FLORIDA/NEBRASKA - MARCH 2009
The First Thirty by Jillip Naysinthe Paxson (and expanded version, The Silhouette Man ) tell the story of a person's efforts to explore the world around him, try and leave each place a little better than he found it, and the first thirty lessons learned along the way.
Greg is the real-life person upon whom the books are based. In March 2009, he spent 5 days in Florida and Nebraska. This part of the site has photos and links regarding his trip, some of the memorable people he met along the way, and feedback from the speeches. Italicized notes are Greg's personal comments.
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SUNDAY AFTERNOON
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Greg arrived in Florida for the 18th Annual National Conference on Family Literacy. His role at the event was to co-host the Verizon Tech Savvy Awards which takes place during the Conference and to do a book signing. The other co-host for the Awards banquet was award-winning author and illustrator Peter Reynolds (The North Star). In previous years, the hosts have included actors Eric Close (Without a Trace) and James Earl Jones.
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The others scheduled to speak and do book signings at the Conference included best-selling authors Jan Goldstein (All That Matters), Greg Mortenson (Three Cups of Tea), and (left) Henry Winkler (Hank Zipzer).
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There were many interesting booths at the NCFL, including the one for Thinkfinity.org
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...and Sunday night included a reception hosted by Toyota for some of the attendees at the Conference.
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MONDAY MORNING
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Greg attended a morning dress rehearsal for the events that would take place later that day (and, when I showed up, was happy to meet one of the other speakers who believed that morning time means barefoot or pajamas :)
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Afterwards, he had breakfast with some of the attendees at the Conference (which was especially fun because the whole conversation took place in Spanish - a great chance for me to practice).
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MONDAY AFTERNOON
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He sat in and listened to some of the educational sessions taking place throughout the Conference – which revolved around topics like intergenerational literacy and the role of technology in the education of the 21st century learner.
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...then attended a full-fledged dress rehearsal with the other people who would be speaking that night, including Candace Clift (FOX Anchor, Louisville)...
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...and Christie Vilsack (Former First Lady of Iowa and Co-Founder of the Verizon Tech Savvy Awards) and organizers from Verizon Foundation and DMT Communications and others from the National Center for Family Literacy...
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...and Sharon Darling (Founder, NCFL) and Mr. Reynolds...
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MONDAY NIGHT
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There was a really nice reception for the presenters, organizers, sponsors and award honorees involved in the Verizon Tech Savvy Awards.
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Fun moment: Mr. Reynolds' manager had read The First Thirty before coming to town - so he knew that I wear mismatched socks every day. As a show of support, he wore mismatched socks to the event.
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After the reception, the banquet began. There were 1200 people in attendance.
The servers and chefs and their peers deserve a lot of credit for the great meals and service at such a large event! ...(and this goes for the staff at the luncheon later on in the week in Nebraska, too.)
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The banquet featured singing by a super children's choir...
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...the presentation of the Verizon Tech Savvy Awards...
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...and remarks by a number of top leaders from Verizon Foundation and NCFL, among others.
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The second portion of the evening involved a brief speech by Greg...
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...followed by a speech by Mr. Reynolds...
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...then there was an interactive, collaborative project involving the audience.
Greg interviewed people in the audience who described some of the 'stars' in their lives...
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...while, up on stage, Mr. Reynolds created an illustration in real-time which represented the collaborative 'constellation' with the 'stars' described by the attendees.
In the spirit of technology, some of the answers were submitted by video and text message in addition to the ones shared live.
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After the banquet, there was a book signing.
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TUESDAY MORNING
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In the morning, Greg met up in the restaurant for breakfast with some more of the attendees at the Conference.
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TUESDAY AFTERNOON
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...then headed to another part of Florida about an hour away to visit a beautiful community for seniors called Village on the Green.
First, he spoke at an event for the community’s staff...
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...…and then participated in a book signing…
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…Then, there was an event for the community’s residents.
Village on the Green ordered a stack of copies of the book for their own internal use as well.
Want to order copies of The Silhouette Man for a grandparent you know? Click here
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TUESDAY NIGHT
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Greg flew home from Orlando, arriving back home and getting to sleep around 2 am.
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WEDNESDAY MORNING
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A few hours later, he was back out the door to run some errands and then head to Nebraska
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WEDNESDAY NIGHT
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Shortly after arriving and checking into the (highly recommended!) Regency Lodge, he went to Taste -- a top local restaurant where he co-hosted a group dinner.
Hosting (or co-hosting) brunches and dinners for people who don't yet know each other is a fun tradition that he's been involved with hundreds of times in cities around the world. For background on previous brunches and dinners, click here
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For this group dinner, his (really fun) co-host, Tanya, was a guest at a previous group dinner two months earlier.
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THURSDAY MORNING & AFTERNOON
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Thursday was the day for the 2009 Young Professionals Summit at the Qwest Center. YPS is an annual event coordinated by the Young Professionals Council and the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. The event consisted of a luncheon (keynoted by best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell)...
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... and a closing session (which is when Greg spoke)...
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... as well as a series of sessions in between, featuring presentations and panels with a number of inspiring local young professionals ...
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... and one session on mentoring featuring some top local business leaders and legendary Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne. There were also breaks in between sessions along the way to ensure attendees had a chance to meet each other
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During the event, there was also a book and poster signing.
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THURSDAY NIGHT
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After the Summit came to an end, Greg attended two events -- a reception for the speakers, organizers and sponsors; and a big after-party for the attendees of the Summit.
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A lot of fun. A lot of cool people, and it featured some live music and some great work by local artists.
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FRIDAY MORNING & AFTERNOON
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Greg decided he would co-host an impromptu group dinner on Friday night, so he spent most of the morning sending emails to the people he had met the day before about the dinner idea. In the afternoon, he visited the offices of Quantum Workplace, whose President (far left) ordered copies of The Silhouette Man for his team following the Young Professionals Summit.
Want to order some for your staff? Email Books@IdeaListEnterprises.com
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FRIDAY NIGHT
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In all, 40 people came together for the impromptu group dinner.
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The event took place at Ozone Lounge.
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The dinner co-host was Ross, with OmahaNightLife.com - Greg handled the invitations. Ross took care of securing the location.
Another fun place. Fun people, good food, live music. In general, Omaha has a bunch of fun places and fun events...if you've never visited, you should go!
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After dinner, some of the group headed over to a dueling piano bar and sang along with the songs.
The next morning, at the end of a long five days, Greg headed home.
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CROSSING PATHS
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His trips to Florida and Nebraska provided him a chance to meet all kinds of interesting people - new friends and old. Here are pictures of some of the (many!) additional memorable people and places who crossed his path during the trip...
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CONNECTING DOTS
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One of Greg's favorite things to do is 'connect dots'. On trips like these, he tries to introduce nice people he meets to each other. Here are two examples - one in Florida, one in Nebraska...
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TAKING LEAPS
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On the plane ride home from Florida, Greg met an expert in Martial Arts.
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Two days after returning from Nebraska, Greg and a friend visited his Dojo and took part in a class. At Fujin Dojo, they teach Traditional Japanese Martial Arts for the Modern World as well as practical self-defense.
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(It's a serious work out within the context of a very welcoming environment. Definitely recommended!)
For more on them, visit www.FujinDojo.com
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SAMPLE OF OTHER RIPPLE EFFECTS
An NCFL attendee ordered two dozen copies of the book for the members of AmeriCorps GRASP in Kansas A young professional in Nebraska is now putting his skills to use to help a nonprofit in that community after the two were re-connected following the trip. At the recommendation of one of the NCFL attendees, an organization in Colorado had Greg keynote their event for Hispanic students and their families two months later...and in turn, he got a museum in Colorado to put up a scholarship as a surprise for one of the students in attendance.
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After reading the book, an NCFL attendee recommended it within her school district back on the west coast. Shortly thereafter, they ordered hundreds of copies of the book and a couple dozen copies of the poster! Another NCFL attendee wrote -- with pictures included, as proof! -- to say that after meeting Greg and reading the book based on his story, she too would now wear mismatched socks (in her case, specifically when she runs). One of the people at one of the events wrote to Greg and asked if he could/would set her up on a date with someone else in her town since he'd met lots of people there. He's working on that project now. (Don't ask who - I respect people's privacy :) The Orange County Arts & Education Center (left) ordered copies of The First Thirty for the Reading program at a nearby high school. For more on OCAEC and the great people who are part of it, go to www.OCAEC.org
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THE FIRST THIRTY ELEVATOR PROJECT
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During the trip, another chapter of The First Thirty Elevator Project was implemented. To learn about this Project, how it started, what it has turned into, and how you could be part of it, go to www.TheFirstThirty.com and click Elevator Project.
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BOOK & POSTER ORDERING INFORMATION
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To get copies of The First Thirty in person in Omaha, check out Borders on Dodge or Borders on Birch or Omaha Public Library
To order copies of the posters, visit www.GregForbes.com, click Enter Site, click Posters
To order A Place To Sit or The Silhouette Man (or to get copies of The First Thirty online), go to www.TheSilhouetteMan.com and click Cart
For bulk orders of any of the titles, email Books@IdeaListEnterprises.com
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WEBSITES & CONTACT INFORMATION
SPECIAL THANKS
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It was a busy 5 days! Special thanks to everyone I met in Florida and Nebraska, and the organizers of the events, the guests who attended the events and dinners, the people who worked at the hotels, and who prepared and served the food at the events and dinners, and thanks to all the people I met along the way. I appreciate the invites I received to be part of the events. I tried my best -- to be 'all in'. I appreciate all of you who helped make the week so memorable and treated me so nicely in the process.
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To inquire about an event, click here
To email Greg - click here
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