Watching a talented speaker is a wonderful experience. Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing Ralph Craft, President of the Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation, speak at a dinner meeting for the AmeriCares Free Clinics, an organization for which I do some volunteer work.
Ralph made several brilliant points - but one exceptionally fantastic item featured a story about the time he ran into an old friend from high school, in a Detroit airport. He found out that his friend had become a tremendous success, and lived in one of those neighborhoods that everyone envies. When asked what his friend did, he replied "I'm an engineer." He was a prominent engineer for a manufacturing firm, that happens to sell a lot of product to a very popular discount department store. That's wonderful, replies Ralph. "What does your company make, that's given you such great success?" His friend replies sheepishly, "coat-hangers". All the financial success in the world, but he's in a position where he's not proud of his work. He doesn't go home with a feeling of wonder and accomplishment that he's done something great today. It was all about the money, and not the passion for what he did.
What a great story. Certainly pertinent to the board members at AmeriCares last night, but also an appropriate story for our everyday lives. What will you do this year that you'll be proud of? As most of BrandFlakes readers are marketing and branding folk, we're all in positions that allow us to create. And in general, we're all producing work we're proud of (right?)
If you're interested in doing something you can be proud of, and want to volunteer on a board or committe for AmeriCares Free Clinics (or give them loads of money), let me know and I'll connect you to some great people.
That's enough high and mighty stuff from me. Back to posts about billboards, beer and babes.
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