Vy Blog

OneBallot: Signatures and gatherers needed for final push

Word today that the Oregon Open Primary initiative has hit the 85,000 signature mark.  They need several thousand more to be sure to have enough valid signatures to get the issue on the November ballot.

If you're in Oregon, there are three things you can do to help:

1. Contact the campaign to have signature sheets sent to you.  Even if you can only sign up a few folks near you, every little bit helps.  You can sign up online or can call the campaign office at (503) 736-2552.
2. Volunteer to work as a signature gatherer at one of the following events:
   • Hillsboro 4th of July parade
   • Portland Blues Festival
   • Any 4th of July event on the Oregon Coast
   • The St. Paul Rodeo
   • The Ashland 4th of July parade
3. Sign the petition.  Look for a volunteer at one of these events.  Or contact the campaign office to find out where you can sign.

The campaign is asking the current gaggle of voluenteers already holding petition sheets to mail them by july 3 or get them to the campaign office by july 5.   The address is:Oregon Open Primary, 921 SW Washington St. -  Suite 810, Portland, OR 97205.

This is a smart iniative, the kind of thing that keeps Oregon the progressive place it is.  Pitch in -- it will be worth it.

In Marrakech

Greetings from the Red City, where I'm attending the ICANN meetings.

No sense in boring you with meeting notes (you can get all that you can stand here).  It's as compressed and intensive as it always is.

Still, there's been some time to get in some exploration.  The square here is straight out of a film set -- snake charmers, storytellers, you name it.  And if there's one souk selling spices, fruit and fresh orange juice, there are 500.

The food is stupendous, but I think that because I love Moroccan food.  The people are friendly; a few speak English, but if you know some French you'll get by much easier. 

Predictably, there are millions of vendors selling whatever you want, but espcially handicrafts.  I learned, fortunately not the hard way, that it's better to stay away from the square when you're buying and go instead to the Center Artisimes, one of two co-ops set up by the Moroccan government as a quality control measure -- basically they're giving an approval stamp to the quality of the merchandise you find there.  You can still haggle, and you should, else you get reamed, but (hopefully not stupidly) I feel better about what I paid for the rug I bought yesterday.

Back in the US in a couple of days, in time for the holiday weekend.  Posting light meantime.  Better to get out and smell the spices.

Head East

Heading out shortly for the ICANN meetings in Marrakech.  Light blogging forecasted...not that it will be much different from the light week that followed a monthlong sabbatical.

The social graces and PR

A friend sent me this article from today's USA Today about the tech bubble most of our kids live in today and how it affects -- or more accurately, I guess, detracts from -- their ability to develop social skills.  At the top of this list is the issue of respect.

I've blogged before about this on occasion (link summary here) and my thinking goes beyond the superficial "these kids these days" head-shaking.  I have little doubt that our civilization is less civilized, more aggressive, more self-centered, angrier and has a very well-developed sense of entitlement.  The current teen generation embodies that particularly well, though my experience in general with today's yutes is overall positive.

What's interesting in the article is that, predictably, many young people who now have to interact with others to accomplish an objective (perform at a job, get into college) have no clue how to do it.  They're very surprised -- offended, even -- when the world lets them know there could be consequences to you behaving like an uneducated ass.

PR is public relations -- relating to your publics (again, repeat: it is not press release).  Let's get all theoretical here and say the world is your public and it's your expectation to be treated with respect.  That is a very reasonable expectation.  But to get it, obviously, you have to give it.  This goes for you, big shot, when you go into the interview (that your PR firm put its credibility on the line for) with the editor and then tell him he "doesn't get it."  It goes for you, keyboard coward, when you fly off the handle at anyone who dares disagree with you.  It goes for you, know-it-all, when you don't give latitude to your co-workers to do their jobs well.

Soliciting respect in PR means opening your ears, wide, and listening carefully to what your customers, colleagues, competitors, and others have to say before opening your own mouth.  And it can't hurt to learn a few of the social graces, either.

Father's Day

I'm a Dad, and I love this holiday.  I love my son and daughter, and we all have fun together, and they're good kids, so there's no way I can't love this holiday.

I do miss my own father -- this is my fourth Father's Day without him, and my grandfather, who died last year.

If you're a Dad, hug your kids.  Happy Father's Day.

Portland Stormhoek Geek Event

Ray and I hosted the Portland version of Stormhoek's and Hugh's 100 Dinners in 100 Days at his house last night.  We had a great turnout -- half marketers and half wiki enthusiasts.  Probably 25 people total.

Ray had a good idea for an opening -- we organized into a circle for introductions, and as you made an intro, you took a picture of the person next to you.  We'll post it all up on Flickr or something later.  Everyone talked about their backgrounds and why they were interested in collaboration, as it applies to development or marketing.  It set a solid context for the event.

After getting food (which was fabulous) and a glass of wine, I gave an abbreviated opening presentation about collaborative marketing, followed by a demo by Ray of the use of wikis in the world today.  They were good interactive sessions with ideas and questions flying around the room.  Afterward, we stuck around, meeting new people and exchanging notes.  It was very positive and productive.  And we all took away a signed print from Hugh as a way to remember the evening.

And Erika Polmar was there and shared pics from her Mt. Hood climb.  She summitted early Sunday and met her fundraising goal (a buck per foot, so that's $11,235 plus) for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.  Well done.

Thanks for a great idea, Hugh, and Sam, thanks for the great wine.  See you next time.

As I was saying...

Back from sabbatical.

With new personal rules.  Things are still busy -- very busy.  I intend to keep blogging but maybe not as frequently as before.  It depends on time and subject matter as available, and whether or not I have anything intelligent to say.  So thanks to the latter, probably not all that often.

My mission is unchanged, though -- the purpose of this blog is to exchange thoughts and ideas, to learn new things, and to have some fun.