Virtuoso Team Consulting, Inc.

Wow! OK, 2Q is over and I realized some things:

1)      I don’t post here because I live on Facebook, so I need to find a way for Facebook to populate here.

2)      Getting three busy professionals together to record an audio podcast is much tougher than one would expect.

3)      Going to BarCamp is much more fun than putting one on.

I use WordPress as a foundation for this site, so if anyone knows how I can have it pull, or Facebook push, information to populate this space, I would love the recommendation.

The Half Hour Happy Hour has had a little trouble getting off the ground, but everyone is psyched to do it, as soon as schedules allow. The recording equipment is ready to go; the website remains a work in progress. It’s simply a matter of finding the time to sit down and do it. We have topics lined up, and all sorts of fun things to discuss, but between buying houses, moving, starting new jobs, etc…it’s just been a busy quarter.

BarCamp Sarasota went off without a hitch. The whole team was thrilled at the result, and a sincere thank you goes out to our friends from BarCamps Tampa Bay, SW Florida, Orlando, and Miami for supporting our inaugural event. Having said that, I certainly appreciate the great times I’ve had at your events even more, having been on the other side of it.

I will be helping BarCamp Tampa Bay with their event in October, and maybe a little more. That, however, is for another post.

Take care!

While I grant this posting is later than I had wished, it is still timely and relevant. I was working on a project last week from Monday through Thursday, averaging 20-hour days. After everything had been accepted by the client, I passed out on the couch for a few hours. Upon waking I decided to unplug everything electronic for the whole weekend and spend time with my wife and friends. We traveled to Orlando (Winter Springs) for the Central Florida Scottish Highland Games.  I didn’t take phone calls, check emails or texts, and I felt great!

At first I had a great deal of trepidation, but in this 24-hour a day, always-on world it is easy to burnout. Intellectually, particularly as a business owner, I know I have to spend more time working than most in order to create a revenue stream that can operate without me in the future. This situation brought the balancing act many of us perform into stark relief, and I was forced to decide where to draw the line. Luckily, I have friends who are caring enough to remind me when to take some down time, but I also have clients who are able to work me to death, and I am grateful for both. The big surprise was that I met a vendor from Bradenton, Robin McAllister of Faire Isles Trading Company, and we hit it off while discussing the finer points of our Utilikilts. After all of the work I had done I still remained excited to talk shop on my vacation, a reminder to myself of how much I love my chosen career path.

I try to do everything in moderation, work and play, but it’s unrealistic to suggest that will happen all of the time. Sometimes the best any of us can do is to find some degree of balance. Hard work is nothing to whine about, but to balance it I followed with a tech disconnect and a couple of days out-of-town. Having been through slow times, and the current economic situation, I can honestly say I will never complain about being too busy, but I will also try harder to secure the freedom to enjoy my life, family and friends and to take the time to smell the roses and watch men and women in kilts toss the caber. : )

Do you live to work, or work to live? How do you decompress?