December 08

The First Thirty by Jillip Naysinthe Paxson (and expanded version, The Silhouette Man ) tells the story of a person's efforts to make a difference in the world outside his window and the first thirty lessons learned along the way. Greg Forbes Siegman is the real-life person upon whom the two books are based.This part of the site has some of the photos, feedback and links regarding his trip in December 2008 to speak, sign books, guest lecture classes, and host two parties in Minnesota and New York (and some of the unplanned adventures and interesting people he encountered along the way).

Before he left, he made a list of goals for the trip. They included: (1) getting there and back safely, (2) impacting as many people – and being impacted by as many people – as possible, (3) use every minute possible (4) be curious at all times and (5) leave each place a little better than he found it.

On Friday afternoon, Greg arrived in Minneapolis. Shortly after arriving, he was brought to The Kenwood – a wonderful community for seniors – where he had lunch with the residents.

He got up early, got some work done, then wandered around town. While doing so, he discovered Lunds – one of his new all-time favorite stores. (Great, healthy options - plus a super nice staff.)

He went to work out at Snap Fitness.

Afterwards, he went to a coffee shop to get some work done -- but he got distracted by a group of people playing chess. The group appeared to include all adults plus one kid. Greg asked if he could play, too. They decided to let him play. After he got beat quickly by one of the adults, he asked if he could play against the kid.

Greg co-hosted a dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery. Prior to that day, he had never previously met a single person at the dinner – not even his co-host, Cynthia.

Cynthia invited some friends, plus some friends of friends. Greg invited people he met earlier in the day.

These ‘Dinner with Friends (except nobody knows each other)’ events have become a true tradition. Greg has now hosted or co-hosted nearly 300 of them around the world. For more on the dinners, visit www.GregForbes.com, click Enter Site, click Brunches/Dinners

The management and staff of Rock Bottom Brewery were very supportive of the concept and decided to give the group a discount. (They also provided great food and drinks, and outstanding service!)

Additionally, they decided to order copies of The First Thirty  for staff members as holiday gifts – citing its relevance to the F&B industry and its message about serving the community.

Want to order copies of The First Thirty for members of your staff? Email Books@IdeaListEnterprises.com

After dinner, a couple of the people who met at the table decided to go to a club. Greg accepted an impromptu invitation to join them.

He woke up bright and early – having accepted an invitation from someone else at the group dinner to go skiing. It was the first time he had ever been skiing.

(‘Got up’ four times. This could be loosely translated as ‘I fell four times’…but I choose to focus on the ‘got up’ part)

On Sunday afternoon, he was a guest speaker at Crest View Senior Communities – another wonderful place for seniors. In advance of the visit, Crest View’s management ordered dozens of copies of The Silhouette Man to give out to those who support their efforts.

While wandering around Crest View, he came across a birthday party for one of the residents -- who was turning 102 years old!

After the event, Greg spent the rest of the afternoon checking his email, working on some writing he is doing for a couple publications (and definitely not spending a single minute confirming that his Fantasy Football team beat his friend Mike's team by a LOT of points!)  

Greg’s nonprofit foundation is called The 11-10-02 Foundation (www.ShakingUpAmerica.org ) One of the Foundation’s Scholars went to college in Minnesota. He has since graduated and married his college sweetheart. They remained in Minnesota where they now live and work. On Sunday night, the three of them went to dinner.

On Monday morning, Greg volunteered for Project Homeless Connect at an event at the Minneapolis Convention Center. 

As noted on its website,  the event takes place twice each year -- with 'Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis partnering with service providers, businesses, citizens, and faith communities to bring multiple resources to one location where people can come to find the services they need. These services include: housing, employment, medical care, mental health care, benefits and legal assistance, eye doctors, haircuts, chiropractic, and dental care."

The event is made possible thanks to a couple dedicated leaders and an enormous number of individual volunteers (like those featured in the photo above and with Greg to the left)...

...and the money and manpower of some major corporate supporters like Target.

(What the Project puts together – and what they do – seems extraordinary. If you have the chance to participate in their efforts, it is worth the time.)

Greg flew to New York City. 

(The flight was a memorable one.  Among other things, I sat with the -- really fun -- cast of Hairspray on my right...

...and a priest on my left – who I won 25 cents from, on a bet. And yes, I did collect my winnings...but only so I could (and did) then, in turn, give the 25 cents to someone in New York who I felt could use it :)

Once in New York City, he checked into the Marrakech Hotel  on New York's Upper West Side - a boutique-style hotel with a Morocco theme. The hotel is popular with, among others, a lot of international travelers.  

Greg met up with Dr. Robert Fridman and Dr. Fridman's wife to get some breakfast.

Later that morning, he arrived at a school in New York where he would spend the day -- starting with a tour around part of the school, a breakfast meeting with some staff, and then an assembly for about 600 high school students and staff.

During the speech, Greg read "Legacy" - a poem he first began to write 12 years ago, and which has now been recited to audiences around the world. It has been turned into a poster - now available (as of Christmas Day, 2008) for companies, offices, gifts for donors or clients, or friends, or for you. [In this picture, he is holding a mock-up of the poster. The actual poster is 18 x 24, full color]. To inquire about it, email Books@IdeaListEnterprises.com  

In advance of the event, the school ordered hundreds of copies of The First Thirty .

Dr. Fridman and his medical practice partner, Dr. Bar-David, ordered 50 additional copies of the book for some of the students.

The New York Giants  sponsored a contest for the students based on Greg’s visit and the book. This is the second time this community-minded team has done so in conjunction with one of his speeches in New York.

Blue Man Group  also generously sponsored a contest for the students based on Greg’s visit.

Following the assembly, Greg led two workshops on diversity for some of the middle school students.

After that, he visited with an art class – talking with the students about his art collection – My Sleepless Nights , the techniques he follows when he draws, the lessons he has learned from pursuing his interest in the arts -- and then learning more about the students' own current artistic efforts (like the very cool painting featured in the background of this picture).

After that, he sat in on an English class – talking with the students about the creation of a book (versus the actual topics discussed in the book).

Before leaving campus, Greg joined many of the school’s students and staff for a Milkshake Reception. The Milkshake Receptions, both planned and unplanned, have become a fun tradition. They have taken place following events in places like Canada, Connecticut , New Jersey, Florida, Fresno, Boston , St. Louis and Chicago among others.

For more on the Milkshakes, visit www.ShakingUpAmerica.com  

TUESDAY NIGHT

As always, the event brought together a truly eclectic mix of people from all different careers, interests, cultures and backgrounds.

The event took place at Social Bar - a multi-level bar in the heart of New York City (with good food, too).

Wednesday morning, he met a friend for breakfast.

Then, he served as a guest speaker at an assembly at a school in New York. In conjunction with the visit, Blue Man Group generously sponsored a contest for the students.

Throughout the year, Greg writes for a variety of publications. One of them is published in New York. On the way back to the hotel from the morning event, he stopped by their office to have an impromptu meeting with his editor.  

For more on his writing, click here

Greg was a guest speaker at Atria at 86th – a community for seniors. (The residents were wonderful – a number of them were very --- very ---- similar to my Grandma).

Greg set up shop in the lobby at the Marrakech (a very fun lobby) -- where he began the process of sending thank you notes to everyone he met on the trip. While in the lobby, he met some more interesting international travelers who were staying there as well.

Later that night, at the end of a long (but fun!) six days, Greg headed back home – arriving around midnight

Once he landed, he shared a cab ride back home with two people he met while wandering around the airport, who happened to live in the same area - a fitting way to end a trip marked by chance meetings, memorable cab rides and new friendships

Each time Greg returns from a trip, he tries to focus on four things - and this trip was no different. So, he spent Thursday, (1) Writing thank you notes to everyone who was part of the trip (and continuing to respond to those who had already written him) - (2) Working out at the gym, despite being exhausted! - (3) Working on plans and details for upcoming events - (4) Trying to do something that helps him remember where he started (home).

In this case, for #4, he went to lunch with a new neighbor and gave him a tour of the city in the afternoon, and then attended a holiday party with his neighbors and the building's staff in the evening

During the trip, Greg implemented another chapter of The First Thirty Elevator Project. 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.

As always, his trip was filled with meetings with old friends - some planned, some by chance - and unexpected meetings and adventures with new ones. Here are pictures of some of the memorable people and places who crossed his path during the trip...

Check out the Toronto Blue Jays hat  :)

== Greg nominated the head of Project Homeless Connect for an award….and recommended the guest speaker at the PHC event to be the guest speaker for an annual event hosted by Mayors in Minnesota - where Greg had previously been the guest speaker

== A man Greg met in an elevator added 8 more copies of The First Thirty to The First Thirty Elevator Project

Mike Stenke, Crest View Senior Communities, Minnesota: "Thank you so much for the opportunity to be inspired by Greg's life experiences. I have worked with seniors for the past 20 years and [the talk] moved me to tears, which was a first for me! Thank you again and have a blessed holiday season."

Ethan, high school student, via  a combination of email feedback and a subsequent newspaper column he wrote about the event: "[Greg] engaged us in a discussion that has resonated with me and that is in my mind the best discussion we have ever had as a community. It taught a lesson that extends far beyond any political or economic lecture...I have never seen an assembly so widely discussed in the days proceeding...It has been met with nearly unanimous praise from those who I have spoken to. Many agreed that he had changed their perspective on life. We are becoming closer as a community not only by discussing his speech, but also in living out his legacy....I think his message really spoke to a lot of people, and I think we can all try to connect with people, both in our community and outside of it, on a whole new level...." 

To return to Greg's website, visit www.GregForbes.com

Particular thanks to everyone who made the events possible, attended the events and who helped make the process a fun one. Special additional thanks to the Rock Bottom Brewery, Lunds, Snap Fitness, Marrakech Hotel NYC, New York Giants, Blue Man Group, Dr. Fridman & Dr. Bar-David, Sanda, AP, Cynthia, Matthew, Kunle, and Josh. It was a busy week! I appreciate so many people and places being part of it.