Risley Ranch

Babies and Tai Chi

I had a great weekend.  So good, in fact, I didn't want to do any work, blog, twitter or anything else except soak in the sun.

Saturday Joe took his testing for karate.  We've had him enrolled in the local ATA franchise for close to six months now.  He practices twice a week with other 5-6 year olds.  It really is neat to watch him go through the moves, and I'm impressed with the positive, confidence-building and respect-generating nature of the program.  I studied Goju Ru karate in college and loved it.  My karate career ended when I destroyed my little finger in a sparing match and had to have reconstructive surgery on it.  Even so, I'd like to encourage Joe to follow martial arts for its mind-body-soul attributes, as well as the need to learn self-defense.

Also on Saturday, I finished an eight-week course in introductory Tai Chi.  I found the Lawrence Academy of Tai Qi through a reference, and decided to make it part of my "Tao Makeover," which I started back in February of this year.  The instructors -- Trish, Adam, Katie and Travler -- are wonderful folks.  They've been practicing this Taoist martial art for at least 10 years each, and it shows.  They teach a derivative of the Wu style, which is one of the five traditional schools of Tai Chi, all of which originated in China.  You probably think of old people in a park doing slow, long movements in unison when you think of Tai Chi.  It is a "soft" martial art; however, it requires all the things I'm trying to better in my 40-year-old self: balance, concentration, stamina and positive energy.  I'm definitely going to continue the training.

On Sunday we headed into Kansas City for the local March for Babies event.  The March of Dimes is a Barkley client, and one of the many brand-changes we helped them with was changing the name of their signature event from Walk America to March for Babies.

It was a gorgeous sunny day, and thousands of people descended upon the Power and Light district for the 1- or 3-mile walk.  We opted for the 1-mile, which went right past the Barkley building, which was decorated to the hilt to show off our passion for this client.  My hat's off to everyone who helped organize us for this event -- especially the MOD team and Jennifer Cawley, who put in all kinds of time organizing and rallying us.

Technorati Tags: March of Dimes, March for Babies, Tai Chi, Barkley

Hello Twitter

Yes, I'm way late to the party, but I decided to give Twitter a try.  My colleague, Dustin, and his awesome presentation yesterday at our brown bag, convinced me.  Follow me if you like.

Technorati Tags: Twitter, microblogging

Jaydoc Rock

So here's a cause I knew nothing about until my colleague, Erica Wren, told me about it: Jaydoc.  It sounds very impressive:

"Jaydoc is a free clinic supported by The University of Kansas Medical School.  Its dual mission is to provide free healthcare to the medically underserved and to provide opportunities for KUMC medical students to broaden and enrich their clinical skills under the supervision of volunteer physicians."

This Friday, May 2, at The Mission Theater, they are hosting the 2nd Annual JayRock, a benefit concert for Jaydoc.  Some cool bands are on the bill: The New Amsterdams, Broken Stools, Dead Girls Ruin Everything and Fourth of July.

The concert is open to everyone, so get your tickets online.

More bragging

When you win a national championship, you get to talk a lot of smack, so please indulge the following:

Downtown Lawrence (during the parade to celebrate and congratulate the Jayhawks - 80,000 fans showed up):

Downtown Manhattan (home of K-State):

Thanks to my friends the Stineman's for the photos.

Technorati Tags: Kansas, Jayhawks, National Championship, Manhattan, Basketball

Get mobi

I'm no mobile expert -- that title belongs to guys like Mark and Dustin at our shop -- but I saw an online show today about Admob, and I was super impressed.

Fast Company magazine (one of my favorites) has launched Fast Company TV, and they have social media guru Robert Scoble hosting.  It's an awesome site.  And the first show I saw was an interview between Scoble and Admob founder and CEO Omar Hamoui.  You gotta watch this video, and make sure to watch the end where he runs a demo.  Too, too cool.  Maybe this is old news, but I was impressed.

I think the most prophetic thing Hamoui said was that we have yet to tap into the next phase of mobile advertising -- local targeting.  Although Admob can target in a variety of ways, it can't yet geo-target.  In the next two years, however, when devices are installed with GPS standard, look out.

Technorati Tags: advertising, marketing, mobile, mobile advertising, Fast Company

Tao makeover - Chapter 27

You would think I'd be overwhelmed by the presence of the Tao is China, the birthplace of Taoism more than 2500 years ago.  I wasn't.  Quite the opposite, actually.  The Tao was absent.  I guess it was the overwhelmingness of Shanghai with its millions of people, thousands of skyscrapers and billions of dollars in commerce.  I'd have to get out into the hinter-lands of China to find the Tao. 

So I haven't read the Tao Te Ching in some time, but I picked it up last night.  Chapter 27 is about the "effortless of true competence," as Dalton puts it.  Not necessarily what I wanted to read at the end of a stress-filled week -- how true sages make everything look easy.  But anyway...

"The greatest competence leaves no trace of its activity.  It uses all its resources to produce a perfect and economical result," is Dalton's explanation of this chapter.  Of course, that's easier to say than do.  I tend to live more like a bit of pop philosophy I read once:  "Be like a duck: calm on the surface, but paddling like hell underneath."

Technorati Tags: Taoism

This Rocks!

Rock Chalk, that is.

Planet Fresh

The power of a positive attitude, focused on getting something done, can really make a difference.  Barkley's new green initiative, Planet Fresh, is such an example.

Susan Shank, a veteran member of the PR team, started the Planet Fresh initiative several months ago because of her passion for the environment and our company.  She organized a group of like-minded folks, and before you know it, she had a movement.  Now it's institutionalized with its official launch today.  Some of the green things we're doing as a company are:

Giving each person a recycle bin and reusable shopping bag.

New kitchen-ware... The plates are made of a sugar-cane byproduct called bagasse that biodegrades within 30-90 days. The utensils are made from corn or potato starch and are compostable and biodegradable. And, the paper towels are made from recycled materials.

An electronics recycling program.

Server clean-up to reduce electricity use.

Toner cartridge recycling.

We use compact fluorescent bulbs in the building whenever possible.

Our cleaning company uses environmentally friendly cleaning paper and products.

The foam core and matte board we use for presentation boards is made from recyclable
materials.

Our printers and copiers switch to power-save mode when not in use.

And besides looking beautiful, our roof-top garden helps moderate temperatures, improve air quality, reduce storm-water runoff and creates a habitat for birds and butterflies.

We may not be the greenest company on the planet, but we're doing our part.  And the Planet Fresh team will continue to crank-out ideas for us.  Nice job team.

Technorati Tags: Environment, Green, Barkley, Fresh

Inspiration for the day

Noted jazz musician Herbie Hancock wrote an article in United Way's Hemispheres magazine.  On a 15-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean, you'll read anything, so I picked it up.  I loved this paragraph:

"Reinvention is relishing the idea of looking for a new way of doing something, so you present something that's fresh.  Exercising your creative abilities is one of the most important aspects of a human being -- or organization.  The more you explore looking at things differently and creating another way to look at things, the more choices you'll have to invent a new framework, a new environment.  Consequently, you'll be able to do something others have not."

Blue Shanghai

Today is my last day in Shanghai.  I'm leaving this afternoon.  I took a little walk on the Pudong river walk this morning and snapped a couple of shots.  It was very sunny and warm -- a typical lazy Sunday feeling.  I miss Joe and Amy and am ready to be home.  But I've loved every minute of this adventure.  Goodbye Shanghai.

Technorati Tags: China, Pudong, Shanghai, IPREX, Haungpu River