Bonn, Germany 300 days a year on the road and no play makes Peter a dull boy. And we can’t have that. People ask me the last time I took an honest-to-goodness vacation, and I can’t remember. I think it was a few years ago? No idea. My last business trip, though? Well, I’m on one right now. The main reason I don’t go insane with as much as I’m on the road for business? I try to throw in a bit of fun on every trip, no matter how little time I have. It could be anything from an hour to a few extra days, depending on the logistics of my trip. But no matter what, I make sure [...]

When I boarded my flight Wednesday morning from Denver to Houston to connect to a flight to Asheville for my speech on Thursday, I tweeted out a question. I said “I’ve got roughly five hours in the air today. How can I help you? You’ve got 45 minutes to respond.” And people did! So briefly, here’s what people asked, and my answers: @andreahrizk said that she needs exposure about a shortage of interactive talent in the advertising industry, and included a link: http://imediaconnection.com/content/28737.asp – I think she has a point – Small interactive ad shops can’t offer the same “possibility of instant riches” that tech startups, whether they be in a basement or in the Google offices, can. As such, [...]

This is a post in the continuing series of How to be Taken Seriously. In this post, we’re going to discuss how the littlest things can tell people so much about you, before you’re even aware they are. Nathan Muir: You just gave her four pieces of personal information for one dubious impersonal fact. 1) You’re straight, 2) You’re engaged, 3) Tomorrow’s your girls birthday, and 4) You have terrible taste in women’s clothing. Tom Bishop: Just trying to find out where she got that dress. Nathan Muir: What if she were an asset? You told her four lies that now have to be true. Spy Game, (Robert Redford, Brad Pitt) 2001 This afternoon finds me on an Amtrak train, [...]

This is a part of a continuing series of posts on the topic of how to be taken seriously. And if you wonder why a post about how to live your life while having fun is part of a group of posts on being taken seriously, think about it – If you can be a professional, while having fun and enjoying your life, there’s nothing more respected than that. Before you read this post, read this one first. Chances are, if you’re gonna leave a snarky comment, it’s already been left there. Now then: I’m writing this blog post on a flight back from Frankfurt, a connection to end a trip that started four days ago at Newark Airport, led [...]

Update: Foursquare got in touch with me and explained the problem I’m having. They don’t have a solution just yet, but have added me to the beta list to help test a solution when they find one. Additionally, and and I dont believe connected, Foursquare appears to work in Cape Town, South Africa. At this point, it seeme to be an issue of what the network I’m on is vs. the network Foursquare believes me to be on. Will keep you updated. So I just landed in Frankfurt, Germany. Got ten hours to kill here on my way to South Africa. As the plane taxis to the gate, I launch Foursquare on my Blackberry Bold WorldPhone, and as expected, it [...]