I am Jamaica's husband, Foursquare's comm director, Personality's founder, and a catalyst for CFCC.
I'm also blogging at:
Personality™
Church Marketing Sucks
May 2007 Archives
May 28, 2007
Shalom
Filed under: Brad Works
I've been here for a week in Israel, and I have just a few more days to go before returning home to Los Angeles. After Chicago and New York and now Israel, it will be three weeks since I've slept in my own bed.
I was actually supposed to be here in Jerusalem for an additional week, but Foursquare president Jack Hayford cancelled his arrival which means I get to leave early. Hooray!
I've been here with Steve Cauble, convention production manager, and Mitchie Sarmiento, event planner--both work for Foursquare. The three of us have been working alongside Steve Dick (president), Dave Peterson (communications director) and Stephanie Dueck (marketing director) of Inspiration Cruises & Tours as we plan the big summer convention. Inspiration is handling all of the tour logistics like air, land, meals and lodging, and we're handling all of the convention-related stuff like program, production, promotions, sponsorships, back office and communications/IT. It's been a thrill to work with such a great group of people--we've definitely had our fair share of fun this past week as we navigate doing business in a different culture.
Half of the team left tonight and the rest of us leave tomorrow and Thursday. It will be a short shalom until we return for the main event in July with over 2,500 people.
But next time I get to bring Jamaica. Yeah baby.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
May 22, 2007
Letter to Iraq
Filed under: Stuff I Like
After the Cause Marketing Forum and before I took off for Israel, I spent some time in New York this past weekend with my friend Nathan. Jamaica met Jennifer (Nathan's wife) back in grad school and the four of us have been friends ever since. When we heard they were moving to New York last year we were sadulous (sad+jealous=sadulous). Sad to lose local friends to a city we'd love to live in someday.
Nathan (rock star, new daddy and political savant), and Jennifer (a talented painter, new mommy and package designer) recently bought an apartment just around the corner from Central Park and the Lincoln Center. Unbelievable!
As I said, Nathan is a rock star. He just finished cutting an album with some of the most talented musicians in the business and is closer than he's ever been to having a record deal and forthcoming tour. I applaud his passion and perseverance.
In addition, Nathan has put together a project called Letter to Iraq that is a collection of signatures (names) from America to the people of Iraq. Nathan wrote a very moving song to go along with the project that is also the tune for a short video. You can see and hear it on YouTube.
I love hanging around people that are big dreamers who don't stop there.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
May 15, 2007
Big City Travel Boy
Filed under: Life's Journey
I live in Los Angles. I used to live in Chicago (also the place where I met my wife). I really like New York.
Over the last five days, I've lived in all three.
For some reason, this year has brought an unusually demanding travel itinerary, and it feels like it is all happening at once. It kicked into high gear a couple weeks ago in Orlando, and then to Atlanta, and then back home for a few nights before heading to Israel for three days. Two days later (last Friday), Jamaica and I took off for Chicago to attend and celebrate her sister's college graduation. Today we parted ways as Jamaica flew home to Los Angeles and I flew on to New York.
On Sunday I will leave from New York and go back to Israel for a little more than two weeks as we wrap up the details for the Foursquare Convention this July. Whew.
And all of this as I attempt to stay merrily married, run a company, and keep the communications team going as we're in the midst of facilitating two large events among all of the other usual responsibilities. I'm grateful to be working with two teams that are both stacked with great people!
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
May 6, 2007
Thinking About Cities
Filed under: The City
I just arrived in Jerusalem, Israel, for a short 48-hour setup trip. It's my second visit in 7 months and I'll be here again in two weeks for a more extended period of time. All three of these trips are in preparation for the main event in July when Foursquare will bring nearly 3,000 leaders together for our annual convention.
On the flight over here, I read Ray Bakke's book, A Theology As Big As the City. The book has been out for ten years and I have been wanting to read it for quite some time now, especially since moving to downtown Los Angeles in August of last year.
Bakke and his wife Corean have lived and worked in Chicago for over 40 years. Their influence has been nothing short of astonishing. For a great article on the Bakke brilliance, check out a nice archived write-up from Fast Company.
This book is less about the brilliance of what Bakke is doing and more about his heart for cities. Although it's easy to see how smart Bakke really is--he makes more references to books he's read than any author I've seen in a long time--the book is really about looking at cities through a biblical lens.
Continue reading "Thinking About Cities"
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink