Archive for category My Adventures

Taking Time Off to Read

Jul 10

Posted by Robert Stinnett in Home Life, My Adventures | Comments

Next week I’ll be taking some time off from work and one of the things on my list is to catch up on my reading. As of right now I have about 18 books that I want to read that I just haven’t gotten too – and some are several months old!

One of the things about most workplaces, and where I work is no different, is that employees are never really allowed to recharge their batteries. Sure, you get a few weeks vacation each year – but as anyone can tell you (and studies have proven) most employees come back to work feeling worse than before they left because all they can think about during the week or two they take off is work, and all the work waiting for them at work when they get back!

Some companies do it right and offer employees sabbaticals every so often. For example, a few companies offer employees one or two months off to do whatever they want (in addition to their regular vacation) for every 5 years of employment. The employees get to really relax and come back to work energized and refreshed and ready to really contribute to the team and the company. They have enough time to completely decouple their lives from work and enjoy the down time.

Other companies take it a step further and have gotten rid of the notion of vacation time altogether. Employees are encouraged to take as much time as they need, whenever they want to – as long as they meet their expectations, they are treated like adults who can manage their own lives. What a concept – being measured on your contributions and results instead of your ‘butt in chair time’.

For me, though, its a rush to do a thousand things in 7 short days so I can jump back into the rat race. At least, if nothing else, I hope to be able to enjoy a few good books – and let my imagination soar.

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Tags: reading, sabbatical, vacation, work-life balance

Get Motivated!

Jun 22

Posted by Robert Stinnett in My Adventures | Comments

As some of you know, especially those I see in the “offline world”, I’ve been working to lose weight. In fact, I’m down a little over 30lbs and feeling great. I still have a long way to go, but I’m motivated to keep on taking it off.

As someone who struggled for years to lose weight I finally just one day found my motivation – being young! At 35 years of age I just felt too old. I wanted to go shirtless at the pool and listen to hip-hop artists such as Black Eyed Peas and feel good about myself. So I just decided to get off my butt and do it.

People soon began to tell me I should chronicle my journey and help others find the motivation they need. I thought about it and one night while looking at domain names came across one that just sounded “right” – JoinOn.In. So I decided that I’d invite others to “Join on in!” and find the motivation they needed to achieve their fitness goals. I figured that together we all could be the motivator for each other.

So I’ve started working on the site and even hired a professional graphic designer to help come up with the logo – which I’m proud to debut for you all. It’s simple, but I really like it – and it sums up what the site is going to be all about in one simple statement, “Get Motivated!”

Of course, I decided that I was going to do this right – and the marketer in me just started to have more and more ideas. At work they recently handed our wrist bands for our new ad campaign and I thought “these are way cool” so off I went and ordered 300 wrist bands to get the site started – freebies that I plan on handing out to help people stay motivated!

Of course now the fun part begins – creating the content and other materials that will actually make up the site. I’m planning on doing both written and video content, but I’m going to be leaning heavy on the video content. Probably around 60% video, versus 40% written content. The reason? We are living in a connected world, and video tells a story that text can’t. Besides, I can talk in front of a camera all day and night long – so I might as well put that talent to use.

If all goes well the site should launch around the 2nd week of July. I’m taking things slow because I want to make sure the launch is something I can be proud of. No need to rush, and I’m still working with the behind-the-scenes stuff anyway.

Hopefully, if nothing else, the site will be a way for me to connect with others who need motivation and really do want to live a healthier life. Hopefully together we’ll be able to encourage one another and reach out and form support groups no matter how far apart in real life we really area.

Together we’re going to Get Motivated! So come on, JoinOn.In!

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Tags: fitness, health, JoinOn.In, Marketing, website

Lights, Camera, Action!

May 1

Posted by Robert Stinnett in My Adventures | Comments

This week I’ve been visiting the folks at BMC Software in Houston, TX. It’s been a very busy, and highly productive week. Learning so much about CONTROL-M, Patrol and the BSM strategy that BMC has put forth.

One of the “fun” parts of the trip was that my colleague and I went into the BMCtv studios and shot some video. I did this before, about 3 years ago, and the video (here) has always garnered me name and face recognition whenever I bump into CONTROL-M folks.

This time around we were talking about BSM and the BMC support structure. I snapped a shot of my colleague Jerry up on the monitors in the control room. First, it’s amazing at all the gadgets and equipment they had in here – second this was all being filmed in high definition so the price tag for the equipment was pretty steep. They were telling us one of the studio cameras cost over $100,000!

I’m impressed with the quality of work they do – and it’s great to see a company like BMC that is willing to invest in this type of technology to help “get the word out” about the products and offerings.

As I was walking down the hall at BMC up on one of their display walls they had my video from about 3 years ago playing for CONTROL-M. I couldn’t help but grab a shot of myself! I guess you could say that I finally got my “5 minutes of fame” – after all, how many people get to see themselves up on 6 different screens at the same time!