I Am Proud of You

Mike Barzacchini photo

This sign on the Harper College campus expresses what I want to say to you. I'm proud of the week you've had, your accomplishments, new learnings, and connections. Some of it may seem insignificant now but just wait. Your small ripples this week will make waves. Whether you're embarking on a long weekend or grinding through take a moment to reflect on the people and moments that matter. And get ready to ride that wave.

The Value of an Integrated Approach to Advancement

Reflecting on the past year's outcomes and digging into this year's goals, I'm grateful to be part of an integrated advancement team at Harper College. Our ability to plan, innovate, and achieve together adds richness and depth to our work. This article by Deborah Brody from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education provides an excellent overview of some benefits of an integrated approach to advancement.

Chasing the Next Big Fish

My son, realizing a childhood dream one cast, one story at a time.

Found in an old notebook, written by me 17 years ago. Jonathan definitely followed this advice (at least the first part). He's fished and filmed on six continents and as I write this, he's back in South America casting for the next big story. He inspires me to continue to follow my dreams and try to catch my next big fish.

Incommunicado

We have so many ways to connect today, yet many of us feel isolated and alone. Reach out by phone, email, or a card in the mail. Your effort no matter how small may make the difference to someone. Life is short. Someone needs to hear from you. Connect.

Here are three short verses on the subject with more than a little tongue in cheek. One even includes a very dates “party line” reference.

Not able to make any calls,

Jack didn’t realize the party line

was invitation only.

Henry had a problem

With commitment.

Even his love letters were

written in disappearing ink.

Stay connected.

Shopping Small at Saturday Summer Garage Sales

Susan and I often visit local #garagesales on summer weekends. This past Saturday, we came across two young #entrepreneurs selling their beaded bracelets. Of course, we purchased a few. The two fishing ones pair nicely with my #keepfishingneverstop wristband. I love supporting small businesses, especially the smallest and growing ones. By the way, I learned from the artist herself that FLB stands for Fish. Lake. Beach. #shopsmall #localartist #buylocal #fish #lake #beach

Lost and Found Memories with Dad

Photo by Monty Allen on Unsplash

Summers before I could drive, I’d often accompany my dad when he’d run errands for the hotel he managed. Invariably we’d get lost and invariably it would lead to an unexpected adventure or discovery.

Keep in mind, this was before GPS or map apps on smartphones. We’d set off to a neighboring town with hand-scribbled directions, sometimes a worn map, and the utmost confidence that we were on the right track.

I remember one time we were on a mission to find some kind of part for some kind of machine. Probably an ill-tempered ice maker. We ended up in the next town over in an unfamiliar neighborhood. After passing the same intersection the third time, Dad pulled over to the curb. He put the car in park and reached above his head to manipulate an invisible, imaginary antenna. “I don’t think my radar is working,” he said.

“I don’t think my radar is working,” became a standing joke between us whenever we found ourselves lost when he was driving, or years later when I was driving him. Here’s the thing I remember most about getting lost with Dad: It never made him anxious or angry. He greeted these experiences with joy and humor, and for good reason, too. Often, our misdirection led to a discovery, a roadside ice cream shop, or a tasty lunch at a previously unknown local diner.

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves. - Henry David Thoreau

When I get lost, may I experience it with joy and good humor, just like Dad, and see it as an opportunity to discover something new about myself and the world around me.

What discoveries have you made by getting lost? Share your adventures in the comments and happy travels!

A version of this article was published as a post in the Mind Tools LinkedIn Group.

Addendum: Two more stories about directions and my dad:

• When arranging a place to rendezvous, Dad would often start by saying, “I’ll meet you at the corner of ‘walk’ and ‘don’t walk.’

• Dad once gave me a baseball cap that had two bills jutting out in opposite directions. The words on the cap read, “I’m the leader. Follow me.” Somewhere along my life’s journey, I lost that funny hat. I’d love to still have it and I’d cherish an opportunity to get lost again with my dad.

When Do I Get to the Important Stuff?

The plumbing springs a leak. Laundry piles up. The dogs need a walk. It’s time to change the oil in the car. And that’s just the tip of the responsibility iceberg. 

When do I get to the important stuff? The stuff that matters? The book project? The t-shirt design? The blog post? The answer is that if I want to, I will. 

One of my favorite quotes is from the writer Robert Haas: “Take the time to write. You can do your life's work in half an hour a day.” Words I try to live and work by.

Keep pushing that important project forward, even if today between the dogs, laundry, and wet floor, you only get a few minutes to spend on it. 

If I practice focus, intention, and consistency every day, especially on the most challenging ones, something interesting happens. I finish.

A version of this article is also published on LinkedIn.

Maxed Out?

How’s your MAX week going? The HBO Max to Max transition gives me that New Coke feeling. It seems like a big idea cooked up by too-smart folks in a hermetically sealed conference room or Zoom call.

Is it smart or strategic to ditch the equity of the long-established HBO brand as part of the flagship name and replace it with the generic “Max” that puts some of us old enough to remember in mind of Cinemax? Time will tell. Or maybe it won’t. On Puck’s “Powers that Be” podcast, Julia Alexander and Ben Landy share their insights on the big Warner Bros. Discovery rebrand and add that perhaps Max is just a placeholder name until the next megamerger. Everything is temporary.

Postscript: If you’re a Max subscriber, you can watch my favorite show on television. The season two finale of Somebody Somewhere airs (streams? appears?) Sunday evening. And if you’ve never watched SBSW, you can quickly catch up on seasons one and two over this holiday weekend. I’m envious of the adventure that awaits you. Bridget Everett is a national treasure.

Related reading:

• Why Did HBO Max Become Max? Behind the Streamer’s Relaunch Strategy (Variety)

• Somebody Somewhere Is a Sunday-Night Sigh of Relief (Vulture)

Half Moon. Full Heart.

Moon half-full, glass half-full, heart overflowing as I begin the week. Wishing you a week filled with what matters most. (Mike Barzacchini Photo) #goals #mondaymotivation #mondaythoughts #letsgo

AI May Not Steal My Job, But It Will Change It

Will AI steal my job? I don’t think so. At least not completely. But I’m pretty sure it will change the way I work and what I do, just like desktop publishing, email, and the web changed my job before AI. Not to mention social media and smartphones.

AI may be the most rapid change quake we’ve experienced in a while and it may potentially impact more types of work across more industries. It’s important to remember, similar change quakes have happened before.

Can you imagine what it was like in the late 1800s when light bulbs, automobiles, and telephones all came into wider use at just about the same time? I’m sure there were more than a few stable hands, lamplighters, and telegraph workers who fretted about their employment at the time. And I’m just as certain that many found meaningful work in the midst of these changes.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not soft-selling AI. This has the potential to upend the way many of us work. Jobs will be lost. But what are the opportunities that will open up? Opportunities to think more strategically, focus more on understanding the customer journey, and develop ways to provide exceptional service — just to name three.

We’re only at the beginning of a fledging AI revolution, with much to learn. Scary? A little. Exciting? For sure. I’m looking forward to how AI will reshape our future collectively, as well as how it might impact my own work and career.

And if I’m wrong and AI puts me out of work permanently? Well, I guess that means I’ll have more time to walk the dogs.

A Few AI Resources and a Pretty Good Playlist

Overwhelmed or confused by all the news about AI and ChatGPT? It's a fast-evolving landscape, but here are a few resources to help navigate where we are now.

HubSpot has put together a playlist on Spotify of AI-related podcasts (along with some spiffy lo-fi music).

I also recommend a recent episode of the Plain English podcast which puts a lot of the AI discussion in perspective, along with describing what Google is up to and explaining the difference between replacement and additive technologies.

Here's a guide to using AI for content operations. You may need to create a free HubSpot account to access it.

The Content Marketing Institute and On24 are offering a free webinar on content marketing and AI on Feb. 15. If you're interested, you can register here.

The Moon, Last Night and Tonight

February 1, 2023, Waxing Moon, Mike Barzacchini photo

February 2, 2023, Waxing Moon. Mike Barzacchini photo.

Snow moon. Storm moon. Hunger moon. February moon waxing high in a frozen sky.

A Conversation with Artist, Musician, and Friend Ruth Ward

Earlier this month, I recorded a conversation with artist, musician, and friend Ruth Ward. She shared her thoughts on career rebirths, the importance of consistency, and living the art life.

A conversation with Ruth Ward

Cold Night, Bright Moon

Cold night. Bright moon. Mike Barzacchini photo.

Cold winter night. Bright winter moon. Waxing moon over East Dundee, Illinois, January 31, 2023.

Merry Me, Happy You, A Seasonal Greeting

I wrote this goofy little verse about a hundred years ago. It comes back around to me every Christmas season. Thjis year, I thought I’d set it to voice, photos and music.

In first draft, the line that ends “festive parade” used to read “Santa parade.” I changed it because I’ve never actually seen a Santa parade, but the idea of one makes me smile. Cheers, joy, peace, and good health to you and yours.

Izzy, Our First Rescue, She Saved Us and Almost Outlived Us

Izzy, our first rescue who also rescued us. Mike Barzacchini photo.

Izzy, a yellow-lab mix, was our first rescue dog. Susan and Jonathan found her at a shelter in Cincinnati. We brought her home when Jonathan was two. He grew up with Izzy.

Izzy was a gentle dog. All she wanted was to love and to be loved. Not a big barker. Not a big player. In fact, I called her my labrador non-retriever because she might go after the ball, but she never brought it back.

I remember a lot of things about Izzy, how she liked to go out with me in the middle of the night while I looked at the moon. The bones she’d bury in the backyard but never remember to dig up. How much she loved to lay in the sun and take car rides. I'll remember two things most of all about Izzy. Once she saved our lives and once she almost outlived us all.

One weekend evening when Jonathan was about nine or ten, he and Susan were in our kitchen. I worked at my desk in our upstairs bedroom. Izzy slept on the floor by my side. My desk faced a window overlooking our backyard. Our kitchen also had a big picture window that faced the backyard. A tall privacy fence enclosed the yard. On the other side of the fence was a road. On the other side of the road were railroad tracks for the Northwest Chicago Metra line.

izzy at rest. Mike Barzacchini photo.

Visitors rarely came through our back gate. That night, approaching 11 p.m., a man with a backpack, did pass our gate. He started down the walk to our back kitchen door.

At the sight of the intruder, I raced down the stairs, first with Izzy trailing, then she bolted in front of me. Through the storm door, I confronted the stranger, asking him his intent. His answers were nonspecific and suspicious. He kept the backpack, now slipped off his shoulder obscured behind his legs.

I may have stopped him from approaching. But it was Izzy’s aggressive barking and the way she threw herself against the storm door that turned him away. We’d never seen her so fierce. She sensed the danger and responded to protect her family. Susan called 911 but by the time police arrived, the intruder had disappeared into the night.

A few weeks later, the news carried a story about a woman stabbed to death in her home. She lived on the same Metra line in a neighboring town. The intruder had entered through a back patio door. Was she killed by the same person who invaded our backyard? There’s no way to tell, but Susan, Jonathan, and I remain convinced that Izzy saved our lives that night.

Flash forward about six years. Izzy was near the end of her life. She was in pain. Her legs and bodily functions failing. We’d made the appointment with our veterinarian to have her euthanized in a few days. But now it was Sunday, a beautiful late summer evening. Jonathan, Susan, and I drove to a neighborhood pond with our younger dog, Daisy. Jonathan fished while Susan and I walked Daisy around the lake path, a path Izzy could no longer travel.

Before going home, we stopped for takeout food. We looked forward to a quiet evening. On the way home, a car ran a stop sign and t-boned us, sending our car on its side. Fortunately, we survived with minor injuries. I’ve often thought since that if the worst had happened, Izzy might have outlived us all.

Later that week, we helped Izzy pass on in peace. I don’t know about heaven and hell. I expect to learn someday.  I do believe, like Jim Harrison, that our beloved dogs will be wherever is next, patiently waiting to greet us. I look forward to seeing Izzy basking in the sun, with her smiling eyes, and wagging tail.

BASSA: Join the Space Fish Force

New BASSA beanies now available in black and gray. Fish the galaxy!

Join the space fish force (and keep your noggin’ warm this winter). New BASSA winter beanies are now available in black and gray.

Cold Moon, December 7, 2022

Cold moon, full moon, December 7, 2022. Mike Barzacchini Photo

Cold moon.

Full moon.

Pear Harbor moon.

Jonathan’s birthday moon.

You’ve seen it all, moon.

Three Questions at Year's End

Autumn Moon 2022. Mike Barzacchini photo.

For a blog post I’m working on for Mind Tools, I’ve been asked to consider these three questions:

• What did this past year teach me?

• What do I hope to leave behind in 2022? 

• What do I look forward to in 2023?

Blog post? I think my responses to these prompts could fill a book. Check back in a few weeks for a link to my post. In the meantime, what how would you respond to those questions?

Have You Checked Your QR Codes Recently?

Emma reminds you to check your QR codes (and your links, too).

Since they’ve made a resurgence, QR codes have helped make shopping, navigation, ordering dinner, and finding showtimes much easier. But easier for whom?

When they work properly QR codes provide your customers with a quick way to access information about your business, product, or service. But generating your QR code is only the beginning.

I recently stood outside the locked doors of a retail store on a cold day when windchills hovered around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. A prominent QR code displayed on the window instructed me to “scan for store hours.” I did and received a “page not found.” message. All of a sudden, the wind blew a little harder and the walk back to my car was a little colder.

How does this happen? Some QR codes do expire. But more likely, a change was made to the company’s website and the QR code wasn’t updated to reflect the new link. I figured this out when, back in the warmth of my car, I clicked on “store hours” on the retailer’s website and it directed me to a product page with no store information.

The lesson? Check your QR codes regularly. And while you’re at it, check your links and the basic information on your website (hours, directions, contact information). Make doing business with your company friction-free for your customers. There are dozens of reasons for them to buy somewhere else, don’t give them another one.

• How the pandemic helped spark the use of QR codes: Actually, QR Codes Never Went Away (Don’t Call It A Comeback) - NY Times

• A few QR code best practices from Sprout Social.

• And a reminder that misusing QR codes may hurt more than your business: Scott Stratten’s book QR Codes Kill Kittens. (Amazon Associates Link)