OK…seriously…6 months since my last blog post?@?@?@? I’m surprised this thing even works anymore. Cause-based marketing keeps you hopping…that’s for sure.

But to be honest..the previous Grampa post just took a lot outta me. I looked at it every time I tried to write and didn’t have anything else nearly as relevant or heartfelt to really add after that.

That is until someone mentioned the book “The Secret.” I’d be lying if I said I read it, but I’ve gotten enough book reports from key advisers to get the central premise. You attract how you act. If you are a force for change and get white-hot pissed when people don’t follow, you attract a like-minded crew of malcontents and beehive bashers. So “The Secret” for me was to retire “Pessimism” and Evolve.

Evolved Thinking isn’t so much a measure of my evolution from troglodyte to upright warrior  to compassionate cogitator to Bubbly Brad Garrett as it is celebrating others for smelling the roses through the hot mess of sewer sludge all around us.

One thing I’ve tried to do during my busiest of moments is at least stay plugged in through Twitter, Google Buzz, Facebook and other key blogs to remain current.

Speaking of which, good God, can someone help a brother out on incorporating my Twitter feed into this blog through a sidebar! I’ve uploaded and downloaded Twitter plugins to the point of Supreme Twitdom and can’t for the life of me figure out how to make my Tweets  flow into my blog. HELP!

I hope the next 9 months of 2010 brings a little clarity and priority to my life and yours.

One point of clarity, priority and purpose so far has been my work on a new social media monitoring and content creation start-up EVolution Communications Group and two non-profits — Wish Upon A Wedding Portland and  Special Olympics Oregon. It’s been a whirlwind tour, but I remain fascinated by people who make  organizations move, raise money, cultivate legions of loyal consumers and  catalyze indefatigable volunteers or unsung (unpaid) helpers.

Whether it’s ensuing that a deserving couple gets their dying wish,  a uniquely able athlete gets the chance to compete and apply lessons to everyday life, or a corporation looking to build equity in doing the right thing and then using a content monitoring and creation practice to support it — I’m all in. Suffice it to say…I’ve found something that inspires me to get up in the morning, work harder than I ever have before, and still want to come back for more.

Where ever you are in life,  rest assured getting involved in something bigger than yourself and the day-to-day grind will sustain you and turn you from pessimist to at least a reluctant optimist.

Until then…here’s a person and a few organizations that through their big hearts, big brains or both that have blown me away.

1. Chris Brogan — An early supporter of my work at Special Olympics Oregon, Chris continues to impress me personally by wearing his heart on his sleeve. This recent post on not fitting in a box of someone else’s creation, but building one of your own reinvigorated me at just the right time.
2. Wish Upon a Wedding – Fulfilling someone’s dying wish to be together — or potentially empowering a miraculous recovery through the healing touch of love is a cause that tugs at the heartstrings. See it in action.
3. Clothes Off Our Backs — This great nonprofit gets celebrities to literally give the shirts (and pants, and dresses, et al) off their backs for a rotating list of charities each year. Purely awesome concept.
4. Mercy Corps — Anybody notice how this Portland, Oregon-based nonprofit raised bucketloads of money for relief in Haiti and hit the ground  in-country ready to help?  If you didn’t it’s because they’re not self-promoters. They’re doers. What an amazing group. Help them in anyway you can.

I’m watching, learning and will abscond with every great thing you are doing–giving you full credit, of course.

To an optimistic 2010 from here on out — from a newly invigorated,  rapidly evolving thinker and retired Cockeyed Pessimist.

Mark

The Marlboro Man Prequel (mouse up to the top of the page after clickthrough for the full obituary)

Jack Norman Evertz (March 8, 1927 – July 27, 2009)

The words “They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore” come to mind when I think about my gramps. Part redneck, part roughneck and all man in an increasingly domesticated man’s world, Grampa Jack was quick with opinions and head-shaking dismay despite his lack of a high school diploma to back him up. Common sense ruled — in the shop, around the card table, on the porch and anywhere else he chose to plant his Size 12 Tony Lama boots. A simple wisdom left permanent marks, like these gems:

Grampa Jack on Stress:
“I just never could understand why you and your dad always worried to high hell about everything. More than half the time, it never turns out that way and the rest of the time it’s not nearly as bad as you think. And if it is ever that bad you’re too damn worn out from worrying to do anything about it.”

Grampa Jack on Women:
“Nothing’s harder on a man than an angry woman.”

Grampa Jack on Manhood:
“The world doesn’t owe you anything and it will knock you on your ass every chance it gets. Your job is to keep gettin’ up.” His favorite movie was Cool Hand Luke if that tells you anything.

He laughed at the pussification of the American male and would routinely harken back to his Golden Era of the’50s and ’60s where smokin’, drinkin’ and raisin’ hell were a man’s God-given right –  and anybody who said otherwise could go straight to hell.

Some of that tenacity and toughness no doubt makes you strong on the battlefield or in the bar room, but I had the hardest time convincing Grampa Jack that his Advanced Coursework in Manhood for his only grandson was losing the battle in the boardroom. “There’s ego, politics, turf wars, and hurt feelings that come into play. You have to be nice,” I told him.

“What the hell does nice have to do with business?” he asked. “And, did you say hurt feelings?”

Never did give him any good  answers on why brains had rapidly replaced balls for dominance in the American West, except to throw another cliche at him that got him to come around half way. “You get more bees with honey, Grampa.”

Well, with him cashing in his chips at the end of July to spend the rest of eternity with my Gramma Grace (a tough cookie in her own right), here are 5 things Grampa Jack taught me that make me a better man and a better marketer.

1. If you don’t mean it, don’t say it.

2. Shut up. You just might learn something. (Still working on this one)

3. If you make a mistake, own up to it. Then work like hell to fix it.

4. If you believe in what you’re doing, don’t back down.

5. A man is only as good as his word.

T-5. Outwork your co-workers. Outsmart your enemies.

R.I.P. Gramps. You were a helluva lot smarter than you gave yourself credit for.

I’m on a desperate search for  people and information that contributes to a greater good. You are out there. Bring me something uplifting and real to share that isn’t a Twitter tip, a video of your cat, or a marketing trick to get me to buy something that we both know I don’t need.

Knock me on my ass with value. Get me to say, wow, this makes me smarter and empowers me to help others. Introduce me to people, causes and stories of gut-level inspiration.

Until then…I remain a reluctant pessimist, mystified by shitty behavior that lives at the DNA-level in some, is well-coached in others or so masked in self-absorption that it goes unrecognized. I’m confident that fear, ignorance and weakness of mind and spirit are at the root of this.

Let’s turn the tide together with ways to quell the concern, smarten up the masses and feed the soul with something that sustains. Here’s a little something to start the ball rolling.

Bob Dylan
Shelter From the Storm

Cheers, Ev. T.C.P.