Doug True on Indiana Business Week

Recently, Doug True made an appearance on Inside Indiana Business to talk about FORUM Credit Union's partnership with Zopa.

Who's on MAC?

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking
about buying a computer.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.

ABBOTT: Your computer?

COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.

ABBOTT: Mac ?

COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.

ABBOTT: What about Windows?

C OSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?

ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

COSTELLO: Never mind the windows and wallpaper. I want a com puter and
software.

ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write
proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anythin g?

ABBOTT: I just did.

COSTELLO: You just did what?

ABBOTT: Recommend something.

COSTELLO: You recommended something?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: For my office?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommen d for my office?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.

COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm
sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?

ABBOTT: Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: Word in Office

COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue 'W'.

COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue 'w' if you don't start with some
straight answers. What about financial bookeeping? You have anything I
can track my money with?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.

COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?

ABBOTT: One copy.

COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

(A few days l ater)

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

ABBOTT: Click 'START'.............

Collaboration is King

For the past two years, I've been working with my friends at Vantage Credit Union developing a CRM system. Check out what Matt Fagala, CRM Director had to say about our collaborative effort.

This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Together, Vantage and FORUM have a solution that makes a difference for their members.

Vantage has created a team dedicated to the CRM system which they call Vision. These guys (John Osborn and Dan Shelby) have created some fantastic applications in the CRM system.

Vantage's Chief Operating Officer Eric Acree has been the champion of this effort. Eric's main goal was to build a system that enabled their employees to focus on the member. He wanted to remove the layers that exist between the credit union and member as well as the front office and back office staff (as shown below).

Rave: Bento

For months now, I have been doing the online thing with sites like
MindMeister, Highrise (37signals). For the most part, the experience
has been great.

Recently, I downloaded FileMaker's Bento. I have to tell you that
this is one of the best (if not the best) information management
systems around. Bento can connect to your address book, calendar
and other program's data. It can tie all your information
together. You can use it to track your projects, RSS feeds, etc.
You can build your own libraries of data and customize data entry
forms. Awesome!

If you haven't checked it out. It will be worth your time.

Sent from my iPhone

Last Week in Chicago

Last week, we went to Chicago to visit a college my son is planning
on attending when he graduates.

He will be going to Columbia College. It was an incredible experience.

As we were going through this process it hit me....my son is going to
college. This was a very emotional experience for me. My little
boy is becoming a man. I couldn't be prouder.

I was in awe if him. The chance to spend four years in Chicago.
The experiences he will have; he will remember forever.

My wife and I almost enrolled ourselves.

The Aim Of Art

Aristotle said,
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. "

Recently, a project that I had been working on for two years went into production. This was a project where I actually did some coding. I have not done hunkered down coding for several years. Needless to say, my skills were a bit rusty on many levels. Let's face it, the programming world had passed me by on so many levels. Basically, I knew enough to get the job done. Was I worried? Absolutely! Everyone who reads my blog, knows that I'm not a fan of Microsoft's development tools. On this project, I chose some unconventional tools. I chose Flex for the user interface and FileMaker for the database. This was a high end application. Using these tools; I'm sure some very smart computer scientists would say I was nuts. I tend to choose tools that focus more on the artistic design elements versus the technical elements. Plus, these technologies are very easy to use. However, in this case all the logic would tell you that this approach is suspect. For a period of time, I agreed. I can't tell you how much I worried about whether or not FileMaker would choke. I also worried whether or not Flex would hold up. Many sleepless nights over this.

Live day approaches and I'm one nervous dude. Well, live day came and went and the application was a raving success. Not because I wrote some great code --- this organization had hired its own programmer that I'm sure fixed a great deal of my programming flaws. Nevertheless, I was still worried.

Then it hit me. I was worried for the wrong reasons . I was more worried about the tools instead of worrying about the design. Would this design solve the problems this organization was facing?

Don't get me wrong, I'm still a little nervous about the choices I made on this project. However, it's much easier to switch out the tools than trying to find a better design. The significance of this project was the fact that we had found the answer to a big problem that was troubling the organization.

Ahead Of My Time...

Have you ever heard someone tell you...."you're ahead of your time"? I have and let me tell you that it's nothing to be proud of. Over my twenty plus career, I have had more blunders than successes. The successes I've had were some grand slams but for the most part...lots of blunders. In some instances, those "so-called" blunders are now viewed as "ahead of their time". Insert Puke here. :-) It doesn't matter. If the idea that was ahead of its time died for whatever reason, it's not ahead of its time. It's dead!

You might be asking what causes this phenomena? There are many.

Devil's Advocates
I believe, for the most part, one gets tired of trying to get their idea past the Devil's Advocates. Those evil doers who try to knock down ideas versus build them up. If you haven't read the "Ten Faces of Innovation", you should. Regardless what you might believe, you're outnumbered by these devil's advocates. There have been so many times I just gave up on an idea because I was too tired to fight the good fight.

Not Willing To Take a Risk

If you're not willing to stick your neck out -- the idea will die. That's where I've made most of my mistakes. Not willing to stick my neck out and take a chance. Unless, I have a 99.9% chance of making it work.

Not Willing To Put Forth The Effort
How easy is it to take a brilliant idea and put the work on someone else to execute? I've also made this mistake. Let's leave it up to someone else to work out the details. BAD! Nothing against those folks, but they will be your demise if you're not involved. If you can't see your idea through, don't do it. Don't leave the details up to someone else. Be part of the team who is doing the work.

Rationalization

We humans can rationalize anything if we want to bad enough. You end up talking yourself out of too many things that will cause it to fail and/or be less than what you envisioned. Establish the "Gotta Haves" and never compromise on those. Wiggle on the rest (Nice To Haves, Need To haves) but never that. Some times you have just have to..."JUST SAY NO". If it means more work than so what.

Courage
Change takes a great deal of courage. If you and/or your organization doesn't have the courage to change then seek counseling. I've seen many brilliant innovations that have worked their way around core problems that for whatever reasons don't get dealt with. You may achieve some incremental success but if you don't attack the core problems, you'll be dealing with it later. Also, if you're not in a position to change the core problems, than don't. Just move on. You've done your duty making the organization aware. It's up to the powers that be to make the change. If you don't have their buy-in then it's not going to happen.

Talk Is Cheap

I hate meetings. Meetings are where a bunch of people gather to talk. If you spend too much time talking you'll end up rationalizing which will cause you to lose the courage which makes you not want to put forth the effort to take a risk. Follow Me? I believe in collaboration. There is a big difference between meetings to talk vs having collaborative meetings.

Finally, I can say all these things because I have suffered from each. I have also benefited on those rare occasions where I listened to my own advice. Being ahead of your own time is not a badge of honor unless the idea saw the light of day. Let this serve as a call to action to all the ThinkTankers, BarCampers, Bloggers, and organizations who have been spending too much time talking about ideas. My friend and business partner Doug True was instrumental in starting a group sponsored by the Indiana Credit Union League whose charter to is not only generate ideas but to implement them. This group is called Ignite. Get-R-Done!

Designing Software Is Fun Again

I know this may come as a shock but I don't like .NET. I never have and never will. Perhaps, one day they will see the light and go open source but I doubt it. I won't get into a technical debate as to why because it doesn't matter. It's my preference and that's it. That's not to say that .NET is bad because it's not. In fact, I've been messing around with Blend and I've been very impressed. More on this later. I prefer Flex & FileMaker simply because it's easy. If there is a weakness of Flex is its ability to connect with DataSources. Basically, you only have two choices out of the box. They are Web Services and HTTP. Now, that would probably serve most needs unless you're connecting to a SQL compliant database. Doh! If so, you'll have to wrap some web services around it to make it work. Adobe does offer choices but they're not cheap. Flex Data Services allows you to connect to back end systems via remote objects. Of Course, there is Cold Fusion which can also work. Unless you're using ColdFusion for your Intranet and/or website, it's probably not the choice here. There other companies that provide middle ware connectivity. The best seems to be WebOrb. If you haven't checked them out you should. It's powerful stuff. If you're needing a highly scalable application then you'll need one of these tools.

So, why do I like Flex and FileMaker? Glad you asked. Okay, maybe you didn't ask and maybe you don't care. If so, then why are you here? Go home, leave, vamoose. Okay, for the rest of the two readers of my blog - here you go. I like Flex & FileMaker because they both begin with the letter "F". You know what else begins with the letter "F"? Get your mind out of the gutter. It's (F)un! Sorry had to go there. Anyway, back to the story. It's like FileMaker and Flex were meant to be together. Why? FileMaker has a built in Data Services API that can be utilized using Flex's two out of the box choices. Perhaps, this is FileMaker's most underrated feature that seems to get lost in haze. Using Flex, you can connect and write to FileMaker's database in 3-4 lines of code. FileMaker's API has all the CRUD operations built into the API. Let me also clarify for you geeks that I do understand that FileMaker's API is not really data services in the truest sense. I know that. However, its still easy.

You can also use FileMaker's layout capabilities to build forms in Flex. Here's how. Design a layout in FileMaker. Put some fields in the layout and you're basically done. Use FileMaker's FMPLAYOUT grammar to get the definition. Voila! Here's the down side -- you'll have to write Flex code to interpret. Here's an idea. Use a FileMaker custom function to build the MXML code for you. Write a script to call the function and then to publish the MXML to a directory and have some code in Flex to load modules on the Fly. Okay, now you're probably thinking I'm on some 1960 drug trip. You're also probably wanting to see some sample code like most sites would do. If you're interested, just leave a comment and I'll be happy to send you some code and/or show you via my Adobe connect account. Just let me know.

Finally, the title of the post is "Designing Software is Fun Again". I didn't really explain that -- huh? Programs like FileMaker, Axure, and Flex make designing software fun. As I mentioned, it's a preference. It's what works for me. I believe that companies should focus more on making the process fun in lieu of getting bogged down in places that can halt or stifle the creative process. I need a canvas not a document. I want to draw rectangles not write x and y coordinates. I want collaboration not acceptance documents. I'm having a blast.

Rave: Axure & Ubunto

Rave: Axure (Prototyping)
PictureForLife.net is close to completion. I'm really excited about this. It will be more than just a standard photography site. Thanks to my friends at Akcelerant, they turned me on to this prototyping software from Axure a couple months ago. It's a great piece of software for designing applications. I've never been a fan of wire framing because to be honest....I found it boring because they're basically just some pictures of what screens will look like. What sets Axure apart is the fact that you can put some code bits behind the wire frame. Thus, allowing one to be able to see interactions between components.

There are basically two approaches you can take. You can start designing screens and interactions (i.e. wire frame) or you can start with a flow model which utilizes a flow chart approach. I chose to go the wire frame route. Once you're done, you can have the system generate a specification document. That's the icing on the cake. I don't write specifications -- NEVER!. This system does it for you.

Going forward, I will use Axure. It's a wonderful tool in the toolbox.

You can check out the prototype for the website. I've developed this site using Flex and FileMaker. The next phase will include a FaceBook application to my site. I've been working with the FaceBook API for the past couple of weeks and it's powerful and very easy to code in. More on this later.

Rave: Ubunto
A colleague recently told me about a Linux flavor called Ubunto. It's a simplistic flavor of Linux. I've installed Linux before and I've always struggled with them. Then, trying to install instances of php, ruby, apache, and MySQL was painful. Installing Ubunto only took 10 minutes to install and get up and running. I installed this in my parallels system using a linux kernel 2.6. The download of Ubunto is an ISO file. Once you mount it on parallels - a working version comes up instantly. It's like doing a try before you buy approach. I played around with it and all I had to do is click on the "install" icon. I answered a few questions and then it was done.

Once Ubunto was installed, I installed PHP, Ruby on Rails, MySQL, and Apache2 via a couple of commands I was up and running. Literally took me 10 minutes to install these applications.

Ubunto comes with OpenOffice installed. It also comes with Gimp which is an underrated imaging application.

God Took Ryan and I For A Drive Yesterday

This past week, I was in Texas with my son getting him ready for school. Yesterday, we decided to take a drive out to Wharton, Tx where I grew up. I have not been back to Wharton since I left twenty two years ago. At first, I just wanted to go check out the places where I grew up for my own nostalgia trip. However, it turned into something else. It turned into an education for my son. He got to see where his mother and I grew up. On every turn, he was asking all kinds of questions. I could tell that he was somewhat surprised that I grew up out in a small farming area. I could tell that he was able to start connecting some of the dots in my life. I took him to all of my hangouts and drove him by all the places where my friends lived. We drove to where his mother grew up. There was a baseball field that his mother's family had built. Ryan didn't know that his mother was an awesome soft ball player. I on the other hand --- sucked.

We drove to my high school. He was absolutely shocked to see how small the school was. It was very surreal in that this place where I spent four years had not changed at all in twenty years. We peaked into some of the windows. We noticed that not even the interior had changed.





As we were going to all these places, all the memories I had just starting pouring out. It was like dumping an encyclopedia of my life. Ryan was listening. I could tell that he was soaking this information in.

Overall, this was probably one of the best days I've ever had with Ryan. It was moving in the sense that I had not returned to these locations since I left twenty years ago but more importantly was an opportunity for my son to experience his own roots. Walking around my own high school with my son who's in his last year of high school was a blessing. Perhaps, one day he will return with his children educating them on where his grandparents grew up. A right of passage I will never forget.

Now, I'm on my way back to Indiana. It's still painful knowing that when I return he won't be there but I also know that God took us out for a drive yesterday to help me and hopefully Ryan to get through this step in his life. For that, I'm grateful beyond words can describe.

A note about Ryan:

Ryan got a job at the first place he put an application at. He will be a cashier at Randall's supermarket. He starts training on Monday and is very excited. He and I went to his new school and it looks like a great school. Katy schools are among the highest rated in the state. He starts on August 27th. I'll keep you updated on his journey.

Put It There!

This week my son and I will be traveling to Texas. He will be finishing his last year of high school with his mom. He will be a 1,000 miles away and I can tell you it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. All of sudden, this little boy is now eighteen years old and ready to take the first steps into the world. I couldn't be prouder of Ryan. He's got a big heart, great values, and has a strong devotion to his family.

When Ryan was younger, he spent his early years with his mom. During those years, I worked non-stop. I always found time to be at Ryan's significant events and was always there for him as best as I could - so I thought at least. About eight years ago, I knew this wonderful man named Ralph Bender. He was a World War II veteran and had fought in four major battles. He was one of the first guys to storm the beaches at Normandy. He was part of the Army Corp of Engineers. This man had seen everything his lifetime. The stories he shared with me were unmeasurable in terms of the impact on my life. I was in awe of him in so many ways. He, like me, was not much of a talker. With him it was never about the quantity of words but the quality. One day, I was visiting him at his house and he asked me how things were going and I mentioned that I was working a bunch of hours on a special project at the time. All of sudden, he asked me to take a ride with him. He drove me to a local cemetery. We walked through this cemetery and he asked me to look around on the head stones and read their inscriptions. He asked me if I noticed a pattern with these inscriptions. I was stupid and just couldn't seem to make the connection. "If you look around you will see inscriptions like....Beloved Father, Loving Mother, Loving Daughter, etc", he stated. "Did you notice that none of these headstones stated what these people did in their professional career? You don't see....Great Programmer, Beloved Lawyer, Loving Manager, etc", he said. That was a defining moment in my life. I was calm in the understanding of that but also saddened by the reality of my situation. What an idiot I was.

Since that defining moment, I realized that my legacy was not going to be what I did in my professional career. It would be the son I left behind. It changed me. I focused a great deal of my energy on preparing Ryan for the moment he would begin his journey into the world. Ryan spent the last six years with me while his mother was in Texas. During that time, we had some wonderful times together. Yes, there were the teenage moments where he drove my wife and I crazy but they were brief periods of time. Now, those moments are more precious than ever. I wouldn't trade them for anything.

It's hard to describe what I'm feeling. I'm very sad that he's leaving but I'm proud of him for wanting to take these first steps on his own. I look back and wonder where all the time went. I still remember as if it was yesterday; the first time I saw Ryan in that hospital in El Paso, Texas on April 11, 1989. Next year, he'll be off to college. Wow!

The good news is that with modern technology such as cell phones, blogs, video iChat, and youTube we'll be able to stay in contact. Also, Carol and I are already planning our quarterly trips to Texas. Going to rack up those frequent flyer miles.

Give Me Your Hand I'd Like To Shake It
I Want To Show You I'm Your Friend.
You'll Understand If I Can Make It Clear
Its All That Matters In The End.

Put It There If It Weighs A Ton,
That's What The Father Said To His Younger Son.
I Don't Care If It Weighs A Ton,
As Long As You And I Are Here, Put It There.
Long As You And I Are Here, Put It There.

- Paul McCartney - Put It There

FileMaker Conference Notes

The FileMaker conference is winding down. Tomorrow, I'm in an all day session focusing on creative design.

I have been to a lot of conferences in my lifetime. This was my first time at the FileMaker conference. Let's say I was at home. First, MAC users out numbered PC users 20:1. Second, almost everyone had an iPhone. Third, the people were just groovy man. Well, except for the guy that had gas -- that's a story for another day. Finally, these folks were absolute raving fans of FileMaker.

During the conference, I had to the opportunity to look at some of the applications that are being developed by the FileMaker community. Let me say, that some of these applications were just amazing. The majority of applications developed by the FileMaker community don't necessarily come from programmers and/or analysts. They are developed by people that use the software. You could tell just by how some of these applications flowed. I spoke to a doctor who designed his own patient record system. I Spoke to an accountant who designed his own accounting system. I spoke to an owner of a bowling alley who wrote is own point of sale system.

What impressed me the most -- was how folks from different backgrounds were able to collaborate with one another. Witnessing programmers sitting down with non-programmers to see how they were learning from each other was impressive. One actual conversation I was apart of was watching a programmer explain recursive functions to a doctor. The doctor was listening and learning. Then, I saw that same doctor show the programmer how he integrated document processing through PDF's using PHP's PDF library. BTW - I learned something from this doctor. He did some amazing stuff with PDF documents.

Over the years, I've taken abuse for being a FileMaker fan. I think their database is powerful and easy to use. I love the scripting features that would rival any established business rule engine. In fact, that's one of the reasons I used FileMaker in an application I've designed. I don't think Microsoft or Oracle are concerned or threatened by FileMaker. Why? FileMaker has carved off a niche for themselves that these two powerhouses don't want. FileMaker caters to the small to mid-size organization. In fact, Microsoft, Oracle, and MySQL have partnered with FileMaker in integrating their databases into FileMaker Server. What's great about this integration is that all the integration is done on the server. Clients don't need ODBC connections for it to work.

Finally, you could tell that FileMaker listens to their customers. They understand them and want to collaborate with them. Recently, they cut the price of their technet program to only $99.00 per year. This includes a developer version of FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Pro Advance Server. That's a bargain. I heard some grumblings from some folks stating that it was a mistake because it's only going to diminish the quality of the technet community. I say good for FileMaker. They want to hear from their customers and they're going to.



PS: Here are some notes I took from the conference:

Art or Science?

I'm a big fan of 37Signals. I love their applications and I think their approach to developing software is unique and innovative. Their book titled "Getting Real" is their approach to developing software.

They use their forums to collect information about what their customers are talking about. Sometimes they listen and sometimes they don't. Periodically, you will see them tell their customers "No". Yet, most of their customers are raving fans. They don't release documents that talk about what's going to be in the next release. They just release it (see below). They don't schedule software updates. They just release them when they're ready (see below). I use BackPack, BaseCamp, and Highrise on a regular basis and I can tell you that there is always something new every month.

Another thing I like about 37Signals is that they develop software through inspiration.

We realized project management isn't about charts, graphs, reports and statistics — it's about communication. It also isn't about a project manager sitting up high and broadcasting a project plan. It's about everyone taking responsibility together to make the project work.

Our enemy was the Project Management Dictators and the tools they used to crack the whip. We wanted to democratize project management — make it something everyone was a part of (including the client). Projects turn out better when everyone takes collective ownership of the process.

37Signals

I've never liked the fact that in the software industry you have engineers, analysts, and programmers. I've said this on many occasions, I believe the approach to developing software should be similar to how an artist paints a picture, an author writes a book or an actor prepares for a part. It should be more about art than science. I don't write functional specifications; never have and I never will. I believe in just developing from the heart. I know that sounds cheesy but its what I believe. The best stuff comes from the heart. Companies like 37Signals are proof of this.

Sugar Free Cookes

Being on a low carb diet means no sugar. If you're into cookies and ice cream it's pretty much a shock to the system to go without. Carol found these sugar free cookies which are delicious considering there is no sugar in them. Last night, I was eating some of these cookies and on the back of the package was the background story on how these cookies came to be.

These cookies were invented to solve a problem for its founder. The founder has diabetes and created recipes that he could eat. Started off developing a recipe for a sugar free cone and then later developed sugar free cookies. Now, you can find these cookies in just about any store.

As I was reading more on this company, I came across something that I thought was interesting.

Joseph's Cookies is a socially Responsible Company that offers lifetime employment for its dedicated Team Members....

This company has two things going for it.

1. The creator was also a user of his product. The passion shows up in the result.
2. Employees are stakeholders. The passion shows up in the result.

I'm sure there are other products that are just as good - maybe. I don't think I'll try them because I like what's behind the product. This company has soul.

Finally Published!

I just heard that a couple of my pictures will be featured in an upcoming magazine that's due out in October. One of the pictures will be on the cover. I can't release the details just yet on what magazine. I'm sure it will be very strange to see one of my pictures in a magazine. Nevertheless, it's a milestone for me and I'm excited.

This never would have happened if my wife wouldn't have basically held a gun to my head and told me to get serious about photography. It's a blessing to have someone who has more faith in you than you do in yourself.

I've received emails from several folks asking when PictureForLife.net will be coming back. It will be coming back. Since I've been selling several pictures to photo buyers and agencies, I've been having to spend what little spare time I have on building a stock site for commercial buyers. I hope to have that completed in the next month. Then, I'll get back to work on the website.

It's All About The Light Bulb

A good read is Death By Meeting by Patrick Lencioni. Since Jeff and I had four hours to kill on our way home from St. Louis, we decided to tackle this subject. Originally, it was about meetings but then we couldn't agree between meeting hell and project management. So, we decided to tangle them up together to see what happens.

Warning: This Blog Post is meant to poke a little fun at our two favorite subjects. It's meant for entertainment purposes.

Adventures in Phoenix, AZ

Source: Flickr

Spending a couple of days in Phoenix, AZ. This week, the temperatures have been averaging 105ºF. Yes, it's a dry heat but so what. It's still hot. We made the trip to beautiful Sedona where some remarkable landscapes just take your breath away.

Phoenix, AZ is probably one of Carol's favorite places to visit. However, she seemed to be changing her tune based on the temperatures.

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This is probably one of my favorite Photographs I've taken. This photo was achieved using a 11-18mm lens with the bottom third of the focal point aimed at the sky. This made the mountain seem longer than it was. I was only about 100 yards from the foot of this mountain.

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Adventures in Farnam, Nebraska

This week, we spent a couple of days in Farnam, Nebraska visiting my parents and sister. Every time I visit Farnam I can appreciate the purpose of small towns. At the same time, small towns are slowly disappearing from America's landscape. It's hard for small towns to keep the young folks from returning. Farnam is no exception. Over ninety-five percent of the population is over sixty years old. The leadership of Farnam is struggling trying to come up with new ways to re-vitalize the town.

This is not what you think.


Source: Flickr


Last week, I get this package in the mail. I open it up and I see this book. At first glance, it was kind of freaky. I thought to myself...."when did I write a book. I don't remember writing this but I could have, I guess". Then, I opened up the pages and they were just blank pages. A local office equipment supply company had sent me this book. Needless to say, this got my attention. I opened it up and read the inside sleeves which was personalized for me.

I'm not a marketing guru but I thought this was an innovative approach to get me to notice this company. I did call the representative who sent me this book and told him that I thought this was very cool. The bad news is that I didn't purchase the copier he was selling. Too bad, if he was selling camera equipment I would have bought everything he had to sell.

Finally, about three years ago I started writing a book called "Click This". It should be out on the bookshelves in about thirty years or so.

Trivia Question: What do FileMaker and the rock group Kiss have in common?

Answer: The amount of abuse I've taken over the years for being a raving fan of both.

Today, FileMaker released FileMaker 9. This release is probably one of the biggest releases FileMaker has done since Release 5. I use both FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Server Advanced. One of the major improvements in the server release is the integration capabilities with Oracle, MySQL, and SQL Server. The server also implements server side scripting which will give it some pretty powerful DTS capabilities. Server also allows you to build relational data models using FileMaker's modeling tool. Once the database is modeled, you're ready to go. You can modify the schema and add fields to it. However, these fields are not injected into the SQL database. FileMaker will store the data in its file repository. This will be useful for building you're own functions. If you haven't used FileMaker's custom function capabilities; they're very powerful and easy to develop.

I'm excited about this release and there will be more posts coming soon. I've got big things planned.

Ryan Street Magic

Here is Ryan performing street Magic.

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Is This Next?

Is This Next?
Originally uploaded by camminges

More and more consumers are dumping their land lines and just using their cell phones as their main point of access. I stop putting my work number on my business cards. I use my business mobile number instead. I rarely use my business phone. Why? My cell phone has become the gateway to and from the rest of the world. Having text messaging and an Internet browser all wrapped up in a cell phone gives me the basic tools I need to interact.

Customer access channels such as online chat, secure email, and interactive wikis are experiencing phenomenal usage rates. Personally, I prefer to utilize these types of channels in lieu of picking up the phone and calling the 1-800 number. Who's got time to wait and navigate through all the phone trees?

Adoption rates by corporations building these access channels are skyrocketing. About two years ago, FORUM Credit Union implemented an online chat system for its members. The usage went through the roof in a short period of time. They were seeing 200-300% increases every month.

The challenge in adopting all these service channels means that disparate systems are also being created. Another silo in the abyss of silos. Member service systems need to find a way to integrate with these new channels without a member service representative logging into another system. One less icon on the desktop will make member service representatives very happy.

New Diet

This week my wife and I decided that we were going to start focusing
on our health. We started a diet. This also includes us exercising.

Here is how its going so far.

Monday - Decided to postpone starting diet to Tuesday.

Tuesday - St. Louis visiting Carol's mom. She makes me an apple
pie. I eat two pieces.

Wednesday - Carol & I go for a bike ride. About half way through, I
get sick because I am out of shape. I throw up on the side of the
road. Our legs are now jello. We spend an hour in the hot tub
recovering.

Thursday - I have lunch with some co- workers. I have fat chicken
sandwich with sweet potato fries. Yummy! My wife has almonds. Not
yummy! My wife I and go grocery shopping. We're depressed because we
can't buy anything we like. Except cheese. We bought lots of
cheese. I will be living off cheese for the foreseeable future. I
go for a bike ride. I don't throw up. Woo! Woo!

Friday - I'm snacking on some Atkins snack bar that tastes like card
board.

Stay tuned.......

Leads Stinkin' Up The Place?

For the past couple of years, credit unions have been implementing lead and opportunity management processes and systems. Here is my take on the evolution of our credit union's system thus far. Please feel free to challenge me if I've missed anything.

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1. Just get a lead

That's right! Just get a lead. Any ole' lead will do. Incentives will be paid for leads. Employees are expected to scan for opportunities. Not just opportunities for new checking accounts, savings, etc but for mortgage, investments, and insurance products and services.

Once the lead is generated, the employee's job is done. It's up to someone else to get the business.

2. Need Quality

Departments processing the leads were complaining about quality. They were wading through the stank to find sweet smelling quality leads. To reduce the smell, incentives were based on quality leads.

3. Cross Selling

Systems were created to help employees cross sell products and services. This was the perfume. If an employee can smell, they can cross sell. Incentives are not adjusted.

4. Management Dilemma

Should employees really be paid to help generate business? Isn't that a part of everyone's job?

5. CEO Question

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What's the ROI on the incentives being paid? How much business is the credit union getting from leads?

#4 and #5 are often overlooked or dare I say....IGNORED. In order to truly calculate an ROI, monitoring systems would have to be built. I.T. folks are saying that this is virtually impossible. Especially, given the number of disparate systems an average credit union operates.

Are your leads stinkin' up the place? Our leads were and we decided to start over. We've built a system that is all about efficiency and is based on Web 2.0 standards. Additionally, we're building a monitoring system that will track how the leads are performing. We like happy CEO's.

iWIFI

Obviously, you can browse the Internet using the Safari browser on AT&T's EDGE network. It's not broadband but it will get the job done. However, if you want to speed up the connection, the iPhone does support WIFI. I connected to my wireless network at home. All of sudden, I was browsing the Internet at broadband speed. Nice!

iPhone & Online Banking

I just tested our online banking system using the iPhone's web browser. I was able to easily navigate through the system. I performed a transfer. The web browser does something interesting with pull down menus; it generates a scrollable choice list. It almost looks like a slot machine. With the swipe of a finger you can easily scroll through each choice.

More to come.

iPhone Raving Fan

Yesterday, much to my surprise, I got an iPhone. My son stood in line at our local AT&T store for four hours so I could get one. My wife, Doug, and son arranged this this scheme. I had no clue that this was going on behind my back. For the whole week leading up to the release, my wife was very adamant that I was not going to get one. I was devastated. I've always had a long history with Apple in being an early adopter of their innovations. BTW - I still have my Apple Newton.

Here was the scheme. About 4:30 my son called me at work and told me that his car broke down and asked me to come to help. He told me the location and I left immediately. I arrived about 4:45. The location he gave me was at a local strip mall. When I arrived, I could not find his car. I was wondering through the parking lot when I got his call. I asked him where he was. "Look over by the AT&T store", he said. I looked over there and saw him standing in line with several people. At this point, I still didn't get it. I walked over where he was standing in line. All of sudden it dawned on me. I was so surprised. My wife enjoyed seeing me squirm all week.

Starbucks meets iPhone

The AT&T store is across from a Starbucks. About every half hour, Starbucks employees would bring free refreshments out to everyone. Their orange mango ice tea is awesome. I found a new drink.

The Purchase

Just before the doors opened, the manager of the AT&T store came out to explain to everyone standing in line how they were going to process the crowd. They only allowed six people in at a time so they could provide personal service. As each person went into the store, they were greeted by an AT&T employee. The employee explained how the activation would work and then took the buyer to the iPhone accessory rack. By the time the buyer picked out their accessories they were taken to the the cash register. At the cash register, they asked you if you wanted to go through the credit check. Doing this saved time during the activation. Once the credit check came back, the buyer purchased the iPhone and they were on their way out. This process took approximately twenty minutes. Very efficient!

The Activation

Completely painless. Just before the launch, Apple release iTunes 7.3. This release had the iPhone activation program. Since I use a MAC, I get these updates automatically so it was ready to go.

The packaging is an incredible. When you look at the iPhone box, it's very small. The box itself is similar to a box you would get when purchasing a watch. Subtle and different. There are no manuals. Just one little pullout titled "Finger Tips". It's front and back with instructions on how to operate. Each instruction is only one paragraph long. One thing that I noticed that you normally don't see. The pullout was written in English only. Didn't see other languages versions.

Once I docked my phone, iTunes immediately was started. The activation was so painless. Made me realize how much unnecessary time has been spent in the past activating phones. There were only four screens. Two of them were disclosures. It asked me if I had a pre-qualified credit number. I entered the number, asked some additional information and it was done. Got my number. Then, heard a small bell ring on the iPhone. The iPhone told me that the phone was activated and ready to use. Once the phone was activated, I set it up to sync my songs, videos, and pictures. All in all, the activation took less than twenty minutes.

This is the Web

All of my bookmarks from my MAC was transferred. To see if Apple's commercial was true..."it's not a slimmed down Internet", I started browsing. They're right! It's not a slimmed down version. I immediately went to our credit union's website. I was able to navigate with ease. Since you have limited screen size on the iPhone, you can zoom in and zoom out on any web page by simply pinching your fingers inward to zoom in and outward to zoom out. I have not logged into our home banking site yet. Stay tuned!

This is your IPod

It's an iPod but better. You can see navigate through you albums by swiping your finger to the left or right.

I downloaded my first TV Show (The Office). The quality of the video was absolutely amazing. Simply move your rotate the iPhone on it's side and you have a wider picture.

This is your Phone

I've always been a big fan of Blackberry's phone interface. I loved the click wheel. It's the mouse alternative. I didn't think you could get much better. Who would thought the finger would be better. You can easily build your favorites with a few taps of the finger. You can quickly scan through your contacts using a couple different approaches. When you tap on the phone, your contacts are immediately displayed. You can swipe your finger though contacts and it uses a rolodex approach. It quickly rummages through all your contacts. Just tap to stop. The longer the swipe the more contacts it scans through. To the right, you'll see a vertical bar containing the alphabet. Just tap on that and by holding your finger down and simply moving your finger down the letters will take you from "A" to "B" quickly.

This is your Mail

Supports .MAC, GMAIl, YAHOO, and AOL out of the box. Exchange is supported if you have IMAP. I'm told that we will not support IMAP on Exchnage. Therefore, I will have to use outlook's web outlook interface. I'm good with that. I hope that Apple will beef up it's support on Exchange. They will win the corporate world over if they do this.

One thing to keep in mind is that the iPhone is not a BlackBerry. Blackberry's claim to fame is their ability to push emails as opposed to pulling them like most PDA's do. iPhone is a pull. You can configure the phone to check your email at various intervals.

Overall Rating

The good news is that the iPhone has lived up to it's hype and then some. It's simple, elegant, slim, and most importantly fun. The bad news is that a year from now we're all going to be saying...."oh no! Not another iPhone story".

360 degree view is overrated

I've been struggling with this whole concept behind having a 360 degree view of the member. I think it's overrated and I'll tell you why. When a member comes into the branch to deposit their check or calls into the call center seeing if a check is cleared; the employee who is taking care of providing the service. Are they going look at all this information? I don't think so. The fact is; seat time with members is limited. On the teller line, you have maybe a minute or two, the call center perhaps two to five minutes. Who's got time to look at and process all this information?

I've also heard about building member value and/or loyalty scores. Basically, this is a score that tells the employee how loyal and/or profitable a member is to the organization. The result of this score determines what we can and can't do for the member. In some cases, how we treat the member. I think this is a huge mistake. What if a member has a low score? Will the employee then write the member off and not provide the same level of service that a member with a high score would get? It could happen and I bet has happened.

I'm not advocating doing away with member loyalty and/or profitability scores. I'm advocating not providing them to the employees. Take the business intelligence and have the system advise an employee when they're doing actionable services. If an employee is given some metric that determines the value of the member, service levels will decline. Especially on those members who have low scores. Let's not knock those members down, lets build them up. Just because they have a low score now does not mean they'll have one five years from now. They will remember the day when you didn't reverse the NSF fee for some policy reason.

I think we need to tell the 360 degree view to go take a hike. I say less but relevant information is better. If you talk with employees in your call center they will tell you that they don't want everything. They just want to be able to track interactions. In other words, who said what and when, what is done and what needs to be done, and so on. They want less account centric systems and more member centric systems. They want systems that will act as an advisor instead of a data warehouse.

Keep it simple and efficient and no one will get hurt.

My Long Term Plan

One of my other passions is photography. I've taken thousands and thousands of pictures over the years. About two years ago, my wife convinced me to take it seriously because she thought I was pretty good. I bought my first professional digital camera and starting taking pictures. When I accumulated enough pictures, I tried selling a few pictures. Much to my surprise, I actually sold some pictures. I then decided to take an even bigger plunge and invested heavily in photography gear. It's not cheap! My pictures really started to sell and there was a point in time where I couldn't keep up with the demands of running a photography business. Roughly, only 20% of a professional photographer's time is spent taking pictures. The rest is spent on marketing, selling, post production, etc. Luckily, I've been able to keep up.

This year, I wrote a business plan. My business plan had some long term projections. I mean REALLY long term.

Tonight, I was speaking with one of my mentors who is a professional photographer about my plan. As I was explaining my plan, I could hear him snickering over the phone. To the point, it was upsetting me. Finally, I asked him why was he snickering. He said the problem with my plan was the fact that I was pacing myself. I was giving myself ample time to make it. I explained that I've read several books on building a photography business and they all basically said that it takes several years to build a successful business. "Hogwash!", he said. "If you're not making money now, you should quit", he said. He proceeded to question me about all the aspects of my business. He wanted to know what types of pictures that weren't selling. I told him the types. He then asked if I was still taking those types of pictures. I said...."Yes". His advice...."stop taking them". Reminds of the joke about the guy that goes into the doctor's office; the guy says to the doctor..."every time I raise my arm it hurts. Can you help me doctor?". The doctor says..."don't raise your arm".

This simple advice made me wonder how many businesses pace themselves while the ones that aren't are leaving them in the dust.

Get on the iPhone Bus

It's almost here and I can't wait. That's right! The iPhone makes it's debut on June 29th. I've read several blogs where AT&T has increased their workforce by hiring several thousand additional workers to help with crowd control. If you have not taken the guided tour of the iPhone you can check it out on Apple's website.

I rarely make predictions on anything that has to do with technology. When the iPod first came out, I was an early adopter. To be honest, I thought it was cool but I didn't think it would have the impact it did. Why? I was solely focusing on the gadget itself. I didn't really pay attention to the fact that this gadget was fully integrated into the MAC operating system. I didn't pay attention to the fact that iTunes was a really cool site where I could easily purchase songs not albums. Apple didn't only focus on the product, they focused on the total experience. It was easy and cool. So, I'm going to make a prediction. iPhone will do for the cell phone industry similar to what the iPod did for the music industry. It will dominate it.

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Dear Credit Union Industry,

Get on the iPhone bus....and be quick about it.

Cam

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Why?

Apple did some subtle things that shouldn't go unnoticed. First, they told third party developers that you CAN'T have access to the full blown API of the iPhone. Second, they didn't come out with a browser look-a-like. They put Safari in the iPhone. Third, they're leveraging technologies like Google and Yahoo search engines and recently announced a YouTube. Apple is building conduits to these best of breed technologies.

When Apple decided not to give developers the API, I thought it was a brilliant move. Obviously, Apple didn't want third party developers messing up their phone. They learned from Palm's mistakes. As a software developer I was a bit hurt. As a consumer, I say bless Apple for doing that. It's an acceptable trade-off.

What Apple told the developers; you have Safari, stop whining, now go develop. It's not a slim down version of Safari (we're told). It's real deal. Why? Because the iPhone's operating system is MAC OS X. If anyone wants to debate on which operating system is better...MAC or Windows just name the time and place and I'll be there. By the way, have you seen Apples next version of MAC OS X? Check it out!

Today, home banking applications run in browsers. Since the iPhone has Safari, I can assure you that your members will try to log into their home banking systems to see if they can do stuff. For those members who will buy the iPhone, expect some calls into your call centers asking when your home banking site will be iPhone ready. Count on it!

For those credit unions whose websites were written in .NET, download Apple's beta version of Safari for Windows to see your website is going to be fine. We developers know that Microsoft prefers their own browser to be used for .NET applications versus browsers like Safari and Firefox.

We've all heard that text based mobile banking is something that we all have to deal with. Cell phone companies are lowering the cost of text messages. The iPhone has SMS capabilities. Credit Unions could certainly just go the SMS route and play it safe. The cold hard reality is that credit unions will have to look at both (text messaging and iPhone) versions.

Finally, have someone in your credit union go out and buy an iPhone. Use it to navigate through your website, access your home banking application, and process a loan application. If these systems need modifications, consider doing them. You might have build iPhone ready sites. Buy it because your members will and they will be asking you some questions very soon.

Rave: Evan Almighty (6:14)

This weekend, our family went to go see Evan Almighty. Probably one of the best movies we've seen in a long time.

Pictures from Ryan's TV Appearance on CBS Early Show today

Here are some pictures from Ryan's appearance on the CBS Early Show today.

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My Son is on TV today

This week, Ryan is in New York attending a Lead America conference. Last night, Ryan called and mentioned that he and his other colleagues will be on the CBS Early show.

Today, Ryan will also be making his directorial debut. He is co-directing a Shakespeare play.

Inspiration While Driving

For the past two years, I've been working with a credit union in St. Louis implement a new CRM system. The original goal was to make the CRM system be the new system of record. All information regarding their members was supposed to flow in and out of the CRM system. This would be accomplished by seamlessly integrating the credit union's systems (i.e. core, mortgage, investments, collections, etc).

We spent hours and hours in meetings drawing all this up on whiteboards. Then, we would put it to paper in the form of business and technical requirements. We also built process charts and workflow diagrams. These charts and flow diagrams were a work of art. I was even tempted to frame a couple of them and put them on my wall. Since we had all the proper flow charts, requirement documents, and workflow diagrams we started the march. The problem was that the march turned out to be a death march. When we attempted to integrate the systems, it was not seamless at all. The CRM system had limited integration capabilities. It turned out to be a series of exports and imports. The CRM had another challenge. It just couldn't understand how a member could have the same social security number on multiple main share accounts. The core processing system was account based and the CRM was person based. Oh boy! We were trying fit a square peg in a round hole.

As much as I wanted to run for hills and just convince this credit union that their CRM initiative was a dream, I couldn't do it. Why? Their vision was spot on. Their vision was the following:

• Increase utilization of services
• Lead & Opportunity Management
• Cross selling
• Campaign Management
• Improve communication
• Track member interactions
• Improve efficiency
• Improve content management
• Improve accountability
• Improve service levels between front and back office
• Improve ownership
• Improve responsiveness

The vision was good but the strategy was flawed. Literally, we went back to the drawing board. How could we get all the information into the CRM system without jumping through all the import and export hoops? To be honest, in all my years working with technology, I was drawing blanks. I didn't have the answer. Then, one morning I was driving to work when inspiration came knocking. I live in Carmel, Indiana. A few years back, the mayor of Carmel was in France and noticed that France had very few traffic lights (according to the mayor). They use Roundabouts to control the flow of traffic across different intersections. Apparently, Roundabouts are very efficient and a lot cheaper to maintain than the traditional traffic light system. Our mayor was inspired and convinced the city council to build Roundabouts. Today, you can't drive anywhere in Carmel, Indiana without running into a Roundabout.

When you look at the flow of a Roundabout, you'll see traffic coming from four different directions which intersect at the Roundabout. The roundabout itself is basically a round piece of dirt. Yet, all this traffic moves around this dirt efficiently. In high traffic situations, there is always a constant flow of traffic moving throughout the Roundabout in all four directions. It's actually pretty cool to watch. I know...I need my head examined.

Sometimes the best innovation comes from inspiration. It can come from places you never thought off. The challenge is to keep your eyes open and your mind free.

Cam

PS: You're probably asking yourself, what does a Roundabout have to do with the CRM project? Stay tuned for future posts. If you would like to see for yourself I will be glad to show you.

I feel your Pain SunState CU

I've been reading a great deal of blog posts on credit unions who are charging fees for various reasons. Especially the Florida credit union who charges the $2.00 fee for not having your deposit slip ready.

The credit union faithful are up in arms about this. To those folks who have their feathers ruffled over this....lighten up. It's easy to make judgments from the cheap seats. Credit Unions need fee income so face it, get over it, and move on to something else. Also, give members credit. Members are people who have brains. If they don't like it they have the choice to move on. Some probably will.

The fact a fee is being charged because someone doesn't have the deposit slip ready is not the problem. Instead focusing on that CU faithful, why don't you do something more constructive like offer solutions. How about a post on how credit unions can find other sources of income to reduce dependency on fee income?

Take a Risk

My son is passionate about magic. He has been studying the art of magic for over a year now. During this time, he has been practicing his craft out on Carol and myself. He is really good at this. Some of the card tricks he performs will make your head spin. He does this one trick that just absolutely freaks me out. He takes this deck of cards and messes them all up and lays them out on a table. He'll ask you to think of a particular card, then, he'll ask you to point the card out in the messed up pile. He'll pick the card up and set it aside. He then asks you think of another particular card and then pick it out and so on. He goes into this long winded dissertation about the power of the mind blah blah blah. Then, he turns over the two cards that you picked out of this messed up pile. I'm telling you that this trick just messes me up.

For the past several weeks, Ryan has talked about taking his magic out to the streets to perform. Every night, Ryan would talk about it and talk about it. When Carol and I would encourage him to go out and do this he would always find some reason why he can't. A couple of weeks ago, I just had enough of his talking about it. He and I sat down to discuss why he had not gone out into the public to try out his craft. Quickly, Ryan was able to give reason after reason why he couldn't. Finally, I told him...."You've given me ten reasons why you CAN'T take your magic out to the streets. Now, give me one reason why you CAN". I basically went on to tell him that sometimes you just got to take risk even though you think you're not ready. "What's the worse that could happen to you", I said. Nothing really came out of this discussion. I just basically thought this was one of those discussions where I was lecturing and Ryan was going through the teenager motions. Well, much to my surprise I must have struck a chord with him. The following week Ryan came home all excited. He and a couple of his buddies went out to a local park to try out their magic. To add icing to the cake, they made a video of this excursion. Ryan showed me this video and I about screamed out loud full of joy. This was one of those proud parent moments. He took a risk and made his dream a reality.

Ryan and his buddies performed a couple of shows today with more tomorrow. Ryan is now starting to believe what Carol and I have been telling him for the pass several weeks. He's really good. Through him taking a risk and getting validation from strangers is all he needed to fuel his passion.

I have been involved in many professional situations where for whatever reasons things like logic and fear got in the way.

Defy logic and fear and just do it. Blur the boundaries and step outside the comfort zone. What's the worse that could happen?

Cam

PS: Today, my son came into work to talk to Doug about he and his buddies performing at the FORUM Solutions talent show that we're going to have our company's symposium in October. That took guts!

The Magic Man Makes

Over the past year, my son has been studying the craft of magic.

Yesterday, my son and a few of his buddies took a video camera and went around to a couple of parks doing street magic for people. In a couple of instances they were drawing crowds.

These three young men are passionate about their craft. They took a chance and went for it.

Look out David Blaine, you have some new competition.

iPhone Petition

I'm writing this post as part of my grass root movement to convince my wife to allow me to purchase an iPhone when it comes out on June 29th.

Hopefully, by your response will serve as a petition for such. I am not going to prevent and/or discourage anyone from entering multiple comments.

Help me please!!!!

Cam

Welcome!

I've switched my blog address to Blogger. Thanks for following me to the promise land of Blogger.

Cam

Memorial Day Tribute

Last weekend, I went to Conner Prairie to see the Civil War exhibition. This was an incredible event. There were hundreds of Civil War reenactors that participated.

I have been interested in the Civil War since I was a teenager. In fact, I got into photography because of Mathew Brady. Mathew Brady was a famous civil war photographer. He was also Abe Lincoln's personal photographer. The picture you see on the five dollar bill was taken from a Mathew Brady photograph of Abe Lincoln.

As I was going through the camps on both sides (North and South), I was in awe their obvious passion of keeping the historical perspective of life during the Civil War as true to the real thing as possible. While in the Camps, these folks were living the experience. I would listen in on conversations these folks were having. They were speaking as if they were back in the Civil War period. They did not break rank at all. Yes, one heard the occasional cell phone go off the camps but it was rare. Going through the camps, one could get a glimpse in the every day life of a soldier during the civil war.

There were several activities throughout the day. Of course, I got several hundred pictures of the event. You will notice that look on the faces of the people in the pictures were serious. I rarely saw an actor smile or joke around.

I talked to several of the actors in and out of the camps. In the camps, they were in character. They would not talk about current events. They would tell you about life during the period. Out of the camps, I asked several of the actors how often they did these types of events. Most of them told me that they do this pretty much every weekend. They don't get paid. They do it because they are passionate about preserving the historical significance of the Civil War.

At the end of the day, there was an actual battle that was reenacted. The day went to the Confederates.

Last weekend made me realize and appreciate the sacrifices that Veterans have made throughout our history. These brave men and women have made it possible for the rest of us to enjoy the blessings we have as free people of the United States of America. To them, I thank you for all you have given and sacrificed to keep us free. God Bless You!

Cam

Click here for more pictures