Category — 1 of Many

Here’s a blast from the past.  One of my many Tim Tebow posts from the ole’ Gator Grotto blog.

Unless you’ve been sleeping under water with your nostrils just above the surface, you know the Gators won the BCS Championship last week down in Miami.  And unless you’ve been sleeping under water you know that the famous quarterback from UF,  Tim Tebow, was the game’s MVP.

And unless you’ve been sleeping under water you know that Tim Tebow is an amazing young man who loves his family, cares about the people around him, cares even more about people who have not been as fortunate as him in their lives, and is a devout Christian.

The famous quarterback, Tim Tebow, has created quite a stir with the eye black that he wears under his eyes when he’s playing the game.  While eye black is the stuff athletes put under their eyes to reduce the reflections from the sun or other bright lights, Tebow has used eye black to proclaim his faith.

Throughout the season the famous quarterback, Tim Tebow,  has worn Phil 4:13 on his eye black.  If you didn’t already know, Phil 4:13 is a bible verse that states; I can do everything through him who gives me strength. [Read more →]

As Congress debates the fiscal 2012 appropriations and attempt to develop a long-term deficit reduction plan, members must deal with critical issues facing the nation. One issue is the support of biomedical research, which saves lives, improves quality of life and can serve as the foundation to improve the economy.  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) provide leading academic and research institutions with the financial support necessary to build the infrastructure to conduct life saving medical science that potentially will affect all of our lives.

In the 40 years since the National Cancer Act was signed into law, impressive progress has been made. More than 12 million Americans are cancer survivors today because of the nation’s investment. Yet, as important as funding is to the research that will find the cures to diseases that affect Florida’s residents, Florida falls behind other states in attracting NIH federal dollars.

A recent article in the St. Petersburg Times quotes Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America, discussing a survey showing the disparity in Florida’s population versus funding received from the National Institutes of Health.  The survey demonstrated that Floridians support education in the sciences and believe science careers to be important for the state economy. Without funding, however, Floridians will never realize these benefits.

At Moffitt Cancer Center, the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center based in Florida, we are determined to advance the cancer research that will save lives.  In spite of flat funding of the NCI and NIH by Congress, Moffitt Cancer Center has continued to grow.  In 1996, when Moffitt began investing in research, we received less than $10 million in grant funding.  Today, we have over $80 million in grant funding.  Moffitt has increased its NCI grant funding by more than 81 percent during the past five years, raising the cancer center to 22nd in the nation in NCI-funded institutions. [Read more →]

When the iPad was introduced way back in 2010, we purchased a number of “tablets” for my staff at NC State University.  As a test, we worked with the library and turned a number of them over to our students and asked them to blog about the experience.

We sensed immediately that the new tablet was revolutionary and would change the way we think about personal computing . . .  forever.

Something Steve’s company has been doing since the beginning.

The ability to combine art and technology truly rocked the world and he seemed to embody disruptive innovation at every turn.

I never knew Steve Jobs, but I know Steve Jobs through the company and products he created.  That friendship will continue well into the future.  So long good buddy and thank you for everything you’ve done for me and those I love.

http://www.hiceschool.com/1-of-many/3149/

http://www.hiceschool.com/just-interesting/test-driving-the-ipad/

http://www.hiceschool.com/1-of-many/creativity-is-just-connecting-things/

1 of Many

Passion Rules!

Back in September 2005 we introduced the world to a new way to approach university marketing and The Gator Nation was born.  It was actually The University of Florida, The Foundation for The Gator Nation, but it’s The Gator Nation idea that has been really sticky.

So sticky that I can’t keep track of all the Nation’s that are popping up here and there.  There’s the NASCAR Nation, the FOX Sports Nation, ESPN Nation, Buckeye Nation, Tiger Nation, Nike Nation, Wolfpack Nation (ouch) and … well, I could go on for ever.

Now along comes Dunkin’ Doughnuts with the Dunkin’ Nation.  But if you’re gonna steal somebody’s nation, steal the whole thing.

Dunkin' Nation

I’d have called it the Doughnut Nation.  The goal, afer all, is to own the entire category.  The Dunkin’ Nation is kind of like owning the doughnut hole.  Does Krispy Kreme own the rest of the doughnut?

So Dunkin’ Doughnuts, , if you’re gonna own the category, own the entire category; The Doughnut Nation.

If you’re going to claim something, claim all of it.

1 of Many

Passion Rules!

Back in 2005 I was a trendsetter according to The Wall Street Journal.  Among the 5 percent of “adults” who were users of social media sites.

In fact, I think I was one of the first staff members at the University of Florida to join Facebook.  Then YouTube, then LinkedIn, then Twitter.  And dare I mention . . .  MySpace.

There was a lot of debate back then (the old days, eh) about social media.  Concern that we couldn’t protect the privacy of our students.  Concerns that we couldn’t protect the privacy of the university.  Concerns about goofing off at the office and frittering away the state’s time on the computer.  Lots of concerns.

Well, turns out today that  I’m just an ordinary Pop Monkey because, today, just about everybody uses social media; according to the Journal,  65 percent of adults  use social media.  But hey, I do use them all and I even have a blog.

Here’s an abriged version of the story from the Journal earlier this week.

1 of Many

Passion Rules!

[Read more →]

Steve Jobs described creativity and the creative process better than anyone.

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

“Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.” [Wired, February 1996]

Everybody’s doing it; We fulfill dreams, get moving, The Gator Nation.  All just connecting the dots.  And yes, I’ve felt guilty because I couldn’t explain how ideas happened.

Sometimes they — the connection between the dots — were right there, staring you in the face.  Other times it took research and discussion, but inevitably, the solution just arrived.  Or did it emerge.  Or did it just magically appear.  I like the magic.

Working to understand the dots at Moffitt.  While the dots are different, they are starting to align. And here, it’s really all about passion.  Dots with passion. I love that.

1 of Many

Passion Rules!

When I worked at Bombardier some time ago, we produced all literature and video materials for Sea-Doo watercraft in English and French.  Bombardier is a French Canadian company so it made sense, even though sales in Quebec were only a handful.

But today, Quelle horreur! French-Canadians Michel and Lynda Thibodeau were awarded roughly $12,500 after suing Air Canada because the airline’s flight attendant failed to address them in their mother tongue as legally required, the Canadian Press reports.

The Thibodeau’s lawsuit was based largely on being unable to find an agent who spoke French and a baggage announcement that was made only in English when they were traveling from Ottawa to the United States. The couple was seeking $500,000 Canadian in damages.

The carrier, it should be noted, must communicate in both English and French when there is demand.

An important note: Mr. Thibodeau speaks English fluently.

Thibodeau has a history of being litigious. He sued an Ottawa bus company in 2002 because the bus driver said “Hello” not “Bonjour.”

It would be easy to chalk this up to one Quebecois being a jerk, but there are actually political groups that cheered the Thibodeau’s victory in court.

It really is a different world up there.

One of Many

Passion des règles!

A team of University of Florida public relations students took first prize in the Public Relations Student Society of America’s 2011 Bateman Case Study Competition.

Conducted annually, the Bateman Competition judges teams of college students on their ability to develop and present a comprehensive public relations campaign.

Recent public relations graduates Elizabeth Dow, of Ellicott, Md.; Alex Glover, of Ormond Beach, Fla.; Ruth Michel, of Keystone Heights, Fla.; Seeta Rebbapragada, of Hollywood, Fla.; and Maura Reese, of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. presented their campaign in person to Ally Financial representatives in New York City May 13. UF joined Elon University and Loyola University New Orleans in the finals. [Read more →]

When you wake up tomorrow — 5/21/2011 — ask yourself, will today be the day?

To be continued . . . perhaps.

1 of Many

Passion Rules!

The Udall Foundation is pleased to announce that 80 students from 61 colleges and universities have been selected as 2011 Udall Scholars. Among them is Garik Sadovy ‘12 from Wake Forest, North Carolina. Sadovy is working towards a major in materials science and engineering and a minor in environmental science. He is a Park Scholar and a member of the University Honors Program. Sadovy serves as president of Tau Beta Pi, a national professional engineering society.

Garik Sadovy ‘12 at the summit of Mt. Shasta during a summer research project in California.

“This impressive Scholars class represents the best and brightest; they are the future environmental and tribal leaders in this country. The Udall Foundation is thrilled to help them advance their education,” said Terrence L. Bracy, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Udall Foundation. [Read more →]