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On the first Monday of every month, Liberals gather at Riverbank Cafe in Hamilton to get together and talk about....nothing in particular.  Because of Labor Day, Liberals Drinking Liberally will be congregating on Monday, August 23 at 7:00.

If your a Liberal, this is a great opportunity to meet other Liberals/Progressives. If you're not, it's probably a good idea to stay away from the bar area of Riverbank that night!

From my good friend Sean Rhiney: 
"Last combat troops leave Iraq. Over 4,000 lives lost. I don't care about the politics of it all, that's husbands, wives, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, friends, just...gone. Makes me appreciate that I wake up every morning and get to carry a briefcase to work and not a gun. Take a moment to remember them this a.m. And I'll let Tom have the last achingly, beautiful word on this one..." 

"Day After Tomorrow" from the Tom Waits album "Real Gone."

 Welcome home, Soldier.

From my blog over at Liferay.com.

I'm a fervent reader of business books and blogs.  Seth Godin is one of my favorites, and in a recent post entitled "A Sad Truth About Most Traditional B2B Marketing", his wisdom shines through.  Seth highlights how many organizations, in an effort to save money and gain efficiency, become dispassionate about the relationships they build along the way.  RFPs are his main target.

RFPs dehumanize the sales process.  From the buyer's perspective, they can get a great deal of information from a number of vendors quickly.  However, I think that those efficiencies come at the cost of understanding who you will be working with once a product is selected.  How does the sales organization treat you?  Are they responsive to your needs?  Do you feel valued as a prospective customer, and do you think that feeling will continue once you become a customer?  

These questions are, arguably, more important than price (Liferay always wins on price, by the way).  When you buy anything of value (a cell phone, a car, an enterprise portal), you're making an investment in a relationship.  My car is great, but how does the dealer treat me when it needs service?  My cell phone is amazing, but what is the reliability of the network that I'll be using for the next 2 years.  My portal rocks, but will the company that makes it support me when things go bad and continue to innovate in ways that I can't imagine?

RFPs tend to be about the short-term "here are my requirements -- can you fulfill them and what will it cost?"  They don't speak to the longer term relationships that are built.  

From my perspective, the best relationships are built early in the sales cycle.  When I demonstrate Liferay, I do my best to understand what people need to accomplish and answer questions to the best of my ability.  Sometimes my style takes people aback because they are used to being "sold to."  I don't do that.  I try to help them envision how Liferay can help them reach their goals.  I tell them what works out-of-the-box, what doesn't and potential gotchas that they might encounter.  

Once people become our customers, they have a comfort level with the product and company in which they have invested.  They know who to call or email when they need something.  They know that we will do our best to keep them happy and to realize their goals.  They know that relationships are just as important as bottom line for Liferay.  They know that we value integrity in our interactions above all else.  They know that we're human.

To me, those factors are some of the most important considerations when buying a product.  And one of these days, I would like to see this question on an RFP:
"Please detail your company's core values as the pertain to integrity, vision, personnel development and community involvement."

Thanks, Post Secret.

Since the polls closed last week, I have been sensing a growing urgency from area Democrats to make substantive changes to how our party operates here in Butler County.  Many people have spoken up and spoken out about what is broken.  They have cried foul about areas where progress should have been made.  They have mentioned cronyism with levels of venom reserved for John Boehner.

One of our greatest opportunities lies with our ability to re-form and reform the party every four years.  We should be ready to throw out what hasn't worked and build on what has worked well.  We should identify progressive leaders in our community and ask for their help.  We should work with each other's inherent strengths.  We should be a party based on the hopeful optimism that we can and will create a better community for our peers.

We should not begin anew with division in our hearts.  Our peers did not elect us to grab power or to weaken our foundation.  They put their trust in us to lead, advise and make decisions based on the greater good.  Historically important and impactful leaders did not practice division -- they were about inclusion.  Their pulpit wasn't anger -- it was hope.  They understood that anger only perpetuates and amplifies anger.

Being a newbie to the process, perhaps my optimism is foolish.  However, I hope that we can collectively take a queue from some of the great leaders of the past -- Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, John Kennedy -- and be a foundation of positivity for our community. 

Cynicism is a lousy running mate.

I love political music.  This is the first in a series of posts of songs that I would use for campaign music because they speak to my political ideology.

First up is Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World." 
"There's one more kid that will never go to school, never get to fall in love, never get to be cool." 

On Tuesday, my name was on the election ballot for Hamilton's 9th Precinct.  I ran for the Butler County Democratic Central Committee and won by a slim margin against my opponent -- a whopping 22 votes vs. her 21 votes.  By way of comparison, the Republican candidate from our precinct ran unopposed and received 29 votes.

Before continuing, I would like to thank the folks who voted for me.  Having your faith is a real honor, and I intend to serve our precinct well over the next 4 years.  Periodically, I will post updates to this blog about county activities and events that impact us here in Hamilton.  As soon as I get my bearings about this new role, I will create a space online where we can share ideas about how to make Hamilton, Butler County and Southwest Ohio more progressive.

I'd like to close this post out by speaking to momentum.  It is well known that we live in one of the most conservative areas in the nation.  Heck, John Boehner won 84% of the Butler County vote for the Republican primary.  But look at the voting numbers that we had in our precinct.  43 Democrats from our precinct cared enough to be informed and vote for the Central Committee compared to 29 Republicans.  2 candidates worked to become the representative for our precinct while the Republican candidate ran unopposed. 

What does this say?  Democrats in our community care about making an effective change in our area's politics.  We are currently outnumbered, outstaffed and outgunned -- but we are engaged and want to make a difference.  My gut tells me that area Republicans are frustrated with the recent ethical lapses of their party leaders and have, to a degree, checked out emotionally.  While unfortunate, this presents a great opportunity for us to build on our momentum and work together to put some great new people in office who are more concerned with the good of the community vs. their own personal agendas.

Take a look at this Hamilton Journal News article.  Voter turnout is way down.  People are losing interest.  My favorite piece of the article, though, is in the comment by Ethics Watch:
"Here is what voting Republican has done for Butler County:
Google: Fox, Dynus
Google: Boehner, Foley, sex scandal
Google: Jolivette, Furmon, nepotism
Google: Butler County Ohio ethics violations
Google: Boehner, Tobacco lobby checks
Google: Lang, Jag's, Dynus
Google: Ellis, GOP Headquarters, commission
Google: Butler County Ohio, cronyism
Is this really what we want Butler County, more of the same? Stop bending over and let's take our County back."

We can, and will, do better.
 

Many poor communities are considered a food desert with no quality grocery stores within walking distance of their residents.  So, people are left to purchase food for their families at convenience stores where a bag of chips and a Slim Jim constitute dinner.

In a very timely story for our area, NPR had a story yesterday highlighting a program hosted by Baltimore's Public Libraries that allows underserved communities order healthy foods online.  The Virtual Supermarket Project is a part of Baltimore's push to make food available to people where supermarkets are scarce. 

This comes at a time when Kroger is shutting down a branch in Roselawn, and Hamilton's Lane Public Libraries are asking the community for funding to stay open on next week's ballot.  Think about the services that a library provides for a community over and beyond books, and try to convince yourself that they are not essential resources for the longterm health of a community.

This weekend, my family converged on a water park in Sandusky, Ohio to bid my younger brother farewell.  He is leaving next week for Duluth, Minnesota to be the lead pastor at a church.  While we are very sad to say goodbye to him, we're happy that he is happy and excited to be starting a new adventure.

Here are some photos from our weekend together.

Earlier today, I came across a site called Days With My Father. It is a photo journal by Phillip Toledano that is "an ongoing record of [his] father, and of [their] relationship." The photos, imagery and text are stunningly beautful. The site is a wonderful display of how technology can be effectively used to communicate pure emotion. More than that, though, DaysWithMyFather.com is a reminder to its visitors about the beauty love and the importance of family. Phillip, if you ever come across this site, I would like to profusely and publicly thank you for sharing your journey.