You can find at least three topics of conversation in any American middle class family that are both sacred and taboo in some form or fashion - religion, money and sex. These are the three subjects we are all supposed to know about, but can't bring ourselves to talk about, at least not directly. And this makes it difficult for all of us because, let's face it, religion, money and sex go to the heart of what life is! They are, in fact, so interconnected that any one would not survive without the existence of the other two.
On October 3rd of 1999 Mike, Hans and Eric whimsically set out to bike all 469.1 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, from Cherokee, NC to Waynesboro, VA, through some of the tallest mountains on the east coast.They thought they were pretty good for weekend biking hacks, but they were really flatlanders by Appalachian Mountain standards. No one had a clue what was truly about to happen over the next six days.It took every day light hour, thousands and thousands of calories, a lot of humility in the face of Mother Nature, one new friend, one very dedicated spouse - and a rubber chicken - to finally get it done...
A Modern Day Cinderella Story - sort of...
It happened in June 2001 at a trade show in Las Vegas (doesn't it always). Infocomm, a big international A/V show, was at the Sands Convention Center. We were there with Reginald Cluckstone (the CEO of Chickentales.com) to put in the long, hard hours - walkin' the floors, handing out rubber chickens, scoping booth chicks - when late on the next-to-last evening we found it on a sidewalk in front of the convention center, a lost name lost tag!
Although it doesn't look like much, you do not want to lose your name tag at Infocomm! Why? Because it has that little magnetic stripe thing on the back that vendors swipe in card readers so that they can send you literature throughout the coming year. No swipey, no literature. This is a really big deal, because none of us wants people back home to think that we spend our time in Las Vegas doing what everybody else does when they go to Las Vegas. To industry insiders it is obvious that Infocomm organizers would want to host Infocomm in the environment most conducive to learning and growth. And apparently they felt that Las Vegas was that environment. It was a gutsy, proactive move and we applaud them! But in the mean time, the only way to convince folks back at home that we are not out there screwin' around is to sign up to receive a lot of literature...