When customers are truly thrilled about their experience with your product or service, they can become outspoken "evangelists" for your company. This group of satisfied believers can be converted into a potent marketing
force to grow your universe of customers.
A solitary citizen today with a broadband connection and a few cheap tools has a substantially better chance of influencing the public's perceptions of billion-dollar corporations than ever before. With a voice, a vote and
a vocation, tens of millions of Americans are involving themselves in the cultural lives of business. The "social media" of blogs, podcasts and social networks are fusing pop culture with traditional marketing, and it's causing all manner of disruption.
Just because you CAN doesn’t mean you SHOULD; just because you SHOULD doesn’t mean you WILL.—
Paul Davidson Silverman
The Adventures of Tom E. Snyder
January 1, 2007—? |
It doesn't sound quite as exciting as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer—but then again, who knows. This season of adventures began when I retired from the US Postal Service at the end of 2006. When I told people I was planning to retire I got two different responses. The first was, "I wish I could retire." Funny, though, no one said, "I wish I was 59." The second response was, "What are you going to do?" DO? I thought the purpose of retiring was to NOT do.
My father used to say that if you retired with nothing to do you'd be dead in 6 months. So yes, I will be doing something. My wife's retired cousin told me last Memorial Day that since he retired he's been so busy he wonders where he ever found the time to work. So what will I be doing? Read on—this entire website is devoted to just that. [1/23/2007]
My wife, Dianna, and I are members of LIFECHURCH.TV, a multi-campus
church. We like to help new LifeChurch.tv Campuses and Network Churches get started. Helping new campuses and network churches
get started has been more difficult as campuses and network churches are added farther away. We have visited all of the campuses
and spent significant time helping with the Tulsa, Stillwater, South Oklahoma City, and NW Oklahoma City campus start ups. We have
also visited and assisted several network churches. Now that I'm retired, a good deal of our time—and RV miles
(see below)—will be spent in this endeavor.
As I approached retirement I anticipated the opportunity for additional travel to fulfill our ministry.
Almost two years ago we were adopted by a cat. I didn't want to have to leave her at home when we traveled so I decided to
investigate motorhomes. An RV show was held in Oklahoma City in October 2006 so my wife and I went— "just to look".
At that time we bought our first motorhome, a 2006 Class C.
But as the year progressed we decided to become full-time RVers. On my 60th birthday, August 14, 2007, we
traded in our Class C for a 2001 Class A Four Winds Infinity from Dean's
RV Superstore in Tulsa, OK. We hit the road September 2. [6/6/2009]
After 62 years I've finally decided...
One of my favorite comedic lines comes from Paula Poundstone: "Do you know why adults are always going around asking kids what
they want to be when they grow up? They're looking for ideas." Well, after 62 years I've finally decided what I want to be now that
I'm grown up. I want to be...well, let me back up a bit first.
I graduated from Victoria (TX) High School in 1965 and entered what is now Oklahoma Christian University that fall. In April
1968 I married a Vietnam War widow with a 2 1/2 year old daughter. Shortly after that I dropped out of college because of bad
grades. I moved back to Victoria with my new family and after a short spell with a previous employer I began working for the Post
Office as a letter carrier.
In 1983 we moved back to Oklahoma and I began working for the Post Office in Edmond, OK, in 1984. In 1990 my son entered college
and I decided I didn't want him graduating before me so I returned to Oklahoma Christian part-time in January
1992. I got my bachelors degree in Bible in 1993 and was having so much fun I decided to attend the University of Central Oklahoma
for a masters degree. I received my MEd in 1995. The degree was in a unique program that prepared students to teach in a
community/junior college. There were 13 hours of education courses and 20 hours in a teaching field. I decided that this might come
in handy if I needed some part-time work after retiring from the Post Office. [P.S.--I made a 4.0 at both schools this time around.]
Well, after 3 years of retirement and a major global financial crisis that did a number on my IRA, I decided that I wanted to be
an Economics instructor at a community college--or maybe more than one. Our home base is now Lakehills, TX, NW of San Antonio in the
Hill Country. San Antonio has a community college district that consists of five
colleges. I am scheduled to teach a section of Macroeconomics in the spring on Fridays from 9:00-noon at Northwest Vista College.
I have also made contact with Northeast Lakeview College and hope to teach there as well. [12/29/2009]
Now that you know the plan you may be wondering how it's turning out.
You can follow me on
Facebook and/or
Twitter. [6/6/2009]
(INI Feed)
