I have to say that I had a great day in San Francisco and despite being a few years since my last visit, this city still feels like a second home. Despite being a ‘business trip’, I did spend part of the afternoon and the evening with my friend, Jeff, who lives in SF. I snapped the photo of Coit Tower (to the left) while on his roofdeck before we stepped out for a long walk.
Later, we had a nice dinner down the street from his house before heading out for a few drinks in the Castro (ToddX I have to say I kept my eye out to see if by coincidence I might see you strolling by on Market with an iced-tea in hand). We walked around the “hood” for a bit continuing to talk as we always do about everything and nothing all at the same time before going to Trigger on Market. They were having some sort of event so we walked around for a bit before ending up at Badlands (Steve – I thought of you upon entering since you commented in an earlier post about heading there.) Here are a couple of photos from the evening in The Castro – sorry there aren’t more but it t’was a work night and I left early.
I spent much of Friday adding content to Wikipedia from a handful of recent studies my firm had published. I’d never done this before – usually I’m the one looking something up on Wiki. After a slow start trying to figure out how to accurately cite studies and make all the links work, it flowed pretty quickly. All told I was able to help increase content in an area of study in medicine / healthcare that is quite hot but had suprisingly little published. (Here’s a hint about the subject.) 
Wikipedia on Wikipedia
Wikipedia ( /ˌwɪkɪˈpiːdi.ə/ or /ˌwɪkiˈpiːdi.ə/ WIK-i-PEE-dee-ə) is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its name is a portmanteau from wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites, from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning “quick”) and encyclopedia (from ancient Greek meaning “the circle of arts and sciences”).
A report compiled by Microsoft in late 2009 reports that 79% of hiring managers and job recruiters surveyed in the US reviewed online information about job applicants last year and a large majority said that what they find online impacts their hiring considerations. 70% of hiring managers in the study indicated that they had rejected candidates based on what they had found. To this I say, “Oy-vey”. You can download and read through the nearly 90 slide global study from Microsoft by linking here.
If you can get smarter by surrounding yourself with really intelligent people, then my IQ jumped a few points today. Yesterday evening a few well respected doctors flew into Boston to attend a meeting my team hosted today to talk about a new and interesting area in medicine referred to as Personalized Medicine. If people have heard the term before, they are most likely inclined to think of medical/testing products that can be purchased at a pharmacy (i.e. pregnancy tests). But P.M. is so much more. A popular definition is medicine that incorporates genetic profiles for the prevention, detection, and treatment of disease by taking into account a person’s unique genetic profile.
These ‘thought leaders’ shared stories about what they are seeing and their insights were extremely interesting. While some of the stories sounded a bit like something more suited for a science fiction movie the reality is that this is more real than fiction. How our government and governments around the world react (either encouraging more development through investment or discouraging it by creating impediments) is yet to be seen. The Human Genome project which started in 1990 and mapped the genetic make-up of humans has helped unlock significant opportunities for defining new treatments (medical, nutritional and behavioral) for keeping a person healthier longer. This international public/private scientific research project is what I mean by governments ‘encouraging more development’.
Imagine being able to customize preventitive strategies so women with a genetic predisposition to develop breast cancer can have mamograms more frequently than the general public so they can increase their chance of an early detection? Imagine an individual likely to suffer from Diabetes Type II being ‘prescribed’ work out sessions with a trainer and sessions with a nutritionist to avoid this chronic disease, which now afflicts an estimated 20 million Americans? These are just some of the opportunities that exist as advances in personalized medicine are realized – pretty cool.
Its sort of ironic that my “paperless office” is filled with dozens of sticky notes that are filled with hand written tasks that need immediate attention; reminders I can’t afford to forget; and countless activities that have imminent deliverables. I work hard so I often have to remind myself that this is just a job. Unlike a neurosurgeon or a manager of a nuclear power plant – if I have a bad day nobody dies and life continues. 
Last Thursday I had an all-day meeting in our Boston office. I assumed I would end up walking out with a long list of action items. What I did not anticipate was that I would end up joining my firm’s GLBT affinity group.
Today I had a meeting at the W Hotel in Washington, D.C. I was the first to the meeting so I settled into the lobby to kill time when I noticed someone familiar sitting across from me. At first I could not place the face but quickly realized that it was will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas. I’ll be honest, I did not know his name and had to Google the band to get it when I got home, but I was proud of myself for recognizing him.
If he was the only person I saw today, I would not have bothered to write about it, but when I was queing up for my flight home I bumped into a neighbor who was disembarking from my plane which had just arrived from Boston. Then about an hour later (well actually two because my flight was delayed due to problems at Logan) when I was disembarking in Boston I saw David Gergen who lives in the Boston area and teaches at Harvard University. I have to admit, it provides insight into how much of a nerd I am that I was more excited to see David Gergen than my neighbor or the pop star will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas.
Thanks Krista for taking these pictures from your phone.
Earlier this evening I returned from New York City where I had spent the day in a team meeting. Sitting in the conference room and seeing all of our accomplishments spelled out made me realize just how busy my entire team has been and will remain through our fiscal year.
I believe that I am better than most of my peers at disengaging and finding what I like to think is a healthy work/life balance. As many of my blog entries indicate, I make the most of my vacation and leave very few days each year to carry from one calendar year to another. However, I think that I am an atypical American in this way. It seems to me that many of us either hoarde our vacation time or find it hard to make the most of our time outside of the office. I have to wonder why Americans in particular seem to “work to live” rather than “live to work”. For many, I realize financially there may be few options and during an economic downturn I am definitely the exception (having planned a large and fairly extravagent vacation like last year’s trip to Australia). However, I think that it is important to get away and disengage. When you think back over the past year – do you think you have a healthy work/life balance?
For more than a year people have been talking about the constricting economy and mounting job losses. I have sympathy for people who find themselves suddenly out of work, because this happened to me back in August 2001. It is easy to lose your confidence and grow despondent, but adverstiy does not have to equal failure. As with all challenges there are opportunities – maybe they are not apparent and require us to “get creative”, but they are out there.
I recently heard about the movie, Lemonade, and thought this was worth sharing. I’ve included the movie trailer. There is also a blog that I believe is written by the director of the film called Please Feed The Animals, which is worth checking out. Lawson Clarke is the name of the gentleman atop this entry. After he was laid off he started his own copywriting business. He had an interesting quote on the blog mentioned above which I thought I’d share for those who may be looking for work and feeling a bit lost.
Work is getting a little out of control as deadlines are hitting faster than a Lindsay Lohan / Paris Hilton smack down. I do find some solace in the fact that my entire team is completely stretched so I don’t feel as if this is either just my imagination or I’m the only one struggling here.
I suppose it must be that time of the year.There is a lot that needs to get done and with the holidays sadly a thing of the past, life goes back to business as usual. Fortunately, I lack hobbies, dislike most of what television is offering these days, and I do enjoy my work. However, I can’t help but feel as if my desire to move forward has left me feeling a kinship with the saying in the photograph above… Am I alone here or is anyone else feeling the same way these days?
The next time you are filling out a form – if you have no intention of providing your real contact information think about the poor schmuck who has to go through the rolls of data and see if you can make that person smile by getting creative with your response.
BosGuy 