Connecting the dots of life and business

From L to R (Bill Dotson, myself, Shannon Myers)

I was happy to be asked to participate on Lexington Ad Club‘s panel last week. The topic was called: Reinventing the Advertising Model, How is the digital phenomenon changing traditional advertising?

The panel included representatives from virtually every major media outlet in Lexington (TV, print and radio) and I guess I was asked to fill the “web” part. The lively discussion was moderated by Bill Dotson, CEO of WebMedley (standing in white shirt) and the attendees were very participatory. A few questions were given to us in advance, but there were many live questions from the audience which made for a good learning experience for everyone, including the panel.

I must admit while my father works in Lexington, I really don’t know their business community that well, especially their local media. I was very impressed with the media representatives’ use of new media and where they thought the web was going. I’ll post a follow up with several specific notes I found interesting.

Jason Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo is quite a polarizing individual. To most web folks, It’s no secret there are those that really don’t like him and yet others worship his every… tweet. I’ve always been quite ambivalent about him personally, but after listening to his new podcast, This Week in Startups I have to admit I kinda like the guy. Sure, he’s self-promoting (not a terrible thing in his business), but if you listen to his content, he does know the startup life.

His podcast includes an entrepreneur guest, call in questions, live conversation tracking with the hashtag #twist and weekly news roundup. I particularly enjoy the phone call questions and stories from guest entrepreneurs. I do love video podcasts, but I actually listen to this one as it averages well over an hour per episode. If Jason could drop the news and cut it down to 30 minutes, I’d be a more avid fan. If you haven’t been watching/listening, check out the video below.

Today, we arrived in St. Barths and shortly after we got off our boat we spotted a Louisvillian just a few feet away. His yacht shown below is called Touche and he actually left Louisville a few years ago. We chatted for a few minutes and we lived less than three miles from each other.

Most folks know that I use people around the world to accomplish different business tasks, so I agree with the “world is flat” theory, but it’s also amazingly small.

Update: I woke up today are realized the real lesson here is NOT that the world is small, but if there’s someone you want to meet professionally or network with… you CAN reach them. It’s relatively easy to break down the world of connections if you try. I’ll post soon about how I got lunch with my favorite author and he PAID for it.

I start most mornings with my favorite coffee and a few emails, but today’s start was at 6:30 and I’m not sure I’ve ever had a better view. We rented a villa in St. Maarten and this view may beat any I’ve seen. Here’s some more pics from the trip.

Although our weather in Louisville, KY has been quite warm and rainy this summer today was just odd. Check out the two pictures I took coming to and from work in the SAME day!

People think marketing takes a ton of money, yet Angie’s List spent less than $3.00 for a very memorable impression. They mailed me this very humorous letter shown below (click here for full size) and a large bag of M&M’s for referring a friend to their service. The crazy part is I let my subscription expire last year and they still mailed me this package. Needless to see I’ve spread the word about how cool this is and I’ve renewed my subscription.

If you choose to join Angie’s List, feel free to use my name for the referral.