Late July 09: NY, NC/SC - Second half of week

The First Thirty by Jillip Naysinthe Paxson (and expanded version, The Silhouette Man) tell the story of a person's efforts to turn a never-ending series of obstacles, rejections and detours into positive opportunities in his life and the lives of others.  

 Greg is the real-life person upon whom the books are based.  In July 2009, he traveled to North Carolina and South Carolina for 2 days of events.  This part of the site has photos, details and links regarding his trip.

Italicized notes are Greg's personal comments.

Greg spent three days in New York - taking part in a variety of events there.  If you have not seen how the week started, Click here.

After arriving in Charlotte, Greg went to an outdoor concert in the Epicenter. The concerts are put on there many times throughout the summer - bringing together all kinds of interesting people.

In Charlotte, they carry The First Thirty (ISBN: 0975879405) at Borders Morrocroft

Greg attended the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Junior Conference. Throughout the morning, he sat in and observed some of the different workshops and break-out sessions that were taking place. Much of the focus was on diversity.

Greg was the Closing Session speaker. He spoke for about an hour, about diversity and education, with the 500 or so educators (present and future) who were on hand.

Following the event, he did a book and poster signing.

With the Conference over, he joined the facilitators for lunch -- and listened to them as they were already brainstorming on ways to build upon the Conference they'd just put together.

It's very cool to come across educators who are so focused on creating positive experiences for the students they work with!

After lunch, he headed to Fort Mill, SC to spend time with the Charlotte Knights (AAA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox).

During practice, the Coach let him head out to right field to shag fly balls while the real players took batting practice.

They let him take batting practice, too. The Coach even took time to give Greg some pointers while he was in the batting cage, so he could improve.

Afterward, he signed some things for a kid or two in the crowd.

In conjunction with Greg's visit, a baseball fan in Chicago (David Lynn) ordered copies of The Silhouette Man for all the players and coaches. In a note placed with each book, Mr. Lynn said he hoped the story would inspire some of these future White Sox players to continue to be "champs off the field, too.”

In a very ironic situation, the Knights' opponent that night was the Rochester Red Wings (AAA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins) -- the team Greg had spent the day with in New York earlier in the week. So, the visit with the Knights also turned out to be a fun chance to see the Red Wings again (and get a hard time for wearing the other team's jersey) :)

Before that evening's game, Greg threw out a ceremonial first pitch. (A strike!)

Then, he headed into the stands and joined the rest of the fans in watching a great game that went into extra innings.

As an extension of some of the fan-friendly efforts they undertake in between innings throughout a game, the Knights also gave kids in attendance on this night a chance to come onto the field after the game and run the bases like their favorite players do.

Greg likes looking for opportunities to try new experiences (and trying them sooner than later). To read about some recent examples, visit www.TakingLeaps.com

On this trip, he found an incredible place for taking leaps: the US National Whitewater Center. It is a U.S. Olympic Training Site.

According to its website, USNWC's "307 acres of woodlands [are] home to the world's largest recirculating river, 14 miles of biking, hiking and running trails, and one of the world's largest outdoor climbing facilities."

So, on Monday morning, Greg made a spontaneous trip to USNWC and immediately signed up for whitewater rafting...which begins with an experienced rafting guide (left) going over all the safety precautions.

...followed by other guides making sure the rafters are all suited up properly...

(As one guide said to me, they want you to focus on having a great time, but it's always important that safety come first)

The activities at USNWC lead to some great memories - and even better pictures!

And if your whole group is on the water, you can still get an action shot taken - thanks to the photographers at USNWC. (After you get out of the water, you get to review the pictures and see how they turned out before deciding if you want to purchase any)

After the whitewater rafting, Greg signed up for USNWC's Mega-Zip.

Zipping 25-30 mph across the sky is a much more fun way to dry off than using a towel!

With the airport conveniently located just 10 minutes away, he still had time to walk around a bit and check out the others enjoying USNWC's activities - including climbing.

When all was said and done, he made it to the airport to check in for his flight home with exactly three minutes to spare -- as the airline representative pointed out with a smile :)

One of the nicest parts of Greg's trip was the accommodations -- staying at the Hilton Charlotte University Place. Just a short distance from University of North Carolina - Charlotte (and also nearby much of what you would want to do or see while in town), the hotel also has a helpful and friendly staff, an incredibly convenient parking lot for guests who happen to have cars, great rooms and amenities...and a 'backyard' that is pretty hard to top when you want to go for a quiet walk (or just sit and unwind) at the beginning or end of a hectic day on your trip.

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.

Greg's trip to North Carolina 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...

One of Greg's favorite things to do during these trips is 'connect dots' between people and places that cross his path. He likes to try and 'connect dots' after the trips as well. Check back for some examples.

Jordan, Elon University student: "I really enjoyed Greg's speech at Junior Conference...it was relevant to all college students, education majors and non-education majors alike. I thought he did a great job of including really entertaining anecdotes while still imparting the serious nature of the problems -- and solutions! .... I think it definitely got the point of "diversity" across without beating us over the head with it -- [Instead of hearing] a bunch of statistics and preaching about diversity...we got to hear from someone who actually lives it, doesn't just talk about it. Also, [Greg didn't use a podium], and I LOVE when speakers don't use a podium, as I feel much more like it's a conversation rather than a lecture....I bought The Silhouette Man [the book based on Greg's story] and...I am really enjoying it so far!..."

Between this trip to North Carolina and South Carolina, his trip earlier in the week to New York  and the stops in between, Greg ended up in 9 cities in 5 states in 7 days. A week later, a woman in Canada wrote in to say that seeing Greg go through so many cities in so few days inspired her to do the same -- deciding, on 24 hours notice, to go travel through five cities in Canada!

During his trips, Greg likes to look for signs (both literal and figurative) that are fun, funny, meaningful and/or connected to the themes of the trip itself. During his two days in Charlotte, he saw a bunch that stuck with him, like this one...

To purchase signed copies of The First Thirty in person in the Charlotte area, check out Borders Morrocroft (Colony Drive)

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 The First Thirty online, go to www.TheSilhouetteMan.com & click Cart

For bulk orders of any of the titles, email Books@IdeaListEnterprises.com

To return to the website, visit www.GregForbes.com

The book: www.TheFirstThirty.com

The expanded version of the book: www.TheSilhouetteMan.com

The art site: www.MySleeplessNights.com

To reach us by email, send an email GregsUpdate@Gmail.com

To reach Greg on Facebook, send a friend link to "Greg Forbes Siegman"

To ask about booking an event, email Events@GregForbes.com

It was a busy 48 hours! (And a busy week in general!) Thanks to everyone in NY, NC, SC (and those I met during layover stops in PA and IL along the way) for making it such a memorable one.