What Is Noise

A friend and I were talking last night about careers and various goals. Some people want to run a large organization, others want to go as far from an organization as possible. There is a satisfaction that many take in working with a single company and focusing for many years on efforts there, and others want to work in a very lightweight roll away from a company and not have any specific day-to-day activities with any one company.

Regardless of all of these work goals and any career paths that you might have in mind there is one goal that everyone should work on but yet few do; your personal brand.

The concept might honestly sound funny to most people. It is easy to confuse personal branding with attention seeking and a shot at stardom or at least your 15 minutes of fame. But that is simply not it, although many famous individuals do have strong personal branding.

You know you have attained strong personal branding when you are irreplaceable with someone else who has similar talents or job description and this is largely recognized in your community.

Take Jeff Pulver for example; Jeff has excellent personal branding. When you want to meet with Jeff then you want to meet with Jeff. There isn’t a substitute. Sure there are other entrepreneurial people out there, but his unique talents, social network, and success make him a one of a kind. He is not famous. He is not a household name. Yet for those that know him there is no replacement. Many of the top people on twitter could also be thought of in this way. From Robert Scoble to Chris Brogan to iJustine, they have each created their own unmistakable personal brand that could not be substituted or replaced by another person with the same ‘job title’.

The paths to getting here there are infinite. It is not a matter of only being the best at something, but being pretty good at something, a great communicator, well liked and overall respected. Getting good at something is a great start, but also doing something special is another strong starting point.

Think about getting past your job title. You are not a photographer, consultant, planner, actor, musician or business-person. You are you and the goal is for at least your larger social community to recognize that.

When you attain this you, in my opinion, have attained the best job of them all; being yourself.

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After arriving home I realized that I needed/wanted a USB keyboard for a computer that I had been given recently. I walked to Radioshack and Best Buy to find that everything was by far excessively overpriced. I will walk to Microcenter instead tomorrow to get one for $3.99. I will not type on it often.

However on walking home from this, I saw police cars and an ambulance racing down the street. Being the curious individual that I am, I started running. It was already dark and the skies where additionally grey from the rain clouds overhead that had yet to open again. As I got closer I knew something was very wrong.

At least five Boston police officers were standing around, seeming to not know what to do. Several other passerbyers and neighbors stood around. One man in particular seemed genuniely confused. There are several assisted living and other elderly housing nearby so my initial assumption was that someone elderly had collaspsed.

I stood for a few minutes, try to figure out what was happening and I think to talk away. I actually do walk probably 50 feet away thinking to distance myself from whatever is happening and not be in the way or a gawker. Yet I walk back and ask the man who seemed particularly troubled what happened. This many was in his mid 30th, and had taken off his shirt for whatever reason. He told me, “That’s fucked up, he just collapsed, I tried to help him, but that’s fucked up, he’s dead man, they’ve been pumping away on him for 10 minutes.” Each of us of course wanting for that to not be the truth, we stand. The police mill around, wishing they could help as the ambulance crew make their best efforts.

The man standing next to me tells me of the other man who I never see, “He wasn’t ugly or anything, he wasn’t old… probably 30. That’s fucked up man. I gotta live with that.” Apparently he had caught the man when he was falling, or had came to him right after he had apparently suffered a stroke or heart attack.

After a few minutes, I see they are still working on him but the police are packing up shop. I very slowly walk away, looking back and hoping for the best. I twitter a few times to perhaps gain words of encouragement for the man from afar. I doubt that they will do any good however and that the man is likely already gone. As if to signify something, the skies open up and the rain and thunder roll in.

My only hope is for him is once I am nearly home I see the same pack of ambuluances and police speed away from the scene and turn to the hospital. I think, and hope, that the would not likely do so if all they were carrying was a dead man.

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My father, Arthur Dale Fisher died this morning around 3:30am just a week short of his birthday after a six year fight with cancer. In his treatments, he constantly exceeded any and all expectations of the doctors in his general health and will to fight. To quote the Wikipedia, “International Staging System can help to predict survival, with a median survival of 62 months for stage 1 disease, 45 months for stage 2 disease, and 29 months for stage 3 disease” for multiple myeloma. He was diagnosed very late stage, in what would now be considered stage 3 by the ISS and lived over 72 months, and was suspected to have had the disease for many years prior. He underwent an autologous stem cell transplantation at Duke Medical Center, multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation and took semi-experimental drugs that I cannot even attempt to pronounce or spell. Overall, he was a survivor. However, this cancer seems to be one that allows for battles to be waged and fought, but in the end it slowly wins the war.

I was able to see him last weekend, which was good. We talked about a few things, and his concerns were not for himself but for those around him. He was in a very bad state and unable to do the most basic of tasks for himself and many times barely able to speak.

My friends have been most helpful in their kind words that they expressed through Twitter, instant messenger, and phone. I would like to thank everyone for their kind support and thoughts. Below are some of the messages I received:

• jackvinson @tibbon Oh, man. that is rough. We went through that about seven years ago, and Dad is still going strong.
• chelpixie @tibbon *hug* thinking good thoughts for your dad and your family
• jtimothyking @tibbon Sorry to hear about your dad.
• doriagrace @tibbon I’m so sorry to hear that
• creepysleepy @tibbon I’m really, really sorry to hear about your Dad. That’s very sad. If you need a shoulder, let me know. Sending you good thoughts.
• funkatron @tibbon *really* sorry to hear that. Sympathies to you and your family
• billbrandon @tibbon I am sorry to hear about the loss of your father.
• billbrandon @tibbon May your dad rest in peace, and may you and your family be consoled in this difficult time.
• jaacob @tibbon I’m sorry for your loss.
• anniemal @tibbon reading ur tweet feels like some1 punched me in the gut. can only imagine how u feel. Thinking of u, sending all the energy I have.
• moonshine715 @tibbon I’m very sorry for your loss.
• atl @tibbon condolences
• doriagrace @tibbon so sorry to hear about your loss.
• skydaddy @tibbon please accept my condolences on the loss of your father.
• gweepmouse @tibbon Sorry man.
• MaggieConv @tibbon sorry to hear, your family is in my thoughts
• creepysleepy @tibbon if you need to fly from NYC you can crash here - let me know
• LittlePandaExpr @tibbon i’m having the same shit with my flight crap too unnngg idn how ima pull it thru

And also several direct messages, which I will share without the sender’s names (but you know who you are and you are in my thoughts and I am eternally grateful)

• Shit dude, I’m sorry to hear that. Sending good thoughts your way.
• sorry you have to go through this! if u ever want someone to talk to, i’m around.
• I am so sorry to hear about your dad. its making me cry. I can’t imagine what you are feeling. Stay tough.
• ***Many hugs*** I am so sorry. My prayers and thoughts are with you and your family.
• VERY sorry to hear about your dad. Sending positive thoughts to you and your family.
• Dave, I am very sorry for your loss. Hang in there.
• ugh. just, ugh. sorry that a Twitter DM is such an inadequate way to reach out to you, but i just heard. strength with you.
• I’m sorry to hear of your Dad’s passing, Dave. I’m sure that you were a comfort to him.
• I’m sorry. Losing a parent, very hard. If you need anything at all, I am here 4 you. Just call, text or scream out.
• I’m very sorry to hear about your father! My condolences to you and your family…
• try farecaster.com or hotwire. much better results for me. *hug* My thoughts are with you.
• So sorry to hear of your father’s passing–I am glad to know that Twitter is helping, in some small way. God bless.
• Condolences on your dad, sorry to hear that. As for you flights, I’ve had some luck flying out of Providence instead of Logan.

Together, I think we have Tweets and messages from at least a dozen countires, 4 continents and probably from a sum of more miles distance that would wrap around the earth. Thank you everyone, it has meant much.

The ‘viewing’ (ok, there is no viewing, but meeting of people or whatever) is on Friday. Saturday at either 10 or 11am is the funeral at First Lutheran Church in Greensboro, NC. I may be playing some music there. He is being cremated, but we are burying his ashes beside my uncle David Glass and my grandmother Olive Glass near our family house near Deer Park Maryland. Anyone that is in the area of course is more than welcome to attend.

I will be streaming the funeral via uStream so that everyone who is unable to physically be there can see and hear what is happening. Anyone that feels so inclined to send something (really, don’t feel any need to please) to my mother can contact me for the address of the house.

I would like to specially thank Leann Fowler, Rich Helle, Julia Roy, Diana Kimball, Dan Patterson and Lauren Fox for their continued support in helping me through these times.

I also promise to resume blogging regularly soon and still launch TechChowder. I have simply been mentally exhausted from this… but I have much to catch up on with you all!

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My little sister getting married. I’m in the groom’s party, thus the shaky video.

Click to Play

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I was trying to figure out why I hadn’t gotten more films on Netflix. It ends up that the impossible has happened- I have ran out of movies in the queue.

Please help. My name on Netflix is Tibbon. You can friend me, and then suggest films. Or if you don’t have a Netflix acct, just leave a film name in the comments. I’m up for any film that you consider to be “awesome”. I have a great fear that I’ve seen many of the “awesome” films out there. Prove to me that this isn’t true.

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