According to Fred

The musings of a marketer and tech geek.

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The Power of Grit and Determination

Now that sports is coming back I’m watching my beloved Chicago Blackhawks fight their way through the shortened season and into the playoffs. I don’t know how far they will go, but they are far from the favorite to win. Just to get into the actual playoffs they had to beat a no. 5 seed. And they did. It was a classic 12/5 upset.

What I love about sports in the playoffs is that teams who are not supposed to be there, the underdogs, get scrappy. They get creative. They get gritty and have determination to prove that they belong in the fight. And with the right motivation from their coaches and each other they can do amazing things. They can pull off upsets. They can prove the naysayers wrong. They do belong. They do deserve to hoist the cup.

Everyone has Grit and Determination

Grit and determination is not just for athletes. For just as many cinderella sports teams that you read a headline about, I’ve seen way more stories on LinkedIn about individuals finding new jobs. They are sharing their metrics too. 150 days out of a job. 130 jobs applied for. 29 interviews. 3 ghosting by recruiters. 3 job offers. 1 new wonderful employer.

courage and resolve; strength of character.

definition of grit

I’ve personally never been in that position except maybe when I graduated college and was looking for my first job. I have certainly been fortunate. But these individuals are grinding it out. They are not only finding grit and determination to find a new job, in many cases they are finding better jobs. They are pivoting into something they really love or want to do.

firmness of purpose; resoluteness.

definition of determination

Everyone has or can have a situation that requires focus, embracing new behaviors, fixing bad habits, or changing your destiny. What I’ve determined is that it is a state of mind. To be courageous is a state of mind. To have resolve is a state of mind. And to get in that state of mind sometimes means you have to accept things you normally wouldn’t.

Embrace the Suck

I think one of the hardest parts of any situation that you come across that is unpleasant or unexpected is to take a minute to assess your situation, then just “embrace the suck.” What do I mean by that?

On one hand you can fight the situation ahead of you. You can pretend it isn’t as bad as it is. You can lie to yourself that it is “temporary” or “will just last <insert X period of time here>. Or you can grab the preverbal bull by the horns and embrace the fact that you are in a situation that you’d prefer not to be in.

That could be a project you’ve been given. It could be a job loss. It could be a personal situation. When you embrace the suck it is amazing how your attitude can change to focus on getting the task/project done and change your situation. To dig in and believe that you accomplish the goal or fix the problem. That takes grit. That takes determination. You embrace the suck and make plans and execute to make it better.

Back to my beloved Chicago Blackhawks. As of writing this we are down 0-2 in the first round of the playoffs with the Las Vegas Knights. We went to overtime in Game 2 and lost by one point. Every point is a battle. The players on both teams are grinding it out every line change (hockey term for a group of players who go on and off the ice together in rotations). It will take teamwork, grit and determination to advance to the next round. What’s the next round of your playoffs? Are you willing to go the extra effort to grind it out?

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The MarTech 5000, eCommerce and Evolving Tech Landscape, a Discussion with Ryan Lunka

I was excited to reconnect with an old colleague for this episode. Ryan Lunka is the COO at nChannel, a SaaS software that empowers retailers, wholesalers, and technologists with integration tools to sync data and automate processes among eCommerce, ERP, POS and 3PL systems.

In this episode Ryan and I get on the hot mic to talk about eCommerce, where his company plays a key role connecting systems together more seamlessly. We also talk about the latest rendition of the MarTech 5000 landscape infographic. It’s a crowded space. Will it look that way next year? Finally, we dive into the non-profits that he works with, Guitars not Guns and Can’t Stop Columbus.

Links to the sites discussed in the episode. 

nChannel

MarTech 5000 Landscape Infographic

Non-Profits Ryan is involved in: 

Ryan’s Band – Local Tourists

Music provided by Epidemic Sound.

unsplash-logofabio

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Have we hit a VR tipping point? A conversation with Amber Osborne.

I’m a big fan of emerging technology.  While I can’t always afford it, our family recently got an Oculus Quest VR headset and I have to say, I’m really impressed.  So when I wanted to learn more about VR and talk about the potential of the platform it was a no brainer to call my friend, Amber Osborne, who is a AR/VR marketing strategist and consultant.  In my first conversational episode, Amber and I talk about how far VR has come over the last few years, our excitement over the potential future, our love of Ready Player One and the O.A.S.I.S. and more. 

Thank you to Amber Osborne for joining me in this podcast to talk about VR. You can reach her at @missdistructo and https://www.amberosborne.com. 

Links to topics and products discussed. 

Ready Player One – Audible

Headsets

Haptic Technology

Companies & Solutions

Development Software


Music provided by Epidemic Sound.  Want great music for your next project, check out
Epidemic Sound:https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/cvqnod.

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Is Masterclass worth the subscription?

I’m Fred Faulkner, and this is my Masterclass.  If you are not familiar, Masterclass.com is an online learning site, but the difference between Masterclass and any other online educational site is the celebrity status it comes with.  Learn acting from Samuel L. Jackson.  Learn writing from Judy Blume.  Take cooking lessons from Gordon Ramsey!  With over 80 classes by celebrity instructors, there is no shortage of topics and content. 

I’ve been a subscriber for just over a year now.  In this podcast I thought I’d share my thoughts on the price of admission.  What I like, and what I don’t like. (Spoiler, there’s not much I don’t like). 

Masterclass has a lot to offer in regards to topics, but also the depth of the celebrities that it has accrued as instructors. Make no mistake, you are getting quality people. But you are also not getting a degree in any of these topics and courses. Masterclass, in my opinion, is a way to learn more about a passion, the thought process behind that passion, and then lessons and learning on how you can craft our own version of that passion. This isn’t Coursera where you could walk out with an online degree. Masterclass is fun, entertaining, and well put together with high production value.

Music provided by Epidemic Sound.  Want great music for your next project, check out Epidemic Sound for all your music needs.

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Virtual Conferences – Adobe Summit 2020

Today was Adobe Summit Online, a shift from their physical conference held annually in Las Vegas.  I was happy to be at home, but also missed the excitement and culmination of months of preparation of being at the conference.  So how did Adobe do with moving to a virtual conference? I share my thoughts on what has happened to the entire conference industry as well as my critique of Adobe Summit. What did they get right?  What could have gone better?  What got me excited?