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One great show. One night only.

Two weeks from this Saturday, on August 20th, I'll be appearing in a play called Circle Mirror Transformation. One night only.

It's a wonderful piece that's won a ton of awards all over the country, but there are more reasons to encourage you to attend.

An All-Star Cast (and me)
You'll see Geoffrey Nelson (founding Artistic Director of CATCO) and Jeanine Thompson (the head of OSU's Acting & Directing program), alongside beloved Available Light company members Elena Perantoni and Acacia Duncan (both seen in far too many hits to list here.)

And me.

No Do-Overs
It's a one-night-only production. There's a particular electricity that comes from knowing we've only got one shot to get it right. (It's a staged reading though, so we'll have the scripts to back us up.)

For A Good Cause
And, it's a fundraiser. Available Light's mission is to make great theater accessible for everyone who wants to attend. My appearance in this show, and your attendance, will support their Free Readings Series and their Pay What You Want ticketing program. 

A Personal Note
Personally, I love this show because it's about acting — and about people who dream of being actors. That hits pretty close to home. No. It hits home directly. Right in the home in my heart. 

For Tickets And More Information
Please visit: http://avlt.co/avltcmt or call 614-558-7408.

Hope to see you there.

A Respectful Request

You're smart. You know smart people.

I need to meet a few smart people. So, I'm asking you to introduce me to one (or more). 

My Motivation
Years ago, I needed more perspective. I was becoming stale as a business owner. And I felt "lonely at the top."

So I gathered a dozen business owners. We met confidentially to share experiences and insights. At monthly meetings, we described our challenges and opportunities — and greatly benefited from each other's agenda-free recommendations.

The result of my participation was substantial: Young Isaac became more professionally managed, process driven and — when I was ready — sellable.

This experience also improved my life beyond business. Held accountable by my peers, I allocated my time more intentionally. I was able to be home more. Life got better.

What I Am Doing
In November, I will start convening a monthly think tank for people who run companies. This group will meet monthly to address everyone's most critical issues. I'll bring in expert speakers for learning. And, separately, I will meet each participant for a monthly one-to-one coaching session.  

After researching the best way to do this, I have affiliated with Vistage International, the world's leading chief executive organization with 15,000 members. My group will have immediate, online access to a powerful network of global insight in every industry. 

Who Do You Know?
Here is my request. Please suggest two or three people you know who:

• are confident, 
• have revenues of at least $1 million, and
• are facing the challenges and opportunities that come with growth and success.

If they are right for my group, you will have done them a great favor. I will apply my best efforts, talents and care to improving their lives — and the lives of their families and employees — substantially.

If The Shoe Fits
Of course, all of this might be right for you. If you think so, contact me for more information. 

Here's a short video on the Vistage Experience:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZqeMwHV9P4&feature=related

 

 

 

A Dream Comes True

I have tried to be merciful with you, my friend. 

Merciful — and not mercenary.

There is no advertising on Net Cotton Content. I write for free. (Sometimes I request donations to charities.)

I have only very rarely spoken of SpeakerSite, the business suggested by Rob Emrich, which we co-founded in 2008. It quickly became the world's largest social network of public speakers. Imagine that!

SpeakerSite is mission-driven to democratize public speaking — opening doors and turning on microphones so all of us can share what we know.

Because everyone has a message. And every message has an audience.

Today, Will You Permit Me An Update?
Well, after years of toil, Rob and I — with the smart folks at QStartLabs — have launched the 2.0 of SpeakerSite.

It's the SpeakerSite Marketplace. 

Would you please take a look and let me know what you think of it? It's at speakersite.com.

I'd sure appreciate that. 

Why did we do it?
Because the 5,000+ members of SpeakerSite Social Network have long asked for the functionality of a marketplace, where meeting planners can find, assess, and contact speakers. And our social network technology platform wasn't flexible enough to do it.

So we bit the bullet.
And we've chewed on the bullet for nearly 30 months. We've spent a lot of money and time developing SpeakerSite 2.0 Marketplace. 

Would you please take a look and let me know what you think?

Oh, and feel free to list yourself. (That's free.)

Oh, and feel free to upgrade to a Professional Listing. (That's not free, but valuable.)

Questions We Must Ask Ourselves

Oh, you don't have to ask yourself any questions, I suppose.

But there are some questions — the biggest ones — that the world won't ask you. You are left to ask yourself these questions. Or they might just go unanswered.

I'm going to ask these questions of a lot of people.
You can leave your answers as a comment here. (Menacing legal note: by leaving a comment here, you permit me to include your words, with attribution, in any eventual publication.)

Then, I'm going to write a book to encourage more asking.

For now, here's a page you can carry into the woods or post in your cubicle.

The title question — "What is the greatest thing in the world?" — was a first-day-of-class ice-breaker annually asked by John Detrick, my high school geometry teacher. He just wanted to get to know the students and was usually surprised that the question had not been previously considered.
 

 

 

Where To Go?

When you woke up this morning, you had a vision for the day.

That vision was partly expressed in the places you might visit.

A coffee shop? A cinema? A friend's home? The Museum of Art? The Franklin Park Conservatory?

Our Days Are Shaped By Where We Go
How nice to be able to go just about anywhere. You are reading the Interwebs today, so you must be rich enough to have places to go.

I'm glad for you. And grateful for myself.

Still, There Are Limits
W.H. Auden wrote:

Private faces in public places
Are wiser and nicer than
Public faces in private places.

While that's Audenian good fun, there is more than a ring of truth to it.

What If You Have No Place To Go
You might have a roof over your head. Barely. You might come from deprivation.

You might get watched closely at the bookstore, to the point where you just don't feel welcome. You feel like a public face in a private place.

What becomes of a person who doesn't know the luxury — or is it a basic need? — of having a few places to visit today?

Here's A Place For Kids Who Might Otherwise Have No Place
Let's explore the Ohio Avenue Youth Center, recently renovated by the courageous and talented folks at Directions For Youth & Families.

I love the DFY&F folks because they help young people establish their footing in life.

Why don't you join met at an Open House at the Ohio Avenue Youth Center this week?

Here is your invitation:

Thursday, February 17th
5 p.m. - 7 p.m. (tours throughout, a 15-minute program at 6 p.m.)
657 South Ohio Avenue, Columbus, OH 43205

Your face will be most welcome.

Dude. Your shirt rocks.

Here are three quick items from the world of tee shirts.

1. Homage has the best designs. It's like a Time Machine, where history is re-told and memory is paid homage — one tee shirt at a time.

2. Net Cotton Content is willing to introduce its own tee shirt. It features the executive photograph of my step-grandfather Andy Sokol, the muse for Net Cotton Content. (Here's why.) This design has been road tested by my great nephew. And you can grab the design and change it. Here you go.

3. From the Crunchy People at Comfest, this poster (click to enlarge) promotes their annual tee shirt contest. Hint: work up a design that looks good with beer and mustard spilled on it.

Who Are You?

It's my job to write and your job to read. (And, of course, both our jobs to think.)

Except today.

Once a year, I ask the readers of Net Cotton Content to talk back.

Here's this year's five short questions.

Please reply.

Click here to take the survey.

Thank you, most sincerely.

Let's Act

I wasn't kidding.

I was serious when I invited you to audition for this year's production of To Kill A Mockingbird.

That invitation is genuine and true. (And here it is, again.)

The auditions are this week.
Here are the details:

Audition for To Kill a Mockingbird dramatized by Christopher Sergel from the Pulitzer prize-winning 1960 novel by Harper Lee. Directed by Ian Short.

OPEN CALL: Friday, January 29, 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. (show-up anytime)
OPEN CALL: Saturday, January 30, 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. (show-up anytime)
CALLBACKS: Sunday, January 31, 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. (by invitation only)

Location: the Vern Riffe Center - Enter on State Street, go to the third floor and you'll be escorted to the audition room.

Performances June 24-27, 2010. Most rehearsals will be in the evening, Sundays-Thursdays, beginning in May.

This is an independent, community theatre production and a fundraiser for Available Light Theatre. Actors will not be paid.

REQUIRED: One monologue, two minutes or less, prepared material preferred; cold readings will be available for those who need them. Feel free to contact me. I can email you the "sides," so you can look them over in advance.

CALLBACKS: If you are called back, you will be notified by email by 11 a.m. on Sunday, January 31 and asked to attend a callback session from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. that day.

For more info: avltheatre@gmail.com

Caught In The Act

Suddenly, unexpectedly, I am an emcee for a theatre fundraiser tonight. 

Mrs. Isaac and I had other plans tonight: dinner with a couple friends from Available Light.

But when the call came yesterday, asking me to emcee tonight, we all figured — support the theatre! extend a hand to another theatre company! embrace serendipity!

And: reschedule dinner for another night!

Perhaps you might like to attend?
Here are the details.

Theatre Daedalus presents...

CAUGHT IN THE ACT
48 Hours. 20 Actors. 11 Writers. 5 Plays. 1 Fundraiser.

Theatre Daedalus is thrilled to present its first annual fundraising event, Caught in the Act, an evening of short plays conceived, written, and staged in 48 hours. More than three dozen theatre artists have gathered from around the country — eleven scripts are now being written, and the top five will be selected for staging at Caught in the Act, tonight.

WHEN
Saturday, January 9 at 7:00 p.m.

WHERE
Columbus Performing Arts Center
549 Franklin Avenue
Columbus, OH 43215
Google Map

TICKETS
Tickets are Pay What You Can at the door. Suggested Contribution is $15 per person. We will accept CASH or CHECK (made payable to THEATRE DAEDALUS) on the night of the event. Reserve now for free to guarantee your seat and make your contribution to Theatre Daedalus at the door.

Reserve tickets at www.theatredaedalus.com or by leaving a voicemail at (614) 787-0327.

See you tonight? Hope so.

YEAR TWO: Introducing Your Micro-Borrowers

Remember the recent update and request for charitable funds?

Well, thanks to the generosity of donors like you (except they actually gave me money for this), Net Cotton Content has raised $412.79 for use on Kiva. Some of that is available for roll-over from repayment of last year's loans.

So here's what we've done, as the Kiva/Net Cotton Content Portfolio:

• First, because I like round numbers, I donated $12.79 to Kiva for its operations. (That money isn't coming back to us.)
• Then I lent $200 to each of two entrepreneurs. This money will, hopefully, be repaid for our further lending next year.

Here's how Kiva describes our micro-borrowers:

Loan #1: Treats in Tanzania
Mwashambani Genda, age 42, is married and has three children, ages 8, 9, and 29 years old. She has a café in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, where she sells local foods, such as tea, mandazi (a donut-like pastry), chapati (a flat bread, like tortillas), chips, wali (rice) and ugali (a hot, sticky dough made from maize flour). She earns a monthly profit of around $210.

This will be Mwashambani’s first loan from Tujijenge Tanzania, Kiva's distribution partner in Tanzania. She hopes to obtain a loan to expand her business.

Mwashambani will share this loan with her loan group, Waukae, which has 15 members. The members of the group hold each other accountable when repaying the loan. In the photo, Mwashambani is in the back row wearing a blue dress.

Kiva's partner has advanced her funding against her request for US$2,525. We loaned $200, which will be used to backfill that loan.

Loan #2: Bricks in Nigeria
Mabel Odigie is a married with three children in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. She is 39 years old. She is a hard-working woman and she hopes to lift her business and family above poverty.

Mabel sells bricks to make a living. This is the high season for her business and she hopes to make more profits during this season. Her greatest joy is the one-on-one interaction that she has with her customers. She hopes to expand her business in the future. She hopes for a loan of US$1,150 to purchase more bricks to sell. She says thanks to all Kiva lenders.

Again, Kiva's partner in Nigeria, Lift Above Poverty Organization, has disbursed the money. We loaned $200, which will be used to backfill that loan.

Please remember: these are real people, living valid lives, in color.

Thanks To Our Donors
So who are these generous people like you?

Here are the folks who sent money for this year's charitable lending:

Year Two Donors
Emily, Nick, Joe, Michelle, Mary Ellen, and Julie

Their money was co-mingled (mmmm...) with the money from 2008's donors, because that money was lent and repaid last year — and is part of the giving again this year:

Year One Donors
John, Rachel, Emily, Abbie, and Michelle

Thanks to all.

Why give? What goes around comes around.