Sketchnoting The Summit Series

THE SUMMIT SERIES is a kind of unconventional conference, created by and for young entrepreneurs to connect, teach, learn and change the world for the better.

I've been commissioned to capture Summit Series Basemcamp in Lake Tahoe's Squaw Valley this weekend. I'm completely stoked to experience this fascinating event and capture it visually as a blend of both traditional and travel sketchnote styles.

What's the Summit Series?

The Summit Series began several years ago as an invite-only ski trip to connect with selected guests, financed on xxx's personal credit card. Now the Summit Series hosts thousands of luminaries at a time, meeting in unusual locations like cruise ships and ski resorts, featuring a wide variety of un-conferency activities like yoga and rock climbing as well as talks and workshops. The Series is managed by a team of young entrepreneurs who work together from different locations around the world.

The ultimate goal of the Series is to get interesting people together and share the experience of learning, giving and making a difference as a community.

The event I'm attending and sketchnoting Basecamp, a smaller gathering of about 800 guests at Sqauw Valley Resort in Lake Tahoe.

I can't wait to share my experience here when I return.

The Smoke Shack Experience

GOOD BARBECUE is hard to come by in Wisconsin, especially after being spoiled by the amazing stuff I have every year in Austin, Texas at SXSW Interactive.

I've been watching development of a new barbecue joint in Milwaukee's 3rd Ward called The Smoke Shack. The building has been under construction for several months. I couldn't wait for the space to open so I could give their barbecue a try.

Today, I happened to visit during The Smoke Shack's first public lunchtime opening and it was amazing. I chose a brisket sandwich, and enjoyed experimenting with the various sauces at the bar — tangy Texas, smoky Kansas City, zippy North Carolina and the balanced House. All of them were great, but Smoke Shack's House sauce was my favorite.

The interior and exterior design were also superb, as the designers made use of salvaged wood and metal objects to give Smoke Shack an authentic vibe. I was brought right back to those warm spring days at Stubb's BBQ in Austin.

Ribs are only available after 5pm because they're cooked during the day and just aren't ready until dinner time. But man, their beef brisket was tender and juicy, so don't be afraid to try out a sandwich at lunch.

I'm pleased to see The Smoke Shack making a statement in the 3rd Ward, helping my city of Milwaukee to be an even cooler, tastier place to live.

If you're in Milwaukee, check out The Smoke Shack!

Fitness, Energy, Creativity and a Better Life

BY THE END OF 2011 I was tired. I was dragging and I was in need of rest from a busy, fun yet draining year. During the week between Christmas and the New Year, I pondered ways to increase my energy, knowing another intense year of projects was on the horizon.

I began thinking of my fitness level as a missing piece in becoming a more effective professional, after reading Haruki Murakami's book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. In the book, Murakami describes the positive, critical impact running has had on his creativity, his writing career and his life.

Reading Murkami's words reminded me of early morning bicycle rides I used to take years ago. Rising at 5am to ride country roads with my friend Dave was a great way start to my day and served as a significant source of energy for my creativity and my life at the time.

I've missed those rituals and the energy. It was time to get them back.

Hiring a Trainer

For much of last year I'd been considering hiring a personal trainer to help get a workout habit established for my specific needs — but never acted on the idea. With 2012 arriving and establishing positive habits on my mind, I made the decision to contact the local YMCA and set up a free meeting with a Y-approved personal trainer.

The first meeting went very well. My trainer listened to my past successes (cycling), challenges (busy work and family life with small children) and my goals. He asked more questions, then suggested a simple plan to begin forming a workout habit to suit my life and schedule. It's been working well.

Our second meeting was a chance to refine the details of my plan — adding new stretches, activities and goals to my routine — along with a challenge to keep my momentum going. Next week I'll be challenged again and I can't wait.

Why a Personal Trainer?

It would seem easy enough to just head to the Y and start working out — but I'd always felt unsure of where to start or if I was doing things properly. When working with Y staff, never felt I ought to pester them with all of the questions I had. However, with a trainer I'd hired with my own money, I felt obligated to make the most of our time together by asking all sorts of questions.

My perspective on hiring a trainer changed when I thought of a trainer as someone I might hire in business — a front end developer, an accountant or an attorney. They're experts at what they do, just as I am at design, so it would be foolish not to take full advantage of their skills in advancing my goals.

Finally, having a neutral person to help establish my workout habit, provide accountability and offer guidance in exercise details has been great. In-between our sessions he remotely checks my workout progress, can suggest new activities and I can ask questions, all via email.

Two Weeks In

As I write this, I've reached the 2 week mark of making regular exercise a priority, I'm feeling the best I have in years. I'm feeling more energetic than ever before and have found myself getting caught up on a few projects that had become dormant at the end of 2011.

I've established an earlier bedtime, so I get up early for workouts, before my wife and kids wake up. Oddly enough, this entire morning routine has become a great time to think and ponder, a side benefit I hadn't expected.

Exercising 4 mornings a week has had another positive side effect: watching what I eat. Since I was tracking the time and calories burned in exercise, it made sense to get back into using Lose It! on my iPhone to keep track of the calories and foods I'm eating.

It's fascinating to capture what I'm eating each day, watching the weekly trends and comparing the impact food I eat has on my energy levels. Having a place to easily record food and exercise wherever I am has been a huge benefit to my awareness. I especially love Lose It's barcode scanner for fast food entry.

Long Term

The outlook for the long term is encouraging. Ultimately my goal is to lose weight, gain strength and stamina to power my professional and personal life.

As I get older, I'm realizing any advantage I can gain in improving my life and the length of it is worth the small daily sacrifices. Feeling great in the process is the encouragement to keep on keeping on.

Another important mental approach has been to think of this as building a positive habit first, understanding that other benefits (feeling better, looking better) would naturally come as a by-product. I know that when I own a positive habit I will stick to it long term.

I'm totally owning this.

3six5: December 28, 2011

The house was quiet and dark as I climbed out of bed.

My favorite week is the week in-between holidays. My wife and kids lay sleeping while I headed to the den to spend time alone before the day began.

I've been enjoying this quiet week between Christmas and the New Year, especially after a hectic year of work and activity. Each year I use this week to review the past twelve months and think about what can be improved on in the next twelve.

Just yesterday, I asked my nine year old son Nathan what I could do to be a better father next year. What he said caught me by surprise and has challenged me these last 24 hours:

"Work less, dad."

But, but, wait. How did you.. hmmm.

He was right. Despite being even more selective about choosing new projects this past year, I was guilty of accepting more work than I ought to have. Of course, each project was a great opportunity, but the sum of those extra projects over a year's time drained me.

That's the tricky thing about work you love to do — the work doesn't seem like work at all — until you're in too deep. On top of love for the work is the draw of an opportunity too good to pass up, which makes it difficult to say no.

Mix love for your work and opportunity together and you have a recipe for potential overload and burnout — a place I don't want to visit.

Still, I'm encouraged. Even with all the projects I've done this year, my workload is much lower than the year before. I was successful at choosing fewer, more interesting and more challenging projects in 2011.

My challenge for the year ahead is to keep on the track of working less. To become even more selective about project quality and quantity, regardless of how enticing 'more' may be.

As evening draws to a close, I'm feeling clearer about my path forward, realizing I'm blessed with a loving family and a son who has no fear or telling his dad to work less.

I was honored to be part of the 3six5 project, and being chosen to represent December 28, 2011 with the entry above. Read it on the 3six5 website along with entries from all of 2011. Thanks Len.

Lambeau Field Pilgrimage

A CRISP WIND rolled across Lambeau Field on a sunny, December day. My pilgrimage to Green Bay to see the Packers host the Oakland Raiders was my second — the first happened many years ago when I was just a child.

Lambeau is a beautiful stadium, updated in such a tasteful way that tradition is maintained while wrapped in a well-designed, modern structure.

The Packer Hall of Fame was a treat, featuring all sorts of items and artifacts from previous teams, players and championships. I can't wait to make a return trip, to spend a full day exploring the Hall in detail.

The game experience was wonderful. Our seats were ideal, with a great view of the field and access to Lambeau's club level. Cheering fans and a 46-16 win over the Raiders completed my "Frozen Tundra" experience.

Here are a few images from my Lambeau Field set on Flickr: