is off to the TechBiz SEM networking event in Irvine

had a great call this morning - glad to know friends are having success

has a babysitter tonight, so he and Nicole are going to the Drive-in

is watching samantha while his beautiful wife brings home the bacon

is done running his regular 5 miles - no wind.. yeah!!

ok - so it's really windy in riverside today (i think most of so cal is that way today), and it really sucks.

There is no way I'm putting my contacts in, and my eyes are liking the glasses so much today. I'm supposed to be training for the LA Marathon (Feb 16, 2009 - www.lamarathon.com ) and as soon as I heard the wind at 6:30 I went back to bed. So now I feel crappy because I didn't run and just don't have time to go out now (samantha is sleeping).

On a good note, the stock market is way up (maybe the physical wind change, and the market are in sync today.. weird, huh?)

I hope the day starts to even out, as I'd love to get that 11 mile run in today. My younger son, Jordan is running it as well (actually I'm running it to do it with him, and he's only 12!).

is really hating the wind (not good for contacts, running, mondays, attitude..) (there is no smog though)

coffee.. strong coffee

is looking for more teething pills for samantha (jack d will be a last resort)

is off to Barstow for the MORE off-road race with the family

is looking for any sign of silverlight banner ads on the web

is looking at what is really going on with Silverlight

taking Ryan to school registration

back from contentenomics show in LA and catching up with email (need an iPhone)

new video player

fathers day

I had a great fathers day. Nicole painted Samantha's little foot in a rainbow of colors and pressed it on a small white tile and wrote 'Daddy & Samantha' on it for me. She made ones for the grandpas as well. It was awesome. The boys got me a cool digital frame that runs off a usb key drive. Nicole is going to load some recent pictures on it for me. Jordan created a personal card for me with a poem on the inside. I couldn't ask for more. This is what being a dad is all about.

Welcome Samantha

Ok - after a long absense and a good beating for writting a blog from some folks that shouldn't care - i really want to get back to it. There are so many things i love that i get to do every day.

• My Wife
• My Family
• My Work

And did I mention my new baby daughter Samantha?

(Samantha Lynn Pape - Born March 24, 2007 at 6:39pm - 8lbs 11oz - 21 inches long)

I may have also put a small gallery of pictures of her together over on Picasa

http://picasaweb.google.com/kdpape/Samantha?authkey=IA2pACyK4rM&pli=1

I'll cover a bit more later - as I'm pretty comfortable with where I'm headed and if not - it's not going to be because I like to talk about it on my blog.

A consequence to the balancing act

I've been thinking about this post for a week or two now. I had a disagreement with a company I was working with, over several items, including the contents of my Blog. I'd always thought about the blog and how it seems to be a private journal in so many ways, yet, obviously it's open to the entire Internet.

I enjoyed working with this other company (although no relationship is perfect -they all require sacrifice and compromise), but in the end, they thought it best that we part ways. I have no hard feelings for them, and actually offered my personal assistance during a transition period. What I am glad about is that I know things happen for a reason (at least that is my version or reality) and I take each hiccup as an experience to learn from.

One of my considerations is what to write in my blog.. Did I jeopardize my relationship by writing my thoughts in my blog, or is it simply and indication that we weren't a good match to work together and it is better for us both. I'm not pretending to have the answer, but it certainly reinforces the importance of remembering that his is a public forum, and there are issues that can arise, especially as I usually work in a 'client' environment and there is always potential for sensitive or conflicting information to be out there.

I've spent a lot of time reading other entrepreneurs and executive's blogs to see how they deal with this issue. The most common seems to be to speak in generalities when it comes to customers, or to use open examples (like.. Google made an announcement about support (or lack there of for Rich Media formats today.. (provide link).. that way I'm not discussing one of my clients - or at least not until after the project is 100% public... very interesting quandaries.

The end result is that although my most recent change was unexpected, I know that we will both persevere, and I will find a way to fill what I've lost, and it's my sincerest hopes that we all gained something from the experience and it makes us better people.

On a similar note.. I really enjoy reading Keith Ferrazzi's articles on relationships and networking on inc.com (http://www.inc.com/resources/sales/articles/20050901/ferrazzi.html) - his most recent is on 'Making Business Personal' and along the same lines as the issues I had, he shows that making it personal and ensuring that you have a good fit, you can also involve all of your activates, and even involve your family in your business, and he even feels that mixing clients, with each other, as well as with your friends and family only makes a relationship stronger - as you never know how much more personal that relationship can become and lead to unexpected successes for you as well as the unexpected others you might involve in your dealings. He says that by making all of your relationships personal (instead of having business relationships and personal relationships) that you then ensure that each relationship has the same quality standards, and you treat them all equally (with the benefit of spending more time with your family as they aren't excluded while you work too much! (a little humor here and there.. thanks for staying with me).

I've been accused of being a workaholic in the past - and I hope Mr. Ferrazzi's advice can be something that I implement and improve my own life and relationships with.

Happy New Year everyone.

Keith

Holidays Apporach

It would seem that the holidays are fast approaching. Faster than I can ever be ready. My wife and I are remodeling the kitchen (which means I work day and night - and she does all the remodeling. I pretend to help by occasionally handing her tools. She's very handy that way and completely unwilling to wait for me to have 'spare' time. It looks really good. My friend Jeff has a construction company and comes over occasionaly to help out.

My article on iMedia has been postponed until November 30th. I'm just glad that it is getting published.

Training was going well, but I started having knee problems last week, just prior to the Mission Inn run (10k) and I ended up working with Nicole on the kitchen instead. Good time to spend with her -but I do miss racing. The SoCal Half Marathon is in like 3 weeks - not sure if I'll be ready. I enjoyed it last year - bit I'm just not sure.

Publish or Perish

I was recently asked to write a short article for an online magazine. I was very excited, as this was a goal I had, since I started as an online professional nearly 10 years ago. I thought I did a good job of remaining calm when the editor asked, I asked what I felt were some relevant questions that I had heard other writers ask in the past (what type of topic are you interested in, when do you need it by, how long should it be..) I was very proud of myself.

So off I went back to my normal work day, with a basic idea in hand and a plan to start a basic outline, as I had learned in college, and I figured I'd be off and running in a day or two, as I fit it into my already busy schedule or sales calls, meetings and project management (not including family time, training, sleep..). I had just over a month to get it done, plenty of time. You wouldn't believe how quickly those first couple weeks go, and of course, I hadn't really accomplished anything. One of my key programmers was off on his honeymoon, and that added some stress, then a project got behind, then my business partner went off on his honeymoon, wow, what a month.

So, as the deadline approaches, I keep opening the article I had started, and everything I had a thought, even in the shower - I would jump out right after the thought - no matter where I was and at least shorthand the information/idea onto the doc I had opened for this article. I was now getting desperate to get something down on paper (virtual paper.. But paper none the less). I felt as if I only could get a couple thoughts together and some quiet time, the ideas that I knew were in there would start flow and I'd be okay again. The deadline of course, came and went. I emailed the editor immediately, I did have some professional dignity left, informed her that I was in fact behind and would complete the article over the weekend, and then have it reviewed by some friends and business associates on Monday and have it to her on Tuesday.

Believe it or not, that was the final straw, now I was embarrassed for having missed a deadline, something I preach heavily to my own employees and yet here I was.. Late. I finished very early Monday morning, had my business partner review the article, accepted his changes and sent it f off to the editor with my sincerest apologies and a lot of apprehension that the article was complete crap.

It's now been nearly a week since I sent the article off, and I've yet to hear anything back. I'll be unwilling the editor today to get an update, but I have to admit that I'm concerned that I didn't follow my rule of 'under promise and over deliver'. I've certainly learned that I need to follow my own rules and if I commit to a side project, it still has the same weight as any business commitment. I truly did enjoy irritating the article, once I got to it, and know that only thru practice and professionalism, will I get the opportunity to do it more (other than this blog - which is completely up to me). Whatever the outcome, I think I've learned a lesson about side projects, and how important writhing is to me. I'll be adjusting how I do a few things, and either way, I've learned a few lessons. It's funny. I was just thinking that my dad, who has written articles for decades and has a few books published, still has this same problem, and warns me against it all the time. Shows you that sometimes you can't tell someone - they have to learn the hard way. Darn kids.. never listen.