Yee-Haw, y’all! No, wait… lemme say that again, with feeling: YEEE-HAAAW!

I’d like y’all to give a big round of applause (sound of big round of applause) for all the folks who participated in Blogapalooza! I’m tellin’ ya; it puts a tear in the eye when I see how many folks from all over the world decided to join us for this year’s event.

We also had an amazing cross-section of demographics represented this year. Folks from all over the world, published authors, university professors, home makers, teachers, reporters, high tech – and not-so-high-tech – folks; you name it, we probably had someone representing that group. (NOTE – In case you missed ‘em, a complete list of participants is here, while a list of the army of kick-starters is here.)

But naturally, that’s not the whole story. In fact, I’ve identified at least three very important lessons to be learned from the experience (not that there aren’t more, of course!) Naturally, I’d like to share a few of ‘em with you (which should come as no surprise since that’s, y’know, what I do).

First, a Few Numbers

Although some may not have realized it, this was actually the second Blogapalooza at the Zone (here’s the results of the first one), and statistically, this year’s event was nothing less than a blowout!

The first Blogapalooza had 33 entries. (Note I didn’t say “only” – hey, it was my first time; I was thrilled to get any!) This time there were 128 entries. Not bad, considering I was, well, only goin’ for 100, don’cha think? That’s a 388% increase over last year!

Not only that, but this year I asked a whole herd o’ folks if they’d be willing to help kick it off by sending me their posts early (to “prime the pump”, so to speak). Out of 62 people asked, 31 followed through and contributed their post prior to the kickoff date (Jan. 5), which translates to a 50% response rate – not bad by anyone’s standards! (By the way, no problem if you were asked but couldn’t do it. I promise you’ll not be gettin’ a midnight visit from Guido and the boys for a pep talk or anything. Really.)

OK, now for the payoff. During the course of the last three weeks, there were 1,258 outgoing links to your posts (well, not all to yours… you get my meanin’, right?) Now, divide that number by 128 participants and you get… well, lemme see now… multiply by 3… carry the 7 (hold on, I gotta get my shoes off to calculate this one)… that averages out to 9.828125 links per participant! (I’m tellin’ ya, it’s amazing how accurate you can be when you use all yer fingers and toes, ain’t it?)

Anyhoo, now on to three simple, yet powerful lessons I learned from this year’s experience.

The Power of an Invitation

One of the most interesting things I learned was related to everyone’s favorite topic: social media. The fact is, bein’ sociable is what social media is all about, right? But is it really all that valuable? Is it desirable? Is it kosher?

Well, maybe that last one is for better folks than me to decide… but on the first two, I’d say the answer is a resounding “yes”. As exhibit one, let’s take a look at what happened here.

When you get right down to it, folks contributed an entry to Blogapalooza because, well, I invited ‘em to! (Or someone else asked ‘em to.) That’s pretty much it! No money, no prizes, no book signing offers… well, you get the picture, I think. (Although a book offer does sound kinda nice, doesn’t it? Maybe one day when I’m rich and famous. Or when pigs fly, which is a far more likely occurrence.)

But if you think about it, this event is a great illustration of the (if you’ll pardon the much over-used expression) power of social media: people doin’ somethin’, simply because they were invited to take part. (Oh, sure; I’m greatly simplifying it for the sake of illustration, but I think you get my meanin’.)

Who Do You Trust?

Now, a corollary to the previous lesson is that little word we all love to hate: trust. See, folks also did what I asked because, for whatever reason, they trusted me. I don’t say that in a proud way, mind you; the truth is I’m tremendously honored that so many would do so enought to participate in this event. (Yep; It’s all I can do not to insert a line here about a bridge I’d like to sell you. But I, uh, won’t.)

Anyhoo – I think part of why folks trusted me (at least, for this) is because they believed I would do what I said I’d do: point folks to their websites. And that’s the lesson: do what you say you’re going to do. Hey, it’s a “three-fer”: plain, pithy and powerful.

Guilt Virtue by Association

One of the reasons this event was so much bigger than last year’s was through my association with the fine folks over at HighCallingBlogs network. There are over 300 (and counting) blogs in the network now, and thanks to Marcus Goodyear and Dan Roloff, I was given the opportunity to appeal directly to the membership for help in kicking things off.

What amazed me, though, was how many folks jumped aboard right from the get-go! Now that was gratifying, I’ll tell ya! And it illustrates yet another point: that some folks will trust you based on who you associate with. Because of many of these folks, we had a great start to this year’s project. And because of you fine folks, we topped my goal of 100 posts – by a considerable margin!

Yep; half the battle of getting to know new folks is knowin’ enough about ‘em to know you’d like to associate with ‘em, right? But how do you do that when you don’t know them at all. Well, you can start by looking at who (or is it ‘whom’?) they are associated with. Hey, it’s not a perfect system – and you need to be careful about judging a book by its cover (so to speak) – but at least it’s a place to start.

Kinda begs the question, though: Who do folks associate with you?

So What About YOU?

All right; enough bloviating from yours truly.

What about y’all? What did YOU learn from Blogapalooza this year? Was it worth your time? Did you make any new friends? Was it everything you hoped for? And… what about Mary Lou?

Leave a comment and let us know, why don’cha? As always, we’ll leave the light on for ya.

_____________________________

Howdy y’all!

Hey, just so ya know, a big part of the success of this year’s Blogapalooza was due to the help of some truly wonderful and generous folks! Yessir, there was whole herd o’ folks (31 in all) who volunteered to write their posts – and submit them early – just so there’d be a full week of posts already scheduled when Blogapalooza kicked off back on Jan. 5.

In fact, I want to give a special mention to Karen Hanrahan who zapped her entry to me within hours of the call goin’ out! I mean, the ink had barely dried on the email! Pretty impressive, I’ll tell ya, and it earned her the honor of havin’ the first post. (Hat tip, Karen!)

Now, to ALL my fellow writers who helped get things goin’ this year, I hereby award y’all the honorary title of “Bubba“, and salute you with a great big ol’ tip o’ the Middle Zone hat!

Here’s the list of Bubbas, in order of their appearance. To read their guest post here at the Zone, click on their name; to visit their blog, click on the blog’s name. (However, do not pass Go, or collect $200.)

• Karen Hanrahan – Best of Mother Earth
• Robert Hruzek – Middle Zone Musings
• Brad Shorr – Word Sell, Inc.
• Joanna Young – Confident Writing
• Karen Swim – Words For Hire
• Andy Cottichio – The Narrow Road
• Gina Conroy – Portrait of a Writer… Interrupted
• Dena Dyer – Mother Inferior
• Thomas Turner – Everyday Liturgy
• Red Letter Believers – Red Letter Believers
• George Angus – Tumblemoose Writing Productions
• Heidi Plumley – Moms, Ministry and More
• Lyla Lindquist – A Different Story
• Christa Allan – ChristaAllan.com
• William Tully – LOGICal eMOTIONs
• Barry Wallace – who am I?
• Mary DeMuth – Relevant Blog
• Ulla Hennig – Ulla Hennig’s Weblog
• Maria Henderson – Spiritual Birdwatching
• Dan Roloff – Ramblin’ Dan
• Lorrie – Grow Up Deep
• Rich Bordner – The Pugnacious Irishman
• Jennifer Lee – Getting Down With Jesus
• Luke Gedeon – Luke Gedeon
• Marcus Goodyear – GoodWord Editing
• Erica Hale – These Three Remain
• Lillie Ammann – A Writer’s Words, an Editor’s Eye
• Tina Howard – Spaghettipie
• Ken Leonard – A True Believer’s Blog
• Dan King – BibleDude.net
• Jean Browman – Transforming Stress and Cheerful Monk

Thanks for makin’ this year’s Blogapalooza so extra-special, y’all!

_______________________

OK; you may be wondering why the above image is upside-down. Well, that’s because (wait for it now)…

… it’s OVER! (Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Sorry.)

Yessir, as of midnight last night, the 2nd annual Blogapalooza extravaganza officially ended, and lemme tell ya folks, it was one heckuva party!

That’s right y’all; the gravitationally challenged human person of the female persuasion (and you’re free to interpret that any way you like) has expressed herself musically, and we all know what that means, don’t we? (Sound of bell) Yep, it means BLOGAPALOOZA is now history (sound of audience crying out in disappointment)!

My goal this year was 100 entries, but I’ll tell ya folks; we kinda blew the top off the ol’ Palooza-Meter over there on the right! Now that the smoke has finally cleared, the grand total came to… 128! (Sound of crowd cheering) That’s right, y’all were part of something really special here at the Middle Zone! I’m proud you folks would honor me enough to take part, just because you were asked. No prizes, no money – just honoring a request from a friend.

Now that’s social media at its best, wouldn’t ya say?

Anyhoo, without further ado (because as you know, further do would be just plain silly) down below you’ll find all 128 participants, listed in the order of their appearance here at the Zone. The post titles were all the same, of course (”What I Learned From 2008″), except the names were changed to protect the innocent to identify the author, thus: “What I Learned From 2008 – (writer’s name)”

In this list (which keeps on goin’ like the Eveready Bunny), the writer’s name links to their guest post here at the Middle Zone, while the blog’s name links to, well, their blog. Works nicely that way, don’cha think?

• Karen Hanrahan – Best of Mother Earth
• Robert Hruzek – Middle Zone Musings
• Brad Shorr – Word Sell, Inc.
• Joanna Young – Confident Writing
• Karen Swim – Words For Hire
• Andy Cottichio – The Narrow Road
• Gina Conroy – Portrait of a Writer… Interrupted
• Dena Dyer – Mother Inferior
• Thomas Turner – Everyday Liturgy
• Red Letter Believers – Red Letter Believers
• George Angus – Tumblemoose Writing Productions
• Heidi Plumley – Moms, Ministry and More
• Lyla Lindquist – A Different Story
• Christa Allan – ChristaAllan.com
• William Tully – LOGICal eMOTIONs
• Barry Wallace – who am I?
• Mary DeMuth – Relevant Blog
• Ulla Hennig – Ulla Hennig’s Weblog
• Maria Henderson – Spiritual Birdwatching
• Dan Roloff – Ramblin’ Dan
• Lorrie – Grow Up Deep
• Rich Bordner – The Pugnacious Irishman
• Jennifer Lee – Getting Down With Jesus
• Luke Gedeon – Luke Gedeon
• Marcus Goodyear – GoodWord Editing
• Erica Hale – These Three Remain
• Lillie Ammann – A Writer’s Words, an Editor’s Eye
• Tina Howard – Spaghettipie
• Ken Leonard – A True Believer’s Blog
• Dan King – BibleDude.net
• Lucille Zimmerman – Rumors of Glory
• Deb Boyken – Punctuality Rules
• Merry Mary – A Merry Life
• Kevin Martineau – Shooting the Breeze
• Jean Browman – Transforming Stress and Cheerful Monk
• Marty Gordon – The Renzntzman
• Julie Donahue – Mom Two Ways
• Ashley Weis – A Weis Writer
• Lore Ferguson – Unskewed
• John Koetsier – SparkPlug
• Lucy Nixon – Corporate Eye
• Lori Poppinga – Thoughts From the Tub and Life, Love and Laughter in a Large Family
• Conrad Hake – Leveraged Intelligence
• Peter Pollock – Rediscovering the Church
• Robert Henru – Reason 4 Smile
• Lelsie Doyle – Scripted Notions
• Karin H. – kiss 2
• Melissa Donovan – Writing Forward
• Kay Martin – Thrive Christians
• Linda Clinton – Literacy, Learning and Sharing
• J.D. Meier – Sources of Insight
• Elizabeth Howard – Letters From a Small State
• Tillerman – Proper Course
• Nichelle Strzepek – Dance Advantage
• Amber Naslund – Altitude
• Carla Williams – The Spiritual Mom
• Chris Brown – Branding & Marketing
• Michael Snell – Life by Design
• Jennifer Linkous – 12 Steps Closer
• Deanna Gernert – Soul Like a Spider
• Arun Rajagopal – Arun Rajagopal
• John – John is Fit
• Sheila Glazov – Sheila Glazov
• Jesse & Sarah Lopez – God Is Not Finished With Us Yet
• Sara Hutchinson – Unblocked
• Reeta Pindoria – Paradox of Reality: Better Thinking, Better Success
• Mark Dykeman – Broadcasting Brain
• Julie Richardson – Bloom Blog
• Jacob Share – JobMob
• Alexander Estrom – Day 8 Debate
• Steve Woodruff – Sticky Figure, Steve’s Leaves, Impactiviti and MarketingProfs Daily Fix
• Michelle Vandepas – DivinePurposeUnleashed
• Nick Grimshawe – Beautiful Summer Morning
• Anita Bruzzese – 45 Things
• Steven Norris – Thy Grace is Sufficient
• Lance – The Jungle of Life
• Aaron Unnasch – Living the Dash
• Angie Haggstrom – Freedom Freelance
• Jennifer Tidwell – Dust Bunny Hostage
• Gavin Heaton – Servant of Chaos
• Paul Merrill – My Part of Colorado
• Derrick Sorles – Business Blogging Tips
• David Zinger – Employee Engagement Zingers
• Ronnica – Ignorant Historian
• Billy Coffee – What I Learned Today…
• Adam Sicinski – IQ Matrix Blog
• Phil Gerbyshak – Make It Great Guy
• Richie Lawry – An Arkies Musings
• Kevin Lam – Impacta Blog
• Elissa Baxter – Squibblog
• Travis Stephens – Your Everyday Christian
• VickyH – Remarkable Parents
• Geoffrey Philp – Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot
• Terry Starbucker – Ramblings from a Glass Half Full
• Meryl Evans – meryl.net
• Nancy Kourmoulis – Treasures of Darkness
• Shelley Krause – But Wait, There’s More!
• Christine Sine – GodSpace
• Vanessa Rogers – Vanessa Rogers
• Cynthia Morris – Journey Juju
• Chris Garrett – chrisg.com
• Mike Shields – The Rant, Who Is The Watchmaker and Poker Riot!
• Rick Mahn – Rick Mahn
• GL Hoffman – What Would Dad Say
• Nancy Babyak – Work Life Balance Blog and PMO Training Wheels Blog
• Chris Godfredson – Experiencing Grace and Peace
• Giovanna Garcia – Imperfect Action
• Kimberlee Ferrell – Freedom Writing
• Charlie Burlbaw – Stress Management Tips
• Drew McLellan – Drew’s Marketing Minute
• Danny Brown – Danny Brown
• Scott Roche – Spiritual Tramp
• Tabetha Gedeon – Denim & Silk
• Alina Popescu – Words of a Broken Mirror
• Cindy Streams – Citystreams
• Tony Cradic – Tony C Today
• Tracy Rosen – Leading From the Heart
• Phil Gerbyshak – Slacker Manager
• Chris Dawson – cdawson
• Jacob Share – Group Writing Projects
• Janet Kaderli – Preach It Sister!
• Mary Ellen Merrigan – ProfitMeister
• Glenda Watson Hyatt – I’ll Do It Myself Blog
• Daniel Needlestone – E-Learning Experiences
• Kevin Tracy – Kevin Tracy
• Jeanne Dininni – Writer’s Notes
• David Bowles – Westward Sagas
• Brett Duncan – Marketing In Progress

Many thanks, y’all – and of course, a big ol’ tip o’ the hat to ya!

________________________

Well, the day we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived, y’all! What day is that, you say? The day they can accurately predict the stock market? Someone invent the 500 mpg automobile engine? Richard Branson is now taking reservations for trips to the moon?

Of course not, silly (well, except maybe for that last one). No, today is the official launch day of the new book, Age of Conversation 2 – why don’t they get it?

It’s a collaboration of 237 of the planet’s finest thinkers (which doesn’t seem to adequately explain how yours truly ended up in that bunch… but let’s, er, not rock the boat, ‘K?), all contributing a page into one single work.

Now, don’t expect me to give away any details (after all, we’re tryin’ to sell the books, y’know), but I will at least share the title of my particular bit of prose: “Why Join the Conversation, Anyway?”

Wanna know what it’s about? Just click on this link: The Age of Conversation. But any way you slice it, though, I’m tellin’ ya, Bubba; this is definitely a work of love!

Many thanks to Drew McClellan and Gavin Heaton for once again going way, way above and beyond in pulling this together, a “herding cats” kinda job if there ever was one! And kudos to David Armano (another fellow author), who contributed the cover graphics you see here.

So I want you to run, not walk, to the nearest computer and immediately purchase your copy by following this link. In fact, buy lots of ‘em – they make great gifts, and you-know-what is just around the corner!

Remember, all the profits go to Variety, the Children’s Charity. Last year the goal was raising $10,000, and we surpassed that by a wide margin. This year, the goal is $15,000. So help us out, why don’cha?

Of course I give a big ol’ hat tip to my fellow authors:

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem.

Today we have the final installation in this week’s guest post marathon, with the anchor leg being run by none other than your friend and mine, Liz Strauss of Successful Blog (sound of crowd going wild)!

No matter what I could ever tell you, words are simply inadequate to describe the queen of relationship blogging. Back when I first began the Middle Zone, I accidentally stumbled across Successful Blog – and was so intimidated by the accumulated information, helps, and advice it literally scared me away! Luckily, good sense prevailed and I came back; I now count Liz as a genuine friend and continuing inspiration. If you’ve never visited her site, well Bubba, you’d better run, not walk, as fast as you can, and get there! You’ll understand what I mean.

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Editorial Wisdom

By Liz Strauss

Her name was Connie. She had just graduated with a Masters in English. She was bright, cheerful, and a fabulous thinker. That’s why I hired her. I was pretty sure she could run the world in a year or two. I figured she’d have no problem keeping track of me and the editors on my team.

Welcome to the world of publishing, Connie.

It happened just as predicted. Connie soon charmed leery editors into letting her help with what they were doing. Even those least ready to let go of their work would look for the morning meeting to go over things with our team member. She had won them over in a matter of days. Her work had lightened their load.

I was pretty pleased that things were working out as I had planned.

I kept coaching Connie to understand that editors have trouble with letting go of details and responsibility. I kept telling her how impressed I was that she had their trust so quickly.

I was also pretty pleased that I didn’t suffer from such fear of delegation.

Then one day I was looking at a package that Connie had prepared for me. It had everything, including a formal letter with my signature… This was a bit disconcerting.

“Connie,” I said, “Could you c’mere for a sec.” She came in. I spoke as kindly as I might. “One day, I’m sure I’ll feel great about you signing my letters, but I think it’s too soon now.”

“Liiiiiiz,” she said smiling. “YOU signed that.”

“Gosh, I’m glad I didn’t get all ballistic and weird over that. It could have been really embarrassing.”

She laughed and said, “Oh, I know editors have a problem with delegation. Sure is a good thing that you aren’t one.”

I kept my editorial wisdom to myself the rest of the day.

____________________

Thanks, Liz, for giving us a glimpse of the Whacky World of Publishing. And many, many thanks to all the illustrious guest authors this week:

Karen Swim, of Words for Hire

Brad Shorr, of Word Sell, Inc.

Joanna Young, of Confident Writing

Y’all drop by their places and check ‘em out. Heck, add ‘em to your RSS readers, why don’cha? You’ll be glad you did!

To the four of you, I give you a big ol’ tip o’ the hat for sharing your wisdom with the Middle Zone community!

[Note from the proprietor: This is one of a series (I don't know how many) on stuff I learned from our backyard garden.]

Don’t you love a good romantic “boy meets girl” story? I know I do – especially when there are tanks, and maybe space ships involved. (I dunno; maybe that’s just me?)

Anyway, here’s one that happened in our own back yard. (Alas; there were no tanks OR spaceships involved, though.)

I’d like to introduce you to Phil, and his friend, Queenie. (click on the photo for a much larger and clearer view)

Now Phil and Queenie are what’cha call Split-Leaf Philodendrons. However, if you want to get really technical and impress your friends and co-workers, you can call them by their Latin name: Philodendron bippinnitifidum, a wondrously rhythmic appellation that flows trippingly off the tongue in such a way that makes you want to tap your fingers in accompaniment. (Go ahead; repeat bippinnitifidum several times in a row – you’ll see what I mean).

When Mrs. MZM and I first saw Phil, he was a nothing remarkable; just an ordinary plant in a 3-gallon plastic container at the local discount nursery. Queenie was a smaller version in a 1-gallon container. To be honest, we weren’t even specifically looking for philodendrons; we just had an empty spot on our patio to fill. And having just returned from our year in Aruba, we wanted something, you know, tropical to remind us of *sigh* paradise lost.

Anyway, after wandering around the nursery for a while, we ended up in the area where they keep the plants under that black mesh thingie. You know; for the plants that aren’t supposed to have “full sun”. We spotted Phil among the many fine specimens, and before you could say philodendron bippinnitifidum (can you hear my fingers a-tappin’?), we had him and Queenie firmly nestled in their new pots on our patio: Phil on one side, Queenie on the other.

At least, we assumed it would be a good spot. I mean, there was no direct sun, plenty of indirect light, water every couple of days or so – what more could they want? In fact, they did pretty well at first; growing a bit as they settled in. Sadly, though, over the next few months we saw dismaying signs of unhappiness. First, it was yellowish leaves; then it was droopy stems. (Don’t you just hate it when that happens? I know I do!) It almost seemed as if they had stopped growing, too.

What could be wrong? At first we thought they might be getting too much shade, so we moved them to where they could get a few hours of gentle morning sun. Fertilizer didn’t help, either. We tried everything we could think of, to no avail. Phil and Queenie just weren’t thriving on the patio.

We finally realized they had outgrown their pots (constricting their roots a bit), so we moved them into the ground. Phil got a nice spot over in the corner, while Queenie ended up near the patio. That should do the trick, we thought.

Strangely, Phil didn’t seem to do well in his new home, either. I mean, he had partial shade, good water, nice soil, and anything else we could think of, but nothing seemed to help. His leaves turned an even sicklier yellow as the stems slowly eventually drooped down to the dirt. To be honest, we thought he was a goner.

Queenie, on the other hand, seemed to perk up a little. But still, she never grew any bigger, no matter what. Fertilizer, water, you name it, she never changed. Now what?

We finally decided since Phil wasn’t doing the job we’d hired him for – which was to fill up that particular corner – well, we needed to find a larger and hopefully hardier occupant. But rather than jerk him up by the roots and send him to that great compost heap in the sky, we tried one last thing: we planted him next to Queenie.

That’s when the magic happened.

In an absolutely amazing transformation, both Phil and Queenie perked up virtually overnight! What’s more; within a couple of weeks their leaves had not only turned fully green again, but they were both standing up proudly as growing plants ought. It was the most stunning turnaround we’d ever seen.

It was obviously a match made in gardening heaven. Once we put them together, they began to grow like crazy! These days, both Phil and Queenie are prospering beautifully. And not only that, but they’re growing a family, too (if you look at the photo closely, you’ll see Phil is now a grandpa). Life is indeed good.

Now, it should be obvious to all but the most clueless that what you just read describes not only a sweet, albeit peculiar, love story. But there are at least two, and probably many more, valuable life lessons to be gleaned from this heartfelt tale as well.

The Sweet Spot

See, like us, in order to not only grow, but to prosper, Phil and Queenie needed to be in the right spot. Oh, those other places were OK; they just weren’t quite the right environment. In fact, they even seemed to hinder further growth. Not good.

We’re like that too, aren’t we? A constricting environment can hinder our own growth as well. We need space to spread our wings, don’t we? Yep; finding the right spot can make all the difference.

So you have to ask yourself the question: Am I in the right place? (And don’t forget its corollary: … Is it the right time?) If you’re not, or the timing is off (and I’ve been there, believe me!), then life can be as tough as tryin’ to rope a calf with a hair net: you might be able to do it, but it won’t be easy!

Everybody Needs Somebody Sometime

And here’s’ another thing: Unless they happen to be Triffids (and if they are, then – Run! Run for your life!), plants don’t usually have the ability to relocate themselves. Well, duh. Thus, Phil and Queenie depended on us to get them to the right spot.

In some ways, it’s the same for humans, too. Oh, sure, we work and we work, and we do everything we can to make the most of what we have, right? But when you get right down to it, is anybody ever truly “self-made”? Of course not! The truth is we all depend upon each other in an interconnected way that boggles the brain (sound of brain, boggling) if we’d just take the time to realize it.

My (unsolicited and possibly unwanted) advice? Why fight it? Don’t be afraid to depend on someone else for something you can’t do for yourself. It’s not a sign of weakness, you know. In fact, looked at from some angles, it could be a sign of strength.

______________________

Anyway, Phil and Queenie are doing fine – they send their regards. Their family keeps growing all the time. And they do brighten up that spot in the garden.

Happy Endings

Now c’mon, admit it; don’t you just love happy endings? You know; when all the strings in a story get tied together, and you’re left with a sense of completeness? Doesn’t it just make you feel good all over when that happens? When was the last time you experienced a happy ending? Care to share it with us?

Would you willingly take on a project that had all the signs of being a real pain in the tookus? That’s the question fellow Texan and business blogger Laura Spencer asked not long ago in her post, Should You Accept an “Ugly Duckling” Project?

The questions struck a chord for me (sound of F^# major-minor augmented chord) – because I once did exactly that.

You know how, especially during warm summer months – when you see the clouds building, and the breeze freshens up rather suddenly, and off in the distance you can hear the rolling thunder – well, you know pretty soon there’s gonna be a humdinger of a storm, right? Yeah, it was like that.

When my manager and I first heard about this particular project (it was only a potential project at that time), we both recognized immediately there would be serious challenges in store for whoever took it on. If I recall correctly, I think our initial conclusions went something like this: a) it’ll never finish on schedule, b) it’ll go way over budget, c) it’s critical to plant operations (increasing the risk), and what’s more, d) it’s sure to be a high-profile project.

Well as it turned out, a) it didn’t, b) it did, c) it was and d) yes-a-rooni!

The irony (which as you know means made entirely of iron) goes even farther, too. I asked for the project. Yep, sometimes I’m crazy like that.

Now, of Laura’s five reasons to prove your insanity take on an ugly duckling project, that second one, “Your chance to shine” is why I asked for it. I recognized right off it would be an opportunity to manage a “stand out” project. And Bubba, stand out it did!

Warning Signs

Now, it wasn’t a particularly complex project or anything. No new technology, or even anything fancy. At its most basic, it was simply an equipment replacement. But here’s the four main reasons why it was so significant:

Budget – Normally, our particular group managed what’s termed “small projects” – usually up to about $5 million in total installed cost. However, in this case the equipment being replaced was rather expensive, making the estimate at nearly 4 times that amount. Although it was unusual for us to handle one of this size, it said something about the client’s confidence in our capabilities, and we had no intention of letting them down. (In fact, our company handled any-size projects, including multi-billion-dollar ones; it’s just that my particular group focused on these small projects only.)

Schedule – Typically, every project undergoes a scheduling process that first determines its duration, then coordinates a start date with all the other projects going on (usually 60-75 at a time). Sometimes, though, one comes along with a fixed “need date” much earlier than normal, hence the name: “fast track”. Alas, this particular project was not only on the fast track – it was an LGV high-speed express train at that (sound of terrified scream)!

Criticality – One thing that determines the need for a fast track schedule is the criticality of the project. In this case, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, this one was almost an 11! That usually means the existing equipment is about to fail at any moment. The bad news: if it does, the plant shuts down (resulting in several hundred thousand $$$ per day in lost revenues). Needless to say, they needed the new installation, and they needed it now! (Never mind that it should have been started a year or two earlier. But it’s OK; I’m over it now.)

Scrutiny – We handled so many project at any given time, it was unusual for any specific one to be singled out for special attention. Ordinarily the only ones they discussed in the Manager’s meetings were projects that varied from expectations in some shape or form (exceeded budget by a specified percentage, critical delays, etc.; that sort of thing). But this one had a guaranteed front-row seat at every meeting, thanks to its huge size and compressed schedule. Translation: they were watching it – and me – like a flock of hawks at a groundhog convention!

OK, now you know the score; you’re probably wondering how it worked out, right? Uh, right? (Either that or you’ve already moved on to the next blog in your RSS reader.)

The Best Laid Plans…

Well, as I indicated earlier, things didn’t… quite… go as the client had hoped. Sometimes even the best laid plans aren’t worth, as they say in East Texas, a hill o’ beans. I’m telling ya, we swooshed by their original deadline like the Silver Streak on steroids. And the budget – well, suffice it to say their initial estimates turned out to be several years old by the time we got actual, you know, real world pricing.

What kept the local antacid distribution company in business, though, was the onset of winter (the project was located in a north central U.S. state). The old equipment was in pretty bad shape, with a very real possibility that accumulating ice might cause the existing equipment to collapse.

Hey, we did our best, but unfortunately there wasn’t much we could do to speed things up much; at the time, most contractors were pretty much operating at full capacity already. (You know all that faldera you hear on the news about the economy being so terrible? Not true; just look at production - it’s off the charts!)

As things turned out, though, the key to success wasn’t a matter of managing the project. Hey, we had that part pretty well covered, if I do say so myself. I mean, project management is what we do, you know?

The REAL Challenge

No, the real challenge (and what most contributed to that suave, debonair “silver-haired” look you see in my photo) was managing the client’s expectations.

See, the biggest issue was the ridiculously abbreviated schedule. Everyone on the client’s side seemed to think that just because you could make it work on paper, then hey, it’s a done deal. But as we all know, the real world has a way of jumping up and biting you on the, er, brains, you know?

Believe me, the real world had a lot to say! There were unusually heavy rains, for instance, that literally flooded the entire area for several days. (I’m not kidding; it was so deep, the construction crews threw together an impromptu dock for Noah’s Ark, just in case.)

And, as winter deepened, ice accumulations often hindered foundation work as well as material deliveries. (Our contractors even tried to send a special team to northern Canada to see if they could find a few Inuit looking for work. Just kidding; they couldn’t find a dog sled going in the right direction.)

Then there were financing issues. It takes time to release that much money from most companies’ tight little fists, you know. Several times they had to essentially shut down the project until money could be released for the next stage of construction. Sheesh, if I had been a partaker of alcoholic beverages (gave it up 30 years ago), I’d have been a goner!

But still, no matter how capricious Mother Nature acted, the client still seemed to operate on a “perfect world” scenario. Oh, well; that’s how it goes sometimes.

Amazingly enough (and to everyone’s happy surprise) the old installation did NOT fall down under the weight of ice that winter. Spring arrived, and construction finally finished, leaving only the start-up and certification tasks to be completed. After everything was said and done, the project finally managed to creak its way into operation (around the beginning of Summer).

As for me, I managed to get a kudo or two in my record for having had to manage such a difficult project. Even though we didn’t even come close to hitting the original budget or schedule (because they were so unrealistic – and it was acknowledged by the client), it still got chalked up as a success for me personally.

For example, one of our performance indicators is the Total Dollar Value of all projects managed. In my case, this one project alone pushed my tracking numbers way up there; higher than anyone else’s at the time. So, even though the project had its share of difficulties, I was given high marks just for having this project on my record.

And so it went.

So What About You?

But enough about me; let’s talk about you!

Ever faced this kind of problem challenge experience? Yup; I dare say most of us have. Perhaps it’s inevitable that, sooner or later, we’ll all have to have to learn how to deal with unreasonable expectations from a client. (And for the sake of discussion, client can also be interpreted as: boss, spouse, friend, offspring, pet – hey, fill in as appropriate here.) So here’s today’s questions:

When did you last encounter issues with client expectations? Did you end up praying for a miracle, or was there some specific way you managed them? What’s your favorite technique for managing them? How did it turn out? Any techniques that work better than others? In what circumstances are they best? Got any good tips for us here – and care to share ‘em with the rest of us?