I have to say the news of Gary Carter’s passing hit me pretty hard yesterday. I was getting ready for a gig and I got the first text message from a friend of mine — that’s how we get news nowadays isn’t it? Forget the newspaper or CNN, usually you get breaking news from a tweet or a text these days. But anyway I was getting ready and I heard the news and I literally had to sit down and collect myself. I immediately went back to October of 1986. The Mets were in the postseason, playing The Astros in the NLCS, tied up two games to two. Game 5 was at Shea and as any sports fan will tell you, game 5 is usually the critical game in a 7 game series. They went 12 innings that afternoon. I was working at the local church at the time. My boss Brendan and I finished up our day. We had been listening to the game on the radio while we worked but since it was heading to extra innings and we were done, we clocked out, grabbed a few beers and headed to the faculty lounge (they had a color TV.)

We sat there for a coupla innings and then Gary Carter got a game winning base hit right up the middle. As soon as the ball left his bat he thrust his hands in the air and ran to to first with that huge Gary Carter smile on his face. That win sent us to Houston up 3 games to 2. We won game 6 and then it was off to that historic World Series against The Red Sox.

That was my team. I was twenty years old, kinda clueless with what I wanted to do but, as Tom Petty says, the future was wide open. And the funny part is, I didn’t even really like Gary Carter on that team. There were so many great personalities on that ball club, and so many guys closer to my age, Carter seemed like the older brother, keeping everybody in line and not having any of the true fun. He was a family man. A religious man. He didn’t close the bars down like the rest of the team. And he didn’t use cocaine which apparently was rampant on that team. Ron Darling was talking about Gary Carter recently and he said “He was always a good husband, a good father, a good humanitarian. It took me a while to learn how to do all that.” I guess at 20 years old that seemed kinda boring. Now looking back on it, you have to respect a guy like that. He got the most out of his talent. That team had prodigies like Dwight Gooden and Daryl Strawberry who never reached their full potential as players because they did get caught up in that lifestyle. Partying too hard. Cocaine. Things like that.

So the news struck me. Really hit me hard. And I’m sure it’s because a part of my youth has passed away. But it also reminded me that no matter how much you take care of yourself and focus on your well-being you really never know what’s going to happen. If you’d looked at that ’86 team and thought Whose gonna die first? You wouldn’t have guessed Gary Carter. Too many others driving drunk or using cocaine or going to jail. You never would have said Gary Carter, and yet 57 years old, no, 57 years young and he’s gone. Makes you realize that living your life for today is extremely important. I don’t advocate spending every last penny and being homeless because you gave zero thought to tomorrow, but I do advocate enjoying everyday to its fullest. Because you never know when your planes gonna go down. Or you’ll step in front of a city bus. Or in Carter’s case you wake up one day with brain cancer.

I know that sounds kinda morbid and I don’t mean it to be. I mean it to be optimistic. When I think of Gary Carter, I think of that smile on his face as he ran down to first that day, arms pumped into the sky. He was happy. I think he was a man who enjoyed every moment of his life. At least he seemed that way. And while 57 is not nearly enough time on this planet, something tells me Gary Carter made the most of those years. I’ll miss ya Kid

Here’s a brief history of a great American company. Kodak was founded in 1888 by George Eastman. He invented something called roll film which would go on to be the basis for moving pictures. But roll film’s main purpose, and what Eastman loved about it, was it brought picture taking to the masses. Eastman loved this new technology of taking pictures and he foresaw that capturing images would become popular. Who doesn’t love a beautiful photograph?

Throughout the 20th Century Kodak was an innovative and extremely successful company. They profited on two things, the sale of cameras, and then the sale of film for use in those cameras (similar to Gillette which sold you a razor and then the blades for it). In 1976 85% of all the cameras sold in the US were Kodaks. And 90% of the film.

Kodak was so successful it became one of those rare brands that become synonymous with their product, like Xerox or Kleenex. Indeed, Paul Simon’s 1973 hit, Kodachrome, is as much an ode to old pictures as it is to memories (and, of course, crap you learn in high school.)

But eventually a number of factors changed the game for Kodak. First it was competition, something Kodak had rarely had to deal with in its first 100 years of existence. The Japanese company Fujifilm, began making inroads in the US in the 1980s. Kodak, perhaps feeling invincible after a century on top, largely ignored them and were frequently out-marketed and out-hustled by Fuji. And then, of course, technology changed with the digital revolution. At first Kodak actually positioned itself wisely. Realizing that, with digital photography, their film business would shrivel, they focused on digital cameras and printers. But alas, they did not foresee the next shift in technology –that cellphone cameras would begin to make digital cameras obsolete. In recent years every revenue stream they previously drank abundantly from has slowed to a trickle.

Kodak’s stock, which traded in the $60 and $70 range just a decade ago, is less than a dollar today. And recently, the company has moved towards filing for bankruptcy protection.

So why do I tell you this? Why tell the story of a behemoth American company who has, after more than a century of dominance, gone almost “belly-up?”

Because, ignoring the warning signs and not being nimble enough to respond to the changes in your market, and in the technology that your industry relies on, are fatal errors that any company can make. A wise man once said, “You are never standing still. You are either moving forward or back.” I guarantee Kodak didn’t realize it was moving backwards until it was way too late.

Don’t let that happen to you and your company. Identify your competition and be aware of their every move. Don’t let them out hustle you know matter how much bigger you may be. And look forward at technology. Being late to change can be a costly mistake especially if someone in your market gets there first. The road to success is littered with the carcasses of companies that once dominated their market. Don’t become one of them.

I’m reading the Steve Jobs biography and I have so much to say about it. I’m not an Apple-ophile so I think I can fairly see Jobs for what he was (at least based on Walter Isaacson’s version.) I’ll certainly have future blogs posts or articles in The Disc Jockey News about this subject and how we (as small business owners) can maybe channel some of Jobs’ insights and creativity without also adopting his abusive and close-mindedness that made him at times such a poor manager.

For now though, as a new year begins and as so many of us start (perhaps for the first time) looking at our 2012 calendar and thinking of planning our business trips, I want to focus on one paragraph in the book. Jobs is designing a new office for Pixar and he wants a building that forces everyone from every division of the company to have to interact. He comes up with a design for one huge building with a central atrium which all hallways lead to. This design will promote chance encounters leading to, in Jobs words, “the magic that’s sparked by serendipity.”

Isaacson writes:

Being a denizen of the digital world, or maybe because he knew all too well its isolating potential, Jobs was a strong believer in face-to-face meetings. “There’s a temptation in our networked age to think that ideas can be developed by email and iChat,” he said. “That’s crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions. You run into someone, you ask what they’re doing, you say ‘Wow,’ and soon you’re cooking up all sorts of ideas.”

I thought this was brilliant and it certainly led to much of Pixar’s success around this time (when they created some of the best and most successful animated films ever). And I also thought, how does this apply to our industry?

Like I said, maybe this week you are considering attending a DJ convention this year (and if not you should be). Maybe you are weighing the costs, considering not just the expense but the time lost being away from your family and your business. Maybe you are wondering, will it be worth it?

Stop wondering. Steve Jobs, who was wiser than you and me put together, understood the value of human interaction. He knew that chance encounters often lead to the “magic” of collaboration. He wouldn’t have hesitated for a moment attending an industry conference. And neither should you.

Here are three that in my opinion are Can’t Miss Conferences of 2012. I’m hoping to be at each one. Hope you will to:

Mobile Beat’s MBLV16 February 6-9th
It’s next month but it’s not too late to make your plans. February is slow and it’s midweek. The speaking line-up is awesome (okay I’m biased ’cause I’m on it) and let’s face it, it’s Vegas. Do you need more than that?

ARM DJs 5.0 June 18th-20th
Having attended and spoken last year at 4.0 I can now personally attest to the quality of this show. And this year, it will feature perhaps the best keynote speaker of any DJ conference ever, Gary Vaynerchuk. You’ve read his books (if not shame on you) and seen his interviews. Now its your chance to hear him in person speak to our industry. I’m shocked there are still tickets available.

DJ Times International DJ Expo August 13-16
It’s too early to know the speaking line-up or the artists who will perform in AC (past shows have featured Lady Gaga and Pitbull) but that shouldn’t matter. This show has never disappointed in delivering quality content and entertainment. And that’s not an “east coast” thing. It’s an industry thing.

To be sure there are others on the calendar. The ADJA’s conference and The Wedding MBA (both in September in Las Vegas) look to be awesome. And John Young is putting another The Disc Jockey News Conclave together for November. Plus there are always regional shows that come up that are often worth the trip.

The overall point is this: attend. Get out of your office and get some face to face time with your industry peers. As Steve Jobs put it, “Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions” and you never know who you’re going to meet and what “magic” will be created when you do.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter (and quite frankly, why wouldn’t you?) you know I am no stranger to posting, tweeting or updating my status. I seem to think every witty thought or observation that pops into my head is worthy of publication. This has only been exasperated of late because I fractured my tibia and have limited mobility. It seems the hour or so a day I usually spend running or cycling has been replaced with 140-character thoughts.

All that admitted to upfront, I want to publicly ask the members of my industry to stop tweeting and/or updating your Facebook page at a certain time: during events.

C’mon guys and gals. Shouldn’t we be focused on other things during those 5 hours? Selecting the next song . . . communicating with the banquet staff . . . checking in with our clients . . . perhaps even bopping around the dance floor and interacting with the crowd. These are all things that are far more important than telling your Facebook friends that you’re “Rockin’ Scott and Margaret’s wedding.” (Which reminds me I don’t think I’ve ever seen a DJ’s update: “Really struggling to get this crowd going” but that’s a thought for a future blog.) In that one moment when you turn your attention from the dance floor to your keyboard, you could miss the Best Man break dancing or the Bat Mitzvah Girl singing with her friends. Is your update really more important than that?

And for those of you who would say something along the lines of “I’m such a talented multi-tasker I can throw a great party, mix music and update my myriad of social media platforms all at the same time” I say: “Kudos to you Doctor Octopus.” But consider this: Have you ever been standing at a bar trying to order a drink and the bartender is texting on their cell phone? Happens to me all the time. It tells me that person would rather be anywhere else but here which, in this economy, is a shame because I’d bet there are plenty of out-of-work bartenders who would take their place in a heartbeat. Guess what – when we text or update our Facebook status’ during events, we tell the guests at the party the same thing. That this moment is not interesting enough and I need to contact the “outside world” right now. And that too is a shame because, in this economy, I’m sure there are plenty of DJs who would take your place and pay 100% attention to the event.

While the National Transportation Safety Board is recommending a full ban of any cell phone use while driving, I would like to humbly make a similar motion. No, it’s not dangerous to “text while mixing” or “update while DJing.” It’s just bad business. If you want to post a shot of your set up before the room opens up, awesome. If you need to Tweet during dinner that you just killed an 80’s set, fine. And by all means fill in your legions of followers after your event about the highlights and how much your clients loved you. But please, during the gig itself, while you are actually playing and mixing music and MCing, keep your thoughts to yourself. We can all wait.