JUST MY TAKE

Driver Needed. Honor. 118 Years Later. Enjoy Rikers. Electrified. I Drew The Wrong Straw. The Lions and Five Stripes – A Battle of Epic Proportions.

• Can anyone please explain how Tiger Woods’ agent and business support team allows him to drive himself to commitments, appointments, or anywhere, especially in locations he may not be familiar with? The L.A. sheriff’s office has kept his awful auto crash under the radar but they did disclose the vehicle reached speeds above 80 mph, in a 45 mph zone. Tiger: no mas. Use some of that wealth and hire a 24/7 driver.

• Speaking of golf, we head into today’s final round of the 2021 Masters. The tournament always opens with golf’s greatest teeing off on the 1st hole. A tradition like none other as they say, and this year, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were joined by honorary chairman Lee Elder, the first black golfer to compete at The Masters. Yes, the 80 year-old Nicklaus and the 85 year-old Player hit their tee shots straight down the middle. Of course they did.

• NASA engineers will try and attempt the first flight on Mars today and it could change space exploration forever. As a recap, NASA’s Perseverance rover, which launched in July 2020 and arrived on Mars February 18, carried the Ingenuity helicopter folded up in its belly. After the rover landed, it dropped Ingenuity onto the ground so the helicopter/drone could ready itself for its first flight.

As a matter of perspective, Ingenuity will attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. The first powered flight on Earth took place Dec. 17, 1903, on the dunes of Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville and Wilbur Wright covered 120 feet in 12 seconds during the first flight. Those two brothers would be mighty proud 118 years later.

• An undercover Asian officer from the New York Police Department (NYPD) has arrested a woman for hurling anti-Asian remarks at salon employees in Manhattan. The woman was caught harassing Asian employees at a Chinatown nail salon by threatening them and blaming them for the Covid-19 pandemic. I have read that Rikers Island’s infamous penitentiary is cozy this time of year. In fact, former Rikers Island inmates have called the facility “hell on earth,” cockroach-infested, and filthy. In 2019, there were 70 violent incidents for every 1,000 people in jail. I can’t think of a better place for this moron to spend the next five to ten years.

• In previous posts I have mentioned my interest in autonomous and electric vehicles. While I immediately think about the recharging and range issues it seems that major automobile manufactures are way ahead of the curve on how to overcome said issues. In fact, General Motors (GM) will offer thirty types of electric vehicles by 2025 – with 40% of the company’s U.S. models battery-powered electric vehicles. GM has partnered with EVgo, who in the next five years will add 2,700 fast charging stations, all powered by renewable energy. There is no doubt GM as well as most of the world’s major automobile manufacturers are betting heavily on the electric vehicle market, with GM announcing that their new Hummer will be all electric.

On the other side of the electric vehicle spectrum, there are numerous manufactures that are are unveiling tiny electric cars that will carry just one or two people and in many cases, go relatively short distances on a single charge. I assume their market research has provided for the potential demand, but there would definitely need to be a discernible rhyme and reason with negotiating the crazy traffic and highways associated with most major cities.

• K-9’s. These unsung heroes of law enforcement are invaluable with hunting down suspects as well as the search for drugs and weapons. The training these dogs go through has to be intense and never-ending, and must include training exercises reenacting actual tense situations. The real question: who draws the short straw to act as the perpetrator? Take a look.

• I am very much looking forward to Saturday at 3pm. The start of the Major League Soccer season includes what should be a great game between Orlando City and Atlanta United. Exploria Stadium is the venue, a beautiful downtown Orlando stadium walking distance from many outdoor restaurants and bars. Though Orlando City’s new in-state rival is down in the Miami area, there is no love lost between the Lions and the Five Stripes. It started many years ago when Atlanta United’s front office, in order to help generate a rivalry, placed outdoor advertising easily seen from I-4 in Orlando, and the rivalry expanded with comments made by both teams and their supporters. Orlando City, coming off a great 2020 season, will be a force to be reckoned with as they have reloaded their player pool, while Atlanta United has brought in a new manager, a few new impact players, and is hoping Josef Martinez has recovered from knee surgery. Saturday afternoon at Exploria Stadium will be a fun game to watch.

Adios, pay it forward, stay safe and have a Funday Sunday!

An Overachiever. Godzilla Cuts Kong Some Slack. Stepping Over The Line. Sports Central. Crazy For You.

• I guess we have every right to bitch and complain with all the issues we have to deal with these days. Whether personal, financial or work-related, the pandemic has given us a level of frustration and unfortunately in too many cases, despair. Then you learn about the greatest athlete no one knows, who is featured on the latest Real Sports program from HBO. Born with severe birth defects after her birth mother was exposed to radioactive fallout from the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, 31-year old Oksana Masters was missing a kidney and part of her stomach at birth, had extra toes, no thumbs, and her legs were extremely deformed. Placed in an orphanage in Ukraine, she tells her story of being passed over by prospective parents for years. Fast forward and Oksana’s fortunes changed overnight as she was finally adopted by a college professor who had seen her story of complete despair. Those deformed legs were eventually amputated and after being fitted with prosthetics, Oksana, at the request of her mom, took up rowing and the rest is history. Her achievements include Paralympic medals in both summer and winter competitions including the biathlon, cross-country skiing, rowing and cycling. She is both an amazing athlete and inspiration to all of us. Watch this two-minute video – a real life dose of reality.

• A few people questioned my sanity (join the club) with my exuberance and angst concerning the new Kong v. Godzilla movie. If you remember, I questioned the audacity of Warner Bros. Pictures and the film’s writers for growing Kong to the size of the 393-foot tall Godzilla. A sham in my opinion but the movie in general came off well. Out of respect for those who have not watched, I will not divulge the details and outcome of the movie. What I will say is that no one ever needs to challenge me about the greatest antagonist that has ever roamed this planet. Just don’t – and if you are not on Team Godzilla you just need to check yourself. 🙂

• Another mass shooting last week and another Capitol police officer dead. In some states, a surge in Covid-19 contractions. These type of events damper what has become one of our bright spots in the last 14 months – the vaccine. There seems to be some momentum and a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Then we get another dose of reality with the trial of police officer Derek Chauvin, 45, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the arrest and subsequent death of George Floyd. My assessment: Chauvin was a tenured officer, experienced in apprehension and arrest procedures. I do not believe that Chauvin had the intention of killing George Floyd but I do believe that he should be held accountable for his actions that have led to the charges filed against him. Whether it be his ego, machoism, or insecurity, his action of placing his knee on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes was not warranted, especially with the presence of his fellow officers. To me he was proving a point -unnecessary actions that unfortunately led to George Floyd’s death. I agree with the charges levied against Derek Chauvin – and this is just my take. I am interested in your take, but don’t bother interjecting any reference to race or politics. Unacceptable as part of my ethos with this blog.

• This weekend has always been the start of many good things. A few weeks into daylight savings time, the weather moving into springtime, and the sports world on fire. The start of Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer, the NHL and NBA in playoff positioning time, Europe’s top leagues jostling for Champions League qualification, and the NCAA Final Four for both men and women. Tuesday starts the CONCACAF Champions League competition for a few MLS teams with Atlanta United playing the first leg against LD Alajuelense down in Costa Rica. This will be a difficult match for the Five Stripes, still putting together their team under new manager Gabriel Heinze, and with a starting lineup that will average 24 years old. Speaking of young, it looks like Heinze will start four very young defenders – a big ask on the road in Central America.

• It is so fun to watch these two YouTube sensations discover music from the past – whether it be Pavarotti or Metallica. I am sure Heart’s Crazy on You provided these two young men a dose of reality when it comes to Ann’s incredible vocals and Nancy’s rifts on her magical guitar. The twins, Tim and Fred from Gary, Indiana, have become YouTube sensations with their “First Time Hearing” videos which were originally focused on rap. They have obviously expanded their range of music listening with over 250,000 YouTube subscribers. Nice work gentlemen!

Adios, pay if forward, be safe and Happy Easter!

A Perspective To Ponder.

The week’s guest writer is Ben Lewis, a long-time friend and associate. We worked together for many years creating and executing corporate events, from a blank sheet of paper to outstanding and award-winning event marketing programs and environments. The projects we worked on were massive trade show exhibits and customer events, involving many different facets of people and skills, including designers, CAD engineers, carpenters, and on-site install and dismantle teams.

Ben is the Managing Director of MC², a leading experiential marketing company. Experiential marketing is broadly defined as any form of customer-focused marketing activity, at various touch points, that creates a sensory-emotional connection to and with customers, partners, employees and the media. While many of us are aware of the massive layoffs that occurred in many industries, not many are aware of the impact on the corporate event and meeting world. Just as a baseline, here are some facts and figures (pre-pandemic):

• 1.9 million meetings occur annually —more than 5,200 every single day.
• Those 1.9 million meetings resulted in some big spending. If you add up planning, production, travel, and other direct expenditures, meetings and events account for $325 billion of direct spending in the U.S. Of that figure, $120 billion comes from travel alone.
• All that money directly supports 2.5 million jobs. This doesn’t include another 1.5 million indirect jobs and 1.9 million induced jobs , all across a wide cross-section of industries.

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A Year in the Life of an Experiential Marketing Professional – Ben Lewis, MC2

Yes folks, it’s been a year now. A year since “live events” came to a screeching halt due to the pandemic. In fact, the last real live tradeshow I attended was one of the country’s largest tradeshows that occurs every three years, called ConExpo. It takes place in Las Vegas and is the American version of BAUMA – a similar show that takes place in Shanghai and Munich. In fact, I left Las Vegas a little early a year ago with what I expect now to have been Covid-19 symptoms in early March, 2020.

Wow. Did things change? More than you can imagine.

As a company that made its bread and butter off of live B2B and B2C events, tradeshows, and Business Theater, etc., we really had to make some major adjustments. I refuse to continue to overuse the word/verb… (Begins with “P”, ends with “T”, and has an “IVO” in there somewhere in the middle). However, we had to do it to stay alive. We went from building physical and architectural environments – often larger than your own office building – to making a nearly gamer-like environment, or ecosystem, that fits on your computer screen. This was nothing new for us really, but it was now more the rule (and the necessity) to the exception. Thankfully, we were already good at it – the “hybrid event” that is. And we were able to… ugh… pivot… rather successfully. The platforms that show organizers were providing just left no way to really stand out from your competition in a virtual tradeshow. That’s why, though they’ve been around for awhile, they’ve never taken off as successful. We had to create an experience beyond that provided platform into something more immersive.

Here’s the toughest part. Our business was, and will soon be again (thankfully), largely built of Operational employees – somewhere around 65-70%. Project Managers, Master Carpenters, Logistics Employees, Traveling Supervision, and Union Labor. All at once, they had nothing to do. Thankfully, our company was strong enough to keep the large percentage of them on furlough, continuing to pay health benefits, and allow for them to draw unemployment – in a sense, they’re all still employed – there’s just very little physical work. It’s been a struggle for so many of our most loyal employees. People that have been with us for 20+ years of full time employment. It can be pretty depressing to be called off furlough several times to accomplish a couple of week’s work, only to have to be furloughed when that trickle of work runs out. Then you’re back home waiting for the next call. Most have had tremendous attitudes about it and are grateful that those of us who are working are doing everything we can to continue to generate revenue, so there’s a job to come back to. A handful have reluctantly moved on to another career path, or are at least considering it.

With the vaccine, and several states taking the steps to reopen more aggressively and despite the piecemeal and sometimes conflicting and confusing information from the press, Dr. Fauci, the CDC, and others, there are brighter days ahead. A recent survey indicated that 78% of potential attendees plan to travel to live events in the late summer and fall. Several large shows, including the “granddaddy of all shows”, CES, seem full speed ahead in early 2022. This show alone generates nearly $300 million in revenue through the approximately 180,000 attendees, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority – in a normalized year, of course. Not to mention the revenue generated for companies like ours, with the lion’s share of creative and production taking place late in 2021 to make it to Las Vegas with the early January 2022 show dates. It will be no simple charge, to go from the skeletal team we have across the country right now – about 110 of us, all sharing resources – to ramp back up quickly when the firehose is turned on for us to drink from again. It’s going to be a welcome challenge. It will still be some time before everyone is back. And unfortunately, some people and smaller companies won’t make it back. But we’ve been through this in some ways before. The stock market in 2008, and of course that fateful day in September of 2001. As traumatic as both of these events were, the pandemic has done more to simply STOP live events, single-handedly, than both of the prior events combined. Crazy right? A simple virus.

If I have to go too much longer without shaking a customer’s hand, and only looking at their living space behind them in their Zoom call, I might just lose it. One more “you’re on mute, Jack” and I’ll begin to slip. What’s interesting is how convinced I am at my increased productivity working from home. I’m out of the bed and in front of the computer with my coffee, by 6:30-7:00. I normally have an hour commute, each way. That’s literally two hours out of my day. On the flip side, working from home will negatively impact your personal life. There’s no clear “start and stop” time. The standard ten-hour day has become the 12-hour day. It’s been a welcome change to get back into the office, officially, three days a week or more.

I think we’re all due a Brave’s game soon – a concert at the Battery before or after the game.

Have you had your vaccine? Do you plan on taking one? Do you think it will be required for travel? If you don’t want to take the vaccine and it becomes a requirement to travel, OR if to visit your customer, can they require you to have it – jeopardizing your career? Can anyone? Lots of questions.

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Thanks Ben. A heartfelt take from an industry professional. The impact has been massive – and hopefully the experiential world will be back very soon.

Adios, pay it forward, stay safe and have a Funday Sunday!

A Happy Medium? Light It Up! Samuel L. Jackson At His Finest.

I need to be careful with this segment of the post as you might take this assessment as political…it is not. I am going to make my point from a holistic point of view. Yes, some of what you will read may relate to the political system of the United States and with that said politics are energy draining.

Bill Maher hosts a weekly show on HBO. In theory, I have no business watching as the subject matter and guests of the show discuss and debate politics. More than often, the information focuses on bipartisan issues that no longer concern me. In last week’s show, Maher, who in my opinion is very intelligent, witty, and sometimes belligerent, went on a rant about the United States and China, which sort of struck a cord with me. His rant related to both China’s aggressive, authoritarian regime along with their ability to analyze, address and solve problems. As a baseline watch the one minute video below.

Yes, China is different than the United States in many ways. Yes, their authoritarian rule allows for buildings, hospitals, and actual cities to be built in a matter of days or months instead of years. They don’t have the city and state building statutes to contend with…or on the other hand the Food and Drug Administration that dictates and approves the development and distribution of vaccines.

Maher had some rather harsh words for the U.S.A. saying China is overtaking our place on the world stage because “Americans are busy obsessing over culture wars and not doing anything productive.” The following are taken directly from Maher’s rant last Friday night. While I do not agree with some of these comments, he does make comparative points that hit home:

• “You know who doesn’t care that there’s a stereotype of a Chinese man in a Dr. Seuss book? China. All 1.4 billion of them could give a crouching tiger flying f—,” Maher said, referencing the controversy surrounding six of Seuss’s books that were pulled by Dr. Seuss Enterprises over racist imagery. 

• “You’re not going to win the battle for the 21st century if you are a silly people, and Americans are a silly people.” This is in reference to a quote from “Lawrence of Arabia” that as long as the U.S. continues to be a bunch of squabbling tribes, we will remain silly people.

• “In two generations, China has built 500 entire cities from scratch, moved the majority of their huge population from poverty to the middle class and mostly cornered the market in 5g and pharmaceuticals. In China alone, they have 40,000 kilometers of high-speed rail. America has… none. Our fastest train is the tram that goes around the zoo.”

• “Nothing ever moves in this impacted colon of a country! We see a problem and we ignore it, lie about it, fight about it, endlessly litigate it, sunset clause it, kick it down the road and then write a bill where a half-assed solution doesn’t kick in for 10 years. China sees a problem and they fix it. They build a dam; we debate what to rename it.”

To be clear, I do not agree with all of Maher’s statements. I guess my take is that there has to be a happy medium between authoritarian government that tells everyone what to do and a representative government that sometimes can’t get anything done at all. With all that said, I will not be a hypocrite about my lack of political interest, but if Maher does not like living in the United States I am sure Iran or Myanmar are looking to accept high-wealth comedians.

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Anyone who has attended any event at Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium certainly must enjoy the overall experience. The Atlanta United games I have attended certainly have raised the bar in the sporting world, as the stadium structure and in-game production is outstanding. Other Major League Soccer teams have brought their new soccer-specific stadiums online including Orlando and L.A.F.C. – with Austin, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Columbus, Nashville and St. Louis following suit. Another new stadium that is very close to opening is in Cincinnati, where their Major League Soccer team will be based. I am not privy to what the stadium amenities include, but one thing is certain: their owners have put their stadium on the map with the use of ‘LED Fins’ to produce an amazing light show on the exterior façade. Five hundred and thirteen ‘LED Fins’ to be exact, which is the area code for Cincinnati and surrounding cities. Kudos to their owners for stepping up the overall stadium experience.

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I have exhausted my take on culture wars, social imbalance, police brutality, and racial discrimination. Then we again get hit hard with last week’s tragedy in the Atlanta area and it again brings our sensitivity and awareness of hate crimes to light. Then we get onto the subject of stereotyping, which in my mind is another version of racist behavior. Enough is enough as the divide in this country continues – a divide that includes politics, race, religion and origin. On another front, the video clip below brings some levity to light in regards to stereotyping with the way Samuel L. Jackson handled this moronic Los Angeles-based entertainment reporter. As much as Samuel L. Jackson is a gentleman by continuing the interview, he certainly did not cut this reporter any slack. Well done SLJ, as most of us would have certainly ended this interview early on.

Adios, pay it forward, stay safe, and have a Funday Sunday!

A Year Of Infamy. 100X The Speed Of Sound. Box Jacking At Its Finest. Speaking Of Ridiculous. Let’s Play! Larry Made Us Cringe.

• Last Wednesday marked one year when the sports world shut down. Led by the NBA stoppage, the onslaught of Covid-19 led to the temporary end of competitive sports. With that said, factoring in all the issues with the pandemic, it was amazing that the Major League Soccer restart was back four months later with that infamous tournament in Orlando. A tournament that gave all of us hope that with a massive spend and tight protocols, sports once again could give us some television viewing pleasure. The NBA followed with their “Orlando-based season” and at whatever level, live sports on television got many of us through a very difficult year. A year to both remember and forget.

• An asteroid as wide as the Golden Gate Bridge is long will hurtle past Earth next Sunday. The bad news: this asteroid’s speed and velocity, if colliding with our planet would be devastating, especially if it hit near a highly-populated area or the ocean, where it could create a tsunami or vaporize enough seawater to cast a haze over the entire planet. A bit difficult to comprehend, but as a comparison a plane flies at 575 miles per hour, the International Space Station at 17,000 miles per hour and this FO32 asteroid at 77,000 miles per hour, or 100 times the speed of sound. The good news: though NASA scientists call this a “near-earth” pass, this massive rock will actually come no closer than 1.25 million miles from earth, which obviously poses the question why it is deemed a “near-earth” experience?

• I have always appreciated and enjoyed the creative world. I have lived it for most of my business career, along with the engineering, production and installation process that follows the design development phase. I came across a construction process called box jacking reading about Florida’s Brightline train service, which is in the process of building their railway system from Miami to West Palm Beach to Orlando, and hopefully to Tampa. In theory, box jacking is a well-established means of engineering culverts or tunnels under highway overpasses, rail embankments or waterways to accommodate road or rail traffic.  Brightline has enlisted the box jacking methodology to save immense time with creating tunnels under overpasses. What usually takes many months or years to accomplish with traditional burrowing methods can now be cut in half using box jacking. Used in Europe for many years, box jacking has recently been employed in the United States, most significantly in the Boston area. The animation below is a bit wonky, but it does simulate the process of pushing massive concrete structures inch by inch under an overpass. Not simple, but a much faster way than conventional methods.

• As I mentioned last week, I can be tough on many issues and I am sensitive to any type of discrimination but this aversion to everyday culture is ridiculous. Calling out Dr. Seuss books as racist did not sit well with me and now I read about a very ‘high-end’ private K-12 school in New York City that has gone way too far. The school (name withheld) has produced a 12-page guide for their students and staff that demands they use more “inclusive language” – their effort to explain the school’s mission of inclusivity. As an example, one part of this 12-page guide tells students and staff to stop using the terms “mom,” “dad,” and “parents” – because these words make too much assumption about a student’s home life. While I understand children live in a myriad of home circumstances, the school now recommends the use of terms “grown-ups,” “folks,” “family” or “guardians” as alternatives to “mom,” “dad” and “parents.” It also suggests using “caregiver” instead of “nanny/babysitter.” This is insane and this “sensitivity at all cost” is not a good thing. As if our youth don’t have enough socio-economic issues to contend with….they now need to learn a new way to discuss their family support system. Insanity at best.

• Major League Soccer is back. The League announced the season and home openers for each of the 27 teams last week – and will follow up with the season schedule by the end of the month. I don’t envy the League’s scheduling staff, as they still are dealing with the national and state protocols with Covid-19, while trying to prepare a schedule that is competitively balanced. One great opening weekend matchup sees Atlanta United visiting Orlando City the afternoon of April 17. For many reasons this opener should be great fun to watch due to their long-standing rivalry and the return of Orlando nemesis Josef Martinez. Depending on the League and the State of Florida, Orlando City will hopefully announce a level of fan capacity soon. Though Orlando City lost a key striker, Darryl Dike, to a loan with an English Premier League team, they have made some key additions to their player pool. Look for Orlando City and Atlanta United to be on top of their conference standings this year.

• I have exhausted the topic of sensitivity. Classic movies being called to the carpet, schools dictating how their students refer to their home lives, and anything else that sets off our “sense of sensitivity.” The dilemma is that some of the funniest people on earth used their “insensitivity” as a platform for comedy. What would we have done without the crazy Don Rickles? What about the numerous scenes in the Blazing Saddles movie? Did we all not laugh hard at Rodney Dangerfield’s comedy? All of us: black, white, green and purple, laughed out loud at Leslie Nielsen in the movie Airplane, as he abused everyone from air traffic controllers to nuns. Richard Pryor, pound for pound the best standup comedian ever, abused every race, religion and nationality and WE ALL LAUGHED hard at his content and amazing delivery. While we need to keep racism in check, we don’t ever need to go away from raucous comedy. Larry David in the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm made everyone cringe – in every episode. He was brutal with everyone, and we all watched and cried laughing at him being a total moron. Please don’t get me wrong. There is a time and place for everything – and racism has NO place in our society. Just watch Larry David in this classic scene with him visiting a lemonade stand. OMG.

Adios, pay it forward, be safe, have a Funday Sunday, and ENJOY DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!

Touch A Button – It Expands! Too Much Wine. The Queen’s Gambit. Let’s Be Certain. Daylight Coming.

• Almost two years ago I ranted about Samsung’s effort to enter a new era of mobile phones. They had just introduced their ‘foldable’ model only to receive feedback that the hinges allowing the phone to fold were not working and many screens were detaching from the frame. A $2,000 phone and it failed miserably in the marketplace. Two years later, there does seem to be a mobile phone technology that could be a game-changer. Oppo, along with other device makers, has introduced a ‘rollable’ phone allowing a normal-sized phone to expand to a small tablet. If this rollable technology does maintain efficacy, consumers will once again get on wait lists for its availability.

• We long for the trip to the shore to take in the balmy ocean breezes and the soft pounding of the surf. There is definitely a peaceful existence to being at a coastline, until you look out to the sea and try to recollect the quantity of Cabernet consumed the previous evening. There is a “out of my pay grade” scientific reason you witness a massive cargo ship flying above the water’s surface, but we remain silent to avoid our family and friends calling us crazy. Us crazy?

• My brother, who very early on was at a much different level of intelligence, introduced me to the game of chess. I enjoyed learning how to play, as the strategy of thinking many moves ahead challenged me. I was never successful playing against my brother but enjoyed hm teaching me how to play. Unfortunatly, like many indoor activities, I did not spend too much time on the chess board as I was always outside playing sports and listening to music. After watching a few episodes of The Queen’s Gambit, I wish I had spent much more time learning the game of chess.

• A thank you to a long-time friend who sent me this YouTube video. While we all need to be aware of racial discrimination, police brutality, social injustice, and sexual indiscretions, I feel strongly that words need to be turned into actions. There are many who are doing just that, putting actions into place that hopefully will get us into a more positive environment. Unfortunately, in my opinion, some of this sensitivity has strayed too far as I recently learned that movie classics including Gone With The Wind and Guess Who’s Comng To Dinner have been lambasted by some who call out themes of racism and discrimination. Again, I am extremely supportive of ACTION taking place to put these social injustices behind us once and for all, but calling out classic movies, enjoyed by millions of people, made over fifty years ago, has gone too far. Black, white, or brown, I have never heard one negative comment about Kathryn Hepburn, Sidney Portier, or Spencer Tracy in the classic Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. Let’s all check reality at the door before we judge a classic movie, with amazing actors, made fifty years ago.

• Today is March 7, 2021 and I should not have to tell you what that means. One week to go.

Adios, pay it forward, be safe, and have a Funday Sunday.

Pent-Up Demand. Dishonest Dirtbags. A Look At Previous Takes. Grohl Does It Right.

• It still may be difficult for some to imagine taking a flight to a destination of choice. There may be no difference in thinking about the seaside bed and breakfast or VRBO on a mountain lake. My take is that you better start thinking about travel right now as those low airfares and hotel fares are about to skyrocket.

Industry experts have coined the phrase “revenge travel” but call it what you want. The many months of people either not wanting to or unable to travel are going to come to an end once the vaccine of choice penetrates our upper arm. The pent-up demand, from both a business and casual travel standpoint have never been higher, and with airlines and hotels dealing with low capacities, they are all savoring what many think is going to be an onslaught of travel later this year. “Revenge travel” – you might want to book your vacation right now.

If “revenge travel” does drive travel activity in both the business and leisure sectors, the investment play may not necessarily be with the airline and hotel companies, but with the travel technology companies that do the behind the scenes work. It might be worth a look at companies similar to Amadeus, Ovation, Travelopro, and Expensify as it would seem their growth would dovetail with this pent-up demand being satisfied. Then again, who really knows what the markets are going to do?

• Over the last year I have made a pledge to support locally-owned businesses, especially restaurants. I don’t need to remind anyone what the pandemic has done to small businesses, with many ceasing operations. Some restaurants, who ramped up their ability to fulfill to-go orders, have so far made it through a very tough time, and await the day where all of us have been vaccinated. Then I read about a family-owned restaurant in Los Angeles and the devastating result of some dishonest customers. From the L.A. Times: “… as restaurants increasingly receive takeout orders online and through apps, they face a new challenge called “friendly fraud” or “chargebacks.” In the scam, a customer orders food, often through a delivery service, then receives their meal, but disputes the charge with their credit card company to get a refund.” I have no words for people who do this to any type of business but I do have a couple of old friends in Miami that would enjoy the chance to meet people like you.

Updates to previous takes:

• White Castle fail – all of us health food crazies were so excited about White Castle offering up delivery of their special food in the Orlando area. It seems that “… incredible demand overwhelmed their ability to deliver” so after one day they have shut down their delivery service from their “ghost kitchen”. White Castle management now says they will reopen when their first area restaurant opens in May. I am not a conspiracy theorist but is White Castle being on the up and up with this closure or was this a publicity stunt gone massively wrong?
• The vaccine supply chain and General Perna – I sung the praises of General Perna with his experience and his command of the supply chain. While he did bring the vaccine to fruition and the distribution to the state level seemed on strategy, the inability of states to handle the lack of inventory against the demand is worrisome.
• Tiger – after watching the two-part HBO series on Tiger Woods, some of his personality fails came to light. His way back to fame included the win at the 2019 Masters but last December he underwent another back surgery. What happened last week raised some eyebrows but the L.A. County Sheriff’s office has called his car wreck an accident. Tiger may never play again after sustaining those awful leg injuries – but reality states that he is lucky to be alive. Godspeed Tiger – you have a young family to take care of so all the best to a successful recovery.
• I received many replies and comments to my ask for a “no social media day.” As you can imagine, the age of the responders correlated directly with their naysay or support for this one-day a year initiative. Come on, its one day!
• Mars – the photos and video being beamed back from Mars’ surface is really incredible. Kudos to NASA and Perseverance for pulling this off under the close watch of every entity involved with space exploration.
• Godzilla and Kong – enough said. I am not happy but all are invited to my HBO Max watch party…
• DST – We have two weeks to go to Daylight Savings Time. Let’s Go!

I leave you with a feel good moment from a few years ago. I bring you back to the Foo Fighters concert in Kansas City when band leader Dave Grohl invited a 10-year-old boy up on stage. The boy, Collier, come to find out, has battled a plethora of diseases, including a life-threatening ailment, but it is obvious from this video that nothing can stand in his way. With respect to Dave Grohl, James Hetfield’s version of Enter Sandman sounds a bit better, but a huge shout out to Grohl for doing the right thing after Collier is done playing:

Adios, pay it forward, stay safe and have a Funday Sunday!

$340 Million. Power Up. Bite-Size Burgers. A Marketer’s Dream. Media Manipulation? Join The Team.

• Fernando Tatis Jr. agreed to a 14-year, $340 million contract extension with the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, securing one of the largest guarantees in American sports history. Good for Tatis Jr., his family and of course his agent, and with that said it is getting a bit old listening to professional sports teams and their owners whine about the pandemic’s effect on the balance sheet. Sure, Tatis Jr. has become one of the stars of baseball, and yes, I told everyone about Lionel Messi’s new contract with Barcelona, but these numbers are staggering.

• Godspeed to everyone affected by last week’s cold weather that put millions of people in peril with no power and to some degree no running water. Amazing that in 2021 we can land another rover on Mars but cannot implement redundancy with our power grids and systems. I am not slamming our power companies, as they are working around the clock to restore power, I am just pointing out that from a technology standpoint, it is time for some very smart people to figure this issue out so it never happens again. A friend in the power industry has committed to a guest column giving all of us insight into the ‘business of power’ in the United States. I don’t know much but I really have no clue of how power is sold and bought around the world.

• A sign of the pandemic times where people are looking for ‘small wins’: I have heard more than a few people excited about an offering on the food delivery front. White Castle, known for those incredibly healthy and delicious little burgers, is building their largest store to date in Orlando, Florida. To celebrate and promote their new store, their commissary in Orlando has announced that those White Castle burgers will be available for delivery from various store-to-door delivery companies. This is a small win?

• I have not done a ‘background check’ on Naomi Osaka, and unless there is some hidden demon from her past, this young lady is a marketer’s dream. Tall, attractive, multilingual and with massive poise, Osaka won her 4th major tennis title at Saturday’s Australian Open. Her agent must be ranking and rating a massive amount of endorsement offers from brands across the world.

• I enjoyed the Governor of New York’s press conferences that started late last March when it seemed obvious that Covid-19 was going to be a huge problem. Chris Cuomo seemed genuine and transparent as he presented daily data and information about the virus and hospitalizations. I don’t like what I heard this week, with some type of cover up regarding New York nursing homes, and it will be both shocking and sad if these allegations come to fruition.

• If you think I am letting go of my tirade regarding King Kong being portrayed at the same height as Godzilla, you are wrong, very wrong. Along with emails being sent to Warner Bros. Pictures’ CEO, I am now officially part of “Team Godzilla.” Let me know if you want in but the vetting process is arduous. The movie premiers March 31 and since it also will be premiered on HBO Max, I am hosting an outdoors watch party on my rooftop. DraftKings and some Las Vegas betting lines have Kong as a slight favorite. Seem silly to you? 🙂

Adios, pay it forward, stay safe, and have a Funday Sunday!

Red Skies On Thursday. Love Potion. Musician Extraordinaire. Euro Snob. A 70-Yard Tee Shot. Four Weeks To Go.

• Just after 3:30pm EST on Thursday, after a seven-month, 300 million mile trip, NASA’s Perseverance will hopefully land on Mars. Cruising at 12,000 mph, Perseverance will begin a rapid slow down after it enters Mars’ atmosphere. At a mile above the red planet, the space vehicle’s descent engines will fire, and along with a very large parachute, will guide Perseverance down to Mars’ surface. Equipped with audio and video systems, we will be able to witness the landing on the planet’s surface in real time. Live coverage and landing commentary from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will begin at 2:15 p.m. on the NASA TV Public Channel and the agency’s website, as well as the NASA App, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitch, Daily Motion, and THETA.TV. This animation is amazing and if close to reality, Thursday will be a must-watch:

• Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love and togetherness. The day is filled with the giving of beautiful flowers, chocolates, and fine dining to impress your loved one. Ok, I will stop before you throw up in your mouth, but Valentine’s Day really can be special. I have had a few memorable ones including a bouquet of black spray-painted roses delivered to my door and a counseling session with a young man whose heart was broken. These were not the type of Valentine’s Days I was planning on but those two were definitely memorable. No matter, the Indonesians have Valentine’s Day totally mixed up. They forbid the celebration of Valentine’s Day in some areas of Indonesia as the governing parties feel that celebrating Valentine’s Day may lead young people to have casual sex. Oh my Indonesia.

• John Mayer called him “the single greatest improvisational musician I have ever played with.” He was a master of the keyboard and it does not matter if you enjoy jazz or not, listening to Chick Corea play was something special. One of my college roommates introduced me to Corea’s music and though I favored rock and roll, there was something about his sound that made me smile. Chick Corea passed away last Tuesday at the age of 79. He will be missed.

• I have a love-hate relationship with baseball. While I enjoy the traditions and history of the game, as well as the skill and tactics employed by players and managers, the game drags on way too long. Major League Baseball is trying to speed up the game, especially with double-headers and extra-inning games, but this video, from many years ago, may explain the game way better than I can:

• Golf has always been a big challenge for me and most other recreational golfers. Francesco Molinari brought reality back to all of us at the first hole at Pebble Beach, were this weekend’s PGA tournament is being held. For all golfers out there who have joined me in a frustrating time on the golf course, here is a tee shot from Molinari that most of us can unfortunately relate to….it traveled 70 yards.

• Yes, the countdown continues. Four weeks to daylight savings time!

Adios, pay if forward, stay safe and have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

How Did Florida Miss The Train? Gary, Let It Go. Pay Him. I Am Asking For One Day. The Countdown Begins.

• Over the years I have heard many of my European friends and business associates, when traveling the southeast United States, comment on the lack of train service between cities and their venues, including airports. My friends’ take is correct. While Miami’s Metrorail and Atlanta’s MARTA have their train systems running to their airports, Orlando, in their infamous wisdom, left Orlando International Airport off of the routes of their commuter rail system. Dovetailed with no service to the area theme parks, Orlando’s SunRail system just seems to have missed in a big way.

Similar to Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte, Orlando and Tampa’s population is growing exponentially. Fueled by no state income tax, an ever-growing technology workforce, and tax incentives from the State, varied businesses tied to technology, the service sector, and the space coast are starting up or relocating quickly. It is amazing to me that civil planning executives from both Orlando and Tampa did not plan for train transportation to their airports. Fortunately, it seems like the private high-speed rail service in Florida, Brightline, has seen the light, and will connect Orlando International with Tampa International. With a bit of legislative leniency, Brightline’s ultimate goal is to provide high-speed rail connecting Miami, West Palm Beach, Orlando, and Tampa. Better late than never.

• I am not letting it go. In last week’s post I expressed my exasperation with Warner Bros. Entertainment. The misguided representation of Godzilla and King Kong being the same height still does not sit well with me. So I ask everyone to join me in voicing their displeasure by dropping a note to Ms. Ann Sarnoff, Warner Bros. Entertainment’s CEO: ann.sarnoff@warnerbros.com . She has not replied to my email. 🙂

• There is not argument. I favor the sport of soccer. There are many reasons, and without putting you to sleep, the main reason is that I was lucky enough to be exposed to soccer at a very early age. Basketball was also a first love, and I actually feel strongly that playing hoops helped me on the soccer field. Now we go to present day, where worldwide soccer has become the “flavor of the month” – a phenomenon fueled by the over-the-air and digital coverage of worldwide leagues and competitions.

With that said, I do want to comment on some news out of Barcelona and their famous soccer club. It is reported that Lionel Messi, long the club’s megastar, is reportedly negotiating a contract, that with all compensation components, will pay him in excess of $170M annually. While some turn their noses to this amount of money, the contract does reflect the value of Messi to Barcelona as they look to regain their domination of La Liga (Spain’s first division) and The Champion’s League (Europe’s annual club competition that yields massive money to qualifying clubs). Before you naysay, look at the salaries being paid to pitchers in Major League Baseball or the $7.8M average salary paid to players in the National Basketball Association. Professional athletes’ salaries can be outrageous, but we only have ourselves to blame as eyeballs on televised sports yield advertising revenue allowing networks to pay leagues and their clubs a massive amount of money. When one of my friends challenged Messi’s contract and value, my simple response to him is that Messi negotiated what the market will bear. Note: Barcelona enjoys approximately $50M annually from the sale of Lionel Messi jerseys. Yes, $50M.

• I propose a world-wide holiday. A holiday that will regain some meaning, some time, and some sanity. A holiday that brings people together with a quick phone call, lessens volatile responses, and saves a good bit of battery power. A day that would bring some peace, no misunderstandings, and would allow all of us to really gather our thoughts. No Social Media Day. For twenty-four hours all of us refrain from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and every other social media platform. Americans check their phones 96 times a day – that’s once every 10 minutes, according to new research by global tech care company Asurion. Nearly 9 out of 10 Americans get offended when someone they’re speaking with starts looking at their phone. However, three-quarters admit they’ve done it themselves. And, nearly 1 in 5 say they do this frequently. One day – is that too much to ask?

• Speaking of time, every year, about a month into the new year, I start my daylight savings time countdown. So not only is this Super Bowl Sunday, but it marks five weeks until we turn our clocks forward. Daylight Savings Time: Let the Sunshine in.

Adios, Pay It Forward, Stay Safe, and Enjoy the Super Bowl.