Why Cleveland has got to PLAY BALL

This short story begins when I was teaching a section of MIDS-411 at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve Univesity in 2003. I had asked Jennifer Thomas, now the director of the Civic Innovation Lab, to be a guest presenter to the class on the topic of "Why it is good to stay in Cleveland after graduation". Jennifer provided a wonderfully energetic view of Cleveland, recounted several very positive local trends and then, at the end of her presentation, asked the class (approx. 32 students) how many intended to stay in Cleveland after graduation.

ONE ...

ONE! 

One hand went up confidently and another two "kinda" went up but would not firmly commit. The one hand that went up, (Patrick) did indeed stay in Cleveland and remained employed by Case Western Reserve University for quite a while after graduation.

Jennifer and I lamented the response afterward. I spoke about it several times after the event, only to be assured I was misreading the trends and that my anecdotal experience was not indicative of the energy being invested. Ideas such as a revitalization of the Flats, the upcoming construction of our new convention center, the building of the Medical Mart, etc. Some of these mega-projects have indeed successfully come together such as IdeaStream, the Euclid Transit line, Browns stadium, Gateway ... but I sense the community almost universally undervalues the accomplishments because they have not truly improved the quality of life for any but a few. (What does a new stadium mean if we perpetually drop the ball???)

For many months, I have sat quietly by, building a tight technical community known as Boundless Flight, Inc. using technicians from Mobile, AL, Chicago, IL, Denver, CO, China, and even Romania. It has worked because we did not build an overdependence for either revenue nor talent on Cleveland. But lately, due to the national, regional, and local "doom and gloom" addiction, it has been tough to remain positive and emotionally energetic.

Enter Margaret Vandervort, a talent recruiter for the Cleveland Clinic.

Being innately irrationally optimistic at times, I am naturally attracted to energetic, positive people. Margaret started Twittering a few weeks ago about how great the Cleveland Clinic is and I hooked right in. With my daughter working as a nurse there, I am one of the Clinic's biggest fans. Margaret's Tweets are all about what a great place Cleveland is, how wonderful the theater district is, how marvelously diverse the restaurants are, how the Cleveland Clinic is one of the best places IN THE WORLD to work ... and she is right on. Margaret, for the past few weeks, has been a voice of consistent sunshine and warmth in a room of SO MANY gloomy streams of consciousness. Thank you, Margaret, for the encouragement you have brought. But yesterday reality once again shook me out of the lovely dream Margaret's energy and perspectives has rocked me into the past few weeks.

I was having an account review session with Bridget Ginley at the KoKo Bakery on Payne and east 37th. Bridget had been unable to get out that morning on account of the snowy weather and I had an interview with WCPN re: the governor's budget presentation (which, by the way, I was incredibly encouraged by!) so I swung over to her neighborhood to spend some time discussing the most recent activity from her accounts.

Sitting alone at the side of the bakery dining area was Brian. (No last name for fear of casting a shadow on his wife's situation - you will understand in a moment - but I have his card!) Brian was feverishly cutting away on his laptop and looked just "on the edge" enough to potentially be a resource for Boundless Flght, Inc. so ... I interjected Bridget and I into Brian's life and began a dialog. Brian is a Kent State grad (as is Bridget), lives in Painesville, and is generally very happy in Cleveland ... but no more than ten exchanges into the dialog, Brian (was he reading my mind??) informed me that he would soon be moving to Santa Clara, CA where he would be working at the corporate offices of his company AND that he would be taking his wife with him when he left. He told us his wife is of Chinese descent and works as a technician at the Cleveland Clinic. On one level, I immediately felt the loss of yet another excellent technician (why else would they invest to move him out to CA?) but on another level altogether I felt the COMBINED loss of not only Brian but his wife as well. What a ripple effect! As the technician achieves excellence, his value to the company he remotely works for increases to the point where they want him "at home" and along with him goes a second sharp, alert, energetic mind.

Ouch.

OUCH! Not only do Margaret and the other recruiters at the Clinic have to recruit people to fuel the organization's growth, but they also must recruit to backfill the ongoing regional talent depreciation. I am sure this is going on everywhere but as Cleveland is having one of its snowiest Januarys in recorded history, it is not hard to imagine Brian's wife WANTING to move to CA and very hard to imagine someone from Jacksonville, FL or Houston, TX, etc. WANTING to relocate to Cleveland.

Bottom line:
I am making it my DUTY to support, enable, and encourage the talent recruiters of Cleveland in 2009. When I find openings, I am going to distribute them to our network. When I hear of fatigue and discouragement in the ranks, I am going to pipe in an uplifting note. When I hear of frustration within the ranks, I will dedicate training on new tools. When I sense a lack of support INSIDE the recruiters' companies, I am going to contact their managers and supervisors and give them my encouragement to provide training, encouragement and support to those who daily make the pitch to "come here!" and who remind us how blessed we really are in Cleveland.

Bottom up, folks, bottom up. No matter what President Obama, our congress, Governor Strickland, and the leadership of Cleveland say, we will only pull out of this "slump" one pitch at a time. They may make the rules, set the ticket price, hire the umpires, and turn the lights on in the stadium ... but they aren't the ones running, throwing, hitting, and catching. We are.

Play ball,

Gary

If you don't have anything nice to say.....

For the second time in recent memory, I have been assaulted without request by a stream of incredibly unprofessional verbiage in public by two professionals who should have known better. It the most recent occurrence, two attorneys were discussing the details of a case they are apparently working together, one using the first name of the client and the other the last name. Duh. Do they believe their involuntary audience at Starbucks can't put FN + LN together to get full name? I really, really had to fight the temptation to google the person and get the message to them that their case was being discussed in front of the whole world but I just can't bring myself to do that. Instead, I will relate the details of the first incident to the world (once again) and hopefully dissuade gracefully and elegantly.

The first incident happened a few months ago in a Panera on route 18, just north of Akron and east of route 77. I was returning from a CITe advisory board meeting at the University of Akron and stopped off for a quick bite with bandwidth. I had just gotten my sandwich and connection when my lunch was very crudely interrupted by two clowns who INSISTED on talking so loudly that everyone in the room could hear them.

They were two physicians and they had a most interesting topic. They were, in some way shape, or form, aligned against a third physician and were trapped in a sick cycle of "who can put the poor guy down with the most vicious language?" They used the third physician's full name, talked about his specialty, mentioned two or three times one of the hospitals he was associated with, and went on and on about the complaints that had been made against him, detailed his behaviors and medical practices that they were in disagreement with, and asked several rhetorical, subjective questions such as "How does his wife put up with him??"

Oblivious to their surroundings, they didn't even notice that the section of the room where they were lambasting physician "Jack" was clearing out rather rapidly. One mom took her daughter, gathered up their lunch items, and exited with a roll of the eyes to me as I was now one of only three or four tables that had stuck it out and weathered the storm.

This last departure motivated me to do something. I stood up, walked across the room, and positioned my self immediately next to the table where the two were sharing their opinions so raucously. It was a "high" table so even though they were seated, I was barely above either of them. It produced an opportunity for some GREAT eye contact. As I stood there, scanning first one and then the other physician, they kept talking!!!! I was no more than a foot away from either and for three or four exchanges, they were oblivious to me.

Suddenly the doc on my left broke rank, looked right at me and very harshly said

"What are you doing?".

As I had invaded their space, the irritation was understandable but I surprised him when I returned a simple smile, extended my hand and replied with, "I'm having lunch over at that table with the laptop hooked up. I and several of the other patrons have been enthralled that you would carry on such a conversation in a public place." He then became very aggressive and stood up and fired back "Just who are you?!?" to which I very calmly replied again "You don't know who I am. You have no idea who I might be representing and I advise you to be very, very certain of the information you are disseminating in public lest someone take offense and press charges."

The fellow who stood up to me suddenly went bland, backed into his chair, and sat down. No sooner had his butt hit the chair than his partner-in-debate had already gathered up his drink, his half-eaten sandwich, and was headed out the door, glancing ever so cautiously over his shoulder when outside to see if I was following. I remained standing for a moment next to the remaining physician just to make my point, turned and left. By the time I had traversed the seven or eight steps back to my table, he was also no where to be seen.

Whenever and wherever you are a enjoying public professional dialog, PLEASE be aware that the world is listening. There is NO SUCH THING as a private discourse over the internet. They may be able to encrypt President Obama's phone at the packet, device, and server levels, but I GUARANTEE you nor I enjoy such privacy.

Three simple rules I strongly encourage:

1. You know the old saying "If you don't have something good to say, don't say anything at all." This is the first and most powerful business lesson anyone can learn. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS position and pronounce your business advice in positive, non-aggressive tones and verbiage. NO matter how forcefully someone has just smacked you across the face, turn the other cheek. Remember the BLAST Fiennes got from the cute little brunette to start "The Constant Gardener"? It worked - he maintained the respect of his colleagues (who might otherwise have turned very critical for his lack luster fill-in performance) AND he got the chick! As it turns out, she may have been using the ruse to get next to enable her foray against the horribly evil drug company alliance but nonetheless, she fell in love with him and he became a better man for his composure.

2. Re-read, or have a trusted person read what you have written before you hit the enter key. I have two levels of "audit" before I post anything publically on our blog. They check my spelling, my grammar, my tone, and my content for blips. Thank goodness. Nikki D. taught me the value of this in a previous life, Craig K. reinforced it enormously, and I will be committed to the structure ever since. This has saved me and my company SO many headaches I have lost count.

3. Remember that when you are in public, you have no control over your audience. You do not know who is sitting "out there" so be very temperate, controlled, and private in your discussions. Even if you are on the cell phone and believe that no one will care about a one-sided conversation - BE CAREFUL. These are some of the most dangerous as the imaginations of what someone is saying on the other end of the line can be even more dangerous than the facts! You are not alone, you ARE being listened to, and you have no idea where your comments, your reports, or your spirit will land. If this saves even one of you from a career ending mistake, I count my investment to write this worthwhile. If it gives you the courage to confront someone the next time you see them making the mistake, likewise. Local, remote, and virtual integrity is the foundation for who we become to all our audiences. Stand tall at all times and in all domains.

Happy Birthday Gary, WK of Boundless Flight

Happy Birthday to Gary @ Boundless Flight !

February Java User Group Meeting



Feb. 11, 2009, 5:30pm



3 Summit Park Drive

Lower Level Auditorium

Independence, OH 44131

With an increasing emphasis on mobility, IT organizations are developing and deploying more mobile applications than ever. With a broad range of mobile operating systems, application frameworks, and developer tools to choose from, the importance of defining and executing the right mobile applications strategy can’t be overstated. In this months session, we will explore developer's options, key issues for software developers and IT organizations who need to understand how best to create and deploy applications software for the exciting new generation of smart mobile devices. We will focus on two popular options, Java ME and iPhone environments.

Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) is a collection of technologies and specifications to create a platform that fits the requirements for mobile devices such as consumer products, embedded devices, and advanced mobile devices.

Initially introduced in the United States on June 29, 2007, the iPhone has quickly become one of the hottest mobile devices on the market. Randy Beiter will review the iPhone development environment and discuss what you need to begin with the iPhone SDK, including the development tools, technologies and processes necessary to create and deploy applications for iPhone.

Randy's Bio:

Randy Beiter is the Chief Software Engineer at iNomadics, Inc. A self-proclaimed “lifetime technologist,” Randy is the co-inventor of two patented software processes. In addition he is a Sun-certified Java developer who has served in multiple capacities throughout his 15 year career including technical expert, project leader and mentor. Prior to joining iNomadics, Randy served as a Senior Software Engineer for Oracle Corporation, BEA Systems, and Flashline, Inc. and as a Systems Analyst for Book Stacks Unlimited which is recognized as the first online retail establishment. Randy graduated from Cleveland State University with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science.

The agenda:

Eat, Drink, Network (5:30-6:00 PM)
Previous Meeting Recap, New Business (6:00-6:15PM)
Mobile Development (6:15PM)

>Mobile Landscape Overview
>Java ME
>iPhone

‘Human Flesh Search Engines’ Set Their Sights on Official Misbehavior

I find it fascinating, as described in the following blog from the Wall Street Journal, the cultural differences of netizens (citizens of the internet) in China than what we are familiar with here in the US.

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinajournal/2008/12/29/human-flesh-search-engines-set-their-sights-on-official-misbehavior/

How to Generate Low Customer Satisfaction Case Study : The Winking Lizard

Gary's Winking Lizard Story:





Let me start this with a short note highlighting how much I and my company enjoy participating in the Winking Lizard Beer Tour every year. We enjoy it so much that in some years (2004 for sure), we have even finished two tours. We use the Beer Tour as a great reason to bring together friends and business acquaintances that otherwise would never have met and many of these relationships have lasted several years.





That being said, all is not well in Lizard Land.





On December 6 of this past year, I was heading back from a business trip to Columbus, OH. We had just attended a 6-hour demonstration of the


Rover Ink product (http://www.roverusa.com/) at the


Platform Lab facility (http://www.platformlab.org/)


and after a 2-hour drive, we were ready for a bite to eat. We pulled off 71 in Brunswick and returned to the Winking Lizard restaurant where we had opened our original card #5769. That evening, we asked our waitress to pull our current tour list, and we started to go down the list to identify delicious candidates to move us closer to our goal of tour completion. Just a few days before, I had been to the Lizard on Rockside Road with a couple of friends and we had knocked three or four beers off the tour that I KNEW we had polished of at least six or seven beers that were still on our list of beers to yet be consumed. I mentioned it to our server in Brunswick and was told that :





"this happens all the time, you should keep all your receipts so you can show which ones you have checked off the list".





I didn't think a great deal about this as I was sure we would have enough business activity between December 6th and the end of the year to make up for the discrepancy.





On Decemember 20th, I went to the Winking Lizard in Lakewood. There I had dinner with a friend and picked up a 6-pack of the outstanding brands to take to my daughter's place for our Christmas dinner on the 25th. With the words of the server ringing in my ears, I made sure I kept everything, the detailed list of what we consumed, the charge receipt, and even the place mat that we used to mark off the 9 beers we had purchased.





On December 27th, I returned to the Lakewood Lizard knock a few more off the tour. At this point, there should have been eight or so left on the "to do" list. To my surprise, there were still 18 listed. I encouraged my server that there must be some mistake because I had been in that same restaurant only a week before, had wonderful service, chatted with the server about our tour being "almost done", and had knocked several off the list. She got the manager who told me she couldn't do anything unless I had the receipts. No more. I got back in my car, drove back to my office to pick up the paperwork, and brought it all to the manager who then made sure the list was properly deducted from the tally. Had I not made that trip, I am sure to this day that the manager that evening would have thought I was just trying to get a few knocked off for free and that there really was no problem. On the side, while I was picking up the paperwork, one server told my friend that "this happens all the time" and apologized profusely for the inconvenience.





On December 31, I went back to Lakewood to finish the tour. On this trip, Jim Elliot, the manager, came out to meet me and extend his personal apologies for the prior incident. He was honestly sorry for the situation and offered the following explaination, "When the server closed out your bill, they must "release" your tour number of the credit never occurs."





I explained to Jim that I own a software development firm, that we have supported POS systems and database systems for many companies such as his and that it CAN'T be that tough a problem to be occurring so many times ... and please, W.L. management, don't blame the servers. It is your system that is broke when the problem occurs over and over and over.


I will go to the Tour Party at Browns Stadium and remain enthusiastic as we obtain our 2009 tour card. I won't let my other 12 jackets be orphaned from their '09 brother by my frustrations. But I hate to think how many people have decided not to pursue the tour due to their similar frustrations and I hate even more to think how the morale of servers have been dinged by such a poorly designed system. Any system that pits a restaurant's servers against their MOST LOYAL customers





Get on it, Lizard managers, we look forward to much better from you in 2009.