|
 |
Monday, May 14, 2007 |
Today was User Conference day in the old email bin. Invensys Process Systems announced the dates and location of its 2007 conference--July 15-18 at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston.
Rockwell Automation formally announced (we already had it in the events listing at Automation World) its 16th annual Automation Fair November 14-15 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
I'll be there. Will you? Look me up. I love a good conversation Talk to me about topics we should be covering or what's going on in manufacturing.
8:31:17 PM 
|
|
Steve Rubel is a PR guy at Edelman. Does a lot of work for high-tech firms plus he blogs. He recently posted a really good essay on editorial calendars. If you're a PR person reading this, you'll know where he's coming from. If you're a reader, you may not have known about these things. Just as Rubel says, we publish an editorial calendar of almost specific, but really quite vague, topics that we'll cover each month in the magazine. PR people want to know what they can pitch to writers--after all, their job is to get the company/client into print as often as possible, in as good a light as possible. Writers, on the other hand, need access to stories. But I suspect that Rubel is correct in saying that the business people on magazines really point these at the people in marketing who buy advertising. "We're covering xxx, so you may want to advertise." I actually think that that is 1980s and 1990s thinking. When I look at the people who advertise with us, they seem to be far more intelligent than that. (If that sounds like pandering, I don't mean for it to be.)
But I digress. The point Rubel makes that I like is--why don't the readers look at the editorial calendar and provide feedback to the editor about topics they care about--or angles a topic should consider? I like that. You can find the Automation World editorial calendar here. You will also see previews of three months' worth of articles. The PR people already do this (or should). How about the rest of you? Take a few minutes. Look at the "edcal" and send me a note about what you think we should be covering. No promises--we only have so many pages. But like Bugs Bunny said in his role as "Swami Bugsy," I'm all ears.
Maybe in the future, I can configure a Website so you can all have an open conversation with me about it. I write the calendar so that I can assure myself (and others) that I'm covering the industry. If I'm missing something, let me know.
8:25:43 PM
|
|
Kevin Kelleher on GigaOM says that Orbitz is the worst IPO of 2007 (and we're not even half-way through the year).
8:12:14 PM
|
|
What's the most essential skill you need? Steve Rubel says insatiable curiosity. I think I'd go with his idea.
And never pass up an opportunity. There were four of us sitting in the referee tent at the tournament yesterday. When I worked for Control Engineering, we were given some of those canvas chairs that fold up into a nice little bundle for transporting. They say "Control Engineering." One of the guys asked if I read the magazine. Seems he used to. I told him I used to write for them. So we drifted into a process control conversation. Third guy is an MD. Fourth guy heard us and said I'd probably never had an PhD Chemist around. Told him one of my buddies in the ref association was one. The conversation drifted to how best to study chemistry, LaPlace Transforms and all kinds of techy stuff. Ask a couple of questions and you learn all kinds of stuff.
8:10:27 PM
|
|
The Dangerous Myth of the Dream Job. Carleen Hess posted from an essay. Two miths--Turn your passion into a company and achiever work-life balance. Says that if you turn your passion into your company, then you never escape work. Same idea with work-life balance. He prefers work-life separation. I agree. That's one reason I do soccer. It's totally different from work (even though I thoroughly enjoy work), so I can use different faculties and thus achieve some refreshment. I have a third leg of the stool, so to speak. That is to study and practice spirituality. That reminds me not to take myself too seriously. There are larger and more important things in the universe. Every ancient philosopher I've read seems to eventually come to a philosophy of life about balance. Don't let one part of your person become dominant over the others. Spend time with yourself, with your job and with others.
8:05:14 PM
|
|
I almost survived the Sidney Mayfest tournament this weekend. After the stress of losing a complete crew of referees Friday night at 9 pm, finding replacements, dealing with other no-shows, then dealing with some irate parents and coaches, today I'm on a low-energy, congested sinuses day. This is the 12th year for this event. We've grown from 8 pitches to 21. I coordinated about 120 referees. Officially, we brought almost 11,000 people into a town of 20,000, booked every hotel room for a 25 mile radius--and I only had to deal with about 6 incidents. As director of referees, I deal with game and laws interpretations, the competency of referees and other various misunderstandings--such as helping escort an ejected coach to the parking lot. After the first match Saturday, I had to deal with two coaches (same team, losing side) who claimed to be referees themselves but had little knowledge of the laws. Thank goodness they weren't my students ;-) . Then Sunday morning after the first game, I found myself surrounded by the parents and coaches of another team who felt the referee let thing play too physically (against them, anyway). Interesting that this happened right outside the main headquarters trailer. There were concentric circles--Gary as the "Sun", the team and coaches, then a bunch of tournament staff outside that wondering if they should go in and support me--or stay out of the way.
Actually, I just handle these like I would relate to my wife. 1) acknowledge that they have feelings in a non-judgmental way (even if that's tough) 2) look them in the eyes and let them vent 3) (this is where the methods diverge, you can stop after 2 with your wife--if you're sincere) let them know that I'll consider their facts and go assess the referee. They always forget things like due process, that there might be a different opinion of the same facts, that I'm not going to have a hanging at sundown.
We had temperatures in the 70s with blue skies, perfect playing conditions and very competitive matches. I think there were a couple of thousand tired, but happy kids going home to four different states last night. That makes it all worthwhile.
7:57:28 PM
|
|
© Copyright 2007 Gary Mintchell.
|
|
|
