Our First Mets Game

We went to our first Mets game on Friday 8/24/07. I have to say that it was a fantastic game as the played the Los Angeles Dodgers (orginally from Brooklyn). It was a win! Carlos, I know you are loving this!

We sat in the Bear Stearns box seats right next to third base and had a great view. My daughter is a huge fan of David Wright while my son is a fan of Jose Reyes. Both kids got what they wanted which was a very close up view of their favorite player. It was such a great family experience compared to Yankee Stadium which we visited last year. I have to admit it.

Even though most of my family are still Seattle Mariner fans, I have to admit I am still a tried and true fan of Yankee baseball. I hope my team can make the playoffs this year. I will keep my fingers crossed.

M&A and Financial Shenanigans

There are all kinds of rumors swirling around possible financial transactions about my current company, Oxygen Media. This post on Dilbert.com reminded me about the kinds of games that can go on around such events.

While most of the company is swirling around gossiping about this potential transaction, I am very pleased to see that my team(s) are just "hunker'd down" and doing their jobs respectively to a very high level. It is such a breath of fresh air. As a matter of fact, we have released our best product to date on Ript.com™ and several other great ones under development -- stay tuned.

My hunch is that this is because all of them live in their own skin (I know I do). By that I mean, they are all very confident (and rightfully so) and understand that their individual skills and talents are so valuable no matter what the future holds at Oxygen or any other company for that matter.

It’s All About the People Stupid

I remember watching a talk news show after Bill Clinton defeated the first George Bush in 1992. It was James Carville a political pundit announcing to the media why George Bush had lost the 1992 election so badly to Bill Clinton. He said "It's the economy stupid".

That quote sticks with me on the eve of our team's launch of a great new purposeful and playful product that they have developed -- Ript™.

As with any great product, there have been several things that make it special -- the idea, our product owner, the process, etc. The most important to me though is the Team.

Not at my present company but at some places I have been that don't grok technology I have had to remind execs of a similar idea to what James Carville said to the media in 1992 -- that is -- "It's All About the People Stupid". This would seem obvious but to some its not.

I have found throughout my career in technology that it is one of the core truths about Software Development and Information Technology. It is truly all about the people.

Please check out my team members blogs listed here because they have some great stories to tell about this fantastic new product.