Every year I head out to Sin City, aka Las Vegas, aka Lost Wages, Nevada for the CES 2016. CES = Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s largest showcase (and getting larger every year) of everything in the tech and electronics industry. Health, Robotics, 3D Printing, Automotive, Entertainment, Phones, Gadgets, 8k HDTVs; I mean everything. For those of you who have never been to Las Vegas, huh, really? Gambling, strip clubs, pool parties, dining, dancing, drinking, shopping and entertainment options galore; plus world-class shows like Cirque du Soleil (amazing!!!) and newcomer Absinthe (incredible!! adults only), wow what a great way to spend a week networking and enjoying yourself. WORK CAN BE FUN…
A quick anonymous get-a-way to Washington DC
By July I had enough of people, parties, planning, brides and booze, well maybe 4 out of 5, so I Googled, “Direct flights from Tampa to _____”. I was searching for a few days escape, somewhere within 1-3 hours flight, English speaking, with an easy in and out. Somewhere that offered lots of quiet green spaces, plenty of modern food, architecture, plus lots of conveniences and nightlife that I could enjoy without having to play host and run the show. A quick anonymous get-a-way to Washington DC was just the remedy I was seeking! Flight booked and packed and off to our nation’s capital – DC here I come!
Quito boasts up in the clouds hotel Rumiloma plus La Basilica
Ok so I decided to do the ‘ol hop, skip and jump, from Cartagena, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador, finally jumping onto Peru as my final destination during my latest travels, during August 2015. So the “skip’ was here into Quito, the capital of Ecuador. I knew nada about Quito, just trusting my instincts, and so everything was a complete surprise. And what a pleasant surprise it was!
Entrepreneurs bring the Social to the Entrepreneur Social Club
Every Thursday night we meet here in beautiful downtown St. Petersburg, Florida for the Entrepreneur Social Club affectionately known as “The ESC”. Most always it’s at my gorgeous modernized historic venue NOVA 535, and when NOVA is rented for a private wedding or event, we find another DTSP location. Yes having the ESC’s home at NOVA is amazing, yet the gathering of my fellow Entrepreneurs is the real secret sauce to this Social Club. People always complement me on how beautiful NOVA is, and after thanking them, I reply that, without them, it’s just a empty building. It’s the life and energy and excitement and new ideas and crazy thoughts and laughter that we Entrepreneurs, business owners, students, start-ups, mentors and even “regular” people with a positive attitude bring to the ESC every Thursday night.
Books I Keep Recommending for the Beginning Entrepreneur
Books I Keep Recommending for the Beginning Entrepreneur.
I’ve noticed a common occurrence recently, I was finding people who wanted to follow their passions yet didn’t know how. See I was spending 5 weeks abroad, from Budapest to Bratislava to Vienna to Prague (where my father’s grandmother hails from) to Split and Dubrovnik with a quick stop in Mostar with superstar tour guide Marko – wow what an adventure that 24 hours was! Then off visiting my delightful pal from back in MBA grad school at the University of South Florida, super stud Olivier, in his hometown, the wild port city of Marseille. Afterwhich I went to hang with my best friend Drew Edwards, who married the beautiful, brilliant, lovely French Helene on the 4th of July 2015 (celebrating his loss of Independence – my words, really – haha) at my gorgeous unique wedding and event venue NOVA 535 here in beautiful sunny downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. Congrats to Drew and Helene!! =D
Pinoquio is no liar – When in Lisbon go visit El Pep and the Professor at Ler Devagar
After marrying off my best friend since University of Florida Drew Edwards back in July 4th 2015 at my wedding and event venue NOVA 535 in beautiful downtown St. Petersburg, Florida to the lovely and French wifey Helene, I was told there’d be a party in the south of France with her family in early October. Well I managed to make it to Montpellier and was even able to score Drew’s possibly final week of travels alone with me before he heads home and gets to work on baby making. We decided to hit Lisbon, Portugal, neither of us having visited there before and it’s on the way home via London LGW.
Hungarian Entrepreneur scores with the Flipper aka Pinball Museum in Budapest
Wow do I love pinball!! So you might imagine my raw excitement as I saw a listing for The Hungarian Pinball Museum , located in the heart of Újlipótváros, Budapest, billed as “Hungary’s first and Europe’s largest continuously operating interactive pinball exhibition.” You had me at Pinball. The only downside was it was closed on Monday and Tuesdays, opening at 4pm Wednesday, my last full day in Budapest. Us “kids” hate to wait, right?? Come on Wednesday!! (more…)
Why Orange you here with us enjoying the Entrepreneur Social Club
If I had to describe this week’s, July 30th, 2015, Entrepreneur Social Club, aka ESC, in one catchy phrase, it’d be: Why Orange you here with us enjoying the Entrepreneur Social Club?! Huh? The citrus reference will make sense soon enough! Remember that the ESC is our weekly get together, our ever growing family of business owners, students, start-ups, rich and powerful mentors, designers, inventors and Entrepreneurs representing of every industry and corner of the globe. At time where we let off some steam and spend it helping each other. Last night was another fabulous continuation of this, since I founded officially the ESC back in January 2009. It’s most always held at historic venue NOVA 535, though occasionally we are offsite because NOVA is rented for a private event. – ya know – paying down the mortgage, one 5 star event at a time!
6 Websites Every Tampa Bay Entrepreneur Should Bookmark
Something new is popping up on the Internet every day. Whether it’s a tool or an app or a breakthrough in technology, there’s never a dull moment online. Modern entrepreneurs have to stay on their toes and remain fluid in their business ideologies in order to keep up with the ever-changing digital space. Most small business owners and operators have a few go-to websites that allow them to stay privy to industry news and trends, but modern self-starting entrepreneurs need to stop thinking of themselves as an entity separated from his or her ideas. Your ideas created your business. Your ideas run your business. You are your ideas. Therefore, you are your business.
Birthday Boy Bill a Brainstorm and Coastalyfe
Thursday June 18, 2015 brought another fun and productive evening networking and sharing and laughing with my fellow Entrepreneurs here at historic venue NOVA 535 Unique Event Space in downtown St. Pete, affectionately referred to as the ESC, aka the Entrepreneur Social Club. We were celebrating birthdays, of my personal long time amigo Ted Plaskon of Quantum Payroll Services (June 18), over in Tampa (Teddy and I were roommates at UF – TEDDY!!) and our long time ESC member Bill Cason. Bill is one of the nicest and funniest people you’ll ever meet, he was born on June 17th.
So if I had to sum up the Thursday June 18 2015 meeting of the Entrepreneur Social Club, it’d be Birthday Boy Bill a Brainstorm and Coastalyfe. Read on!