One would think that with Christmas and other holidays, that December would be a slow month for analyst relations.  In reality it could be if you are a slacker, but it has worked just the opposite for me.  My whole year can be won in the prior December.  Yes, I look at many things as winning and losing, it’s the competitor in me that won’t go away.

A good hunter once told me that the harder he works prior to hunting season to prep for the hunt, the better his luck is.  On a really good year he gets accused of being really lucky, when in fact he worked harder that year.  So it is with working with the analysts (I guess this is any job really, but I work in A/R).  If I get my plans in order and schedule the beginning of the year with good kick off meetings, it’s amazing the results that occur, just lucky I guess? 

Here is the other thing I’ve noticed.  I have easier access to the analysts (except those who have to sell or close contracts which is a December time suck) as a lot of the other programs are doing the above mentioned slacking or holiday partying, or something which allows me in the door.

I’ve noticed that the analysts are planning their year, or at least the first part of the year also.  If I am working with them, they will at least consider my area as something to write about.
From the analyst side, there can be time left over in a group contract that I can access at the end of the year.  It is a benefit that I’ve used more than once and intend on using.  I’m not proud.

So I do celebrate Christmas, and I usually do take time off (use it or lose it), December is one of the most valuable months for me.  It can determine my “luck” for the following year.

Happy Hunting.

For the third time, I’ve drowned a cellphone. I’m wondering if it is subliminal hate for the Sprint (lack of) service that I routinely get? Anyway, this time it actually survived.

Here is my history of cellphone death by water torture. The first phone went fishing with me and wound up in the bilge. That one didn’t survive.

They next one, my Jack Bauer phone went into the aquarium when we moved, scratch another one.

Since I knew I was dumping Sprint at the end of this contract, I wasn’t going to spend much on a new phone so I bought a Samsung A640. The inevitable happened, it got left in my jeans and got washed this weekend. I figured another suffers the proverbial water death sentence.

Low and behold, I let it dry out because I didn’t need it over Thanksgiving and I turned it on to find out it works! For now at least. The screen is a bit fuzzy and the pictures aren’t too clear, but I didn’t use the camera much anyway, mostly showing off my dog. I can’t bear the thought of giving Sprint any more money than I have to.

Maybe Samsung should market this to scuba divers? How about to clumsy and forgetful cell phone abusers near water?

George Washington’s proclamation.

What Thanksgiving Really Means by WolfHowling

Kathy: No Thanksgiving Without Gratitude, No Gratitude Without Grace 

Even though I say things like “might outta” and “fixin to”, the accent quiz pegged me to where I’m from, Florida.

This Porsche was an aerodynamic experiment for Le Mans.  Driven by Willi Kauhsen and Reinhold Joest, it didn’t finish due to a wreck.  I spoke with Kauhsen at the Rennsport Reunion and he said he said it drove fine in the stint right before the wreck.  History notes that the downforce caused brake failure, but Kauhsen said there were no such problems.

This is a one of a kind car with a unique paint scheme of the various pork cuts in German.  It was raced by the Martini racing team, but in this color, thus the pink pig.

Photo from Murdoc

And from Blackfive who notes: Freedom isn’t free, it comes with the highest of costs…..

First, Veteran’s Day. Here is the text of the Presidents Radio address which says what needs saying:

Good morning. This weekend, Americans mark two important dates in our Nation’s history. On Saturday, we celebrate the 232nd birthday of the United States Marine Corps. And on Sunday, we celebrate Veterans Day — and give thanks for all those who have worn the uniform of America’s Armed Forces.

The Marine Corps was born in a Philadelphia tavern in 1775. Since then, the Marines have become one of the world’s premier fighting forces. Their courage and valor in battle have earned them the respect of friend and foe alike. And today, a new generation of Marines is writing another chapter in that proud tradition. Young Marines are serving on the front lines in the war on terror in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world. As the Marines celebrate their birthday, we join them in recognizing what their sacrifice and service has meant for our freedom.

America owes a debt of gratitude to all those who have served in our Armed Forces. On Veterans Day, we remember those who have served in previous wars, those who are serving today, and those who did not live to become veterans.

Veterans Day also reminds us of our solemn responsibility to care for those who have fought our Nation’s wars. Under my Administration, Federal spending for our veterans has increased by more than two-thirds. We have extended medical treatment to a million additional veterans, including hundreds of thousands returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. And we have expanded grants to help homeless veterans across the country.

These are the generous actions of a grateful Nation — and to build on them, I nominated a good man to head our Department of Veterans Affairs: Doctor James Peake. Doctor Peake is an Army doctor, a retired lieutenant general, and a combat veteran who was wounded twice in Vietnam, and decorated for his valor. When confirmed by the Senate, Doctor Peake will take on an important task — continuing my Administration’s work to implement the recommendations of the bipartisan Dole-Shalala Commission on Wounded Warriors. These recommendations are vital to ensuring better care for our veterans, and Congress needs to confirm Doctor Peake so he can lead the way in this crucial effort.

Some of the Commission’s recommendations require legislative action, such as updating the disability system to fully meet the needs of our wounded warriors. So my Administration has sent Congress a bill that would enact all the legislative steps recommended by the Commission. This is a good bill, our wounded warriors and their families are counting on it, and I urge Democrats and Republicans to come together to pass it as quickly as possible.

Congress can also meet its responsibility to our veterans by passing a clean Veterans Affairs appropriations bill. Unfortunately, Congressional leaders let the fiscal year end without passing this bill they know our veterans need. So I urged Congress to pass this bill by Veterans Day — and they still have failed to send me this vital legislation. The time to act is running out. There are now just four days left on the legislative calendar before Congress leaves town for their Thanksgiving break. The best way members of Congress can give thanks to our veterans is to send me a clean bill that I can sign into law.

On this Veterans Day, I urge every American to take time to thank one of our Nation’s 24 million veterans. They come from different generations and different backgrounds. But they are united by a commitment to honor, duty, and love of country
that has kept America free. They continue to strengthen and inspire our Nation. And we will never forget what we owe them.

Next: Happy 232 Birthday to the Marines, first to serve and tough bunch of guys…Semper Fi.

I went to the Porsche Rennsport Reunion last week.  I saw roughly half a billion in Porsches from the 50’s to brand new.  I’ll be posting a few pictures I took, just because.

The Hippie car, actually 917-LH (Lang Heck or Long Tail) raced by the Martini team to second place in 1970 at Le Mans by Willi Kauhsen and  Gerard Larrousse.  It went 240 MPH down the Mulsanne straight, pretty good for 37 years ago.  Cool car, cool paint job.

It’s been a week now since he died, but his life is still worthy of remembering. This is a man who loved flying had to make a huge sacrifice, and knew the consequences of his action. He led the team of the Enola Gay, when they didn’t even know their mission until well into the training.  Blackfive, a mil-blogger thinks this is one of the top 5 or 10 events of the 20th century.

First, the US troops had to take Tinian Island, at a cost of many lives on both sides. The bomb had to be delivered by the USS Indianapolis, at the cost of many US lives. Then, he had to execute the plan which would have him live the rest of his life with the death of 80,000 Japanese, and the fact that he saved the lives of 2 million soldiers on both sides because the dropping of “little boy” forced the unconditional surrender of the Imperial Japanese. The Japanese were willing to fight to the bitter end as evidenced by their defense of Okinawa documented by Tammy Bruce:

And they had reason to fear. You know how we cringe, appropriately, at the over 4,000 troops lost since the liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq. In the one month battle for the Japanese island of Okinowa, the United States and our allies (the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) suffered these stunning casualty numbers:

12,513 dead or missing,
38,916 wounded,
33,096 non-combat losses,
79 ships sunk and scrapped,
763 aircraft destroyed

Tibbets had to do what he did, a soldier’s responsibility when war is both hell and tough.

Tammy goes on to say: “12,513 dead in one month. For one island. Yes, invading Japan would have been a human bloodbath beyond comprehension. The dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved truly countless lives, on both sides.”

Youtube: Paul Tibbets talks about the Hiroshima bombing

What is truly sad is that he had to request that he didn’t have a memorial service or that his remains not be in a marked grave so that the deranged wouldn’t have either a place/time to protest or a site to desecrate.  Sad, but he understood the consequences and the way of the anti military crowd that exists.

That we have had such men in over the course of history that were willing to fight rather than “negotiate” or appease are the reason that we live in freedom and prosperity.  For those who wish to dissent, it is hero’s like Tibbets and others who were willing to stand up to the oppressors that you have the ability to protest and speak freely, in English….. rather than Japanese or German.

This was a good event to get the top Software Analysts and the top IBM executives together to hear what IBM has to say. There are some upsides and downsides to this.

First, it is a logistical exercise just short of Desert Storm. I’ll give kudo’s to the team lead by Monica Wells Grace who may be the best planner I’ve ever met. It’s why I asked her to join me when I ran the meeting a couple of years ago and I’m glad she got the spotlight. There were many other team members, but since some asked that they not be mentioned on the Internet, I’ll just say they did a great job.

Steve Mills continues to amaze me with his deep knowledge of endless subjects, even mentioning Angstrom width on chips. At an investor meeting, his comments affected Oracle’s stock price…how’s that for being influential. Judith Hurwitz describes it from an analyst perspective .

The 1:1’s were good for me as the analysts knew what we were doing and could piece together the various groups and strategies. The breakouts were good discussion’s of the various area’s…I’ll link to them at some point to see what the others said as I was in the ISV briefings with my new GM, Jim Corgel who did a great job with ISV and Developer Relations.

We have a speed dating session for analysts called speed jamming. I think the jury is out on this after talking to the the analysts. Most want more time than was allowed as they are just getting into the meat of their subject when it’s time to change. That’s the analyst opinion. For me, it’s short enough that it forces a followup if needed, so it accomplishes the get together part of our job.

The tech labs and Innovation center were a nice touch. Any tough issues were well covered by alcohol and food. I have to admit, I didn’t go to see them as I was in conversation with both analysts and IBM’rs.

The good part of this meeting for analysts is that they get direct access to the top executives of IBM and can ask them anything. The bad part of the meeting is that the analysts get direct access to the top executives of IBM and can ask them anything. This gives us the chance to either shine or shame. I know of one analyst who will post that we are silo’ed between divisions, a fact of life for a company with individual P & L’s and 90+ billion in revenue. We did note together that when the divisions do align, it is like the death star, very effective.

Most came out with a more positive view of what we are doing and where we are heading, because we have a good plan and lots of good people working on lots of good projects. We have a better acquisition strategy and better middleware strategy than the competition.

We are IBM though and it’s tough to perceive us as hipsters for those who’ve been around for a while. That is something we have to overcome. Conversely, it is a source of comfort for others.

I’ll close by saying what I heard about the SWG analyst relations team from virtually every analyst who commented on this. We are one of the hardest working group that cares about the constituency. We know our jobs and do it well according to them. kudos to Sarita for that.

All in all it was a good event, and I’m glad it’s behind us.

The pre-game show was chatting with the experts including things like aquistions and SaaS which I monitored.  The two sessions couldn’t have been any more different as we discussed the IBM strategy in one of the sessions and got lost in the weeds of products in the other.  Needless to say the strategy led version was the better of the two.