The Regional Flight Plan

Springtime begins in Tallahassee and the blue cloudless skies this weekend provided an awesome opportunity to view the North Florida region from 3000 ft. Never one to turn down the chance to fly, I climbed into the Piper Warrior with my trusted friend, a seasoned flight instructor and spent Sunday afternoon airborne over our growing region.

Flying over downtown allowed me to get a birds-eye perspective on transportation corridors, residential development, business and industry sectors, educational facilities and neigboring communities. At this altitude you can also envision what we need to shape our region tomorrow - a good flight plan for our future, an efficient ground crew, trained navigators to guide us, and knowledge of taking off and landing safely at our desired destination.

The Tallahassee/Big Bend Region remains a land of natural beauty, from the ground and in the air. How our public officials and citizens plan, check and use the proper equipment and the direction we fly in will make our flight for future growth one that will as memorable and breathtaking as the one I experienced this afternoon. We are cleared for take off!

Communication + Teamwork = Great Taste

If you ever have the opportunity to dine at one of Ted Turner's restaurants, Ted's Montana Grill, be sure to request the best seat in the house - at the bar on the end in front of the grill and food prep area. My wife and I have found that not only do you get seated much quicker, you get to meet some of most friendly and talented staff in the restaurant business.

Dining while seated at the bar in Ted's Tallahassee location also afforded us the occassion to witness how constant communication and teamwork combined to turn out a great product, in this case great food. Working furiously in a small cramped area with the heat cranking from the grill, steamer, ovens and fryer, this talented team continuously multi-tasked through a variety of orders, each of which was handled in an quick orderly process. To those seated at tables, they just realized it did not take long to get good food served fresh and fast.

What we saw and enjoyed with our meal was an organized team that communicated in normal tones with all of their co-workers and that team members jumped in and helped one another without being asked and without gripping or complaining. We got to be eyewitnesses to working examples of good communication and true teamwork.

A quality product produced in short order through the right recipe of communication and teamwork...add the special touch of fresh strawberry shortcake and you've created satisfied customers.

Marketing - The time is now!

Like clockwork, when talks of economic resession surface, then discussions begin on shrinking marketing efforts. It is time to dispell the urban legend about marketing budgets and economic elasticity.

If you knew many of your competitors were going to spend less time and effort getting their message out, would you consider it to be a good time to retreat with them? If you were running a marathon and the crowded pack of runners lessen the effort to pace themselves, your best move is to kick it up a notch and move forward - potentially positioning yourself out front.

In running the marathon, every move must be strategic so that no effort is wasted and you position yourself for the best finish. Marketing is no different. Smart efforts, best methods and a strong support team that has weathered the course will produce winning results. If you want to perform like a champion, look at what the marketing champions do during economic downturns.

You won't find the word recession in a glossary of marketing terms. You won't hear many champions talking about a successful strategy for retreat. Marketing - now is the time.

Listening to the Party Line

Presidential politics in Florida is always making news - sometimes for months after Presidential elections and most recently before we even get to Primary Election Day with delegates being cast aside. Living in Tallahassee we are used to politics ruling the day, hey we are now having movies about the Presidential elections shot here...not even Arnold can claim that.

Within the last five days I have had the opportunity to have lunch meetings with senior campaign team members for Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney. I have to say it was not surprising to hear the party line and perspective spoken from both sides. What I did find most interesting to hear was the manner in which these representatives from both parties shared their opinions about the elimination of their opponents from various factors; which would ultimately lead to their candidate receiving the party nomination. Candidly I was not swayed by hearing the party line or opponent elimination opinions from either camp.

As for this Florida voter I have my personal presidential candidate of choice, but my undecided vote is on Amendment 1 - the Florida Property Tax Amendment. Lots of money has been spent by those for and against Amendment 1 and I sense many Florida voters also remain undecided. Party lines don't seem matter when comes to property tax. Will the very slight lowering of property tax drastically affect the provision of civic services, I really don't know. One thing I do know for sure, I will vote...who knows in Florida it might get me a role in a movie.

The Process is the Prize

Today I have the pleasure of speaking to the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists, imagine the opportunity to talk to a room full of some of the most key influentials in the state. The FAPL Annual Conference in Destin is using a theme of "The Process is the Prize - Preserve It!"

It may quite ironic that I am sharing a presentation on New Media, a process that is so dynamic - there is anything but preservation going in social media. It was mind boggling to research and I learned the depth of information online is quick to overload.

The process of lobbying is worth preserving, although it too is being strongly affected by the influence of new media in advocacy. The rules are changing...daily.