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Sleeping Giants
February 2009 Investment Forum
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I recently shared a scrumptious pancake breakfast at the
Washington City Club. The gentleman I
dined with engaged me in small talk of everything from baseball to
politics. On the surface, there seems to
be nothing spectacular about that. After
all, pancakes aren't anything unusual and baseball is out of season. What you have to pay attention to are the
subtleties. Go to IHOP or Denny's, check
the menu for what suits your budget and order to your hearts content, but when
you are invited to dine at The City Club there aren't any prices listed to
budget and no bill. Further baseball is nothing
unusual but this guy almost owned the Nationals. I have to admit that politics are exciting
these days with headlines from our country's first Black President-Elect Barack
Obama to Illinois Governor's ( ) alleged
hustle for the vacant senate seat. I
could have tried to impress this guy by telling him how in 2006, I actually
scripted in my High Impact Presentation DVD that the new President-Elect was
just a countdown away. He could have
easily ambushed that comment by telling me what he did for breakfast on
vacation in Martha's Vineyard when he and his
ole buddy Barack awoke to enjoy a little family fun and sun. Still the subject of this message state's
"sleeping" giant. Sleeping is the right
term because this guy remains a sleeper to many. He can walk right past you and you not know
he's currently orchestrating a several hundred million dollar deal that
involves the acquisition of prime commercial real estate.
I started the message this way because I want you all to
start the year with prosperity in mind.
We're in a recession but the sleeping giants I'm talking with have no
such conversation. In our next forum, we
won't have it either. After much
anticipation and numerous requests, it is time to reconvene. Just as my most recent conversations with the
elite class have contained commercial real estate ventures, I thought it made
sense to keep the momentum flowing. I've
spent many months intimately gaining familiarity with the commercial landscape
as I'm thinking of opening a coffee shop that focuses on authors, complete with
a stage setting that allows the audience to feel the authors on why they wrote
their books and free Wi-Fi Internet access.
It would also be an incubator for new authors to get heard and get
published. More on that later.
Since this forum has a commercial real estate flair, I
thought it would be of high importance to talk about foundations of who makes
the key decisions within the local government.
So who else to help engage the discussion than David Byrd, Deputy Chief
Administrative Officer for Government Operations / Environmental Services for
Prince Georges' County? Mr. Byrd has
been very influential in helping The Investment Forum's economic development
understanding by exposing us to organizations such as the ICSC. In addition, I want to give other's a glimpse
at what it takes to nurture the mindset of someone looking to make it big in
the commercial real estate game by introducing you to Mrs. Hilda McIntosh, aunt
to the billion dollar developer Donahue Peebles. We will have a wonderful time as we share an
evening in February at the Donavan House learning, networking and exploring.
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Interested in Writing/Publishing a Book
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Since I've published my first book, I've been both honored
and inundated with people who have asked me a ton of questions about writing the
process. So many that we may have to do
a forum on book writing. I'm not sure
I'm the guy who should lead the discussion since I never set out to write a
book in the first place. At any rate, I
have added a few more tips:
Don't be Dr. Huxtable
when Claire's Out of Town - We all remember vividly our favorite Cosby Show
episodes. Can't you just see little
Rudy's face when she lip-synched the words "Babaaaaaa" as the family performed
for their grandparents? Or when Theo
wanted a $90 Golden Gartrail shirt and Dr. Huxtable said, "I don't have a $90
shirt and I have a job?" Try to remember
when Claire went out of town and Rudy had to write a paper for her elementary
school assignment. The paper was turned
in with words like "Ubiquitous Melancholy" and "Insurmountable Obstacles"! Come on now, we all know Rudy couldn't write
like that and so did the teacher. So if
your writing includes common words and you want to tell your story then use
common words. Don't try to be someone
you're not or it will never sell.
Be Prepared to Get
Sliced and Diced! - Forum emails are not given to an editor before they go
out. I write what's on the mind, set it
aside, come back later, edit and hit send.
Whether you all think I'm a good writer or not, let me tell you - a
professional editor will tear these emails to shreds. So when I got my manuscript back the first
time, it looked like Rudy tried to do Denise's Hillman paper! Red X's, cross outs and underlines
everywhere! There were so many errors
they couldn't even fit them all in the first time. I had to have a second edit just so they
could chew me up so more. Trust me,
that's the difference in how good you think you can write and how the
professionals know you need help. In the
end, you need them and so did I. Thanks
to the editors my first book won four awards.
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Sincerely,
Anthony "Von" Mickle
The Investment Forum, Presiding
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The award winning Real Estate for Real People Guide to Investing
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High Impact Presentation
Your success is deeply embedded in who you know
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