diary
18 jan 2011
started writing @ 22:31
written on the fam room couch

Jeffrey went back to school on Sunday which leaves me minus a brother in arms and with a lot more time. Life is less exciting around home, and now I am left with the opportunity to invest my time in my projects. This is something I have tried to do before with moderate success last February and November. Learning from those experiences I hope to improve by being more organized and by saying “no” more often to other opportunities that arise.

One such opportunity suggested by my father was a networking event for Northwestern alumni, specifically entrepreneurs. While I did take one class at Northwestern I’m certainly no alum. Yet, with my efforts at The Uncertainty Principle I qualify as an entrepreneur and given the event was open to the public I decided to attend.

I was nervous at first, when I arrived everyone was just sorta standing around. Thankfully the structure came soon, starting with a speech by Steven Rogers. Following his helpful talk they had speed networking. Everyone was given a letter (A, B, C, D) and lined up, with A’s facing B’s and so on. We had 5 minutes to chat with the person across from us, then they literally rang a cow bell and we moved on to the next person. I gave my schpiel,

“I am the Editor of The Uncertainty Principle. Its a bi-monthly collection of creations on one topic. Past topics have included Women, Space, Vision and Popcorn, the upcoming one is Solipsism. Artists are free to interpret the topic however they please, then I put them together into a print and online edition. The idea is to have many alternative viewpoints on the same idea. [Emphasized by my right index finger up and left index finger pointed down going around it in a circle.]“

That caught people’s attention, the fact that my distribution is essentially 3 to 4 people was not so impressive. I emphasized the first year was about survival, and now that we have survived, the goal is to get more copies sold. A goal I feel I can accomplish with enough time invested.

The event was tied-in with a basketball game, where the ‘Cats played the Michigan Wolverines. NU was in control from the opening tip, and led by double digits most of the game. Its fun watching Juice lead the team, he has a certain je ne sais quoi that exudes confidence even though at times the team appears helter skelter.