There And Back Again

It's been a while since I graced the pages of my blog, so much has happened since. Went to Michigan, then Charlotte to Haley's graduation, visited New York and became a great uncle. Everything is proceeding at a rapid pace, 2010 is a blur with 2011 fast approaching. There is so much left to do and such little time to do it, but I'm cramming in everything as fast as I can. Change has come in my life and I'm adapting well, thanks President Obama.

In 1998, I want on an interview out of the country to Montreal, Quebec and fell in love with the city. Naturally, I did not get the job, but I always swore I'd get back there one day. Well, twelve years later I'm headed back to a city that captured my soul. I went there in March of that year, with snow drifts up to two feet, but that did not deter me. Playing in the snow was pure joy and I got around the city center very well. This time I'm going in the dead of summer, but the weather will be more forgiving with daytime temps in the mid 70s. That is quite a respite from the 100 degree weather we've been having in Memphis.

It's funny how things happen in one's life. I left there not knowing when I would be coming back, but the fact is that I kept my pledge. I wonder what is going on with that company I interviewed with, just how are they doing? I've been in Memphis for a year now, and it seems like I have done more here in that one year than I did in my 22 years living in Atlanta.

For me Atlanta is fading in the distance with each passing day. The city has imploded since I left. No matter how much "boosterism" the locals banter about the city, it's best days have come and gone. For at least the next decade, Atlanta will be a stagnant city with other regional players catching up with it.

Memphis is primed to be one of those cities. There is more here than Elvis and Dr. King. Slowly, this region is coming into its own and will be a place where people will have to take a serious look as a business destination. I believe Mayor Wharton will take Memphis to new heights.

I've come to the right place at the right time. Little did I realize that a guy with a funny name would have a profound effect with one word - Change. Those who embrace change will prosper, those who don't will be come irrelevant, it's that simple.

Change, thats is taking me to Montreal on Monday.

Do It Again

This week marks another chapter in the long and winding road to success. Tomorrow I'm headed to Michigan for face to face meetings with manufacturer of the main active of the product I developed. Little do they know that I've taken what they have and perfected it to the point where long term implications will surely be felt by our competitors. I still don't understand the chemistry, physics or formulae of what I have developed, but I do know that there is something special about it. To achieve the kind of results seen so far is so put it bluntly - mind boggling. Does the product work everywhere, no, but it sure works in a lot of places. A rewrite or rethink is in store to better understand what is going on, but when you have a product you have to push, dotting all the i's and crossing the all the t's become damn near impossible. And there are those doubters out there who still doubt. Well, I say keep on doubting because I'm moving on. Frankly, we have moved beyond that stage to the next phase which is adding to the gains that have been won.

If the word isn't out, it sure will be very soon. There is a new player in town and the rules of the game are about to change. We're on the threshold of the next level, one where no one has gone before. Twenty years ago these first generation products cost USD $2.50/lb, now the the cost are near USD $1.00/lb with that barrier being eroded daily. What I have achieved is to reduce the cost while keeping the performance, but it hasn't stopped there. I am also able to add less chemicals in the system, thereby making the product more environmentally friendly. I have achieved this in less than 7 months.

In all the euphoria, these benefits have yet to sink in, but given the current situation in the Gulf of Mexico, they can't be ignored. Now is the time to seize the moment. We have a window, a short one to separate ourselves from the competition.

OUR TIME IS NOW!

Better Days Ahead

Among the endless stream o of bad news coming out this week, two positives barely mentioned turned out to be shining examples of our nations recovery. First, the art market seems to be headed towards a record year with the sale of a Picasso painting that was auctioned off for 106 million dollars. Next, the new jobless figures came out with Americans finally going back to work. The numbers, while not huge, signaled that the recession that has gripped and changed so many lives has come to an end.

Closer to home, our company has so much business potential globally that it's scary. The paper industry has come out of it's blue funk and is hitting on all cylinders. Our biggest challenge is not gaining new business, but ensuring the raw materials are there to supply it. Globally, everything is in short supply, from feedstock to finished goods. While this is good news, the bad is that inflation will come back, how however much is any one's guess.

People who are looking for jobs should find them, but be well aware that the things have changed and some jobs lost during the recession will not come back - ever. We are now entrenched in the 21st century and for those who harken back to the "good old days" do so at their own peril.

Immigration is one of those issues that beg for a reality check. Just because someone enacts a law designed to keep people out doesn't mean that people will adhere to it. Immigrants coming to our nations understand the promise and virtue of the American Dream, that is why they risk life and limb to come here. No law is going to stop the flow of immigrants to our country, change is here to stay and the winners are those who adapt to change fastest.

President Obama has given our nation the tools and aid to become prosperous, it is now up to us to seize that day and improve on those areas lacking. Of course the GOP will do all in their power to hinder progress, but those are silly, ill fated moves. Now is the time for individuals who think big to step up to the plate and push their ideas forward. Now is the time to seize the moment, not back away while looking at re-runs of Leave it to Beaver.

Our nation will experience better days if we all put our collective minds. bodies and souls together. We cannot accept nothing short of this because to do so says that we're not ready, willing and able. I know I'm doing my part to make it happen Are you?

President Obama's critics claim he hasn't accomplished a thing. Please Mr. President, do us all a huge favor, keep accomplishing nothing!

A Shrill And Distant Thunder

My, how the game has changed! Several months ago the GOP was spoiling for a fight, thinking that they had finally broken the back and spirit of President Barak Obama. The Senate lost their majority, the Tea Party was in full swing and Republicans were crowing about "taking back America". Now, the lines have blurred because ever since passage of the health care bill, Republicans have gone into a swoon. President Obama gave them a gift. He gave to green light for letting oil companies drill in areas of our coasts and Alaska. Environmentalists were outraged, but little did anyone realize that our President gave them a gift, a gift that will keep on giving in November and beyond. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could be larger than the one off the coast of Alaska in 1989. What's even more shocking is that the technology is not there to clean up this mess. All of a sudden, drill baby drill, doesn't sound so good. The slick is headed towards those conservative Southern states that let out the rebel yell to drill.

On the economic side, while unemployment is still high, people are going out and spending money again because they feel that the tide has turned. People still argue whether or not the stimulus worked, but at this point, who cares? The fact of the matter is that the recession is long over and people are confident to open their wallets again. I look for real job growth to occur towards the end of the year and flow strongly into 2011.

Even the illegal immigration issue, one that Republicans pride themselves on have left them in a quandary. States like Arizona are now taking the lead with disastrous results. While Tea Party people love this, state officials are now bracing for a backlash from foreign countries wanting to set up shop. Do they want to invest in a state where their foreign employees could be targets? What about foreign tourists and investors. The genie bottle has opened, with states not adopting these laws now leading the pack for foreign investment. Republicans sensing this, have now backed off what once looked like a slam dunk.

These are examples of incompetence in the 21st century. Republicans and conservative Democrats think that just because they enact a law or edict that people will have to abide by it. No sir, won't happen! People will adjust, adapt and move on, leaving those who made the laws and wrote the edicts holding the bag. What needs to be understood is that we now living in different times where you either adapt or die. People could give a snot nose about "conservative principles" or what the founding fathers thought they wrote. I have yet to meet in person an original signer of the Declaration of Independence. If you are living your life like it's 1776, 1876, 1976, 1986, 1996 or 2006 then you, my friend, are in big trouble. Republicans and conservatives have yet to learn that this is a new century and the winners of the previous one will be losers in this one if they don't change. For you whiners and complainers I have but one thing to say.....

CHANGE IS HERE SO GET USED TO IT!!

p

Momentum n. pl: impetus of a nonphysical idea or course of events.

In physics, momentum is represented by the symbol in the title, but in the nonphysical world, I'm stealing and making it mine. What we have in the last week is just that - momentum.

Before I left McGehee last week I used that word in talking with the District Manager and Account Rep that we needed to keep things going. I received a blank look from both, they were just trying to get a grip on what was going no at present, not the future. Me, I never let the past. present or future stray far. I knew we had something and I planted a seed based on that fact. I knew mill management we thinking in this direction before any of them had. We ran under their worst conditions and were in the beginning of meeting their targets. They hadn't kicked us out of there so I was getting confident that we might have something. I wanted them to start thinking downstream, "what if" was my line. I know that last week they did not take me seriously, now however, the flood gates have opened.

All of a sudden the question is not when will the trial end, it's when can we get another truckload, we need another truckload ASAP. What they thought was impossible had now become reality, they finally realized that they have a product that can take the business of a competitor, all of it.

We have momentum on our side and we need to get it going. Honestly, the customer does not want to switch because they have gone where they haven't gone before in production. We planted a seed and they momentum too. The bar has risen and now it's up to the competitor to catch up to us. Of course they're not going quietly in the night, in fact, they'll be kicking and screaming as both of us approach the finish line. However, we have the technology and momentum our our side.

The p is ours.

Beginnings

My old building in Atlanta as she was the day after the tornado in March 2008. My condo inside is a tomb, closed by me on 31 July 2009. I miss the place, but not enough to go back. She will be rented, hopefully by the end of June closing another chapter of my life there.

Last week was a slam dunk, the project could not have gone any smoother. Things that I saw on the bench translated out in the field and that is a rarity. But, now comes the dangerous season. As much as I wanted to celebrate I know that we are in a crucial phase because the stakes have gotten higher. We have to scale this product up to an even larger size minimizing the issues we saw in the previous batch. This one will be for all the marbles. If we can achieve anything close to what was done last week, the business is ours. This is why you play the game, having the chance to get it all.

There are so many questions about this product and I surely don't have the answers for them. All I know is that aging and concentration play key roles, other than that I'm clueless. One big accomplishment was getting the team to believe in me and the program. In fact, that was bigger than the product working because these were some skeptical and non-confident folks, but our foot is in the door and it's time to kick it in.

Last week was more stressful than this one, but the notch is being turned up higher because we have to prove ourselves all over again.

No rest for the weary.

Close To The Edge

The past several days in McGehee, AR has been one of reflection, angst, determination and pushing forward. The fact that we are still on and running these two products under extreme conditions gives me satisfaction, but not an end game. We are close to getting this business, but we must keep the momentum going. Frankly, I want them to stay on these products, not switching back to the competitor because I feel are superior in performance. But, I know all too well that performance can only get you so far. In this business, likability is one big factor and with that, we must institute a charm offensive. I did some of that over the past several days, but this is not my account and at the end of the day, the lead account manager and salesperson must deliver. I have gotten them to the one yard line and it's first and ten with 15 seconds left. We can win this thing, but we can also lose it if the right approaches are not taken.

I did what I was suppose to do, get them there. It's all up to them now. If anything I've given this once skeptical audience the possibilities of what can be done and accomplished with the right game plan and they must continue to execute that plane if they want to win this business.

The time to seize the moment is now.