It's been a blog day's night

Wow, I can't believe I've let my blog go for this long! I could blame it on the fact that I've been getting over a cold for the last week. Or that I've been very busy at work. Or plenty of other things. But I won't, because I'm a responsibility taker. My blog-less week has been of my own doing--or rather, my own lack of doing.

But it's not like I've been doing nothing. The Planning Shop has been buzzing all week! We've been working on our editorial calendar, which can be excrutiating. We're a small group of people with huge ambitions, so the actual planning process is always tough. Tough and necessary. We always work our way through the process and come out of it stronger, more motivated and more focused that before. It's therapeutic.

I've also been preparing for 2 conferences that I'll be attending in the next couple of weeks. The Executive MBA Council is holding its 2004 annual conference in San Francisco this weekend, and Rhonda and I will be there. It's a fantastic opportunity to meet many of the professors who teach classes using our books, and to hear about their experiences first hand. Also, it gives me a great opportunity to do some market research: find out what's missing from our customers' curriculum, what they would like to see more of, things like that. I think it's really important to remember who your customers are, and to make the time to speak with them. Even more important: listen to them when they speak. If you're fortunate enough to have access to the people who support your company, and they're considerate enough to share their thoughts and opinions with you, the worst mistake you can make is to take that for granted. Attending entrepreneurship educators' conferences allows me to do my job well and to serve my customers in the most appropriate and effective manner. Plus, I get to travel. Next month, I'm headed to San Antonio, TX for the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education's annual forum. Oh, and there will some Alamo to be had, as well.

Rhonda knows all about the fringe travel benefits like the Alamo. When you spend a few days in a different city, you often get to see things like the Space Needle or the John Hancock Building...or an alligator. Sure, there may be time for sight-seeing in between speeches (if you're Rhonda) or educational sessions (if you're Deborah), but traveling is tough and tiring and time consuming. And sometimes you miss out wonderful things that happen back home. Rhonda experienced this loss first hand this past Monday when she was giving a keynote speech in Jackson, MS. Sure, she may have had the opportunity to visit The Eudora Welty House, but she missed out on the arrival and inaugural playing of my Ethel Merman Disco Album. Poor Rhonda!