Carmichael's Position

Where have I been?

This was the question posed by a friend of mine this morning, as he saw my IM show up on his computer.

In answer... Here... On Business.

 

 

So, You're Telling Me They Call You "Mariah?"

Cool commercial...  Hat tip to my fiend Tommy for calling attention to it via his Blog "Driving Fast, Taking Chances."  Yeah, I figured out the metaphor about 10 seconds into it, creative though.

Especially relevant considering who I work for now... yes I can help your company explore alternative energy options... Ping me at jcarmichael@nuenergen.com and visit us at www.NuEnergen.com .

The Mariah reference, for those of you born in the MTV generation, is in regard to a song from the musical "Paint Your Wagon."  One of the only Musicals a Heterosexual male can publicly claim to enjoy!  Hell, It starred Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin for God's Sake!  (Who both sang in the Movie!!!! No Seriously!!! They Did!!)

Taking Donations!

I'm making it official, to anyone who would like to contribute, I will be glad to accept your donations to the "Let's Send John Into Space" fund!  The "Let's Make Sure He Stays There" fund is different!  We have about a year and a half to raise the funds! 

All I need is $200,000 +/- not sure what £100,000 currently converts to... I'm only about $200,000 short right now.

Hell, I promise to even write about my trip! It's sure to thrill my dozens of readers!   If you're really nice I might even publish pictures!!!

Here's the story from "This is London"

"The Virgin Galactic spacecraft, which was being unveiled in New York today, is already under construction. Test flights are expected to begin in June, with commercial flights starting 12 months later."

...Once the mother ship reaches 50,000 feet, which was the cruising altitude of Concorde, the spaceship is released and its rocket is fired, accelerating the craft up to 2,500mph, and taking it to 110km, officially making its passengers astronauts.

If you would like to find an address to contribute to or if the fine folks at Virgin Galactic would like to offer up a trip for a "Regular Joe" or "Regular John" in this case(coffee and Raisin Bran will help with being defined as 'Regular') just leave your interest in contributing in the comments section.  I'll reply in private.  Or maybe in public... we'll see!

Continuing Education

I'm pretty much a generalist.  I kind of wade knee deep through the kiddie-pool of knowledge that exists on this earth.

Do I consider myself a smart man?  Yeah I guess so... Knowledgeable???  Well, depends on the topic.  Knowing that the times I've considered myself an idiot can fill an encyclopedic volume!  So one of my goals this year is to expand my knowledge in a number of arenas.  Now,  "expand"  means exploring ideas and experiences I have little prior knowledge of, as well as dig a bit deeper into those areas I do.  Hopefully in this pursuit, I will become a better person.  For myself and those whom I interact with.

I am looking this way due to a number of recent changes in my world where I am feeling more and more behind the curve.

Some changes in the last year:

• New House (first time ever purchasing a house for me)
• New Wife (same chick for the past 10 years...formalized it!)
• New Job (Working for a previous boss, in a new industry!)
• Became Editor and continue to write for a Blog for a fairly well known Naval Aviation Association

On top of this I still want to remain proficient in:

• Racquetball (Less whelts more aces!)
• Golf (it can wait until the temperature outside reaches par at least!)
• Pool (Our team is in the running to go to Nationals if we can get through a couple of qualifier rounds)
• Photography (I now have a copy of Photoshop CS3 on my computer!)
• Writing (The three blogs I work with - soon to be four-- ought to suffice)
• Aviation History (add to that getting back model building)
• Now (frigg'n) HALO!  Damn Tommy!

And now adding to those: 

• I need to read more
• History
• Management
• Leadership (NOT synonymous with the previous term)
• Entertainment (heheh not just Clancy!)
• Philosophy (Covered the works of Epictetus)
• Need to DO more around the house! Projects include:
• Finish my basement
• Media room
• Pool Table
• Bedroom
• Bathroom
• Learn more about wood working and other construction stuff (would probably help with the basement stuff!)
• Back to the GYM!  Gett'n flabby!  Well for me anyway!  And I have no plans on cutting back on my eating!

So what's the problem?  Outside of time and money?... NO GOALS SET!

I have strayed too far away from my Goal and task lists!  When I detail what I need to do (by when!-- that makes it a goal!) I usually am much more productive and efficient!  Proved today when I felt a bit overwhelmed by my workload and the number of projects that I am juggling, kind of lost the bubble on the status of each.  I took the time to write down... that's right the old fashion way... with pencil and legal pad!... the tasks I needed to accomplish today.  It was 20+ entries long.   All are complete as of now!  That is not to say more tasks were not created for tomorrow and future dates, there are now more due to today's business operations and unexpected surprises.  But writing them down helps!

Right now, I am beginning to expand my horizons by reading a number of books,

• Entertainment = Act of Treason by Vince Flynn
• Leadership= It's Your Ship by Captain Michael Abrashoff (I Highly Recommend this one!)
• And finally an author requested I review a book of his on the Battle of Midway, which I'll identify in another article, probably over on
The Tailhook Daily Briefing.

So excuse me while I write some more stuff down! 

The Future of Screen Interaction Technology

Computer,TV, HDDVD, what ever your poison, this is the next technological step in the process.

http://www.perceptivepixel.com/

Video:

We are already seeing advanced touch screen technology in Apple iPhones and iPods and Microsoft's Surface.  But expect the explosion over the next coupla!  Find your investments where you can!

JungleGrub is Now in Costco!

Now there is something to cheer about!

Many of you know I have been assisting Steve and Teresa Brandt, the founders of Organic Nutrition mostly in the form of some gentle business cheerleading and encouragement as well as building the JungleGrub News Blog for them. 

Well through Steve's dedication and perseverance JungleGrub Snack Bars are now available a select COSTCO stores in Southern California (sorry to the rest of my national readership... although I'm sure Steve and "T" won't mind if you go to your local COSTCO manager and request they too begin to stock JungleGrub... just say'n).

 

For those of you who do not know...

JungleGrub Snack Bars are the brain child of Steve and Teresa Brandt, two exceptionally brilliant and determined people!  And these bars are AWESOME!

           

What's so special about JungleGrub? 

Well, for starters... these bars were from the ground up created with kids in mind! That's why they are certified USDA organic.

That means nothing has been genetically altered or fed growth hormones and of course grown without the use of pesticides.  Bottom line - its straight forward food. When you see the USDA logo it should put you at ease that you won’t find things like High Fructose Corn Syrup in the ingredients.

And unlike other nutritional snack bars these do not taste like the bottom of your Gym Shoe with the texture of a Roofing Shingle!  No!  JungleGrub is sweet, fruity, appetizing and best of all easy to eat!  When you bite into a JungleGrub you can actually sink your teeth into one... you don't have to take out insurance on your teeth as you try to visegrip your way through them!

The other cool thing about JungleGrub is that each bar is currently only 100 calories!  That equates to just 15 minutes bowling, 30 minutes playing Frisbee, 18 minutes golfing or playing 13 hands of cards.  More importantly these bars help you accomplish these types of activities rather than require these types of activities!

For example, here's the nutritional label for Berry Bamboozle (my favorite)

More details can be found here: Link

So if you happen to live in So Cal and want to try some of these outstanding bars for yourself, or get some for your kids... BTW... They are great Lunchbox stuffers and Gym Bag stuffers for those of you pursuing your New Year's Resolutions!... Just head on down to your closest Costco on the date listed below and visit the JungleGrub Endcap!  You could even meet Steve and "T"!

PLEASE COME AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO BUY PRODUCT AND SUPPORT THE EVENTS!

• Week 1 January 3rd – 6^th
• Location: San Juan Capistrano
• Address: 33961 Doheny Park Rd,
• San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
• http://www.priceviewer.com/costco_locations/429-California.html
• Week 2 January 10th – 13th
• Location: Tustin 2 (there are 2 stores in Tustin)
• Address: 2700 Park Ave,
• Tustin, CA 92782
• [no link available for this new store]
• Week 3 January 17th-20th
• Location: Laguna Market Place
• Address: 27220 Heather Ridge Rd.,
• Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
• http://www.priceviewer.com/costco_locations/690-California.html
• Week 4 January 24th-27th
• Location: Irvine
• Address: 115 Technology Dr,
• Irvine, CA 92618
• http://www.priceviewer.com/costco_locations/454-California.html

For those of you not in SoCal, JungleGub is also available on Amazon.com [LINK].

Well... That was FUN!

Or maybe not so much...

I am finally holed up in a warm comfy hotel room in the lovely town of Waterbury CT after spending almost my entire day on the freeways of Massachusetts and Connecticut... well 8 hours! anyway! (I say almost, because the first 3.5 hours of my morning were spent finalizing plans for my company's next coolest release for our customers...)

You:  "Wow John you must have traveled from one end of one state to the other..."

Me:  "Nope,... went 94 miles..."

You:  "huh?"

Me:  Allow me to illustrate...

Today after completing a software improvement  project with our developer, I needed to traverse some 140 miles from Marlborough MA to Danbury CT.  I didn't make it...

After 8 hours on my butt, no food, and one very impromptu pit stop on the not so side of the freeway, I had had enough...  Ya see, there was this Snow Storm I drove right smack into...  weird actually went from East Coast gray overcast, to... well...  A curtain of SNOW... A lot of SNOW!  In very short order! Some 9 inches in 4 hours! Here's a taste:

At 11:45 I took a photo as I was approaching the toll booth at the end of I-90 transitioning onto I-84, it had literally just begun no more than 2 minutes earlier.

This next shot was 12 minutes later:

26 minutes later...

2 hours and 11.3 miles later... seriously...

Then a few hours after sitting parked, well not really parked... every couple of minutes or so we advanced a car length or two... sometimes only a Mini Cooper length or two, I decided that my back teeth had been floating LONG ENOUGH!  And without a Gatorade bottle to spare, decided to mark some Connecticut territory and melt some ice right there on the freeway.  After all, we weren't going anywhere anytime soon.  No one blamed me!  And through the rest of my winter wonderland odyssey, I observed that I was not the only one who's bladder could be leased out as a Workout Ball!  Seven.... count 'em Seven others applied de-icing to I-84 in the course of the next hour or two.  Nope, don't know how you ladies do it!

This next photo I took looking back behind me... it was quite eerie in that I was actually the LAST person in the traffic line on the freeway... I had just cleared an icy hill that many semi's had jack-knifed on, and where many others' velocity vector was not pointing the same direction as their headlights!Somehow I finagled my way through... never once hitting the brakes or in reality nudging the gas more than the amount it would take to advance yourself in the drive-through window at McDonalds!  Oh... Did I happen to mention my Hertz rental car for this week's festivities was non other than an '07 Mustang!  Gotta just love rear wheel drive... with lotsa torque... in SNOW!  Anyway back to the pic...   after pulling up to the all too familiar eternal line of cars on the I-84 parking lot, it was some 5 minutes before I realized that I was LAST IN LINE!  I mean no one was behind me for over a 1/4 a mile (that was as far as I could see!)  That can't be good!

It was at that time... or in the next 20 minutes that I sat parked there... I made the decision to cut my trip shorter (distance-wise... it was already 6 hours longer) than planned, call the nearest Marriott and see if they had a room for yon weary traveler.

They did!  Now if my 1/4 tank of gas holds out for another 20 miles (and maybe 3 hours!)

Miracle!  About 10 more minutes passed and we the intrepid, began once again our snow laden mosey.  We cleared through another "Charlie Foxtrot" of Semi's and "See Dumbass!!! Four Wheel drive does not make you 'Captain Invincible's!" ("Captain Imbeciles" maybe...) and the plowed road lay presented before us... now mind you 20 miles per hour may not seem like much to you all sitting back reading this in Sunny San Diego... but let me tell you it was good to get the wind blow'n through my hair again... did I mention that my windshield wipers froze up on me?  So my head was out said window a couple of times knocking the frozen crap of the ol' vinyl "flick-fluncks" (can't really call then windshield wipers at that there particular moment) with the extended ice scraper/broom so thoughtfully supplied by Hertz!  Good people those Hertz guys... except for the ol' Mustang thing in the first BIG ASS Winter Storm of the season!  At least it wasn't a convertible!  Small blessings doncha know.

Alas I arrived at my recently altered hotel... and you know... the winter scene out my 6th floor, quite warm, Internet, and TV equipped room takes on a whole new peace about it once spectate'n  instead of participate'n...

Peace on Earth to all of you... I'm just happy having a little peace here in Waterbury Connecticut.

Sleep well... I know I will...

New Gig at NuEnergen

Yesterday was my first day at NuEnergen.  And as with any new beginning it was mostly dedicated to establishing the infrastructure required to do my job; e-mail, IM, phone, "Where's the Head" you know the important things.

This looks like it is going to be a great experience.  Already I am digging into our contractual arrangements with our customers so I can insure we are taking care of them operationally.  We've got some great names in that corral.

Which leads me to answer the question many of you have asked of me.  What does NuEnergen (and you) do?

NuEnergen is an Energy Management Consulting Firm, we specialize in

• Energy Procurement
• Demand Response
• Renewable Energy Certificates

I will be wearing many hats here, primarily I am responsible for taking care of our customers, insuring they receive the service they expect along with the accurate reporting they need.  Oh and of course, the savings we are seeking on energy procurement.  Additionally I will be assisting on everything from Sales & Marketing to our IT and Web needs.  Good thing I won't be too busy!

I'll be writing more about NuEnergen and what we do as the weeks progress, but it is definitely a burgeoning industry and we appear to be in the right markets.  Time will obviously tell.

Many of you who know me are also well aware of my politics, which leads to a few more questions in your minds about "Carbon Footprints" - Green Energy- and Greenhouse Gas reductions and how I fit into that.

More on that to come.  I owe it to a friend of mine to actually dedicate a few more brain cells to addressing the perceived philosophical contradiction. 

Stay tuned...

My Departure from NewsGator

As many of you now know tomorrow (11/9/07) marks my final day at NewsGator.  And it is with mixed emotion I greet this milestone.

My tenure at NewsGator began three and a half years ago when, at my weekly pool league, Greg Reinacker innocently enough asked me if I would be willing to work with him as his new idea for bringing RSS Feeds directly into MS Outlook was beginning to catch on.

"What's RSS?" I asked... and after a Sears Tower sized elevator pitch on the concept of NewsGator I said, uh... "Let me think about it..." 

"And... What the hell is a NewsGator?"

Obviously I agreed at some point to take Greg up on his offer.  I reported to work in April of '04 at the lavish 2nd floor office/loft of Greg's house... 

"Hey John, maybe we ought to look into getting you a desk or something to work at huh?... don't worry I have a desk chair you can use..."  Famous words to numb your butt by!

Anyway, NewsGator had begun.  Initially we envisioned an entirely different path than what has resulted now some 3+ years later... "No plan ever survives first contact" and all...  and NEVER survives VC advice! Right, Wrong or Indifferent!  We initially focused on providing a delivery mechanism for Premium "High Quality" full article content from known (and not so well known) publishers and writers.  Yeah that panned out!  Looked good on paper, but having to explain the dynamics of RSS and Feed Subscribing to, well... EVERYONE!... really took some time and creativity.

But for those with vision, the structural part of NewsGator and concept of information organization and access within Outlook as well as a web-based interface was intriguing.  And it was in June of '04 Greg decided to accept VC funding from Brad Feld and the folks at Mobius VC.  Wow!  Funding!

"Hey Greg, can I get another chair?" 

- "Yeah, go ahead and take one from the dining room table"

We then set our sites on expanding our employee count!  Cuz Greg was now having to hob-knob more and program less... We brought Lane into the office/ dining room suite at Casa de Reinacker... Let me tell you, Lane is awesome!  I have met no one better at rapidly sizing up a situation, formulating his assessment, compiling a cogent sentence to describe it, then deliver with properly cadenced inflection, dripping with sarcasm resulting in all around him on the floor with laughter!  We needed it then (and still do today). 

Lane's view of Greg's kitchen, and the "Old Growth Forest that used to be pizza in the refrigerator" was not one to be envied!  I was glad to have the loft, and Greg was happy I had taken to nailing his various '80's posters to his wall, instead of lying on the floor.  I still bet to this day that loft is the only room in his house to have anything hanging from the walls!

"Hey Lane, by the way, would you like an Office Chair instead of the Dining Room chair your in?"  Lane opted against "Iron Butt."  Smart man that Lane!

Over the years we continued to grow and continued to try to identify what we wanted to be when we grew up!  We eventually focused our efforts on an Enterprise Platform utilizing a centralized database of feeds, content, and community relevance data.  And those efforts continue to this day, albeit in much better digs than Greg's house!  And with many more employees!  3 office spaces later and employees numbering close to 70, NewsGator has indeed grown to become an influential player in the "Web 2.0" sandbox! 

As would be expected as employee #1 at a start-up, I have transitioned in roles at NewsGator from, Premium Content Solicitor, to Marketing Evangelist, to Cold Calling Outlook Sales Ferrengi, to Inside Sales Lacky, to Enterprise Sales Exec (securing our first 4 enterprise sales), to Director Client Services taking care of our 70+ Enterprise Customers and 20+(at the time) Private Label Media companies in their pursuit of Web 2.0 (always hated that moniker- lacks panache) initiatives.

Much fun has been had over these years and I am proud to say I was part of this fine team of people.  There is a phenomenal brain trust here and it will be tough to leave these fine folks.  But alas, I must move on my ADD has once again reared its head. 

I bid farewell to "Uncle NewsGator" and set sail for seas unknown, at a new company with familiar faces, in a new industry with boundless opportunity... and I hope a comfortable office chair!

Thanks Greg... it was one hell of a ride!

By the way... I still feel the Logo should have been something like this...

Jungle Grub is Now in the Amazon! .com that is!

That's right!  You all remember my mention about JungleGrub right? If not, go here!  Isn't it most appropriate that a product named "JUNGLE GRUB" is now available from the king of distribution and online retail "AMAZON!" 

Anyway, things are progressing wonderfully at Organic Nutrition, the parent of JungleGrub.  Steve and Teresa Brandt just sent me an e-mail outlining what's happening and what's gunna be happening in the coming months.  Trust me it is SUPER Exciting!!!  Sorry I cannot divulge everything here, some is still company confidential... heheh amazingly enough I'm included in that circle!  Nyah... Nyah.... I know a secret!

But what is not a secret, and should be yelled from the highest of our 14ers here in Colorado and even the 102 footer in Florida, is that Jungle Grub is now available on Amazon.com!!!

This is a HUGE success for Jungle Grub!  And should not be surprising to anyone who has tried either Berry Bamboozle or Peanut Butter Groove!  Well if you haven't tried either of these fine 100 calorie nutritious treats, you need to do yourself and your kids a favor... go here and buy yourself a box or 10!

Here is the URL for you to share with your friends...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_seeall_2/002-1994505-0208864?ie=UTF8&rs=&keywords=jungle%20grub&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ajungle%20grub%2Ci%3Agrocery

Also, be sure to leave your favorable comments on the Amazon site, it certainly helps!  Having good product reviews on their website will help encourage people who have not had the opportunity to taste the bars (poor dears!) Taste is the most difficult feature to express in marketing a food product. Personal testimonials and recommendations provide people with 3^rd  party opinions and credibility.  So get to work!

And most of all, THANK YOU! 

Way to go Steve and "T"!!!!

To Ensure Your Banana Will Be Protected!

This is a real product!  But, Oh God! was I having troubles reading through my tear filled, laughing eyes!

These are just two pages from their website!  

Oh the places you can go!  And now you can take your banana with you!  In Colorful Style!  It's ventilated! 

And most importantly from their FAQ...

Q: "Not all bananas are the same size or shape, so how can the Banana Guard fit them all?"

A: The Banana Guard was specially designed to accommodate the majority of banana sizes. Our testing indicates that over 90% of commercially available bananas will fit into the Banana Guard. Highly curved bananas can be straightened ever-so-slightly without harm to fit the Banana Guard shape. The opposite holds true of very straight bananas.

I'm thinking "VERY STRAIGHT BANANAS" might enjoy getting slightly bent and put in a box....

Just say'n..... 

Creativity Around the Office

Working at NewsGator, I am surrounded by creative people... Being in a Web 2.0 Software company will promote that type of person.

However, I have to say that I was caught off guard by one of our employees' creativity in the break room.  You see we're one of those cool companies that provides free fattening agents  snacks for our folks.  These nutritional goodies include M&M's (peanut doncha know!) Bowls of Snickers bars, Red Vines, Pop-tarts etc... you know good wholesome food to help creative minds bloom!

Well a few months back one of our employees came up with a brilliant idea to have dispensers replace the "free-for-all" bowls.  You know the bowls, the ones where no-one uses the "provided spoon" for scooping the contents into their "I have no idea where those have been... ahhh chooooo!.... hands!"  The cool new dispensers are kind of a "No charge" gumball machine.  Place your hand under the dispenser, twist the knob, and voila', goodies in hand!  Looks like this:

Great Idea!  We've got a bank of these things dispensing all manner of goodies:

 

Like Assorted nuts... Chex mix... The aforementioned M&M's...  And of course

  Cheese and Crackers... or if you're lucky Peanut Butter and Crackers!

Aaaahhh NewsGator... breaking the daily monotony with a sledge hammer!

God luv'em!

Flight Tracking Technology

I continue to be amazed at our uses of Technology. 

Yeah, I work for a company that is indeed on the cutting edge of information delivery, and I do indeed find our products (NewsGator, FeedDemon, InBox, NewsGator Go, etc...) extremely useful in pulling in and efficiently rendering information at the locations I want.  Great!  I use it every day!

But, this post is not to advertise my company's products (as useful as they are).  More I realized how far we have come in the modern "Immediate Access" age we now live in. 

A couple of tasks I accomplished this evening illustrated this to me. 

• First, I am picking a friend of mine up at Denver International Airport (DIA) this evening. Note that in an effort to avoid noise complaints (that is until everyone moves close to it... then, duh, complains!) and to allow continuous landings, Denver has the foresight to place their SUPER HUGE Airport out in the middle of nowhere... Yeah kinda like Kansas.  It's some 45 minutes (without traffic) from my house.  So it is important that I have accurate arrival information on my buddy's flight so I don't end up out in the boonies waiting for hours for his flight to arrive.  I turned to this cool site!  http://flightaware.com/ .  Once I put in my friend's flight information not only was I provided with his REALTIME flight status, and anticipated arrival time (3 hours late) but I was also provided with a Map of his current location,

airspeed and altitude!  It also rendered the weather that Ken was having to fly around, adding to his delay... Very Cool!

• And the second Technological advancement is Amazon.com!  The world's best invention for we procrastinators when occasions like "Mother's Day" and "Father's Day" are nigh!  No I won't divulge what I purchased for my dear Pops, let's just say well... It damn well wasn't the SNJ!

JungleGrub or Jungle Grub if you must...

I have a buddy of mine who has created a brand new product in the Highly Competitive Nutritional Bar Industry.  But before I get into that allow me a bit of a reflection...

Steve Brandt is one of those "Once in a Lifetime" people you meet where you just know this guy is going to accomplish great things, all the while being properly humble about his desires and accomplishments.  Steve has a great "Business Eye" he sees problems that create niches for which he sees a solution, as clearly as  you and I see the hand in front of our face.   If you wonder what I mean ... just remember Steve's name next time you pick up a Black & Decker Power Tool, or work on the new Workmate!  Yep... That Guy!

I met Steve and his awesome wife "T" back in College.  It was there I recognized the wealth of spirit and determination each possessed individually.  But collectively?... sheesh!  Un-frigg'n-believable!  Everything Steve takes on he takes on 1,000% when he sees a goal he goes and attains (if not surpasses) it.  "T" is much the same way albeit in the Science of Molecular Biology instead of Business... (I'll take business!)  So much so that she has attained her PhD in the discipline, and served her post-doc at... eh-hem... Johns Hopkins!   But again, these two are not the types that let their accomplishments go to their heads they are just as cool today as they every were in in college.  I love that about them.  They are genuine, sincere, super-smart, conscientious and possess a wealth of integrity unsurpassed!

And I believe it is precisely these characteristics that have brought them to this point in their lives.

For the past year they have pursued their labor of love and created the company Organic Nutrition, and  just this week publicly released...

JungleGrub™ snack bars launched in March 2007 at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California. In addition to the two flavors of JungleGrub™ now available; Berry Bamboozle and Peanut Butter Groove, Organic Nutrition is currently developing new flavor extensions for JungleGrub™ and 3 other snack food products.

So what's the big deal you may ask... Well remember what I mentioned earlier about Steve's ability to see opportunity clearly?  He's done just that with JungleGrub!  JungleGrub isn't just any ol' nutrition bar...

JungleGrub is striving to do right by kids and give them what they need to maintain balanced energy between meals – starting from organically grown ingredients and finishing with…a fun snack bar with the sweetness and taste kids naturally crave! 

It isn’t always easy to find time to prepare fresh and tasty treats for our picky eaters…and the competition makes candy bars look a whole lot more appealing to our little ones!  JungleGrub comes in two delicious flavors: Berry Bamboozle and Peanut Butter Groove. Both bars have a coating of vanilla icing to add a touch of sweetness in each bite.

JungleGrub snack bars were developed under strict standards to meet the [gross majority of] school nutrition guidelines and provide balanced energy…but the kids had the final say; if they didn’t like the taste, we reformulated until they gave us a thumbs up!

JungleGrub focuses on a low calorie (100 calories per bar) Organic snack for your kids!  Without the worry of feeding your kids Junk Food, JungleGrub is actually nutritious!  But best of all every study thus far proves that the taste is incredible!  Kids love it!

“Developing Organic Nutrition, Inc. has been far more rewarding than I ever envisioned. There is a strong feeling of awareness among consumers that we need to develop snacks that are nutritious for kids. We plan to be part of the solution, putting quality and fun first. Its an incredible feeling to watch children's faces light up when they like something they are eating and you know its good for them.

“Kids should eat well and like what they eat!...Toss ’em a JungleGrub!”

So keep an eye out for JungleGrub in your favorite stores... it's coming soon!  And if you do not see it in either your nutrition section or Organic section of your favorite store... Don't be shy, go ask the store manager why it's not there?  You'll be glad you did!
   

       

St. Louis, Dying? or Dead?

I just got back this week from the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) show in St. Louis. 

And I have a few takeaways:

The show was great!  Met good folks interested in RSS (Knew what it means and generally how it works) and very interested in Newsgator Enterprise Server!

But, as for the location where it was held... well... St. Louis could use some help.

Some areas of St. Louis are quite nice... The new Busch Stadium for one and around the Arch for two, but other than that, Downtown St. Louis is in trouble!  I sure hope my perspective is wrong, but unlike here in Denver where our Downtown is full of life and action, St. Louis is dead or dying.  I suspect the action is now out in the suburbs, but I was not afforded the opportunity to range out there.  Around the convention center, where one would suspect there would be activity and lots of nice restaurants, I was disappointed, there were few.

Six blocks toward the Mississippi River, there is a area called Laclede's Landing (how to pronounce it, I'm not sure) that caters to the tourists with a few shops, taverns, and restaurants.  Some pretty nice.  But even on a Saturday night, still somewhat dead, such the pity because it could be so much more!

There are also two Riverboat Casinos in the area one on the Missouri side of the river and one on the Illinois side.  Both are ok (I won at both so I can't complain there) but again could be much higher in quality.

But in general if I sat on the St. Louis Tourism Board, I would take some serious actions toward making the area around the Convention Center a little more palatable, especially for dining and entertaining clients.

Back from Philly and the AIIM Show

Wow what a week!  This was one of those weeks I just knew was going to be long!  Starting last Sunday Afternoon when I had to board a flight to Philadelphia to present and exhibit at the AIIM show.

Plane left on time... didn't land on time!  Thunder Storms!

Midnight arrival at hotel... "Uh, you say your reservation is today??? We don't have you checking until tomorrow."

Two solutions to this! One, I provide Check-in-Counter-Jockey Jerome with the faxed confirmation of my adjusted reservation stating clearly that my date of check-in had been advanced one day; two, casually mention to take a look at the clock... "It is tomorrow, consider this an early arrival."

Option one worked... Note to readers, NEVER leave on a business trip without the paper confirmation of your hotel, air and car reservations!  Being able to present these papers on demand has saved my butt in numerous, otherwise awkward situations!

Next morning, woke up early... (what the hell am I doing awake at 6:30am?  I flew EAST!)  Must be the extra oxygen! BOOM! Then again it could be the thunder from this morning's thunderstorm! Wow, now that's rain... uh nope... Hail!  I think I'll wait to walk to the convention center...

8:00 the clouds ease up...  I head to the Convention Center to set up the new version of the NewsGator Booth... "Should be a piece of cake, I've done this numerous times." 

"I'm sorry, who might you be?"

"Mr. Murphy, and you say you're here to enforce some laws?" -- "Oh I see... YOUR laws"

Note to Readers:  On new artwork for your trade show booth... Highly recommended that you dry fit your panels prior to having them delivered to the show floor!  Or as was our case... give yourself enough time to order the panels so they can be delivered early enough to perform this task.  This would allow one to identify if... Hypothetically speaking of course... the art actually aligned, or say the panels were... say 4 inches too long?  Good things to check on.  On the bright side our printers are replacing the panels at no charge to us... a couple weeks from now.

Meetings the rest of the day with clients, One good.. One moderately good... well productive.  Met up with my co-workers for dinner and a cocktail.  Went to a place called "Irish Pub!"  My kind of place.  Guinness and dinner... well actually Guinness and uh... Bait?!  I ordered "Crab Stuffed Flounder"...  I found "Nemo!"  Seriously!  The mouse you are using to click on these pages is bigger than was my fillet of guppy!  I had a french fry on my plate that was bigger!

Next day all squared away at the conference, conducting demos, discussing use cases with interested parties, generally good stuff.  Then I have to present to an audience of around 25-30 folks the benefits of using RSS in an Enterprise environment.  "Piece of Cake!  Done this Numerous Times!"

"Oh... Nice to see you again Mr. Murphy!"

It would appear that Wireless Internet connection is quite the option at the AIIM show, which coincidentally is part of the OnDemand show as well... Ironic... that's a cool word.  Try and try again, but no luck on wireless!  No hard line at the podium either.  Now there's planning!

I rapidly capture about 10 images from our Enterprise Server while connected at our booth to present in a PowerPoint presentation at the speech.  This ought to go smoothly!... Odds?  Bets Please... Any takers?... Bets are closed...

I actually pulled it off for the most part.  A little choppier than my desired and practiced presentation, but I was trained to overcome and improvise!

Next day actually went smooth, decent booth action, great lunch with a client, and a departure to home! Flight routing through Chicago...

Plane left on time... didn't land on time!  Thunder Storms! 

Burned nine, 10 minute ovals somewhere over Cleveland... you do the math!

Side Bitch Here:  On United, one of the reasons I fly them (outside of they're just about the only choice out of Denver!) is because they offer up Air Traffic Control Communications on their audio system, Channel 9!  But this offering is strictly, in aviation parlance, "PD" or "Pilot's Discretion."  Meaning if a pilot is concerned about all of the "Armchair wannabe and actual pilots" sitting behind him in steerage kibitzing his coms, he can choose not to offer it, replacing channel 9 with a tribute to Rupert Holmes greatest hits!  My pilot on this day opted for the latter... so instead of hearing first hand what was happening, we had to burn a few laps before being briefed on the circumstances.

Long story short I arrive in Denver about 2 hours past my planned time, only to be faced with an unreported traffic jam on I-225, and a closed ramp that I needed to take. 

At least I still had Thursday and Friday to look forward to!  Yeah!

Yep I sure love traveling on business!  I won't begin to go into how far behind I am at the office!

NewsGator Bids a Fond Farewell To Jennifer Smith

Today it is with heavy heart we at Newsgator all bid a fond farewell to Jennifer Smith.  She has been with us through thick and thick and remained ever determined to do her best at "Taking Care of Business!"

Jennifer has served for over a year as our PR Manager, coordinating our numerous efforts in getting publicity for our family of products.  Not an easy job considering all of the opinions she needed to satisfy (Especially since we are notorious for having 3 people in a room with 7 opinions!) 

But through all of the stresses and strains this position dumped on her, she persevered with a smile and the occasional "Un-lady-like" four letter word!  And oh what a vocabulary!  No wonder she's in PR.

We will miss her here daily, however we have been assured that she will begin a new blog allowing us a peek into her sure to be exciting adventures.  We look forward to it!

So in great Navy Tradition... Jennifer I wish you "Fair Winds and Following Seas!... Godspeed!"

Guinness Blogs

Hat tip to Tom for this one...

Guinness Beer is Blogging!  A number of companies are trying to get their arms around the whys and the how's of blogging especially as it relates to customer connectivity and awareness.

Guinness has done a fairly good job in their efforts to promote community.

When you go... If you are in the US say you are a resident of England or one of the other UK countries (evidently laws prohibit the fine folks at Guinness from communicating directly with the Yanks!)

BRILLIANT!

Denver Transit Strike (This isn't going to be good!)

Our usual crappy traffic here in Denver is going to take a turn for the worse it would appear!

"Denver transit workers vote to strike"

"Workers were walking off the job at 2 a.m. Monday, union officials said. The last strike lasted for a month in 1982. " [posted by:  Melissa Reeves  Assignment Editor 9-News ]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to rush hour tomorrow!

Another Milestone at NewsGator

I have been with NewsGator for going on 2 years now, and have had the pleasure of watching as we have grown, from me, Greg and Lane, working from Greg's house (sitting on the none-too-comfortable dining room chairs!) to our first official office space where we grew from small start-up to "growing-now-VC-funded-small-start-up" expanding from 4 employees to 12.  We then progressed to a "Rabbit Warren" of an office on the 9th floor of one of the older buildings in Downtown, complete with "Caution Asbestos Hazard" signs in the bathroom!  While there we grew from 12 to approximately 50 employees, outgrowing our space weekly it seemed.  We actually had a number of developers who's desks were in the hallways! (No Joke!)

Which brings me to today at Newsgator!  We've moved!  And the excitement here can barely be measured!  We have room to move around!  Hell you can actually get winded walking from one end of the floor to the other!  A number of folks here have commented that they can turn in their gym membership and start running laps around our parameter corridor!  (I bet 16 laps makes a mile).

But the really spectacular part of the new digs is the view that comes with now residing on the 25th floor!  Magnificent! 

One fun thing we have done is changed the naming conventions on our conference rooms.  Rather than the old "really creative" names we used like "Conference Room 1" and "Conference Room 2," we have acknowledged a few of our's love of Poker and Vegas and named our conference rooms after Vegas Casinos.  The Executive Conference room is of course Bellagio, we have a Venetian, and a Gold Dust.  But the piece de resistance is by far "The Stratosphere!"   An open area in the southwest corner, designed for collaboration and community (and the occasional company meeting).  It has, for 30 feet in either direction, an unobstructed floor to ceiling view of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, and the city of Denver Colorado.  It is breathtaking!  I cannot do the view justice, but here's a taste...

I have noticed a bit of gawking taking place today as we all acclimate ourselves to our new surroundings.  We all hope it will serve as inspiration to our creativity and willingness to excel to even greater heights.

Oil Companies Profit... BIG!

Is anyone surprised at this?

I’m a card carrying Republican and I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with Capitalism, but… Numbers like these only go to prove that the “Oil Crisis” “Sky is Falling” scenario perpetuated by the emotion driven mercantile exchanges with the all to willing help of the media, is a load of CRAP!

Retail prices are solely a result of Big Oil wanting profit!  Ridiculous profits!

From Reuters

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - news), the No. 3 U.S. oil company, on Wednesday reported quarterly profit surged 89 percent, surpassing Wall Street forecasts, driven by record oil prices and sharply higher refining margins.

ConocoPhillips, like other major oil companies, has reaped a windfall from soaring crude oil prices -- which touched a record $70 a barrel in the quarter -- and better refining margins, as powerful hurricanes blew through the Gulf of Mexico, severely disrupting energy operations.

I guess this is great news for the stock holders of these companies.  But at what cost to the overall economy?  Inflation numbers are regularly reported with the terms… “Excluding Fuel Prices” as to not skew the trend.  Well trust me these prices are skewing the rest of the economy!  All so ConocoPhillips can report an 89% quarterly profit?  This only tells me that prices at the ole Conoco station here in Denver were as artificially inflated as we all suspected, and could have easily been in the $1.90 range!

[Conoco] Total revenue also jumped to $49.7 billion in the quarter from $34.7 billion a year earlier.

Yep, greed is… Good????

I haven't been blogging for awhile

I haven’t been blogging for awhile lately.  Primarily to an increasing workload!  Which is great news for NewsGator!  In the past month I have been at 4 speaking engagements/ expositions with one more to go, including:

·       The Wall Street Technology Conference in NYC

·       The KM for Government Symposium in Washington DC

·       The Financial Services Conference in Scottsdale AZ

·       The Gartner Symposium in Orlando FL

·       And we’ll be at the MS Exchange Conference in San Diego on the 31^st.