The ARRIS Story: Taking Flight

Posted by on Sep 20, 2021 Back in the fall of 2019, a friend from the cable industry approached me with a very big writing project. The mission? Helping two executives tell the story of their company. The friend was Lela Corcoros; the two execs were Bob Stanzione and Dave Potts; and the company was ARRIS. Fast forward to today. Finally, the book is out. Across 18 chapters, we recount the fascinating history of ARRIS,...
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What Makes Craft Beer and Tech a Good Fit?

Posted by on Jun 20, 2019 Craft beer is on the agenda at the Richmond Technology Council (aka RVATech). This year the regional business association began billing its “Tech on Tap” events as a part of a “brewery tour.” The third of four separate events was held June 19 (Juneteenth!) at Väsen Brewing Company. The sponsor: Dynatrace, a global company specializing in application performance monitoring and enterprise cloud...
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CenturyLink Hosts RVA Tech on Tap

Posted by on Aug 18, 2018 “No drink, no ink” – that’s the classic line of an old-school journalist meeting a source at the local bar. So full disclosure up front: I did have a beer at the RVA Tech on Tap gathering on Aug 16, at the Three Notch’d Brewing Co and Collab House. But I paid $10 to attend. That makes my drink mostly a wash between me and the event’s sponsor, CenturyLink. CenturyLink is still interesting...
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Blog Series Wins PRSA Award of Merit

Posted by on Jun 6, 2018 A series of blog articles that JT Consulting helped create won an Award of Merit in the 71st Annual Virginia Public Relations Awards competition. The Richmond Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) hosted the related ceremony. Held at the Jefferson Hotel on May 24, the evening was a sparkling mixture of drinks, dinner, conversation – and awards. Our award resulted from...
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Sales, San Diego and a Hat Tip to Zig Ziglar

Posted by on Apr 28, 2017 Credentialed professionals tend to disdain those in sales. (Having grown up in an academic family, I’m somewhat familiar with this syndrome.) Salespersons often defend their role by talking about how everyone sells something. A lot rides on the terms. I like how one old sales pro defined them. “I have always said that everyone is in sales,” wrote motivational speaker and celebrated sales...
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The Mind-Mapping Writer

Posted by on Mar 3, 2017 On occasion, I write about writing. In this post from late 2015, I focused Scrivener, a powerful “content-generation tool,” which is part of how I research and create every first draft. A related tool is mind mapping. I first learned about this technique from David Allen, who discusses it in chapter 3 of his 2001 book Getting Things Done. (See here for a podcast on GTD and mind...
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