Scott Smigler's BlogFounder of Exclusive Concepts and Conversions On Demand

Since 1998, 4 million people have died in the Congo (aka Zaire) from hunger and disease. Half have been children. Yes, 2 million children have died because they lack food, nutrients, and basic healthcare. Approximately 1,250 people are still dieing each day.

Despite this disaster of monumental proportions, our attention is elsewhere. We’re focussed on sensationalized news stories and life within our respective bubbles.

I’m no better. I’m caught up in my day to day life, and I could be giving more of myself. But apathy should not be an excuse for ignorance, and so I want to do my part in raising awareness, even if its among the very few people who read my blog.

Quoted in the NY Times today:

“About 30,000 children have been forced into militias, while untold thousands of girls have been raped, according to the Unicef report. Children labor under toxic conditions in gold and diamond mines…

One 2-year-old boy, Amuri, struggled to breathe on a hospital bed while doctors and nurses went through the motions – attaching one of the hospital’s scarce pulse-oximeters to his tiny index finger, placing an oxygen mask over his gasping mouth. But they knew it was too late. A few moments later, Amuri’s eyes rolled back in his head, his chest stilled and he was dead. Bring something for us to wrap the boy, a nurse called out.”

I just had a very nice conversation with a client regarding a pay per click campaign that we run for her company. I really enjoy those kinds of conversations: Thinking strategically about growing businesses. Working with entrepreneurs. Coming up with creative ideas to help them stand apart from the crowd. I wish I could spend all of my time doing those kinds of things.

In reality, my day is spread over many different activities:

- Being part of the client implementation team (sitting in on client marketing meetings, website architecture meetings, offering my feedback internally on client deliverables)
- Devising new product offerings
- Business development
- Relationship development
- Proposals and pitches
- Reading/staying educated
- Executing marketing campaigns
- Employee issues (hiring, procedures, etc)
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Cash flow management
- Payroll

It’s nice because I’m always doing something different, but it can also be difficult to have such a broad focus. Sometimes it would be nice to just have one job that I could do exceptionally well, that I really enjoy. Often, I find I’m pulled in many different directions. I do enjoy being pulled, while I’m being pulled, because I like to be challenged. I like to have to come up with ideas and recall facts and data off the top of my head… I like when I have to think quickly. But when the lulls come, it’s easy to get distracted (into doing things like this blog post), as I look at my to-do list wondering what i’ll start next!

So – that’s my blog post. A little insight into my life at the office.

What is interia? It’s the status quo. Something in motion tends to remain in motion. Something without motion tends to remain motionless.

The concept of intertia is powerful because it pervades every aspect of life and society. It’s the reason you stay at a job you don’t like. It’s the reason routines develop in your daily life. And, it’s even the reason you marry that person you’ve been dating for the past hundred years. Change is difficult. The fear of change gives birth to consistency. Taking the easy route. Moving along in the same way you’ve been moving along. Continuing to move in the direction you’ve been moving in, simply because that’s the direction you’ve been moving in, not because it’s taking you where you want to go.

In the end, intertia is the reason things don’t get done. It’s the reason that many people won’t find happiness. And, it’s the reason that many won’t achieve those lofty goals they set for themselves at important intervals throughout their lives.

You think about breaking the pattern. You convince yourself you will. Then, when it comes time to break the momentum that has been building over the years, you realize how difficult it is to stop that boulder that’s been rolling down the mountain-side, seemingly forever.

The boulder can be stopped, but it takes more than thought and desire to disrupt its path. It takes action, and following that action, it takes will. Will to continue that countervailing action, and to continue taking this action, in whatever form it manifests itself, until that boulder is stopped. Once the boulder is stopped, you can point it in a new direction… the right direction… and let it fly.

“If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn’t ask me, I’d still have to say it.”

Thanks for the tip, Mr. George Burns.

This was a very long week. A very good week, but a very long week. It’s the kind of week that makes you wish the coming weekend had an extra day.

The big highlight of the week was gaining closure on what will be one of the most exciting projects I’ve ever had the opportunity to work on. I can’t go into details now, but what I can say is that it’s exciting to hook-up with companies and professionals who really understand the importance of the Internet, and who are willing to be creative and truly invest in their growth. On this project we’ll have the opportunity to really flex our muscles, and we’ll be working with motivated clients who are willing to do their part as well. We’ve been getting more and more of these kinds of projects recently, and it’s really encouraging to see that corporate America is finally starting to “get it.”

Also, our new company website is only a few days away! Jeesh – it’s so much easier architecting websites for other people than for yourself. We’ve also come up with a great new concept for a new corporate blog, which is a few months away. It will be big!!

Ok, i’m off! Enjoy your weekends.

A quick update, since I’m committed to posting here regularly… despite having almost no time!

Had a great meeting with fellow Bentley alum and entrepreneur, Chris Ronzio yesterday. Chris is the founder of Firewire Films, and is the current President of the Bentley Entrepreneurship Society (which i’m proud to say I co-founded while I was at Bentley).

I can tell already that Chris is one of those people who have what it takes to do whatever he sets his mind to. I also feel very encouraged. If the Bentley Entrepreneurship Society is able to attract talent like Chris, it will continue to grow and thrive. Eric and I were most concerned about that when we did succession planning for the organization in anticipation of our graduation, and the group has really thrived.

I just did a quick search, and Chris already posted a blog entry about our lunch. Check it out.

What else is going on? Not much. We’re just completely redoing our website, revamping our corporate blog, substantially iterating our service offerings, developing print collateral, preparing for several big seminars, working on some top-secret local marketing programs, and working on some very challenging but immensely satisfying projects where clients have given us the mandate to be creative and to innovate. I love these kinds of projects. Included in this list:

Creating vertical portals (online newspapers for specific industries)

Developing a brand new community participation model to create more participation in online communities

Using behavioral targeting to improve email promotions (new orders from past customers)

Finishing work, then off to The Wok for a business dinner (and some Mai Tai’s!).

As I prepare to shuffle off for my weekend adventures, i’ve somehow been reminded of a little business-card sized momento that one of my earliest business partners and mentors shared with me while I was still in school.

It’s called the Optimist’s Creed.

Promise Yourself:
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheeful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have not time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

We had a great surprise here in the Exclusive Concepts office yesterday. Sheila introduced us to Jovon, her beautiful newborn. Even though he’s only 2 weeks old, I can already tell that he’ll drive all the girls crazy. Not only was Jovon incredibly well-behaved, he had a manner of curiosity about him that was very special.

And the biggest news of all, Sheila trusted me to hold him. As you can see in the picture Sheila sent me, I’m not very confident in my baby-holding skills… no less rigid than a 2×4. The good news, however, is that the baby was absolutely memorized by the vertical lines on my shirt.

Here’s wishing all the best the world has to offer for Jovon!

Craigslist is being sued by the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee, a group alleging that Craigslist is violating the Fair Housing Act by “publishing” discriminatory housing ads on its website.

Here is some background information. Craigslist is a popular classifieds website that helps people in communities throughout the world find activity partners, jobs, roommates, and much more. If you want a tennis partner, you go to Craiglist and submit a post. If you’re looking to hire a copywriter, you go to Craigslist and submit a post. And, if you’re looking to find a roommate, you go to Craigslist and submit a post.

Craigslist has become the virtual bulletin board for hundreds of communities.

Craiglists’ beauty is in its simplicity, and its laissez-faire attitude towards its member’s posts. Craigslist does moderate spam and outright abuse of its service, but it does not censor ideas, statements, requests, or words in general. It becomes a reflection of the communities it serves because community members shape Craigslist without interference from its owners and operators.

As you might imagine, not every member, of every community, possesses the values that you and I may share. For example, if I were to use a service like Craigslist to find a roommate, the race or religion of my potential roommate would not matter to me. I would simply look for someone who would be a good fit for the living situation I desired. However, many users of Craigslist have a different philosophy. In roommate posts, some Craigslist users will single out specific groups of individuals as being undesirable. Simply put, they discriminate.

Here’s the crux. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits newspapers from publishing discriminatory phrases like “whites only.” The goal of this lawsuit is to extend that law to apply to Internet websites like Craigslist. If successful, this lawsuit would, in fact, change the Internet. Craigslist, and other popular websites ranging from Yahoo to Ebay, would have to add a tremendous amount of staff to censor posts from users. Users, in turn, would be censored.

How could a site like Craigslist continue to be free (free of charge) if it has to monitor the post of every participant? It couldn’t. How would censorship affect the use of the Internet in general? It would stifle the free expression of ideas.

While I am disgusted that people would maintain discriminatory beliefs, the very concept that a law could justly inhibit the free expression of ideas (regardless of how putrid the ideas may seem), not only violates the promise of the Internet, it flies in the face of the constitution and the principles upon which our country was founded. I’m not going to bore you with my personal constitutional theory – I’m certainly not an expert on the constitution. But I am an expert on the Internet, and I can say without hesitation that the Internet will not continue to thrive as it has been if popular websites are forced to censor its users.

Craigslist is not a newspaper. The public does not trust Craigslist in the way that it trusts newspapers, and members of the public do have the right to live with whomever they want to live regardless of how their views may disgust me personally. Newspapers, as institutions, are meant to disseminate information in an authoritative way, and publishers/editors are expected to adhere to strict ethical standards and norms. Craigslist, on the other hand, is simply a forum. It’s a place to interact, not to learn. It’s a tool that brings the community together, not just online, but in life in general. The users are the publishers and editors. The users control everything.

Extending the reach of the housing act to cover Internet websites like Craigslist is nothing less than censorship by proxy. The government cannot legally censor the ideas of individuals, and so, if the Chicago Lawyer’s Committee gets its way, it will attempt to create rules that govern the tool that individuals use to communicate. Those restrictions affect the “tool owners,” like the owner of Craigslist, who will then censor the individuals. The bottom line is that the laws compel private citizens to censor other private citizens. It compels Craig from Craigslist to censor his users. It’s censorship by proxy.

The Internet is supposed to be a collaborative medium that serves the people. It does not judge the virtues of the people, it simply serves them. We can point out the worst manifestations of free speech and use them to justify rule-making, but in the end, lawmakers and the courts should just leave the Internet alone.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Showa School in Boston to speak to a very unique group of college students. The class was composed exclusively of female students from Japan for whom English is a second language. I was asked to talk about entrepreneurship and share my story with the class. It was a great experience indeed.

While I was prepared to receive very few questions from the students (based on anticipated cultural differences between American and Japanese classrooms), I was pleasantly surprised. The students were engaged, asked many dynamic questions, and expressed themselves quite well (no doubt to the credit of their instructors). Their English was better, in fact, than many people who claim English to be their first language!

The highlight of the event for me was when several students showed me how Japanese business men and women share business cards. Whereas the American way lacks formality (the room gasped when, during my demonstration, I received the business card and proceeded to file it away), the Japanese tradition is much more structured. The parties bow to each other, and present their business cards one at a time. The receiving party takes time to review the business card, as if confirming that it contains the all pertinent information.

It was very nice of Elizabeth to invite me, and I received a great note from Chrisann following the speech. Apparently I received “very enthusiastic” evaluations, which is great news! The class also sent me a very nice card. Here are some quotes from the students:

“To Scott: I was impressed with your great success story. I learned about American business from you. Thank you for giving us an amazing speech!!”

“I’m interested in business!! So it was interesting for me. I also want to establish my company if it is possible. Thank you so much.”

“Thank you for speaking a lot of information! It was so interesting and helped my future. Much appreciated.”

And my favorite…

“Thank you for telling your wonderful story. I respect you so much. I’ll be a career woman!! Thank you again.”

I love to see that entrepreneurial spirit!

This weekend I truly acclimated. I purchased an annual membership to the Museum of Fine Art, attended a Dave Matthew’s band concert at Fenway, and watched Italy beat France from the North End! Now, I’m not one for acclimation, but with that weather as nice as it was this weekend, how could I resist?

The Dave Matthews concert was my first of its kind. I’ve never been a big concert goer, but I’ve seen a few. This was by far the best. Sitting behind home plate at Fenway on an incredible night, having purchased my tickets from a talkative individual outside the stadium (for a very reasonable price I might add), listening to the music I used to love in high school, I was in heaven.

Dave even broke into “Sweet Caroline,” which from what I gather is played at every Boston Redsox home game. Very enjoyable.

Then the Italy game. There is nothing like watching an Italian soccer game with tens of thousands of Italians in the North End of Boston (or as it has been called, little Italy).

(Photo from Boston.com/AP)

The fans were surprisingly tame, but certainly not without passion. Every scoring opportunity was met by large gaps. Twice, followed by exalted jubilation.