I met Ramon Ray a few years back at a Fast Company event through Marshall Makstein, at Eslide. I like to think I know something about technology, but Ramon blows me away. Many times I feel like I am falling behind by the day. Ramon has a great technology report that can keep you up to date. He reviews my new book, Bounce! in the latest issue.I am one of the keynote speakers at the Third Annual Small Business Summit in New York on February 11th. This is actually the launch of the new speech on Bounce! It promises to be a high energy conference so join us. 

The Bounce! Virtual Book Tour kicks off this week on Liz Strauss’ world renowned Successful Blog. She is one of the best known bloggers in the country. I met Liz through Brett Farmiloe when I sponsored the Pursue The Passion Tour last year.

From her web site:

According to EatonWeb, “Liz Strauss is perhaps the most influential relational blogger on the Internet.” Her blog –Liz Strauss at Successful Blog — has been called both a destination and an event. Open Comment Nights, a Blog-to-Blog Conversation, a Blogger’s Cafe, single questions, and on-the-blog strategy sessions keep readers returning to conversations that often last for days. Her blog has tens of thousands of comments.

Liz led the vision behind last year’s SOBCon07 — THE Relationship Bloggers’ Conference that gained the attention of BusinessWeek, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Innovation Initiative of the Kellogg School of Business.

Check Liz’s Blog out and join the conversation all this week!

When I was speaking at Thunderbird School of Management in Phoenix today, I asked one question: How Do You Bounce?

After a 4 year wait, the kickoff of the Bounce! book tour kicks off at Thunderbird tonight in Phoenix. The international school of management has become an adopted alma mata for me (I went to Brandeis and Northwestern). I love the international students and it is located in one of my favorite cities in the country where I hope to live (and teach?) in about 10 years. Alot of the international interviews for the book originated from business students at the school. We have the first book signing tonight at Thunderbird and them I speak on Friday.

Yesterday, I was back out speaking again after a summer break where I did not put socks on for two months! But at the Great Plains Capital Conference yesterday in Wichita, Kansas, shoes and socks were definitely appropriate. I always like to visit the smaller towns in the US. The hospitality is wonderful and the people truly are friendly. I met alot of people I had know like Tom Thornton, David Washburn and Tom Churchill. Ten companies made their presentation for capital from the VCs, angels and state agencies present. Trish Brasted and her team could not have planned a better event! 

The trip to NZ was short but a good one. 4 speeches in 4 days. I spoke at the Export 2007 conference in Christchurch. Export has become a major concern for the country since their currency (NZ$) has soared against the US dollar (30%) since I was there 9 months ago. One of the themes of the conference was resiliency..it fit me perfectly. I am always so pleased when I can fly 10,000 miles and my message is still relevant.

The next day, I flew back to Auckland to present to investors and small business owners about business plans and angel groups. I realized what I love about the people of New Zealand is they are a perfect combination of ancient culture (Maori) with European and Asian influences. My hosts in both Christchurch and Auckland could not have been more gracious. I hope to be back next year when the new book comes out, Crazy Confidence, that has alot of New Zealand business stories.

I arrived today (although flying 18 hours ahead I am not sure what tommorrow is) again in to Auckland, New Zealand for 4 speeches over the next few days. I know that it is crazy (isn’t that me) to fly halfway around the world for 4 days, but I love this country and so does my family. I have a complete shopping list to get things they enjoyed when we were here last summer…soccer jerseys and anything with merino wool.

I saw a movie last night in one of their Gold Class theatres- 40 seats, all lounge chairs and servers taking care of all your needs…now this is the way to see the movies!

I drove 500 miles in a few days and gave 3 speeches. What makes it all worthwhile is emails like this:

"I poured through your book, and to say it was great, unbelievable, or epic wouldn’t best describe it. I believe it was one of the biggest Brain Slaps I’ve ever had. You told the bare bones truth, and that’s refreshing. I’m presently in the 7 year of my sixth business I created. It’s refreshing and somewhat disappointing to know someone has walked the same lines, realized the sleepless nights and etc.Well, just a couple of thoughts. Thanks for your wisdom; I’m sorry it came with zeros on the end. I wish you the best luck and will refer your book to many."

Viva Missouri- The Show Me State!

For the last few days, I traveled by car the length of Missouri for EntrepreneurshipWeek USA. I landed in St. Louis on Monday morning and drove southwest 2 hours to the campus of  the University of Missouri at Rolla. There, I had lunch with and spoke to a large group of students and business owners. I then hopped back in the car and drove north 2 more hours to Columbia to the main campus of the University of Missouri- or Mizzou as it is called. I spoke in the evening to a rowdy crowd (they had been enjoying the food and drink). The following morning, I drove west to Warrensburg to speak at Central Missour State University to small group of students who where having their first ever entrepreneurship event. I then hoped in the car to travel north to fly out of Kansas City.

Wow- what a ride!

I will be traveling around Missouri for EntrepreneurshipWeek USA . It is a collection of thousands of activities, ranging from high school competitions to academic gatherings and local town halls to a national policy summit. More than 700 organizations throughout the country will participate.

According to the web site "It is a celebration and an acknowledgement of what has made America great from the start. Its impact will be significant for not only those involved, but for the future generations of entrepreneurs as well as the economies to which they contribute."