Strathlachlan

Work, Work, Work, Work, and Play

Busy year. Strange year. Lots of speaking. Lots of thinking. Lots of writing. Not enough of everything else.

Working on a book. It's about a lot of things, but my big focus is on measuring success online. Editing several other chapters at the same time. Should hit bookshelves early next year.

Holiday time next month when this is over. Trip to the UK and maybe somewhere else too. Still plotting and planning.

Now back to writing...

So Long 2008

Wow! What a year. 2008 went by very fast, but so much happened. I blogged the profressional side of life in 2008 over on Connections.

Here's the professional/personal abridged remix version:

Travel, travel, London, speak, travel, paint, speak, meetings, meeting, meetings, travel, travel, New Orleans, speak, travel, Australian GP, meetings, travel, San Diego, speak, travel, meetings, travel, Boston, speak, birthday, Giacomo's, meetings, meetings, reading, man cave, travel, Halifax, speak, reading, meetings, travel, travel, Montreal, speak, speak, painting, hello new car, goodbye old car, bad news, travel, meetings, secret meetings, travel, man cave, travel, NYC, speak, travel, Monaco GP, travel, secret meetings, secret meetings, secret meetings, secret meetings, secret meetings, secret meetings, secret meetings, secret meetings, Kintera acquisition, travel, speak, travel, meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings, early morning phone call, meetings, meetings, meetings, travel, NYC, speak, travel, meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings, travel, Boston, Giacomo's, speak, travel, meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings, Dave Matthews Band concert, tattoo, meetings, reading, meetings, meetings, travel, DC, speak, travel, San Diego, meetings, meetings, meetings, travel, Rush concert, meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings, BBNC v5.5 ships, travel, travel, travel, travel, Australia, meetings, Australia, meetings, Australia, speak, speak, speak, Australia, travel, travel, travel, glad to be home, time warp, reading, time warp, meetings, roadmap, roadmap, roadmap, travel, Chicago, speak, travel, roadmap, frustration, roadmap, travel, Disney, pancakes with Pluto, speak, travel, meetings, travel, DC, speak, travel, Annapolis, meetings, travel, roadmap, roadmap, roadmap, meetings, meetings, backlog, backlog, travel, London, walking, walking, meetings, speak, speak, speak, train to Paris, walking, Paris, walking, Paris, train to London, travel, travel, burnout, meetings, burnout, Brazilian GP, meetings, NTEN board, meetings, writing, meetings, Charleston conference, speak, speak, meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings, travel, Boston, speak, travel, meetings, strategy, strategy, meetings, travel, DC, travel, meetings, bigfoot, frustration, meetings, new book, meetings, BBNC v5.6 ships, thinking, writing, Il Cortile del Re, travel, holidays, reading, vacation, reading, vacation, drum set, rest, rest, rest, and smiling.

The City of Lights

A few weeks ago I had the chance to spend two days in Paris. An early morning train ride from London to the City of Lights was just what I needed. I took a lot of photos on the trip and here are a few of them:

Photos from Paris steve.maclaughlin's Paris photoset

2008 Formula One World Championship

A long season came down to one last race, one last lap, and one last corner at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil. In the end, it was Scuderia Ferarri Marlboro's Felipe Massa that won the race and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton that won the FIA Formula One World Drivers' Championship for 2008. Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship over McLaren.

Hamilton becomes the youngest World Champion in F1 history and McLaren wins their 12th Drivers' Championship. Hamilton overtook Toyota's Timo Glock on the last corner of the last lap in raining conditions to take fifth place in the race and to secure the title by one point. It was probably the most exciting finish to a Formula One race and season we'll ever see.

This was also the last Grand Prix race for David Coulthard, who crashed out in the first lap of the race. I've been a fan of the Scotsman for many years now and it is sad to see him retiring from the sport. But a new champion has been crowned and Lewis Hamilton has many bright years ahead of him in the sport.

A McLaren driver last won the title in 1999 when Mika Hakkinen took home the title. It has been a long drought for the team and Hamilton nearly won it in Brazil last year. And I've been a long suffering fan all these years watching Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, and Kimi Räikkönen win championships.

The Silver Arrows of McLaren Mercedes finally break their losing streak and win the greatest prize in motorsport. It was well worth the wait.

Back from the Other Side of the World

Two great weeks in Australia. And a week to recover. A lot of work. A lot of fun. A lot of pictures.

www.flickr.com steve.maclaughlin's Sydney, Australia photoset

Other Side of the World

I'm headed to Australia in a few days. It's about 9,500 miles from Charleston, SC to Sydney, NSW. That means a five hour flight to Los Angeles and a 14-hour flight to Australia.

I need to pick-up an extra laptop battery and get the iPod reloaded with traveling music. The bad news is that I'm traveling on United so the miles all go to US Airways, which I don't fly on as often as Delta. The good news is that I got a window seat, which might be the only thing that helps me keep my sanity.

Look for some pictures and some blogging from the other side of the world.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

With half the year gone I've got a few upcoming speaking engagements:

June 14, 2008
“The Changing Nature of Community: Leveraging the Internet to Build Relationships and Expand the Reach”
ePhilanthropy Foundation Social Networking and Nonprofit Online Strategies Symposium
9:15am – 5:00pm
http://www.ephilanthropy.org
New York, NY

June 19, 2008
"Web 2.0 Demystified: What it is and What it can Mean to Your Institution"
Steve MacLaughlin, Director, Internet Solutions, Blackbaud
Brian Dowling, Assistant Vice President of Development Services, University of Michigan
Blackbaud's Higher Education Forum
9:00am – 10:15am
http://www.blackbaud.com/bb/events/higheredforum/2008.aspx
Boston, MA

July 14, 2008
"One to One Marketing: Using Technology to Connect with Individuals"
Steve MacLaughlin, Director, Internet Solutions, Blackbaud
Michael Cervino, Vice President & Co-Founder, Beaconfire Consulting
American Marketing Association’s 2008 Nonprofit Marketing Conference
8:00am – 12:00pm
http://www.marketingpower.com/nonprofit
Washington, DC

Viva la Vida

A special day for special people. Well wishes and happy thoughts go out to my grandmother, my mother, my sister, and another special person from my life.

2009 Mercedes-Benz SLK350 Review

I took delivery of my brand new 2009 SLK350 today. The smile is still on my face. For the past three years I've had a 2005 SLK350 (R171) and simply love the car. So the new updated version has some very big shoes to fill.

Here are the specifications on the 2009 SLK350:

Iridium Silver with Gullwing Red leather interior

P1: Premium I package
- Power seats and steering column with memory
- 4-way lumbar support
- SIRIUS Satellite Radio
- Rain sensor
- SmartKey
- Garage door opener
- Interior Ambient Lighting Package
- Auto-dimming mirrors
- iPod/MP3 Media interface

Multimedia Package
- COMAND navigation with 6-disc in-dash CD/DVD changer
- 6.5-inch color display
- harman/kardon® LOGIC7® digtial surround-sound system
- SD-Memory Card slot
- Voice Control

Heating Package
- AIRSCARF with neck level heating system
- Cloth Windscreen
- Heated front seats

Also added: Digital Dual-Zone Climate Control

Engine: 3,498-cc DOHC 24-valve V-6. High-pressure aluminum-alloy cylinder block. Alloy heads. Counter-rotating balance shaft.
Net Power: 300 hp @ 6,500 rpm
Net Torque: 265 lb-ft @ 4,900 rpm
Compression Ratio: 11.7:1
Transmission: Standard 7-speed automatic with electronically controlled shifting
Drive Configuration: Rear-wheel drive
Rear Axle Ratio: 3.27:1

My 2005 SLK350 was Iridium Silver with red leather interior, and I think my comments are a good review of what's new and cool with the 2009. Here goes:

First, if there's one word to sum up the new 2009 SLK350 it's this: Aggressive. Front nose styling looks very aggressive up-front, chrome around front fog lights looks great, and all the pictures that I saw previously don't do the changes justice. New side-view mirrors and revised front-facing turn signal lights are good improvements. The new wheel rims are simply awesome. I thought about swapping them out before seeing them in person, but they are fantastic and much better than the 2005. Changes to the rear end also look good. New exhaust pipes have a more square look and the rear diffuser is a nice touch. Red and smoke-tinted rear lights are also new. Satellite radio antenna is subtle and can't be seen while driving, and they updated the radio antenna to be a bit stronger looking.

Second, the interior changes are minor but still noticeable. New COMAND navigation system rocks and the iPod display combined with voice command is pretty killer. Lots of changes and it will take me a while to figure out how to use it all. Six disc changer is now all in-dash which means you actually have a glove compartment now. Changes to the steering wheel give it a much more sportier appearance, but it's still growing on me a bit. Dashboard display and styling is updated with a silver and red treatment that looks really good. I'm not keen on the climate control system changes and the "Auto" feature is now gone. Changes to seat adjustments are better and they changed the window controls, including the ability to open/close the smaller rear windows. Oh...and the new "Gullwing Red" looks great! Much brighter and more pronounced than the old red interior in the 2005.

Third, when you turn the key there is a very distinct engine note that's a throaty growl. It's a very sweet sound indeed! The performance tune up is quickly noticed when you step on the throttle. Mercedes-Benz increased the compression ratio to 11.7:1 (up from 10.7:1) which gives the 2009 SLK350 about 32 more horsepower. I haven't had a chance to do more than a few miles so far, but I'll report back later on how things go.

And for a few more days I'll have two Silver Arrows in the driveway.

Adjusting the Message

For the past few years I've been ramping up the amount of conference presentations that I do. And I've been ramping down the amount of blogging. Since January, I've been really focused on speaking and writing and writing and speaking.

Most of the new writting is happening over at my Connections blog which I'm doing on the professional side of life. Some messages that start out as blog entries have ended up in print. And some messages end up as part of my presentations.

I'm through the first big round of major nonprofit conferences of the year. NTEN was in New Orleans, AFP International was in San Diego, Team Approach User Forum was in Boston, and AHP Canada was in Halifax. There's a whole new set of Blackbaud conferences starting up next week in Montreal, then two in NYC, and another in Boston as we head into June. I keep a running list of conference appearences here.

At any one time I have about four presentation topics that I rotate through. For the past year I've been constantly tweaking my TrueCRM presentation. It's based on the concept that the best relationships are built by looking at every touch point a constituent has with a nonprofit organization. It came out of a lot of talk about integrated multi-channel communication but takes things to a different level.

I'm doing three presentations in Montreal next week, and TrueCRM is one of them. It's a much more refined and honed message than one I gave a year ago in Vancouver. But I think I need to set this one up on the shelf for a while and work on refining some other messages.

The next stretch of speaking gigs is mostly about the impact of Web 2.0 on the nonprofit market. I tested out some new ideas the other day that appeared to work. This is the fun part of putting different ideas together. And what I've learned is that I sharpen up the message a lot faster when I write about it before I speak about it. It forces out the clarity during the writting process.

Doing more writing usually leads to more writing and I finally feel like I'm back to blogging on a regular basis. I blogged nearly every day for a few years before taking a big hiatus. I'm also learning the compromises you make when doing a corporate blog. No April Fool's Day jokes and I can't always use my inside voice. But it's pretty unfiltered.

I blogged a piece called "Living Between the Tides" last week that came out of some notes I made on an airplane. I used a quote from Clary Shirky's new book, Here Comes Everybody, and his historical references in a blog post from this morning are really spot on. This is a message I'll keep tweaking and refining over time. Let the games begin...