2016-12-01-entrepreneur-social-club-at-nova-535-2

2016 Accomplishments We Are Most Proud Of

December 10, 2016December 12, 2016 Michael Scott Novilla Leave a comment

As I was wrapping up a pre-ESC business meeting, Shaun Rubrecht, who left 15 months ago on a 30 day trip to Thailand, yup you read that correctly, walked back into the club. Wowzers! Shaun, seated below front left in purple dress shirt, caught the “4-Hour Work Week” bug – if you haven’t read it yet, do so. Also read Entrepreneur Revolution by Daniel Priestly. It is another great book to frame how we Entrepreneurs think and act. Welcome back brother!! Tonight’s (December 1, 2016) theme is “2016 Accomplishments We Are Most Proud Of”. So let’s jump right into the Entrepreneur Social Club hosted again here at HQ – DTSP historic venue NOVA 535.

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Athen’s Surprising Street Art Scene

July 23, 2016August 25, 2016 Michael Scott Novilla Leave a comment

Athen’s Surprising Street Art Scene.

So I arrived late into Athens Saturday night, about 11pm, and “Tubered” to my AirBnB apartment. “Tubered” meaning using the Uber app but riding in a taxi. See many cities around the globe caved into the taxi union’s pressure and don’t allow Ubering they only allow “Tubering” with taxi (new word =Tubering). It DOES make the shitty taxi service better, less chance to sit around waiting, getting “lost” and being ripped off. (Props to all our fellow Entrepreneurs for making traveling in the 21st Century SO MUCH EASIER!! AirBnB, Uber, Expedia, Google Flights, etc. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!) Anyhoo, so after skipping dinner, and finally getting an excellent night’s sleep (check out my previous blog’s as to why), I awoke to a spectacularly gorgeous 1st day in Athens. Time to go out sightseeing! I was having some stomach issues, likely from

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Lovely Vilnius Strange Little Uzupis

July 14, 2016July 18, 2016 Michael Scott Novilla Leave a comment

Lovely Vilnius Strange Little Uzupis.

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and was chosen as my post Riga next stop on my Summer 2016 Entrepreneur Social Club travel adventures. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, which, when you plan weddings and complex events for a living (NOVA 535 Unique Event Space) it’s nice to just let things happen as they happen. Minimal planning involved. So I took the 3.5 hour bus ride from Riga, easy peasy, and landed here in lovely Vilnius, on a beautifully sunny day. And Sunny night as this part of the world seems to enjoy looooooong days. Let’s explore!

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Just the Fax Ma’am

July 13, 2016August 25, 2016 Michael Scott Novilla Leave a comment

Just the Fax Ma’am. Fax? Don’t you mean Facts? Er, nope. Read on… Spending a day experiencing the Belarus Consul (and their delightful 1950’s style of customer service, brought to you by Stalin.Inc) to a modern, friendly, tech savvy Latvian Entrepreneur named Dovainis Sinkevičius, owner of a new, really cute cafe, Localt. End to end of the spectrum here ladies and gents. See while traveling through the delightful Latvia and Lithuania, I decided to pop over to neighbor Belarus, into the capital Minsk….but not before a few days here in lovely Vilnius!

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Design and Decisions. Good Bad Ugly Beautiful.

July 5, 2016August 25, 2016 Michael Scott Novilla Leave a comment

Design and Decisions. Good Bad Ugly Beautiful.

What goes into decision making? Does it feel good or bad? Is it beautiful or ugly? Would you do it again? Ultimately, for me, it’s would I do it again? Yes or No. It’s a binary answer to a complex set of questions. Would I go back to a restaurant? Take someone out for date #2? Watch a film again? Buy a 2nd bottle of that same wine? Take a 2nd or last bite??

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entrepreneur social club lietains riga retains kool

Lietains Riga Retains it’s Vess

July 4, 2016July 4, 2016 Michael Scott Novilla Leave a comment

Lietains Riga Retains it’s Vess.

Day two in Riga, the capital of Latvia, sandwiched between Lithuania to the south and Estonia to the north. As recently as 1991, all formerly controlled by Russia. Lietains, in Latvian, is rainy, and Vess means cool. Today Sunday July 3, 2016 it rained (lija) all day, yet the charm and vess of Riga, Latvia never diminished! Just like while under Russian authority, the sparkle of Riga remained strong, even when soaking wet. Better, brighter and more beautiful days are here for this gem of a city. So after a hearty (and included) breakfast in the swanky cellar of this renovated, historic structure, the Royal Square Hotel, I borrowed an umbrella and headed off for my Lietains Riga adventure!

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A quick anonymous get-a-way to Washington DC

December 24, 2015May 17, 2017 Michael Scott Novilla

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!

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Quito boasts up in the clouds hotel Rumiloma plus La Basilica

December 24, 2015December 24, 2015 Michael Scott Novilla Leave a comment

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!

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Books I Keep Recommending for the Beginning Entrepreneur

October 13, 2015February 23, 2017 Michael Scott Novilla Leave a comment

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

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Livraria Ler Devagar Bookstore Lisbon Portugal

Pinoquio is no liar – When in Lisbon go visit El Pep and the Professor at Ler Devagar

October 7, 2015May 17, 2017 Michael Scott Novilla

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.

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