Marshallshore’s Weblog

Convergence of Life! November 13, 2009

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Yes, it has been a while since I blogged, but it has been an amazing few weeks. First was the Library Consulting retreat in Nashville. Days with amazing brains that are helping libraries reach forward. Getting to brainstorm with the crowd was amazing and is driving me to investigate podcasting on nation and local level. I will be highlight national library issues and programs and locally drawing attention to the local gems and stories that make this valley a great place to be. These are very much pulling in my passion of stories, libraries, community, and retro. Speaking of Retro, I am thrilled to have hosted the ever cheerful Charles Phoenix. Working to bring him to town in a odd economy was a risk, but the opportunity to raise awareness and build community were desperately need at this time. Last night I was part of a showcase to celebrate the completion of a level of improve through The Torch Theater Improv classes. I am happy to say that we blew each other away and will be forever changed by the experience of the class. It really start with a great teacher Jose and an amazing team that threw themselves into it, never looking back. I am already look to use some of the YES and… along with some other games that we played with each other in a possible library training, up coming.

The last few weeks have been such a convergence of continuing to learn who I am at the core, where am I going, and what I am doing. There will be lots of opportunities coming up and choices to be made. It is a very exciting time and continues to be scary, but at the same time so emotionally raw.

Coming soon a podcast via Gabcast and so much more! Including Podcamp tomorrow.

Alignment for the future September 29, 2009

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I would have to say that at this time my life I am in the best physical shape of my life. Going to the Y regularly and water aerobics . One thing I have become actually aware of is the position of my body parts. Noticing that when my flat feet are in the natural position of being duck footed my posture is bad, shoulders slumped forward drawing my neck oddly forward. Simply pulling my feet inward opens my chest like a yoga pose, aligns my spine and my chakras. This got me thinking about the other alignments in my life. Which the universe keeps whacking me and telling me that I on the right path. Just when the towel is about to be thrown in something happens. Like a few weeks ago 2 random friends both told me about the life changing entrepreneurship class that was starting the next week. It is quite interesting and helps hone the skills and products that are marketable. Several friends are also talking about the alignment of the universe for them and that we are all on an amazing journey . There is also improv class trough the torch Theater is fun. last week in class there were only three of us and we explored physical space on stage, personal monologs to improv scene and turning questions into action statements. I would say something that I have a problem with in life. Probably the best line “Libraries are panty droppers.” Glad that my physical alignment is improving and working on the mental alignment of myself and where I am going. How are things aligning in your life? What barriers are you encountering and how can you effect change to them?

43 is going to be one hell of a great year! September 17, 2009

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For me my Birthday is like New Years. I typically look back on the year and enact change, that by Nov has me in such a huge state of flux. This year is no different.  I have started taking an Improv class through The Torch Theatre. For the next 8 weeks I will be hanging out at the Phoenix Public LIbrary were are classes are held. I ride light rail down and make a day of it hanging out at Lola Coffee, reading , catching up on email and meeting friends. Which brings me to the next big step I am taking . While meeting with Alison Rapping and setting a up a online community of consultants using bigtent. Which is really cool and I will be blogging more about that as we get more into. She was talking about this program Fastrac in AZ  found here http://www.arizonaft.com and ran by Francine Hardaway. Francine’s Blog and she blogs about our Tempe class and the Gilbert Class. The first class was really informative and the entire programs focuses on entrepreneurship. Already It is very informative! What else am I doing! I am working with Charles Phoenix www.Charles Phoenix: God Bless Americana! Who will be presenting a show here in Phoenix on Nov Fri, 6 & Sat ,7. More to come on that as it rolls out.

What are you doing to affect change in your life?

Holiday….It would be so nice if we took a holiday…. September 11, 2009

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The weekend  started with a happy hour drink at sidebar with Marsha Mardock from the fabulous pet boutique Noble Beast and her friend Chris after a couple cucumber vodka and soda. Marsha and I headed over to a meal at The Clarendon Hotel and its fairly new eatery Gallo Blanco Cafe. From there the weekend  Paul slowing down to enjoy a Holiday cookout! Paul and I hosted Kathleen Bartolomei and Meghanne Bearden. I went to Sprout’s and Tan Phat, the local Vietnamese market and loaded up on veggies that include eggplant, okra, and baby bok choy. The BC was amazing on the grill, the okra got a little over done (OK it would have made better toothpicks) I ate the only good one before I  realized my mistake. I will be doing it again, but with a better eye on the okra. Kathleen treated us to a famous bundt cake, lemonade with pink lemonade drizzle + yum yum cool whip. I just finished off the last piece tonite. After a shot of Vanilla Vodka for one of us, we move our party to the below ground movie theater of Eileen Brill Wagner (I use her full name so her google alert will pick it up.) Though there was a brief stop at Tan Phat again to get a bunch of treats to experiment with. The best looking was the Moon Festival pig made of Lotus Root the shape was very real. On a taste scale the winner was a banana bread that was really tasty. The best name was “Jacker” but it was mostly whipped air and bad creme filling. After our indulgence of odd treats we made our way to the basement and watched Helvetica. It is a really interesting documentary about the font. It raised the awareness of the people in the room about Fonts. I filled out an RFP for the Museum Association of Arizona and changed it all to Helvetica. Right now,  I typically use Futura, but choose the H font to honor the weekend and Paul took pretty the entire day off and enjoyed himself.

I will never look at Helvetica the same, it will bring memories of a great day. Do you have any font stories?

How I Spent a Great Wed September 3, 2009

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After talking with a few people who asked for pics of MCLD Deweyless Libraries, figured I could post some here. So Wed I spent the afternoon driving around to three different libraries and will be posting them soon. It was really nice seeing the Deweyless concept expanding. SInce it was 1st Wed, which means Chandler Art Walk! I met with my friends Kris Sherman and Terry. I arrived early and went seeking free WiFi I could have visited the Downtown Chandler Library, that would have meant crossing the street. Too much effort. LOL! OK I also wanted a meeting with my friend vodka. So, I hit up the Urban Tea Loft and first was a little disturbed when they said I would need to go in the back room since they don’t allow phone or laptops in the main dinning room. staff lead me  down a  hallway which got me worried the it be next to the bathroom in the kitchen. Pleasantly the room had a lounge feel, tuck naugahyde walls, great little modern laptop tables with a big window looking into the dinning room. In fact it was so cozy that Kris, Terry and I  missed the Art Walk and talked for hours. It was great to catch up, hang out, and  we are already planning another rendezvous to coincide with the completion of remodeling of a couple of Chandler lIbraries. Terry learned about Volunteer opportunities with Chandler library help students learn in a variety of programs. Which is something he has been looking to do, but didn’t know how to investigate. We also ran into the amazingly energetic Eileen Brill Wagner from the Downtown Chandler Community Partnership. Kris asked about other cool happening and out came a long list. The up shot, they are now facebook friends. So Kris can keep tabs on the events happening in DT Chandler. Here is a toast to bringing circles together and having great times. The big lesson learned was take pics, there should have been at least 1 pic to document this gather of friends. Next time! Here is to the continued learning of us all!

H.S reunion 2.0 style using Stickam.com August 31, 2009

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Last weekend was my 25 HS reunion in Lafayette, IN. Due to  changes in life I was unable to justify the expense, but living in a age of 2.0. Several of us were able to participate. Not in holiday family passing of the phone variety, but setting up a web cam C U C ME with chat so that those not in attendance could participate. Matt Wilson set up via stickam.com  the whole enchilada including listen to DJ spin tunes. I was able to log on and my mac synched, boom  there I was toasting with many folks I have not seen in 20+ years and even able to dance the Time Warp Agaiiiiin . It really was a great experience. Of course there were issues  more because the party was outside and the music and cam were inside. But Thank you to classmates who came in, danced, and waved to all of across the country. I was surprised to reconnect with non attending people via chat and meaningful discussion with attendees. Hope to make to the 30th and reconnect.

stickam.com and bigtent.com are to new sites on my radar and trying to figure out how use them in community building. Had lunch with a recently retired fried Rich, a big piece of the discussion was community building. Looking forward to how that progresses.

Do you all have success or lessons learned stories of virtual community building? Please share!

Starbucks Pilot Stores Lack Starbucks Moniker, Sell Beer and Wine – MediaBuyerPlanner August 29, 2009

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Starbucks is trying a whole new approach to continue the reign as 3rd place KING. They would not be investing money, time, or effort into creating this space unless it was to create and maintain customers. How can libraries benefit from this? Look at the local coffee shops around you what is you like about those spaces?

Here are my top three as I sit is a local cafe typing this:

Food/ Coffee

Community

Vibe

What are yours?

Can those be translated what a library provides?

Starbucks Pilot Stores Lack Starbucks Moniker, Sell Beer and Wine

Published on July 16, 2009 | Email this article

Coffee retailer Starbucks, which plans to close at least 800 U.S. stores this year, is remodeling three stores in the Seattle, WA market to test a new local coffeehouse store format. Product offerings will include alcohol.

According to the Seattle Times, next week Starbucks will open the first pilot store, called 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, writes Retailer Daily.

The new stores will be named after the neighborhoods where they are located, rather than carry the Starbucks banner. All products sold will also be rebranded to match the store’s name. Product assortment will be expanded to include beer and wine and espresso will be brewed manually, rather than from an automated machine as at traditional Starbucks locations. The new stores will also feature community events such as poetry readings.

In light of fiscal troubles that have continued since Starbucks posted its first-ever financial loss in August 2008, Starbucks has launched a myriad of new products and strategies. This year, Starbucks has removed high-fructose corn syrup and artificial ingredients from its baked goods, unveiled a new breakfast pairings menu that offers special discounts on combination orders of coffee and breakfast food items, entered the instant coffee market and expanded its line of premium ice cream consumer products.

In March, 2009, Starbucks released a public long-term growth strategy that included meeting customer needs for quality and value as key goals.

Fast food retailer McDonald’s, which has been making a major push into the coffee market in the past year, is expanding its in-store McCafe specialty coffee shops in both North America and Europe. According to (pdf) the most recent Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, Starbucks is the third-most popular coffee chain in the U.S., trailing McDonald’s and vertical leader Dunkin’ Donuts. Dunkin’ Donuts is not experimenting with new store formats but is aggressively expanding into new markets via franchising.

Starbucks Pilot Stores Lack Starbucks Moniker, Sell Beer and Wine – MediaBuyerPlanner

Fresh Start of Marshall Shore’s adventure August 16, 2009

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I am considering this my first blog post. Though, I have had false starts, but after defining my purpose which is to chronicle my adventures on the road to self-employment. 6 Mos. ago when I began my journey I was focusing on my passions which are: Community, Creativity, Consulting

Last month while attending the American Library Association annual conference in Chicago I was reminded of another passionate C. Connections

So current path is paved with:

Community

Creativity

Consulting

Connections

Easter Week Reflections April 12, 2009

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This week start with attending a presentation on Cyber Bullying offered by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). As they are getting ready to kick off a program that includes talking about handling this issue with youth. Also through ADL  made a connection with Lodestar Day Resource Center and am helping set up a library at the Homeless Services campus. That will be a really interesting project! 

http://www.cass-az.org/ 

This week launched a project I am working on with some other friends to document gay and lesbian history in AZ post war boom to Stone Wall. Had our first interview with a man who has lived in Phoenix since the third grade and was a delight to work with. Also made a stop by the Tempe Historical Museum to talk about the interviews they will be adding to their collection of Tempe residents and do a brief look at some of the materials for their collection. Most interesting was a reference to a 1977 Advocate article on Gay Life in Phoenix and a mention of a murder. 

Thanks for embarking on this adventure with me.