You must like flies

 

The first hello.... was February 2017. I met Lee Cockerell via a podcast interview that he gave to my friend David Burkus. It was a Sunday morning, and something compelled me to find Lee on LinkedIn and to reach out. That same Sunday we spent 90 minutes on the phone. Within two weeks (March) I was on a plane flying down to Orlando to meet Lee. I went with my gut. It was during that meeting in 2017 the idea for Cockerell Academy was born. 

I have blogged on this in the past, but from that 'first hello' I met Lee, his son, his entire family. When summer 2017 rolled around, it turned out that Lee's grandson (living in Orlando) was going to be doing a college Internship in Mt. Olive, New Jersey. They were having trouble finding a short term rental for the summer. 

"Well, you know Lee, Mt. Olive is around 16 miles West of my home in Boonton Township. And we are now 'empty nesters' so the entire 2nd floor of the house is his for the summer if he wants it. The only negative would be my wife Dianne would spoil him rotten." 

Today on LinkedIn (2025) I saw a post from Lee. Often I think that Lee is like a modern Will Rogers. 

Will Rogers was a immensely popular American humorist, actor, and social commentator from the early 20th century known for his "folksy" style, cowboy persona (complete with a lasso, which he would use for tricks on stage), and witty observations on current events and politics. 

Key aspects of Will Rogers:

Persona: He appeared on stage in his cowboy outfit, nonchalantly twirling his lasso, and his humor was tied to a "common man" American identity.

Catchphrase/Opening Line: He would often begin his act by saying, "Well, what shall I talk about? I ain't got anything funny to say. All I know is what I read in the papers," before launching into jokes about the day's news.

Career: He was a vaudeville performer, a star of the Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway, a popular film actor (making 71 films), and a widely syndicated newspaper columnist and radio personality.

Influence: His gentle, nonpartisan wit and common-sense philosophy made him a beloved figure across the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. 

While other comedians like Rodney Carrington and William Lee Martin have a contemporary cowboy style, Will Rogers is the primary historical figure associated with the "old cowboy stand-up comic" persona. 

You can find a bunch of Lee Cockerell quotes here. And here is my personal favorite, about getting rid of the flies. 

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

Today 11/16/2025 is the launch of our partnership with Blink. (www.GetBlink.us) It is an INTRANET that allows schools, corporations, organizations, any group from 2 to 200,000 to collaborate, to communicate, to live, learn, work, play, teach, train, coach, mentor in the GLOBAL Cloud COMMUNITY. 

William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma), and is known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son". As an entertainer and humorist, he traveled around the world three times, made 71 films (50 silent films and 21 "talkies"), and wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns. By the mid-1930s, Rogers was hugely popular in the United States for his leading political wit and was one of the higher paid Hollywood film stars. He died in 1935 with aviator Wiley Post when their small airplane crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow in northern Alaska. 

I see a lot of Will Rogers in Lee Cockerell. Both from Oklahoma. Will had 'talkies' and radio and newspapers. Lee has the Internet and Podcasts and online courses. 

But it is always about the people. The connection with the people. Not AI, not bots. No 'AI Slop' thank you very much. Real people living, learning, working, playing, teaching, training, coaching, mentoring to/from ANYWHERE in the world. 

Newspapers. Radio. Talkies. Podcasts. YouTube. And now...... INTRANETS. 

One World. Fully Connected. And as Lee Cockerell always says: "Teach Everything You Know" 

www.GetBlink.us

Good Things Come in Threes

Rutgers.edu | Audible.com | IDT.net  Yes indeed, good things do come in threes. 

Many of you know the story of how the NYDLA.org was basically 'bankrupt' during the last recession. No money. When I took over running the NYDLA in 2009 I had to use my own money to host the NYDLA website. We were struggling to just keep the lights on. It was RUTGERS that became our sponsor in 2012. They saved us - RUTGERS brought money - and their 500K+ living alumni (at the time). Now in 2025 RUTGERS has 600K+ living alumni with 360K+ alumni living in New Jersey (like me). You can find the original RUTGERS sponsorship letter on the 'About' page on NYDLA.org 

And now in 2025 we are servicing 174K+ K-20 *schools across North America. And all 8 Ivy League schools. 

But RUTGERS was the first. 

I have been in the IDT.net building (on the left in the pic above) dozens of times. I remember reading IDT Corp founder Howard Jonas book "On a Roll - From Hot Dog Buns to High Tech Billions" in 1998. 

IDT Corporation (originally standing for International Discount Telecommunications) is a multinational provider of cloud communications, point of sale systems, unified communications, and financial services / foreign exchange services for selected clients. 

Overview

IDT's first service was callback, which was based on the idea that "it costs two and three times as much to call from overseas as it does the other way."

History

IDT was founded by entrepreneur Howard Jonas in August 1990. He founded the company after opening a sales office in Israel, receiving large international phone bills and then discovering a way to lower them by re-originating calls in the United States.

In 1996, IDT founded Net2Phone, the world's fourth-largest VoIP provider (2017), and sold 32% of Net2Phone in August 2000 to AT&T for $1.1 billion in cash. That same year, IDT became a public company via an initial public offering.

Audible (owned by Amazon.com) has been a sponsor of the Distance Learning Association since they moved into Newark, New Jersey. They share the building with RUTGERS School of Business. Audible helps us to convert 'books' into multimedia, transmedia, omnimedia experiences. Think Harry Potter 'living' books. 

And so, within a city block in downtown Newark, New Jersey you will find three of the most valuable partnerships, sponsors and relationships of the (now) GlobalDLA.org 

There are 56M+ people living in the "New York Megalopolis" from Maine to Virginia. NYDLA.org became the NADLA.org servicing all of North America during COVID-19. Other than Zoom, I don't know who could have grown bigger or faster than the Distance Learning Association during a pandemic lock-down. 579M+ people live, learn, work, play, teach, train, coach, mentor from their homes (and their offices, their stores) across North America. 

And now, we are GLOBAL. The GlobalDLA.org 

Dare I say that we are...... on a roll? 

[* and the alumni of the 174K+ K-20 schools]

Startup Spectacular

 Our Halloween 2025 Special was.................. spectacular. 

"Spectacular" means something is very impressive, dramatic, or grand, like a breathtaking view or a stunning fireworks display. It can also refer to a large-scale, lavish performance or show, such as a Christmas TV spectacular, or describe something that is remarkably great, like a spectacular increase in spending. 

We had a spectacular increase in new NYDLA | NADLA membership. BOOtiful! 😎

Everyone seems to have done some sort of Halloween coupon, discount, special. I am sure that you received a million ads or emails with Pumpkins and Witches and whatnot. Since I have not had an original thought in years, we did the same. 

Ah, but what I did not predict is the number of people who would join the NYDLA.org | NADLA.org because they were starting up a business. 

Many were starting up a business because they have been chasing the dream of Entrepreneurship for years. Well, we are well aware of this, as ENTREPRENEURSHIP became a College Major years ago. Marketing was always a college major, then ENTREPRENEURSHIP. Now in 2025 you can actually get a degree in SALES.  (I teach that now...at University level). 

It's 2025. Many people are now starting up a business out of desperation. They have lost their job, they have lost their source of income. So many of the people that we have been meeting are....scared. They are worried, they are afraid and they need help. 

THIS page is old. Probably from around 2012. RUTGERS was the first major sponsor of the NYDLA. You can see their original letter on the 'About' page on NYDLA.org  Not only did they sponsor us with funds but we also connected with their 500K+ living alumni at the time. I remember offering www.RutgersCONFERENCING.com for FREE to anyone with a RUTGERS.edu email. Ah, but I digress. 

THIS page is also old. This too was probably from around 2012. Since ENTREPRENEURSHIP became 'a thing' at the College and University level, we jumped on the bandwagon. Fast forward to 2025, there are now 174K+ K-20 schools across North America serviced by the NYDLA and NADLA. And many of those students are ENTREPRENEURSHIP majors. They are going to graduate with an Entrepreneurship degree, and most will be....... startups. People with a dollar and a dream, looking for funding. Looking for support. Or many of these students are taking Certificate Courses to boost an existing career. Cybersecurity is our #1 Certificate Program across North America. 

So, it hit me this morning. 

What if we reboot / relaunch all of our ENTREPRENEURSHIP pages. What if we focus on helping STARTUPS. Especially helping folks who are starting up a new business without the benefit of a college degree in ENTREPRENEURSHIP. 

What if... we give all members of NYDLA | NADLA access to the knowledge, the technology, the talent (and the buying power) of our millions of members? 

• Give them access to our $1B+ buying power from partnerships like TD SYNNEX, Ingram Micro, D&H and others.
• Give them all access to Zoom or GoTo or Webex or 8x8 or (the list is long) at our $1B+ buying power. 
• Give them all access to Shopify or BigCommerce or WooCommerce or Kajabi or Teachable (again, long list) at our $1B+ buying power. 
• Give them all access to Dotdigital and Adobe and Zoho and Hubspot... all of our tools.
• Give them all access to PayPal, Stripe, Fiserv at our $1B+ buying power.
• Give them all access to the millions of (now global) members of the NYDLA | NADLA because 'none of us is as smart as all of us.'

Give all of these amazing people across North America a boost. Give them support. Get their startup to cash flow positive. Get their startup to sustainability. I remember what it was like to start a business (my first was in 1983 - there have been many) and it is hard! It is very scary to be in business as a solopreneur or entrepreneur.  No one starts a business to go out of business. No one borrows money from friends and family to lose their friends, and to piss off their family. 

Well, it is now 2025. There is no need to go it alone. There is no need to struggle in business alone. The world is full of amazing people who will help - who WANT to help. People who have achieved SUCCESS in business, as they too were once a startup. The world is a very scary place, and millions of people will become ENTREPRENEURS because they have no choice. They are starting a business out of survival. 

Knowledge + Technology + Talent + Buying Power. Results. Business OUTCOMES. Profitability = FREEDOM. And I have learned since 1983 that profitability is a choice. Yours. 

Our 'Halloween' page still works, it is just no longer on Page 1 of our website. Maybe we'll use it again in 2026. Ah, but THIS week, you shall see a NEW link on Page 1 of NYDLA: STARTUPS.  Until then, you can simply email STARTUP@NYDLA.org and we'll get you all sorted. 

Ask for help. Get the help that you need. And then one day YOU TOO can pay it forward. You too can help to make the world a less scary place. 

Oh, one more thing: effective immediately https://www.feedingamerica.org/ is the new official charity of the Distance Learning Association. So when we DO get a member to be cash flow positive, when we DO make (your) business SUSTAINABLE and PROFITABLE we all shall be helping to make a difference. To end hunger when we all work together. 

We're paying it back. We're paying it FORWARD. 

JoinNYDLA.org