Rumors among the Apple geeks

I’m not afraid to say it, I am an Apple (Mac) geek. So when rumors start stirring about new product releases, or even stories of the Mothership (Apple Inc.) hinting to their retailers to not order certain products, you know something is up. That being said, I’m hoping for a Macbook Pro refresh, and maybe a new cinema display.

Presentation Skills

I’m sure a lot of you have been in a position where you needed to present something to a group of people. Or, you were presented something and it was performed so poorly that it was just distracting.

Two presenters that inspire me are Steve Jobs and Al Gore. All politics and agendas aside, these guys understand how to get their points across. If you haven’t watched Steve present a keynote, you can download this one. The movie ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ was essentially a keynote by Al, with really cool media as a supporting cast.

Back to that opening statement, don’t be afraid to go out and gain support by presenting your thoughts. That bad feeling you have, it’s just anxiety. Everyone has it. One last quick bit of advice, go out and gain some support before you present. It will really help you fine tune your presentation.

Leadership Summit – Day 2 – Catherine Rohr

Catherine Rohr is the CEO and founder of the nonprofit Prison Entrepreneurship Program. 

Catherine left a successful career on Wall Street, gave up everything to head to Texas and start a prison ministry, teaching prisoners about business. To empower them, and grow them up…

Catherine is bringing it: Society is contributing to the issues with prisoners not being able to get back into it (society). We send them to prison and ask them to pay their debt, but when we let them out, we call them ex-cons. We make them check a box on their employment application to call them out.

Catherine is a tremendous leader that has built relationships with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She treats the TDCJ as a shareholder, a customer, which fosters a terrific partnership. She calls the TDCJ out as being a great risk taker allowing the PEP to run in their system.

PEP states: 4 years old, 1000 CEOs as volunteers, a single digit return to prison rate, 98% employment, 47 guys that have started their own business. 400 guys are graduating this year, with a goal of 1000 a year. PEP currently has a budget of 3.2 million, with a proposed budget of 10 million.

About fundraising: One of the saddest sales statistic is that only 47% of people ask for the sale at the end of pitch. If you believe in what you are selling, and are sold out, then its simple.

Catherine challenged all the leaders in attendance not to be wowed about her story and what she gave up to start this ministry, but instead, to ask God to ‘bring it’ and respond to His will for our lives. To give up everything to follow His direction for us.

To wrap it up, we heard from over 10 gentlemen that have recently been released from prison, and with the help of PEP, they are taking advantage of a second opportunity, to lead society, give back, be great parents to their children, and lead like Jesus.

Starbucks’ afternoon deal

I’ve been hearing reports over the last months about Starbucks and their financial issues. You’d never know it, since you see one around every corner, but I guess their growth is flat. To add more ‘value’ for their customers, their Chief Exec said, they’re offering a $2 grande iced beverage after 2pm. The ticket to this deal? You must bring in a receipt from your morning Starbucks visit.

Does this motivate you to make another trip for Starbucks?

Phoenix Rescue Mission’s Back to School Event

This past Saturday I was fortunate to see the Phoenix Rescue Mission in action with their Back to School Event. They helped families in the valley get ready for the school year by distributing school uniforms, socks, shoes, and sweet backpacks for the kids. They even gave out some ice cream for the hot ride home.

Another cool thing they did was minister to the parents and kids. It was really cool to see how much love and compassion there was flowing everywhere you looked. Kudos to them for a great event, and hopefully I can update with some stats later. Check out some pics from the event.

things that inspire

what is inspiring you today?

and in this corner…Cuil

Heard a report on NPR about an ex-employee of Google starting her own internet search engine. (listen here)
I find it really difficult to see Google getting knocked out anytime soon, but, I guess its star rose really fast in hindsight. 

I tried the new search engine, which is called Cuil. I wasn’t really impressed with my search results, but maybe you have better luck. Anyway, check the new contender out, and tell me what you think. Cuil.com