BlairBlog

thankfulness day 4

Posted on 02. Dec, 2009 by Blair.

1. riding to work as a family
2. having lots of clean clothes and fun choices for sally
3. already made mac & cheese for lunches
4. kenton. he is challenging & stretching, but understanding too!
5. chatting with my buddy LV
6. getting new phones!
7. driving up PCH with my girls
8. dinner with the family… no matter how loud it gets!
9. christmas decorations
10. finding resolution at the end of a tough conversation

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thankfulness day 3

Posted on 01. Dec, 2009 by Blair.

1. story time at mariners church.
2. chats with traci tyson about tech & video
3. the amazing books available to people at global cafe/bookstore
4. productive meeting with jack & jeremy
5. my super committed team
6. welcoming cameron to the dark side (he got a mac!)
7. seeing our community gather to be involved
8. surf city nights
9. pancakes at ihop
10. having a mom that loves my daughter as much as I do

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when almost is deemed “good enough”

Posted on 09. Sep, 2009 by Blair.

i have heard it said that close only counts in slow dancing & hand grenades. well tonight at the huntington beach city council meeting we also learned from our community services director and our energy manager that close enough is good enough in building an “equivalent” to LEED certified building.

let me give some backstory. a few years ago when the market was up and land prices were riding high… the city council decided that they could get a good deal from a developer to build a senior center instead of paying a park in-lieu fee. the developer complied because the deal they got was less than what they would have paid (then) in fees. so the deal was struck and the location was chosen… 6.5 acres of prime central park real estate. the voters of huntington beach approved the funding mechanism and the location by a razor thin majority. since that time there has been battle after battle to try and define what this building will look like, how much it will cost to build, how the developer (who is now broke) is going to pay for it and since it is in a park, should it be a model of sustainable development.

back in december of 2007 the planning commission (full disclosure… I am an HB planning commissioner) voted to approve this project with a few changes from the staff recommendation. we voted to strike “strive to” from the statement “The project shall strive to achieve LEED Certification.” our intent was clear. we wanted a LEED certified building in the park. proponents cried that it would bust the budget… it could never work… why bother.

the council in february of 2008 then took up the issue. they added “strive to” back into the condition and thus the die was cast. the project would not end up a real LEED certified building.

flash forward to now. the economy is in the tank. the developer cannot build their project downtown, let alone the senior center. the city is cutting community service programs and staff… and the senior center is right on track to break ground this fall! staff brought back the final design before the council and asked them to accept the current design as “equivalent” to LEED silver. over the course of the meeting tonight we learned that the silver LEED equivalent is based on the older 2.2 LEED standard, which we could not get now because we did not file in july. (note: the fee in july would have been $2,000) we learned that our city staff did not want a true LEED building. most surprising was that our city energy manager was the loudest voice in opposition to LEED certification. during the debate a motion was made and seconded to require LEED silver certification, but was pulled and ended up in a vote to work to try and add as many green features as possible to get close to the older LEED standard.

so why does this bug me? well it is pretty simple. i want our city to be a model of cutting edge sustainable development. i would like for us to be leaders by example. the investment today (or really 2 years ago) in a design that would achieve LEED certification would pay for itself in the first decade of the building. not to mention it is the right thing to do when building in a park. i also believe that certification means something both for the building and for the city. it means we jumped through the hoop to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this building is a cut above other buildings. i have personally opposed the senior center in the park at every step of the way. it should be built elsewhere. we should not start till we have the money, and we should know how to fund the operation once built.

so… what say you? should it be LEED certified?

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rush limbaugh makes me crazy.

Posted on 07. Sep, 2009 by Blair.

my dad was a talk radio junkie. i inherited that gene from him. i recall listening to rush limbaugh back in his first year on KFI640. he was controversial and funny. he called out those who were in the extremes of the political arena. over time his influence grew, as did his audience. now millions of people listen to his program daily.

so what is my problem with him now? simple. he doesn’t tell the truth. he generalizes facts. he states opinions as fact. he takes clips out of context. he sees conspiracies where there are none. he builds fear. he roots for failure. he sells himself as a defender of the american people. he bills himself as a solution to the problems. he preaches selfishness, not self reliance.

so my choice… I generally do not listen anymore. i would rather listen to something else. something that makes me think. something that presents all sides to an argument and lets me arrive at a conclusion. something that works towards a solution and not something that just rips apart those who are working hard to propose solutions. i’m all for spirited political debate. i just don’t think that is what rush is doing anymore.

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fantastic @ 4

Posted on 08. Jun, 2009 by Blair.

my baby turned four years old today. seriously it has been like the blink of an eye. seems like just yesterday that we were changing diapers and making bottles. christie & i were reminising the other day about our “bottle factory” that we would setup every night to wash, boil and fill all the bottles we would need for the next day. each stage of her development has been a lot of fun. we enjoyed the baby faces and noises. we loved watching how determined she was to walk. we have marveled at her language abilities. we have watched her become so loving and caring.

so here is my favorite part about this stage we are in right now… for the first time in her life we can have a real conversation. we can talk about things she finds funny… how she is feeling… what she thinks and dreams about and even sing songs together. (sidenote: she knows all the words to the james taylor song “line ‘em up” how many other four year olds can do that??)

to celebrate this year sally got to have 2 parties! we had dinner with grandma sharon and kurt & becky on sunday night and the theme was princess cupcakes. on her actual birthday we had a good old fashioned chuck e. cheese blow out with grandma’s patty & sue. click here to see more photos

four is going to be great… and we are going to savor every moment of it!

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story.

Posted on 11. May, 2009 by Blair.

as the dad of a 3 year old, stories are a part of life. sometimes it is the structured stories of books and tv shows. sometimes it is the pretending & make believe of play time. sometimes it is the way we use analogy to explain concepts to her. in any case it is more clear to me now than ever, that the ability to communicate through stories is critical.

so here is your opportunity to learn from masters of the art of storytelling just how we can tell a more compelling story. ben arment (the brains behind the wildly successful & creative catalyst west coast event) is now leading a new conversation about story. here is the info you need to know…

STORY is a first-of-its-kind experience for communicators of the Gospel – the greatest story ever told. It will be held on Wednesday, October 28 at the Paramount Theater in Aurora, Illinois. Speakers include Donald Miller, Nancy Beach, Dave Gibbons, Ed Young, Stacy Spencer, Chris Seay and Mike Foster. A day of workshops will follow on October 29 at nearby Orchard Valley Community Church, featuring illustrators, designers, scholars, authors and communications experts. Register for the conference and enter to win 2 free trips to the Kilns – CS Lewis’ home in Oxford, England – at www.StoryChicago.com.

so are you in?

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the transition begins.

Posted on 03. Nov, 2008 by Blair.

today begins my first day in the office during what will be a several week transition time. by the time we are sitting down to thanksgiving dinner, the transition will be complete and I will be fully engaged in my new role overseeing all things high tech here at mariners.

in the meantime, I will be dividing my time and honoring the role that brought me to mariners 2 years ago. today I will be formalizing a list of final projects to complete before I officially transition. i am excitied and looking to the future of my new role, and at the same time a little sad today to be thinking about the transition. so many great things have happened to me in this role. i have learned a lot and had the opportunity to work with an amazing team.

i know that this new role is a God thing in my life and so as i move forward i embrace God moving in my life and in my family. i thank him every day for walking alongside me as i grow as a leader and a servant. so today i am going to roll up my sleeves and figure out what needs to be done.

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reflections on lighthouse weekend.

Posted on 20. Oct, 2008 by Blair.

this past weekend was amazing. our whole service was dedicated to teaching about how important it is to love those who are poor and in need. kenton shared some really cool insights from his study. one of the most impactful ones for me was that Jesus comes to us every day cleverly disguised as the poor and needy. we choose how to respond to jesus by how we respond to those in need. another powerful insight was gained in kentons office… not in the service. we create distance with the poor because that is safer for us. we do not want to acknowledge that we could be them, and franly we do not want to be faced with the need. when we do what jesus commands we collapse that distance and come face to face with poverty and we have no choice but to be compassionate.

Laurie also spoke about how we can respond. she was confident and poised. she shared from her heart and she motivated our church to action. In her message she shared this cool blessing.

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort…
at easy answers, half –truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart

May God bless you with Anger…
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with Tears…
to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness…
To believe that you can make a difference in their world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen.

the weekend wrapped up at sunday night service. what an amazing experience that was! zimmerman had prepared this community for two weeks that the challenge was going to be 100% participation, and that if you were not going to be all in… to stay home. and they did not. the came in droves. in fact attendance was up over previous weeks. and when the call went out people responded. they took food boxes, promised to bring blankets, signed up for events and gave generously. being able to see the response was really cool.

this was my last lighthouse weekend to be involved with. by the time the next weekend rolls around I will be in a new role at mariners, and I will participate as a staff member, but not as a part of the core team. this dedicated staff works hard to move the congregation to be more like jesus, and it was a priviledge to be part of that.

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recent discovery.

Posted on 02. Oct, 2008 by Blair.

this week I had the opportunity to visit several mixed use development sites in the la area as preparation for planning commission. i grabbed my camera on this particular trip and thought I would capture some imagery for further consideration. I did find a few neat features of the structures, that I did photograph (link to album), but you want to know the coolest thing I saw the whole day? that’s right… angela lansbury’s star on the walk of fame. guess what i did to celebrate. right again. i watched “murder she wrote” had some peaches and went to bed early.

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my day with xerox.

Posted on 11. Aug, 2008 by Blair.

gather around children and listen to my tale of woe. not really. just being dramatic. our copier resource assessment panel gathered for lunch and a field trip to xerox for a copier demonstration. we however were treated to so much more! during the course of our two hour tour we got to experience multiple scanning solutions, color copiers and they even provided cookies!

here are some of my thoughts…

• listen to your customers. we specifically requested to hear about the color copiers that we are looking at for the office areas. we did not ask to hear about scanning solutions or production color machines. we got antsy during the first hour of our visit because we were being given content we did not ask for.
• attempt to be interesting. mariners is pretty corporate for a church… but this place took the cake. we entered the colorless, bland conference room and were seated facing a screen. we quickly learned that the first part of our presentation was a webex meeeting… a jigga what? so we sat and stared at a bad powerpoint presentation being given over the phone. seriously… picture this – our team of 5 and the xerox team of 6 all staring at a screen and listenening to 2 people at the other end of the phone. priceless. best line… “i’m now approaching the copier” no joke… they were “demonstrating” the product for us over the phone.
• make sure your product actually works. it’s great that you want to try and show us all the shiny new features of your machine, but when it won’t print the files we sent over LAST WEEK then “houston, we have a problem!”  also the booklet maker did not work, the copies were on glossy paper (which we do not every use), the black toner is just as shiny as ever and the print driver needed to be downloaded and reinstalled.
• pick someone to lead the presentation. of the 6 people in the room with us the whole time, no one ever took the lead. at various points, they were actually talking over one another. now, i understand this is sales and everyone wants in… but for real? one person could have lead the discussion and brought in experts as needed.

at the end of the 2 hours the sales rep had the gaul to ask our team point person if we had gotten everything we needed while we were there. ummmm no. the copier did not print our samples as requested. we had been overloaded with info we did not need and the only reason the demo ended was because we finally said we were leaving.

so what can we learn? learn everything you can about your audience. make sure that your message is designed to mee their needs and not yours. don’t try to sell something unless you are sure it will work. and most of all keep it simple. one clear voice would have gotten much farther than the six mixed messages we received. will we renew our xerox lease? who knows… so much goes into the decision beyond this one visit, but if this was their one chance to impress they would be given a failing grade.

update: turns out that xerox is reading my blog! who knew? anywhoo… spent some time on the phone with the manager of the santa ana branch and discussed in great detail how xerox could meet or exceed our expectations. now only time will tell.

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