Escape artist

Strong and brave and inspiring and unafraid

Heroes live on, transcending space and time.

Embedded in the soul of the world

Forever on down the line.

Austen Everett's spirit will always inspire me.  What an incredible person.

To learn to sail

To learn to move and be moved; to trust yourself to trust the elements. Positioning yourself to make the most of what you're dealt. 

Moving, being moved; sailing, racing, relaxing, enjoying the ride. Without control, without concern.

Alamere Falls and the non-existent Bay Area winter

Super Bowl Sunday (February 5th) and still we've only had a few days of rain this winter. It feels like late spring and I'm sure all is not well in our eco-system.

Since I can't make it rain and am not the type to sit inside, I took advantage of the warm, dry day and headed to the Palomarin Trail, probably my favorite day hike in Marin. The sets of waves were suspiciously consistent, steadily crashing into shore at a therapeutic cadence.

Past the rope swing at Bass Lake and out to the falls we went. The poison oak was just beginning to sprout leaves and irises were popping up in all shades of purple.

Somehow there was enough water to create the usual spectacular cascading waterfall that spilled onto the quartz-filled beach, fighting back meagerly against the salted ocean waves.



Falls and flowers checked off the list, we headed back the way we came and drove off just in time to see the sun disappear glowing into the sea.



Want to experience this? Go through the small town of Bolinas to the Palomarin Trail. Start before noon, bring lunch, a swimsuit & towel, long pants and a sweatshirt. Hike two miles to Bass Lake. Go swimming and test out the rope swing on the far side of the lake. Eat lunch in the meadow or down by the lake and then walk another two miles to the trail to Alamere Falls. Put on your pants and long sleeves (poison oak alert) and walk all the way down to the falls and beach. Make sure you're back before sundown...

I've learned a few things running BrightTALK Summits

Some people sponsor trade shows and conferences. They set up booths and spend tens of thousands of dollars on gimmicks and equipment.

Other marketers sponsor online events. They eliminate the cost of equipment, gimmicks and people. Instead they focus on the aspects that drive the most significant results: branding, content, engagement and lead generation.

Over the last three years I've seen hundreds of online events come and go. BrightTALK Summits are really just a combination of webinars and/or videos on an interesting topic that are presented live throughout a day by presenters from around the world. If you can't watch them live, you can watch them afterward on demand. We open the events up to the leading experts from all aspects of professional life - academics, end-users, association leaders, analysts, authors, vendors and journalists. Each has a unique perspective on the trending issues, and audiences all gravitate toward different speakers that they trust. Thousands of people attend the summits and the vendors who sponsor the event get great value out of it through lead generation and follow-up.

If you're a marketer interested in what the heck an online event is, how to sponsor it, and/or how to make the most of the events you're already sponsoring, watch this: