Despite the fact that I’m operating on three hours of sleep, I woke up this morning exhausted but excited.
My 4:00 am wake up (and subsequent 7:00 am flight out of JFK) meant that I would return to Buffalo in time to see one of my favorite authors, Seth Godin, speak downtown at The Buffalo News.
I was standing around the gate, surveying the crowd as usual, when I noticed a familiar face standing right behind me. It took me a minute to make the connection, but his signature, thick yellow-framed glasses were a dead giveaway.
It was Seth Godin!
I introduced myself to Godin, expressed my admiration of his work and thanked him for sharing his knowledge with the world and inspiring me to always think outside the box.
He sincerely thanked me and told me I made his day. My day was made right then and there, but it only got better.
I made it to work just in time to sit front and center for Godin’s Q&A session.
Throughout the session, Godin shared a number of interesting ideas he had about innovation, marketing, blogging, and his hometown city of Buffalo:
“Buffalo is coming along and saying hey, we have this history. We have a heritage. But most importantly, we have these people who are willing to question things.”
“If you blog every day, even if no one reads it, you learn from yourself and you end up being more honest with yourself.”
Thank you, Seth Godin, for your daily thought-provoking blog posts and insights, your belief and support in our city and most importantly, for challenging me on a daily basis to be smarter, brighter and better.
“I travel to different cities all the time and when I go to these cities, they all have an excuse…but it’s a mindset choice… Don’t listen to what your parents or fourth grade teacher told you, you have to embrace the idea of flying close to the sun… This is your moment and you’re at the right place at the right time.”
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