Local Innovation & Creativity speaker Marco Marsan has been awarded the prestigious “Top5 Speaker” designation in 2010 by Speakers Platform, one of the United States most prominent speakers bureaus. Out of hundreds of nominees, Marco Marsan has risen to become one of the world’s most respected and compelling speakers in Innovation.

Each year, Speakers Platform recognizes five speakers, within fifteen popular topic areas, based on: expertise, professionalism, innovation within the topic area, client testimonials & references, presentation skills, original contribution to the field and public votes cast at the Speaking.com Web site. Over 13,000 votes were cast from business leaders, educators, association members and others from around the world for the 2010 nominees.

Marco Marsan, living in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded Marco Polo Explorers, and for over 15 years has created a lengthy list of remarkably successful new products for some of the largest and smartest companies in the world. Some of his recent achievements include exhilarating and cutting edge solutions for Pizza Hut, Absolut and Kotex.  Marco has influenced tens of thousands of people through his speeches and books. In his first book, Who Are You When Nobody’s Looking?, Marco explores the power of strategic life invention. His second book, Think Naked: Childlike Brilliance in the Rough Adult World, he helps readers to reawaken and reconnect with the creative genius of their internal four year old selves. In The Lion’s Way, Marco’s newest work, he introduces life-changing principles in the context of a thrilling adventure. This provocative novel explores empathy as the ultimate problem-solving tool.

Top5 Speaker honorees receive a distinctive crystal award, are highlighted at the Speaking.com Web site and are permitted to use the distinctive Top5 graphics and designation in their marketing. Most honorees also enjoy a boost in their bookings.

During the economic downturn and corresponding downsizing; it’s more important than ever for companies to remain competitive in the global economy by giving their employees the tools to succeed. Speakers such as Marco Marsan help boost employee morale and improve their audiences’ personal and professional lives.

Each year, Speakers Platform recognizes five speakers within fifteen popular topic areas. Recognition of excellence in speaking is based on: expertise, professionalism, innovation within the topic area, client testimonials & references, presentation skills and original contribution to the field.

Voting is open till January 14th and I would greatly appreciate any last minute votes.

http://www.speaking.com/top5.php

Recently I have seen several articles pop up on the person-to-person loan organization, Kiva. It’s a microfinance organization that lets me, in Cincinnati, invest any amount (from $10 up) in a woman in Tanzania who is starting a dairy farm or a man in Mumbai starting a cleaning service. It’s such a personal way to connect to where my money is going vs. some faceless Global 2020 fund.
I keep seeing evidence of this growing opportunity to connect with people across the globe. Starbucks, for example, has their Origin Blends which tell the story behind the coffee right on the bag. Did you know that the farmers who grow the Bella Vista blend grow it in the hills of the Tres Rios region and have to pay close attention to detail to give it the lively flavor? And Wal-Mart has a line of sustainable jewelry, The Love, Earth collection, that gives customers the ability to trace the item they have purchased all the way back to the mine the gold came from!
It seems like there’s a hunger to feel like “we are all in this together.” Are there any other more recent, powerful examples? And for those of you on the other side of the globe, is this an American phenomenon or are you seeing the same thing in Paris, HongKong, Seoul, etc.?

My Zia Inelda, died today.
Inelda Tajo was bigger than life at around 4’10”.
She was a force without being forceful
She was an Italian immigrant, Italian comedienne (often the voice of June Allyson in Italian films) moreover she was what a world class person looks and sounds like.

My Zia (aunt) was the wife of the well known opera star Italo Tajo, my uncle and being around the two of them was proof that some of us are meant to shine above the rest of the world.

Don’t feel badly if you aren’t one of those stars, we can’t all be, and that’s what makes them stars, that’s what made my Zia, Inelda Tajo, special.

She lit up any room she walked into, and could tell a dirty joke like she had enlisted with the Merchant Marines as well as speak lyrically in her native Italian and make you think that language was honey.

My Zia was class from the moment we met her in the mid-60’s until her last days, never with anything but compliments for all she met.
Compliments and concerns, for my mother, my sister, their cats, her cats.

Proud of her extended families and forever proud of her husband who had died years before.
Zia never let being a widow slow her down, traveling and living. She knew how to live, and she was what all of us should aspire to, she was happy. She beamed when she talked about her cats (a long line of them) and she was proud to tell stories and to listen. She would listen to you, this star amongst us and you felt you were a touch more important because of the way she treated you.
That was her class, and she had it until her last day.
She said to me on my last visit, “I don’t want to die but I’m going to be prepared”


Don’t feel badly that you aren’t one of those superstars (God decides it when we are born)
Some of us strive to be and sorta look the part but the real ones don’t have to try as hard

Zia Inelda didn’t try to impress, she was impressive
Zia Inelda didn’t try to make us all laugh, she made us laugh.

There was a precociousness in her, a smile in her eyes.
The challenge was not to smile when she was in the room

We should always know that those who stand out are gifts, they are reminders that we are all different, and because Zia Inelda was in this exemplary club made her as close to what impresses us in nature, the sunrise and the sunsets, a beautiful ocean setting or the mountains of Italy, none have to try very hard they just are and for those of us who are lucky enough to witness these fine treasures and those of us who spent any time with Inelda Tajo you just feel like you are better for it.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan
more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more
copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent. Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
moments that take our breath away.

Some things just never go away!
Like the idea that we were at our best at age 4. The famous George Land studies show that 98% of us were creative geniuses by age four and that only 1% are at age 25!
What the happens to us? Is it naïve to think we can maintain that brilliance and innocence over the years?
Well it is naïve but that’s what I choose to invest in. I want to believe that the world could be a better place, that we can be inspired on a daily basis and that all problems and rules are changeable.
Now they are going to be thinking this way in Korea with the introduction of the book Think Naked: Childlike Brilliance in the Rough Adult World. They are going to get to apply some of the principles we all knew at age 4.
Thanks to Marco Polo Explorer Sung Kim. Sung Kim's hard work in translating the book and packaging it for the Korean market is nothing short of a miracle.
He is our honorable friend and we will hope the entire country of Korea is thinking a bit more naked soon!

That’s all we ever want people to do, is to listen to what we have to say, our opinions and the depth of our experience.

But stop for one second if you think you know more than Pete Blackshaw about Consumer Generated Media. Blackshaw is the smartest person I know, and I know a lot of smart people, his insights and passion are infectious and I wouldn’t make a move without talking to him, so reading his book it’s a must if you are interested in understanding consumers and how they act and react in the present day.

Pete’s style is both amazing and bite-sized and you will learn so much from him, so just LISTEN TO ME, read Blackshaw’s book Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000: Running a Business in Today's Consumer-Driven World.

Easter meant more to me this year because it was the first time I thought of what I've been taught and what I wrote in THE LION'S WAY and how the two differ.

Please, as friends and supporters, either buy a copy or borrow a copy and comment about it on Amazon or tell three friends to buy copies...I give every single cent to the Forza Facia Foundation which distributes to Save Darfur, and NOLA Make it Right amongst other charities (not just Ocean's 11 stars favorite charities).

Please pick up a copy or get someone to create some buzz....if we don't start helping each other ....then we will all stay individuals trying to move the middle on our own....

Let me know how I can help you....my word is good!

If you are in the game of creating products or services for anyone, please, make sure you make your consumer feel really good about themselves.

I just finished working with a PR agent for my new novel The Lion’s Way, and she was TERRIBLE! Her name rhymes with Boobana Bean Turd. TERRIBLE. All she did was talk about what she wasn’t going to promise, the things she couldn’t get done, because most things were out of her control.

A professional PR agent who would speak in “contract talk”, saying things like (in a shrill voice that had a Ronald Reagan cadence) “well, I can’t promise you anything but I’ll try… which is what I’ve got on our contract…blah blah”.

At the end of the day I’m the idiot - I was busy saying how I wished her to be and how I thought she was connected that I wasn’t paying attention to the tell tale signs of a mediocre service provider.

If someone is offering you a service and there’s no easy way to get a hold of them during or after the engagement that’s a SIGN!

If they are acting like they are doing you a favor instead of making you feel awesome…that’s a SIGN

Don’t give away your business to anyone who doesn’t cherish working for you.

This country is getting lazy, we’re outsourcing everything. By the time the service industry figures out that they are shooting themselves in the foot it may be too late, because people like you and me may forgive but we won’t forget!