Zane Safrit

The Power of An Hour a Day

For awhile now, I've had this idea that an hour a day from each of us can solve three big challenges. The idea was crazy simple so I didn't share it, figuring I'd realize why it was crazy and be able to let it rest. But it keeps poking at me when I'm out running or sipping a coffee or mulling over the latest news. I'll share it here. You can tell me what I'm missing.

Let's start with the challenges.

Jobs. There aren't enough.

So, the latest and least uninspiring jobs report came out last week from the Department of Labor. The issue isn’t that these reports are a PR-spin maker’s ... dream. The issue is how long these tales have spun, accepted as meaningful statistics by the other half of the PR industry. That’s the mainstream media that breathlessly reads them as if they are truth with a capital T and sent from the Oracle herself to help us mere mortals understand our world. For the past 10 years it's helped those talking heads, and their audiences, avoid the task of deeper analysis like how come you only count as unemployed those who file for unemployment benefits ‘specially since unemployment benefits stopped for so many...just before Christmas. Nothing shows you care like cutting off benefits and, and, not even counting your misery, our misery as a meaningful statistic.

It’s a bi-partisan issue. When Bush was in office, his haters blamed him for the results and their spin. Now that Obama’s in office, his haters do the same using almost the same words. Weird, huh?

Obesity

Obesity continues to be a problem for us. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, 35.7% of all Americans are obese. An adult is considered overweight if their BMI, Body Mass Index is 30 or higher. Iowa's right at the top. Here’s a link for computing your BMI. To show the nation’s most transparent and open White House how that works, I’ll share my BMI: 23.3.

Employee Engagement

Employee engagement remains a dismal 30%. That means 30% of our colleagues show up and give a hoot. The rest use duck calls to imitate the noises, flapping arms and typing really fast if a manager comes too close.

In summary, the unemployment rate is so high it’s no longer counted using math we learned in high school or we leave out the unemployed in calculating their numbers. Obesity continues to rise. Pretty soon they'll calculate the obesity rate in the same way they calculate the unemployment rate: they'll overlook the obese. Employee engagement is so much a challenge that I see a rising backlash led by serious denial among managers who say 'we're engaged' while looking around to see if their bosses are listening. They're not but that's sorta the problem.

The Idea That Won't Leave Me Alone

What if you offered employees one hour to exercise every day? According to the (cringe) Bureau of Labor Statistics, the same place that provide the jobs report, your employees work on average 8.8 hours per day.

Let’s drop that to 7.8 hours a day. That’s a decline in hourly production of 11.3%. See where I’m going? You might need 11.3% more employees to maintain the current output.

But hold on. A healthy workforce is one that needs fewer sick days. A healthy workforce is also one that is more productive...wait for it...more engaged with their work. Why? Well, because physically and emotionally they’re able to be more engaged. While I'm not a rocket scientist that sounds right; you’re not as engaged with your work if you’re sucking down sudafed and cold medicines and balancing them against high blood pressure meds or anti-depressants from obesity.

Employee engagement would rise. People would be healthier, more energized, more creative. They’d like working again. Think of the cost reductions from lower employee turnover and fewer employee ‘counseling’ sessions.

As your employee engagement rises, you can expect to see growth in these areas: 

• revenues, their growth rate would grow. (That’s like saying a teenager’s going to grow even faster. Fun and scary.)
• profits
• cash flows
• innovations, new products and services
• customer conversions
• customer loyalty
• testimonials
• Good Stuff.

Now, you have a proven model that boosts employee engagement, lowers healthcare costs, raises profits and cash-flows. You might ask:

If these results come from 100 employees, what if we hired...oh, say, 10 more?

Before you ask that question in a meeting you might gather the reports showing the improved KPIs, Key Performance Indicators. Armed with the data you can ask the question while offering data to suggest the correct answer. A smart boss will listen. But, again, that's sorta the problem for many companies. I'm just giving you a headsup that it's not all cookies-and-ice-cream interval training and raw veggies.

Nanny-State and I'm from the federal government and I'm here to help.

Of course a federal mandate, an executive order..., is not the solution. Just imagine the website...or let's not.

DIY - DO IT YOUR SELF.

Figure it out. Walk away from your powerpoint slides. Talk to your employees. Find a way to talk to your employees. Just that step will engage your employees, even isn't looking or listening.

DIO - DO IT OURSELVES

This is an irrevent discussion of serious challenges and a possible solution. One hour of exercise to solve three problems.

It’s a bit cocky to say this, but I haven’t seen a better solution come from the mouths of babies or experts. Consider 5 Promise Zones. Those are as meaningful for creating jobs as a pinkie pledge or trickle down economics. Just look at the data. Besides,  choosing zip codes for economic development programs seems to contradict...what, the program's stated ideal?

...a child’s zip code should never be what determines his or her opportunity.

We have to start offering our own ideas, ‘cause the 'experts' seem to be the ones that brought us here; well them and our abdication of responsibilities that afforded them the permission to take us here.

What's your idea?

WARNING: Self-Promotion.

If you want to know more ways to engage with your employees, my book RECOGNIZE THEM: 52 Ways to Recognize Your Employees in Ways They Value offers 52 ways to recognize your employees, easy exercises to reinforce those habits and skills and inspirational quotes to keep you going.

Can You Solve Your Culture Conflict?

The USDA is the same organization that designates what food is officially organic and how much untreated animal manure is too much for our open waterways. Well, to date, they haven't cried Uncle or Stop or issue standards on how much is too much; we'll keep waiting.

That's quite a range. 

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote:

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.

But, can it be said that the FDA has a first-rate intelligence when it accommodates two opposing principles: approving food as 100% organic while allowing twice as much untreated manure to enter the open waterway from the CAFO’d hogs in one Iowa county as the sewage from the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. (Iowa has 99 counties.) Link.

While an first-rate intelligence can hold two opposing thoughts, can a consumer embrace the USDA as a trusted source for food safety?

What's all this got to do with your business?

• Where's your culture conflict?
• Where is your culture's bi-polar duality expressed in a dysfunctional manner in the markeplace?
• Where do you say one thing, on your website, and execute another in your rules and tactics?
• Where in your employee engagement do you say 'we love you' or 'you're the most important part of our success 'and then silence or ignore their suggestions or needs?

As a leader you're very likely insulated by org chart and careers from this cognitive dissonance of your company's culture conflict. It happens; it's not personal. We all are constantly re-defining ourselves as we move through life. And since companies are people, too, my friend, companies are re-defining their brand, their culture, their identity.

Joss Whedon* offered this insight at a recent commencement address he gave:

You have, which is a rare thing, that ability and the responsibility to listen to the dissent in yourself, to at least give it the floor, because it is the key — not only to consciousness, but to real growth. To accept duality is to earn identity. And identity is something that you are constantly earning. It is not just who you are. It is a process that you must be active in.

This contradiction, and this tension … it never goes away. And if you think that achieving something, if you think that solving something, if you think a career or a relationship will quiet that voice, it will not.

Every company at one time was personal. Very personal. Every company was built on relationships. And then bureaucracy and rules, departments and titles, creeped in. ( Some of those rules and titles may prefer to handle dissent with a different approach. Rule it out, discourage it, punish its advocates. Ask GM how that approach worked.)

Now you may not even know the name of your most recent hire. It may be months or years since you spoke to a customer, one on one. That's very different than reading a report, even if it's a report of their collective or individual Net Promoter Scores.That's very different than considering personas, too.

That's where the culture conflict arises. In that process, that transition, from a culture of relationships, of knowing and experiencing, of passion, of looking in the eye honesty to one of distanced and nuanced reports, of territories and postures, saying what is thought to be right....for some other audience, for some other reason...you (the corporate and personal 'you') stopped listening to the dissent, to the dissenters and disruptors in yourself (corporate and personal selves).

Somewhere along the line the USDA lost sight of its purpose to protect our  food supply. Its big now. Vast and anonymous. Reports and procedures and unknown decision-makers for unknown, unspoken stakeholders. No one's listening to...dissent. Sound familiar?

What if Tom Vilsack, the head of the USDA and former Governor of Iowa, stopped reading reports and making speeches to Chambers of Commerce, left his/her smart phone turned off. What if he went out to a grocery store and met with the ultimate customer of the USDA: shoppers. Families and kids, grandparent and parents. What if he asked them:

• Do you feel safer?
• Are we helping you make better choices for the health of your family?
• What can we do better?

But for you, what if you walked out of your office, sat on a park bench and called a customer?

• What if you asked the three questions of the Net Promoter Score? Then you could hear the customer's voice as they answered?

What if you just asked them:

• How do we make your life better, easier, simpler, happier?
• Do we?
• What can we do better?

Now. What if you did that with your employees? I don't mean just your direct reports. I mean the newest hire. What if you sat down and asked that person:

• What do you hope to achieve here?
• What could you achieve?
• What would you need to achieve that?
• What stands in your way?
• Where's our culture conflict? Where's the gap between our promise and our delivery?

What if you made this a regular habit? Walked outside that box you've created.

What if you began to reconcile your company's culture now with what it had been, back when it was exciting and fun and crazy and you were growing?

What if?

3 Biggest IP Issues Which Effect Online Business Today

Brett Trout was guest on our radio show recently. You can listen here. Brett is head of an AV-rated* Midwest law firm, which offers its clients the global perspective on Intellectual Property and Information Technology issues.

Brett is also the author of Cyber Law: A Legal Arsenal for Online Business. And, he's been an avid user of social media tools since, well, back in the day when blogs were the only tools around. In other words, Brett walks his talk.

During our show, I asked him:

What are the three biggest IP and IT issues effecting online businesses today?

And he Brett answered:  

2 of them that most companies are at least somewhat familiar are: the copyright issue and the trademark issue.

Online, some companies feel that they have the right to use copyrighted images or copyrighted material or download music or movies...

Now, I won’t get into the ethics of whether that’s right or wrong that is different from most people. But, right now, the way the law is positioned is that if you are taking other people’s materials and putting it on your website, whether it’s a photograph or text from a blog, that’s going be to an intellectual property infringement and you can get sued for that.

The other thing is that using a trademark or logo that is associated with your company and not properly vetting that. So, 2 or 3 years down the line you find someone else has properly vetted theirs and protected it and then they’re suing you for trademark infringement and not only is it very time-consuming to get out, but it’s costly and, then, you have to come up with a new way to invent yourself and all that goodwill you have gained in the past 2-3 years or so is lost.

The last one and the most important and the one people know the least about is net neutrality. Basically what that means is you should be able to visit any site that you want and your internet service provider should not be able to dictate what you can and cannot visit and they should not be able to reduce the connection speed that you would have to certain websites.

So, if net neutrality is not protected what the internet could end up being is like cable TV where you have a package of 40 websites or channels you can visit. If you want to visit additional website like ESPN or Google or Amazon you have to pay an additional fee.

So, without net neutrality it is going to be a very bad situation for everyone involved in the internet.

* For those of us (ok, me) who did not appreciate the significance of AV-rated...it means pre-eminent, best of the best, as judged by his peers in the legal industry. I can't speak to their criteria. But, by mine, Brett's....pre-eminent in his clarity and focus.

Awesome Night at the Fairfield Arts and Civic Center

My wife and I, with 4 of our best friends, spent an awesome night sitting, singing, dancing in the aisles, along with almost a thousand other friends and neighbors and visitors Saturday night at the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center.

The event was the Motown R & B Revue and the performers on stage were members of the Fairfield Music Club. They were...amazing in their talent, dexterity and creativity covering soul and motown from Booker T and the MGs through Martha and The Vandellas, Aretha (of course), The Temptin' Temptations and Four Tops (with Fairfield's Mayor?), Fontella Bass (which song?), Sam and Dave, and ending with a rousing version of...Love Train.

The other performers, maybe the backup-backup band, was the crowd. It was filled with our friends and neighbors, ones we don't see as often as we'd like. In fact, I saw one of my good friends down in front. We hadn't seen each other in...a year or two as he travels a bit. Now, we'll have lunch this week.

We danced, we sang, we cheered, we clapped. We laughed. (We didn't cry...) We revisited and caught up with each other. We ate.

A community event made possible by the community members.

And those arranging were the ever persistent, dedicated, staff at FACC led by Rustin Lippincott and the Board of Directors for the FACC.

As I said in my video testimonial during intermission...FACC is a fabulous resource for a community of any size. We are so fortunate to have this facility to bring the community together, to discover the hidden talents of our community,  to showcase our town to our families and friends in other cities, to bring to our community events like last night and speakers like Stephen Covey for a free presentation.

We live close enough to walk, unless it's 10 degrees and windy out, to the FACC. But those in surrounding communities have a 30-minute drive, 45 minutes where the worst traffic problem are the deer crossing the roads. And as I've hit 3 already then that problem's a little bit less.

Come on out and enjoy the evening sometime at the FACC. Who knows? You may find yourself part of a backup band or reconnect with your friends and neighbors. How cool is that?

BlogTalk Radio Guest: Crystal O'Connor, founder of Fearless Ambition Magazine

At Fearless Ambition Magazine,their mission is to empower, enrich and educate with thought provoking articles that uplift the spirit and create the desire to mentor our young as they become the leaders of tomorrow. Using success principles of industrialists, diplomats and thought leaders from our past, present, and future; they entertain, educate and promote positive mind awareness of the young and old alike.

And we'll talk with Crystal O'Connor, the founder and CEO of Fearless Ambition Magazine tomorrow at 9:30 AM Central on BlogTalk Radio.

You have two options to listen:

* Streaming, on-demand, live or later at this link.

* Call-in at this number, 646-915-9212, during the show's time of 9:30 AM, Central to 10:30 AM Central.

5 Reasons Why Des Moines is So Livable

Forbes ranked Des Moines as the 3rd most livable city in the US . Zachary Mannheimer, founder and Director of the Des Moines Social Club, listed his 5 reasons why Des Moines ranks so high.

1. You don’t need a lot of money to live here. It is very affordable.
2. It is very family friendly.
3. The business economy and how the businesses can thrive
4. Businesses can expand
5. DMSC offering culturally and artistically

Zach shared this in our conversation on BlogTalk Radio a few weeks ago where we discussed Des Moines, Des Moines Social Club and Zach's vision for Des Moines as the right place for a community resource like...the Des Moines Social Club.

BlogTalk Radio Guest Highlighted Excerpts: Andy Brudtkuhl, 48Web Consulting

Andy is Chief Web Guru at 48Web - a small web startup in Des Moines, IA. They specialize in web strategy, development, and consulting. He also writes a couple of blogs as well and co-hosts a podcast. One is a technology blog called Get A New Browser where he discusses the business and technology behind the web. The other is Web Strategy Workshop where he writes about web strategies and internet marketing techniques for small businesses and agencies. And he, co-hosts a podcast with Doug Mitchell called Managing The Edge - helping businesses become more findable and engaging online.

Andy also founded and designed the IowaFlood website which became the defacto clearinghouse for real-time information on the impact of the 2008 floods in Iowa. Much of that information came from citizen journalists' efforts.

Let’s talk about the Iowa floods, the event, your site and what’s changed since last year. Bring us current with the site. What’s happening there?

Even today the site still pulls in news from many news sources and has gone through a maintenance mode to scale the large amounts of visits, and is still growing. The bounce rates are very low. I've noticed that visitors spend more time on the site. This shows that the content is compelling and of interest to the audience. There is code on the back end of the website crawl the social networking sites to extract the most specific news worthy content for the site.

Tell us about the resources you used to build the site then. Which ones worked the best? Why?

Once the floods started, it only took about a day or two to create the website. I had noticed all of the tweets and posts regarding the floods and no one was trying to promote the content or act as a resource or point of contact for what was happening.

Resources to build the site? I use RSS feeds to consume the information then ran the information through YAHOO Pipes to “clean” it up and then send directly to the blog. I built it with WordPress.YAHOO Pipes is a great tool for gathering data and clearing up noise/duplicates from aggregate sites. Pipes is a powerful composition tool to aggregate, manipulate, and mashup content from around the web.

Like Unix pipes, simple commands can be combined together to create output that meets your needs:

* combine many feeds into one, then sort, filter and translate it.
* geocode your favorite feeds and browse the items on an interactive map.
* power widgets/badges on your web site.
* grab the output of any Pipes as RSS, JSON, KML, and other formats.

Tell us about the site’s users. Who used it? Why? How did they use it?

People wanted to see the raw content, the reality of life during the flood, depicting the real human experience.

What was your reasonable aspiration or hoped-for goal when you created it? For our listeners that phrase and its definition comes from Erika Andersen’s book: Being Strategic.

Many major media outlets contacted me: WNYC, Iowa Public Radio were interested in the floods as well as the technology that was used to create such a dynamic powerful site. Traditional media does not have the same power as iowaflood.com for the fact that they use their own images, more editorial in nature, vs the realism of the devastation portrayed by the community-driven content. My site reached out and linked out to people and it became more viral.

Let’s say the next once-in-500 year flood hits Iowa in August. What would you do differently? What other resources would you use? How would you promote it?

1. Use Twitter more.
2. Create a dedicated Twitter account to send out up to date information.
3. Remove himself as an editor so information can get to the site faster.
4. Create an email list of the website visitors to engage and distribute emergency information and content.
5. Use friendfeed and their embeddable widgets.

Why Friendfeed? You're a big fan of it. Why?

I create groups and lists of people that are publishing and sharing content that is live and up-to-date. You can segregate your content feeds. Once content is shared, it is threaded like a discussion board and takes the content to the next level. You can create rooms and add RSS feeds from various sites to populate the friendfeed room and then easily upload it to WordPress.

What changes in social media are reflected in IowaFlood.com?

The next version of Iowa Flood will reflect more of the changes in terms of disseminating news and content especially because of Twitter.

Since your experience in building Iowa Floods, what changes have you seen with Social Media and social needs?

Social media brings a lot to the forefront that may not have necessarily been covered by mainstream media. News organizations are now using social media on their sites to stay informed, learn about more trends, and deliver the news to the public. It is instant, real time news.

What, if anything, changed this year with social media and its uses for social needs?

WordPress is the biggest change. It has changed the web environment and eliminated the standard web development time-frames and problems. As the web needs progressed and shifted, my firm has grown into a strategy company versus web development.

Which new social media resources have failed to live up to their hype?

• Web video: It is not escalating as fast as it was first expected.
• Facebook: Not as much value as a friendfeed or Twitter.

You have moved past merely living on the edge. You now help businesses in managing the edge. That’s the name of your radio show you co-host with Doug Mitchell. Living on the edge has become routine now for many businesses. How does your show help them manage the edge?

The edge is where technology meets the customer and how we can use these available tools to make the customer experience more valuable. We talk about inbound marketing à bringing people to your website with great content, and then converting them into leads or sales. It is the principle of reciprocity: if you provide this content, they are more apt to come to you when they need something. The content must be findable, engaging and extends value.

You have an episode there titled 10 Things from Our Last 10 Episodes. What are those 10 things?

1. Building a technology platform that won’t inhibit you, but will allow you to be more agile and produce content more quickly.
2. Content and the long sale of content. Provide valuable information
3. Put the content where the people are
4. Listening strategies
5. Local search optimization
6. Blogging is essential in business
7. Measuring social media based upon established goals

What are your biggest challenges as a small-business owner?

Taxes and healthcare

What three tips or tools would you offer our listeners to enter the social media arena?

1. Create goals for using SM as a business. They need to be defined enabling the opportunity to measure your efforts against your goals.
2. Develop content and make it available in many channels: blogging, podcasts and video.
3. Build a following on Twitter to help build a community and be THE resource for your expertise.

You can follow Andy Brudtkuhl on Twitter at abrudtkuhl.

Thanks, Andy.

Is that a bunch of e-coli or what?

USAToday carried this title last week: Beach Pollution Still Nationwide Problem. For the fourth year in a row, more than 20,000 beach closing days were reported in the USA, according to a report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington, D.C.

Here in Iowa it's simpler. No closings. No announcements. E-coli from animals is considered ...less dangerous. So, when e-coli levels exceed levels considered by...oh, say, 5-17 times, there is no need to close beaches. Or even put a sign up. And if they did it would be to just not drink it and be sure to shower. (Not sure how showering removes the e-coli that enters your body through your eyes, nose, mouth or ears during swimming...)

Fecal bacteria at the beach near Storm Lake's waterfront resort topped health limits in five of the past seven weeks, but the city hasn't posted warning signs, city officials confirmed Friday.

Wednesday's reading of E. coli bacteria at the resort beach was nearly five times the limit for a single sample, and marked the third consecutive week the level topped swimming standards this summer.

Business has been brisk, said Patti Moore, Storm Lake city administrator.

Waste from geese and gulls appear to be the major reason for the high readings, Moore said. E. coli from animal wastes can pose less of a risk for people than human sewage would. - Des Moines Register, E-Coli Levels High at Storm Lake.

Huh. I guess no one told her that some of the recent outbreaks of e-coli and salmonella poisoning across the nation came from...animal wastes.

Yes. Business is brisk when paid guests can swim in these 'safer' forms of e-coli.

Now, THAT's a bunch of e-coli. And its source is human.

Radio Guest Show Hightlights: Zachary Mannheimer, Director of Des Moines Social Club

Zachary Mannheimer, founder and Director of the Des Moines Social Media Club, joined me last week on BlogTalk Radio. You can listen on-demand at this link.

What is the Des Moines Social Club? Their mission states:

The Des Moines Social Club is dedicated to providing a physical space for the residents of Des Moines, Iowa to congregate, drink and live out whatever artistic passion they may desire, bringing together all walks of life. You may come for a drink. You may come for a show. You may come for a class or just a conversation.

The Des Moines Social Club is a movement uniting all Iowans who wish to participate with passion in their hometown arts scene.

Over 250 volunteers, from all walks of life came together to build this dream. It's built. It's your space! COME AND USE IT!

Zachary shares his story and that of the Des Moines Social Club to show the power of community resources to make your city livable. His is a story of the challenges and rewards of a startup, community organizer, leader, collaborator and the power of community resources to make your city livable.

Zach, can you share with us some of the significant milestones and recent achievements of the Des Moines Social Club?

That came from us keeping it flexible and diverse to use the space for a variety of productions, with different events every night.

Some significant milestones and achievements:

1. Signing the lease in January: which was a culmination of the assistance of 50 different people in the process.

2. Opened doors on March 6 with over 250 volunteers to prepare the building for the grand opening.

3. Our Black Box Theatre is booked every weekend through February.

In considering these achievements within this fantastic resource, what is the importance of the physical space for the residents of Des Moines Iowa?

Any community needs a space similar to this, to congregate in a physical location. We are getting away from the physical and we can’t forget the importance of being live in front of people. People are able to recognize their differences on sight and if we don’t have people congregating, people will on be online, be virtual. This venue offers people the opportunity to experience something new and exciting.

The art is a catalyst to get people together to engage and have a conversation; to learn something new.

Some of the most creative outputs came from all of the communities coming together.

One of the largest is Subjective Vaudeville to combine all of the cultural pools in Des Moines. The goal is to mix the audience, broadening their horizons a bit and introducing them to new types of entertainment.

Letʼs talk about your story first and then letʼs move on to the power of Des Moines
Social Club and thatʼs the volunteers. Iʼm fascinated and I think our listeners will be fascinated by your story of coming to Des Moines, with this purpose. Why you? Why this mission?

I was living in NYC. I ran a not-for-profit theater group there. And it's still running today. But I found there wasn't a lot of diversity of thought. There is not a lot going on between the coasts in the larger cities. There are major out fluxes of people leaving these cities. I visited many many cities in search of the perfect venue, settling on Des Moines because it did have a growing cultural scene. The city is unique in the amount of reinvigoration to change the downtown and try to keep and attract people, creating a better community, but there was not enough being done providing nightlife and the arts. There wasn’t really a place for a local artist to grow up and have a career. The Des Moines Social Club has become that place for the city.

Des Moines was my top choice. Reno Nevada was the second choice. Des Moines was the ultimate choice because I wanted four seasons.

What was your reasonable aspiration* or hoped-for goal when you set out on this quest to find a city, to first disrupt then unite its artist community in a collaborative endeavor.

My reasonable aspiration was a blending of the two worlds between artists and business people.When we look at each other on paper, we look so diverse and different, but in person, in the community, we are exactly the same. Many times people don’t think they have anything to talk about and tend to congregate with like minds. I knew that art makes people talk.

The Social Club wants to be a place for everyone, combining a great mix of art and blending of people learning what is available and becoming more engaged with one another. It is about reinforcing community. The worlds are going to blend and the conversations we have will be more compassionate and understanding of one another.

When did you know you’d made the right decision?

The moment I knew it was right was when the 250 volunteers showed up.

22:28

Why Des Moines? What opportunities did you see here that you didnʼt see elsewhere?

People here have such a desire for the cultural arts!! People love it and want to be a part of it. The business community was the greatest surprise with this endeavor. They provide an unmatched amount of support.

You're also two calls away from the CEOs of any company. That kind of access to leaders in the community, decision-makers, is rare. And when I started this project I called the CEOs in Des Moines. And each of them agreed to meet with me to talk about this project.

How did you announce this project to the community? What was the reaction?

I used viral methods via social networking to spread the word. It came out slowly through word of mouth at first, and then it was picked up by two local papers in February of 2008. Once artists learned about it, the word spread like wildfire.

Your focus is on the artist community. What reactions have you received from the other tribes, or other communities that make up Des Moines. Itʼs the state capital, a conservative business community dominated with financial and insurance companies.

Relationships have already sprouted from this venture. The biggest challenge was removing the stigmatism that art is a “bad word” or it's just for elitists or we need to bring in art from outside the community. We have to help people understand that art is just as important as food, shelter or air. We need it the cultural diversity. It is necessary in everyday life, without making it flowery. Art is essential and you need it.

You and your volunteers provide a physical site to network, socially, in-person, 3-dimensionally. Why is that so important in this world of 2-D, social media and
networking?

It is so important to provide a physical place to network and communicate...a physical touch vs the 2D relationships of the virtual life. Physical connection is so vital. We need to be amongst each other and reminded that we are all in the same place. This can only be accomplished when we look each other in the eye.

Whatʼs the value of your resource to a communityʼs livability? Do businesses looking for a new location see Des Moines Social Club as an asset, a plus?

The value of the Des Moines Social Club is to provide the city with a cultural experience, with an experience they have never had before, to see something new that makes them think of they next innovation they can think of, allow people to see and experience art, while giving the artists a chance to live out their passions.

36:55

Do new businesses see the Des Moines Social Club as an asset to bring new businesses to the area?

Yes! We're a great benefit and draw to the community with a creative business model. They are a non-profit, being self-sustaining without being reliant upon too many donations and grants. They applied a for profit model by utilizing the bar at the club. These profits are then applied to the non-profit. This keeps the money within, helping them continue to grow and create other viable, profitable venues within.  They have an in-house for profit funding the non-profit and this is a new way of thinking of creating art without using tax payer’s dollars.

The business community has greatly added to the success of DMSC. They participate in the club-are active players.

I see Forbes ranked Des Moines as the 3rd most livable city in 2009. Did you and your crew of volunteers help in this? What makes DM more livable now? How does that both support you and benefit from you?

1. You don’t need a lot of money to live here. It is very affordable.
2. It is very family friendly.
3. The business economy and how the businesses can thrive
4. Businesses can expand
5. DMSC offering culturally and artistically

Letʼs talk about the reasonable aspirations for your volunteers. Is there a common reasonable aspiration or hoped-for goal for their support of DMSC? How are you working together to help them achieve it?

The volunteers share common goals:

1. Their desire to see Des Moines Social Club grow.
2. There is a selfishness as well as they will be the ones to reap the benefits of DMSC –whether hired into a paying position or a place to showcase their art, or use the facility

On your about video you mention you have 250 volunteers. That sounds like a lot. Is it?
How are they organized? Leaders rise to the top, for a project or task or series of each,
come in and pick up a brush...howʼs it work?

Coordinating the common goals, aspirations and volunteers revolves around their spirit for achievement of all involved. When you have people who already have two jobs, they have a bundle of energy and excitement for this project. For example, one of the poets is also an electrician. It is about finding their strengths and utilizing them to the best of the community.

There are three networks of people: in-house of paid employees, volunteer core staff (equaling about 35 total between these 2 groups) plus other limited volunteers who make up the balance of the help, even if they can only provide 2-3 hours, all of whom are basically self-managed.

I see your expertise as leadership and collaboration. Can you share your three tips for leaders who want to inspire this type of passion for collaboration in their members?

1. Listening to what people want and letting them do it, whether I agree or not.
   
2. Judge the idea upon their passion and creativity. When you let people go out there and try it, it can be great or if it doesn’t succeed, you can then see their strengths and determination.
   
3. You can only discover this if you give someone the opportunity to try.

What are three coolest events coming up at DMSC?

1. 1st Saturday in August is the next art opening – largest show yet.
2. Fantastic show in September called “A Gaggle of Saints,” a one act play by Neil LaBute
3. Continuing series of barn dances and wrestling

You can follow Zach and the successes of the community at the Des Moines Social Club here:

Twitter: DesMoinesSocialClub

FaceBook: Des Moines Social Club

Website: Des Moines Social Club

* Reasonable Aspiration is a term coined by author and consultant, Erika Andersen, in her book Being Strategic.

Sen. Tom Harkin's Steak Fry

I'm off tomorrow to see Sen. Tom Harkin, D-IA, and his guest Montana's Gov. Brian Schweitzer at the 31st Harkin Steak Fry. I hope to have pics and text and maybe some movies, too.

Image from Huffington Post.

Paddling through Iowa City, IA

From IowaFlood.com

The Power of You (as measured and controlled by us)

Time-Warner announced their new metered-use internet service plan for the lucky residents of Beaumont, Texas. From TechCrunch.

Time-Warner's slogan now  is The power of you. After today, for the residents of Beaumont, it should say The Power of You (as measured and controlled by us).

The power of innovation that's been unleashed until now in the US with internet access is what's opened the doors to opportunities and startups and competition and innovation, regardless of locale. It's a level playing field that's benefited everyone. THAT's what's unleashed the power of you. And not a single corporate provider.

And now by limiting it, by controlling it and metering it ...they serve only to  control (stifle) this power of innovation and creativity and enterpreneurship...they seek to become the gatekeepers of small business, the jobs they create, our ability to compete globally...

Yeah, it is that big a deal, especially for small business, startups and small communities. You know, those places where over 50% of new jobs are created.

I'm blessed in many ways. One way is our community's commitment to bringing fiber to each home. 1/4 of the town has it now. We'll have ours later this summer. Let's measure the job growth in each town, Fairfield and Beaumont, over the next few years. For job growth, my money's on my town.

Ironically, not as in funny irony, but the kind of irony that makes you get...agitated, we've, all of us,  maybe already paid for fiber to the home. From TechDirt: You've Already Paid...

Job Surplus...in Iowa!

A survey of companies by Iowa Workforce Development, a state agency, found as many as 48,000 job vacancies, in industries including financial services — Des Moines trails only Hartford as the nation’s insurance capital — health care and skilled manufacturing. One estimate projects the job surplus to reach 198,000 by 2014, with vacancies increasingly in professional positions. Greater Des Moines alone faces a shortfall of 60,000 workers in the next decade.

Come on out.

Corn Ethanol: Environmentally Disastrous?

Corn ethanol, always environmentally suspect, turns out to be environmentally disastrous.

...The grain it takes to fill an SUV tank with ethanol could feed a person for a year. Harvests are being plucked to fuel our cars instead of ourselves.

Soaring corn prices have sparked tortilla riots in Mexico City, and skyrocketing flour prices have destabilized Pakistan, which wasn't exactly tranquil when flour was affordable.

But the basic problem with most biofuels is amazingly simple,... using land to grow fuel leads to the destruction of forests, wetlands and grasslands that store enormous amounts of carbon. The Clean Energy Scam, Time magazine.

Link from Trends I'm Watching.

The prospect for  grain-based ethanol held such promise. Living in Iowa, the prospect of an industry to bring jobs to the rural communities built around grain production, seemed ideal. But has time's gone on, much of the benefit comes not to the local community but to the corporate owners who, too often, live, and take their profits, outside the state.

But that's not unique here. That business model is consistent around the world from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, as well as here in Iowa.

Des Moines, Iowa: Center of the Universe

Go ahead and laugh now, some of you. But in some scenarios...coming to fruition in oh, say 5-10 years, that's a reality:

If one were to mindlessly extrapolate the present to the future, to say 2015, oil would go from $120 to $500 a barrel, corn would be at $15 a bushel and Dubai and Des Moines would be the two most powerful places in the world. - From Always On post titled Corn Flakes.

Mindlessly? Yeah, it's not so difficult really to extrapolate much of this happening. I mean who extrapolated a 30% increase in oil prices in the past 2.5 months?