Picking up a Blog draft 13 years later: The Psychology of Youth Sports

Almost 14 years since my last public blog post, I somehow stumbled upon my last two unfinished drafts. 

Remember when so many of our friends were writing interesting blogs? Is anyone even writing full articles anymore? Heck, are there even full paragraphs being published by us normal folks? Shoot, I barely see complete sentences on the major social media platforms. I mean, today's character-counting tweet culture has resorted to shorthand that barely includes complete words, or even letters. The emoji comms style feels like we have come full circle - I guess the hieroglyphic cave drawings (like the vinyl record) was bound to make a major comeback!

This week, I am reaching out to some of my circa 2008 blogging friends to challenge them to get back in the saddle. #bringbloggingback Maybe I can even get Sean Tevis to repost all of his highly entertaining and authentic content that got whitewashed when the political strategists took over his image in 2008.  (I wonder if Sean will even respond to my phone calls:  Sean DID answer the call and says he is IN!).  Other challenge call-outs go to my dear high school friend and career freelance writer Kim Olson and serial entrepreneur Kimberly Corbitt. 

I will leave it to Sean to post the official blogger redux challenge: For now, I am just going to ease into it and knock the dust off of this draft and try to figure out where I was going with all of this.... having spent countless hours on the sidelines of youth sports as a volunteer coach and photographer I have more observations, reflections and strong opinions than I would ever try to fit in one post, so let's just go back and see what November, 2009 Tom had to say about things:

The Connected Adolescent

Wow, has it really been that long since I've shared my thoughts online?! Maybe it's been the 300,000 miles on airplanes this year or the continuous mad scramble to keep business flowing in this unprecedented economy.There certainly hasn't been any lack of conversational topics, though...

It's almost a cliche' anymore to point out the ways that the internet and information age has changed our life and how we interact. Early last year, I referenced Sean Tevis' indoctrination into political activism. I still remember the day he walked into my office relaying to me how he had been encouraged to launch a campaign for Kansas State Representative, Michelle had suggested that he solicit my view on the matter. With no funds and no political background running against the incumbent retired police chief in a strongly conservative Republican district, it seemed a bit of senseless folly, and with their first child on the way....perhaps Michelle expected me to talk him out of the idea (I never went back and asked her, she intimidates me too much). Not knowing at the time that I would be moving to Oregon in less than 2 months, I told him he would be a fool not to run, and that, as the underdog, he should turn this into a new media campaign ("go with what you know" I told my favorite web developer and blogger). Remember what happened earlier this year in Malaysia, right? (actually, most people in Kansas had not paid much attention to the political revolution in Malaysia earlier that year, so the reference was somewhat lost). Well, the rest, as they say, is history. Gaining national media attention for his web-based fund raising efforts, Sean made this laugher of a race incredibly close. It was Balboa-Creed I. It was so frightening for the establishment, that they introduced the "Sean Tevis Bill" right after the election, attempting to make sure that these new media activists can't threaten to upset the balance of power ever again (good luck with that one, I guess)....

Closer to home, though, I have entered that magical phase of fatherhood known as adolescence and puberty. Probably high on the conscious mind of any parent (and child) at this stage is social development. I have noted a trend in my own social interactions over the last 5 years. With the explosion of social media and constant connectivity, I find myself continuously connected with hundreds of friends and colleagues, even from the far corners of the earth. If I need professional advice on a marketing campaign, I can instantly ping 385 of my friends and coworkers on LinkedIn, if they each forward it to a friend of a friend, it reaches a network of over 4,177,000 people! On Facebook, I'll post albums from our hockey teams, instantly notifying 225 friends and family of Tyler's game-winning goal.

So, the dilemma; at what point should a 12-year old kid be allowed to socialize online? Being the progressive parent, I decided to set up a profile for him. As it turns out, facebook requires users to be 18years old to have an account. Poking around, though, a noticed several of Tyler's classmates' profiles. After a conversation with my wife and establishment of a very strict set of house rules and requirements, we turned our 12 y/o loose on facebook. Guess I'm not the only parent choosing to overlook the minimum age requirements - less than 3 weeks later, he has a network of over 100 online friends and classmates. It struck me that, unlike those in my generation, my sons will likely not find themselves with "long lost friends". Remember when your best friend moved away after 3rd grade? Sure, you traded post cards time and again, maybe a phone call when his family passed through town (oh, the days of interstate toll calls...). But, by high school he was little more than a memory and the occasional "I wonder what ever happened to Bill Coffer?"

What about that random encounter? The "visiting from out of town - friend of a friend" you met at the Halloween party? Unless you made considerable effort, developing and maintaining a long distance friendship was a rare occurrence. Not today. Meet someone who you'll only see twice a year? Not a problem, link up on facebook, follow each other's twitter feeds and become life-long friends...

But I wonder - do we spend so much time online connecting remotely with the masses, that we will develop less deep relationships to the few closest to us? Hard to tell, really, as I sit in my easy chair receiving Farmville gifts from my wife, who is lounging on the sofa next to me, also working on her laptop. "Hey Ty," I yell to my 12 year old in the next room, "I need more chickens for my coop." "No problem, dad, I'll send you one." Such is life on the family farm....

Business Travel 101

Taking a peek at the world through the eyes of Sean Tevis, I came across an interesting and very familiar observation concerning our recent national sales meeting. (excerpt from Sean's Blog)

"The Napa Marriott, for example, is a nice place, but it’s not noticeably different on the inside from other Marriott hotels except for the wine-themed artwork on the walls. For the 90 percent of the time you spend indoors you might as well be at the Marriott in Overland Park, Kansas and you would never know the difference. "

When I'm trying to convince my wife that business travel is grueling and not so glamorous, I will use this same approach - describing every city as "looking the same". You know - an airport, same old rental car, the inside of the Marriott Courtyard, a conference room at the customer's office, dinner at Applebee's...same ole' stuff - different city.

Sad thing is - it is quite possible to have this experience (many people do - including me at one point). Several years ago, during a visit to Indianapolis, my friend Peter introduced me to the concept of the 15-minute tourist. During a short break between our afternoon meetings and dinner, we made a quick side visit to the War memorial - 15-minutes of culture squeezed into an otherwise busy trip. Since then, I have made it a point to try and get out for a few minutes of "sight-seeing" whenever I travel. Sometimes this is easier said than done - but I probably have a better than 50% success rate over the last several years. Here are some tips:

1. Don't rely on "stumbling" across an interesting tourist attraction. Do a quick Internet search and find the local sites and unique attractions in the city you are visiting.

2. Bring a camera - give yourself a personal goal of taking at least 20 photos on each trip. I actually carry my Nikon digital SLR wherever I go. The kids get a kick out of viewing my photos on my zenfolio photo site - especially on those multi-night journeys.

3. If your trip includes dinner or a working lunch, incorporate a local attraction. Frequently, your local host or client will be thrilled to show off their home town - especially if you are from out of the country.

4. Even if you don't have time scheduled for a 15 minute sightseeing excursion, do your homework anyway, be ready when things change. On a trip to New York City a few years ago, we found ourselves with an unexpected 2-hour opening in the schedule. Rather than just going back to our rooms to do e-mail, Danielle, Paul & I had time for a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Now, if one of the local attractions happens to be the worlds' largest outdoor market, you may have a quite different dilemma...(see "The Joy of Shopping")

Birth of a Political Activist

Tevis.net › At the Kansas Caucuses

After reading Sean's most recent blog, I suddenly feel like I have nothing interesting or amusing to talk about. Funny how your life can seem so interesting and adventurous until you peek over the cubicle and see what the next guy is doing....I really gotta get out more often!

I just started a new book last night - "There's no Such Thing as Public Speaking". So far, it's a really good read focusing on the "physics" of public speaking and the similarities between one-to-one and one-to-many conversations. The basic premise is that there should be no difference between speaking in public and public speaking. Which, not surprisingly, is a simply stated observation made by one of the fifth graders in my son's class last month (refer to my "Signals of Change" entry). I'm pretty sure I'll use this book as a reference in my future presentation skills courses - it covers many of the exact points. More to follow on that - I need to work all the way through it and make sure it doesn't do anything ridiculous like advise you to "imagine that the whole audience is in there underwear" as a tactic for overcoming nerves. I don't know about you, but an audience full of business associates in their skivvies is not an image that conjures up feelings of relaxation! Not sure if you've ever tried that tactic, but I just don't see it working for me.