Sara Blakely is the women who invented Spanx, a pair of cut off panty hose that shapes tummies and thighs and is now a $150 million company. She was interviewed by BusinessWeek’s Stacy Perman and the last two questions were the best. You’ve said that failure was a huge part […]
It never takes long to find something compelling in the WSJ. I read George Ander’s column and it hit a point I’ve been making for years: That the environment is becoming more of an economic than a social issue–and that is how we are going to truly solve this big […]
I met a man I wish I looked like. A silver haired, well-toned, tall, hotelier and restaurateur named Tom Collins owns a sprawling hospitality empire in Sebastian Florida, about eight miles up Rte 1. It’s called Captain Hiram’s and it’s right on the river, with a marina, hotel, sand bar, […]
I had an excellent night’s sleep in the comfy big bed here at the Caribbean court. Overhead a fan gently revolved, and an HDTV provided striking images as I fell asleep. Lori Burns, the Tourism board director, took me to a landmark restaurant known by everyone in Vero, the Ocean […]
It’s another exciting day surrounded by more than 1100 of the world’s travel business leaders. Tim Armstrong, Google’s head of advertising joked that if something disastrous happened in this room, “it would take out 10 percent of the world’s economy.” It’s true–I am gathered here with the leaders of the […]
This morning I learned about a man on Martha’s Vineyard named Lew French. He is a perfectionist, a tough taskmaster, and a wealthy artist…but he doesn’t do it for the money. He was profiled by the TV show Sunday Morning’s Steve Hartman. French fits stones together in an otherworldly way. […]
Today I met with my state legislators. Actually, it was a comfortable working lunch at Chandler’s Tavern with Sen. Stan Rosenberg, Rep. Steve Kulik, and six other business people who shared a common interest–promoting tourism in Deerfield. Frankin County’s chamber of commerce was represented by Anne Hamilton, Yankee Candle, Historic […]
Paul Shoul’s writing is a delight. That’s because he approaches it with the same zeal and enthusiasm that he uses to create wonderful photographs. I am going to be traveling with Shoul again in January, when we take a trip to Melbourne Australia. Here is a snip from his latest […]
Johnny Jet is the most intrepid and continual traveler I think I know. Well maybe he can’t beat GoNOMAD stalwart David Rich, who continously wanders the globe. But Johnny is always off somewhere. Here is a passage from his most recent missive about Cologne Germany, when he is walking through […]
In the National Journal, William Powers writes today about the worst thing you can do to somebody in America–bore them. The candidates are doing that already. “The [Fred] Thompson critique isn’t just about Thompson. It’s emblematic of how central entertainment is to the campaign, and how closely journalists monitor the […]
“Work Through Lunch,” the pink billboard exhorts me, as I drive south on I-91. Then just below is a photo of a tiny pizza the company sells for ‘lunch.’ I glare at the sign and set to thinking. No Way! Lunch is a relaxing bit of the day. Lunch is […]
I return again to Robert D. Kaplan’s superb book that I’ve almost finished reading. As discussed previously, his aim here is to shed light on the lives and thoughts of the grunts, the men and women who are the heart of America’s military. He goes to Algeria with the Green […]