Be a Dream-Maker: Educate, Collaborate and Inspire
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the ECi Connect Conference last week, one of the highlights of which was the keynote speaker, Jim Morris – not Jim Morrison, late Doors frontman (which was my first thought), because that would have been kind of spooky – but Jim Morris, aka “The Rookie.” Still don’t know who I mean? Let me reference IMDB — “The Rookie,” starring Dennis Quaid. “A Texas baseball coach makes the major league after agreeing to try out if his high school team made the playoffs.”
So what does this have to do with printing/technology/corporate America? Aside from the fact that baseball is always relevant, in my humble opinion, Morris’ theme centered around never giving up on your dreams.
“Oh, sure,” you say, “never give up on your dreams. Easy for the high-school teacher who became a major-league pitcher at age 35 to say. But what about me? How does that relate to me, the managed print salesperson/marketing manager/software engineer/printer service provider?”
Well, let’s take a cue from the three themes of the conference: educate, collaborate and inspire. Morris, during his presentation, pointed out how critical those three factors are to living your dreams. Dream-makers will get everything possible from those three things and make the most of them. Education, collaboration and inspiration are critical to success. The more you learn, the more you interact with your peers and the more inspiration you find in every circumstance you experience, the greater your success and the better chance of fulfilling your dreams.
Dealer meetings, conferences and events like ECi Connect present the perfect opportunity to do this. The buzz and energy in a room full of like-minded individuals all learning from and finding inspiration in each other is invaluable, and it’s why all the technology in the world will never replace face-to-face interaction. The range of products and technologies in the vendor fair, the learning opportunities available in the classes and the networking opportunities throughout the conference are prime examples of this, and they are truly “dream-makers” of a sort.
Do you take advantage of every opportunity for learning and networking presented to you? Are you inspired by those around you – both collaborators and competitors? If not, make it a point to begin to do and be so. Opportunity is all around you; take advantage of it and be a dream-maker.
Posted by Amy Weiss on 11/11/2011