Note the not-so-crappy template I'm using for this blog now (thanks Google! You're the best!)Also, the domain for this blog is now http://bradleymetrock.blogspot.com ... so update your Favorites! :)
Just wrapped up the 11-day travel fiesta by attending the Harvard-MIT Math Tournament here in Boston. It's extremely cold up here but the tournament was very well attended. I had a lot of opportunities to speak with various students and teachers about the iTest and spread the word, and the iTest logo and link were in the program as well. Very good event.
The iTest website will be undergoing some renovation over the next week or two as we get ready for the iTest Tournament of Champions. I'll post here when the website has been updated.
Time to rest up, relax a little bit, and head back to Nashville tomorrow morning.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
Back in Nashville just for a moment...Lori and I watched one of our favorite shows on DVD (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit) and just rested, as both of us were up since the early morning hours this morning. Tomorrow, off to Beaufort.
"Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?"
- Steve Jobs...to John Sculley, in trying to convince him to leave PepsiCo and come work at Apple. Sculley was an innovator and a strong executive talent within Pepsi, and was on the so-called "fast track" at the company before being talked into leaving by Jobs.
Sculley was the one who conceived and implemented the famous "Pepsi Challenge" marketing piece, which allowed Pepsi to gain significant inroads against Coke in the early 80's.
Jobs talked Sculley into leaving and bringing his marketing instincts over to Apple, and not too soon after, Jobs was dismissed by Apple's Board of Directors and Sculley was handed the reins of the company. While Sculley did some great things (laid the groundwork for marketing Mac personal computers and actually coined the term "personal digital assistant" (PDA) ) he was generally outwitted by Bill Gates and Apple never really fulfilled its potential.
Of course, that's where Steve Jobs re-entered the picture in 1997, and Apple's been moving onward and upward ever since.
Anyway, I just find that famous Jobs quote to be pretty interesting when thinking about my generation's very explicit desire to "give back" something to the world. Social causes are among the top considerations in both Generation X and (especially) Generation Y's decision-making, from where they go to college to where they choose to work to where they choose to spend their money.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
HUMAN RESOURCES IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS FUNCTION OF THE MODERN CORPORATION.
And with that being the case, maybe it's time more employers started winning the global war for talent by using that appeal to a higher calling that Jobs used in the quote above.
"Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?"
- Steve Jobs...to John Sculley, in trying to convince him to leave PepsiCo and come work at Apple. Sculley was an innovator and a strong executive talent within Pepsi, and was on the so-called "fast track" at the company before being talked into leaving by Jobs.
Sculley was the one who conceived and implemented the famous "Pepsi Challenge" marketing piece, which allowed Pepsi to gain significant inroads against Coke in the early 80's.
Jobs talked Sculley into leaving and bringing his marketing instincts over to Apple, and not too soon after, Jobs was dismissed by Apple's Board of Directors and Sculley was handed the reins of the company. While Sculley did some great things (laid the groundwork for marketing Mac personal computers and actually coined the term "personal digital assistant" (PDA) ) he was generally outwitted by Bill Gates and Apple never really fulfilled its potential.
Of course, that's where Steve Jobs re-entered the picture in 1997, and Apple's been moving onward and upward ever since.
Anyway, I just find that famous Jobs quote to be pretty interesting when thinking about my generation's very explicit desire to "give back" something to the world. Social causes are among the top considerations in both Generation X and (especially) Generation Y's decision-making, from where they go to college to where they choose to work to where they choose to spend their money.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
HUMAN RESOURCES IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS FUNCTION OF THE MODERN CORPORATION.
And with that being the case, maybe it's time more employers started winning the global war for talent by using that appeal to a higher calling that Jobs used in the quote above.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Lori and I celebrated our own Valentine's Day yesterday, as that was the only time we could get into Melting Pot (and also, as we found out later, I'd be leaving town Wednesday anyway). We had a great time until a huge table of wound-up 16 and 17-year-olds came in and sat in close proximity to us...again, and I know I've asked this before, are we really getting this old? Where we're casting aspersions on high schoolers just being a little loud, and just being normal?
Regardless, it was nice to celebrate our fifth Valentine's Day together since initially meeting in September of '02. Time is flying.
Out here in Tucson for the moment...nice warm weather. And no laptop power cord, which I left in Nashville. That's going to end this post a little quicker than I'd like. Later.
Regardless, it was nice to celebrate our fifth Valentine's Day together since initially meeting in September of '02. Time is flying.
Out here in Tucson for the moment...nice warm weather. And no laptop power cord, which I left in Nashville. That's going to end this post a little quicker than I'd like. Later.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the last day of normalcy before an 11-day jaunt begins on Wednesday that will take me from Phoenix, to Tucson, back to Nashville for less than 24 hours, then to Beaufort, then to Boston, and back home again.
Everything is job related with the exception of flying to Boston for the Harvard-MIT annual math tournament, where the iTest will be sponsoring the event and I'll be meeting with various students and teachers throughout the weekend. This math tournament is one of the most prestigious tournaments, if not the most prestigious, on-site math competition in the United States. I'm definitely pleased that the iTest is a sponsor this year and we will likely be expanding our partnership with this event heading into next year.
Everything is job related with the exception of flying to Boston for the Harvard-MIT annual math tournament, where the iTest will be sponsoring the event and I'll be meeting with various students and teachers throughout the weekend. This math tournament is one of the most prestigious tournaments, if not the most prestigious, on-site math competition in the United States. I'm definitely pleased that the iTest is a sponsor this year and we will likely be expanding our partnership with this event heading into next year.
