 Picture story: Taken from Disneyworld, Austin, Jacob, and I were messing around and mugging for the camera while waiting in line for a ride at The Land in Epcot. Austin flapped his arms and I lengthened the exposure enough that the image blurred. They had great fun with this, as did I. I'll post a couple more of these down the road... As anyone who reads the web site knows, I'm the founder of 247Toolset, the web platform that organizations can use to increase and coordinate the engagement of those associated with their mission. I have a few candidates for office using it, a couple of business accelerators using it, a networker using it to manage his myriad contacts, and one other. Sales were tough in this economy as we entered the Sunday of the year: December. End-of-year budgets were tight, and my salespeople told me frankly that January would be better. Awesome - welcome January. Back in November, I had a conversation with a couple of friends of mine. We were discussing how cities can improve their budget. The remedy for any city with a tight budget is one of two avenues: either cut spending or increase taxes and fees. Expenses and revenue - those are the only solutions. But I suggested back then that a city might employ a volunteer force. Why do city workers need to clean a neighborhood park? Certainly it's in the best interest of the folks of that neighborhood to keep it clean. And if activities like that took place, city managers could either replace the workers (saving costs) or re-allocate those workers into other areas (expanding services). Then it occurred to me that the city could provide rebates on property taxes to those who became engaged like this. Think of all the retirees who would like more social activity, a bit more control over the amount of taxes that they pay out, and who would like to improve their community. 247Toolset would be ideal for stewarding such a volunteer force and for coordinating their activities. I have a conversation with a mayor next week about this topic. This morning, I'll be talking to our salespeople about it as well. I've also become an owner in an Internet radio station. Des Moines Local Live has some issues technologically, and so I'll work to remedy those issues in the next month. About three months ago, I asked the guys who started it if I could tinker with their revenue model. They said, "Yes, please." From that, I wrote out a vision paper entitled, "Ripples." And so they invited me to become part of their world. More on that later... I continue to work on the complicated web site for the HVAC industry. To do so, I've brought in another developer. Jonathan lives in Taiwan, and has been a breathtakingly good find. My work with him has introduced me to the world of Skype, which I've learned works wonderfully when it comes to international communication. Then, I'm giving a bit of advice to Louis Dean, the singing gourmet. He's the guy who made our 1,000th day of marriage even more special. And finally, Dave Funk has asked me to become his campaign chair for Polk County. To which I say, "Yes." And that will be the sum total of my political involvement this year - getting Dave elected. Whew! | 
