Eric Mack On-Line

I'm deep in the conference session planning process. This weekend, Michael and I worked on the draft outlines and today I met with an advisor to go over topics. The sessions are looking really good! There's still much to do, which is why blogging has been light. As I have time to surface for a break, I'll share some fun posts about other things that are going on.

I'm a Mack and someone's about to switch to a PC. This just showed up in my RSS reader from my colleague, and eProductivity co-presenter/conference organizer Michael Sampson:

I'm not happy!!! Just installed Leopard on an 11 month old MacBook Pro, and now it won't start up. It goes past the white screen with the Apple logo, and then hangs on a blue screen. Oh the irony.

I can see it now: Eric's going to start the Sampson Get a PC Campaign .... Aaarrrggghhh

Since Michael's the conference organizer for the upcoming eProductivity conference in Manila, I have to be nice to him, however, I can't help but wonder if we'll both be organizing the conference on a PC. (Thankfully, all of the conference planning is in a Lotus Notes database, so we can replicate a fresh copy over to Michael's PC.)

Michael, I feel your pain (too often on my PC, it seems) and I do wish you a speedy recovery. Just in case you solve your problem and remove the post from your blog, I've filed it, in the category below...

This weekend, Amy and Wendy were invited to participate in Bellfest 2007 at The Master's College.  Christine Anderson taught a bell class for small groups, ensembles, and solos.  Amy and Wendy prepared a beautiful piece to share at the concert at the end of the day. (Click on the image to watch the video)



What's amazing is that the girls accomplished this using two inexpensive sets of children's bells. If you've ever seen or rung one of these bells - where the clapper can go in any direction - you will know how hard it is to get one of these bells to ring only once or on queue. Amy and Wendy perfected a technique that allowed them to do this well, and they were an inspiration to everyone present.  I'm very proud of them..

I'm also very appreciative of Mrs. Anderson for her kindness and invitation and inspiration to my children.

You can visit Christine Anderson's web site at Voices in Bronze

I just received a Skype chat with a link to ABS-CBN news in Manila. I clicked on the link to see the feature article. There, I found a Special Feature by David Chavez Dizon, Senior Editor, ABD-CBN NEWS about my recent pre-conference planning visit to Manila for my upcoming eProductivity conference in November.

It's an interesting article and the reporter did a nice job of capturing portions of my presentation at the planning meeting. (If I had known I was being recorded I might have tried to say something really profound.) At the time he was recording, I had just given a big pitch for why I thought everyone should buy David Allen's book, Getting Things Done, and  master the principles contained within.  The video jumps in near the end of my 5-minute overview of what is GTD and how it works for me. Then, the video skips into our discussion about wild success for the conference. There's a link to a YouTube video at the bottom of the page.

Michael Sampson and I are meeting daily to work on the eProductivity session planning and to select content and finalize outlines for our next eProductivity advisor's meeting. I'm looking forward to the conference.

This article was a fun way to end the day.

ABD-CBN News: The art of increased productivity through collaboration

I've been working with Vanj Real, a very talented young lady assigned to create the promotional materials, videos, and web site for my eProductivity conference. We've been sending artwork back and forth across the Pacific and things are really looking good. Vanj does nice work!



Once I receive the final copy and the link to the new web site Vanj is creating, I will post the details here.

Looks like Michael Sampson's up to his buy-a-Mac, Mack tricks again...

No sooner do I praise Michael for his outstanding conference planning skills, when I discover that, included in the printed list of topics from the conference organizer, are two suspicious titles. I quickly fire off an urgent email to the marketing director:

Thank you, Vanj, for typing up this list of session titles.

Please note that my colleague, Michael Sampson, while very intelligent and helpful is also a clown and he loves to amuse me.

Continue Reading "Nice try Michael!" »

It's been a busy few days in Manila and it's time to return. My flight from Ninoy Aquino International Airport departs at 10:00 PM. I expect to walk out of the LAX International terminal at about the same time on the same day in Los Angeles. This 15 time-zone stuff takes some getting used to.

It's been a good, but emotional trip. I'm humbled by the need, by the opportunity to serve, and by the realization that I actually have the experience to do so. May the Lord receive the glory! I look forward to returning... After I get some sleep!
Continue Reading "The long flight home..." »

It's been a very successful trip; I'm departing tired, but satisfied. Before leaving I finalized the session titles with Michael. I think Michael's done an outstanding job of capturing the theme of the conference and session topics and creating titles that work. I'm privileged to have Michael as a friend and trusted advisor. Now, what remains, is to come up with an outline and presentation for each of these sessions. Fortunately, I won't have to do all of it alone. I'm blessed to have a number of outstanding experts in their own right contributing to my research and presentation. I'll tell you more about these people and the sessions they will be contributing to in an upcoming post. Meanwhile feel free to have a look at the session titles. (If you would like to contribute to the conference, let me know; full credit and resource opportunities will be given for all contributors.)

CONFERENCE TITLE:
   Beyond Planning: ePRODUCTIVITY
   Information, Communication, and Action tools to get things done.

General Track
Session 1:
eProductivity: Using Information, Communication, and Action tools to get things done
Beyond Toil: A Biblical Perspective on Work
Beyond Working Hard: The eProductivity Equation

Session 2:
Beyond Overwhelm: Methodologies for Productivity, Part I

Continue Reading "eProductivity Conference Session Titles" »

In the United States, we take our communications infrastructure for granted. In Manila, where you can observe poverty on one corner and a multi-million dollar building across the street, everyone shares the same communications infrastructure. This photo, snapped on my way to the airport, shows what many of the phone poles looked like. It appears that as each customer gets connected, new wires are home-run from point to point, leading to the following situation...

I actually drove down streets under a canopy of wires that blocked out the sunlight!  the flip side is that the Philippines boast that they are the SMS capital of the world - in Manila, a large percentage of the population has a mobile phone with broadband and SMS. From what I observed, they use SMS even more that voice, in cars, while driving, on motorcycles - anywhere.

Perhaps we should send help with the wiring plans and they can come teach us a few things in the U.S. about what it really means to be connected wirelessly with 3G and broadband.

One of the things that surprised me about coming to Manila this week was the professionalism and attention to detail exhibited by the people preparing for this conference. I was surprised to walk down the hall and see an office -- with my name on it -- being set up for the conference.



The office was not for me, but for people assigned to work on planning, marketing, promoting, and preparing for the conference. in addition to the various committees, there are six people (that I know of) responsible for promotion, registration, event planning, and the print and web-site materials.
I've been doing my best to learn everyone's name and now I have several new ones to learn. I will get someone to match the names I wrote down with all of the faces in the photos I am posting to the blog so that when I return next month I can greet everyone by name.

I'm appreciative to have the support from this staff and I look forward to helping them serve the people of Manila.

Several of my mentors have often challenged me to think about what "wild success" would look like when planning a project or event. The idea is to get to the "why" of the activity to create a driving purpose. (I like to use David Allen's Natural Planning Model (NPM) to help me visualize the various areas of focus.)
I decided to pose this question at several of the meetings. I expected and received the common responses such as "I will have free time as a result of being more efficient" or " "I will get a promotion when my boss sees me getting more done" but I was surprised and unprepared for some of the responses that involved bringing families back together - it's not the typical response I hear in the states.

Continue Reading "What would a wildly successful conference look like?" »

After several iterations and meetings it looks like we've agreed upon the name and theme of the eProductivity conference:



Beyond Planning: eProductivity
Using Information, Communication, and Action tools to get things done.

We want to convey the idea that we will cover topics beyond simply planning, yet we will focus on the tools and methodology of working smart.

Continue Reading "Conference title: Beyond Planning: eProductivity" »

I've been eating very well (too well!) during my entire stay. Per my Doctor's instructions, I stayed away from fresh salads and some fruits, but I've feasted on everything else.

Almost every meeting had food of some kind. (Think Panda Express, but 10 time better - all day) Sunday, we were treated to a delightful dinner by a new chef - a young man who I'm sure will someday earn a four star rating for his cooking and presentation.



After one meal, I patted my belly and remarked at how much I would have to do to lose what I had gained during the trip, to which pastor Sumrall replied,

"You're not fat, you're building the temple."

I'm not sure I can support that statement biblically, but it made me feel better nonetheless.

Now, where's that cheesecake?

One more meeting, one more meal, and then I'm done. It's been a marathon series of meetings but each one has given me insight into the people of Manila and how I can best prepare to serve them when I return in November.

As in the other meetings, we used David Allen's Natural Planning Model (NPM), which you can see on the board behind us, to identify the areas of focus. We stayed mostly at the top levels for today. In the weeks to come, I'll distill my notes into projects and actions to carry things forward. OK, time to head back to the house to change into my travel clothes, pack, eat, Skype my family, and head to the airport for my trip home.

OK, we've just finished my last service for the weekend and I gave my last eProductivity elevator speech to this congregation. I was tired so it was a short one. Again, I was well received by the congregation and had the opportunity to speak privately with several people after the service. I'm getting comfortable moving around the auditorium and on the platform. I'm even getting used to the security guard that insists on saluting me each time I walk upstairs. :-) I like the people and I feel like I accomplished my objective in coming - to get to know the people I will serve a little better. I look forward to my return trip.

I stepped out of the young professionals meeting into the lobby to find people crowded around one of the eProductivity conference sign-registration tables. We don;t even have posters or flyers and people are already signing up to reserve a seat at the conference. How cool is that?

This evening, was invited to address the young professionals group. Unnoticed, I quietly walked into the back of a small auditorium and took a seat. There, I watched two young men present my biography, lifted entirely from my blog (careful what you blog!). it was surreal, like sitting at my own funeral.

They shared some of my successes and most embarrassing moments. They also mentioned that I always remember to cook chicken before I deliver my finished work to a client.  Finally, the audience was told that I would be addressing them briefly. I thought about borrowing someone's brown shoe for my brief time on stage, but decided against it at the last moment.

As the audience applauded, I walked up onto the platform and greeted these young professionals who were so very eager to greet me. I decided to share the story of my experience cooking chicken. link. I hope it was an inspiration to the people who heard it. the two young men who did the technology presentation and presented my bio did a very nice job. (Thank you!) After a brief visit with the audience, I was whisked away to yet another meeting.

Two more meetings to go! This meeting, with the eProductivity general track focus group, is to discuss my Saturday Keynote speech and the sessions for the day. The challenge is deciding what topics to cover and which to leave out.  I will present my speech on the productivity equation along with a survey of productivity methodologies that have greatly impacted me personally, most notably David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology. I'll present a survey of some of the personal Knowledge management (PKM) concepts for self organization, inspired by my KM colleague, Steve Barth, and wrap all of that in the ICA model.



This is the track where we will diverge from traditional material that I'm used to presenting.
Continue Reading "eProductivity General Track Focus Group" »

Pastor Marlan, quickly escorted me to the next service at the North Campus - the main campus - at the Cathedral of Praise in downtown Manila. This service was a little more, how shall I put it, lively, than the earlier service. At the end of the service, I was introduced and invited to greet the congregation. I tried our home church greeting of "Grace to you!" but the audience said nothing - they did not know what to say in response. (I'll have to work on that one next time I'm here.) Church was good, the Filipino people were warm and friendly to me, and I am starting to get very excited about returning to serve in November.

We're in the lobby of the Bellevue Hotel in Alabang, meeting to discuss the executive track, to be held on Thursday. We've discussed several session topics and the general themes appear to be focused on collaboration, technology for productivity, and knowledge management.



With Michael's help, I plan to present a mini-version of Michael's research on  IT enabled collaboration - this is great thinking and should be required reading for any manager in the information age. I took many notes that I have yet to process, so I'm sure this track will evolve as we go along. It was interesting to meet with this group; fewer words but deeper discussion that the other meetings. Neat people and folks committed to helping the people of Manila realize their dreams through business. I look forward to working with them.

The COP congregation is so large and so spread out that there are multiple services at multiple campuses. I'll attend worship service three times before the day is over. The first service is at the south campus in the Bellevue hotel in Alabang.


The church service was not much different from a Sunday experience in my home church: Praise & worship songs, greetings, and a sermon. At the end of the service I greeted the congregation, introduced myself and invited them to register for the eProductivity conference.

Worried that I might not have eaten enough food an any of my last 11 meals in Manila, Pastor Sumrall took me to breakfast at the Bellevue Hotel in Alabang. There, he introduced me to Larrem Panganiban, a manager of commercial accounts for Cisco and formerly of IBM/Lotus.



We talked a lot about Lotus Notes, his days at IBM/Lotus, doing business in the Philippines (Larrem wants to me set up shop over here) and his future business plans. We had a delightful breakfast and time of fellowship together. I look forward to visiting with Larrem again. Given his interest in Lotus Notes and the eProductivity template, I know we will be meeting again, soon.

When Pastor Sumrall first contacted me to discuss coming to Manila to deliver an eProductivity conference, I was surprised. (I actually put him off, but that's a separate story to share.) I'd never heard of a church organizing a productivity conference on such a large scale (actually, on any scale), let alone, bring in a speaker from another country.



Pastor Sumrall explained that this conference was being organized by the Kasaganaan business fellowship and the School of Christian Entrepreneurial Studies (SCES). This business group and school focus on equipping Christians in the Philippines to do "business by the Book" and to help members who are so inclined to find new opportunities by becoming entrepreneurs, better employees, managers, and business owners.

I was intrigued, so I asked why they do this. I even asked if this was a way to get people into church for group evangelism. Would there be an altar call, I wondered?

Pastor Sumrall replied...
Continue Reading "Why would a church host a productivity conference?" »

A delightful meeting with the eProductivity conference organizing committee to discuss a number of topics related to the audience, venue and logistics. (It never occurred to me that if you bring 5,000-8,000 into a building for a day-long conference they have to have some place to eat!) We have a great group of people on the organizing committee and I'm sure that they will do a wonderful job of handling the conference.

I came to Manila with slacks, a few eProductivity polo shirts, and a shirt, tie, and jacket for my television interview. These are not common attire here. It's far too hot and humid to spend much time outside in a suit or jacket. So, on Friday night, Pastor Marlan drove me into town to Tesoro's to be fitted for a Barong Tagalog.  This evening, they presented me with a blue and brown Barong, which I will wear proudly for the remainder of my stay here.



I'm told that the Barong is considered formal attire for Filipino men - similar to wearing a coat or a dress shirt. It's lightweight, very comfortable, and covers my temple well (LINK)

At the close church service this evening, Pastor Sumrall spoke about the eProductivity conference and his vision; he then introduced me and invited me up to the platform to greet the congregation. This was my first time up on the platform with an audience and it takes some getting use to. The auditorium is huge! The people were very kind with their applause and quickly made me feel welcome there. It was a great feeling to be among brothers and sisters in Christ and to feel just as welcome as I would in my own church. God is good.



I extended greetings to the congregation from myself and my family and I spoke briefly about the conference to invite people to sign up. Speaking on an open platform took some getting used to -- especially the acoustics and the fact that the screens are high overhead where I cannot see them.
Continue Reading "It's time to promote the eProductivity conference" »

The eProductivity advanced track focus group ran long (my fault) so I did not have must time to catch my breath or prepare for a video shoot in the media center. Apparently, Vanj has plans to put a video commercial on TV, on the eProductivity web site and to push out to the mobile phones via MMS.



I have no idea how well the video came out, but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. I don't feel like this was a terrific recording session. I was tired, had a five o'clock shadow, and felt a little disoriented due to mild jet lag. Vanj assured me that the recording went well. Of course there's always Adobe Premier to clean things up. (Michael will love that: It will take a Mac to clean up a Mack.)

One of the challenges of presenting to such a large audience (~5,000-~8,000 people expected) is that I won't be able to interact with the audience in the same way that I would do in a smaller setting. Of course, I could try something I've never done in a seminar before - get the folks to stretch and to a wave around the auditorium. (I wonder if they would go for that?) Anyway, I want to find a way to interact with the audience. One of the ideas that came up during a planning meeting was to give the audience multicolored cards so that I could call for a show of hands and quickly determine the audience response by color. (e.g. "Hold up the green card if you use a PC or a blue card of you use a Mac.)

Continue Reading "I may use SMS in my presentations" »

There are three target tracks for the conference: general, advanced (technical), and executive. This meeting, with the advanced track focus group was to discuss the demographics, challenges and needs of the people that will come to the advanced sessions. In addition to the general session on Saturday, we will have four breakout sessions on Monday and Tuesday.

So far, it looks like I will cover technology for mobile workers, technology for groups and teams, a show-and-tell session on the productivity tools I use, and a mini version of the 100 productivity tips in 100 minutes that I wrote for a client last year. We'll see how all of this plays out. We are still working on the session titles for this track.

The auditorium/worship center at the Cathedral of Praise (COP), Manila, seats 8,000 people. (And I thought that my church auditorium was huge.) Here's a photo from a recent concert, showing what the venue looks like when it's full.



My hosts tell me that they expect to fill it to capacity. Wow!

I decided to check out the facility for myself. Here are some photos...

Continue Reading "A tour of the eProductivity conference venue in Manila" »

I walked over to the new children's ministry building, next to the COP auditorium. Since space is at a premium in the city, COP decided to build up rather than out. The new children's ministry building is five stories tall. I'm certain that if Amy and Wendy were here they would be volunteering to serve the children. I hope to bring them on a future visit to Manila. Tomorrow, this building will be packed.

This eProductivity conference in Manila would not have happened were it not for the vision and persistence of Pastor David Sumrall. You see, I politely blew off the first few emails I received from him. Here's how it all began for me, with a query from my blog:

I just thought I would tell you how much I enjoyed your sites in the last few years. If you are ever in Asia and want to do a seminar please let me know. We have a lot of business people in the church that would enjoy you. David Sumrall

Life was very busy at that time, I was preoccupied with an offer to join the staff The David Allen Company on a full-time basis, rather than as a consultant as I had been for the past 15 years. I responded with a polite turn-down email...

David, Thank you so much for your kind words and for your encouragement. [I have] no immediate plans for Asia, although it's a tempting idea. Grace to you, Eric

Pastor Sumrall wrote back:

Let us know. I have a large group of business owners in the church that would enjoy a GTD seminar and your eProductivity seminars.  David Sumrall

Still not interested, I politely responded NO, yet again.

Thanks. Should I have a business opportunity that would bring me to Asia, I'll keep you in mind. Best regards, Eric

This exchange went on a few more times, each time with Pastor Sumrall expressing his desire to hold a productivity conference in Manila. I even referred him to my client, David Allen, who also turned him down due to the fact that they were booked through the end of the year.

So, Pastor Sumrall contacted me again.

I agreed to talk with him and I'm very glad that I did.

We hit it off well. He's been a long-time reader of my blog and we found much in common in our love for cool gadgets, church, and serving others. I agreed to explore the idea of delivering an eProductivity seminar in Manila. That was seven months ago. Fast-forward to today and I'm busy meeting with the pastor and his staff and various conference planning committees. This is sure to be one fun conference.

I'm inspired, and very glad that Pastor Sumrall was persistent in getting my attention.

I now look forward to serving the people of Manila, next Month.

I just spoke with my development team and we are now ready for the next round of beta testing of eProductivity. This will be for a select group of 25 testers - people with 3 years of experience with Notes, 2 years with GTD, and six months with the Notes Task form. I need to keep this group small so that my staff and I can personally coach people.

I'm really excited about this release, it's working very well and we are receiving terrific feedback. I'm blessed to have a top-notch development team. They have done some amazing work implementing this version of eProductivity. (My lead developer was hoping I would mention that "it's quite possible that this is the best Notes development I have ever seen." I will. He earned it.)

This week, I plan to send emails to those of you who have corresponded with me last month in response to my email invitation.

Today, I met my host and the conference organizing committee for my upcoming eProductivity conference in Manila, Philippines.


The people of Manila are gracious hosts and hospitality ranks high on their list of traits. From the moment I stepped off the plane, when a government official met me to escort me through customs, to meeting my hosts, to seeing the office and staff that have been assembled to help organize the conference, I have been treated with great kindness and respect. Everyone is so friendly. This is going to be a fun conference to plan and deliver.

Apparently, in the city of Manila, 75% of the population is age 25 or less. There is energy everywhere, and people are anxious to work, to learn, to grow. It's exciting to plan for this event. I plan to share not only good information about the technologies and methodologies of productivity, but I also plan to share some key lessons learned about starting my business  (I celebrate 25 years this month) and the ups and downs along the way. The motivation behind this conference is to reach out and help people learn valuable skills that will help them in work and in life. I'm taking pages of notes and I hope to share the full story, soon.

Continue Reading "eProductivity in Manila - Day One" »

I'm getting ready to leave for Manila, Philippines, to plan for my upcoming conference on eProductivity in November.

Emily gave me this card as a reminder - that's the Mack family on the tarmac in front of the plane.

I figure it will take me 23-24 hours door-to-door to get from my house to the home of my host, in Manila. A perfect time to catch up on some sleep. Many thanks to those of you who wrote to offer travel tips and advice. I'm sure it will all come in handy.

UPDATE: Oh dear, LAX doesn't do windows well

Continue Reading "The Manila Adventure Begins - Day one" »

I'm sitting in the Leadership & Learning Center at Rocketdyne - I've been invited to attend a KM presentation by Dr. David DeLong, author of Lost Knowledge. I recently purchased Dr. DeLong's book, however, I had not even opened it when I received the invitation to attend his presentation. I've brought along my X61 and my folding table so that I can live-blog this event for the benefit of my Knowledge Management cohort and anyone else who wants to learn... Here we go...

Kiho Sohn, Chief Knowledge Management Officer at Rocketdyne, is introducing the speaker...

Opening question: "How many of you remember where you were, July 20, 1969?"  [That's easy, I was sitting in front of my parents B&W TV watching the first moon landing.]

We are getting ready to go back... but are we doing everything we can to capture and retain the knowledge and experience gained in the first mission so that we can do it again.

Much of society assumes that because we were there [the moon] once, we can go back immediately. Unfortunately as you [rocket scientists] know, that's simply not he case...

Continue Reading "Knowledge Retention ... a Framework for Action" »

I've been invited to keynote and present an eProductivity conference, in Manila, Philippines, in late November. With an expected attendance of 7,000-10,000 people, the conference will be presented as a service to the people of Manila and will take place at the The Cathedral of Praise, a very large church in Manila with a building large enough to seat everyone.  The Cathedral of Praise has a history of outreach and service to the people of the Philippines, both spiritually and physically, and I'm delighted to be a part of their service to the people of Manila.

This conference will be a wonderful opportunity to share thoughts and ideas on how to use information, communication, and action tools and technologies as well as best practices in productivity methodologies and workplace effectiveness with the audience. I'm most excited to be able to present not only some of my eProductivity tools and tips but also to introduce the audience to work by other business and productivity experts that have greatly influenced my own learning and work. My colleague, Michael Sampson, has agreed to help me coordinate the conference tracks. I've seen Michael's work at other conferences (e.g. Enterprise 2.0) and I'm honored to have him on my advance planning team.

Continue Reading "eProductivity Conference in The Philippines in November" »