Hire 'em right, train 'em right, treat 'em right

What does it mean if someone is intrepid?

Extremely brave. Showing no fear of dangerous situations. Courageous. Audacious, brave, dauntless, fearless.

Intrepid is a very easy word when it comes to its meaning: without any fear. Intrepid is a tricky word, when it comes to usage. It can be used both in a positive context as well as a negative one. And, we have trepidation, a feeling of fear that causes you to hesitate because you think something bad or unpleasant is going to happen. 

Like getting stranded on the moon. I'll come back to this. 

For the first time, more students have signed up to attend college online (remote) than via a traditional college campus. And 2024 has set a record for High School Students taking college level classes, online. Kids, going to their local High School, taking college courses - from home. 

Today's Sunday Blog is a mishmash of thoughts that have a common link: The Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum in New York City. 

Recently I attended Apollo: When We Went to the Moon on the Intrepid in NYC.  'When We Went to the Moon' provides historical context to the colossal innovations of the Apollo program and NASA’s subsequent projects, shedding light on space exploration and its profound technological and cultural impacts. 

After World War II, an intense rivalry formed between the United States and the Soviet Union igniting the Space Race. Both countries had one prime objective: to put the first humans on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, the United States won the race. Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon. This achievement transformed humanity’s understanding of our world and our potential to reach beyond its boundaries. If there was no space race, we might not have cell phones, or laptops, or the internet. Maybe one day we would get them - but not with this speed and adoption. If there was no Space Race, there would be no Amazon, no Netflix, no Apple, no Uber. The Space Race changed history for all of us.  

I remember watching the movie "The Right Stuff" and also the movie "First Man" which of course are the Hollywood versions of history. But I also remember being on PURDUE campus and learning about intrepid alumni Amelia Mary Earhart, American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. Amelia held many early aviation records, including first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Oh man, think about all of the training. The massive amount of knowledge transfer during a time without the Internet. Slide Rules, yes. Laptops, no. And no Google, and certainly no 'AI'. All the intelligence was very real indeed, nothing artificial. 

If I drive, PURDUE is 739.2 miles away. Figure 10 hours, 49 minutes, give or take. I cannot remember the number of times I made that trip. And, I also flew home to New Jersey a few times. I always thought it was cool that PURDUE had its own airport right on campus. 

For the last hundred years or so, if you lived outside of the USA, you would contemplate sending your child to North America for their education. It was common for people to make not only the financial sacrifice, but the emotional sacrifice of sending teenage children away from home, to another country. I think that the level of trepidation to make this decision must be intense. Because quality of life is (and always has been) connected to quality of education. And, there was only one way to get a quality education: on a campus. 

At age 17, in 1947, Neil Armstrong began studying aeronautical engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana; he was the second person in his family to attend college. Armstrong was also accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology but he resolved to go to Purdue after watching a football game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Ohio State Buckeyes at the Ohio Stadium in 1945 in which quarterback Bob DeMoss led the Boilermakers to a sound victory over the highly regarded Buckeyes. An uncle who attended MIT had also advised him that he could receive a good education without going all the way to Cambridge, Massachusetts. "No need to travel so far away from home, Neil." Ironic, eh? 

Training. Education. Engineering. Research. Experimental Aircraft. All of this was done during a time in history without the Internet, without laptops, without computers. Without YouTube, without Audible.com and certainly without Zoom. 

Because I run the (now global) Distance Learning Association, I often reflect back on how distance learning became DIGITAL learning and now, today in 2024, it's really just DIGITAL LIVING. Zoom just announced that they can host 1M+ (that's one million) people on a webinar. My mind went to this: would it not be cool to have let's say 900+ people LIVE on the INTREPID, 900K+ LIVE via Zoom Webinar, and 9M+ watching the archives via YouTube or Workvivo. Pushing the boundaries of distance learning. Let's do it! 

I think back and reminisce about how I would drive the 739.2 miles from home to PURDUE when I was a teenager. And how my two sons would drive the 162 miles back and forth to UCONN and a few round-trips to Quinnipiac University (110 miles). RUTGERS is 40.7 miles from my home in BOONTON USA. I can only imagine how many times I made that round-trip to the RUTGERS School of BUSINESS. Hundreds of times, easy. Heck, I still do! { but now, for hosting Zoom events FROM campus...} 

Round trips from my New Jersey home to PURDUE took some planning. Trips home from UCONN or RUTGERS or Quinnipiac, not so much. Heck, that can be a day trip. Certainly nothing like the 238,900 miles from the earth to the moon. 

Aviation changed the world. And the Space Race changed the world - especially the world of EDUCATION. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research changed the world - no matter where you live, and no matter what country you were born. 

Viasat and Starlink now provide reliable high-speed internet to 102 countries. Both aspire to provide global mobile broadband. So, soon, you will be able to get a college or university degree from PURDUE UNIVERSITY (or from ANY college or university) from anywhere in the world. 

And one day.... from the moon. And beyond. 

Thanks Amelia, thanks Neil. 

It's time to Put Up Your Dukes

Put up one's dukes: to raise one's clenched fists in front of one's body and stand in a threatening or defiant manner, in preparation for a fistfight.

I recently hosted one of our www.ZoomTalks.us (Coffee in the Clouds) interviews with the amazing Dan Ariely - an Israeli-American professor and author. He serves as a James B. Duke Professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. Ariely is the co-founder of several companies implementing insights from behavioral science. I am a big fan of DanAriely.com 

In preparation for the interview I spent some time on Duke.edu 

2024: With the Duke University cost of attendance amounting to approximately $83,263 per year—inclusive of the combined Duke tuition and fees—the total Duke University cost comes to around $333,000 for 4 years.

Why is Duke tuition so high?

Duke pays what it calls "startup costs" for a lot of professors, particularly in the sciences. And decisions about hiring faculty can drive up costs in other parts of the university. Duke considers a lot of that spending when it says $90,000 is what it costs to educate an undergraduate each year.

In 1984, it cost $10,000 a year to go to Duke University. Today, it's more than $80,000 a year. But according to the executive vice provost at Duke, that's actually a discount. "We're investing on average about $90,000 in the education of each student, and Duke is one of the most elite research institutions in the world."

From their website: Jennifer West is a professor of bioengineering and materials science with a long list of publications, awards and titles. To hire West away from Rice University, money wasn't enough. She came with an entourage. "I moved a whole entire research group with me, so I had to move a lot of people and then we had to move a lot of our equipment and rebuild our lab," she says. "They actually sent architects to Rice who looked at our lab facilities there, then used that information to go back and design the facility that would work for us at Duke."

OK, so now the students who are PHYSICALLY on campus at Duke, would benefit from interaction with someone like Dr. West. On campus - in a lab. So, here is the debate (more from the website):

Charles Schwartz, a retired professor from the University of California, Berkeley, who has been studying university finances for the past 20 years, takes issue with this way of accounting. He says it's unfair to place the financial cost of professors like Jennifer West, who spend most of their time in the lab, on undergraduate students. "It's just wrong to bundle all those costs together," he says.

It looks like 55% of students pay full price, over $80,000. 10% pay nothing. The rest of the students pay anywhere from $10,000 to $54,000 per year. 

So if you're a student (physically) at Duke, are you getting a massive discount on the cost of your education? Or are you subsidizing a giant educational and research complex that you (as an undergraduate student) will barely come into contact with?

If you're engaged in research and capitalizing on your professors' expertise, maybe you're getting something that's worth more than what you paid. If you've got a good financial aid package, you're definitely getting a good deal. But if you're a full-paying student, who's not learning much from professors outside the classroom, it's the research university that's getting the deal.

Where are you going with this, Tom?

I am not looking to 'put up my dukes' with Duke.edu. This blog could be about any college or university in the world, as all schools are fighting for tuition dollars. Any and all schools are now serving any and all students physically on campus - or 100% virtually (online) - from anywhere in the world. Ah, CumulusUniversity.org anyone??? 

I am huge Dan Ariely fan. I have read all of his books. I have watched his TED Talks. I am one of the 29.7K followers on https://www.youtube.com/@danariely 

If I was younger (or had a time machine) I might be a student who is paying somewhere between $10,000 and $80,000 to physically attend class at https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/ and maybe I would have coffee from time to time with https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/faculty/dan-ariely

But now, today in 2024, I have to settle with spending an hour one-on-one with Dan Ariely, and having Coffee In the Clouds (virtually) with Dan. For free. 

Would like to join us?...We have room at the table

www.JoinNYDLA.org

You better be kidding

If you are on a smartphone, hold phone sideways (landscape mode) 

Alice's Kids is the official charity of the NYDLA.org

I am not really sure how or where I came across AlicesKids.org but I sent this email on 12/10/2019 at 10:31 AM EST to: contact@aliceskids.org 

"I would like to learn about what you do, and possibly do a video podcast to help your cause."

At 3:18 PM EST the same day:

Thomas, thanks so much for contacting us.  Of course, I would be happy to talk to you more about our work.  My time is rather flexible for a meeting or phone call.  What's your time look like?    Ron

Ron Fitzsimmons, Executive Director, Alice's Kids, aliceskids.org

I invited Ron to a Zoom meeting and his response was classic:

"Not sure what a zoom meeting is, but happy to talk to Amy."

Well, 'Amy' at the time was my AI robot that managed my calendar. And Zoom was, well.... WAS ZOOM.    

And so began a wonderful friendship with my 'technology challenged' friend Ron. And yesterday, I met Ron Fitzsimmons, Executive Director, Alice's Kids, aliceskids.org (IRL)  And just in case Ron is reading this, IRL means "In Real Life". 

I don't want to steal my own thunder here, but we did do a www.ZoomTalks.us video podcast, and it became one of our most watched interviews / video podcasts of all time. That was my original intent, to use our COMMUNITY - to use the PLATFORM of the www.NYDLA.org to help to spread the word about Alice's Kids. 

I am very active on social media, Ron is not. I love telecom and technology, Ron does not. It became clear to me that one way that I could help Ron and Alice's Kids is to offer them access to our technology, our staff, our assets, our knowledge, our talent. All for the good of Alice's Kids. And when and where I could do so at no charge, I would. And, I would make Alice's Kids the Official Charity of the NYDLA.org. All of this would be the best use of my position at the NYDLA.org 

Check out https://www.aliceskids.org/our-supporters "The vast majority of our donors are individuals and some are celebrities in their field. Their support magnifies our work and helps us reach even more donors!"

A few years ago, via one of our random Tweets, Comedian/Actor Patton Oswalt learned of Alice's Kids. He donated $5,000 out of the blue. It turns out that Alice's Kids caught his attention, because Patton's daughter's name is Alice.

Because Patton Oswalt became a supporter, Writer/Actress Nancy Carell became aware of Alice's Kids and she became a supporter, donating thousands of dollars. As did her Actor husband Steve Carell. And then Actor/Musician Kevin Bacon - and you know that 'everyone in the world' is only seven people away from Kevin Bacon, right??? Or is it six? 

In a three-round run on Celebrity Jeopardy, comedian Patton Oswalt won $250,000 to benefit Alice’s Kids. This is one of many charitable efforts Oswalt has participated in for Alice’s Kids. When Ron called Patton to thank him, Patton's first words to Ron were "I'm so sorry! I just missed winning you the million by one dollar!" 

Someone from the Fairfax County, VA area learned of all of this, and reached out to Ron, telling him that "they would like to match" the winning funds of Patton Oswalt, $250,000. And so it continues...

https://www.aliceskids.org/our-story I would ask that everyone read this. I think you will understand why in 2019 it was clear to me that Alice's Kids should be the official charity of the NYDLA.org 

When I met with Ron Fitzsimmons yesterday in good ol' BOONTON USA, it was our first time meeting in person. Many years after our first Zoom meeting. Ron's first words to me: 'damn, you are tall....'  No handshake for us, it was an immediate hug. 

Here is the point of today's Sunday Blog. Show up. Take the call, make the call. Go to the meeting, go to the event. There is power and energy in activity, in motion, in movement. Everything is connected. 

Would Patton Oswalt have come across Alice's Kids if was not for that random Tweet of ours? Who knows, maybe. Would you know about Alice's Kids if you did not read my Sunday Blog today? Who can say, but we do have it in the main menu bar of www.NYDLA.org and we do get millions of visitors every year. 

Yesterday Ron shared with me that a 'big time' Oscar Winning Hollywood producer is planning on doing a documentary all about Alice's Kids. 

Yep, I guess Bacon's Law is a thing. 

The Coffee Table Book of Coffee Tables

If reading on a smartphone, hold phone sideways - landscape view 

"The Fire" is the 84th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld and the 20th episode of the fifth season. It originally aired on May 5, 1994, on NBC. This was the final episode to be written by Larry Charles. In this episode, Elaine's coworker Toby annoys her with her enthusiasm and ruins one of Jerry's shows with well-meaning heckling, Kramer becomes a hero while saving Toby's severed pinky toe, and George exposes his own cowardice when he discovers a fire at a children's birthday party.

This is the first time Kramer is at Pendant Publishing discussing his idea of a coffee table book about coffee tables with Elaine and her hyper enthusiastic co-worker Toby, whom Elaine can not stand. It is Toby who takes it upon herself to get Kramer's book published. 

OK, so if you are not a Seinfeld fan, or never saw the episodes about Kramer's book, the above makes no sense. We'll come back to this.

I run the Distance Learning Association. Which over the last 20 or so years, became DIGITAL Learning. But in 2024 it is really just DIGITAL LIVING. All things "Cloud" have changed the way that we all live, learn, work and play - on a global basis. 

While growing up, I would hear from friends, relatives and people who had my best interests at heart "Tommy, you gotta get a good education" as education was connected to quality of life. Born in 1960 I grew up in Cedar Grove, New Jersey and had the benefit of an amazing public education. Leonard R. Parks Elementary School was less than a mile from the house, and I would walk to and from school twice a day (going home for lunch, then back to school). 

Then we moved to Boca Raton, Florida for 7th - 10th grade. And to private Essex Catholic High School in Newark, NJ to finish up High School, and to get me ready for PURDUE (study Biomedical Engineering) and RUTGERS (School of Business). It seems that it was always connected to and about... education.

YESTERDAY, from my home in Boonton Township, NJ I hosted a Zoom meeting with someone that I met on LinkedIn:

Hello Thomas,

Greetings! MENA Newswire is revolutionizing news distribution across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe with our cloud-native platform. We merge advanced AI and machine learning with top-tier SEO practices and Google webmaster guidelines to optimize content impact. Post-publication, we provide detailed analytics and data. Our network reaches over 4,000 premier websites across the EMEA region, redefining how news is distributed and consumed.

We distribute press releases in 29 languages, including major global languages like Arabic, English, French, and Chinese, along with key regional languages such as Hebrew, Turkish, Persian, Swahili, Hindi, Korean, Japanese, Urdu, and Pashto. Our platform also supports six principal European languages: French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and English. We're eager to collaborate with international companies looking to amplify their footprint in the EMEA region. If this opportunity resonates with your strategic goals, please let us know your interest or connect us with the right contact in your organization. Thank you for considering this exciting possibility.

Where are you going with this Tom?

MENA reaches hundreds of millions of people who are NOT living in North America. It became clear yesterday that even in 2024, if families can afford it, they will (still) send their children to the USA or Canada for education. 

Physically sending them - their most precious thing in the world - they will try to find a way to send their children to the USA for their education. Because they want the best for them - they want to give their children the best chances for the highest possible quality of life. And in 2024, the 'perception' is that you still need to PHYSICALLY go to school. To be on a campus. 

This is false.

You can 'physically' go to Harvard and live in the Northeastern Part of the USA for a few years. Princeton, Yale, all of the Ivy League schools all now have ONLINE courses. PURDUE and RUTGERS have AMAZING online courses. The perception is that a quality education requires a student to be physically present is just simply no longer the case. The microsite NYDLA.org/Harvard has been live for many years, and thousands of students have received a degree from Harvard without ever stepping foot in Massachusetts. 

Paper Books, the true original 'distance learning' technology have morphed into Audible.com - which has become my favorite way to consume books. When I listen to a book read by the author, it feels like I am in their lecture, and they are talking directly to ME. YouTube can also be amazing to learn things, many times for FREE. 

Kramer's Coffee Table Book about Coffee Tables is not really a book - and it is not really a coffee table. But it says that it is, so... And that is what makes it funny. The episode about doing "the opposite" now makes perfect sense to me. 

If you want to visit the USA or North America - fantastic. I think that New York City is truly the best city in the world. I live 30 miles West of NYC in the "New York Megalopolis" which is home to the 55M+ living from Maine to Virginia - it is amazing for so many reasons. But for education, you don't need to LIVE there. You should not have to make the sacrifice of sending your children to live in another country - for a quality education. (true for work as well.... you can WORK from anywhere in the world....but that is a blog for another Sunday...)

It's 2024. We are democratizing education on a global basis via disruptive technology. And, you can watch all 9 seasons of Seinfeld on Netflix, YouTube, Sling TV,  Apple TV, Google Play, Fandango at Home, and of course, Amazon Prime. No need to buy the 9 seasons of Seinfeld on CD or DVD, right? 

That is so 90s.... 

www.JoinNYDLA.org (free or paid)

Well, that's hard to pass up...

So this was my post on my personal Facebook this glorious August Sunday morning:

And then this morning, via THE GOOGLE I saw this: 

And that is when it really hit me. MANY YEARS AGO.... Wells Fargo wanted to be the official "Bank" for the millions of members of the NYDLA.org - and I said....YES! And so, we built out the microsite NYDLA.org/WellsFargo  And that was GREAT! Until it was not... Remember a few years ago when the 'Wells Fargo' brand was, let's say... a little radio active? We USED to have the Wells Fargo clickable logo on page 1 / slide 1 of NYDLA.org as Wells Fargo was our Platinum Level Sponsor. Today, not so much. And just last week, we were approached by Bank of America - to become the 'official bank' of the NYDLA.org - and I said yes. 

A few years ago, Harvard (yeah, that Harvard) was also a Platinum Level Sponsor of the NYDLA and we had THEIR clickable logo on Page 1 / Slide 1 of NYDLA.org. Their microsite is still up via NYDLA.org/Harvard I remember me figuring out a way to slip 'Harvard' in to every single conversation: "Well, when HARVARD became a PLATINUM SPONSOR of the NYDLA.org ....yada..yada...yada...." The Harvard 'brand' has taken some hits recently with dumb decisions by their leadership. The Harvard University endowment, is over $50 billion - it is the largest academic economic endowment in the world. Yep, even really smart people with lots of assets and resources can screw up from time to time. I predict they will recover and be 'OK'.  

It was just a few years ago (in a curious twist of timing) the two biggest retail banks in the country — Bank of America and Wells Fargo — rolled out new logos and updated brand positions within just a few weeks of each other. That cost them hundreds of MILLIONS to do that rebranding move. Why did they do that? 

Similar to the direction Wells Fargo chose, Bank of America opted to modernize rather than replace its 20-year-old logo — only slightly tweaked. A darker, richer shade of blue was used, and the stylized flag emblem was simplified and organized. The “flag” now has more white space between the color bands, and the bank’s name is now typeset in all capital letters with the lettering stretched out, giving it a more modern look. The new logo is accompanied by the slogan, “What would you like the power to do?”

In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, BofA’s reputation was in the dog house. But the BofA brand has rebounded strongly since, whereas Wells Fargo is still suffering from a battery of scandals and fines. I remember reading a Motley Fool headline “Inside America’s Most-Hated Bank”, with a long article excoriating Bank of America’s flawed business model and culture.

In 2015, Bank of America settled with the last of the major claims stemming from the financial crisis with the Department of Justice. It has been quietly rebuilding top-to-bottom ever since.

As The Wall Street Journal describes it, CEO Brian Moynihan has been “pursuing a strategy of ‘responsible growth’ with ‘no excuses’ that values stability over swagger.” The $2.3 trillion bank has chosen to deal with less-risky customers and provide them with fewer products, and do so efficiently using automation and digital applications.

OK, Tom, land the plane... where are you going with this?

I love, LoVe, LOVE Zoom. We are the #1 promoter of Zoom in North America. But, if you go looking for trouble, you will find it. During COVID-19 when the world was indeed PoweredByZoom.us Zoom went from 10 million daily users in December 2019 to 300 million daily users in April 2020. Its security and privacy practices came under sharp scrutiny — and experts didn't like what they found. Zoom's end-to-end encryption wasn't quite end-to-end. Other Zoom meeting attendees could see a lot about you. 2024: Zoom has spent tens of MILLIONS of dollars on addressing their security issues, and today Zoom is used by schools, government, healthcare, and other mission-critical clients and vertical markets.

If you wait long enough, every brand will get its turn in the barrel. Harvard. Zoom. Wells Fargo. Bank of America. Delta. Facebook. LastPass. The list is long... And the big lesson, the big thing to look for is this: what do they do after the crisis. What do they do after 'the brand' takes a hit? 

What does LEADERSHIP do to win back the faith and trust of their brand's customers and their brand's clients.... after the bad news???

Major telecom and technology brands want to be associated with the (now global) NYDLA.org brand because "our brand" is wholesome. Lifelong Learning. Education. What did your grandparents tell you when you were little: "Timmy, Susan, you got to get a good education!" I remember when the Chairman and CEO of Verizon told me: "Tom, your brand is better than our brand - for BlueJeans. Your brand equals 'Quality of Life' - Education." 

Wow. I got the message and the lesson loud and clear. That is why Verizon made us their Tier 1 ELITE partner - for BlueJeans. 

(Alas,  www.GetBlueJeans.com is no more - Verizon shut it all down )  2024: Hey, did you see how Verizon just did a brand refresh with a new logo??? And how that branding move will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. Worth it! 

Verizon rebranded in June 2024 to reposition itself as a media powerhouse and wireless infrastructure provider, and to better connect with customers. The rebrand includes a new logo, design system, and creative approach, as well as changes to marketing, digital properties, and retail stores. 

The new logo features a lighter red "V" wordmark in a custom font with yellow-gold accents. The "V" is inspired by the company's name, which is a combination of the Latin word veritas ("truth") and horizon ("future"). The logo can be used as a standalone letter or in the company's full name. Verizon also dropped its previous red check mark logo. 

The rebrand also aims to make the brand more approachable and emotionally connected. Verizon's CMO, Leslie Berland, said the company will lean more into the color red than in the past. The rebranding campaign also includes fast-paced segments that highlight Verizon's reliable connectivity and how it allows people to do things like stream videos, make payments, and play games. 

AND SO, on this fine Sunday morning in August 2024: there are 55M+ people living in the New York Megalopolis and 579M+ living in North America. And I (TomCapone.com) thinks they should all 

GetLastPass.com  [ a new NYDLA.org/LastPass microsite is coming soon!!! ]

{ But of course - they should all first JoinNYDLA.org - free or paid } 

Also, it's 2024 and I love (and use) Harvard, Wells Fargo, 

Zoom, LastPass, GoTo and many other 'brands' 

To Coach or Not to Coach, that is the Question

If you are on a smartphone, hold phone sideways (landscape mode) 

Are you watching the Paris Olympic Games? 

The thing that we focus on is the athletes - the best of the best in their sport. And it makes sense that their coach (or coaches) are also the best of best for THAT sport. 

The dictionary defines a coach as a person who teaches and trains an athlete or performer to peak performance. Yeah well, OK. 

A coach needs to be able to understand people's strengths and weaknesses, and promote and maintain motivation in those that they work with. They use a variety of skills to analyse individual and team performance, and provide training to improve sporting results and output.

Effective Communicator & Teacher 

The effective coach is a coach who communicates well and exudes credibility, competence, respect and authority. A coach should be able to explain ideas clearly. Clear communication means setting defined goals, giving direct feedback and reinforcement the key messages.

In business, coaching is a partnership between coach and client. Coaches help clients to define and achieve their goals and objectives. The ultimate aim of coaching is to help people develop and improve performance.

"A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are." - Ara Parseghian.

"Probably my best quality as a coach is that I ask a lot of challenging questions and let the person come up with the answer." - Phil Dixon.

A business coach can have various roles depending on the context, but generally, a business coach helps individuals or teams improve their performance and achieve their goals. In essence, a business coach helps individuals or groups reach their full potential by providing guidance, structure, and support.

Let me give you three different examples of "coaching" that are very different: coaching olympic gymnastics, coaching olympic soccer (football) and then coaching football football (NFL). 

Coaches Laurent and Cecile Landi coached superstar US gymnast Simone Biles back to the Paris Olympics. According to "the Google" they will make several hundred thousand dollars salary for coaching. Once Simone hits the gymnastics floor - there is NOTHING that her coaches can do for her. She is 100% on her own. It's showtime. Simone Biles: FAMOUS and worth $20M+. Her coaches, not so much. 

When U.S. Olympic Men’s Soccer Team head coach Marko Mitrović named the 18-player roster plus four alternates for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games it marked marks the U.S. Men’s return to the Games for the first time since 2008.

“We couldn’t be more excited to have this group of great players and great people represent us at the Olympic Games,” said head coach Marko Mitrović. “It’s a special moment for all of us as they have worked their entire lives to reach this stage. Almost every player developed through our American soccer pathway, rising to become professionals and now they will live their dreams of competing at the Olympics. We’re grateful to the clubs that released their players in support of our mission. Our goal is to make our country proud and we will give everything for the United States.” Former player, he started his coaching career in 2011. Now Marko is making millions for coaching. 

And now, NFL Coaches and Coaching. Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells, Bill Walsh, Don Shula, Andy Reid, Chuck Noll, Vince Lombardi. The list is much longer of NFL coaches who have become famous. 

No. 2 all time in career wins, Belichick is the only coach in NFL history to win nine conference titles and six Super Bowls. Under Belichick's watch, the Patriots posted 19 consecutive winning seasons, 17 straight playoff seasons and 17 division titles. In his last year, Belichick made $25M, and will get ANOTHER $25M. Since he and Robert Kraft decided to amicably part ways, he will get those next $25 million he is owed without a problem. Nice exit package, Bill. 

What is Andy Reid's new salary?

Andy Reid Chiefs Contract Extension: $100M Over Five Years. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt vowed to make Reid the highest paid coach, with the previous mark the $90 million, five-year deal the Denver Broncos gave Sean Payton to lure him back to the NFL sidelines last year. Reid's new deal is expected to be worth in the neighborhood of $100 million over five years.

Put me in, Coach

Whether it is sports (or business) coaching the outcome determines the income. And, the more money involved, it seems the more control, influence, power the 'coach' has - the more responsibility. With Olympic Gymnastics, once the athlete hits the floor - it's all on them. The coach can only watch and hope that all of the training, all of the lessons, all of the - coaching - will produce the desired results. No control over outcome. 

Ah, but with an NFL coach, it's their team. The NFL Head Coach usually calls the plays from the sidelines. They can throw the challenge flag, they can call timeout. Most of the time, the NFL coach will hire/fire the players, hire/fire the assistant coaches, the staff. Usually it is a group decision (Owner, GM, Head Coach) but with NFL Football, the head coach is usually the boss. And, when you win - big and often - you make the big money. You can make Bill Belichick and Andy Reid money. Yes, the NFL is a BUSINESS, right? The 32 teams are valued at $163B, with the average team valued at $5.1B. And, the owners pay the coaches. And, the money comes from the fans, and from advertising. So, WINNING (not losing) pays all of the bills. Got it. 

Today's Sunday Blog is my first as a coach. A Business Coach. I feel that I have always been "a coach" all my life, but now I am a professional business coach. Actually getting paid for the craft. I give you: www.CXOdepot.com 

Remember Marv Levy? Marv is a Hall of Fame coach who led the Buffalo Bills NFL team to four consecutive Super Bowls, all of them losses in the 1990s. And Don Shula was the first head coach to appear in six Super Bowls, five with the Dolphins and one with the Colts. His six Super Bowl appearances rank second among head coaches (behind only Bill Belichick) and he has the most Super Bowl losses at four. Ah yes, the LOSSES in the Super Bowl. 

Do you know how hard it is to go to the NFL Super Bowl FOUR YEARS IN A ROW? The statistics of that? In my opinion, Marv Levy is one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time. Because, math. 

“You are what your record says you are” is a famous quote by former NFL head coach Bill Parcells that encapsulates his philosophy of excellence. Parcells said this in response to a question about a mediocre team's performance, and it's considered one of the most quoted sayings in NFL history. 

Some say the quote can apply to anyone who works in a performance-based business, especially sales teams. Others say it can also apply to every aspect of a person's behavior, such as how they spend money, take care of their health, or participate politically. 

I have been a coach all my life. Now, I'm getting paid for it. And I'm from the school of Coach Parcells. I am what my record says I am. Everything that I have learned since 1983. All the lessons from winning, and the lessons from losing. And now, I am "Teaching Everything I Know" for a non- zero fee. Professional Business Coaching. 

With business outcomes, guaranteed. That's my personal spin on professional business coaching. Ah, but if the (students/customers/clients) are paying you to WIN, then they need to be....... coachable. And with that, I'll end with another pearl from Coach Parcells: 

“If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.”

www.CXOdepot.com is LIVE

When Tech Fails

Who remembers Y2K?

The Y2K bug was a computer flaw, or bug, that may have caused problems when dealing with dates beyond December 31, 1999.

In the year 1999, computer programmers and users feared that their computers would stop working at the turn of the century. Everyone was being warned and told to shut down their machines so that their computers did not freak out when the clock changed to 12 AM on January 1st of 2000.

The fear was that when clocks struck midnight on January 1, 2000, affected computer systems, unsure of the year, would fail to operate and cause massive power outages, transportation systems to shut down, and banks to close.

The Y2K problem was not limited to computers running conventional software, however. Many devices containing computer chips, ranging from elevators to temperature-control systems in commercial buildings to medical equipment, were believed to be at risk, which necessitated the checking of these “embedded systems” for sensitivity to calendar dates.

In the United States, business and government technology teams worked feverishly with a goal of checking systems and fixing software before the end of December 1999.  

So, was the entire Y2K thing a massive failure or was it an amazing IT success??? Was the Y2K monster a big false alarm, or did we actually catch it and kill it before it could harm us all? 

An estimated $300 billion was spent (almost half in the United States) to upgrade computers and application programs to be Y2K-compliant. As the first day of January 2000 dawned and it became apparent that computerized systems were intact, reports of relief filled the news media. These were followed by accusations that the likely incidence of failure had been greatly exaggerated from the beginning. Those who had worked in Y2K-compliance efforts insisted that the threat had been real. They maintained that the continued viability of computerized systems was proof that the collective effort had succeeded. In following years, some analysts pointed out that programming upgrades that had been part of the Y2K-compliance campaign had improved computer systems and that the benefits of these improvements would continue to be seen for some time to come.

As you can assume, my muse for this Sunday Blog is CrowdStrike. 

A CrowdStrike update broke computers running Windows, causing them to crash and display the blue screen of death. Across industries, companies around the world haven’t been able to reboot their computers. 

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz posted on X, confirming the issue is not a cyberattack and was caused by a botched update.

“CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack,” Kurz wrote, adding that the issue has been “identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”

“We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website,” he added. “We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.”

OK. Human Error. 

Anyone stuck at an airport, anyone locked out of their room at Disney, anyone who can't get money out of their bank, or buy gas, or basically 'function' probably won't care if this was a cyber attack, or the beginning of AI world domination, or just good ol' fashioned human error. 

If YOU are in IT, you are probably running on 'no sleep' right now. But even if you are NOT in IT, you too could be on 'no sleep' if your business, your school, your LIFE has been impacted by this human error. 

It was 8,969 days ago - December 31st, 1999 - that we all went to bed holding our collective breath. I don't think ANYONE wanted to be flying in an airplane on New Year's Eve 1999. I'm 63 so I remember Y2K very vividly. I remember the years running up to 12/31/1999 and how many IT companies and professionals were all about Y2K, Y2K, Y2K!!!

The CrowdStrike human error is being fixed - manually - by humans. Maybe by the time you read this blog, the manual fix was performed and the crisis was resolved. 

Y2K. CrowdStrike. What's next? What will be the.....

ThirdStrike  {I wonder if I should trademark that....} 

Speaking of humans... you should www.JoinNYDLA.org as we have lots of really (really) smart ones... including thousands of old IT folk... who were around during Y2K. They know a thing or two, because they have seen a thing or two....

www.JoinNYDLA.org

(Not so) Hidden Tracks

In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener. In some cases, the piece of music may simply have been left off the track listing, while in other cases, more elaborate methods are used. In rare cases, a 'hidden track' is actually the result of an error that occurred during the mastering stage production of the recorded media. However, since the rise of digital and streaming services such as iTunes and Spotify in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the inclusion of hidden tracks has declined on studio albums.

24 hours ago, I had no idea what a "Hidden Track" was. Walking down Main Street Boonton (there is only ONE BOONTON in the USA) I popped into a new shop, Hidden Track Records. 

From the street, the new shop caught my eye. Their sign caught my eye. I am always 'tuned in' and ready to explore a new business, to check out a new entrepreneurial venture. OK, so Boonton has a new record shop. Really? Why? I asked myself, are vinyl records still a thing?

My brain jumped to doing math. How many people are buying records these days? Turns out, according to Google in 2021, vinyl records enjoyed a 68% increase in total sales volume and a 55% increase in total sales revenue over 2020 in the US, reaching $1 billion in sales for the first time since 1985.

In a surprising turn of events, Vinyl Record sales experienced a 17th consecutive year of growth, defying industry expectations. This year has reassured experts that the vinyl market did not hit a natural plateau after surging during the pandemic, which caused a 108% increase. It is growing, growing, GROWING! 

So, I met owner Shane Murphy. In a brief conversation I got the backstory on the new business. Shane has a very eclectic background, from construction to music to podcasting. It was less than a ten minute conversation, with me asking questions and Shane filling in the gaps. While I was standing there, I thought to myself that this conversation was like one of my video podcast interviews, but LIVE.

Real. Two people talking. Live and in real-time. Shane gave me his business card (old school) and we shook hands (more old school). We talked about possibly doing a LIVE video podcast interview from Hidden Tracks, which to me felt very meta. [Something is meta if it is self-referential: if it follows the scheme 'a thing about a thing'.]

It was hours later that I thought about the name of the shop, Hidden Tracks. I did not ask Shane about the name while I was in the shop, and so I was compelled to Google it when I got back home because I thought it must mean something, right? Yep, it sure does. 

To the untrained eye, the new record shop on Main Street Boonton USA is a place to buy vinyl records. A Record Shop that sells Records. The same way a Flower Shop sells flowers and the same way an Ice Cream Shop sells ice cream. 

Ah, but Hidden Tracks is about our hidden tracks. The hidden tracks of people. How music is a universal language. How people are brought together by music, by art, by creativity. And how people used to do more things together, live. People used to meet live, gather together to discuss, to have conversations, to share. If the new shop was simply called Boonton Record Shop I would probably have not stopped and I probably would have not walked in. I don't have a vinyl record player. Heck, I don't even have a CD player any longer. I can't remember the last time I listened to music that was not streaming on Amazon or Audible or YouTube. 

Something tells me that I will be on Amazon later today, shopping for a vinyl record player, something with HD audio. Sometimes the Hidden Tracks of our lives are actually hiding in plain sight. 

Hey Shane & Michele Murphy - welcome to BOONTON USA! We needed this shop - we needed YOU. 

What does Git-R-Done mean?

Git-R-Done!!!

I understand that it's the catchphrase of Larry the Cable Guy and people applaud when he says it, but what does it mean? At this point, is it a meaningless punchline indicator? Did it ever mean anything? Is it rooted in something about getting a job done or something?

Let's come back to this......

Getting Things Done (GTD) is a personal productivity system developed by David Allen and published in a book of the same name. GTD is described as a time management system. Allen states "there is an inverse relationship between things on your mind and those things getting done".

I have been a huge fan of the GTD workflow system since 2001. Recently, I saw that there is a NEW book: Team - Getting Things Done with Others by David Allen and Edward Lamont. 

Publisher's Summary: When Getting Things Done was published in 2001, it was a game changer. By revealing the principles of healthy high performance at an individual level, it transformed the experience of work and leisure for millions. Twenty years later, it has become clear that the best way to build on that success is at the team level, and one of the most frequently asked questions by dedicated GTD users is how to get an entire team onboard.

By building on the effectiveness of what GTD does for individuals, Team will offer a better way of working in an organization, while simultaneously nourishing a culture that allows individuals’ skills to flourish. Using case studies from some of the world’s largest and most successful companies, Team shows how leaders have employed the principles of team productivity to improve communication, enable effective execution, and reduce stress on team members. These principles are increasingly important in the post-pandemic workplace, where the very nature of how people work together has changed so dramatically.

Team is the most significant addition to the GTD canon since the original, and in offering a roadmap for building a culture of healthy high performance, will be welcomed by readers working in any sized group or organization.

I have been connected with David Allen on LinkedIn since 2016. I messaged him for the first time in May of this year (2024) and then again in June: "You would make a great NYDLAcast.com - reaching 5.8M+ members. We can promote your new book.  Best, CEO@NYDLA.org"

Nothing. 

Two days ago, I connected with Edward Lamont on LinkedIn, after I purchased their new book on Audible. And I reached out to connect with Edward on LinkedIn. On Friday: "Hi Thomas, Happy to connect. Anything specific I can help with, or were you just connecting in a more general way? All best, Ed."

Me: "I run the distance learning association, we expect to be at 10M+ global members by the end of 2025. Just finished your new book. We should do a www.ZoomTalks.us interview with you and David - it would reach millions. Our DLA community would benefit from your mutual body of work!  Best, CEO@NYDLA.org"

I love Audible. Especially books read by the Author. It feels like a one-on-one Master Class. So that was Friday, today is Sunday, and we are working on getting the Zoom Interview with David and Edward on the calendar. Done. 

Or should I say "Got-R-Done!" 

In the Aire Tonight

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord

And I've been waiting for this moment, for all my life, oh lord

Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord

Cool song, right? 

“In the Air Tonight” A great song by Phil Collins, going way back to 1981. His first single. There are several misguided stories about the meaning behind the song... One is that Collins witnessed a man drowning and did nothing to save him. Another is that a man was attacked as his wife drowned, thus him unable to help. Both are urban myths as Phil Collins himself is on record discussing the true meaning behind the song, or as best he could explain….

In a 2016 interview Collins says: "If something is in the air, you feel that it is happening or about to happen/noticeable all around. I wrote the lyrics spontaneously. I'm not quite sure what the song is about."

I attended the AireSpring & BCE Global – USA Executive Briefing & Luncheon in NYC this past week. 

The last time I had a one on one conversation with Daniel Lonstein was in 2001. I was running MaritimeTechnologyPartners.com and we needed BlackBerry to service the Maritime niche. And at the time, AireSpring was a major player in that space. And so, we became their Master Agent. I assume that is where the name "Aire" comes from. Aire could be the obsolete spelling of Air. If you Google "Aire" you go down a long rabbit hole...........  Anyway, back to the movie....

Over the years, I dabbled in many and diverse areas of business, but almost always I remained deeply connected to the telecom/technology space. I was attending an SD-WAN webinar hosted by AireSpring. I said to myself "Oh wow, AireSpring, the old Blackberry folks." At THAT time, I was running the Distance Learning Association, and you cannot do Distance Learning (or Distance ANYTHING) without technology. 

There is a long story about how our Master Agency with AireSpring which started in 2001 went dormant, only to be revived and rebooted 23 years later. I enjoy telling it, as it is not only very entertaining, but it is a testament to how business is (or should be) done. I don't have time to tell the entire story, but as a result of attending that SD-WAN educational webinar - we're back. Big time. 

This past week, I walked over to Daniel Lonstein while at the Consulate of Canada in NYC and I thought to myself "What can I possibly say to Daniel, after 23 years?" My last conversation was on the phone, from my home in 2001. I do remember that first conversation, as if it happened yesterday. I was in my living room. I can "see it" in my mind's eye still today. That phone call lasted for hours, and it was all about telecom and technology and sales and marketing and whatnot. 

So, I might need a new comedy writer, but I said "So, Daniel, can you still get me a good deal on BlackBerry?" 

2024: via www.AireSpringGlobal.com we are now servicing the needs of the (now global) Distance Learning Association for all things voice, data, wireless, telecom and technology. The NYDLA.org became the NADLA.org during the pandemic, growing from the 55M+ living in the "New York Megalopolis" to servicing the 579M+ living in North America, to now - via USDLA.org SADLA.org AsiaDLA.org AfricaDLA.org and EuropeDLA.org we are servicing the entire world. 

The reason why we are servicing (the world) via AireSpring in 2024? Trust. 

Even when our monthly commission fell well below $100 per month (from a past sale) they never missed a payment. For 23 years. The revenue share (commission) was so low, I was not even aware that we were still getting monthly payments. The entire reason why I attended that AireSpring SD-WAN webinar last year, is because I was still (still) getting the emails from AireSpring, as their Master Agent. We were still active in their system - they never cancel anyone, and they always paid everyone - no matter how small the amount. I guess there was some small customer that we sold AireSpring service years ago, and they are STILL using AireSpring. And we were still getting paid our revenue share from that sale. Every. Month. 

2024: when you visit the (now global) Distance Learning Association website, the first thing you see is the AireSpring logo. We are now offering the entire portfolio of AireSpring to the (now global) members of the DLA, to empower them. 

Yes indeed. From his 2016 interview Phil Collins says: "If something is in the air, you feel that it is happening or about to happen/noticeable all around."

From the 5 boroughs of New York City in 1983 to servicing the entire WORLD in 2024, we are democratizing education via disruptive technology. OUR DLA MISSION:

We are all Living, Learning, Working, Playing, Teaching, Training, Coaching, Mentoring in the Global Cloud Economy. The future of work – the future of education – the future of entertainment – is in the clouds. Join us.

Oh, and of course..... www.GetAireSpring.com  All things AireSpring is a (now global) trusted DLA member benefit - and it's in the Aire tonight.