Hoodie Fantasy

The killing of a teenage boy in Florida last week by a neighborhood watch captain has stirred many emotions in the American public, with race being one of the most prominent. The boy who was killed was black and wearing a “hoodie’ and the man who killed him was hispanic. Apparently wearing a hoodie portrays the image of a thug or gangster and many feel that this image contributed to the boy’s death. 

There have been protests all over the country and 1 member of Congress showed up on the House floor wearing a hoodie and was promptly asked to leave. Many of the protests around the country have included people wearing hoodies. 

I’m not sure what the protests are supposed to do, and I’m really not sure what wearing a hoodie accomplishes. Like usual, the uproar over this case will die down and things will go back to the way they were. But nothing will change. 

We could all go out and buy a hoodie and wear it until it is threadbare. But it won’t change anything. Rather than running out to buy a hoodie, why can’t people examine the prejudices they hold in their heart and ask why they are there, if they belong there, and how they can get rid of them. Real introspection and thoughtfulness would be a far greater tribute to the fallen boy than a hoodie parade. 

If people could look inside themselves and ask how they can be part of the solution then we could make real progress. Wearing a hoodie just makes people feel good, like they are doing something meaningful. 

If you want to do something meaningful, look into your heart and examine what you see, don’t run out and buy a hoodie. 

Finally Finished

I just wrapped up a short ebook I’ve been working on to give away to folks who join our mailing list at workingmenshealthandfitness.com.  It started out simply enough – I figured it would be a few pages at most. Unfortunately the more I wrote the more I wanted to write. At one point I had to stop and really ask myself what I was doing and what I wanted to accomplish. I could easily write every day for a year and still not cover everything. 

The ebook is (was) supposed to lay a foundation for the 4 pillars of healthy living by giving a brief explanation of each and some examples and tips or ideas. At the end I added a little bonus about building habits. In all the thing spans 9 pages, which isn’t too bad considering I could have written 1,000 pages or more. 

The real struggle with it wasn’t being brief, it was fearing that I wasn’t giving people enough value. I kept thinking about people downloading the ebook, reading it and being disappointed that it was too short or didn’t have enough information or wasn’t what they expected. That fear inhibited my progress and likely extended the length of the project several extra days. 

I’m obsessed with value. I want people who visit our site to be blown away with their experience. I want to give until it hurts and then give some more. I’ve found through experience that I often fear that I’m not giving enough value and that fear temporarily paralyzes me. 

Thankfully I’m able to fight through it each time. I keep reminding myself that it’s not the end of the world no matter what people think. If I produce something they hate, I’ll do it better next time. If I hit a home run, that’s great too. 

The internet is nutty. Unlike the old days of face to face communication, we are sitting in little rooms pecking away at a computer keyboard and are thus deprived of seeing and gauging other people’s reactions easily. It’s a constant struggle to reassure myself and to keep moving forward. 

The good news is that I keep moving forward. I suspect that too many people never move forward or never get started in the first place. I sincerely hope that’s true – that way there are less people to compete with!

Silly Stupid People

Recently in Florida a teenager was killed in a gated community by a neighborhood watch person. The teenager was unarmed ans simply returning home after walking to the store to purchase a drink and some Skittles.

The police did not (and as of this morning) and have not arrested the shooter saying that he claims that he killed the teen in self defense and they have no evidence to prove otherwise.

The story has gone viral to the point that there were protests in various cities last night in support of the murdered teen and against the police for their perceived failure to act.

This situation is still unfolding, but it has already become part witch hunt, rush to judgement, and worst of all a racial issue. Athe murdered teen was black, the gunman Hispanic.

I don’t know the facts as they seem to be coming out in bits and pieces but I am sad that we still have to discuss these things. The murdered teen was wearing a ‘hoodie’ which some claim made him look like a gang member or thug. Local people reported that it was raining the night of the murder and it’s possible he was simply protecting himself from the rain.

It’s 2012. Why aren’t we beyond this nonsense? Not so much the racial issues, but the petty and quick rush to judgement. Aren’t people smart enough by now to realize that things are almost never what they seem at first, and that it’s prudent to wait for facts to be revealed?

I know this strikes a sensitive chord with people and it’s tragic no matter how you look at it. Whatever happened a young man is dead apparently for no reason at all, and that’s the real tragedy.

It’s also to bad the people don’t get more worked up about e violence we see everyday in our cities. Killing and violence for no reason at all, poverty, school dropouts. Once incident is certainly tragic, but there are many tragedies playing out everyday, where is the outrage for those?

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Pay Wall

Our local newspaper, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle is about to put up a pay wall for its content. This is a trend in the newspaper business as they try to figure out ways to make money in the internet age. 

I don’t have any problem with a company making money – lots of it if possible, but I’m not sure how the D&C pulls this off. Since their announcement many people have posted comments online that they will not pay for the D&C’s content, with many people saying they can get it elsewhere. I’d agree with that, and I think therein lies the problem for the D&C.

There’s nothing interesting or unique about the D&C’s content. My favorite sports writer (Bob Matthews) writes a column there, but I can listen to his nightly talk show and get the same content and more. In addition, the quality of writing has taken a big hit at the D&C. It’s rare for a week to go by that I don’t see an article with a typo or a grammatical error in an article. I don’t know if they don’t edit what they write or if they rely on spell checkers or what, but it drives me nuts to see and article with a simple error than an 8th grader should be able to spot. I understand people are human, but in this case the frequency of errors leads me to believe people don’t care that much. So you want me to pay for articles that are “phoned” in?  Not likely.

I think the D&C could make a pay wall work if they offered content that people couldn’t find elsewhere. Unique and interesting stories about the heart of the community and its issues. They would also have to do more than articles in the form of Twitter and Facebook content that is also unique. 

The guy running the D&C was on the news the other day talking about how people can’t wait to pay for his content. I’m guessing he didn’t read the comments at the end of the article which all said there was no way they would pay for his content under any circumstances. He said they’d have an ipad and android app – great.  So what?

I feel bad for the newspapers, they are lost in the digital world. Much like Kodak, they don’t get the idea that they have to give customers what they want, not what what they feel like giving them. I hope the D&C succeeds, but unless they can offer something compelling I can’t see any reason why people would pay for their content when there are so many other choices. 

Perhaps the folks who run the D&C should spend a little time on the internet following local news people (and local people in general) on Twitter, Facebook, and on blogs. I think they might learn alot about their customers and what they really want.

Ultimately I think the biggest failure of the newspapers is that they can’t open their minds enough to realize that their customers will tell them what they want, but to do that they need to build relationships, ask questions, and then listen. 

If the D&C disappeared from the internet tomorrow would anyone miss them?  That’s the question that should be keeping the folks running the D&C up at night.

A Beautiful Night

I’m sitting here staring into the sky on a beautiful and unseasonable March evening. Of course I was doing that, now I’m typing on my phone.

I’m trying to see if I can post to my blog like this. We’ll see if this post makes it. I’ve tried this before without much success. It would be great if this would work!

True Meaning

My wife is out of town on a school trip so the kids and I have been alone for 2 days. This morning we all took Caroline to Hochstein for her singing lesson and then we went up the road to a little diner for breakfast. The kids were great, the breakfast was great and there were smiles all the way around. 

I have a million things to do today and may not have had time to go out for breakfast or time last night to watch the Smurfs, but I know how quickly these days will race by. Before I know it the kids will be teenagers who don’t want to be seen with me and before long they will be off to make their way in the world. 

The kids are growing up really fast (or so it seems to me) and at times I’m almost frantic about spending time with them before they are all grown up. 

As I’ve gotten a little older I’ve become more aware of the passage and value of time. I’m becoming more selective about how my spend my time and how I allocate the precious hours given to me. 

Some people comment to me that it’s hard to balance family and work and all that, but at this stage I find it fairly easy. Family first, no questions or negotiations. People who know me best know not to bother asking if I’ll skip my daughter’s lacrosse game to go golfing or if I’ll miss a school concert to go so a hockey game. 

When I’m old I know I’ll never regret a minute of time I spent with my kids, but I almost certainly would regret time spent screwing around. I feel fortunate that I’ve realized that before it’s too late to so something about it. 

Smurf This

Tonight the kids and I rented The Smurfs movie from the Red Box and grabbed some appetizers to eat while watching it. The ‘original’ Smurfs were big when I was a kid, so it was interesting to see what a difference 20 years makes.

I was pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. The animation was really cool and the story was fairly interesting. Of course there’s always the appeal of Smurfette!

The kids really liked it too, so much so that I’m afraid I’ll be hearing ‘Smurf’ attached to everything for the next couple days. 

I guess writing about the Smurfs is an indication of how slow this day has been, but it was a fun trip down memory lane and it was cool to see my kids enjoy something so familiar from when I was their age. 

Public Speaking

Last night I traveled 2 hours down the NY State Thruway to give a presentation at the Dunham Public Library on using social media to market a business. I had no idea what to expect or if anyone would show up and I was also afraid that I wouldn’t give people much value for their time. 

As it turns out 10 people showed up and they were great. In preparing for this I decided to try a couple unconventional things:

1. No Powerpoint slides – I used to love PowerPoint but over the years I’ve seen it abused so badly I can’t take it any more. I really wanted people to interact with me and not be staring at a screen.
2. I prepared ‘chunks’ of material, but decided that I would simply ask people what they wanted to know. This way I could change things on the fly and make my presentation highly targeted.

It worked really well as I made it a point to interact early and often with people. I asked why they were there and what they knew. At points I asked what they thought about things and if they would use it. 

Several times I used something specific that someone said and explained how I would do it or why I would avoid it. 

The night took some unexpected turns, but everyone seemed to be engaged, even though they also seemed to be overwhelmed at times. From the beginning I told them that learning all this in an hour is like trying to paddle a canoe up Niagara Falls, but if they stick with it things get easier quickly. 

Out of the 10 people there I would guess 1 or 2 might try to get into social media or set up a website, which I supposed is normal.  There were several people looking to sell products on the internet and I tried to help them understand how the internet offers them a level playing field with anyone on the planet, big or small. 

I’ve become so rabid about the internet and seeing it as my salvation from the cubicle lifestyle that I found it frustrating to see people coming up with excuses to keep going to farmers markets and local events. Of course that’s their choice and I respect that, but the opportunities that the internet offers us today is unprecedented!  I pity past generations who’s only choice was to open a store and advertise in the newspaper. 

So it was a great night and I once again overcame my introverted nature and delivered value to people. Hopefully I helped at least one of them in some way. It’s funny how easy it is for me to talk about things that fire me up and get my passion ignited. I could have talked all night and as it ended up we were thrown out of the place because the night guy wanted to go home. 

So I’ll take one little victory and move on!