My Analogy About Advertising

Spring time brings mixed emotions whenever I login to my TrailCentral inbox. This time of year is the time when a lot of companies are starting to spend their marketing dollar on website adverting. How do I know this? Easy, each year about this time I start to receive inquiries about advertising on TrailCentral.com. That is the exciting part.

Where do the mixed emotions come from? Well, if you've ever spent any time in Florida or Texas you have probably seen a cockroach. I once watched a documentary about these little bugs and I learned that for ever one that you see in the middle of the kitchen floor, there are one hundred more hiding in the walls.

I truly believe that the same is true when it comes to advertising. For every one person/company that goes out of their way to contact TrailCentral to get advertising, there are a hundred out there that would be interested if the website was actively being sold, which it isn't...

It may be a gross analogy, but I think it is true.

A Great Suprise From My Wife

This morning before going to work my wonderful, fun, and sexy wife gave me a great surprise. As I drank my coffee she slid "Scrubs: Season Four" across the table. I was pretty stoked because I love Scrubs! The best part is that my wife enjoys it as much as I do, which means we can always agree on something to watch when there is nothing on TV.

I now have season 1 and season 4. I have no doubt we will eventually collect the whole series. The funny thing is that if you would have asked me several years ago if I would ever buy a TV series on DVD, I would have said "no."

However, I'm now realizing the value of TV shows on DVD.
1. They run without commercials
2. Scrubs has extra footage that isn't seen during prime time
3. Twenty two minutes per episode. Long enough for a good break, but not too long.

Sidenote:
The whole cast is great, but Zach Braff is hillarious. He has great comedic timing. As far as movies, I tried to enjoy Garden State, but it wasn't my bag. I won't hold that against him...

Words To Live By

Let nothing dim the light that shines from within
~Maya Angelou

Mount Sanitas Area

Boulder, Colorado

I May Take a Chance with TrailCentral

I've always wanted TrailCentral.com to be a real business. However, I never knew what it took to start one. I always assumed that I needed to pool my own money and take a big risk. It wasn't until recently that I learned what venture capital firms do and how they are able to help.

At the beginning of the year I started reading a blog written by Brad Feld who is a Managing Director for Mobius Venture Capital. While reading his blog I read about a new program they will be starting this summer called TechStars. It appears that TechStars is looking for fresh ideas in the tech industry and to find them they are staging an entreprenurial boot camp in Boulder during the summer of 2007.

Applications are being excepted until the middle of March and if chosen they will be giving $5k/founding member, up to $15k, in seed money to start the company. In addition, they are offering mentors that have started or worked for very successful tech businesses. Basically, they are giving those individuals (like me) a means to succeed in exchange for a 5% investment in the company.

I've printed out the application and I'm currently sitting on it for the time being. I love TrailCentral and think it has a lot of potential, but does it have the potential to be a real business? I'm sure of it and I think after all these years of work, I should take a chance, give it a fair shake, and put it in front of some people that can help.

Movie: Lake House

During this past weekend I sat back with a movie called "Lake House." The story follows the lives of a Dr. that lives in the year 2006 and an Architect that lives in the year 2004. Both are tenants of a house that was built on the lake; each living in the same house at different period of time. Aparently, the mailbox that stood in front of the Lake House was a portal between the two times and the two main characters meet by writing each other letters.

The movie is constantly jumping between two moments in time, tracking the Dr. in 2006 and the Architect in 2004. and left me trying to figure out the puzzle as to when/if they will meet.

The movie in total spans from 2004-2006 for the Architect and 2006 - 2008 for the Dr. Trying to figure out who the movie was focusing on, then doing the math to try to figure out when it was, got a bit complicated by the end. I actually had to rewind it to certain points several times to make sure that Hollywood wasn't using some artistic license in their story telling. To my suprise and satisfaction everything fit.

For viewers that that don't mine a lot of jumping around in a movie and are able to keep track you'll enjoy this movie. I appreciated the idea of the story and actually enjoyed the movie... after rewinding it a several times. If I had seen it in a movie theatre; I wouldn't have enjoyed it. For those of you that like movies to be chronological, such as my father-in-law, I would not recommend it.

btw - this is a chic flick and most of my buddies wouldn't enjoy it for that reason, but when I got past that fact and realized I'm not watching it with my buddies, but my wife, I found it to be romantic and enjoyable.

Rating: Thumbs Up

Hike: Mount Sanitas - Boulder County, Colorado

A couple weekends ago I was able to get out of the house for a hike. Getting out has been a bit of a challenge. The Colorado Front Range has had either extreme snow or temperatures for the past 5 weeks.

The purpose of the hike was to get a Trail of the Month. I chose Mount Sanitas in Boulder, CO as the TotM. My website is about mountain biking and this trail is a hiking only trail.

So why did I pick it?

1. It is in Boulder, which means every foot trail is going to be nicely packed. This is because Boulder is full of athletes and nature lovers. The idea of these types of people staying inside is, no matter the condition, is crazy!

2. There aren't any trails that are ride able along the Front Range this time of year.

3. I truly enjoy the outdoors! It doesn't matter if I'm biking, hiking, or running, just being outside in Colorado is Fantastic!

I've uploaded nine of my favorite imges. You can check them out at the TrailCentral Gallery.

Movie: WalMart - The High Cost of Low Price

I highly recommend this movie for anyone that is curious about the business ethics and practices of WalMart. Granted, this is a one sided movie that gives you about a thousand reasons to hate WalMart, but to be honest it levels out the playing field since WalMart spends millions on showing commercials during prime time about how they "Buy American" and how they are a "Great Place to Work."

This is a documentary that not only shows the impact that WalMart has on Ma & Pa shops in Rural USA, but also gets an inside look at how the "Associates" of WalMart are compensated and treated.

This touches my life a bit closer than others because I have a father that works for WalMart and every time I hear about what he makes and how hard he works, it makes me sick!

I've shopped WalMart and I've done case studies on this company before, during my days in college. For some reason I continued to shop there. However, the more I learn about this company, the more I do not wish to spend my money there!

Movie Website: WalMart - The High Cost of Low Price



Rating: Thumbs Up

Hello

I'm not a man that likes to follow a lot of rules, but I figure there needs to be few ground rules so I won't waste too much time blogging.

Rules
1. This is my forum to talk about anything I want. It doesn't just have to be about bikes. Biking is only a small percentage of my life.
2. People are welcome to read and comment, but this forum is intended to let me write for the sake of writing.
3. I am only allowed to spend 15 minutes per topic.

I'm honestly hoping that blogging will help me clear my mind a bit and remember who I am, what I do, and why I continue to do it.