Education is a fundamental ingredient in individual, organizational and societal success.  In a world fueled by global competition, technological innovation, and high speed communication, education matters now more than ever.  Recently I discovered something called The Khan Academy, an amazing online resource for education. The site is free and features instructional videos and interactive exercises on topics ranging from basic mathematics to Thermodynamics.  The videos are led by Salman Khan, who in 2006 was tutoring his family and decided he needed a better way to scale up his lessons.  So he started creating videos and then thought it would be worthwhile to share them with the world.  These videos have grown into what is now a comprehensive library of educational materials and interactive exercises.

The platform he created is so impressive to me.  It allows for students to log-in and perform exercises, earn points, and gain instruction when needed.  This simple platform makes education both more accessible and more enjoyable.  For teachers and parents, it has the potential to provide a real time dashboard of what a child is learning, how much time and effort they are putting into education, and when and where help is needed.  I am fascinated by the potential this tool has to help educate human beings.  The instructional videos can enable parents, teachers, and students to work together toward the goal of education — getting everyone more actively involved in the process.

With all of our recent emphasis on standardized tests and our obsession with measuring outcomes, this brilliant platform makes it possible to measure the activity that drives the outcomes.  It is not enough to simply say “we have to make teachers more accountable based on test scores.”  That logic is flawed in so many ways — mostly because it ignores the need for students and parents to take ownership and puts all blame on teachers.  Teachers are overburdened, underpaid, and under appreciated.  Yes, outcomes matter, but they are the result of a system.  This platform can give us better insight into the educational system of each and every student, each and every day.  Where are individual kids struggling?  How much time are they spending on a subject both in and out of the classroom?  What help do they need to learn more?  How do we keep them from getting stuck, falling behind, and losing hope?  The ability to gather data on the day to day process of education allows us to truly focus on where attention is needed.  What a great resource for teachers to be able to use in the classroom.

Another exciting aspect of this platform is that it empowers parents to learn or relearn material along with their children and to be more involved.  This profoundly changes summer vacation.  With a tool like this, parents can help kids to continue learning all year round — even if just an hour a day during June, July and August.  Just keeping kids from forgetting what they learned the year before could radically improve their performance come September when they return to school.

Personally, I am interested in learning more about so many of the topics on the site.  Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics.  Moving forward I plan to spend considerable time exploring the material on the site and expanding my own intellectual capacity.

It is amazing to imagine the potential this platform, and others like it have to spread education around the globe.  The world is getting smarter before our eyes.  We live at the most amazing time in human history.  Like never before the human race has access to knowledge, the capacity to learn, and the ability to change the world.  May we have the wisdom to use it all wisely.

I encourage you to go check out the site along with other emerging sources of education that are available for free on the web.  Go learn something.

The light from a distant star is billions of years old by the time it reaches your eye here on Earth. It is only now that your eye is able to view it. Your present mind interprets its meaning. It may go unnoticed, phased out by city lights or clouds. Or, it may hold a special place in your heart, evoking the memory of a distant place, a deceased relative, a time of joy, or a childhood dream. Something created a billion years ago, suddenly has unexpected and unintended meaning to an unknown recipient. This meaning can influence interaction, conversation, and behavior. This simple light has power. I think art works in the much the same way.

I was not alive when many of my favorite musical compositions, paintings, sculptures, poems and pieces of art were created. I was not there to understand the sociological or psychological factors that may have inspired their creation. I interpret them through my lens — which also changes over time. Art changes its meaning when placed in the context of time and human experience. Art is personal and at the same time social. It is both a variable and a constant. Social media gives us a new ability to quantify that meaning, and to trace its changes through time — on both a personal and sociatal level. Potentially everyone is simultaneously an artist and an art historian, though we may choose different mediums for expression.

I believe art in an age of social media presents amazing possibilities for engagement, interpretation, and creativity. Imagine being able to read what it was like to see the light created on a distant star when it first appeared, following the journey it took to reach your eye and the eyes of others, and then tracking it as it continues forward into the unknown. What insight could you take away from that experience?

As art becomes more interactive, it takes on new meaning. When someone walks through a museum and posts their thoughts on Facebook they seek to start a conversation. They begin with an interpretation. This yields discussion. Discussion then leads to new levels of meaning and understanding. The art has changed as has the person interpreting the art. The conversation becomes an integral part of the art itself. Through time, this creates a virtuous cycle where by humanity is engaged in applying deeper meaning to that which surrounds us — past, present, and future. That which was created at an earlier time, continues to shine a light that may mean something to someone, somewhere, somehow.

Look to the sky. Do you see that distant light? What does it make you feel? Share that feeling with the world. Express it. Create from that which was created long ago and empower others to do the same.

This is a post that I originally authored for my friend Scott Hull’s site Visual Ambassador. Recently, I was thinking about this idea, and decided to share it here too.

Photo “Traveling Stars” courtesy of Dhilung Kirat

Everyone is a Broadcast Channel

As a boy raised in Southwestern, Ohio, I grew up very close to two 20th century marvels of mass communication — Voice of America and the WLW radio tower. Voice of America was designed to broadcast western democratic news around the cold war world. The WLW tower had the ability to broadcast a radio signal to 38 states. Each fascinated me. Every time I saw them, I would think about the amazing things I could accomplish given the ability to reach out and speak with the world. Flash forward a few decades to today’s digitally networked, inter-connected world. Today, every human being is a broadcast channel, connected to a what is potentially a global audience. There are important implications to consider regarding this point. Ultimately, the better we are at understanding this concept, the more likely we are to make meaningful changes to our own lives, our community and our world.

Evolution of Communication

Communication is a big part of what makes us human. Human Beings are the dominant species on Planet Earth. We are social animals. Over time we developed self-awareness, empathy, the capacity to ask questions, the ability think analytically, the gift of applying creativity to envision a different, more favorable reality, and like no other species, we have developed the skill of communication. We are social animals capable of using the gifts to collaborate and solve amazingly complex problems. Humans use language, symbols, and speech to communicate. Throughout history we have developed technology to expand our ability to communicate with one another.

Communication and technology have evolved together

Early man relied on crude gestures and noises, which later gave way to words and drawings. We created oral history, legends, mythology, and transferable knowledge. This then led to tablets and scrolls created slowly for those with the ability to understand them. We were then capable of developing concepts such as mathematics and science as we could document our past knowledge more precisely and then begin to build upon it.  Of course this knowledge was limited to a very small segment of the human population of the planet. The invention of the printing press and expansion of trade routes allowed knowledge to spread more easily through out the globe. Knowledge began to shift from monasteries and monarchs to the masses.  As literacy increased, so did man’s ability to communicate and innovate. More people communicating more effectively, sharing more ideas, and solving bigger problems. Laying the foundation for our modern world.

Then came electronic media. The telegraph and telephone made it possible for individuals to directly communicate at greater and greater distances. Newspapers, Radio and Television created the idea of mass communication — enabling humans to consume knowledge from the safety, warmth and comfort of our suburban living rooms. Networks standardized our content, giving us shared experiences like The Super Bowl and the last episode of MASH. Communication exploded. Knowledge expanded. Still, channels were limited, access was restricted, and communication was largely one way via broadcast media sources or one to one via the telephone.

Enter the age of the broad-band enabled, mobile device driven, ubiquitous world wide web. An exciting era of Instantaneous, always on, globally connected, data driven, multi-directional communication. An ever evolving seemingly omniscient, omnipresent force, offering universal access to all human knowledge. The internet democratizes information. The internet removes barriers to the access of knowledge. Medical information, financial data, customer reviews, new ideas, beautiful music, art, culture, history, raw human knowledge all a few clicks and a simple search away.

Knowledge is now widely available to all of humanity

The knowledge provided by the world wide web benefits the hungry, the curious, the creative, the entrepreneurial, the innovators. It benefits those who think in terms of abundance, those willing to share. It enables leaders to find followers, and followers to find a cause. The internet levels the playing field, and brings more players into the game in an exponential fashion.

Historically, as we have become better at sharing knowledge with one another, we have advanced as a species. For all of our modern problems, we live longer, have lower infant mortality rates, have a much higher standard of living, and are collectively more intelligent than humans have ever been. People around the world are learning, sharing, communicating, and competing for resources. Knowledge is now abundant. Attention is now scarce. Everyone is a broadcasting channel, competing for attention.

What it means to be a Broadcast Channel?

Everything you do tells a story. Almost every action you take in a digital world creates multiple points of data, which, over time, tell a vivid story to those who choose to observe. Every input matters. Status updates on Facebook & Twitter, searches in google maps, the things you “like” or “retweet” Pictures you share, reviews you write, products you buy, blog posts you author, content you consume, every single search you conduct, every web site you visit, every place you go, all of these are increasingly tied to one another and aggregated to become your channel. Literally, almost everything you do creates some form of content.

You are empowered. We used to be able to legitimately say things like — if only the paper would not be so negative, people would know the truth. If only the media would pick up our story, the masses would support us. If only we had the money for a major ad campaign, people would listen. If only they would help us get the word out, we would be able to accomplish our goals. No longer is this valid.No longer can you blame mass media for not getting the story right or not telling the story at all. You are empowered. The internet gives you equal standing, equal access, equal ability to tell your story any way you choose. Your channel is out there. Are you paying attention to the programming you broadcast.

Your story matters -
Everything you do creates content. Content communicates meaning. Thus everything you do then has the potential to add meaning to our world.  From an anthropological perspective, how you spend your time is a reflection of who you are as a person. When all of your activity is tracked, and your time along with it, that reflection looks more like a mirror than a mud puddle. Thus, the choices you make have consequences. Historians will need not guess our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. They will have data, provided courtesy of your broadcast channel. So will will history say of you? How did you spend time on our planet? What did you share with the world?

Sharing is important. As a broadcaster, you get to choose the programming on your channel. You choose what to search for on Google. You choose your friends on social networks. You choose the content you create and the content you endorse with another uniquely human gesture the “thumbs up.” If your life is a stream of information, you choose the editorials, the feature stories, the sports section, the entertainment articles, the business reports, the restaurant reviews, the consumer reports section. Actively through creation or passively through consumption, you choose it all.

More importantly you get to raise the questions, postulate the answers, and create the solutions to the problems you encounter. If there is a problem in your neighborhood, you can organize people to take action and get things done, without the need of the media, the government, or a formal blessing from on high. You simply need the passion, the vision, and the willingness to make things happen. You can be the source of good by being the source of good content.

Your story is my story is our story — potentially

If you make a conscious effort to do things to improve your life, you can share my knowledge with others. You can question your own behavioral patterns, create new habits, and take actions to improve your quality of life. By telling your story, you paint a picture of a human being going through conscious evolution — trying to become a better version of oneself. You can learn from others who are sharing their stories, and help others who learn from yours Thus evolution becomes a collective effort.

It is a basic ethic of sharing — something we are taught as children. As we share, we evolve, create, and innovate. We build a better future one story at a time. We shed our passive reliance on mass story tellers and instead build nimble armies of action oriented citizens intent on creating a better world.

Why does this matter?

The internet provides you with the power to broadcast your story to the world. Historians will not have to guess who were were and what we did as a people. For each and every one of us, there will be more information documented than was gathered on Kings, Emperors, Rulers, Presidents, Celebrities, and the most powerful people throughout the history of mankind. This information you create is powerful. It communicates messages. When people choose to act in unison, those random individual voices of good can create a powerful chorus of change. A chorus that can determine the future, and make its own history.

The power to communicate can be used for good. By communicating your own stories, and reciprocally sharing the positive works of others, you can change the mindset of your community and the perception of the world. What do most people on the planet think of your community? The answer is they don’t. They don’t know your story. Why? They don’t have a reason to. They are busy maintaining their own channels, living their own lives. To reach them, your story must be meaningful.

Attention is scarce. When everyone can communicate with everyone else, It is difficult to get people’s attention. So for a community to be heard, people must work together to amplify the voice. For people to tune in, you must support positive efforts of those in your community. You must share the wonders of living in your community with the world. You must intentionally communicate your spirit of curiosity, progress, innovation, and creativity by more effectively using your individual broadcast capabilities to share your story and the stories of others with the world.

If you recognize your ability to transmit information to the world. If you truly believe in improving your community. If you honestly support those around you who are working to change our world, use your ability to broadcast information to tell their stories. Your channel. You choose what is on. You are the program director.

What you share matters.

What you search for matters.

Where you buy goods and services matters.

Where you spend leisure time matters.

The stories you tell matter.

The friends you make matter.

The vision you create matters.

The questions you ask matter.

The solutions you produce matter.

The lives you change matter.

Sharing, creating, and communicating matters.

You are a human being — an amazing creature gifted with the skill to communicate.
You have the power to change the world. You can create a compelling story by doing amazing things and sharing your thoughts with the world. Communicate! Use your curiosity to ask questions? Use your creativity to produce solutions to the problems that matter to you. Use your ability to communicate and the wonder of modern technology to motivate other human beings to join your cause. Surprise the world with your insight, passion, and commitment. You are a broadcast channel. Your words and deeds communicate with the world. Choose them wisely, choose them intentionally, choose to create a life worth watching.

About this post:

Last summer, I was invited by my friend Sean Creighton to participate in a new project he was producing called SOCHE Talks.  Inspired by the TED conference, the SOCHE Talks project features short videos created by various people, mostly educators, from Southern Ohio.  The list of participants includes brilliant and talented people such as Jaime Aidoff, Dr. Todd Dewett, Eric Fingerhut, and Jim Malarkey.  Not sure how I wound up on this list, but I did my best to contribute to the project.

By agreeing to participate, I committed to presenting a short speech on the topic of my choosing.   So, last summer I went to ThinkTV in downtown Dayton and spoke on the concept that Everyone is a Broadcast Channel.  This post is the text of that speech.

If you are interested in watching the video of this presentation, here is a link to the SOCHE talks page.

Thanks to Sean and SOCHE for allowing me to participate and share.

MKTFYI is a periodic podcast produced by Kevin Dugan and yours truly, David E. Bowman where we chat and riff on the world of marketing.  Being late December, we came up with the very original idea of looking back and reviewing marketing in the year 2010.  We even talked special guest Pete Blackshaw, CMO of NM Incite, into joining the discussion.

2010 was an incredible year for marketers. The iPad, the Old Spice Guy, the continued rise of new media, the changing landscape of traditional media, the convergence of paid, earned, and owned media, and so much more. Kevin, Pete, and I talk about what happened in 2010 and what’s next for marketing professionals in 2011.

The episode was great fun to put together.  It reminded me just how smart and insightful Pete and Kevin are, and how fortunate I am to call them my friends.  I am thankful for the chance to be a part of the conversation.  It was a great way to finish up a great year.

Give a listen and share your thoughts on the year 2010 in marketing and your predictions for 2011.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of making a road trip to Athens, Ohio to present to The Ohio University Society for Professional Journalists. I spoke about the potential opportunity for journalism students to find happiness, and maybe even a steady paycheck, in the field of marketing. The presentation forced me to think about the future of both journalism and marketing — two disciplines that have been joined at the hip for centuries.  The following post is a summary of my message to them.

My message was pretty simple. While the future of journalism is unclear, the future for those with journalism skills is bright.

During the 20th century, journalism and marketing had a stable relationship with one another. Journalists, along with entertainers, were hired by a small number of large media outlets to create content. These media outlets had huge audiences, and thus Marketers would subsidize the cost of content creators in exchange for access to the media companies’ audiences. Journalists got paid to report. Entertainers got paid to perform. Marketers signed the checks, placed the ads, and sold to the masses. Life was good.

Now, digital media has completely changed the landscape of both journalism and marketing. Audiences for traditional news and entertainment outlets are smaller and more fragmented.   While this is seemingly obvious, here are some facts I found in the Pew Research Institute’s 2010 State of The News Media report:

• 2009 Television Ad Revenue was down 22%
• 2009 Newspaper Ad Revenue was down 26%
• 2009 Radio Ad Revenue was down 22%
• 2009 Magazine Ad Revenue was down 17%
• The projected loss of revenue for these channels between now and 2013 is another 41%
• Newspaper reporting  editorial capacity has declined by $1.6 Billion dollars since the year 2000
• Local television has lost 1,600 jobs in the last 2 years — a trend that is predicted to continue.

People are now consuming content from a seemingly infinite array of sources. As audiences for traditional media outlets have declined over the years, these organizations have reduced in size.  Newspaper staffs are smaller. Local television stations have fewer reporters. Local radio stations barely exist, and corporate radio continues to decline in listeners.  As a result, smaller audiences are less appealing to mass marketers, meaning that big companies are less willing to pay huge sums of money to subsidize content creation. Traditional media is not dead, but it is shrinking to fit into this new world. Bottom line for journalists is that there are fewer opportunities to go to work for newspapers, television and radio stations, or print magazines. Yes, there are still jobs in these areas, just fewer of them.

Still, it is not all bad news.  The world for journalism students, journalists, and marketers, is not worse — it’s just different.  Today every person is a broadcast channel. Everyone has the ability to build an audience, create and distribute content, tell stories, and garner attention.   In the ecosystem of message, messenger, and recipient, we are increasingly cutting out the middle man. Modern journalism is less about going to work to create content for a behemoth media outlet, and more about finding your voice and using to educate the world.  Modern marketing is far less about catchy advertising and far more about authentic story telling.

These two fields that once occupied opposite sides of a brick wall, now are on a more divergent path.  Marketers are still tasked with figuring out what people want and create new ways of delivering it.  What the public seems to want is the authenticity and engagement that comes from being part of a compelling story.  They are weary of corporate speak and tired marketing schlock. Rather people increasingly want the real, transparent, unfiltered truth that journalists are trained to create.

What about that wall between journalism and marketing? It used to be described like the Great Wall of China — a firm barrier that served to separate the two fields from one another. Now, I see the future of the two fields more like the fallen Berlin Wall.  A new reality has been created.  It is filled with uncertainty.  There are concerns for governance.  Still, all this apprehension and fear is far outweighed by a growing sense of exuberance, excitement, and possibility.  However that uncertainty is offset by The new world of paid, earned, and owned media is emerging before us and creating new, more flexible career paths for those with passion, creativity, and determination.

So what does the future hold for these Journalism students? I wish I knew, but alas I can only make an educated guess.  It is clear that the future of journalism will be radically different from the past.  For those who are flexible, opportunistic, creative, and hungry, the future will be incredible.  Individuals are flocking to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube as both creator and consumer — spending their time exploring their individual interests on their own terms.  Because of this, brands are likely to rely less on traditional media outlets to talk at people, and instead increasingly use social media to build their own audiences.  To do this well, they will need their own reporters and entertainers. Ethical challenges may still apply, but the increased transparency of the digital world makes these new relationships more possible and plausible. It may well be that today’s journalism students will be working in ad agencies and marketing departments instead of in newsrooms.

Journalists are trained to create authentic, engaging content. They understand research, analysis, story lines, point of view, tone, and topic. They are highly skilled at creating narratives that resonate in people’s hearts and minds.  Skilled story tellers, capable of grabbing our attention and engaging us in an ongoing conversation are now in high demand.  As my friend Kevin Dugan said when I asked his opinion on the subject, “The world will always need story tellers.”

My thanks to the Ohio University Society for Professional Journalists for inviting me to speak. I really enjoyed getting back to Athens for the first time in over a decade — the first time ever for the purpose of education.  Thank you for a wonderful time.

A few weeks ago one of my wife’s closest friends, Molly Housh, got together with my sister-in-law Katie Duncan and decided that they were going to try to do something to help my son Jude and my family.  The result has been nothing short of spectacular, as friends, family members, business colleagues, and complete strangers have offered their love and support, and gone on to start a movement to find help for Jude.  The whole thing has been very moving to me in so many ways.  To see so many people, with so many different world views, from so many different places, speak in unison in their expression of love and concern for my son has been heartwarming, inspiring, and simply amazing.

For those who do not know his story, from the time he was an infant, my son Jude has suffered from an undiagnosed neurological condition.  His disorder manifests itself in a number of ways.  Frequently, Jude’s eyes will uncontrollably roll upward into his eyelids, as he is frozen in an unresponsive, catatonic state for seconds at a time.  Occasionally these episodes will cause him to completely lose consciousness and all muscle tone — something that is pretty frightening to witness, especially when it is your child.  His episodes can happen up to fifty times a day, almost every day, and without any warning.  Frustratingly and frighteningly, we are powerless to do anything to stop it.  We can only try to always be there for him to try to make sure he is ok.

Although they have evolved over the years, Jude has had these “episodes” since he was an infant.  As a baby, we had him tested for reflux, cardiac issues, gastro-intestinal disorders, pulmonary defects, and any number of other conditions.  At 6 months old, we were preparing to put him down for the night when he began projectile vomiting and then went totally lifeless in my arms — not breathing for what seemed like an eternity.  We immediately called 911.  Minutes later when the paramedics arrived, Jude was seemingly normal again.  Jude was taken to the hospital for observation, but they were unable to determine what was going on. This pattern repeated itself over the following weeks, and soon after he was admitted to Dayton Children’s for testing.  It was at that time that a Doctor offered a preliminary diagnosis of epilepsy, stating that the episodes were most likely some form of seizure.

That diagnosis led us on a multi-year journey as to the nature of Jude’s problem — a journey that continues to this day.  Countless tests for seizure activity came back negative.  Medication after medication proved ineffective at stopping his episodes.  Exceptional Neurologists at numerous Children’s hospitals saw Jude, ran tests, searched for ways to understand and treat his seizures but, after over 2 years of treating him for epilepsy, we were told that the diagnosis of epilepsy was inconclusive, incomplete, and apparently incorrect.  So, we fight on for answers.

Jude’s neurologist now believes that Jude has a neurological condition known as a movement disorder, but we have no real proof and no known cure.  There are thousands of these disorders, and little is known about what causes them or how to treat them.  We continue to search for answers, but are also growing more concerned with finding ways to help Jude live with this affliction until we can find answers.

A few weeks ago, Molly and Katie came up with a plan to help.  Without telling us what they were up to, they asked us for the names and email addresses for some of our friends and family members.   They said little more than they were going to try to let our friends know what was going on with Jude, and do something to help us help him.

This week we found out what Molly and Katie were up to, and we were more that pleasantly surprised with the enormity of their efforts.  They have organized and launched a campaign to get Jude’s story on the Ellen show in an effort to draw attention to his condition and perhaps find someone who can help him.  They have started a letter writing campaign, recruited an army of volunteers, and given us renewed hope in our quest to find answers for our son.  They hoped to get 100 people to participate in the campaign.  Now, just a few days after they started it, they have far exceeded their initial goal as person after person expresses their willingness to help our family.  Other organizations have joined the cause, and people continue to spread the word. 

If you are interested in participating in this effort, a copy of the letter they drafted is below.  Simply copy it, print it, and mail it to the Ellen show.

Ellen DeGeneres Show

Attn:  Kara Hogan

4000 Warner Blvd. Building19

Burbank, CA 91522–0001?

Dear Ellen,

We are the many friends and family members of the Bowman Family.  We are all coming together to ask for your help for their four year old son Jude.  We realize that there are millions of people in the world facing difficult times, be it financial, personal, or medical.  We know that some problems seem more at crisis levels than others, but to each of these people and each of these families, finding help is paramount.  This is the Bowman’s story and our plea for help for them.

Upon meeting Jude, one might never suspect or imagine that he is anything but a happy healthy child.  He is handsome, charming, funny, and bright.  However, spend more than a passing moment in his presence and one would most definitely become confused and maybe even a bit uncomfortable.  Jude’s eyes often roll uncontrollably upwards, he will lose muscle control, enter into a coma-like stare, and frequently fall unconscious for several seconds at a time.  His parents, David and Colleen, will hold him until the episodes pass, as if nothing is happening, because it has become the family norm.  It is a scary experience for anyone to witness, but even more so when you realize that the Bowman’s have no way of explaining why this has happened; they themselves have no reasons, or explanations.

Jude has undergone virtually every neurological test.  He was initially diagnosed with epilepsy and was treated with six different medications, including rescue drugs, to treat what the Bowman’s were assured to be seizures.  After two years of experimenting with different combinations and doses of medications, the Bowman’s realized that the medications were not helping to control the “seizures”.  The symptoms and aftereffects of the “seizure” activity were increasing in occurrence and severity.  None of the medications stopped the “seizures” from occurring or made Jude’s life any more normal.  While taking these medications, Jude would become disoriented.  He would not recognize people or things in his own home environment.  He continued to experience involuntary eye movements in which his eyes would roll up into his head, often followed by instances of collapse.  The family has called the paramedics numerous times as he has stopped breathing in their arms.  He has been hospitalized six times in two years and has been studied under video monitoring four times.  Jude has experienced more testing than any child should have to endure.  The most difficult part of the testing has been the outcome; all of the results have been inconclusive.

Disoriented, confused, lethargic, isolated, uncoordinated, and frustrated are not words one would wish to use to describe anyone, let alone their four year old child.  Watching Jude with other children is heartbreaking.  His energy level is no where near that of the children with whom he tries to play and he can often be found sitting by himself like an outsider.  He often collapses while walking up and down stairs and there are some days that Jude loses control of body movement and has to be held.  There are many periods where he cannot identify Colleen, David, and his sister Ella.  He frequently asks Colleen and David to help him and all they can do is hold him while his mind and body break down.  Most people have had to watch their children struggle with something at some point in their lives; the Bowman’s spend every day watching Jude struggle with everything, from eating dinner to running through the backyard.  The powerlessness they and everyone who knows and loves Jude feels is all consuming.

Jude and the Bowman Family could use a helping hand.  The past four years have been filled with great happiness and life experiences for the Bowman’s.  That same four years have been filled with fear, anger, acceptance, constant doubt, medical research, medical testing, foreign medical jargon, and sadness.  Jude has been diagnosed with everything from benign reflux,  severe epilepsy, Paroxysmal Tonic Up-gaze (PTU), to the most recent diagnosis: unknown.  The Bowman’s have trusted in medical professionals who have medicated, over and over again, a baby who could not even walk or talk, to a four year old who can’t even begin to look forward to starting school next year as his condition continues to slow his physical abilities.  Jude’s case does not seem to fall into a clear diagnosis, so he is passed from doctor to doctor with still no results.  Colleen and David have begun their own quest for answers.  With limited resources, their path toward any resolution is quite daunting.  Obtaining all of Jude’s medical records has become a monumental task.  Hours upon hours of research has been logged every night.  They have applied for a service dog in the hope that Jude can develop a bond with someone who can help him during these episodes and help to create a small bit of independence for him as he gets older and more aware of his condition and limitations.  The financial, physical, and emotional toll it has taken on their family must be overwhelming.   As I watch their family struggle day after day, I am inspired by their courage and spirit.  I am trying to extend a much needed helping hand and am hoping you or someone you know might be able to help them as well.

If there is anything we would ask of you, it is simply for exposure.  Exposure so that the Bowman’s can hopefully find a cure for Jude or ultimately find answers and treatments that will enable Jude to live a healthy fulfilling life.  We fervently hope that one day soon, someone will see Jude’s story and be able to help.  Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Friends and Family of Colleen and David Bowman

To everyone who responded to my sister in law Katie’s email request asking for help for my son Jude, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am moved beyond words at your love, generosity, willingness to help.

UPDATE: Just a quick update for visitors to this site, readers of this post, and anyone interested in following Jude’s story.  We have launched a website dedicated to telling Jude’s ongoing story.  The site can be found at www.helpforjude.com Thanks!

If I approached you and asked you to tell me your story, it is very logical to assume that you would be the hero of that story.  You would be the valiant, and sometimes flawed, protagonist, battling to overcome a series of antagonists with varying degrees of success along the way.  You would have allies, enemies, successes and failures.  Your character would develop as the story progressed.  Other characters would come in and out of the story, periodically changing roles and motives.  All the while, you the hero would depict your odyssey though time as it was presently understood by you.

We human beings are incredibly complex creatures.  Each and every one of us is driven by a unique and an ever changing mix of logic and emotion as well as a multitude of dynamic internal and external factors.  Our perceptions about the world constantly change.  Our motives are always in flux.  Today’s enemy could be tomorrow’s ally based on some event that has yet to happen or some piece of information that you currently lack.

I believe that it is worthwhile to remember that you are the hero of your own story… and so is everyone else on the planet.  Billions of heros, fighting their own personal battles and creating their own mythology each and every day.  Consider this concept when you are trying to understand the behavior of another human being.  Sometimes in life it is helpful to try to temporarily forget your own heroic quest and all its assumptions in order to understand another’s journey.  That is not to say you should abandon your view of the world, but rather realize how just incomplete it truly is.

Another way to look at it is in the context of the following quote taken from The Talmud — “We do not see the world as it is. We see the world as we are.”

About two years ago Kevin Dugan and I were talking over a cup of coffee in Mt. Adams in Cincinnati.  We were chatting about all things nerdy, marketing happenings, community events, and sharing other miscellaneous tidbits of knowledge.  We had so much fun just talking and riffing that day, and at the end of our conversation we said something along the lines of “we should have recorded this and posted in on the web.”  That parting statement led to a couple years of periodic emails back and forth between us saying, you know we really should create a podcast series where the two of us and others talk shop.  We planned, explored ideas, tried Google Wave to organize thoughts, gave up on Google Wave to organize thoughts, made things overly complicated, put the thing on the back-burner, repeatedly commented on how to revive the idea, and simply procrastinated on making it happen.

Finally, on the heels of a great day and another great conversation at SummitUp 2010, Kevin and I decided to just move the thing forward.  No format. no agenda.  Keep it simple, fun, and easy.  So, last Friday Kevin and I hopped on the phone, fired up garage band, hit record and started rambling.  The result is MKTFYI — The Pilot Episode.  The audio is embedded below.

In our pilot edition we do a recap of the SummitUp conference, sharing our respective thoughts on the day.  We also discuss ways to bring the cool kids from Cincinnati and Dayton who were at SummitUp to get together more often.  (Social Media Breakfast in West Chester???).  Kevin also shares his thoughts on the newly launched Starbucks digital network, and I pick his brain on the wisdom of Starbucks announcement that it will start serving beer and wine in certain stores.

This being the pilot episode, we are just getting started with the project.  Future episodes will feature guest speakers, various topics, and other silliness and surprises.  As described in the intro, this is a periodic podcast series, that will likely be published every few weeks in a completely irregular fashion.  While a set schedule would drive more traffic, we are more concerned with just having fun chatting when time allows.  If you choose to listen, I hope you enjoy.   Thanks to Kevin for agreeing to take part in this little science project.  I look forward to seeing where it takes us, and to learning something from each and every conversation we share.

Yesterday I completed the Columbus Marathon — my first 26.2 mile run.  Even better I got to share the experience with my best friend, my wife Colleen, who was there with me for every step.  It has been a long journey for us.  Just over a 1 1/2 years ago, we decided to start running.  We ran a mile.  We then ran a 5K.  We ran the 1/2 marathon last year with our friends Dana and Patty Randall — our first real race.  Now, we can say that we ran a marathon…  together!

Our journey has been about a lot more than one day of running 26.2 miles.  It has been a journey from watching to doing.  We spent day after day this year training.  We encouraged each other to keep going on tough days and to get back out there running when we just didn’t feel like it.  We started with one small goal to just start running, and now accomplished something that would have been completely unbelievable 18 months ago.  Neither of us is a world class athlete, and that is beside the point.  We took a little step down the path of fitness, and then another, and another, and another until finally we were so far down the path that we barely remember who we were before we started our adventure.

Finishing that race is not the end of the journey, but instead another memorable milestone.  We set the goal to do it, worked hard, and with a little luck and a lot of dedication we accomplished our goal.  I don’t know if we will run another marathon, although I am certain that we will keep on running.  We are already talking about doing the 1/2 of the Flying Pig in the spring.   Whatever the future holds, I am proud of each and every little step we have taken along the way.

Today I sit here typing this post,with sore legs, aching knees, throbbing feet and the amazing memory of the experience of running 26.2 miles that will live on in my mind forever.   The sea of runners, the starting line, the cheering crowds, the bands, the volunteers, Katie & Alec who helped us along the way, our neighbor Stephanie who ran along with us, the high five I gave to the governor, German Village, downtown, the short north, running past Ohio Stadium, the long trek from mile 17 to 24, coming down the increasingly crowded streets as we approached the finish, seeing family and friends cheering us as we ran down the last hill toward the finish line, crossing that finish line with Colleen, and almost breaking down when they put that medal on my neck.  The whole thing is a wonderful blur of joy.

Thanks to everyone who cheered us on, both in person and online.   We have so many wonderful friends, a blessing for which I am thankful.  Your encouragement along the way has meant so much to us.   I hope our humble journey may inspire you to take the first step toward achieving “a something completely unbelievable” of your own.

Yesterday I completed the Columbus Marathon – my first 26.2 mile run.  Even better I got to share the experience with my best friend, my wife Colleen, who was there with me for every step.  It has been a long journey for us.  Just over a 1 1/2 years ago, we decided to start running.  We ran a mile.  We then ran a 5K.  We ran the 1/2 marathon last year with our friends Dana and Patty Randall – our first real race.  Now, we can say that we ran a marathon…  together!

Our journey has been about a lot more than one day of running 26.2 miles.  It has been a journey from watching to doing.  We spent day after day this year training.  We encouraged each other to keep going on tough days and to get back out there running when we just didn’t feel like it.  We started with one small goal to just start running, and now accomplished something that would have been completely unbelievable 18 months ago.  Neither of us is a world class athlete, and that is beside the point.  We took a little step down the path of fitness, and then another, and another, and another until finally we were so far down the path that we barely remember who we were before we started our adventure.

Finishing that race is not the end of the journey, but instead another memorable milestone.  We set the goal to do it, worked hard, and with a little luck and a lot of dedication we accomplished our goal.  I don’t know if we will run another marathon, although I am certain that we will keep on running.  We are already talking about doing the 1/2 of the Flying Pig in the spring.   Whatever the future holds, I am proud of each and every little step we have taken along the way.

Today I sit here typing this post,with sore legs, aching knees, throbbing feet and the amazing memory of the experience of running 26.2 miles that will live on in my mind forever.   The sea of runners, the starting line, the cheering crowds, the bands, the volunteers, Katie & Alec who helped us along the way, our neighbor Stephanie who ran along with us, the high five I gave to the governor, German Village, downtown, the short north, running past Ohio Stadium, the long trek from mile 17 to 24, coming down the increasingly crowded streets as we approached the finish, seeing family and friends cheering us as we ran down the last hill toward the finish line, crossing that finish line with Colleen, and almost breaking down when they put that medal on my neck.  The whole thing is a wonderful blur of joy.

Thanks to everyone who cheered us on, both in person and online.   We have so many wonderful friends, a blessing for which I am thankful.  Your encouragement along the way has meant so much to us.   I hope our humble journey may inspire you to take the first step toward achieving “a something completely unbelievable” of your own.