The National Networker Weekly Newsletter and Update: March, 2010, Week 1

The National Networker Weekly Newsletter and Update:  March, 2010, Week 1

A NOTE FROM THE CHAIRMAN: Can Games Change the World?

Adam J. Kovitz 

Update Bulletin

Update Bulletin - New Developments - The National Networker Companies - 03.07.2010

Douglas Castle



In the Spotlight:  Special Featured Articles

VENTURE FINANCING - REALITY VERSUS RUMOR: Angel Investors - What They Are, Part I

Dick Brown

THE POINT: Remember Bush 41’s “Read my lips, no new taxes” fate? Does President Obama?

Barbara Krueger Huffman



Featured Columns

BEYOND THE CUBICLE - CORPORATE CULTURE: Dear Boss

Teri Aulph

DOUGLAS CASTLE RANTS: The Valuing, Respecting and Caring For the Individual Human Being - A Restoration of Basic Decency

Douglas Castle


SALES AND MARKETING: The Marketing Shift

Bill Doerr

 

BEING THERE WHEN IT COUNTS: The Opportunity for Change

Rick Itzkowich

 

CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH: Ten Tips to get your referral message across (Part Two)

Andy Lopata

 

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL GUIDE TO ENTERTAINMENT: Yes, I’m a Gazillionaire

Sandy McKee

 

POWER THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: Power of Compassion, Part 1

Patricia Parham, Ph.D.

 

KARL SMITH: Networking lessons from President Barack Obama

Karl Smith

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THIS ARTICLE--THIS AUTHOR--YOUR FEEDBACKà

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(3) If you have not yet become a Member of THE NATIONAL NETWORKER COMPANIES (there is no charge), you should do that using the buttons below. Click on FREE NEWSLETTER button to start the process; then choose either the RSS Feed or the Daily Email delivery option.

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The National Networker Companies 

  

Announcement: Global Edge Technologies Group LLC

Update: Global Edge Technologies Group LLC   Please pardon us while our website at http://www.GetGlobalEdge.com is undergoing an upgrade. This process should be completed in May, 2010, and the result should be spectacular.   In the meantime, please access our official company blog at: http://GlobalEdgeTechnologies.blogspot.com.   Legal Notice: Unfortunately, due to an unresolved contractual dispute with Lightshop Design, the Malaysian manufacturer of the Speedlight Pro Kit line of products, Global Edge Technologies Group LLC will no longer distribute, support or promote any of that company’s products.   Should you wish to purchase any Speedlight Pro Kit products, go directly to: http://www.SpeedlightProKitUSA.com.   We look forward to having you come back again soon. Douglas Castle, Managing Director GLOBAL EDGE TECHNOLOGIES GROUP LLC http://www.GetGlobalEdge.com http://GlobalEdgeTechnologies.blogspot.com douglas.castle@getglobaledge.com   1.888.317.6498

The Valuing, Respecting and Caring For the Individual Human Being - A Restoration of Basic Decency

This Article was written by TNNW Featured Columnist Douglas Castle and was originally published in The National Networker Weekly Newsletter. You may subscribe to this Newsletter free of charge by clicking on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNW

The Valuing, Respecting and Caring For the Individual Human Being - A Restoration of Basic Decency.

Dear Friends, Colleagues, Members and Human Beings Who Treasure Their Humanity:

The situation is evident. The fact that the situation has largely become embraced as "the inevitable status quo," and does not rattle our cages and make us kick and curse is plain pathetic. It fills the polluted air with the additional stench of burned dreams, accepted sorrows and hopelessness. 

Decent citizens of the United States and  citizens of other industrialized nations who have followed our example (rather like running in front of the next bus after the first one has already crushed your best friend) have become too complacent wih having lowered their standards for Human Conduct, for Government and Corporate Integrity and Responsibility, and...worst of all...for their own value and impact as participants in the process of shaping the future by having a say in it. Most Human Beings perceive themselves as victims rapidly surrendering their fate to self-proclaimed, increasing insensitive and unresponsive "rulers". 

Our society sadly accepts the wholesale mistreatment and disregard of the Individual Human Being, each unique, each with special gifts, and quirks, and dreams and hopes. We quietly lament. We listen to rhetoric. We hear reports of outrageous abuses of power. We forgo any and all of our freedoms in the interest of protection from terrorists -- ironically some of these "saviors" whom we have empowered to run our lives are terrorists in their own rights.

We quietly crave change, live with fading memories of "better times", and live a quality of life that grows worse. We don't have revellion - we are becoming as institutionalized as long-term prisoners. We are letting our lives, our rights, our choices and our futures be handedled by strangers who have no Human interest in us; no interest in or appreciation of our ability to contribute and to participate -- they want us to simply shut up and pay for their mistakes as they herd us around like cattle or sheep. They do as they please, and we exist to help them propagate themselves, their exclusivity and their own insular power. We don't work to better ourselves...we work to benefit them. And when we are no longer stron enough to do the heavy lifting that comnes with menial servitude, they throw us out without a second thought.

Ritualistically robbed of our self-esteem, dignity and our voices, we are a species in great danger. I am concerned for all of us - I believe that as a Human Being myself, it is incumbent to save myself and take as many people as I can recruit to save themselves as well. I am more than just an animal to be taxed, and prodded, and milked and then sacrificed. I am a Human Being. And I resent being turned into a servant and a robot. Do you? Well...do you?

An irresponsible socio-economic social sytem that ravages its constituents is eventually doomed. After a time, it is like an engorged parasite having so fully depleted its host, that it no longer has access to nourishment. If it hasn't a new host (i.e. if it has destroyed the society that hosted it), it too, will die. Nothing survives a relationship that is so one-sided that it kills the weaker party.

I am a champion of the GICBC (the Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community) as an alternative to the entire "us" and "them" system. Here are some of the reasons:

1. Stakeholders (i.e., shareholders, owners) not have to compete with employees, consumers and Society-At Large. Instead of competing, we should be collaborating. Simply put, employed persons give value, and receive wages. They use those wages to a) purchase the products and the services provided by the companies that these shareholders own, and to b) invest in some of those very companies. We are inextricably commected.

2. Shareholders are not villains. Dissatisfied employees (and the unions that frequently extort dues from them) are not villains. A small group of greedy people who have direct checkbook access to these companies are the ones who vote raises for themselves while their stock is plummeting (hurting all of the "lesser" owners of stock), while their employees are being fired en masse.

And the government (moving ever closer to Mount Olympus and further from those of us who are mere Earth-bound mortals) gives these greedy folks assets (for which the public will eventually pay), and [wink-wink] charges them with the responsibility of "lending out more money, creating jobs, improving efficiencies, policing themselves better, reducing prices," and other lofty tasks. Hello! These greedy folks simply keep the money for themselves - there is no actual incentive (moral suasion? B.S.!) for them to do anything more.

This is not altruism by any definition... it is short-term, self-serving unmitigated thievery. Our government gives these insiders a reward for their depraved indifference and inhumanity, and we wind up paying for that reward to our own detriment and eventual destruction. Sometimes don't you feel as if we were living in The Matrix movie? 

The only incentive to permit this kind of governance and to comply with its directives is FEAR. We the people have, by abdicating our responsibility to be brave, proactive and vocal, have allow a government to metasticize. It does not serve us. We serve it. It a small group of insiders who are very, very averse to change -- they enjoy their elitist benefits.

And here you thought that slavery was illegal, that due process of law was every person's right, and that (quoting Gordon Gekko) "Greed is good."

Greed is not good -- especially when it involves legalized stealing. Ambition (unless motivated by a lust for power or control) is good because it stimulates innovation, thought, productivity, collaboration, contribution and self-betterment. In sum: better people in a better society.

3. Employees are consumers. No jobs = no wages = no consumption.

4. Shareholders are also consumers. No 401k = no wealth = no consumption = no further investment.

5. Banks were once lenders. No credit or loans to the private sector entrepreneurial enterprise = no spending = no business expansion = economic and emotional depression. Now banks simply take their "free" money and invest it in higher executive salaries and governmnet debt. This is a fiscal twist on waste recycling, but with a commission.

6. The ordinary citizen has no voice in government, or in his or her ultimate affairs. Voting has become a "lesser of two evils" scenario. In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling regarding corporate campaign funding and sponsorship, perhaps it is now a "richer of two evils" scenario.

7. We don't have fireside chats and village meetings anymore... at least not real ones. Decisions are not made with open debate and a popular vote -- they are made behind closed doors and handed down to us like "words from on high." We are not interactive. Leadership has lost touch with its troops. In fact, leadership sends its troops out to die in the interest of gaining power or money.

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Can you imagine a system where the following basic rules applied? :

1. The employees and contibutors all became stakeholders (with profit-sharing and ownership), and had a genuine right to vote, and to even call for a special vote;

2. The employees were rewarded financially and through recognition for entrepreneurship; creating intellectual property; developing technologies which fostered efficiency, sustainability and created a demand for greater new skills and new jobs;  generating greater revenues; for reducing expenses; improving the quality of life for employees in terms of health protection, career advancement and financial security;

3. Revenues came from a diversified group of sources, so that there would not be a dependency upon any one in particular;

4. Employees had a credit union which helped them to become or remain homeowners and consumers, as well as savers and investors;

5. Employees were, in large part, consumers of the organization's products and services, in an enhancement of sustainability and re-investment of profits ;

6. Where collaboration and teamwork were encouraged, and where each individual was accountable, but cared for with dignity.

Yes. I'm talking about a change. I'm speaking of a new form of entity which restores some of the fundamental ideas and principles which have made virtually every great social and technological advancement possible. I'm speaking of the GICBC... The Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community. You can, and should Google that.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle
http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com

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The National Networker Companies 

Fun With Attorneys!

Fun With Attorneys!

Dear Friends:

As many of you know, I am a major advocate of the legal "profession." Lawyers are as pervasive in western society as dust mites, and, while they don't eat human skin (with the possible exception of a few who have become prosecutors), they always extort their pound of flesh. They make the law, they interpret the law, they change the law (flexibility is important where favoritism and injustice are concerned), they occasionally break the law (like that Watergate thing from sometime ago), and they like to name new diseases, protect your rights, defend your honor, collect substantial retainers, speak in riddles and circles, and pretty much run entire countries....sometimes into the ground.

When I've been sued, I have always lost more than I would otherwise have because of the additional attorney's fees required to help me in the dignified "losing process." When I've sued, I've yet to collect or recover sufficient damages to be able to cover the legal bill associated with the dignified "winning process."

If the legal profession were a stock, I might even sell it short. Then again, some of my friends are attorneys (a seeming oxymoron, I know), and I treasure their friendship as much as I try to ignore their counsel. I try to keep my conversations with them brief.

My friend Gabriel Siegel (who is a non-attorney, which by the Pauli Exclusion Principle [not really] makes him a victim, as are most non-attorneys) forwarded me some wonderful attorney jokes. I present them here, unedited, for your pleasure.

As a an old business acquaintance of mine once told me, "Before you do any kinda business, always, always, always, insult a competent attorney." This fellow left his employment with my company to become a speech writer for political aspirants. Go figure...

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

Here they come:

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These are from a book called 'Disorder in the American Courts' and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.  _____________________________________  ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory? WITNESS: I forget. ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot? _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning? WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam? ____________________________________ ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he? WITNESS: He's twenty, much like your IQ ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken? WITNESS: Are you shitting me? _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time? WITNESS: Getting laid _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: She had three children, right? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: How many were boys? WITNESS: None. ATTORNEY: Were there any girls? WITNESS : Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney? _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated? WITNESS: By death. ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated? WITNESS: Take a guess _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual? WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard. ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female? WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney? WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work. _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people? WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight. _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to? WITNESS: Oral. _____________________________________   ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body? WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 pm. ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time? WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample? WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question? _____________________________________ And the best for last:   ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor? WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar. ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless? WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law   THINK ABOUT IT!  MOST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ARE LAWYERS..... (I rest my case).

THIS ARTICLE--THIS AUTHOR--YOUR FEEDBACKà

(1) If you would like to post a comment on this article for this author and for other readers to see, or if you would like to read the comments which have been posted by others, simply scroll down to the very bottom of this article (where it says "Posted by...") and click on the small text hyperlink that says "comments": a pop-up window will open which shows all of the comments posted by others. At the end of the other posts, there is a textbox for you to post your own comment.(2) If you would prefer to contact the author in confidence, or to write at greater length regarding reciprocal links, special projects or professional issues, simply click on the button in this box labeled "CONTACT AUTHOR," and a pop-up form will magically appear for your use. It even allows you to include web and blog urls, downloads and attachments of all sorts. (3) If you have not yet become a Member of THE NATIONAL NETWORKER COMPANIES (there is no charge), you should do that using the buttons below. Click on FREE NEWSLETTER button to start the process; then choose either the RSS Feed or the Daily Email delivery option.

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The National Networker Companies 

Self-Growth: The Reality.

Self-Growth: The Reality.

The Most Efficient Path to Self-Growth, by Douglas Castle, Vice-Chairman of The National Networker Companies.

*Commentary regarding a sales letter (not reproduced here) from David Riklan of SelfGrowth.com: "How 97.5 % of all Self Improvement Companies Grow their Businesses"

David Riklan publishes and produces the selfgrowth.com website and its ancillary businesses. He accepts articles written by many writers about various aspects of "self-growth." Some of these articles are very worthwhile reading, and an intelligent person can occasionally acquire a gold nugget of an idea by reading the material produced by his authors. His business grows itself by his authors' contributions of article content and fees. I admire his business model - it is a good one. But there are some serious negatives...

David Riklan is a pay-to-play proclaimer of "expert" status, and a purveyor of "experts" in the self-improvement field. He (through selfgrowth.com) hasn't achieved any great credibility (in my uniquely myopic and snobbish view) as yet and doesn't develop traction for his readers. He actually tried to get me to enlist (i.e. "pay") as an "expert," and eventually wanted to discuss my going to work for him. I declined, saying that I was intellectually incapable of holding my own in a room filled with so many other "experts." I humbly confessed that I, myself, needed a great deal of self-improvement before I could counsel others in all good conscience.

Almost every person with whom I come into contact (I usually wear gloves) is a "self-growth expert" or a "self-growth coach." I always ask myself (silently, of course, so as not to create a stir) several questions before I entertain engaging a coach or advisor:

1). Does he or she "walk the walk?" [is he or she the avatar of a self-improved creature?]

2). Would I want to emulate this person? Is her or she someone I admire?

3). Has he or she successfully coached others and generated appreciable results?

4). Can we work comfortably together?

5). Would he or she be audacious enough to refuse me as a client if I were perfectly willing to pay, but obviously demonstrated serious deficiences or limitations (in terms of ability or attitude)?

I have found that many people actually need more of a strategic path and plan than they do generic "self-improvement" tips. That is why I've chosen to be involved in strategic planning and organizational engineering instead of stand alone self-growth.

On the path to achieving a business or professional goal, an individual doubtless encounters numerous real-time, real-world difficulties which force him or her to make adaptations which are, by definition, "self-growth."

The best path to self-growth is through field testing and experience.

In brief (I frequently write while in my underwear), don't talk to me about camping --- take me on a rugged camping trip. Experience is the most potent teacher of all, and the multisensorial memories created through experience are much more readily memorable, accessible and credible than those learned in a casual or classroom environment.

We learn most effectively by observing, and then by doing. 

Faithfully,

DouglasCastle

p.s. Would you prefer the bodyguard who had read the book, or the one who had been a Navy SEAL or had worked for the Secret Service?  

About Douglas Castle 

Douglas Castle - LinkedIn Profile

The National Networker Companies

Braintenance - Stay razor sharp.

The Internationalist Page - A world without barriers.

The Global Futurist - Revealing trends.

Taking Command! - Mastering your fate.

Follow Castle on Twitter 

Follow TNNW on Twitter

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THIS ARTICLE--THIS AUTHOR--YOUR FEEDBACKà

(1) If you would like to post a comment on this article for this author and for other readers to see, or if you would like to read the comments which have been posted by others, simply scroll down to the very bottom of this article (where it says "Posted by...") and click on the small text hyperlink that says "comments": a pop-up window will open which shows all of the comments posted by others. At the end of the other posts, there is a textbox for you to post your own comment.(2) If you would prefer to contact the author in confidence, or to write at greater length regarding reciprocal links, special projects or professional issues, simply click on the button in this box labeled "CONTACT AUTHOR," and a pop-up form will magically appear for your use. It even allows you to include web and blog urls, downloads and attachments of all sorts. (3) If you have not yet become a Member of THE NATIONAL NETWORKER COMPANIES (there is no charge), you should do that using the buttons below. Click on FREE NEWSLETTER button to start the process; then choose either the RSS Feed or the Daily Email delivery option.

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*Follow TNNW on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TNNW_BUZZWORKS
*Published by TNNWC. All rights reserved.*Join our GICBC and receive Your TNNW Newsletter and THE BLUE TUESDAY REPORT! - Click HERE
The National Networker Companies 

THOSE WHO BRING...

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."
British Novelist and Dramatist, James Mathew Barre

Your action for today is to do something that will lift up the spirits of one of your friends.

Click *here* to find out more about QuoteActions and some of the other innovative products and services offered by THE NATIONAL NETWORKER.

As the creator of the QuoteActions, a unique relationship building system, Rick Itzkowich finds his articles, podcasts and blog messages regarding keeping your brand "top of mind" in high demand. His latest eBook, Social Networking for Business Profits, uses cost-effective follow up strategies. Rick is also the Co-founder and Vice President of Productive Learning & Leisure, a personal development training company for corporations and individuals. Rick can be reached at rick@productivelearning.com.

For more about Rick Itzkowich, please click here.





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The National Networker Companies

What percentage of the people you casually refer to as "friends" would be there for you if you truly needed them? What percentage of these same people would you run to help when everyone else was running away? http://aboutdouglascastle.blogspot.com