business tips based on real life input from  small business owners across the country. Between the information I gathered ahead of time and the plethora of ideas shared during the session itself, I ended up with a nice list of over 200 tips.

In the interest of a relatively easy read for you this month, here’s a sampling of the professional advice that was collected in the area of leadership and development. Perhaps some of this will trigger some of your own thoughts as you plan strategies for the year ahead.

5 Tips on Managing Yourself

·         Recognize when you’ve outrun your abilities. When one entrepreneur saw that her skills were not adequate to manage her company, she hired a president to handle day-to-day operations. Could you use a business or office manager?

·         Get a business coach. Skilled consultants can help you learn how to take your company to the next level. Resources such as SCORE can help (www.score.org).

·         Open yourself to being transformed. Listen, really listen, to employees. Let go of old notions of leadership (managing by fear, for example).

·         Be self-aware. Many business owners say self-awareness is essential to understanding what leadership style works for you.

·         Be a servant leader. Consider it your responsibility to serve employees and customers.

5 Tips on Creating an Innovative Environment

·         Show your employees and/or peers that you think of innovation as an ongoing process. Some ideas will work and many won’t. Keep experimenting.

·         Listen, listen, listen. Innovation is a collaborative process.

·         Be open to “accidents,” the unexpected connections that spark new ideas. Inspiration comes from everywhere—often from outside your own field.

·         Draw on your own employees—they know the company’s problems and goals best. This is probably one time you don’t need outside consultants.

·         Be patient. Creativity can’t be hurried.

5 Tips for Renewing Yourself as a Leader

·         Take a time-out each day. Put a “Gone Thinking” sign on your door and don’t let anyone disturb you.

·         Pursue hobbies and interests outside your business. They’ll provide relaxation and may inspire creative ideas that you can feed back into the business.

·         Take a vacation or a sabbatical. 

·         Spend time with your family. Kids provide a refreshing perspective. If you don’t have kids of your own, consider spending time with friends or family who do.

·         Do something you’ve always wanted to do but never did—learn a new instrument, take a course in acting, learn to fly, take up gardening, you name it.

5 Tips on How to Be More Efficient

·         Don’t start your office organizing by shopping for containers. Determine what files and books you need to store, measure them, then go to the store.

·         Declutter. File, act on or toss papers and emails instead of letting them pile high on your desk. You should be able to make a decision immediately as papers cross your desk.

·         Take advantage of electronic devices and the abundance of digital programs available to categorize work.

·         Choose the calendar system that’s best for your organizational style, and stick with it. If it is computer-based, back up, back up, back up!

·         Manage your time ruthlessly. 

5 Tips to Get a Good Mentor

·         Think about the end result. Let your mentor know what advice you want for success. Do you need advice on managing cash flow or a mentor to help keep you energized and motivated? Both are good. Be clear.

·         Be prepared. Share a snapshot of your business today. Share goals, so your mentor has a picture of your dream for success. Then, ask questions and listen for great ideas.

·         More is better. Develop a network. No one person has all the answers. Not you, your CPA, your mentor. You may want a mentor for business planning and a mentor for finance and cash flow.

·         Good cash flow is important especially at start-up and growth stages. Always be wary of economic slowdowns. A mentor can help you plan a collections policy, make plans for a line of credit and project cash flow based on sales. 

·         Seek industry expertise. Find a mentor who can address industry specific issues. 

5 Tips on Networking

·         Consider joining or creating your own industry management information exchange group. This is small group of your peers, typically no more than 12, from non-competing geographical markets that review each other’s operations serving as a panel of confidential advisers with the intent of helping each other’s businesses be as strong as they can possibly be.

·         Join your local Chamber of Commerce and go to the meetings/events

·         Join local service groups such as Rotary, Sertoma, Kiwanis, etc.

·         Join an area professional networking group (i.e. www.bni.com or www.bnicanada.ca), or a free online professional networking site such as LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com).

·         Join your industry association if you are not already a member and attend their annual or regional conferences.

This is as good a time as any to start strategically planning for the year ahead. How is it going to be different than last year? As the boss of your business, what can you do to gear yourself up to make this the best year yet?

Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. There's great advice out there everywhere, you just need to look around and make the decision to act. In a 1990 interview with Larry King, Pauline Phillips exclaimed, "There is always an answer, even it it's say, look, pal, you can't change anybody but yourself."

Until next time, here's to good advice and to your continued success!

-Mark

2013: It’s a Whole New Game

Originally published in the January 2013

Sweeping: The Journal of Chimney and Venting Technology

"In the long history of humankind those who learned to collaborate 

and improvise most effectively have prevailed." -Charles Darwin

Resolution, sticking point, determination, zeal, ardor, earnestness, resolve, drive, vigor, iron will, tenacity, perseverance, fortitude, commitment, devotion, compulsion, firmness, dedication…Pick a word, but they all represent a conscious act; a decision to do something. Sometime over the past month or so, most of us have likely at least thought about making our New Year’s resolution. The mere idea of a resolution to kick off the year as a fresh start is a multi- billion dollar industry. For most people, making the resolution is the easy part; making the resolution happen tends to be a little easier said than done.

If 2013 started for you without some resolve to change something up in your life, I have an idea you are welcome to steal. If you haven’t done so already, resolve to figure out what the social media buzz is all about and what it might mean to your business plan this year.

While there are all sorts of different views and stories about social media out there, clearly it is not a fad that is going to eventually give way to the good ole days. Last year, consumer giant Proctor & Gamble announced they were significantly scaling back on their multi-billion dollar annual ad budget to take advantage of free impressions in the form of “Likes” and status updates offered by Facebook. Just this past month even the Pope finally succumbed and jumped into the scene by sending out his first Twitter message. Since September, CSIA has picked up over 200 new followers on Twitter and more than 250 new fans on their Facebook page.

Now no one is suggesting that we all abandon the art of the handshake and face-to-face relationship building in exchange for virtual networking, but any successful business needs to be prepared to go where the customer are, and the customers are online in increasing record numbers.

According to Nielsen’s 2012 Social Media Report, total minutes of mobile app usage have increased 120%. The greatest growth, while still dwarfed by social medial giants Facebook and Twitter, has been with Pinterest, Tumblr and Google+. Pinterest saw a 1047 percent (yes, that’s thousand) increase in unique visitors in 2012. PC users spent more than two billion minutes on Tumblr, growing that network by 55 percent. Google+ enjoyed an 80 percent increase in unique visitors as they reached 500 million users. 

This past October, email marketing firm Vertical Response conducted a survey of small businesses across the country and found that 43% of them spend at least six hours a week on social media, with seven percent spending over 21 hours a week on Facebook and Twitter alone. According to that same survey two-thirds of small businesses report spending more time on social media than they did the previous year having realized the need and value of social media marketing.

For many, while they don’t argue the impact of this ever growing virtual marketing monolith, the breadth of it all is overwhelming. Believe me, there may be a number of things that NCSG has done over the past couple of years to get us and keep us active in this space, but there are still countless additional steps that could be taken…many of which we see from our association counterparts. So knowing we are all in this together, and that we will all likely be faced with even more social media decisions in 2013, I scoped out some advice from a variety of sources to see what I could put together for those wanting to figure all of this out for their business.

Mandy Arnold, president of Gavin Advertising, published a simple, straight forward list of do’s and don’ts for those trying to determine how to best reach their real customers in the virtual world. She advises to think realistically. Don’t expect a windfall immediately, but be sure you’re getting a decent return on the amount of time you are investing in learning and using a new marketing and technological platform.

Be visual. When posting information about your business and services, include pictures and even video to add depth to the information you are sharing. Photos and video get attention, but remember to ensure that the images you post are consistent with your business image.

Be authentic. Provide an experience for the customer that delivers a message they can trust about the personality of your company rather than just propaganda. You want your social media presence to build an atmosphere that customers respect and trust rather than just throwing out a sales pitch.

Be accessible. Provide an opportunity for easy feedback and interaction. Always include “Like” and “Follow” buttons wherever possible, making it easy for people to subscribe to your media. If they can’t do it easily, they won’t do it at all.

Don’t overpost. I can’t begin to tell you the number of people I have stopped following on Twitter or removed from my Facebook because they simply post non-stop and I simply had better things to do with my time than have to decipher which of their posts were important and which were not.

Watch your language. Social media is public, and what you have to say and how you have to say it can speak volumes about you and your company. Certainly this includes the avoidance of foul language and derogatory comments, but it also includes proofreading what you post before you send it out. If spelling and grammar are not your strong suits, then find someone who can proofread for you. Right or wrong, potential customers will make assumptions about you and your business based on the way you communicate.

The growing social media scene has given small business owners yet another way to promote their businesses online for relatively little investment. In fact, time is the most significant cost when it comes to social media.

As a small business owner, you are busy running all aspects of your businesses, so you likely don’t have a lot of extra time to spend on social media. It’s important to have a plan and set goals for your social media activity, and learn as much as you can about the various social networks you plan to venture out into so you can reduce the learning curve and avoid wasting time.

Alyssa Gregory at About.com provides seven tips for getting started in social media:

·         Pick One Social Media Site to Start. Most small businesses that are active in social media participate on more than one site, but trying to do too much too fast is not only overwhelming but it can also prevent you from learning how to effectively use each site. Choose one site to start with and focus your attention there first before moving onto others.

·         Create a Social Media Time Budget. You could easily spend hours each day getting up to speed on all the popular sites out there. While that may be a good way to learn the ropes, you may not have the time, energy or interest in putting so much of yourself into social media. Instead, create a time budget that limits your social media time to a daily or weekly total that you can fit into your schedule relatively easily.

·         Clarify Your Social Media Goals and Objectives. Once you know how much time you will be spending on social media sites, you will need to make sure you are clear on your goals. Know what you want to accomplish and what you truly want to get out of your efforts. Are you interested in generating jobs, finding others in the industry to network with, establishing yourself as an expert in your market?

·         Outline Your Approach. There are all sorts of different ways to use social media sites for business. One way is not necessarily better than another, and no single way is the right way for everyone. The key is knowing what your intended approach is before you start. Will you be a communicator, provide an industry-related news feed, present a mix of business and personal information? Outline your intended approach and work it into your goals as you get started.

·         Complete Your Social Media Profiles Consistently. Each of your social media accounts will include some kind of profile. Profile fields may include a bio, websites, blogs, location and a picture. Be sure to completely fill out your profile on any social media sites you use and keep the information relevant and professional, as well as consistent from site to site. You you’re your customers recognize you when they find you on multiple sites.

·         Lurk and Observe. Sometimes the best way to get started on a new social media site is by signing up and then watching how the relatively experiences people do it. Each social media site has a very unique set of nuances, and it’s good advice to spend some time observing and learning the ins and outs before diving in head first.

·         Use a Social Media Dashboard. One of the biggest challenges with social media is time management. There are social media “dashboards” such as HootSuite, TweetDeck and others that can help you manage your social media time more effectively. These tools allow you to set up alerts and notifications, create groups, skim activity quickly, and schedule updates so you can automate some of the social media process.

This is a lot to absorb, but it is the face of business in 2013 and it is likely the launching pad for whatever is next for us all in 2014 and beyond. Be brave and if nothing else, resolve to have fun with it.

Until next time, I wish you and yours an enjoyable and prosperous Happy New Year!

-Mark

5 Resolutions for Leaders

Good, short and to the point, article posted by Intuit CEO Brad Smith on LinkedIn. Check it out for some timely reminders for any business leader as we start a new year!

Mark

The Ultimate Entrepreneur...Lessons from the North Pole

Originally published December 2012
Sweeping, The Journal of Chimney Venting and Technology

"Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are

unseen and unseeable in the world."

-Francis Pharcellus Church

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

Santa Claus...arguably one of the best entrepreneurs of all time. Clearly, he's got to be one of the best brands. Believe in him or not, Saint Nick has a lot to offer the rest of us besides toys under a tree. And let's be honest, the man knows his chimneys to boot! If there's anyone else who can truly appreciate this time of year as "the busy season" it has to be Kris Kringle.

In hopes that you are finding some time to kick back and relax a little during the holidays, I'm keeping my topic light but hopefully still somewhat pertinent this month. Several years ago I wrote about a fun, quick read, business book called "The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus." From Santa's perspective, there are eight secrets to his entrepreneurial success:

• Build a wonder workshop
• Choose your reindeer wisely
• Make a list and check it twice
• Listen to the elves
• Get beyond the red wagons
• Share the milk and cookies
• Find out who's naughty and nice
• Be good for goodness sake

Surely any business person ought to be able to to identify with just about everything on that list. Granted, maybe not in quite those same terms, but it shouldn't take much of a leap for the big guy's advice to resonate within each of us. In the opening pages of his book, Mr. Claus states:

"I am, after all, running a business here. I'm a boss. I've got responsibilities - both to the gift-getters and the gift-makers. There are workers to lead, letters to read, orders to fill, processes to manage, stuff to buy, stuff to make, standards to maintain, new technologies to adopt, skills to develop, elf problems to solve, and reindeer droppings to scoop."

Doesn't that aptly describe your job in your business?

Last December Forbes.com published an article by Geoff Loftus called "Lead Like the Best CEO: Santa Claus." In another light-hearted but poignant business analogy the author summarized Santa's basic keys to success; focus, quality assurance and control, belief in what the organization does, and commitment to the customer.

Focus from the North Pole is unparalleled. The company knows its core competence and sticks reliably to it year-in and year-out. Competition isn't ignored, but it isn't allowed to detract the company from its mission. Santa stays focused on what he is doing right and how he can improve rather than worrying about what everyone else is doing to gain attention.

Santa is all about quality. As Zenith Television exclaimed, "the quality goes in before the name goes on." Santa has an extensive list of customers that he checks twice, ensuring no one is left out. He takes the time to find out what his customers want, what he can do to improve, and he delivers.

As a result, his customers believe in him. But perhaps more importantly, he believes in himself and what his company does. Through that uncompromising belief, he motivates those around him and clearly and effectively communicates who he is and what he does in the world.

Mr. Claus is committed to his customers like no other. Sure we all talk about being committed to our customers, but how many of us truly treat our customers as #1 day-in and day-out? As Geoff Loftus describes it:

"The guy literally goes to the ends of the earth and even works on Christmas for crying out loud. That's commitment."

I've researched a fair bit about the business of Santa Claus over the years. While certainly implied, one consistent quality I have seen weaved throughout his tapestry of success, though not specifically stated, is his unwavering commitment to take that one extra step to make a difference. Good is not good enough in his relentless pursuit of greatness.

Another wonderful easy read is a pocket book called "212° the extra degree" by S.L. Parker. It's full of examples in life and in business that illustrate how taking that one additional step makes all the difference in the world. The opening passage reads:

"At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water, comes steam. And with steam you can power a locomotive."

In honor of College Bowl season and the quickly approaching professional football playoff season, as the great Vince Lombardi once said,

"Inches make the champion."

That one extra degree, that one extra step, that one extra inch can mean the difference between the impact of a moment and the impact of a lifetime. Maybe we can't all be Santa Claus to the world, but maybe we can be Santa Claus to one person, and to that one person you could be world.

As I reported in my book report to you several years ago, perhaps my favorite of Santa's secrets is to 

"Be Good for Goodness Sake." 

Be the example, not only in your immediate business, but in the trade itself. It's not about doing the right thing because someone might be watching you. Rather it's about doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do, even if no one is watching you. And of course, if you believe in karma, you will come out ahead in the long run anyway, regardless of what others are doing (translated: stop worrying about what everybody else does).

It has been an interesting year for all of us, and while we certainly haven't been perfect, all of us involved in the administration and governance of the National Chimney Sweep Guild and the Chimney Safety Institute of America hope that despite life's challenges we have continued to provide value to each of you. On behalf of all of us here at NCSG and CSIA, I want to thank you for your ongoing support over the past year and the many well-wishes we have received as another calendar year comes to a close. We indeed have a lot to be thankful for and you do mean the world to us.

And finally, fulfilling my promise to keep things light, in dedication to my brother-in-law, a self-proclaimed pun addict:

What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus?..."Claustrophobic."

Until next time, I wish you and yours every happiness this holiday season!

Mark 

 

Find Your Inspiration

Originally published October 2012
Sweeping, The Journal of Chimney Venting and Technology

"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide

what kind of difference you want to make."

-Jane Goodall

A few years ago I wrote an article about being inspired by our youth. Looking at the world around us, the challenges we tend to let bog us down domestically as well as around the globe, I thought it might be worth sharing some of that information again. After all, you don't have to have children of your own to appreciate the immense impact they have had, are having, and will have on our world. If you ever take a moment to look around and notice the influence and passion of our youth, you can't help but be motivated by their drive.

Sure, kids can be a challenge (then again, so can adults), but it's often in their inhibitions that they discover a potential that, as adults, we often forget. If we just take a step back from our frustration, there is a lot of inspiration we can take from the youth of this world.

In 1995, twelve year old Craig Keilburger was distracted during his morning breakfast on his way to the comics section of the newspaper. He didn't make it past the first page as he was lured into an article about the exploitation of child labor in Asia. He was moved to research the situation, and as he did he became increasingly self-motivated to do something about a growing problem throughout the world.

Craig asked for some volunteers at school, and eleven hands went up. As simply as that, Free the Children was formed with the passion of twelve 12-year-olds. Today, a handful of Nobel Peace Prize nominations later, Free the Children is the world's largest network of children helping children through education. More than on million youth have been involved in their programs in more than 45 countries. These "kids" have built over 450 schools, delivered more than 200,000 school and health kits to students, shipped more than 11 million dollars in medical supplies, lobbied corporations to adopt standard labeling for child-labor free products, and improved water and sanitation conditions around the world. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

David B. Smith, a college student from the University of California-Berkeley, was motivated by his own personal struggles and those of his friends. Concerned with the local issue of the rising costs of tuition and the lack of affordable housing near campus, he formed a group to see what they could do about it. Their approach was not to complain and protest, but rather to work within the system to affect change.

Within the year, the group organized the first-ever Cal Lobby Day which brought 150 students to the California State Capital in Sacramento. They didn't stand outside and protest. Instead, they went inside and met with more than 90 percent of the legislature. The group got these officials interested, engaged and willing to help. By the end of the semester, they saved students throughout California $93 million by stopping student fees from being raised, and they got $30 million earmarked for student housing.

Smith's initial success led to the formation of Mobilize.org whose now national mission is to educate, empower and inspire young people to increase their civic and political participation. The grass roots approach that Mobilize.org uses is to encourage young people to personally meet with their representative decision makers, speak their language and negotiate with them using techniques that are familiar to them. The legislative strategy of these youth, and their associated success, mirrors the approach that NCSG encourages among its own members.

A couple of years ago, David Smith explained their success this way...

"Because we start at a place that encourages young people to look inside themselves and then project that image of a better world on our society, we are facilitating the use of the most powerful energy we have -- our passion!"

Sparks of inspiration from youth are present all around us. We just have to be open to them.

As many of you know, I have had the joy of being involved with Rotary International's youth exchange program. This year marks my eighth year coordinating the outbound recruitment, placement and orientation activities for my district. Over that time I have had the honor of placing almost 70 high school students into 30 different countries around the world. As part of the district team I also have the thrill of having worked closely with at least that many students who have traveled to Indiana from their native countries to experience and learn our relative taste of American culture.

Working directly with these teens each year, I am in awe of their perspective and enthusiasm, and I marvel at their drive, determination, and overwhelming desire to further develop their appreciation of our world community. By the age of 18, these young men and women have experienced more of the world around us than most of us will ever know. Yet, they continue to explore every opportunity they have to fuel their own passion to learn more. For them, enough is never enough.

That's exactly what organizations like the National Chimney Sweep Guild and the Chimney Safety Institute of America think about education. The best are never satisfied. The best are never done learning. The best in our industry belong to the Guild and seek certifications in their field, not merely for attainment of the credential, but rather to feed their desire to continually learn and continually improve.

Whether you've been in this business for thirty days or for thirty years, you owe it to yourself and to your customers to pursue every chance you can to keep yourself as professional and technically tuned as possible. As the great Aristotle said:

"All men by nature desire knowledge."

And lest you think learning is limited to youth, I recently read a quote from the swimming trainer of a 73-year-old woman. When speaking of her determination, the trainer said she taught him,

"There is no age attached to a student; that quest is without a number."

Companies that truly embrace continuous improvement continuously seek opportunities to improve the way they do business -- operationally as well as technically. Be humble enough to recognize that a better way may exist, and challenge yourself to find it.

You work hard to produce income for your business. Your expenses should reflect your company's strategies. Money can be hard to come by and once you get it, you don't want to lose it. But a smart business person knows that putting money back into their business is not losing it; it's investing it. Best of all, it's investing it in you; in your business.

19th century American explorer Robert Perry said,

"The time to prepare for your next expedition is when you have just returned from a successful trip."

This is certainly the case for the exchange students I work with every day, and that perseverance is clearly demonstrated by youth like Craig Kielburger and David Smith. I truly believe that all of us as adults could benefit from spending more time watching and learning from the youth around us.

Find your passion and let it ignite you. If your flame starts to flicker, look for inspiration around you in perhaps the least likely of places. Helen Keller once said,

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

Here's to you on your expedition!

Until next time, I continue to wish you every success!

Mark 

Are You Keeping Up?

Originally published August 2012
Sweeping, The Journal of Chimney Venting and Technology

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology

has exceeded our humanity"

-Albert Einstein

In 1983 the first commercial cell phone hit the market. The Motorola DynaTac measured roughly a sleek 9" tall (plus a 4" antenna), 3.5" deep and 1.75" wide. It weighed more than 2 lbs, had a 30 minute talk time, took 10 hours to re-charge, could store a whopping 30 phone numbers, and cost the Gordon Gekko's of the world a modest $3,995.

By comparison, today's current model iPhone is 4.5" tall, .37" deep and 2.31" wide. It weighs a paltry 4.9oz, has 8 hours of talk time, re-charges in about an hour, and the "low end" 16GB model stores roughly 5,000 songs (who knows how many phone numbers?); all for less than $400 at the high end.

And that's just a comparison of the phone itself. I recently saw data that indicated as of 2011 there were 5.6 billion mobile phones in use. In the United States alone, there were more mobile phones in use than the US population itself (103%). Of those billions of cell phone users, how many of us actually use our phones merely as phones? It has been estimated that by 2014, mobile internet access is expected to take over desktop internet access, representing almost a 400% increase in mobile internet usage since 2007 alone. Almost 1/2 of all local searches for products, service and general information are performed on mobile devices.

Depending on your perspective, the statistics about all of this technology and the way the world communicates today range from staggering to bizarre. Well in excess of 1 billion of the mobile phones in use are smartphones, and with relative few exceptions almost all of the remaining phones are SMS enabled.

And here's something to consider...I've seen it estimated that on average, Americans spend almost 3 hours per day socializing on their mobile devices. That's over twice the amount of time most spend eating, and more than 1/3 of the time we spend sleeping every day.

So what's the point? As author Scott Friedman put it,

"If you don't make a commitment to technology today, you've made a commitment to retire."

The constantly evolving face of technology and its impact on the way we live and subsequently do business is at the core of everything the world is becoming.

An article last month in The New York Times indicated that Facebook is now up to more than 900 million users. That's more than 3 times the U.S. population, and we've all likely heard the quip that if Facebook were a country it would be the 3rd largest in the world. That same article noted that nearly half of all Facebook users log in on their tablets or mobile phones.

One year ago, Time Magazine reported that Twitter had 360 million accounts with 460,000 new sign-ups per day. Similarly I have seen reports that LinkedIn surpassed the 120 million user mark last fall.

How often do we hear someone talking about how the world is changing? How often do we hear about "kids these days" or how today's generation just doesn't "get it"? Well if you haven't figured it out by now, today's generation has it, and they're not about to slow down and wait for the rest of us to catch up to it. By the time this article moves from my computer to the magazine and into your mailbox, I can only imagine what new technologies and media will have either surfaced or begun a short curve research and development phase that further impact our daily lives over just the next 12 months.

Think back merely 15 years. That's not all that long ago all things considered, but it's multiple lifetimes in technology terms. How has the world changed just in that amount of time? 15 years ago, how many of you used email and the internet with any degree of regularity? If you wrote a letter to someone, what was a reasonable response time? By contrast, if you send an email today, how quickly do you expect a response from someone? And forget email; 15 years ago how many of you knew what text messaging was, let alone were actually using it? 15 years ago, video conferencing was an expensive and cumbersome proposition. Today, Skype and FaceTime are not only free international communication tools, but one or the other is pre-loaded on just about every new computer or smartphone out there.

The world is changing! The world has always been changing, but it is certainly doing so at a more rapid pace today.

You may not personally be on Facebook. You may not get a kick out of being among the more that 230 million tweets sent per day or care to follow others on Twitter. You may still think You Tube is some awkward video invasion of someone's personal space. None-the-less, the fact is that these are merely three strategic marketing platforms that successful businesses of all trades are increasingly realizing are a necessity for their survival. 

So, is this a generational thing? Sure it is. But we're wasting our energies if we try to place blame on generational labels. The fact is that for the first time in our economic history, we have 4 generations working, living and competing side by side. The youngest generations may be pushing the technology, and they do represent the future longevity of all of our businesses, but it's a mistake to assume that the more seasoned generations are not embracing much of the technology as well.

According to Nielson, the research company, during the second quarter of 2011 the second largest growth sector of tablet owners was the 55+ year old demographic, while the largest growth sector for smartphone owners was the 45+ year old demographic.

Go-Globe.com reports that in 60 seconds there are:

• Over 370,000 calls on Skype
• Over 98,000 tweets
• Over 100 new LinkedIn accounts established
• Over 6,600 new pictures uploaded on flickr
• Over 695,000 status updates, over 79,000 wall posts, and over 510,000 comments on Facebook
• Over 600 new videos uploaded to You Tube
• Over 13,000 iPhone apps downloaded

And that's just a small sampling of the online media activity the world is using every minute of every day. If you are not taking advantage of that traffic somewhere, it's amazing the potential opportunities that are being missed.

In an article I wrote a few years ago about the changes we are seeing, I wrote:

My old typewriter and my new laptop may both we wireless, but that's about where any similarly ends. Personally, I don't miss the manual ping and mess Whiteout. I'm in awe at the global resources my children have available to them and can only imaging the next level of technology that they will consider to be common-place before I know it.

This is becoming a stronger truth every day.

I hope you're keeping up.

Until next time, I continue to wish you every success!

Mark