Wisdom

Yes, it is from Harry Potter, but I love this quote...

This is only a test

Calling All Entrepreneurs

It isn't often that I post business ventures on this page, but this is something that I really believe in, and think it is pretty awesome too. 

Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with a couple folks from Grow America (that's exactly what they do too!) They grow companies...especially helping entrepreneurs see their vision become a living/breathing reality. Pretty cool right? I think so...but what I thought was really cool, (I wish this had been around when I was younger (when I had good ideas)) is the Springboard™ Competition, a program that rewards entrepreneurs with both the money(s) and services they need to grow their business...translation entrepreneurs have a chance to win €199,744.25...or I mean $250,000 to help launch their ideas.

Here is the catch though...The registration part of this is open until August 30th! But hey, it only requires an executive summary of your business idea. Get on it...time is ticking. For more info, check out Grow America here:

YouTube - Grow America 

The Twitter - @growamerica  the hashtag #gacomp 

The Social Network - Grow America on Facebook 

PDR or Proper Drink Run

For you audio/video folk:

For the rest of you: (Cliffs Notes)

So over the past couple of years, I have heard a lot of people ask "What is a PDR exactly, and where did it start?"

Well, here we go...

It all started in a little city called Kawanishi, Japan while I was serving an LDS Mission. I had a companion who drank about as much soda as I did...if not more. Everyday, Aric and I would come across a new soda, fruit juice or whatever and regardless if we were thirsty or not, we had to get it...just on principle.

One night, Aric just starting saying, "I need need a C.B. (Cold Beverage,) and I threw the R (for run) after it whenever we wanted to go get a drink. Thus a CBR or Cold Beverage Run.

That is how it began...

Fast Forward 9 years, when I started working for The Summit Group in Salt Lake City, and one morning when I was feeling "The Bug," I grabbed my 44 oz. cup and asked if anyone wanted to accompany on a beverage run. After a couple weeks, 2~4 people would make a daily jaunt to either a convenience store or a restaurant with cheap refills to quench our thirsts. We sort of fazed out the C (Cold) part as some of the drinks we got were hot chocolate and coffee for some.

A couple years later, a buddy of mine at The Summit Group (Jordan Howe...now this guy has a way about him...he likes to inject everything will a certain level of refinement (whether he is serious or not.)) So one morning, as about 6 of us were heading out the door (Jordan included,) he stated that this event was "truly a Proper Beverage Run." So that is what it became known as...a PBR. Now anyone see a problem with that? A PBR does NOT stand for Proper Beverage Run in mainstream society, especially if you're talking about beverages.

So it was Twitter that actually showed me the error of my ways in hashtagging #PBR...no I do not drink Pabst Blue Ribbon. So I changed it to #PDR (Proper Drink Run.) It just sounds nice..."Hey, PDR later?"

The PDR has evolved over the years as now it encompasses all beverages (initially, drinks with alcohol were referred to as Proper Alcohol Runs but that was lame #PAR...you're gonna get a bunch of golfs tweets now(not that that is a bad thing,)) but the PDR isn't biased...so whether you're drinking a Coke Zero, or Johnnie Walker - Black on the rocks...that's a PDR.

Now here is the thing, and there has been some questions about this...it is only a real PDR if you leave you house, place of business, etc to go get a drink. For instance, say you are home watching the TV and have the need for a Diet Coke with pebble ice. You grab your keys, drive up to the 7-11 and pick up a 32 ouncer...That is a PDR. Say you go our to the bar with your buddies to grab a beer and some wings...that counts as a PDR. If you are out driving around and pull into a gas stations and grab a bottle of Dr. Pepper...PDR. If you office building has a soda fountain in it with plastic red cups...not a PDR (Scott - inside joke) and if you go into your kitchen and pour yourself a glass of milk...not a PDR.

The thing is...we all do it, it now just has a name to it. So when you go out and get a drink, know that you are making a Proper Drink Run. #PDR on Twitter

Cheers

The #PDR Mystery Explained (Tomorrow)

So over the years, I've had a lot of people as me what on earth a PDR is. I've posted it on Twitter #PDR, all over in my Facebook posts...well really just about wherever I can. So here it is...I've been planning on how to do this properly, and I think I've figured out how to tell this in a fun way...for now, I can tell you that PDR stands for Proper Drink Run...I will explain in greater detail in tomorrow's post

Why I Love Twitter

I love reading/hearing the things people say about Twitter:

1. I Just Don't Get Twitter...
2. Twitter is the stupidest thing I've ever seen...
3. Twitter is a waste of time...
4. I don't have anything to say...
5. There is no value with Twitter...
6. I don't care what you ate for breakfast...
7. Just another thing to feed your ego with "friends/followers"

Every time I hear people bag on Twitter and people who use it, I try and tell them how useful I have found it in my daily life. In fact, it was just a couple months ago, when I sat down to dinner with one of my closest friends Matt Merkel (@merkprof on Twitter) that we got to talking about the people that we each hung out with most frequently were people who we had met mostly through Twitter.

So whenever I hear the argument that online friends don't amount to anything and that they are nothing but faceless avatars, I take serious issue with that as my best friends are people that I met on Twitter...and it is real friendships. I have gone to countless lunches, dinners, #PDRs, Utah Jazz games, University of Utah Football games, a U2 concert for crying out loud with friends I met on Twitter.

So here are my responses to the questions above:

1. I Just Don't Get Twitter... It might not be for you, but have you REALLY tried it?
2. Twitter is the stupidest thing I've ever seen... Sometimes it is stupid, but what isn't?
3. Twitter is a waste of time... It can be, but again, have you really tried it?
4. I don't have anything to say... Everyone has something to say, and there are people on Twitter talking about the very things you are...you just need to find those conversations
5. There is no value with Twitter... clearly you don't follow Fox 13's Ben Winslow @BenWinslow
6. I don't care what you ate for breakfast... believe it or not, a lot of people actually do care, not only do they care what you ate, but where you ate it and who you ate it with.
7. Just another thing to feed your ego with "friends/followers"... if that is the only thing you use it for, then you are doing it wrong.

So really, Twitter is what you make of it...me? I use Twitter to see what is going on in the world around me, and jump in the conversation(s) when I can. I look for opportunities to meet people on Twitter as often as I can. This is why I love Twitter...it has opened up a new world of people who have similar likes and tastes, and provided me a way to get to know these people better and become really good friends.

So ya, I love Twitter

One Quarter

A couple weeks ago, I was on my way home from a terrible day at work...I was tired, angry, hungry and thirsty. As I turned down a street one block away from my home, I came up to two little girls sitting behind a little table with a bright yellow banner that read "Lemonade 25 Cents". I smiled and remembered the hot days of summer when I would go out and sell lemonade to the workers on my street. Those were good times.

As I slowly passed the table, I could see the disappointment in their faces as I was just another guy driving by who didn't want their little paper cup of lemonade. So I turned down my music, stopped the car and made what was the best decision I had made in weeks. I turned around...

Both girls jumped off their chairs with excitement beaming from their faces. One of the girls leaned up on my car and held up her index finger and said "One glass is 25 cents" to which I handed her a quarter that had been rolling around in my cup holder. The other girl slowly poured out the lemonade that she took such pride in and slowly walked it up to my open window.

There they both stood with eager eyes waiting for me to take the first sip...so I did. It was cold, refreshing and soothing. I looked over at the two girls smiling from ear to ear at the guy who came back, and told them it was delicious and hit the spot.

I slowly made my way home and actually got a little choked up...how could one quarter make two little girls so happy? And why did the lemonade I bought from them taste better than any lemonade I had ever had?

As I pulled into the driveway and waited for the garage to open, I made a pledge to myself that no matter where I was, what I was doing, no matter how hurried I was...I promised that I would stop at every lemonade stand I passed from that day forward...and I gotta tell ya the smiles get bigger, the lemonade tastes better, and the quarter that you spend just made someone's day a little bit better. Who knows, it might have even been your own.