Here is a short ad I just made for my friend who crafts and sells feather earrings. Check out her factory showroom.

This next video is of g-a-i-a headquarters, where the cats rule. kixxiPoo on fb

our home office by jazzmann91; Encouraging you to Question Everything.

Going to clean up and get to work soon.  Can’t wait to find this magic partner anymore.  I suck at finding partners.  1 divorce due to sameness, 1 split due to fear, and that’s just my personal life.  I don’t talk to anyone who actually works in web development, who wants to take a risk.  I have a new friend who might help open some doors, but I have to prove myself to myself.  Why?  I still can’t figure that out, but I know it’s true.

I like to think I do what I say I will do.  Being silent makes this fairly easy.  I’ve been working on the “design” of this sociopolitical game for years, without realizing any MVP prototypes.  I thought I needed a partner.  I probably do.  But I clearly have weaknesses, and making friends out of strangers, is it for me.  This may be an excuse.  Or maybe it is a subconscious strategy, all i know is I have to trust where I’m going and what I can do.

The rest is destiny. or something.

A new phase by jazzmann91; Encouraging you to Question Everything.

i know i can do a better job of it. and so i am.

for the first time in my professional career i feel very appreciated, trusted, and supported by the company i work for. which is great.

i have a hard time explaining to people what i do, because they don’t use these products … ever.

enterprise level ticketing, service catalog, change management, and process automation software, just isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. i understand it. i can figure it out. this makes me valuable. it feels good.

so i work away the days. i take this break to write this post. i’m still learning everything startup. working my online pitch. getting no feedback. my next spare time company task is v2 of prototype screens for what i’ve finally boiled my MVP down to. still wondering when my co-founder or two will show up. i need to make more friends.

speaking of friends … i keep making friends with women starting businesses. nothing like mine, but entrepreneurs all the same. hula-hoops, feather earrings, fashion, accessories, their ingenuity, creativity, and persistence is inspiring and i’m glad i can help them figure out stuff. analyzing their market, customer relations, recording metrics, and the pricing of top quality products (which is especially difficult for artists).

it reminds me of my first time investing in a company. as i’ve been dreaming up my own idea, i’ve also been participating in the business community. i’ve already been an angel investor, of a very small variety. 5 years ago i helped two friends fund their business making, and selling screen-printed leather belts. i’m wearing a prototype to this day and it’s still a great piece of art. i let them use my credit, i borrowed it on my low-interest credit card, and then charged them a slightly higher interest rate. the first loan went great, they made money and great products, and paid me back within a year and a half. we decided to go again, smaller loan, just to secure some hides for the next batches. which is mostly still outstanding, but it was worth it for me to take a risk and support my friends.

in the very beginning someone learned leather working, and then screen printing in the basement suite next door. then a factory lived downstairs from me for a while. then we all moved. then they got a workshop going. eventually they expanded to a much bigger and efficient space. along the way they got some employees. factory workers. assistant sales people. artists. it was going gangbusters. products in stores all over western Canada and available at select universities and many music festivals.

my biggest advice was always to raise prices. they wanted to sell to people who loved their work and it was working, but they were run ragged keeping up with demand at the price point they set. i shared ideas about creating training material, franchising their business, so it could spread organically, but i was thinking way out-to-lunch compared to their day-to-day hustle. i encouraged them to ignore my advice freely, and payments were mutually agreed to, and occurred when the money was there. i’d like to think i was a really hands-off investor, mostly i just cheered every time things went well for them.  i like cheering for people.

eventually, one co-founder split suddenly. i don’t know why, but i hope she’s doing well. we never really talked about it. the remaining founder kept going valiantly for a while and then a health issue sidelined the whole thing. we still chat now and then, she’s back full-time into teaching sky-diving or working a wind tunnel somewhere.

i enjoyed being part of their success. i understand how much work it was, i helped a little here and there. it was a little disappointing when it all blew up, but i am totally proud of their products. and i bet their customers still love them.  i know i do.

Thanks for reading!

prototype

storytime: now and then by jazzmann91; Encouraging you to Question Everything.

The few of you who actually know me, may know that I’ve been exploring a dark part of myself for a while.  It has been difficult to persevere with starting a company during this time, but I think I have managed it.  I’ve been learning new skills by the dozen, but not mastering any of them.  I’ve also been reaching out and increasing my network.  It has been rewarding, but has taken way longer than I thought it would.  I have less than zero money and personally owe quite a bit from my past (credit, student loans, and personal debt with my ex).  I intend to pay back my debts, as I always have.  I have been living on next to nothing at a relative’s house, while making payments to my creditors.  My office is my bedroom and I’m getting tired of living so small.  I’m sure things could be much worse and I am grateful for everything I have, but it’s time to make some strides.

Over the weekend I did some volunteer work with a group of 15-20 year-olds.  My sister is the head of a company that delivers personal growth programs, which I highly recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about themselves.  The best thing besides helping others grow is the refresher I got out of it.  I got to see how I was being ineffective and the story I was telling myself to keep those habits around.  This might not mean much to some, but my driving needs are:

• Intensity
• Independence
• Intimacy
• Power

If you’ve communicated with me or read my poetry you might understand how this is true for me.  I love ridiculously.  I commit without hesitation.  I suck at small talk and try to find the root of things.  I am open, but very sure of myself (ie a little stubborn). I am bluntly honest and I enjoy working with small teams and tend to disappear in crowds.  I also tend to jump into my imagination to explore the future more than actually creating it.  My dreaming has incredible value to me, but needs to be harnessed, so that we can do more of the productive work.  I have found my purpose, but I am scared.  I’m scared of succeeding, of becoming “famous”, and living an “exposed” life.  However, I am increasingly tired of failing to produce and I know what I need to overcome this.  I need partners.

I need life partners who will support me and share a vision of peace.  I need business partners who have the networks I lack to finance and lead the project.  I need technical partners to help me stay focused and busy with the details of creating the user experience I know we can deliver.  I need artistic partners to make it look and feel amazing, so that it sells like wildfire.  I need help.  I need a great deal of help.  I am asking you for it.  If you can see a place in this story that excites you, I want to hear from you.  If you dig my companies core values: Peace, Freedom, and Fun, I want to hear from you.  If you think I’m crazy, delusional, or a tyrannical maniac, I want to hear from you.  If you have a friend who works the web in any manner who wants to change the world in a big way, I want you to share my website with them.  I know how to listen very well.  I may not always know what to do with what you tell me, but I want to hear you.

The one thing I hear loud and clear is that humanities greatest values are not on top. There is a group of us that have selective hearing and are in denial about the source and solution to our collective problems and somehow they seem to be in charge.  This is changing, especially as our voices combine to expose their denials!  I hope to facilitate this change and birth a new golden age for all life on this planet.  Then we can engage and participate in a civilization that puts it’s best and brightest values at the forefront.  One where we can dance with the shadows, rather than denying them.

Thanks for reading!

personal growth by jazzmann91; Encouraging you to Question Everything.

I dug this out of my archive. I liked the pictures I used. Isn’t BC beautiful? Anyways, this is from a Toastmasters speech I gave in July 2009, and it covered some of the basic problems I’ve been approaching. I want to thank Victoria Beaver Toastmasters for cheering me on. They seemed to think I was going to be rich someday. I don’t know if they were right. I think I’m already rich and I sure don’t have any money. I just want help building this thing, so I can play it and see if games really can change the world.

I think I’ve done two full iterations of the design and talked to at least seventy-five people directly about it since then and most people are really enthusiastic. I’ve only had one person say it was a terrible idea on a blog comment, I asked him to find others to berate me and stop me from going ahead, but he said it would only take one person to stop a bad idea. Anyone else think that is slightly illogical? I want war to end. Did it work?

I also want to thank Allen for coming up with this draft tweet for entry into a US contest I can’t enter. “Engage politically disenfranchised with online game which displays consolidated opinion and fuels sponsorship of political clarity #100KTwitch” It’s nice to know that someone out there is reading my blog and getting a clear picture of what it would look like to them. Any other enthusiastic readers interested in this game? I want to stress this is a text based game, not video, and not 2d graphical, but still a game with actions to take, an exciting ladder to climb with your friends, and nifty rewards to earn. I would love a set of comments saying “I am interested” or even better “I’ll do everything in my power to stop you, even if I have to do it alone!”.

Love your enemies! Thanks for reading.

the listening machine? by jazzmann91; Encouraging you to Question Everything.

I’m looking for a Canadian angel to be friends with and have a long talk about the future of politics and how games of significance are the future of advertising.  I heard the term moon shot a few times the other day.  I’m shooting for Venus, whatever that means.

Would love to hear any opinions or stories about selling future revenue for a cash infusion today.

Thanks for reading!

quoted and thinking by jazzmann91; Encouraging you to Question Everything.

I’m pretty sure it will take more than the first few videos to get much traction, but I’m happy with the results and want to give a big thank you to Daniel Hogg for filming and editing this round.

Here it is: Easy featuring Valeska by Trick & Kubic on Tall Paul’s album The Beat Technique. Follow us on twitter or facebook fan page for release of Take 2 ~ Jamiroquai

I learned a few things about filming dance videos in one short sunset on Canada’s Gold Medal winning day.  First was lighting and location.  My original spot wasn’t good due to the setting sun, but we found some spots that worked nearby.  After the game everyone in downtown Victoria was honking and yelling, as most Canadians were all across the country of King Crosby.  I got some funny looks walking through the red and white crowd dressed in my purple and white outfit.  The celebrants made me a little late, because the gridlock slowed transit to a standstill.

I made it in time, before the sun went down and we quickly shot three songs in three different spots, along the inner harbour.  First mistake was choosing songs that were around 4-6 minutes long, which was more than enough to wear me out quickly.  I may be in decent shape, but I definitely lack endurance.

I think when we do the best of compilation, a few years from now, we’ll take clips of some of my more proficient looking bits and somehow stitch it together.  Aside from avoiding shadows and weird guys who said I should be black to where a white suit, my next lesson was “Tuck your shirt into your underwear!” to avoid unnecessary unkempt looking bits.  You’ll know when you see it.

After having seen the videos, I know I should practice and choreograph way more.  For some reason I pride myself on my innovative freestyling, but on video it needs to snap and pop, and I can definitely improve by practicing at home first.  The other thing I noticed is too much bent elbows, look passive somehow.  I’m going to go setup my youTube account now.  I’ll add the link as soon as I have the first one up.  I’ve decided to only use two of the first three.  The third one goes in the secret archive.

Thanks for reading and watching!

Dance Video #1 by jazzmann91; Encouraging you to Question Everything.