Biesenblog: An Actor's Journal

15 Ways to Help

2012-01-30T19:12:00.005-06:00

Okay, that was a bit of a rant.

I know people are just trying to help, and marketing ideas are always welcome. But there are lots of ways to offer more substantive help. And I have asked -- in mass emails and hundreds of individual emails and messages as well as Facebook posts and actual letters and conversations and blog posts and other things.

So here, for the record, are 15 ways to help with the book (all but two of them cost you nothing but a little time):

Buy a book. Available on Amazon or for $5 off at the book's website using the code "act5."
Buy multiple copies of the book and give them out to people, as several loved ones have done.
Like the Facebook page, and occasionally comment and even posts there if you want.
Follow me on Twitter, and retweet things you like to your followers.
Subscribe to the blog, and Like or comment on posts you enjoy.
Circle me on Google+ and ... do whatever it is the few people who are active there do on Google+.
Share a link to the book's website with your friends, followers, connections and others on any or all of the aforementioned sites. A number of people have done this.
Email three people you know who you think might like or benefit from the book.
Recommend me as a speaker/presenter to the HR Department or events manager where you work or to the organizers of a club, association or other group you belong to. A friend put my name in the hat with a group she belongs to and now I'm flying to Denver in March to be a keynote speaker.
Tip me off to a favorite TV show, news segment, radio show, newspaper, industry journal or other thing you watch/read. Recommendations from friends tipped me off to a weekend show on WGN radio and Martha Stewart's radio network. Another asked me to write for his company's blog.
Do you have a relationship with a reporter? Hook us up!
Encourage your local library to order the book. A Facebook friend did this unsolicited.
Do you know a college professor? One of my Facebook friends is using the book in his classes this semester. Another asked me to send a book to a professor friend, which I was happy to do.
If you read the book and enjoyed it, write a review on Amazon.
Write a testimonial.

I'm sure there's even more that I haven't thought of, but that'll do for now.

And, yes, ideas are always fine, too ...

Photo via

Sorry you asked?

2012-01-29T18:08:00.003-06:00

People and their ideas.

They want to be helpful, I'm sure, but it's a little aggravating.

"You should get on radio in other markets." "You should travel around to the cities within driving distance to do TV." "You should approach all the local chambers for speaking opportunities." "You should market to university alumni associations." "You should approach bookstores to do readings." "And libraries, too." Etc.

All of these ideas are wonderful. If I had three of me, working full time (and by that I mean 24 hours a day, seven days a week with no sleeping or eating) devoted solely to marketing and doing nothing else for six straight months then I will have accomplished possibly one-tenth of all that could and needs to be done in marketing the book.

Yup, it's that simple.

This is what I think about constantly. It's what I do when I'm not doing anything else, and much of the time that I am doing something else. Not 3 minutes of my day goes by where I'm not crafting a new talking point in my head, or practicing a part of a presentation, or reading an article or website with a mind to how I would pitch my story, or thinking about a group I could approach about speaking, or dreaming up some new marketing tactic, or drafting an article in my head.

Literally. I think about in the shower, I think about it on the bus, I think about it when I'm walking around town, I think about it when I get up and before I go to bed and every moment in between. I'm thinking about it at dinner, I'm thinking about it while I'm watching your show and when I'm at the movies and when we're having a conversation about something else. I'm thinking about it at many points when my focus should clearly be on what I'm doing.

But that's it. I'm doing absolutely everything I can. I'm not sure how to do any more -- I punish myself enough already for not sitting down and grinding out letters and proposals and pitches every single spare minute of every evening and weekend hour. So you're right, I could be doing more. I could always be doing more.

Thanks!

Three strange days

2012-01-25T22:29:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I conducted an Act Like You Mean Business workshop for two dozen young PR pros. I tried out a lot of new material and it went over very well. Many of them barely touched their smartphones.

I really like young people. They're enthusiastic, energetic, and they make me want to steal their youth and beauty.

Then today I moved on to my first booking of the year, a print job in which I played a pharmacist. And not just any pharmacist. Oh, I had the pressed white lab coat and the neutral wardrobe in soft grays and blues. But I also had to slide down a fire pole. Or at least appear to do so. Here's a crew member, working on the pole. (Yeah, lots of great Facebook feedback on that one.)

It was a great shoot, even though they made me shave. (They said they picked me because of the warmth in my eyes when I smile. Once again, acting!) And this summer I will be in countless thousands of drug stores across the country. Crazy.

Day three, tomorrow, will be consumed by the third pillar, of sorts, of my career: client work. Meetings all morning on some speeches. And, this just in, I'm creating concepts for public service videos that will star an actress on one of television's most popular comedies. If they like the ideas, I'll have to actually write some scripts tout suite -- they film next week!

Friday I would just like to do some laundry or something.

Cooler by the lake

2012-01-23T11:46:00.004-06:00

Kind of a stressful weekend of work on a project from hell. On call the whole time with almost no control over my schedule. Hour-long burst of work followed by unknown minutes or hours of waiting, repeat ad infinitum.

One thing I managed to do for myself is take a quick walk to the lake. I've said it before: I would not be living in Chicago if not for the lake. And I don't ever want to live anywhere here where I can't walk to it.

It's different in every season, but through cold and snow and sweltering heat it always brings me the same thing: peace.

Revving along

2012-01-19T19:25:00.002-06:00

Work has really picked up in the New Year. Work-work, that is, which is good but it's making it harder to market the book. It seems everyone wants their stuff now, now, now.

On the other hand, some of the marketing investment I've been making is paying off. I did a speech to about 60 people on Tuesday and it went really, really well. I've boiled it down to something that really moves and snaps and the audience was pretty into it.

I didn't end up selling a ton of books, but one audience member is talking to me about speaking to her company and possibly teaming up on some future media training workshops. Awesome. Just as it's supposed to happen.

And I've had a flurry of auditions -- five in the last six days -- and booked my first acting work for the new year: a print job shooting next week.

Happy, though frenetic, new year so far ...

No thanks

2012-01-16T19:46:00.003-06:00

I canceled an audition today.

It was kind of crazy. A commercial shoot for a major theme park that pays a very modest session rate per day and an extraordinarily low buyout. How low? Lower than I've been paid for a 13-week local spot. And this was national. And waaaay beyond 13 weeks. Forever, in fact.

I understand all the parks work this way. Apparently they can find any number of people -- actors and non-actors -- willing to be whisked off for essentially a free "vacation." The shoot could go on for days or even more than a week, so the session rates would start to add up, for sure. And if they book your whole family, then you're really talking about some money.

Still, I think they should just stick to real people. I just couldn't, on principle, give it away like that. And I'd be a "fill-in" anyway, shoved into some family unit whose father/husband wasn't interested in participating.

I've done that before, trying to bond with a wife and her kids and make it realistic. Let's just say a lot depends on the wife and kids. (The dog loved me, I'll say that much.)

So I said no. Because aside from the money, I'm not sure I could take 10 days or two weeks away. Not to mention I'm really not a fan of rollercoasters and rides that turn you upside down three in different directions at once.

As I type this, of course, I'm starting to wonder if I'm crazy. Ten days all expenses paid in some warm state in the middle of winter? Am I nuts?

No, I'm principled. At least, that's what I'll be telling myself when I see my friends post pictures of themselves riding the flume in bathing suits while I'm dodging slush puddles.

The Social Network(s)

2012-01-11T17:50:00.002-06:00

I've never been a huge networker IRL. I have a network, I work on working it, but my circles (again, IRL) are pretty tight.

I will never have 10,000 Facebook friends or LinkedIn contacts. Hell, I'm only now getting up to around 400 Facebook friends and that's mainly because they are all pretty much friends. People I know and have met in real life. But I'm starting to step things up a bit. Here are the main places I go and what I do with them:

Facebook. I know it's trite, but I love Facebook. Outside of the official Act Like You Mean Business page, I'm there mostly for social purposes. If I do any business on it, it's acting stuff, as probably a third-to-half my FB friends are actors. I try to limit friends so I can feel free to say what I want without too much editing or messing with lists. And yet, Facebook has been very good for the book. And not just the official page. I've gotten lots of leads, feedback, opportunities and sales just among my friends. But mostly I just like spouting off, spleen-venting and over-sharing. And the Timeline is a narcissist's dream!

LinkedIn. I read all the how-to articles and do everything I can to "optimize" my LinkedIn profile for searches and such, but I still use it mainly as a place to have a profile and as a rolodex for business contacts. I have tried and tried various LinkedIn groups to interact and network with PR industry people, but most of the groups are huge and unwieldy and full of spam and off-topic posts.

Google+. I've done very little with Google+. I feel like it has a lot of potential, but right now the only people I see who are really active on it are social media types and Internet marketers, so you get a really skewed sense of the place. It seems every third post is people touting the power of G+ as if they have a personal stake in its success. Which they may. Right now I've got a profile up, circle people occasionally and post maybe once or twice a week. Everyone there is predicting it's going to hit Facebook like a tsunami, but I'm doubtful at this point.

Twitter. Oddly, after all this time, I'm starting to get into that most ancient of social networks, Twitter. I never much liked Twitter because it's so ... non-visual. I like threaded conversations (like Facebook and G+) and I like pictures and links you can see without clicking. (Though various platforms have made it a better, more visual experience and Twitter itself is improving its own platform.) Up to now I've used it mainly as a news feed, to see what's going on in the PR industry or to track commentary on a specific issue or event that comes up. I thought with Google+ I could wait it out but it doesn't look like Twitters' going away any time soon. And most PR people are on it. So I'm getting on board in a more serious way. I'm never going to be one of those people who retweets 20 articles a day, which are retweeted by 20,000 other people, but I hope to use it mainly for quipping purposes (short little quirky comments, some related to the book and some not), keeping up with the news and reaching more industry people.

I know that's just scratching the surface. There's Flicker and Instagram and Pinterest and Reddit and a bunch of other things, but I don't know how people who are on all those places get anything done at all.

Feel free, btw, to Friend, Connect, Follow or Circle.

Looking back one more time

2012-01-10T08:35:00.002-06:00

You know, as I think about it a little more holistically, it was a pretty damned good year.

I published a book! I spent the first half of the year finishing the editing and working with the publisher on the design and it got published in September. That's very cool. Having a book is neat. Something that captures my philosophy and approach all in once place. And the fact that a lot of people seem to like it is icing on the cake. Not tens of thousands, mind you, but people nonetheless.

I did my first speech on the book. Not to mention my second, third and fourth. And booked others for the new year. That is completely awesome. If I can make a third career (or, at least, revenue stream) out of that, combining the stuff I know best (corporate communications) with the thing I love best (writing and performing), what could be better than that?

I did my first TV and radio interviews based on the book. With more to come. I've done interviews before, but they were usually about the death penalty or consumer fraud or other related topics from the Attorney General days. I do enjoy the spotlight, so this is also good.

I had a pretty great year acting. And not just the money, which is nice. I did some quality projects, like Scottrade and Monosol and HCR Manorcare for some good brands. And I do like seeing myself on the TV.

And business, in the first half of the year, at least, when I wasn't full-time marketing the book went well. Some nice big projects.

Probably the most satisfying thing is that all of this stuff has pretty much come from me. Yes, my agents book my work and get me into auditions, but I started the acting thing 10 years ago (next month) out of absolutely nothing but a desire to do it, spending hundreds, thousands of hours taking classes, auditioning, performing, learning, striving, packaging and positioning.

And the publisher certainly lent lots of insight, expertise and resources, but nobody asked me to write a book. Nobody assigned me the topic. And nobody from the media is beating down my door asking me to write articles and do interviews and give speeches. Most of that is coming from me.

That's all very satisfying, certainly. And yet ... it's just that. I feel satisfied. A little proud. Not doing cartwheels or anything. Because there is still so much more to be done. I'm just on the second or third rung of a very big ladder.

Resolutions are for dummies

2012-01-03T17:44:00.004-06:00

I don't make resolutions.

If there's something I want to change I change it when it needs changing, irrespective of the calendar. For a lot of people, New Year's resolutions are less a chance for a fresh start than an excuse to put off self improvement. Feeling overweight in October? Might as well wait for January to start doing something about it.

And most resolutions are proscriptive. Stop overeating, stop nail biting, stop watching so much TV, stop skipping the gym.

I usual set goals, but they're positive and usually business-related. Book a national commercial, find a new agent, get three new clients, etc.

Most of my goals this year are book-related. I want to book more speeches (just scheduled my fourth for the new year) and more media. I want the opportunities to get bigger and bigger (from local to national) and I want them to add significantly to my income stream.

I've had pretty good luck so far doing this mostly on my own but I think I'm going to need help to take it to the next level. I'd like to get representation with a respectable speaker's bureau. I've had conversations with one that sought me out, but nothing has really come of it and so it's time for me to get strategic about it.

The ideal would be traveling around giving a half-dozen or so speeches/workshops a month, and booking local TV and radio wherever I go.

That's where I'd like to be by year's end -- either there or within striking distance of it.

I think this is going to be a pretty big year ... for a lot of things.

2011 in Numbers

2011-12-31T12:55:00.002-06:00

Even though I had bigger things on my mind this year -- the book, mainly -- I remain committed at least to quantifying the acting work. Surprisingly, this was my second best year ever in terms of income.

But first let's start with the numbers:

19 print auditions
24 commercial auditions
16 industrial auditions
2 film auditions
2 commercial voiceover auditions

That's 63 total auditions. Rather remarkably, that's the exact same number as last year, and down once again from my 2007-2009 highs:

2011: 63
2010: 63
2009: 101
2008: 103
2007: 86
2006: 48

On the bookings front, here's how things looked:

5 print
4 commercial *
5 on-camera industrial
2 voiceover industrial

That's 16 total bookings (not counting extra work, which I don't count), a few more than my usual total of around a dozen. Things slowed considerably, since 12 of the 16 came in the first half of the year. But a couple of my biggest bookings in terms of dollars came in the second half.

Money-wise, a seemingly ordinary year turned out pretty well. It was actually my second best year ever in terms of revenue. Second best by far, actually -- about 40% higher than last year, which was my previous second best.

All in all, that's a year I would not kick out of bed for eating crackers.

* 1 of the commercial bookings was canceled (though I still got paid, so it counts) and another was just a "spec" commercial.

Home

2011-12-30T19:54:00.002-06:00

I have been "home" (I put it in quotes because really it's the place I grew up and where most of my family is -- I consider Chicago my real home now) more this year than any year I can remember. Four times: July, October, November and December.

That's a lot.

But it's also taken some of the shock out of seeing Dad and the state he's in. In a six- or eleven-month span a lot changes. With this schedule it's more incremental, but still as inexorable as ever. Some of his autonomic functions are starting to shut down.

But he's still at home, thanks to government-provided health care of the kind that some parties want to preserve only for the elite. He's getting good care. And he still seems to smile in his own way.

As usual, there's not much else to add. I will say the pain of going there is considerably easier to deal with than the guilt associated with shirking it.

Speed Racer

2011-12-29T18:57:00.002-06:00

How do you shoot sunny outdoor scenes in the midst of a (semi-)harsh Chicago winter? Other people get swept off to LA or Florida. I get sent to the Lincoln Park Conservatory, a great big 115-year-old greenhouse in the heart of Chicago.

It's a pleasant place in the winter to feel a little moisture on your parched skin. And today it was the setting for Day One of a two-day photo shoot. I "fished" and I "biked" and then I was done.

It's very odd doing acting work* this time of year. The casting and talent agencies are even shut down from Christmas to New Year's. (My agent's been calling me from his parents' house in the suburbs.) But I'm okay with it. The money is good.

Tomorrow I head up the North Shore where we'll be shooting in a lakefront mansion that Google satellite view indicates is bigger than my supermarket. I envision elegant, high-ceilinged rooms with temporary pathways of cardboard and plastic sheeting and lots and lots of rules pertaining to where we can eat and drink and wear shoes.

* And, yes, this is acting work. I get asked over and over during the holidays if I "miss acting" and I have to explain that even though I'm not currently doing theater, shooting commercials and industrials and doing photo shoots is still "acting" and it's still "work." And it's even fun sometimes. And it even PAYS. So there you go.

This is Why I Can't Have Sharp Things

2011-12-23T21:19:00.003-06:00

From the week that was:

I've never in my life carried or owned a pocket knife. For early Christmas I got a Swiss Army Knife. Within seconds I had sliced open the tip of my thumb. This is why I can't have knives. Or guns, especially. (Still, I'm excited to be a knife owner.)
I got my stitches out today and the nurse said the wound is healing very nicely. Give me a set of written instructions (antibiotics for 1 week, no workouts for 1 week, light workouts second week, clean wound and change dressing twice a day) and I can do just about anything. (I even managed some light pushups this week.)
I've been invited to keynote a major regional PR industry conference in March. It will be my biggest in-person audience yet -- 200 people. And wouldn't you know it, it happens just 30 minutes after my webinar for Georgetown University ends. Back-to-back shows!
In my entire career I have probably worked less than 10 days total between Christmas and New Year's. And I have never, ever done acting work during that time. I just got booked for a day-and-a-half print shoot next week, and it's fairly lucrative. I'm surprised I got it. The audition was just the other day and they were looking for really upbeat, happy and warm people. Once again ... ACTING, THANK YOU!
Every year just as I start my Christmas shopping, I end up buying a bunch of stuff for myself. This year I haven't bought a single thing for me. It's awesome: I save money, have more to spend on family/loved ones, and feel uncharacteristically altruistic. Go, me!

That is all.

On the radio

2011-12-19T09:24:00.005-06:00

This weekend I did a radio appearance on WGN in Chicago. It's a short, 10-minute segment, which can be listened to here.

It's interesting that I thought actually being in the studio with the host, as opposed to calling in, would be an easier, more engaging experience. Better chemistry and being able to make eye contact and such.

But it wasn't quite like that. First off, we're in this windowed studio facing Michigan Avenue and people are pressing their noses up against the glass and the host somehow manages, without missing a beat, to enthusiastically wave to everyone who passes -- when I'm talking, even when he's talking.

Plus, radio hosts are monitoring a hundred different things. They've got producers talking in their ear and they're watching the clock and they're looking up stuff online and have messages coming over their computer screen and a bunch of other stuff. So he asks me a question then is immediately immersed in all these other things.

He still manages somehow to listen, which is something I could never possibly do -- achieving that kind of focus in the midst of all those distractions -- but it's a little disconcerting to have your "audience" kind of all over the place like that.

Still, it turned out well enough. He picked my segment among the four hours of material he got that morning for the site's webcast. So that says something. I still feel a lot of pressure in these short interview situations (like the two-minute TV appearance) to get everything in and be succinct.

I don't know how much time I'll get on Martha's network, but I hope it's a good 20 or 30 minutes.

Thank you, Facebook

2011-12-16T10:19:00.003-06:00

Kenny was one of my good friends from elementary school. A small gang of us would hang out, ride bikes, go to the pool, ice skate at the lake, have rock fights, start fires. The usual stuff 10-year-olds do.

Kenny goes by Ken now. I have seen him in person exactly once in the decades since high school, at our 10-year reunion. But we're still in touch. You know how? Through Facebook.

And even though the anti-Facebook backlash, which has been going on since about five minutes after Facebook was invented, continues unabated, Kenny-now-Ken has just added Act Like You Mean Business to the syllabus for a course he teaches at a major university back East.

All because of a status update he posted one day about being an English professor suddenly stuck teaching a business writing class.

He didn't adopt the book because we used to blow up my sisters' old Barbie dolls with firecrackers. Far from it. He was skeptical and I had to work for this sale, with a multitude of suggestions for exercises and homework assignments.

But I never would have known about it if not for Facebook.

There's surely a lot of nonsense there, from Farmville to that stupid ticker, but in all that stewy bathwater is a baby worth saving.

Benched

2011-12-13T17:36:00.002-06:00

It's the end of the year and I'm getting every doctor's appointment, checkup, procedure and test done now before deductibles for next year kick in.

I had four appointments last week, one this week and another next week -- eye, allergy and multiple derm visits. One of them they had to cut me open! It was a small carbuncle or something on my back that's been there for years but kind of bugs me.

So now instead of a lump I will have a scar. It's ridiculous how big the incision has to be for a such a small thing, and I'm hoping it heals up without being too heinous.

The worst part, aside from a couple of days' pain, is that I can't work out AT ALL for at least a week. Maybe two. I guess while I'm healing I can't have blood pumping super hard through my body. That, plus most workouts -- yoga, Pilates and weights -- are going to be pretty near impossible as long as a major muscle group is hanging together by a thread.

So I haven't been to the gym in four days and I'm already feeling really sluggish and sloth-like. Maybe I should be walking or something with this extra 60-90 minutes a day.

This, I suppose, is how the sedentary half lives.

Mood Swings

2011-12-08T19:09:00.004-06:00

When you're constantly pitching yourself as a product, your mood tends to shift up and down with every yes and no. And since there are, by nature, more nos than yeses, it's not surprising that I get a little ... fatigued sometimes with all the rejection. (Or the indifference that amounts to rejection.)

It was like that on Tuesday. I was feeling kind of down about it and as the afternoon wore on just got really sleepy and lazy. Unbeknownst to me, PR Daily was just then posting an article I submitted. Had I known that, it might have changed my outlook that evening. As it was, I didn't discover it for almost 24 hours, when I noticed a spike of hits to my various websites.

So this morning I'm back on the horse and decide to follow up with a radio producer I hadn't heard from in a while. Last we talked she was going to check with the show's host. That was a month ago. So I emailed her, thinking it was futile at this point, and in a matter of hours she checked with the host who reacted positively and now I'm booked! (On Martha Stewart's radio network, btw.)

It's crazy. They tell you not to bug them over the phone. They say they hate the reminder call, or the "just checking in" call. But it seems to work. I think it's worked at least four times now. A couple of guys I called and emailed multiple times over several months are now running my stuff.

At some point I'm hoping for a snowball effect, and I get people calling me, asking me to appear on their show or write for their publication or post on their blog. It's gonna take a while, though. Especially because, well, I've got big ideas.

For now though, back to the well, trying to get some Chicago TV and some big time print.

The 7 Habits of Highly Annoying Commercial Extras

2011-12-07T20:49:00.004-06:00

I don't do much extra work.

First off, the pay is usually terrible. On a feature film you may take home $65 or so for an 8-hour day.

Second, it's boring. Tons of standing around. On film shoots I've seen dozens of extras show up, wait all day, and never even get into a scene. (But they still get their $65!)

Third, if you like to work, it's tough watching other actors get to do great stuff while you walk in circles in the background.

But certain jobs -- commercial extra work, especially under a SAG contract -- can pay a decent amount. So today I worked as an extra, and it was the right call, but I was reminded of some of the things other extras do that annoy me.

So here is my list of the annoying things bad extras do. They:

Denigrate the process. Background actors are essential to the production. True, just about anyone can (and does) do it -- students, retirees, bored people, the underemployed. But you are an actor filling a necessary role. Stop putting it down. Do you think the assistant gaffer bitches about having to run around taking orders and putting tape on stuff? Nope, he's there to do his job, and he shuts his mouth and does it professionally.
Denigrate the production. Yeah, the director may not be Scorcese, but guess what? You're not DeNiro. They're earning a living wage doing this job. YOU are just a freaking extra on this production you think sucks. Do you know how silly you sound making fun of them? Calling them Cecil B. DeMille behind their back? Really silly. And pathetic.
Refuse to listen. I learned this the hard way in just my second theater production. The director yelled at us, literally, for chatting and holding side conversations while he was talking. I thought he was an a-hole at the time, but he was right. I like to listen, even when the director's not talking to me. If I know what the principals are being instructed to do, then I'll have a better understanding of what I need do. Extras get very little direction or feedback, so every little bit, wherever you can get it, helps.
Distract others. Again, some of us are trying to listen and pay attention. So shut up and save your stories for later. And in the meantime, work on them a bit. Take a tip from film: stories have a beginning, a middle and an END. Not to mention conflict, drama and human interest. Make it so.
Obsess over the food. This is a big thing with non-actor extras on films. Some of them show up mainly for the meal (and they are not poor or starving). But I've seen professional actors obsess ridiculously over the food, complaining that it's not coming soon enough or that they have to line up behind the crew. We need to be fed, yes, but the craft table is not the main event.
Bug people for stills and clips. First, you're talking to the wrong person. The photographer or the DP or the client or the agency creative director are not the people to ask for clips. They've got jobs to do. There's a production coordinator who signs your papers. Talk to him or her. But, seriously, don't bug them, either. Nobody wants to see a background, nonspeaking role on your reel. And if you'd like a photo, have another extra snap one of you.
Complain about having to stick around. You signed up for 8 hours. You know the drill. Even if your scene was done before lunch, there's a 99% chance they are not going to release you until the end of the shift. Because you never know. You just might be needed for something. And for that 8 hours, they own your ass. So bring a book and be prepared to sit around all day.

So in addition to the pay and inactivity and the boredom, it's the people that sometimes make being an extra a really unsatisfying experience.

First class treatment

2011-11-30T20:18:00.004-06:00

Wine o'clock, somewhere over Ohio

I must confess, I was not quite my usual festive self at Thanksgiving this year. All day long I was thinking about the TV interview the next day.

Partly I was concerned about it going well, but mostly I was worried about getting up on time (4:20 am) and being clear of head and white of cornea enough to do a decent job. In the end, it went great, as can be seen here.

But it did put a damper on the evening before. I had to get to bed early and I had to forego the wine at dinner. These occasions are dangerous -- every time you turn around somebody's filling your wine glass. By the end of the evening you don't know if you've had three glasses or thirty-seven.

I was feeling fairly cheated, but then my reward came at the end of the day, when I was upgraded to first class on the flight home. (Not on my own merits, mind you -- I have the good fortune to run with a super-platinum crowd.)

And that is where the bottomless wine glass came into play. Hoo-boy. Good thing it was just a two-hour flight or I might not have woken up 'til Sunday.

It was wonderful to see how the other 1% lives. I could really get used to it. In fact, flying is barely a chore when you've got endless leg room and a giant cushy seat.

The only downside? The plane was configured so first class boarded to the left and coach to the right. So I didn't get the chance to look elite to all those people streaming back to their sardine can seats.

Probably they'd be thinking the same thing I think when I file past: how did this schmoe rate?

Tina Fey: Sexism and The Second City

2011-11-28T08:53:00.001-06:00

Over the holiday weekend I finished Tina Fey's magnificent and funny book, Bossypants. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in acting, improv, TV, breathing and life.

I knew she had some insights in there similar to my own about the application of improv principles to the workplace. And I was actually surprised at just how similarly we treated the subject in places. For instance, on the topic of agreement, I say:

"If your scene partner says, 'Man, it's hot out here!" you can respond in one of two ways: 'Yeah, I'm sweating like a Pennsylvania steelworker in July!' (right) or 'Really? I find the temperature quite agreeable' (wrong)."

Meanwhile, Tina gives this advice in reference to the principle of YES, AND:

"If I start a scene with 'I can't believe it's so hot in here,' and you just say, 'Yeah...' we're kind of at a standstill. But if I say, 'I can't believe it's so hot in here,' and you say, 'What did you expect? We're in hell,' now we're getting somewhere."
Obviously, Tina Fey is a very insightful person. And way funnier than I am.

Another similarity I found in our experiences at Second City is that we both encountered narrow-minded authority figures identifying what they viewed as our limitations. For me, it was my age. For Tina, it was her uterus.

She observed:

"Of all the places I've worked that were supposedly boys' clubs, The Second City was the only one where I experienced institutionalized gender nonsense. For example, a director of one of the main companies once justified cutting a scene by saying, 'The audience doesn't want to see a scene between two women.' Whaaa?"

She goes on to discuss the groundbreaking milestone she had a part in: Second City's first 50/50 male/female cast.

Amazing.

Of course, being a dude, I never encountered much sexism there, but the conventional, limited thinking from which it stems? Yeah, there was plenty of that. Not more than most organizations of its size and age, but more than you might expect from a place that prides itself on creativity.

Regarding sexism, I had the pleasure of taking a couple of classes with the wonderful Mary Scruggs. One day a fellow student -- a male, needless to say -- complained that he couldn't write woman characters. Personally, my eyeballs are incapable of rolling back far enough in my head to give this trite observation the mocking skepticism that it deserves.

But Mary, ever pleasant and frank, simply advised him, in essence, "Write the character as a man then change the name to Susan."

Brilliant.

I'm actually writing a letter to Tina. I don't know if it will get to her, but I want to give it a try.

Keeping Up and The Spray Heard (Almost) Round the World

2011-11-21T18:15:00.003-06:00

This afternoon on Facebook, somebody posted the original UC-Davis pepper spray photo (not the countless hilarious memes that have come after), and a friend of his actually commented, "Where's that from?"

How is that possible? How is it possible for someone to be so cut off from the news? The incident happened Friday and since that time I saw the infamous YouTube video, along with a half million other people, as well as multiple other angles, photos and analysis.

I read the chancellor's original mealy-mouthed statement defending the police, the resulting outrage, the eyewitness accounts, the calls for her resignation, her later, more conciliatory statement, the widespread publication of the offending officer's name, email address, and phone number, her suspension of two officers, her walk of shame through the silent students, her suspension of the police chief, and numerous articles, blog posts, comments and other bits of analysis.

That's 72 hours worth of happenings. From political blogs to mainstream newspapers to cable and network television, not to mention Facebook and Twitter. And this guy missed all that? Was he in a coma?

Similarly, people are expressing outrage and surprise over the failure of the supercommittee to reach an agreement. I've probably read 30,000 to 50,000 words about the supercommittee over the past couple of months. It was clearly headed for failure. And, in fact, in this case failure meant the Democrats refused to capitulate to the Republicans' demand for a 230:1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases (that is NOT an exaggeration. That was their final proposal).

Thank god they failed. It was all meaningless anyway. And predestined. Let the Bush tax cuts expire and most of our problems are solved.

Maybe I spend too much time keeping up on all this stuff, but I don't think it's any different than other peoples' obsessive devotion to sports or comic books or whatever it is.

But then I read articles like this: The Steve Martin Method. And though it's a guide to being famous, it's actually about success. One of the lessons:

Martin credits “diligence” for his success. But he’s quick to clarify that he’s not referring to working hard over time. What he really means is staying diligent in his interest in the one field he was trying to master; being able to ignore the urge to start working on other projects at the same time.

It can be hard to ruthlessly whittle down your ambitions to a needle-thin point. But Martin is clear on this point: if you don’t saturate your life in a single quest, you’ll dilute your focus to a point where becoming outstanding becomes out of reach.

Am I too diluted? Corporate communications, acting, book promoting, public speaking, to say nothing of other interests like politics and current events, reading, movies, fitness and nutrition and, um, cats.

To say nothing of the trajectory of my PR career career, spent in the nonprofit world in DC, then politics/government in DC, then state-level government and media relations in Ohio, then agency PR work in Chicago. I don't know. I used to mock the senior-level people at the PR firm who had spent 25 years IN THE SAME FIRM, let alone the same damned field.

Over that time they built a lot of influence. But certainly their expertise must have topped out around year 10 or 15. I couldn't imagine that life. I love that I've done different things. Even within acting: improv then sketch then theater then sketch and play writing, then film, commercial and industrial and print.

A case could be made that all the current events reading is part of my job. I always remember that from the PR firm: it was said that we worked in the one field where it was not only okay but expected to find people reading the newspaper at their desks. And certainly the UC-Davis case, just like Penn State and Netflix and so many other crises, will be endlessly dissected in PR journals over the years.

I have no answer. Just some thinking to do. About focus and moderation.

In My Head

2011-11-18T11:36:00.002-06:00

I had a difficult pair of auditions this week (original audition plus callback) for an industrial. The scripts had tons and tons of highly technical copy (it's in the healthcare field) and they made a point over and over of saying there would be no teleprompter on set. If we didn't think we could memorize it, we should not do the audition.

I worked the copy for a couple of hours for the first audition only to find they had changed the scripts that morning. Oof.

For the callback, part of me said don't get fooled again. But another part said, just go ahead and memorize the damned things. So I did. Between yesterday and this morning I probably spent a good four hours working the copy. Thankfully they had not changed the script this time.

I did my best with it, but having it in your head on your own is an entirely different thing than performing it in front of 7 or 8 people. At the same time, they wanted us to be engaging and conversational and interacting with each other, and I'm thinking, which is it? Off book or casual and natural? Because accomplishing both is pretty tough.

The thing is, we weren't required to be off-book for the audition, and they even had the lines up. But I figured since it was such a concern of theirs for the booking that I ought to show some facility with a script.

And I'm glad I did the work, I suppose. Especially since another actor in the waiting room said that he wasn't going to get off book until they started paying him. That made me feel like a professional in comparison.

I still don't get the "no teleprompter" thing. Are they worried that we won't sound natural? Because I think it's just the opposite. I can sound incredibly natural reading off the teleprompter, but when I'm struggling with memorized lines in my head, that's where things get a little shaky.

I will either get this job or I won't. That's my prediction.

Doing the Hustle

2011-11-16T18:25:00.005-06:00

In doing some client work the other day, I found some use for this old quote that I used to have on my website:

"Things may come to those who way ... but only the things left by those who hustle."

The source of the quote? Abraham Lincoln. Yeah, I've always been skeptical of that. It's hard to picture the Great Emancipator -- or anyone in the mid-19th Century, for that matter -- using the word "hustle."

I think I hit a wall today. All the hustling is dragging me down. I would love just a few things served up to me on a silver platter. Handed to me on a velvet pillow. Presented to me wrapped up in a bow.

I was reminded of this today when a PR industry publication that I've been pitching since August (August!) finally ran an article of mine. I'd love to link to it but it's in print only. Old school.

Of the 7 articles I've gotten published and posted, just one came through an invitation. Of the 5 speeches I've booked, just one was offered up to me. And that doesn't count all the unsuccessful pitches I've made. Which I guess I haven't actually counted, but it feels like a lot right now.

And it's never quite enough. Success only begets want. I was super happy when I booked that TV appearance in DC. For about an hour. But then I started feeling like I had to book a second one for later in the day and now that's my yardstick, and while others may be impressed, to me, just having one will be a bit of a disappointment.

It's not that I can't be happy with what I have. I have had a number of awesome projects and accomplishments that I would call a home run and that I was over the moon about. I guess that's what I want. More home runs, fewer base hits.

Or, I suppose, with a little more of that Abe Lincoln-style hustle I could be converting those base hits into inside-the-park home runs. Like this guy -- the original Charlie Hustle:

But really, I would just like one day where I go to the ballpark and the other team forfeits, handing me an easy victory.

Putting it all out there

2011-11-14T19:36:00.004-06:00

About 10 years ago, when I was just starting this performance career, I very briefly tried my hand at standup comedy.

It was among the saddest, most isolating experiences of my life.

I would go to this open mic late on Monday nights at a bar, going straight from my weekly improv class to sign up on the first-come/first perform list. So while my improv friends were out at the bar together cracking jokes and deconstructing that night's class, I was waiting in another bar across town for my moment to go on.

The standups were a close-knit group that I wasn't part of. They watched each other's sets and laughed heartily in that way you do that's more about knowing the performer than truly appreciating the comedy.

By the time I got on stage, around 1 or 1:30 in the morning (these were Monday nights, btw), most people were off gabbing in the front room. I would do my two minutes or so, sometimes bombing, sometimes getting yanked and once or twice doing okay. Then I'd head over to the El and sit waiting for the Brown Line train, which often took a half-hour at that time of night.

Needless to say, I didn't do this for very long. A few months maybe, with other open mics mixed in. But I was always sad and lonely and thinking about the bonding time I was missing with my classmates. It really made me appreciate the value of an ensemble.

Hustling this book has been a similar sort of experience. Mostly on my own, constantly pitching to strangers, with a mix of rejection and acceptance. Today was a pretty good day, though. I'm going on TV in Washington the morning after Thanksgiving. Duly inspired, I'm going to pitch a second station for midday.

But even more satisfying than that were these words of encouragement I received in an email today from an old colleague:

Rob, you should feel a great sense of pride. Not only did you forge out to explore acting and writing, but you have succeeded at both! And, with all your speaking engagements and media appearances, you may be hiring staff soon.

That's really, really nice to hear. It fortifies me a little as I pick up the phone to call another editor or producer. (Talk about a tough room!)

Even with a lot of encouragement and support, I doubt I would ever have been a good standup comic. But I think I'm getting good at this other thing, and building toward something pretty cool.

Close to Home

2011-11-09T23:45:00.003-06:00

Arden Courts - Memory Care TV Campaign from Hart on Vimeo.

Here is the Alzheimer's commercial I shot early this summer. (It's the second one, starting at the :30 mark.)

I was worried that it would come across as maudlin or exploitative, but I think they struck a good balance. Sending the message that when the time comes, it's okay to ask for help and maybe assuaging the guilt that comes with taking the next steps.

It's actually the first spot that I found more disturbing, with the man applying toothpaste to his razor. A few years ago, when dad was still up and about, we were down in the kitchen and heard a ruckus upstairs. Dad's wife later explained that he had tried to shave with his toothbrush.

So it's an interesting detail they picked up on there. Dad did a lot of that -- applying anti-perspirant to the back of his neck like sunscreen, for instance. They did their homework.

I hope I did the issue some justice.

The sheep at the gate

2011-11-08T14:29:00.004-06:00

Act Like You Mean Business introduction

October 10, 2011

Last night I attended the monthly meeting of this actors' group I belong to and which I addressed last month. Person after person came up to me and told me how much they enjoyed the presentation and how helpful it was.

Sometimes I start to think that my material is fluff. But then the more direct feedback I get from people the more I realize that this stuff I'm spouting is good. Really, really good.

And I'm starting to kind of pity the fools who don't recognize it. The blog editors, the trade reporters, the TV and radio people, the professional associations. The people I'm constantly, constantly pitching. Some of them get it, but many don't.

And the trouble is, too many people in positions of decision-making authority abdicate their responsibility. They choose to be gatekeepers instead of curators. Instead of judging a person or idea or trend on its merits and putting themselves in the happy position of sharing something new and exciting with their audience, they just conduct a credentials check. Show me your papers!

How many Twitter followers and Facebook friends and blog subscribers do you have? Who else has published your stuff? Where have you been booked?

So that's what the gatekeepers look at, and that's why we constantly see and hear the same tired things from the same kind of people (old men with mustaches) over and over and over again.

I am busting my butt to break out of this. Bit by bit, with every speech (just booked my fifth one yesterday), every article (another being published any day now), every interview (just got a nice nibble from a national radio program). And someday it will all pay off. I know it will. And then the people who had the opportunity to get in on the ground floor will be left kicking themselves for their lack of foresight.

These are the same people who lament that they did not buy Apple stock when it was $10 a share. But will they change their behavior? Will they exercise a bias for the fresh and new versus the tried and true? Will they take a risk? Let go of their fear? Dare to do something different?

Probably not.

Theft!

2011-11-04T18:28:00.002-05:00

This has been sticking in my craw for some time now and, as usual, few people seem to share my level of interest/outrage in the subject.

A Facebook friend turned me on to an old Guns N' Roses song by the name of Used to Love Her, which is a fun little country-themed piece of mostly harmless misogyny:

So I downloaded it and the more I listened, the more I thought it sounded familiar. And it also occurred to me that I could actually figure out the chords by ear, which is not my strong suit. It's a very simple D-A-G.

Then when I confirmed that online, I realized why it sounded so familiar. It's the same chords as one of the dozen or so songs I know how to play -- Dead Flowers, a country-infused song by the Rolling Stones:

I mean, GNR adds an extra A in the verse -- D-A-G-A -- while Dead Flowers goes back to D after the D-A-G. And they have a different melody, or whatever it's called.

So maybe it's different enough, but here are two other major smoking gun-type clues. First, the album that Used to Love Her appears on is called ... wait for it ... LIES, which just happens to be a Rolling Stones song from their Some Girls album.

AND ... GNR actually covered Dead Flowers themselves, so they must have liked the song:

Again, it's just me that cares. And I guess the good news is I can now play another song without really having to learn it. Though, like every song I play, it will follow the rudimentary folk-strum pattern that seems to be the only way I can play and sing at the same time.

So that's what has me worked up right now.

I am the definition of fun

2011-11-02T20:33:00.004-05:00

Main Street Soda Grill, Vermilion, Ohio

This is what I tell myself. AND very clearly sense from those around me.

Any ordinary person would make the drive from Cleveland to Chicago the same ol' same ol' way they always do -- the Turnpike, with it's generic views and sterile (except for the filthy ones) oases.

But me, I'm an explorer. I saw more of of Ohio in my 2.5 years there than 90% of the natives see in a lifetime, from Zanesville to Steubenville, Marietta to Mansfield, Wapakoneta to Warren. So when I had the opportunity to finally see the Lake Erie coast between Cleveland and Toledo, I grabbed that bull by both horns.

Well, not so much. I didn't get to go the whole route, because even the most patient of traveling companions have their limits. But we did take a two-hour detour to see a 20-mile stretch from Avon Lake to Vermilion.

We saw pretty lakefront and big houses, out-of-place mid-rise apartment buildings and run-down ranch houses AND the quaint little town of Vermilion, which boasts a genuine olden-tymes diner.

And all along the way, I provided humorous commentary and composed copy for award-winning commercial spots advertising any of the many pizza and rib joints we passed on the road. It seems a strange combo to me, but I imagine an ad going like this:

Mom: What's everybody want for dinner?
Sally: I want pizza!
Bobby: I want ribs!
Sally: Pizza!
Bobby: Ribs!
Dad: Simmer down, you two!
Mom: You can both have what you want!
Sally/Bobby: Huuuuuuuhhhhh?
Dad: This is still America, and we're taking you to Geppetto's Pizza & Ribs!
Sally/Bobby: Yaaaayyyyy!
Mom: Thank you, Geppetto's Pizza & Ribs, for bringing much-needed harmony to this stressed out family!

See? One hundred percent fun!

Nonstop

2011-10-31T08:37:00.002-05:00

Pretty much all I do these days is market the book. It's constant.

I've written to people who got comps, seeing if they'd like to book a speech or know an organization I should pitch. I read one industry publication after another and scan other relevant articles in business media, scoping them out as potential media I should target, looking up the authors, leaving comments and engaging in conversation and gently plugging the book.

And I think about TV and radio constantly. I've seemingly struck out with a morning TV show here and a couple of radio programs, but I did successfully pitch one particular radio program for a short segment in December. That was a good pitch. I played off a segment the host just did and I was specific. Which is what I always do anyway.

This weekend I'm in Cleveland and I even researched the radio stations here ahead of time and pitched one of them. It was last minute, but you never know. Next I'll be looking at DC TV stations for the day after Thanksgiving. Another longshot, yes. But my latest pitch is very specific -- tips to help people with their job hunt, which should be appealing.

The goal is to use radio to leverage up to local TV to leverage up to, dare I say it, national TV. Sounds crazy, but I really believe I've got something good here. An audience member at my first speech called me "charismatic," which is something I definitely am not in real life. But on stage and in front of the camera?

Well, I am an actor, after all ...

Golf is NOT like riding a bicycle

2011-10-24T17:07:00.004-05:00

I was out for a walk on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I passed the Diversey driving range, as I do all the time. But this time I stopped and went in and hit a bucket of balls.

I think the last time I hit a golfball was almost five years ago. And it was at the driving range, not on a course, so I was a little, shall we say, rusty.

Rusty and stupid. One of the three irons I picked out was a left-handed club. Which I probably should have tried using since I wasn't having much luck with the right-handers.

What happened to my skills? I was never a great golfer, but I could manage to hit the ball. And my form, at least, was top-notch, as I always assure casting directors in auditions where I have to play a golfer ("Yes, I can credibly play a golfer and even swing the club well, as long as you're not too concerned with where the ball goes").

But this was terrible. I kept topping out, or topping off -- see, I don't even know the lingo. Just crunching the ball hard from the top, sending it into a massive low-angle top spin. It's a good thing I played from the upper tees or many of them wouldn't have been airborne at all!

I'm actually less concerned about how I play than how I look. I've never played more than once or twice a year. But I do want to look good when I swing a club. An instructor once told me I had one of the most natural swings he'd seen. And while it's entirely possible he was seeking to sell me extra lessons, I do feel I bring a certain elan to the game that I would hate to lose.

The range is heated and open all year, so maybe I'll bone up a little.

Speechifying

2011-10-21T18:05:00.003-05:00

All week, and for a week or two before that, I've been developing and planning this webinar for my university's alumni association. My second of four ALYMB presentations booked (so far).

I was really concerned about the technology, which was new to both them and me, about the timing and, mostly, about the weird feeling of speaking into a black hole with no way to read peoples' faces and body language and interact with them as I went along.

It's done and I'm glad it's over. I think it went well. The feedback so far has been good, and apparently there were very few drop-offs as the call went on. I certainly couldn't have done anything more to prepare.

I have to say it's not as fun as presenting live, but it's a good skill to have, especially with companies cutting back on conferences and travel. In fact, I've already pitched another organization on it.

And now between the first two presentations I have a wealth of material to present. Apparently there's an old saying in the public speaking business: "It's easier to find a new audience than create a new speech."

I suppose that's true, but I've got no shortage of material. I could talk for three days on this stuff, and I'm looking forward to developing other segments. Because I'm not sure it's that easy to find new audiences, especially in this economy. I'd like to try getting repeat business from the same audiences.

And I really love my new vinyl Act Like You Mean Business banner. It made a fantastic backdrop.

Leapfrog learning

2011-10-18T21:57:00.003-05:00

When I was in rehearsals for my first scripted show ever, I was in a bit over my head. I spent hours and hours at home memorizing lines and rehearsing my blocking.

One night the director taught us a song and dance number, and the actors almost burned the room down in protest. He started by handing out the script for the scene and we worked it and started to get familiar with the lines and what was going on.

But before we got comfortable with the words, he started teaching us the music. And we worked on that for a bit, but then he started having us sing it together. And just before we got too cozy with that he introduced a few movements into the routine. And before we could get comfortable there he taught us some choreography.

It was insane. So we all started complaining, asking if we could just learn one thing at a time before moving on to the next thing. And he explained that it was deliberate strategy, that you actually learn faster through this leap-frog method.

And you know what? For all our whining, we learned a whole song and dance number in just a few hours.

I try to use that method of learning when I can and have been doing it with these presentations. Before I get one done, I start working on the next one. So as I'm delivering #2 on Friday, I've got #3 underway, and when I get done delivering #2 I'll start in on #4 as I'm finishing #3, and so on.

The best part? This is fun. I could talk for days about this stuff. And since I don't have a marketing juggernaut at my disposal, I'm counting on Seth Godin being right. I'm hoping the passion I bring to it and the fact that I'm "having a ball" will be infectious.

Which brings us back to sketch. That same teacher said if audiences see we're having fun on stage, they'll have fun, too. And they'll be more engaged and on your side.

Special Delivery

2011-10-16T17:30:00.003-05:00

This afternoon I delivered a couple of books to my dad and his wife.

He's mostly the same since July. We all had lunch together and he opened his eyes for a bit and smiled when he heard my voice and name.

Deb appreciated that I dedicated the book to my mom and dad and their subsequent spouses. She told me my dad would have been proud, which kind of got me. Then she said, "You've done all this, everything, all by yourself."

That's not entirely true, but it's how it feels sometimes, and I almost kind of lost it.

Here is the book's dedication:

To my mother and father and Ed and Deb, who taught me to work hard, think critically, laugh often, and not be such a jerk all the time.

They came, they saw, they bought

2011-10-12T10:06:00.004-05:00

Monday night I did my first live presentation on the book to a friendly group of Chicago actors.

First, I was relieved that the slides looked great and the technology worked flawlessly -- I ran the presentation from my iPad, hooked up to the flat screen TV, using my iPhone as a remote (which also allowed me to view my speech notes.

As for the content, it could not have gone better. I had two hours to fill, so it was more of a workshop than a speech. I kept it interactive, with group participation and exercises and lots of Q&A. And I customized it a lot, creating several big sections related specifically to actors.

That's something that struck me on the radio show: these lessons are for everybody. And it occurred to me that actors already possess the skills and training they need to succeed in all walks of life -- at their day jobs, marketing events, how they present themselves to agents and how they conduct their everyday relationships. The content really is very broad.

So the audience was engaged and I think it was a very informative and fun two hours. Most surprising is that people wanted to buy the book. Actors! People who aren't known for having a lot of excess cash lying around.

I actually ran out of books to sell. I didn't bring a ton of them, thinking I wouldn't need them, and it would be presumptuous to assume so many people would want it. I'm sure part of it was goodwill from a friendly audience, but I'd like to think that the presentation itself actually helped sell the book, which bodes well for future engagements.

The next one is a webinar for my university's alumni association. Once I get that presentation nailed, I will have a solid stump speech that can go anywhere.

On Your TV Now

2011-10-10T09:19:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I heard from a relative in Denver that I was in a commercial during the Broncos game. Apparently her daughter asked, "Mommy, why is Rob on our TV?"

Then I got another report from Cincinnati. And Chicago.

Apparently this commercial I shot last month is up and running and practically EVERYWHERE. I have to say, it's fun to be on TV again. TV that people will actually see.

As for my performance? I liked that I got to close things out, of course. As for the three clips they aired, I'm not enamored of number 2. I felt like my expression was a little cheesy.

But they did indeed manage to pull off this epic production, and overall it turned out really well.

Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T07:07:00.003-05:00

I said it six weeks ago when he stepped down from Apple, but Steve Jobs changed the way I listen to music, the way I watch TV and movies, the way I take, store and appreciate pictures and, maybe most significantly, the way I interact with and even feel about the computer.

Like a lot of people, I was working on an Apple device when I heard the news. Plugging away at my presentation in Keynote on my MacBook Pro. But I didn't hear it from the Internet. I was outside at my favorite tea place around the corner, where I had written the bulk of the book, and heard it from a passerby.

Maybe Steve's most important legacy, as I continue with this latest effort to fundamentally shift the course of my life, is the encouragement and permission to "think different.

Picture perfect

2011-10-04T23:57:00.007-05:00

For the past week, my life has pretty much been learning Keynote, tinkering with design and searching the Internet for and downloading free stock images to use in my presentations.

I've found some really beautiful stuff, but it is massively time consuming. It's like shopping at Filene's or Marshall's. You have to spend hours rifling through crap to find the few hidden gems. But, oh, what I've found!

Via Raven3K

Via Marcos bh

Via tdnb

They look even better big and in high res. I've found about 60-70 photos I'll be using. Including some of my own. In fact, that's a next step. Make a list of photos I need and take them myself.

I'm feeling really intense pressure to create knockout visuals. The people I've talked to and the stuff I've read say that you shouldn't use templates at all. Not using PowerPoint is a step in the right direction, and I also have tons of slides that are simply a full-frame photo with a headline overlaid.

Seth Godin says no slide should have more than six words and I'd say I'm averaging about three. Watching people read from slides like they're scripts is the absolute worst.

I could pay someone to do all this, but I don't think that's such a wise investment right now. When I start getting paid for speeches is when I'll invest in professional design and high-priced stock photography.

For now it's good to have the control. And I'm learning a lot. Most of all, I'm practicing what I preach (show/don't tell). And the reverse is also true -- the more I practice it, the better equipped I am to preach it.

I'm just really, really tired ...

On the radio

2011-09-28T19:52:00.002-05:00

That went really, really well. I enjoyed the hell out of it and it was a fun, upbeat, high-energy, informative hour of radio. Seriously.

It helped that I knew the host. She covered the statehouse as a print reporter back when I was press secretary for the AG. Glad we kept in touch.

What also helped is that they had the brilliant idea of using clips from TV and the movies. In fact, they had the idea yesterday afternoon, and I spent an hour or so tracking down youtube clips from Star Trek and Mad Men and the Fugitive and other places.

I'd love to be able to use those in my own presentations, but that wouldn't fall under fair use, unfortunately. They're the media and I'm a guy selling a book (and ultimately selling speeches and workshops). So I've got to be a little more imaginative about how I bring these scenes to life, like with role-playing and such.

Anyway, it's great to be done. I was on a super-high for hours afterwards. It was like a performance -- if I read my own book it was a performance. And though I prepared really hard, gathering all my info and materials at my fingertips and even compiling two pages of soundbites, I found I only needed it once, to look up a quote I used in the book. I'm amazed at how much of the material I've managed to internalize and am able to call up in my mental rolodex -- anecdotes, lessons, tips. It's all up here *points to head*.

And it's great to have the record of it, which I hope to use to lure other radio stations and even TV to bring me on their programs.

Ahhhh ... good to have a good day.

Calmer

2011-09-27T23:14:00.003-05:00

I should just hire a professional to do the slides, but instead I spent, I don't know, 10 hours playing around with different themes and graphics and customizing them and such. Probably a bad investment of my time.

A good investment of my time is prepping to be a guest on a radio show tomorrow. Which should be interesting, since it's something I've never done. But I googled some tips, got some others from friends, and have printed out and organized virtually everything worthwhile that I've said about the book in the past couple of months.

If I had any energy left, I'd index it all by subject or organize it into a database or something.

Also, too, this would be a good time to have not let go of my landline, since I'll be calling in.

Anyway, remember: speak in soundbites, repeat the key points, stand up while talking (for energy) and, most of all, BE ENTERTAINING.

Tomorrow, All Sides with Ann Fisher, Columbus Public Radio, 10-11 am Central Time. You can tune in online.

You're a presentation tool!

2011-09-26T23:22:00.002-05:00

So much to do. Following up on hundreds of loose ends while writing two different presentations, learning Apple's Keynote program, and trying to do a little DIY design work with elements of the book (above). It may be time to call in a professional.

Meanwhile, I realize I completely forgot to shower today.

Patience

2011-09-21T14:45:00.003-05:00

Opportunities are now kind of pouring down like a waterfall. In the past week, here's what's happened:

My article in PR Daily, 6 Lame Excuses for Not Communicating, has been shared on social media almost 250 times and has been viewed more than 12,000 times. (Only a thousand of those hits probably came from me.)
Somebody at a communications firm in Poland wants to translate the article and run it on their website.
I've booked my first two speaking gigs. The first with the aforementioned acting group and the second is a webinar for my college's alumni association, which includes many tens of thousands of people.
My publisher got an inquiry from a speakers bureau in DC that may be interested in taking me on. They seem to have a large number of very famous people on their roster. We will see about that.

Someone I talked to about speaking a couple of years ago said, "You make your own luck." It's true. All of this came as a result of a lot of hard work and persistence. Two months of harassing that editor. I submitted my application for the alumni program a couple of months ago and had given up on hearing back from them. Turns out I'll be the ~~guinea pig~~ inaugural presenter.

And, of course, a book that was 16 months in the making (which is not long at all, actually).

It's amazing that just a few weeks ago I was somewhat despairing over my fate when results weren't coming as quickly as I would have liked. It truly is about putting your head down and taking care of all the little things, one-by-one, that will get you to your goal. Just keep doing them, keep trying everything.

And it never stops. I had a great meeting yesterday with someone who really loves the book. He's given me almost two-dozen leads to follow up on. And I've got pitches out for other speeches, other articles, other opportunities.

It's a lot like auditioning. You can't sit around worrying about booking a job, you just have to go to lots of auditions, forget about them instantly, then move on to the next one. Eventually, something will net out from your efforts.

My next book

2011-09-19T18:58:00.003-05:00

Several actor friends have suggested I write another book that's sort of the opposite of the existing one: helping actors apply lessons from business to further their careers: how to market and package themselves and manage the business side of things, etc.

Hell, it could even have the same name -- Act Like You Mean Business.

Of course, the big problem with that book is that it would be charity, basically. A small audience of people who are mostly broke all the time.

It's also not necessarily a book that I'm particularly inspired to write, and that's the bigger problem. (I could do a little self-published e-book if I wanted.)

But an interesting thing has happened. I've been asked by the leaders of this actors' group I belong to to deliver a presentation at the next meeting. Which is great, because it will be good practice, if nothing else.

And as I scope out the content, as I try to find lessons from the book that actors can use, I'm discovering that there's a lot of material there. I don't have to really reinvent the wheel -- just reshape it or something. Wherever the logical extension of that metaphor would take you. Buy a new wheel? Rent one? Inflate it?

This all makes me realize that the book I've got is a lot broader than I thought. There are lessons for everybody here -- not just business professionals or even business people or even people who happen to work in an office. Anybody. And everybody.

How do you present yourself at networking events and cocktail parties? How do you prepare for a job interview? How do you have a difficult conversation? Or constructively confront someone you're having a problem with?

So my next book just may be this book.

Author

2011-09-15T18:38:00.004-05:00

So this is what's it like, I guess. Being an author.

For the record, I was NOT on the Today show this morning, so don't bother checking the Tivo. But look for it in the New York Times' Sunday Book Review. Not.

Anyway, it was a relief to finally just get the official announcement done and out of the way yesterday. I got many nice responses to the emails and posts and updates and things. People sharing the info with their friends, posting on their walls and some even buying the thing. Multiple copies, even.

Hell a couple of friends' friends -- people I don't know -- bought it. Go figure.

It was a lot of work. The publisher is doing plenty of stuff, of course, but I felt I needed to at least get my own circles in order. And I'm not sure I could have done any more, with hundreds of individual appeals over the past few months leading up to yesterday's big group announcements. Even those were segmented into four groups with targeted messages.

The point is, I don't think I left anything on the field, as it were, and by mid-afternoon I was pretty wiped out.

At the end of the day I actually got my first invite to speak. It's a free thing, but it's a start.

On Sale NOW!

2011-09-14T09:50:00.001-05:00

Sixteen months and two weeks after I first put fingers to keyboard, Act Like You Mean Business is now on sale. Find out why one reviewer called it "required reading for every Fortune 500 CEO."

Neither a dense textbook nor a sappy self-help tome, Act Like You Mean Business offers hundreds of practical insights and tips, all presented in a way that is fun, entertaining, and highly readable. In a nutshell, I set out to write the kind of business book that I would want to read.

So if you're like me (and God help you if you are), you will enjoy this book and even learn some important things about business writing and communication.

You can order it from Amazon or direct from the publisher, which is actually the better way to go, at least from my standpoint. (Cut out the middleman, pass the savings on to me, and all that.)

To ease the pain of having to do more than one click, we're offering a $5 discount through September. Just enter the code "alymb" when ordering from Brigantine.

Still not convinced? See what others have to say. Read a sample chapter. Watch some videos. Check out the blog.

Run, do not walk, to your nearest computer or mobile device!

Payoff

2011-09-12T15:20:00.005-05:00

I worked for two months to get one of my articles placed in this influential industry publication. And now it's happened. Check out 6 Lame Excuses for Not Communicating.

I feel pretty good about it -- about the article itself and just the sense of accomplishment after banging my head against this thing for so long.

That's five articles now published in various trade and industry media in the last six weeks:

6 Lame Excuses for Not Communicating, PR Daily, 9/12/11
What Hollywood Knows About Leadership That You Don’t, Business Insider, 9/07/11
The Myth of Writer’s Block (And 7 Ways to Get Unstuck), Business Insider, 8/30/11
Wing it Like Dr. King: Five Lessons for Your Next Presentation, Business Insider, 8/23/11
Take it From Harrison Ford: Keep it Focused, PRSA Corporate Communications newsletter, 8/2/11

I guess it's true what they say about persistence paying off ...

10 years ago today

2011-09-11T14:56:00.002-05:00

It was a weekday morning like any other, so it started in the usual way. I got up a little before 7, padded out to the front door to get the paper and to the fridge to get a diet coke, and went back to bed to read and wake up with GMA on in the background.

At some point they broke into the (tape delayed for the Midwest) broadcast with a live bulletin that a small plane had hit the world trade center. I watched the footage for a bit then played media critic, grousing about the hype they were already giving to what appeared to be an accident involving a small private plane.

Then the second plane hit on live TV. I didn't see it, but one of the newscasters did and called for a replay and there it was. I think I lay there for 10 minutes, the newspaper still hanging in one hand, watching in disbelief.

Then I got up, went to the living room and watched hours and hours of coverage like the rest of the world. It didn't even occur to me for an hour or two to check in with loved ones in New York. One of the most disturbing moments of the day was getting an automated phone message saying that the lines were down due to a tornado -- that's right, a tornado -- in the area.

I had been happily working on my own for two years and this was the first time I felt any downside to it. I thought it would be helpful to go through this experience with co-workers. I suddenly felt very isolated.

On the other hand, I discovered the virtual community that was the Internet. And since phones and offices were in chaos, my conversations with people online constituted most of my interaction. I learned from others, engaged in useless speculation, was comforted, and also did considerable spleen venting, expressing some things I regret. Vengeance and retribution and all that.

One thing I'm grateful for is that I've really let go of the anger. Now I mostly have sadness, both for the event itself and for all the horrible, useless things our nation did in response. George Will uncharacteristically summed it up well today:

"Of all the sadness surrounding this anniversary, the most aching is the palpable and futile hope that commemoration can somehow help heal self-inflicted wounds."

I hate that my feelings about 9/11 have to be so complicated now. I long for simple, unalloyed sadness.

Sometime late in the afternoon on that Tuesday, I had had enough. It felt like I had spent a week in front of the television. I turned it off and went down to the lake and was surprised to see so many other people there doing the same thing. Some seemed engaged in normal, everyday conversations, even smiling and laughing together.

It was a surreal moment, but an early signal already that things would, indeed, get back to normal. Probably faster than we'd imagine.

I am hoping that tomorrow marks the beginning of a new and better decade, filled with hope and prosperity. I thought the '70s were an awful time. How little did I know.

Epic production

2011-09-10T17:03:00.003-05:00

Thursday and Friday were 10-hour days shooting a couple of commercial spots for a brokerage company.

I couldn't believe the scale of the thing. Based on the storyboards, I assumed they would shoot us on green screen and overlay us on footage of a trading floor. But no. They actually created their own trading floor, with dozens of video screens and FIFTY extras swirling about. Between extras, principals and crew, there were easily more than 100 people at work on the set.

I can't wait to see how it turned out. It should be pretty cool. They shot us alone on the floor, then separately shot the background players rushing around, then did a third shot with all of us together. It was an intricately choreographed ballet, with the camera synchronized to zoom out at the exact same angle each time.

Coming to TV screen near you this fall ...

Voila!

2011-09-07T18:01:00.007-05:00

The book is here! Got a box full of them this afternoon, and I am ... happy, of course. Satisfied, really. Not over the moon and cartwheeling or anything.

I guess I should be, but it's been "done" in my mind for quite a while now. There have been so many milestones along the way. First draft, second draft, etc. Draft to publisher. Final draft. Proofing, design, etc.

And I've been so wrapped up for so long in all the next steps -- all the stuff that has got to happen to help sell this thing -- articles published, reviews written, speeches booked, etc. So I feel like this is less a culmination than a beginning.

But this has been a really good day for two other reasons. First, for a few weeks now I've been contributing articles to Business Insider, and it's been going well enough. But one of the things that you want is for your article to be "promoted." That means it earns a semi-permanent position on the home page, instead of sliding down and off as other articles come up. It also means they tweet it to their tens of thousands of followers.

My first two did not get promoted. So I worked hard on the best one yet and I just got word that it made the cut! And they paired it with a hilarious picture of a starlet waving from a convertible.

You can check it out here. It's basically a summary of the book's most important lessons in 800 words.

Plus, I used these BI articles as leverage with a trade publication I've been pitching mercilessly for a couple of months now and today they bit. So it looks like another good article will be running there in a few days.

So yeah, getting the hard copies of the book is great. But these are the things -- just two of hundreds of little things -- that must be done to get the word out, build momentum and credibility and, maybe, lead to actual sales.

Booked

2011-09-03T15:29:00.002-05:00

Ha! I got the job. After all that. In cases like this, it's good to be wrong!

Then, in a classic balancing of the universe, five minutes later I got doored on my bike. Luckily I wasn't hurt. I was knocked off the pedals, but didn't fall or anything, and no soft body parts made contact with the car door.

It was bit of a shock, and I let out a brief yell/groan. I would have been really pissed off but a) it was partly my fault -- I came whipping around a corner so I think even if he had looked before opening the door he might not have seen me; b) I was in a good mood; c) I wasn't hurt and my bike seems undamaged; and d) he was very apologetic and concerned.

Hell, he had me feeling bad for him and his door, but apparently there was no significant damage on his end.

I wonder what story he's telling right now.

I've Got Personality-Minus!

2011-09-01T18:08:00.006-05:00

It wasn't until several hours afterwards that I realized exactly how I blew that callback this morning.

In the initial audition, I did a good job. Obviously -- I got called back.

But today I was hung up on the direction I got then. The director told me to keep the performance small. Minimal gesture and expression. Simple, easygoing, calm.

Today the client was there and they very clearly asked to see our personalities. I heard them, but I didn't listen. Or I listened, but didn't hear. Either way, I was too stuck in what I was doing the other day to give them what they wanted.

It's a bummer, too. That would have been a nice gig. And now would be a good time for a nice gig.

UPDATE: I swear, not 5 minutes after I posted this I got a call from my agent. They put me on first refusal. It could still fall through, of course, and if I don't get it, it's quite possible that a better performance would have clinched it for sure, but I'm not unhappy with this result.

There's no escaping me

2011-08-31T19:06:00.003-05:00

A friend was buying a car in California and there I was, staring him in the face. The Real Deal Ref.

I knew I was on the website, but had no idea I was also at the proverbial point of sale.

I wonder sometimes if stuff like this and the commercials and other things will somehow come back to haunt me in some way. I mean, it's not like doing porn ...

I hope whoever comes across it that might have some power over my future views it in a positive light. Something fun, interesting and unique, as opposed to odd, cheesy and off-putting.

Reality Check

2011-08-30T19:52:00.002-05:00

Over the past few months, and twice in the past weekend, I've run into people who have asked, "How's the book selling?" Which tells me two things, both of which I kinda knew, but it's good to have it vividly presented right in your face:

People just aren't into your stuff and your life the way you are. There's just no getting around that. Again, I knew this, but it's useful to be reminded.
A lot of people who are perfectly enthusiastic about the book are not going to buy it. They just aren't. It makes sense. For some of them, the content just isn't relevant. They're not in business. And even for those who are? Well, I rarely buy business books. Now some friends may buy the book as a favor, but most won't. I probably would not. Just like sometimes I go to friends' shows, but quite frequently I do not.

Now on the other hand? I went to a gathering and a couple of people who I thought had no interest whatsoever in the book -- mainly based on a lack of feedback online -- actually showed a lot of genuine excitement. Which felt really, really good.

But again, realistically, it's quite probable that even that enthusiasm won't translate into sales.

And that's the truth.

Hacked!

2011-08-29T15:55:00.002-05:00

I always wonder about people whose email accounts get hacked. I mean, how naive do you have to be to click on links from strangers? Or strange links from friends?

Now it's happened to me. At 4 am Sunday spam emails went out to pretty much my entire list on my old AOL account.

I swear I never clicked on any link myself. And I never got sucked in by any phishing scam where I gave up my personal info to the wrong people. I understand some of these emails just have to be opened to spread a virus or plant a worm. But I don't think that's it either.

Maybe I entered a password over an unsecured wifi network out in public? Who knows.

It was pretty embarrassing, and I spent my Sunday morning trying to lock things down and warn as many people as possible by email and Facebook. The most embarrassing thing, of course, is having an AOL account at all. But I mostly use it when I need to give an email address on some website -- so I get notifications, newsletters, retail offers, etc., through AOL.

So my clients think I suck. That's too bad. And people I haven't been in touch with for a decade got a weird reminder of my existence. One good thing, at least: the contact list was so old I got scores of bouncebacks.

Lesson: keep your contacts clean. Get rid of anybody you haven't talked to in years and have no intention of talking to. Hell, delete them all if you're using another (more reliable) provider, like I usually do.

I hope I'm out of the woods ...

How Apple changed my life

2011-08-25T18:40:00.003-05:00

Steve Jobs stepping down from Apple got me thinking about how he, the company, and its products have changed my life:

I was never a gadget person before. Probably because most gadgets presented expensive and complicated solutions to simple problems. Like multi-function watches that do everything but tell the time well or electronic rolodexes that are impossible to load. Apple's gadgets are elegant, clean, simple and beautiful.
I almost never listened to music. CDs were a pain to haul around and even kind of a hassle to use at home. When I got my first iPod, I never went anywhere without it. And now, thanks to the iPhone, I don't even need that anymore.
In my entire adult life I have purchased maybe 10 DVDs and VHS tapes. I got another handful as gifts. I hate physical media. I hate clutter. Since I started using iTunes, I've purchased hours and hours of TV shows and movies.
On planes, I never watched movies. Now with the iPad, that's all I do. It's amazing how much more tolerable flights are.
I am never at any time unconnected to the Internet. I always have at least the iPhone on me.
I haven't kept a physical photo album in years. I suppose I went digital before the Mac, but with the iPhoto app, storing and displaying photos is easier and more fun that ever. I can create slideshows in a minute and set them to my favorite music.
Related to that, when I'm on vacation, I can connect my camera directly to my iPad and view, edit, albumize and upload my photos to the Internet almost instantly. No big chore awaiting me when I get home.
I edited my reel all by myself on my Mac. It was easy.
With my phone or iPad I can get directions, check the bus schedule, show off vacation photos, access my headshots and reel as well as my business portfolio, check my calendar, access and even edit my documents, listen to music, watch movies, buy movie tickets, find a restaurant, annoy cats, do crosswords, send emails, pay bills, give a presentation, figure out if that light in the sky is a star or a planet, play games (if I was the type to play games), read books, write a book, blog, Facebook, tweet, text, get the news, check the score, write a note, dictate a voice memo, play guitar, identify birds and songs, tell the time, and a few other things. The iPhone even makes calls, though I hardly ever do that with it.
Speaking of phones, I no longer have a land line.

And that's just the beginning. Thank you, Steve Jobs.

The royal we

2011-08-23T20:27:00.001-05:00

It's always weird when famous actors, athletes and other celebrities seemingly refer to themselves as "we." As in, "We're considering multiple offers."

I kind of get it now. Lately with the book I've been saying things like, "We put together these videos," "We're working on the website," "We're launching it in a month," etc.

Not that I have an entourage or anything, but I didn't do any of these things on my own. The publisher and the people there are intimately involved in the editing, marketing and planning and all the other things that go into putting out a book.

Just like actors and athletes have agents and business managers and coaches and staff, etc., helping them with their work and career.

In any case, it's definitely preferable to the overuse of "my," as in "my staff," "my publisher," "my crew." Nobody is "yours" and it's the height of pretension to suggest otherwise.

The Wire

2011-08-22T22:34:00.003-05:00

One of the best television reviewers in the country has called the The Wire "the best drama in TV history." And someone I actually know assured me on multiple occasions that I would love the show. But I hesitated.

I don't like cop shows. "Procedural dramas." Whodonits. I rarely care who did it. I don't like mysteries because I'm not interested in unraveling them and I don't like magic shows because I hate not knowing how the trick is done.

But The Wire is none of those things. It's set in a cops and robbers environment, but it's about so much more. So much. And the characters are as real as any I've seen depicted on TV. Or the movies for that matter. You really care about them. And it breaks your heart when, because it's The Wire, bad things happen to them.

Even the "bad" people show you a human side. And the "good" ones are often very, very bad themselves. Epic stories, tremendous writing, cinematic presentation, knockout acting. I just can't say enough about it.

It took a few episodes to get into it. In fact, after watching the first episode, I didn't even get to the second one for about a month. Then I burned through three seasons in a matter of weeks.

Thankfully I have two seasons left to go, so it's not over for me.

I wish I had watched the show before writing the book. There's tons of material here. About pacing and patience, not spoon-feeding your audience, show/don't tell. Ah, well. I guess that will help keep the articles and blog posts and speeches fresh and new.

After this, I probably ought to break down and start watching the Sopranos. I know, I know. I don't get the Home Box!

Persistence

2011-08-18T19:17:00.002-05:00

Beyond the technology issues that have been vexing me, I've been dealing with one very real and troublesome obstacle: I'm a nobody.

I don't believe that literally, but it seems to be true that experience in some areas isn't necessarily transferable to the world of this book. At least that's true in peoples' minds. Especially the editors I've been pitching my stories to.

So you could be a very good writer or have lots of relevant business experience, but what they want to see is a track record of getting articles published in other places.

This shouldn't be surprising. This attitude is rampant in business -- and life, I suppose. Potential clients always do this. Transportation industry experience is not enough. Or even airline experience. They want to see that you have done web copy for regional airlines promoting reward programs to urban couples between the ages of 26 and 34.

Anyway, I've been pounding my head against walls, making incremental progress, but everything seems to be a fight. Even the people who express interest are difficult to pin down. And, I admit, I've aimed high in certain cases, as with the blog of the Harvard Business Review.

But today I got a small breakthrough with a business website that welcomes contributors. So I'm going to start posting my stuff there, and if some of the PR trades I've been pitching want to reprint those, that's fine. I can't hold onto my A material forever on a wing and a prayer.

The site says they get 10 million visitors a month, so this could turn into a nice platform for the book and for me. We shall see.

Circuit overload

2011-08-17T20:17:00.003-05:00

I was feeling pretty overwhelmed yesterday, with all that needs doing with the book.

The issue became a little clearer today as I was describing it to a friend. If I had written a book on, say, zoology, I'd have a fairly well-defined market. But as it is, the book is for everyone. EVERYONE.

At least everyone who at some point has to give a presentation, write a memo, send an email, conduct an interview, apply for a job or participate in a meeting, among other things. Which means ... EVERYONE!

Gah! That's a lot of people! I mean, sure, it's good to have a huge potential audience, but figuring out how best to reach them is a real pickle. I literally could spend 16 hours a day on it for six months and not be done.

As a result, I got almost nothing done yesterday until about 5 o'clock. Just the act of creating a new blog seemed nearly impossible. But I slapped myself, buckled down and, between last night and today, got really, really productive.

Including creating a new blog.

Still lots to do, but at least it seems more manageable. Tomorrow I start in on 30 or so personalized letters to people who are getting free copies of the book.

Then more outreach, more pitching, more writing ...

Making waves

2011-08-15T18:28:00.003-05:00

I talk often about the allure of the lakefront. Honestly, if the lake wasn't here I wouldn't be here.

Without nearby water or mountains -- some form of extreme topography -- I am lost. I think that's partly why I was so miserable in Columbus.

So I'm always shocked when others don't share that viewpoint. Like the girl who had lived here a year without ever going to the lakefront. Or another who had lived here a decade and never gone in the water. Or the many Facebook friends who failed this weekend to be utterly amazed by this video:

Perhaps I oversold it. Maybe it's not truly "crazy" wave action. Maybe it's just mildly eccentric. Or maybe it just doesn't convey so well on video. (This one was sending spray 15 to 20 feet into the air. There were others that were higher.)

Me, I like to think people are just stupid.

Here's what I love about the lake, and why I go down there all the time: in life, we're always trying to control every little thing. But here is an example of a power so immense it's not only beyond our control, it almost exceeds our reckoning.

I would think that would just make me feel all the more puny and powerless and frustrated, but it's exactly the opposite. Maybe that's the peace some people find in religion.

Whiff

2011-08-12T16:33:00.002-05:00

The other day I came out of an audition feeling better than I felt in all but a handful of the hundreds of auditions I've been on over the years.

The last time I remember feeling this good was when I auditioned for the Gordman's spot. I honestly didn't think I could have done a single thing more or better. And I booked it.

Same with the other day. I worked the dialogue all weekend long and had it down pat. So pat that it could come across as casual. The character was right up my alley. I gave several really solid reads, getting all the lines and the blocking just right. And the casting director -- this one not normally super-effusive -- seemed genuinely pleased with my performance.

And then? Snake eyes. Not even a callback. I didn't expect to get the job. It's a big one -- high-profile, high pay. But I felt certain I'd get the callback.

I'll probably get today's audition instead. A local spot instead of national. Shooting out of town, and over a weekend.

Argh.

Article #15

2011-08-10T20:08:00.004-05:00

Today I wrote the 15th article based on the book's content, and it may be the best yet.

It's for a pretty major business blog. (I think I've covered the landscape -- or attempted to, at least -- with the writing and communications blogs.) I only had 700 words and the audience is pretty sophisticated, so it was a real challenge.

I pulled stuff from six different chapters, boiled the lessons down to their essence and focused on the best anecdotes. I also elevated the message a bit beyond communications to leadership, making it a little more friendly to a business audience.

We'll see if they like it. I feel like I've got something pretty good here, but if they don't want it I'll keep plugging away.

I'm just happy to have done it. And amazed at all the content potential the book and its theme continue to provide. Speeches, articles, videos -- it's a total multi-media platform!

The Speech

2011-08-09T20:24:00.003-05:00

Tonight I finished the first draft of a basic stump speech for the book.

It's about 4,500 words. Which is LONG. The average speaking rate is around 120 words a minute, give or take 20 or so. So that's almost 40 minutes. Maybe 30 if I'm speedy.

And even though I wrote it pretty tightly word-for-word for the very purpose of timing it out, there's some audience interaction stuff that I need to leave room for.

So I think I've got to do some cutting. I'll start timing it to be sure, but I think I've got to cut about a quarter of it. I want this thing to MOVE, and I want it to be the kind of speech I'd watch. Short and fun.

It's tough because I've got so much to say. I could easily do a couple of days' worth of material, which I will eventually develop for workshops/seminars, but for now I need the basic, general speech.

The ideal would be some sort of decision tree-type thing, where I would have a bunch of different modules and "turning points" every 10 minutes or so where the audience could vote, via applause, on Topic A vs. Topic B, so it's closely aligned with their actual interests. And presentation software to enable that would be good, too.

Maybe that's my million-dollar idea ...

You say McKinley, I say Denali

2011-08-05T19:48:00.008-05:00

To Native Alaskans it was known since the time that there was language as Denali -- "the Great One."

By virtue of its location where two continental plates meet, one shoving the other upward as it plunges downward, it was by far the highest mountain in the area (and, it would turn out, the highest in North America). Denali towers thousands of feet above the surrounding peaks, which themselves stand at an impressive 10,000 to 14,000 feet of elevation.

What makes it seem even more massive is its vertical rise. Denali's base sits at just 2,000 feet, so it presents 18,000 feet of mountain. Everest is 29,000 feet, but it rises out of a 17,000-foot plateau.

Denali was eventually "discovered" by the white man, and in the 1890s a gold prospector named it for then-president McKinley. Alaskans have been trying for years to officially return the mountain to its original name, but their efforts have been blocked year after year by Ohio congressmen representing the district where McKinley's birthplace is located.

(They are no doubt unabashed and shameless supporters of states' rights.)

Most Alaskans call it Denali anyway.

As big as it is, the mountain is incredibly elusive. It creates its own weather, so it's shrouded in clouds most of the time, revealing itself to only one in three visitors to Denali National Park.

We were lucky. We didn't get to see the whole thing at once, but we caught glimpses of different parts, which was still pretty special.

A peek at the peak, viewed from the south.

Those blue mountains in front aren't it.

Closer, and less cloudy, views from the North.

Everybody loves a winner

2011-08-04T23:23:00.004-05:00

Everyone would love to own a bunch of Apple stock. Mind you, they wouldn't necessarily want to buy it now, when it's priced at over $300 a share. No, they would have wanted to have bought a decade ago, when it was trading in the teens.

Everybody loves Lady Gaga. But how many people thought she was great in 2005 when she was Stefani Germanotta, toiling away in clubs in New York's Lower East Side?

Seinfeld is renowned as one of television's great comedies. But how many people can say they were there, watching those first few awkward episodes when NBC picked it up by the skin of its teeth?

People like winners, and they don't like taking chances on unknown quantities.

Now I'm not comparing myself to any of these phenomena, but with this book, and all the activities attendant to it, it's a real hard slog. Because I'm a nobody. I haven't had a book published before. I don't have a long track record of articles published either (at least recently and under my own name). Or a long history of speaking engagements. Or a blog with 10,000 followers.

As a result, it's like starting over. And every day is a battle to get people's attention. Like getting these articles I've written published. I thought I'd get some early wins by approaching publications in my own industry. But it's been tough getting editors' attention. And PR is my business!

I emailed this one editor with a story idea and got a fairly positive acknowledgement right away. Then nothing. So I followed up with a couple of other ideas. Nothing. So I started calling. Not harassing, not leaving voicemails, just trying to get him live. I called a half-dozen times. Nothing. I left a message before going on vacation. Nothing.

Then when I got back I emailed a copy of the other article I just got published. A couple of days later, lo and behold, I get an email back. He's interested but busy. Eureka! Same with a second editor. Same process, same sudden interest this week.

The key was showing them that someone else had already taken a chance on/interest in my stuff. It's odd that all my other experience -- my work history, client list, awards, stage time, etc., seem to count for very little. Or less than I thought, at least.

People aren't into making connections or thinking abstractly. If you want to do a speech they want to see that you've done other speeches. Same for articles, and for books and for everything else. To get those things you need the experience, and to get the experience you need to do those things. It's a crazy chicken-or-egg doom loop.

It's hard. It's just a constant struggle, a constant hustle. And almost all of your motivation and drive has to come from within. Nobody's going to hand you anything.

Writing the book was the easy part.

Third time's the charm

2011-08-03T22:32:00.002-05:00

I missed a couple of audition and booking opportunities due to vacation, but I hit the ground (kinda) running this week with an audition first thing Monday morning (Alaska time, that is) and a booking today.

Part of the reason I'm having trouble tallying my bookings this year (13 or 11?) is that I have now taped this one project THREE times. They just keep revising it.

I like it the way it is. Okay, it may be a little long, and there are parts, as a writer, that I would have done differently, but there are some definite goosebump moments. And not just the ones I'm in.

At the end of the session today I told them that I hope, for their sake, that they don't have to see me again. It's obvious that the nice people I'm dealing with aren't the ones ordering up all these changes and additions. I hope their suffering ends soon.

I will also say, humbly, that I think I'm one of the better ones in the video, which may be why I got the first and last line. (They had all the actors perform all the lines and they decided in the editing room who would end up saying what.)

The good news is, what started as a modest-paying gig turned into something moderately lucrative. Huzzah!

10 Fun Facts About Bears

2011-08-01T22:39:00.004-05:00

We saw 11 bears in Alaska. Some a mile or two away and through binoculars. Others running across the road. And several from just steps away, in Denali National Park, which was breathtaking.

Following last year's tutorial on salmon, here some fun facts about bears:

In Alaska, they're either blacks or browns. The rest of us know browns as grizzlies, but calling them that in Alaska marks you as a tourist. We saw 6 browns and 5 blacks.
Another thing that marks you as an outsider is wearing "bear bells" on your shoes, which offer some -- but not the best -- protection from bear attacks.
Browns and blacks don't regard people as food. So generally they will avoid humans.
The best way to encourage a bear attack is to get between a mother (sow) and her cubs.
The second best way is to surprise them. Bears do not like surprises. So you should be making a lot of noise as you hike. When they hear you coming, they will generally leave the area.
Talking loudly is the best way to warn bears of your approach. Human voices are foreign to wild bears. To keep it that way, human contact should be limited. When our bus stopped for these bears near the road, we were told to keep quiet.
Most bears are carnivores. After the last ice age, the bears in Denali were cut off from a key food source, salmon. So now the Denali bears are omnivores, eating small mammals and lots and lots of vegetation, including berries in season.
A brown bear can eat 200,000 berries in a single season.
Like humans, bears will take the path of least resistance. We took a long hike along a rock-strewn river bed, which was kind of a hassle to navigate. I found an easier path near the bushes and we quickly noticed a trail of fresh bear scat. So we went back to the difficult path.
One reason sows are so protective of their cubs is that male bears will try to kill them so that the female bear will go back into heat and be ready for mating. The mother and her cubs pictured above crossed precariously close to a male bear feeding in the bushes (see below). We thought there might be a confrontation but they appeared not to notice each other.

Bears in the wild. One more thing checked off the bucket list. Alaska is generous that way.

Paradise Lost

2011-07-26T12:43:00.002-05:00

The iPad is killing my vacation.

I promised myself I would ignore the debt ceiling debate and the news in general, not to mention Facebook, email, message boards and blogs, but it's just too damned easy to keep up now ...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Fini!

2011-07-22T08:50:00.002-05:00

Now, finally, finally, the book is truly and verily done, done, done.

Did the final proof of the galleys last night -- really just scanning the pages to make sure nothing got dropped in the last round of minor changes.

That's just under 15 months from first conceiving of the idea to actually sending the book to press. To think I will actually have it in my grubby hands in a few short weeks!

I have been driving myself to ridiculous heights of productivity the past couple of weeks. And for everything I cross off my list, I add two or three more things. Write another article, make another call, pitch another editor, outline a workshop presentation, revise the website, etc., etc.

To say nothing of all the day-to-day mundanity. Why just back up my hard drive? I should sync all my devices! Don't just pay bills, balance the checkbook! Don't just wash the clothes, do the sheets and towels, too! And what about that kitchen floor? And those bathroom cabinets????

Aaaaannd, so on ...

Chug, chug, chug

2011-07-20T21:07:00.003-05:00

Still burning away on book stuff. Over the past few days I've:

Written four more articles, bringing me up to 14. Not sure I'll make the goal of 15 before the end of the week, but 14 is a damned good number, considering I was at 9 this time last week. Some of my favorites: Homer Simpson, the Accidental Anarchist, Wing it Like Martin Luther King, and Ten Everyday Words You're Using Incorrectly (Including 'Everyday').
Emailed almost 90 people individually to make sure they know about the book, give them a heads up about its impending publication and ask them to like my Facebook page.
Worked on getting my website updated with a new page for the book. Almost there.
Pitched the PR association I belong to for me to speak at a future luncheon in Chicago and at regional meetings in the Midwest. For this one I just happened to sort of know, from a long time ago, a member of the Chicago programming board. He put in touch with the right people, who I emailed and then tracked down live at this month's luncheon the other day. Put together an agenda and filling out applications, etc.
Continued to pitch reporters with my articles.

Getting all this under my belt, including okaying the final proofs and sending it to press, will put me in great shape to go on vacation. Let's see if I can be this productive when I get back ...

Wrigley Field: Tear it Down Already

2011-07-18T20:40:00.003-05:00

Washington Nationals Ballpark

(with my brother's finger pointing to our seats across the way)

Back where I went to college, "tradition" was a word thrown around quite a bit. That happens in a place that was founded and built by Thomas Jefferson. Tradition was often used as a cover for fighting change of any kind and preserving the status quo.

Now I'm not a native Chicagoan, but I have been here for more than 16 years, which is longer than a lot of folks. Longer than around a quarter of the population (since 26% of residents are under 18). Add in newcomers, and I bet I've lived here longer than 40-50% of the people here.

And I may not be a lifelong Cubs fan, but I've been going to games since before your average bleacher denizen was born.

In the past eight weeks I've attended four major league ballgames in three ballparks in two cities. I was really impressed with the beautiful facility the Washington Nationals built. Just gorgeous. Wide open with wonderful sightlines. Even the concourses -- which are like habitrail tunnels at Wrigley -- narrow and closed in and suffocating, are spacious and bright. You don't need TVs at the concession stands because you can see clear down to the field.

And, of course, no trough-style urinals.

I love the fact that Wrigley is smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Nothing like turning a corner on a block of greystones and coming upon a major league stadium looming above you. And I like the bricks and the ivy. Preserve that, tear the whole thing down, and put up something better in the same footprint.

Give the players decent clubhouses, the fans decent bathrooms and concessions and other places to gather, like patios and restaurants, and the owners a way to make the money they need to build a better team.

Seriously. With a losing record like this, what is it people are trying to preserve? Start over. Build a palace. Create new traditions. Maybe that will turn things around on the field.

Tension

2011-07-14T19:43:00.003-05:00

I've been really stressed lately about the book marketing -- getting the word out both to friends/contacts and strangers. The whole thing has felt overwhelming, with so much to do.

So I did something about it. I swear I have never been officially "depressed," but I do know the surest cure for any anxiety, sadness, hopelessness, fatigue, etc., I ever feel is to just DO things. Get busy. Get stuff done.

Work is therapeutic, and little accomplishments add up. And by staying busy you don't have time to stew.

So I'm doing three things. First, I'm reaching out individually to people I know who I feel haven't quite gotten the word about the book. This occurred to me a while back when I approached a FB friend and former Second City instructor to provide a blurb. I was shocked to hear that he hadn't heard I was working on a book, in spite of a year's worth of constant Facebook posting.

I'm slogging through the alphabet of my email and LinkedIn lists, writing personal notes to everyone who I think may need a reminder or heads-up before the release day announcement comes out. I'm at H, which isn't bad for two days.

Second, I'm reaching out to strangers -- people I admire and/or think may be of help. I wrote to Seth Godin and got a polite note back and to Robert Thompson, who's a big television and culture critic. I reached out to someone who I know through someone else who has a lead on some venues where I can do speeches. And I'm emailing and phoning reporters daily pitching articles.

Finally, I'm writing more articles. I had nine in the bank but I need more. There are lots of guest blogging opportunities out there that the publisher will be pitching, and a few more on my radar, too. I cranked out #10 today and hope to do five more before I leave for vacation.

I mean, I've been doing stuff. A lot of stuff. But now I'm doing it on 11.

Basically the plan is to go to bed every night exhausted and without another ounce of energy to expend. Then I'll be happy.

Law of averages

2011-07-13T22:42:00.003-05:00

I swear the law of averages is going to make the second half of the year a stinker.

I had three auditions in rapid succession and it looks like I booked none of them. I was on check avail for a job next week and I didn't get it. And I had an opportunity for a big commercial audition but I'm going to be gone for the callback so they can't see me.

BUT, in 10 days ... I go back to Alaska!

Top of the world!

Doctor, doctor

2011-07-12T22:19:00.006-05:00

I shot this commercial almost exactly a year ago.

And I watched the teevee as they played spot after spot, none of them featuring me. I knew they were doing at least a half-dozen of them, so I figured eventually my time would come.

Turns out, I was in the commercial all along. It's one I've seen lots and lots of times. I just didn't know it because I was the size of a postage stamp and flew by in microseconds.

And shot from a very long lens. Turns out they were selling the scenery of their beautiful new facility, not necessarily the people working in it. Or pretending to do so.

And when I did get a closeup, it was of the back of my head.

My best side!

So I guess that explains those checks I continue to get. They'll probably end soon, though, because they recently auditioned for another round of spots, and I was disqualified. Which is silly, because it's not like I'm recognizable.

But at least the mystery is solved.

And, done

2011-07-11T20:08:00.002-05:00

The editors weren't enthused about an index at this stage of the game -- just getting it done and fitting it in to the page count they've arranged for was going to be tough. So if it was going to get done, I'd have to do it.

So I did. In basically four days. There was lots of unexpected plane and airport time this weekend, which was perfect for this kind of head-down, hands-on project. It was probably 12-15 hours altogether.

And it wasn't that bad. Or that hard. Just time consuming. I read some articles online as I went along and most of them told me basically what I was already doing. The index should focus on concepts, not just keywords, which is part of why software programs are insufficient. There are a lot of judgment calls involved.

I'm glad to have it. In the past few days I've also approved the back cover, revised my "About the Author" page (to help fit the index in), collected the final two blurbs, and checked all the changes made in the most recent round of line edits. The first round I had 186 and the second round 84. This final round? Just six.

(Oh, and I also put together a workshop outline for my alumni association and pitched an article to a trade publication.)

I think I am 98% done. I have the option to give it one last pass, but they're having someone new who has never read the manuscript review it, which I think is great. I may still give it a look, for typos only, but it feels good (and weird) to be really, really, really (mostly) done.

The ever-descending spiral

2011-07-10T19:08:00.001-05:00

Spent the weekend in DC with family. A fun visit overall, but tinged as always with sadness.

Dad's still at home, but no longer able to feed himself. He rarely makes eye contact, or even opens his eyes, for that matter. And just lately now he's been having problems swallowing when he eats and drinks.

I think that is one of the last things to go. The last being breathing.

Yet he still appears fairly healthy physically. And he does seem to smile at the sound of our voices, which is interesting.

It's been a very short, but very long, weekend.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Misery Index

2011-07-08T09:35:00.004-05:00

We've decided to add an index to the book. We'd bounced the idea around before, but now that the pagination is set, it's time. It's not completely necessary, but I want to do it for several reasons, both right and wrong:

It appeals to my sense of order and structure.
It's partly an ego thing -- this info is so vital it must be indexed!
I think the actual nature of the book calls for it. The chapters aren't divided up traditionally, so there's no one section on composing an email or delivering a speech or making a video. Those subjects are interspersed throughout lessons on, for instance, Show/Don't Tell, Tapping into Emotion, etc.
I imagine it might be fun for a few people to look up, say, Star Trek or Seinfeld or the Godfather, and easily get to any of those references. And it might actually be an important thing. People may forget the actual lesson but remember it had to do with something Mr. Spock did.
Finally, like the table of contents, I think the index has a little bit of marketing appeal. In what other book will you see Ghandi, Churchill, Star Trek and Austin Powers juxtaposed together?

So there you go. It's a lot of work, and I have to do it. There's software for this, and people who specialize in creating indexes, but at this point, nobody knows the book like I do, so I'm really the best one to put this together.

And from everything I've read, there's just no shortcut around going through the book page by page, marking a word or idea, then typing it and the page number into an alphabetized document. It took me about two hours to do four chapters.

I am trying to make it fun by doing it on the iPad, with a fancy new word processing app I uploaded. Otherwise, BLURG!

10 Things That Are More Important than Casey Anthony

2011-07-06T23:57:00.003-05:00

But that won't receive a tenth of the depth of coverage or level of interest. In no particular order:

Soldiers in Iraq just came off their deadliest month since 2008. What's going on there? Is it the pullout? Some are blaming Iranian intervention.
Right now congressional and White House negotiators are discussing billions in cuts to who-knows-what, with vital services to the poor, elderly and ill, including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, assumed to be on the table.
In the first six months of the year, more than 900 laws have been proposed or enacted in the states to restrict abortion. Some appear to be in direct conflict with Roe v. Wade.
Following other states, New York is considering allowing the controversial practice of fracking.
At least 22 states are working on laws to restrict voting -- limiting early voting, ending same-day registration, imposing new ID requirements.
Supposedly serious people are talking seriously about letting the debt ceiling expire, an event with unpredictable and possibly disastrous consequences.
The Yellowstone River has been despoiled by a broken oil pipeline.
North Korea apparently purchased nuclear secrets from Pakistan.
Budget shortfalls are causing at least 46 states to reduce vital services for residents.
Minnesota has been shut down for a week.

But I know what will still lead tomorrow morning's news.

154

2011-07-05T20:39:00.004-05:00

I just finished proofing the book and my bio says I've performed in "more than 200" commercial, stage and print productions. So I thought now would be as good a time as any to actually count them up.

The number is actually 154, as close as I can figure it. That's 52 stage productions and readings and 102 commercials, industrials and print jobs. All since 2002 -- in fact, it'll be 10 years this fall since my very first stage show.

"More than 150" doesn't sound quite as good, but I'm gonna go with accuracy. Just in case I'm audited.

Half a Century

2011-07-04T14:46:00.004-05:00

Chicago Botanic Garden

I biked a little over 50 miles yesterday. And I feel fine.

K and I decided to head up to the Botanic Gardens (which were great, btw). We figured if the ride up wore us out we had the option of taking Metra back. After several hours touring the garden in the hot sun (and it was hot up there -- it felt 10 degrees warmer than Lakeview), we opted for the Metra and biked on over to the station.

It was then we realized why we decided not to do this last year. During Taste of Chicago, bicycles are forbidden on Metra. Oops! When you're primed to sit in the AC and be home in a half hour or so, the idea of a 25-mile (with detour), several hour bike ride is a little hard to swallow.

Still, we did it. With a stop for ice cream. And I realized that I just ride ridiculously fast compared to most people. In fact, I do everything fast. When I used to rollerblade, I not only passed most other rollerbladers, I passed most bikers. And on my bike, the only people who pass me are outfitted head-to-toe in lycra and riding $2,000 bikes.

I guess I've been doing it for a long time -- biking not just for recreation but for a true workout. When I lived in DC in my early 20s I would bike out to my Dad's several times a week. It was 16 miles each way and a beautiful ride, from DuPont circle, through Georgetown, then straight up winding MacArther Boulevard. Door-to-door, I made the 16 miles in about 45 minutes. So around 20 mph.

And I do a short, intense ride now from my place up to the northern end of the bike trail along the lake. It's an 8-mile roundtrip, which I do in a little over 30 minutes. (At 16 mph, I seem to be slowing down!) But it's a great workout. I use a heart-rate monitor and average around 35 beats per minute over my anaerobic threshold (180 minus your age).

Going slower -- and being passed by others (!) -- is kind of painful. On the ride yesterday we averaged about 8-10 mph and it felt at times like crawling. Or coasting, really. I understand, of course, that I've been doing this a long time (and also spinning in class) and I've got a fast bike (about half the weight of K's old clunker), so not everyone can keep up. Plus the fact that she hasn't biked anything like this distance -- as usual, she was a trouper and an exceptionally good sport.

Still, in terms of fun, it was a great trip. On the way back we saw 13 deer, including 3 fawns and 2 bucks. Yay, nature!

Auditions and Bookings YTD

2011-07-01T10:41:00.002-05:00

Another half year over and it's time to quantify. In the first six months of the year, I had:

9 print auditions
10 commercial auditions (including 1 callback)
9 industrial auditions (including 1 callback)
2 film auditions (including 1 callback)
1 commercial voiceover audition
That's 31 total auditions

That puts me up around last year's pace, which was an off year. The number would be around 50 to stay on pace with 2008 and 2009. Maybe those were the outliers and this isn't actually an off-year, but a normal year.

The good news is the bookings:

3 print
3 commercial *
4 on-camera industrial
2 voiceover industrial
That's 12 total bookings, which is as many as I had all of last year

And as I've said, the weird thing is, only 4 of those 12 bookings were the result of an audition. All the rest booked me directly through my agents off my headshots or reel or based on prior work I'd done with them.

Finally, in the "show me the money" category, with these bookings, plus income from residuals and other 2011 income from late-2010 jobs, my post-commission earnings for the year are already projected at 85% of what I earned last year.

So it's felt like kind of a scrambly, scrappy year so far, with lots of odd jobs and direct bookings and no "home runs" (though one I'd consider a triple), but if things manage to continue on this pace, I'd be okay with it.

* 1 of the commercial bookings was canceled (though I still got paid, so it counts) and another was just a "spec" commercial.

Made it!

2011-06-30T19:38:00.003-05:00

So 7 pm rolled around and I found myself safe from any auditions tomorrow, which is good because I'm starting the weekend early by going to the Cubs game.

That was quite a flurry of end-of-the-month audition activity there. Today I had to schlep up to Evanston for an audition for a company that I've done probably more than a dozen bookings for over the years (all direct -- that is, without having to audition). But it turns out they've got a new client with a potentially big project. So we'll see.

The funny thing was they had me do a monologue, which never happens in a commercial audition and which I haven't had to do in several years. So it was nice to dust off one of my comic monologues and give it a whirl. And it was interesting how many new insights I had into the text and delivery in the intervening years.

The icing on the cake? They decided at the last minute to book me for a quick voiceover job while I was there. Booyah. It makes me feel less guilty for turning down a job way the hell up in Janesville next week. At 20% less than the going hourly rate I felt like it wasn't worth the drive.

Let the holiday commence! (With various pauses for proofing the book, writing and other things ...)

Naturally

2011-06-28T23:18:00.004-05:00

The Rahmfather at Pride

No audition for four weeks, then three get scheduled ... all for the same day.

This is how Chicago gets spring temperatures that average in the 70s -- it's always either 50 or 90.

Luckily I got one pushed to Thursday, since it's all the way up in Evanston (which is not that far, but at non-express train time, it is). I intend to book one of them.

What's this have to do with Rahm? Nothing. I just thought it was cool that he was at the parade on Sunday. I don't recall ever seeing Daley there, but maybe he did go back when he started out as mayor 30 or 40 years ago.

The TheatRe

2011-06-27T21:50:00.002-05:00

I once worked with an artistic director who said if he had his way he would see a play every single night of the week every week of the year.

I was heavily into theater at the time, seeing around 50 performances a year myself, and the idea of seeing a show every night sounded absolutely dismal.

More recently, an actor I like and respect a lot told me, "I don't go see other peoples' shows. I hate going to shows." I was flabbergasted by his honesty. I would imagine a lot of theater people come closer to his viewpoint than the first. Partly because they're tired, busy with their own shows, and want a night or two not spent in a dark windowless room.

Partly also because it's hard watching theatre when you're really into it. Sometimes knowing a lot about a subject makes the experience of being an observer more enriching. Other times it's the opposite dynamic at work.

For me, if the show's not absolutely gripping I find my attention wandering. I'm analyzing the dialogue -- why did the playwright use that turn of phrase? I'm wondering how I'd do in the roles and what I might do differently. I'm attuned to the backstage bumps and the onstage hiccups. I'm picking apart the wardrobe, noting the shoes whose toe points are a decade or two off and the hems that are glued and ironed instead of sewn. And I'm getting ideas for something I might want to write someday.

The next thing you know, 10 minutes have passed and I have no idea what's going on.

Truthfully, most of the shows I've seen have been because I knew someone involved in the production. Sometimes I really wanted to see it, sometimes I did it as a favor, a tit-for-tat thing, and sometimes I went kicking and screaming because I felt like I had to.

In spite of all that, there's always something I enjoy and get out of it, even if it's not entirely a satisfactory experience. And I like seeing and supporting friends. But it's just not my first choice anymore for a night out.

Week's End

2011-06-24T19:41:00.002-05:00

Today I wrote two more articles, bringing the total to nine. Next week I start (okay, continue) the pitching.

I also received the latest galleys of the book reflecting the tons of little changes I made. I'm interested to see how it turned out -- what the editors agreed with and what they didn't. But I'm not going to look at it now. I want to have a fun, relaxing evening.

On the acting front I got two calls from agents this afternoon. One is for a possible direct booking (a commercial for a casino where I did a print job a couple of months back) and the other is for an audition next week. Getting that stuff into gear again is good.

Finally, I went to pick up a check at my agent's office and they actually had four waiting for me.

Pretty nice way to end the week.

Averages

2011-06-23T16:54:00.002-05:00

I've had no auditions in three weeks. No bookings in two weeks.

That coming after five bookings in five weeks. Which is a LOT. Talk about a roll.

Now I feel like after this very favorable first half of the year, the rest will be a washout. In fact, if the law of averages is, you know, an actual law, then that should be exactly what I expect.

So I continue to write, write, write. Seven articles down, three to go ...

Officially retired from casting

2011-06-22T18:42:00.003-05:00

My long casting nightmare is over. And it all turned out just ... well, I'll get to that.

First, here are the reasons ad-hoc casting like this is a bad idea:

I have no infrastructure in place -- ways to reach out to potential actors quickly and easily, other than looking them up, tracking down their photos from Facebook and websites, emailing, etc. So it's not economical.
I have no leverage over these people, as a talent agent or casting director would have. Nothing other than the simple bonds of friendship. And some of them aren't friends. And some of the friends are really more like contacts.
When I find strangers, even if through someone I know or a group I'm associated with, I can't be completely sure of their abilities. I try to cast only people I've worked with and am 100% confident in.
I also have no way (other than a costly, time-intensive interview or calling references) of evaluating their general reliability.

And so my clients found themselves in the situation where one of the three actors I cast arrived two hours late. He overslept. Unbelievable. In almost 10 years of commercial acting I can only recall one instance of an actor falling through like that. And that wasn't even entirely the actor's fault.

I was pretty pissed. I actually saw him across a crowded meeting the other night but then he disappeared when things broke up, so I didn't get a chance to talk to him. I wasn't going to yell at him or get all dramatic. I just wanted to remind him of how I went to bat for him on a couple of key things and how disappointed I was.

Plus the producer already read the kid the proverbial riot act. And they docked his pay because they had to pay the crew overtime. So I feel like he's been pretty well punished. Plus I'll never hire him again on the .0000001% chance I do another casting project.

Here is what I'm grateful for:

I have an established reputation with the client over many, many years.
They recognized from the outset that I'm not a professional casting agent.
They also recognized that hiring a relative stranger without an audition was a risk, but felt it was one worth taking on a simple shoot with no dialogue.
The other two actors hit it out of the park.

Hopefully the kid will learn from this experience. I know I have.

Father's Day

2011-06-20T22:33:00.003-05:00

Tonight I was reading what seemed like a genuine good news story: Obama is to announce Wednesday the schedule for pulling the surge troops out of Afghanistan. Various options are being considered, but things seem to be settling around getting most or all 30,000 out by the end of 2012.

Awesome, right?

Then I get to the end of the article and I learn that that actually leaves 68,000 soldiers there. Which is more than when Obama entered office.

Ridiculous. Shame on me for not knowing that we have 100,000 troops in Afghanistan. It's so easy to ignore the issue and pretend it's not there.

I don't blame Obama, of course. He's cleaning up the other guy's mess. But damnit, we need to end this thing.

I watched Restrepo the other day, which was co-directed by Tim Hetherington, who was recently killed in Libya covering that war. It's like a non-fiction version of The Hurt Locker. I keep thinking of the horrible things we're putting these kids through -- experiences that will stay with them and scar them forever.

And then I think of my Dad, and all he probably went through in Vietnam. The things he did and saw. The Agent Orange that his body absorbed and has been identified as a possible factor in his prostrate cancer (which, ironically, has been the very least of his problems). The jury's still out on whether it contributed to his early-onset Alzheimer's.

Of course, that's the physical damage. In a cruel sort of mercy he's also been relieved of whatever emotional/mental burdens he carried home. I wrote this the other day on Facebook. I don't think it's a particularly original thought, but it says what I've been feeling:

On this Father's Day, thinking of all the fathers and sons (and mothers and daughters) we send off to fight our wars. For the warriors, the war never ends. They all come back wounded in one way or another. Only the dead find peace.

Really upbeat, I know.

That wasn't so bad

2011-06-17T18:33:00.001-05:00

I wanted to write 10 articles promoting the book in a month and I just finished two more, which makes five already.

Some of these will be easier than others, but I think I'll see if I can get the 10 total completed with the next week or two.

The bad thing is, I'm really finding holes in the book's original text and new things to say and better ways of saying them. I think I've hit on an interesting method here: if you write something in two or three forms and lengths -- say, text meant for reading, speech, and short video -- it will give you all sorts of insights.

Of course, who has the time for that?

Anyway, I'm really pleased with the things I'm coming up with. And as I said the other day, there's no way to avoid the book being dated within minutes of completion. Like the chapter "In The Spotlight," which points out some of the risks associated with social media. My twitter cautionary tale is ridiculously tame in light of current events ...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Official Dork

2011-06-16T18:55:00.004-05:00

Eighteen months ago I climbed into a tight-fitting referees's uniform and shot some video for this website. I wasn't aware it was online until an old colleague Facebooked me to say he heard my voice on the computer while his son was searching for cars.

I think it turned out pretty well for all the pain and toil. Not too cheesy. I mean, just being in the uniform and appearing on the page like that is kind of cheesy, but it certainly could have been a lot worse in the hands of lesser talents.

And considering it was all done on green screen, I'm impressed at how well my gestures appear to match up with the various buttons and things I'm pointing to.

I'd like to see some statistics on how many people end up turning me off:

Hopefully I'm not as unpopular as the old Microsoft paperclip. I really hated that little bastard.

Book 2.0

2011-06-15T17:41:00.002-05:00

I feel like I'm writing a whole other book.

I'm working on writing articles based on the book's content and getting them "placed" in various publications. I have a list of 20 possible topics and I've completed three. I'm shooting to get 10 done in the next month.

As for where they'll appear, I'm starting easy, with PR/communications industry publications. I've got one of the three successfully placed and another under consideration. From there I'll expand the universe to general business publications.

It's a lot of work. I had visions of mainly lifting copy directly from the book (which I would note with any editors I pitch), but that's not quite how it's worked out. They need context and they need to be targeted to each publication's readership. One article was pulled from three different chapters, and included a lot of revised and even new copy.

That's right, I'm still finding ways to improve the writing, which tells me a couple of things. It's good to have the book done and in the can, because I could continue to edit forever. And, I won't have any trouble in the months and maybe years ahead finding new things to say about the same basic lessons.

It's a lot of work. And it's not the kind of work anyone's standing over me making me do, so all the motivation has to come from within.

Changes

2011-06-14T20:02:00.002-05:00

A few years ago I got some surprising and unsettling news. A colleague with whom I've collaborated on lots of projects went to work for one of our biggest clients.

It felt weird and I was really concerned about what would happen to my work flow. This was the beginning of the latest recession and there was a lot of anxiety anyway. It ended up turning out just fine. Having a close ally actually at the client and in a position to dispense work was great.

Of course, now that I've had a few years to get used to this new normal, it's changed again. He just left the client and is back out on his own. I'm kind of experiencing the same emotions and anxieties all over again.

But it's probably a good thing. Hopefully they'll be shipping work out to him (and thus to me). Plus there will probably be other work for other clients as he builds his business back up again.

That's the hope anyway.

The shoot

2011-06-10T11:12:00.003-05:00

In spite of a series of monsoons training straight across the country from South Dakota through Chicago and Northern Indiana, all on a track parallel to Toledo, we were completely spared from the storms.

Anticipation of the violent weather caused some rejiggering of the shoot schedule, but everything seemed to dissipate once it got near Lake Erie. So we had pretty mild weather and got our outdoor and indoor shots accomplished on schedule.

In addition to mowing a lawn (or at least, two strips of lawn over and over and over) for the first time since I was 14, I got to do a little of the ol' acting thing. It's very odd. Dramatic acting has never been my strong suit. On stage, at least, I just don't seem to be able to bring it the way I should -- the emotion and authenticity and all that.

But for the camera I seem to do all right. Maybe because the camera requires less. I was doing the big climactic scene with my Alzheimer's patient mother, and we did a number of takes and I kept waiting for them to say, "more, more." I mean, I feel like we barely scratched the surface, but they were good with it. Great with it, actually.

So I don't know. Maybe it's the camera, maybe their standards are lower or maybe I'm getting better at this. "This" in this case being expressing relief, joy, sadness, fear, resignation and acceptance all at once.

I was definitely helped along by my intimate acquaintance with the subject matter, I suppose. And though there were some weird echos of my own personal experience, I kept it together just fine.

The storms did affect our travel back, in that our flight was canceled due to backups at O'Hare. I was very motivated to get our asses home last night, while the other actors kind of hemmed and hawed about staying another night and getting a ride up to Detroit the next day for a "maybe" flight back OR a day spent in the Detroit airport. I said screw that and got us a one-way rental car and we bombed it back to Chicago in four hours.

It's odd. I tend to take a lot of time for decisions that don't require an instant answer, but when I'm up against the wall, the right thing to do always feels incredibly clear to me. I've got to find a way to make that skill a little more portable to the everyday parts of my life.

Back to Ohio

2011-06-08T20:39:00.001-05:00

Somewhere in this hotel is my mother. Okay, my "mother." She has "Alzheimer's." Tomorrow I chase around after her in this commercial shoot.

I suppose if I was a serious actor like my theater friends, I would have had dinner with her this evening so we could establish some kind of authentic connection. But that's not my method. Or "method."

I want to save it all for when we get on set. Also, I just felt like going to dinner on my own and reading.

They pick me up at 5:45 am. Which is really 4:45 to me. So I'm going to try really hard to get to sleep by 11. Which I guess is 10. Probably not going to happen. But at least I don't have to drive 4 hours home afterwards. I can just sleep on the flying sardine can.

Mostly I'm hoping this front comes through overnight and does its thing, because two of my three scenes are outdoors. They're calling for mid-80s instead of mid-90s, which would be good.

And never mind the subject matter. I'm just focused on sleep and the weather ...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Doctor, doctor

2011-06-07T20:48:00.002-05:00

Went to the allergist today and it turns out, contrary to my fear, that my doctor is still there. Glad I didn't go too deep into planning how and where to get black market pharmaceuticals ...

It's so stupid. I told him he wasn't on the website. And the place I go, of course, has multiple entities -- a hospital, a group, etc. -- divisions that make no sense to customers. So he says he's not on the one site because he's not fully part of the hospital -- he practices there one day a week and spends the rest of his time at his expen$ive private practice on Michigan Avenue.

So they don't list him with the other specialists because they don't get a piece of the action when new patients come to or are referred to him. Which is idiotic on a couple of levels. If people want to find him, they'll find him. And it's confusing for existing patients/customers.

Finally, it's hypocritical. They're all too happy to boast about having him on their roster when he's getting recognition and accolades and professorships (and he truly is one of the best around -- he's got a great reputation). But then on the website he's a non-entity.

Bureaucracy.

Courtesy and gratitude

2011-06-06T08:45:00.002-05:00

A few times a year I get asked to read for a play or audition for a film or other project. Sometimes there's a particular role that the director feels I'm ideal for, but often they're in a jam -- an actor has dropped out or something.

I tell them that I've been focused primarily in the past couple of years on commercial (paid) work, my regular work, and writing and marketing for the book. But I ask them to send details about the production and the schedule and I tell them I'll look it over and get back to them promptly.

Then nine times out of ten I determine that's it's not for me. It might require more time and attention than I can give in the face of my other commitments. Or maybe it's a script or role that doesn't particularly excite me. Or it just doesn't hold enough challenge or opportunity to make it worthwhile.

It's not all about me, of course. I do consider whether I might want to do it as a favor to the director or the company. But in the end, yes, it has to be about me and what's in my interest.

When I decline, I'm courteous. I thank them for thinking of me, I compliment the script if I sincerely like it, I explain that my schedule precludes my participation, and I wish them well with the production.

And then ... nothing. I know they're disappointed. I know they have to focus on the production and immediately turn their attention to their next prospect, but it's just funny -- the contrast between their initial enthusiastic implorations and their subsequent silence.

It makes you feel like the whole thing was just a generic transaction, rather than the outcome of a true and respectful relationship.

Hey, it's a business. I don't take it personally. But I don't forget, either ...

And the hits just keep coming

2011-06-03T17:01:00.002-05:00

I booked my 11th job of the year. It's the audition I did on my birthday as an Alzheimer's caregiver.

Yikes. Should be an interesting day.

And it means going back to Ohio. And not even Columbus. Toledo.

I've been all over Ohio, to places most Ohioans have never even ventured. And I've been to Toledo.

Let's just leave it at that, shall we?

At least this is a good paying job. Another flight, another overnight, but pretty good pay.

A night on the town

2011-06-02T18:25:00.002-05:00

Columbus-town, that is.

So three hours after I checked in to the hotel, I checked back out and hopped a cab downtown to meet up with old (and new) friends. We had pizza, drank beer and stayed up until 2 am talking about ye olde tymes. It was awesome.

This morning they drove me to the airport, I landed at Midway and went straight to an audition at my agent's. Then I came home and crashed.

I'd say it was easy money, but it wasn't that easy. I mean, the luggage was heavy, what with five or eight changes of wardrobe for the shoot and all ...

All shaved up and nowhere to go

2011-06-01T17:59:00.001-05:00

Well, this has never happened.

I flew out to Columbus this afternoon for a commercial shoot tomorrow and there's an urgent message on my phone when I get to my hotel. I call them and it turns out they went over the scripts with the client today and ... wrote my character out!

Apparently they made the decision just as I was wheels up. Clients!

Fortunately my agent fought hard for a good fee for me. They wanted to do a cancellation fee, but with less than 24 hours' notice AND considering the fact that I FLEW TO FREAKIN' OHIO, she got me most of my original fee -- 80%. Which isn't bad considering I'll be back in Chicago tomorrow morning.

The only really bad parts? The hotel pool is indoors, and I shaved for this job. Dummy. If I'd only waited til the morning, but I had to plan ahead ...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Gah!

2011-05-31T11:27:00.002-05:00

I think my allergist -- the person who has done more than anyone to keep my symptoms at bay and me in relative comfort -- has left Northwestern. I have my semi-annual checkup next week and his name has disappeared from their website.

I'm not sure what I'll do. I've been seeing the guy ever since I moved to Chicago -- 16 years -- when my worsening allergies suddenly turned near-debilitating. We've been through so much. With him I have probably tried nearly 100 medications -- drops, inhalers, pills, creams and ointments -- and treatments, including shots.

It's been a long haul and we've finally gotten things fairly stabilized, achieving a balance where I put up with moderate-to-serious discomfort (as opposed to agony) in exchange for a fairly complex regimen. Now all of that may be out the window.

I probably can't follow him to his private practice -- I doubt that would be covered by my insurance. Will I have to go through all this again with the other doctors there? Or will they defer to what he's done? That doesn't sound like something most physicians would do, even if he was one of the top doctors in his field nationally.

Not happy!

On a roll

2011-05-27T16:31:00.002-05:00

I think I've found the secret to auditioning: not giving a damn.

Or, at least, not getting super worked up about it.

Out of my last five auditions, I booked one, was put on hold for another and "check avail" for a third. Of course, it's one of those other two that I really, really want -- national commercial, major product, shoots in LA, semi-famous director.

The others are ... more ordinary. In prestige and pay and locale. So I think that, plus the fact that I've had so many lately (like I used to have), took a lot of pressure off. And actually, a couple of these I was outright hostile to, for a variety of reasons.

The other thing the three have in common is that they have no dialogue. So maybe I'm getting good at this non-verbal expression thing.

Anyway, some of this is academic since two of the jobs have dates that conflict with two of the others. Typical.