My Own Private Elton John Concert

Facebook is exploding today with the list-10-bands thing. I'm sure you've seen it: people list 10 bands but only nine they've actually seen in concert, and then everyone replies with their guess as to which band is the fake, etc. It's really quite exhausting. But it got me reminiscing…

When I was an undergrad at Texas Tech, I had a job working for the athletic department in the Double T Shoppes. We sold Tech clothing, tchotchkes, car flags, noisemakers, and all kinds of red and black fanfare flare. We also set up vending booths at all of the Tech football, basketball, and baseball games. It was really kind of fun, and a whole new world for me—a kid from New York exploring my West Texas roots, excited for my very first job outside of the family business I grew up in—and soon after I started as a student assistant, they gave me quite a bit of responsibility and realized that I had a good eye for setting up displays and working with store layout and stuff.

In October of 1999, Texas Tech University built an enormous new Spanish Renaissance-style basketball arena: the United Spirit Arena. It was/is massive, and soon after I started working with the department we had the opportunity to open a brand new, gleaming Double T Shoppe in the new arena's main lobby—the first thing you would see when you walked through the main doors. So I worked as part of the team that set that store up, figured out where everything would go, got the product mix right, and on opening day it was a big hit! (And it happened about the same time as a big logo revamp for the university—going from a 2D to a 3D style "Double T" logo, which I, as a marketing major, totally nerded out over.)

Working in the brand spankin' new arena was a blast! I got to know its back entrances, unseen corridors, and inner workings; it was quite an impressive machine! And it just so happened that our shop was between the basketball coaches' offices, and Marsha Sharp at the time was the NCAA Champion Lady Raiders Head Coach. She was a local hero, and my office neighbor.

And then we hired Bobby Knight to coach the men's basketball team: the Red Raiders. His decision to move to Lubbock to join the Tech family was a whole giant event in itself because he was fresh off of his Indiana University drama and starting a new chapter in his legendary career. We had shirts made to welcome him, and for the longest time, upon every entrance he made to the arena, we blasted "Night Fever" (but of course spelled it "Knight Fever"). It was all in good fun, and Coach Knight was really a good sport. I truly enjoyed working near Coaches Sharp and Knight, and when I graduated they both signed a basketball for me—a piece of memorabilia that I regrettably sold years ago, trying to make ends meet during a figure-it-out moment.

(I know this article is about Elton John. And I'm sure at this point you're all kinds of wondering how that's going to fit into this story which, up until now, seems to be about basketball. But obviously I'm busy name dropping right now. And I'll get to Elton soon, I promise. I'm setting the stage…)

I started running (or at least was a lead on the team that ran) the vending for all of the Lady Raider and Red Raider basketball games at the new arena. For a kid that never really understood or cared about sports growing up, I caught a serious case of Raider fever; I never missed a game! So after a few months of kicking serious tail doing the arena's sporting event vending, I was approached by a promoter who was planning to hold some major concerts at our brand new venue. He needed a local team to set up vending for the artists' merchandise and offered to pay a significant sum (for a poor college kid like me, anyway) if I and a few coworkers of mine helped him out. So, of course, I jumped at the opportunity!

Elton John was slated to play the inaugural concert at the United Spirit Arena. We hadn't hosted a concert yet, so I got to the arena incredibly early to make sure the booths were set up correctly, get to know the product that we'd be selling, and do all of the responsible things that a hardworking 20-year-old who's trying to make a really good impression does. After setting up and making everything look fantastic, I had quite a bit of time to kill before the doors opened. And it just so happened that Elton had come out to the stage to warm up and do some sound checks.

No one was in the arena; the seats were empty. Elton was on stage, wearing a pink wind suit (wind suits were still kind of a thing then) (at least I think it was a wind suit) (maybe it was a warm-up suit) (whatever) and fluffy slippers, sitting at a gigantic piano. A few sound technicians were around, tweaking mics and speakers and running tests. But Elton didn't pay them much attention. He just played and sang—as free as ever, with talent that simply just cannot be described. His fingers danced on the keys, performing what can only be explained as music magic.

I wandered down to the front row of a section near the stage and took a seat—just me, sitting alone in a cavernous, brand new 15,000-seat arena, not 10 yards away from Rocket Man himself. He kept playing, and for all that mattered it was just for me (and the sound people, and the lighting people, and of course for his warm up … but this is my story, so indeed it was just for me). At one point, he looked at me and we made eye contact. In my head now, 17 years later, I remember him giving me a big smile … but honestly that could be imagination mixing with memory. Though he most certainly did look at me and we had a moment—very brief, but a moment—and a connection. Sir Elton Hercules John was giving me a private concert, and for a few minutes I just sat there in blissful wonderment, breathing it all in.

Eventually, my moment ended and Elton got up and went to his dressing room, likely to change out of his fluffy slippers and pink wind suit and into his sequined blazer and giant glasses for the big show. And so I went back to the vending booths, tweaked displays, and waited for the crowd.

We sold a lot of shirts that night, and from the concourse I thoroughly enjoyed the first major concert we held at the United Spirit Arena. From that point on, we played host to a number of acts, and I had the privilege of similar experiences with KISS, the Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam, WWE, Jars of Clay, and others.

I understand that the Double T Shoppe at the United Spirit Arena ended up closing. At least, I think it did. I was back a few years after graduation to visit family in Lubbock and was shocked to see it wasn't there anymore. Perhaps that grand entrance spot could be used for something else? Perhaps it was rebranded? I really don't know. Because it was pre-social media, I missed a lot of news from my alma mater in the years after I left. So all I have are good memories—memories, perhaps mixed with a bit of time-passing-fantasy—like those of the early evening on February 8, 2000, when Elton John looked me in the eyes, smiled, and sang to me … just for me.

#TexasTech #UnitedSpiritAreana #MarshaSharp #BobbyKnight #LadyRaiders #RedRaiders #EltonJohn #RocketMan #AskUncleMarty

Talk About It

I love talking on the radio.

I don't do radio ads often, but when I do I always get a thrill going to the studio, sitting in the soundproof booth, and letting it rip. And every so often I get the opportunity to be interviewed on the radio. Today was one of those opportunities.

The delightfully entertaining Lee Rayburn from Ithaca's own WHCU had me as a guest today on Morning Newswatch. He was curious about Collegetown, the neighborhood of Ithaca where my store, Uncle Marty's Shipping Office, is. You see, Collegetown has been under major redevelopment for two years now and it has dramatically affected vehicle traffic, pedestrian traffic, and consequently businesses … not the least of which my own.

Now I'm an optimist (generally, with certain moody exceptions). And I fully acknowledge that the rose-colored glasses that I wear can sometimes get on people's nerves. But truly I see hope and a very bright future with all of the construction surrounding my business. Of course it hurts now and has been an absolute bear to deal with—full of frustration, hair-tearing-out moments, and complete bewilderment at some of the things that we've seen occur—but through it all, the end result will indeed be fabulous!

So Lee and I talked about it. And I hope that our discussion will encourage more of the general public to visit our fine neighborhood and support our fine businesses during the redevelopment process that we're stuck in the middle of.

I'm very grateful for the opportunity to speak freely and openly, no matter what the topic. Because nothing gets done if nothing gets said. And there's always a way to address a situation in a proactive, positive, professional, and solution-based manner, which has been my approach with this construction process and an attitude I hope to continue with. As a result, and by being involved and outreaching, I've been able to make some amazing connections with major developers, landlords, media, and local city and university officials. It's been quite the silver lining!

We all have something to say. For some, it's sharing hope. For others, it's raising awareness. We have stories to tell, accusations to make, positions to defend, causes to rally for, jokes to jest, encouragement to give, love to extend, and new connections to foster.

A good friend of mine gave me very good advice recently. He's a designer and was critiquing some new logo ideas I was toying around with. He said, "In design, it's not what you can add, but what you can take away." And I think the same editing mindset is appropriate with our spoken/written platforms. But when it's appropriate, timely, and might—just might—bring positive change, then why not speak up?

Talk about it. It'll do you good.

#WHCU #Ithaca #Collegetown #UncleMartysOffice #AskUncleMarty

Check out the full interview here: http://whcuradio.com/morning-newswatch/uncle-marty-invites-you-to-collegetown/

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Also published on the AMBC blog on April 18, 2017.

The Skinny on Whole30

True story: I just lost 17 pounds in 30 days.

I first heard about Whole30 when my best friend did it for the first time. And I'll admit that if anyone else had described it to me, I would have thought it entirely too crunchy for my taste; I would have brushed it off as just another fad diet in a sea of wack-a-doo wackiness. But she is an extremely rational person, so I knew it must be legit.

Then my parents caught the Whole30 bug, did it, and loved it. And then more and more friends were posting about it and testifying to their newfound energy and outlook on food. So I, a novice dieter, decide to hop on board to give it a shot.

Whole30 is an elimination diet. Some have described it as "paleo on steroids," but really it's quite different. The concept is simple: eliminate anything that could possibly trigger an allergy, cause you to be lethargic, slow you down, disrupt your gut, and generally make you not function at your best. So for 30 days you don't eat any dairy, processed sugar, soy (and all legumes), grains, artificial sweeteners, additives, etc. Instead, you eat lots of vegetables, fruit, good fats and oils, meat, and fish.

After 30 days, you introduce the different groups you eliminated one by one to see how you react. And you learn a lot! You learn that that carb overload really does make you feel sick. You learn that chewing that piece of sugar-free gum makes your tummy hurt a little. You learn to moderate and not crave the stuff so much that makes you feel icky.

I have a newfound love for dates and dried figs. Granted, I'm just a few days out of it, but I can truly say that I crave vegetables more and eat nuts out of pleasure instead of obligation. I've discovered the miracle of deliciousness that is cashew butter. I've learned that nearly all bacon, sausage, ham are cured with an enormous amount of sugar, but there are a few brands that you can buy that are just as delicious as their sugar-laden contemporaries. And I no longer have a hounding desire to buy a box of donuts, sit in the dark with a glass of milk and my shame, and not come up for air until they're all gone.

One cornerstone of Whole30 is that you weigh yourself and take before photos on Day 1. Then you put the scale away. On Day 30, you bring it back out and weight yourself again and take after photos. You do this because the focus of the diet is not to lose weight, but rather simply to feel better. But many folks do lose weight in the process, and much to my surprise I dropped a much-needed 17 pounds! But by not weighing myself every day, I focused on how I felt. And that was so healthy!

Whole30 isn't for everyone. But if you're looking for a change, to feel better, and to become more aware of what foods do you well and what foods don't do you well, then check it out. Visit Whole30.com and read up on it. Then why not give it a shot!? After all, what do you have to lose?

#Whole30 #IFeelGreat #AskUncleMarty

A Deer in the Headlights

If you haven't deduced by now from previous posts, I am a full-fledged, card-carrying podcast junkie. They're a great way for me to pass time and exercise my mind on my hour-each-way, six-days-a-week commute from my home in the southern tier of New York to my business in Ithaca, in the finger lakes region.

I stayed in Ithaca late on Monday night, honored to be a guest of the City of Ithaca at the Downtown Ithaca Alliance Annual Dinner. They seated me at Table One along with the presenters and City staff, and I enjoyed the evening watching a dear retiring friend and colleague of mine receiving a special recognition award. We had a blizzard on the way and winter storm warnings coming from every direction, so I was eager to get on the road after the event ended, nevertheless feeling great about the evening, the new contacts I made, the bonds I strengthened, and the potential for the future; I was feeling pretty invincible.

It hadn't started snowing yet, so I was driving at my normal pace—admittedly too fast—along the long, hilly stretch of two-lane roads that I know oh so well … over mountains, alongside streams, and through the breathtaking upstate New York landscape and once-beautiful little towns that pepper its valleys. About halfway through the drive, my podcast ended. For the life of me, I can't figure out why my app sometimes will play another podcast in succession and other times won't. I also can't figure out how to take the episode lineup off shuffle mode and put it on oldest-first mode. But I digress…

The podcast ended and I opened my phone to queue up another one. As I was scrolling through the list, trying to decide if I wanted to listen to another episode of The Bowery Boys or Stuff You Should Know, the podcast app suddenly closed without my prompting. Overreacting, I let out a calm expletive, rolled my eyes, and glanced up at the road … instantly slamming on my breaks and letting out a number of other not-so-calm expletives. A deer was right in front of me, bounding across the road inches from my front bumper!

It was a narrow miss—entirely too narrow, and nothing short of a miracle. If my podcast app hadn't shut down as it did, causing me to look up, I'd likely be in pretty bad shape right now. It takes my breath away even now as I think about it, five days later.

There are times when you coast along, day after day, mile after mile, along the same road, doing the same thing, numb, dumb, and in a blinding routine. There are times when we feel great, or even invincible. And then moments happen—sharp, sudden moments that wake you up and make you realize that you're incredibly mortal, part of something much greater, and by no means alone. There are moments when you see clear, unmistakable intervention on your behalf … and a necessary wake-up call.

#DistractedDrivingIsSerious #DontTextandDrive #KeepYourEyesUp #AskUncleMarty

We Got Social in New York

What a weekend!

My coaching partner Fahim Mojawalla and I had the honor and privilege of attending another PostalMate regional training weekend, this time in a little place near and dear to both of us: New York City. PC Synergy, the makers of PostalMate, a leading software in the mail and business center industry, asked the Association of Mail & Business Center (AMBC) to send representatives to their events again this year … and when we say it was an "honor and a privilege" to attend, we really do mean it!

The PostalMate team is a delightful lot. Their three main amigos, Rhonda, Karen, and Henry, are a joy to be around, engage their audience like few others are able to, and their combined knowledge and experience are hard to top; they make software training fun! We were glad to join other vendor representatives who also presented, including iPostal1, Pacific Office, Anytime Mailbox, FotoZoomer, Supply Side, and RSA, who lead their RS BootCamp new owners training session on Saturday. It's a tremendous group--each one bringing something unique and game-changing--and indeed we love being a part of it.

As a non-profit, member-owned industry advocacy, certification, and training organization, my fellow AMBC Board of Directors members and I love attending training events, industry summits, conventions, expos, and forums across the country. We go as volunteers and fellow store owners to share what AMBC has done for us personally and for the industry as a whole, to teach, to inspire, to raise the bar, and most of all to talk face-to-face with other store owners … sharing, learning, and growing together.

This weekend, in addition to wearing our AMBC hats and talking with our friends and peers about AMBC's programs, news, and focus, Fahim and I were also asked to wear our business coach hats and teach a marketing and social media session. The PC Synergy team has been involved in plenty of #FahimFix social media seminars and Marketing with Marty™ marketing and image seminars in the past, and this weekend gave us the opportunity to collaborate, blend our cohesive messages, and co-teach brand new #FahimFix and Marketing with Marty™ creation: Get Social!

Get Social! takes a new approach to how we think about social media. As Fahim often says and I often quote, "It's social media, people, not solicitation media!" Our aim through this class is to encourage businesses to take a community-minded approach through modern platforms with the goal to create a network of loyal advocates and friends of your business. And this can and will happen simply because you are involved in and a voice for your neighborhood, not because you're trying to sell something.

We were thrilled to debut Get Social! this weekend, and look forward to sharing it and a number of our other classes with similar groups and upcoming industry events. In fact, AMBC's Executive Director Sarah Rohde, Fahim, and/or myself—along with our selfie sticks—are slated to be at five more PostalMate regional training weekends and four ShipRite regional training weekends this year, in addition to AMBC's own event near Niagara Falls in October. Look for one or more of us popping up in cities like Charlotte, Las Vegas, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Orlando, Utica, Biloxi, Grand Island, and San Diego soon!

#PostalMate17 #NYC #AMBC4ME #MembersHelpingMembers #FahimFix #AskUncleMarty #EmbracetheSelfieEmbracetheCommunity

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For more photos from the event, please visit facebook.com/ambctoday.

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Edited version published on the AMBC blog on March 7, 2017.

Get Social!

Prepare yourselves.

AMBC's dynamic duo, Fahim and Uncle Marty, are teaming up and teeming with excitement to present our brand new class, Get Social!, at the PostalMate Regional Training Weekend this Sunday in New York. Our new seminar takes the concept of how we behave in social settings, among peers, and in our communities and applies it to social media strategies.

There's nothing quite like getting together in a room with other small business owners to share ideas, information, and inspiration. But what is it we're actually doing when we're together? Sure, we're training. Sure, we're learning new techniques. And absolutely, we're discovering a myriad of new features in our software. But we're also building a community. We're discovering people in very similar situations to our own and creating bonds with them that will last a lifetime. We're making friends, sharing laughs, and bringing why we do what we do back into focus; we're sharpening our intentions.

This societal concept is exactly what we'll communicate through Get Social! We want to guide our peers away from using social media platforms—those amazing, revolutionary, and free tools at our fingertips—to blatantly advertise and instead encourage their use for building a community and creating a genuine following of loyal advocates—not just customers, but dedicated clients and friends of your business.

Though Fahim and I have collaborated on projects more times than we can count and work closely together as members of the AMBC Board of Directors, this will mark the first time a #FahimFix social media seminar and a Marketing with Marty™ marketing and image seminar officially team up to co-present a class. And we're pumped!

We must thank PC Synergy and the PostalMate team in advance for inviting us to their regional events. We are honored to be able to share, thrilled to participate, and very grateful to glean from other presenters and attendees.

If you're unable to attend this weekend's event, don't fret. We and the rest of the AMBC Board have a habit of popping up at events here, there, and everywhere, always ready to share fresh, timely content. So stay tuned!

#AMBC4ME #PostalMate #FahimFix #AskUncleMarty #DynamicDuo #NewYorkNewYork

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Also published on the AMBC blog on February 28, 2017.

Jiggery-Pokery

My brother Allen and I were listening to a Ted Talk podcast yesterday. In it, Jonathan Rossiter, a charming roboticist, was talking about creating new kinds of robots. As he was describing biodegradable robots and detailing how to make basic components at home, he said in his delightful British accent, "If you take some jelly and some salts, and do a bit of jiggery-pokery, you can make an artificial muscle."

In what must have seemed like choreographed synchrony, Allen and I both gasped, looked at each other, and burst out laughing.

"Jiggery-pokery?" What was this delicious new phrase? And why had we never heard it before!? We were instantly obsessed.

We finished the Ted Talk, all the while laughing and completely amused by our new favorite verbalism. Both of us, I'm sure, were trying to figure out in our own heads how we could casually interject "jiggery-pokery" into a sentence as soon as possible … because that's how brains work in our family.

The next podcast in queue was a Grammar Girl episode on double dactyl poetry. (And let me quickly interject how much I love Grammar Girl. She's pretty much my hero. I never miss a lesson; I'm enlightened each and every engaging episode.)

Mignon Fogarty, Grammar Girl herself, in honor of National Grammar Day, was giving us a lesson on dactyls—three syllable words or phrases where the first syllable is stressed and followed by two unstressed syllables, like "octopus" or "applesauce." Then we learned about double dactlys—a distinct form of poetry in which the title is always a two-dactyl proper noun, like "Grammar Girl Fogarty" or "Jonathan Rossiter."

We learned that often the first line of a double dactyl poem is a silly or nonsensical phrase, like "Hibbely dibbely" or "Capital underpants." Then Mignon told us where to find the rest of the requirements for a proper double dactyl: in the introduction to the book Jiggery-Pokery: A Compendium of Double Dactyls.

What!? There's a book titled Jiggery-Pokery!? Like, this is a real thing and not just an amusing phrase perfectly punctuated by British roboticists when they're talking about putting salt on household jelly to create homemade robot components? The revelatory moment for us two word nerds was too blissful to describe.

So as a heads up, you'll be seeing and hearing much more jiggery-pokery from my brother and me going forward. Because, after all, phrases like "jiggery-pokery" are what make the English language okery dokery.

#JiggeryPokery #GrammarGirl #MignonFogarty #TedTalks #JonathanRossiter #AskUncleMarty