My Visit with Vince Lombardi

A while back we made a Case Study video for Excellent Cultures. The Case Study was about their success story at the Delphi Steering Plant 6 in Saginaw Michigan. Here is a clip from that case study video:

Now Steve Gandara from Excellent Cultures asked me to go with him to Green Bay, Wisconsin to interview several people at the Schneider National headquarters. These interviews are for a new Case Study video for Excellent Cultures.

Ever since I was a little kid, I loved Vince Lombardi and all the giant heroes from Green Bay. I loved the story of Titletown, USA and how Vince Lombardi took the team of losers and turned them into a dynasty of world champions.

I jumped at the chance to go to Green Bay.

My dad used to show me a video he had of Vince Lombardi called "Second Effort." In that video Vince Lombardi talked about his philosophies on Excellence and Second Efforts and Lombardi Time. He talked about if you were ten minutes early you were actually five minutes late on "Lombardi Time." I have been on Lombardi Time for about thirty years now. My wife and kids have all converted to Lombardi Time. In my mind, Lombardi and Teddy Roosevelt were just about the best heroes a guy could ever have.

As the plane flew into town, I could see the giant stadium from the window.

After checking into our hotel, Steve and I drove over to Lambeau Field to eat dinner at Curly's Pub. It was awesome to enter the stadium. Out front was a giant statue of Vince Lombardi.

We had a great day of interviews with the Schneider leadership team talking about the success of the Excellent Cultures program in helping Schneider break all sales and efficiency records. It was very inspiring to me to see people so confident and enthusiastic in today's negative world. After dropping off Steve at the airport, I drove back to Lambeau Field to catch the last couple of hours at the Packer Hall of Fame. I had heard of the large dedications and rooms directed at the Legacy of Vince Lombardi.

I really enjoyed my time at the Hall of Fame. It brought back a lot of memories of my childhood fascination with the Packers and the early heroes of the NFL. It also reminded me of my interviews with sports legend Jim Zorn. Years ago after Jim was cut from the Seattle Seahawks he had spent some time at Green Bay. I remember his remarks about how impressed he was with the incredible legacy of success with the Packers. It was ironic that Coach Mike Holmgren is still so connected with both the Packers and the Seahawks. There seemed to me to be parallels between Holmgren and Lombardi.

The next morning I went to the Green Bay airport to catch the early flight. The news had told everyone that a big snow storm was headed our way, supposed to hit around 3 or 4pm. I stopped by the gift shop to pick up some cheeseheads for my daughter and some clients. We all boarded the Noon plane, glad to be getting out before the storm. As we made it out to the tarmac I thought about the happy memories of the nice folks over at Schneider National. People in small towns seem so nice to me.

Then as the plane was headed down the tarmac, the pilot said that they were told that Chicago had shut down and that we were going to have to wait for a while. After about an hour the pilot said that we were going back in to get more fuel. Then after about another hour we were told to de-plane. Then we waited for about three more hours. I could see out the window as a slowly moving giant white blanket of snow was heading right at us down the western runway. After a long time, we were told to re-board. Then we started out onto the tarmac, and the pilot again said, no we are going back in. By then the airport was socked in with about a foot of snow. I took a shuttle back to the hotel. The shuttle driver had a real hard time seeing in the blizzard.

Everyone in Green Bay was nice to me.

This all reminded me of the famous Ice Bowl Championship game from my childhood. I remembered so many games on TV with the Packers playing in the snow and the giant crowds supporting them in the storm.

Finally after another day of waiting, I made it back in the air, going through Minneapolis this time, and ended back in Seattle about Midnight.

Overall even thought I was stuck in a blizzard, I really enjoyed my trip to Green Bay, Wisconsin. When I was a little kid I had written down a hundred goals of what I wanted to do in my life. One of these goals was to go to Paris, and another was to go to Green Bay. Well, I can check off the one for Green Bay now. Next on my list is Paris. I hope I can get a project that will let me go to Paris this year.

Dataweb - Videos for New Software Launch

Dataweb Software Launch

A couple of years ago, I shot the video biography of Richard Locke's father for the Veterans History Project. Richard then hired us to shoot and edit a short You tube video for his company, Dataweb. Now Richard asked us to create a series of short videos to help launch their newest videos.

Pat & Jean Duffy -- Home Movies

It was great to see Pat Duffy again. I've had the pleasure of knowing Jean and Pat Duffy since 1988 when I started working over at Eagle Crest Resort in Central Oregon. Over the years they have become great friends and an inspiration to me. Pat told me he had some home movies that years ago he had transferred to VHS tapes, but now the sound was messed up and he wanted to get them all transferred to DVDs. My team and I enjoyed this project, and helping to preserve the Duffy Family home movies. We transferred the VHS video to digital tapes and then luckily Pat had the original audio tapes on cassettes. We transferred the cassette audio to digital files. Then we imported all the digital files into our Final Cut Pro system and synced everything all together. Then we created a nice DVD menu and started exporting and burning. Pat and Jean were on a trip and hoped we could get the videos to them in time for their trip. We did it!

Magda Newman Memorial

I was very sorry to hear about the passing of Magda Newman. Magda was a wonderful woman who had experienced the challenges of the Holocaust and the Hungarian Revolution. About two years ago I spent some quality time with Magda, creating her video biography. Here is a short sample from her video biography. The full documentary is about 45 minutes long.

Ashton Palmer - "CEOs of Seattle" documentary

                    Ashton Palmer

Ashton Palmer is the CEO and founder of Expedition Trips.

His company specializes in vacations and trips to places

like Antarctica.  I really enjoyed meeting Ashton and hearing

his remarkable stories about how he started his business

and his very smart philosophies about running his business.

Thanks Ashton for all our help with our "CEOs of SEattle"

documentary project.  You can learn more about Ashton

at www.expeditiontrips.com 

Pat and Roy Bates Movie Trailer

Pat and Roy Bates Movie Trailer

Here is a short sample from the Video Biography we are creating for Roy and Pat Bates.  They are the parents of Barbie and Mike Seifert of Seattle.

Puget Sound Security video

Puget Sound Security Video

We really enjoyed working with Jeff Kirby and the team over at Puget Sound Security to put together this video.  Thanks also goes to Patti Payne for doing the Voice over.

Here is the video:

Linda Kay Porlier - Author, Voice Over Talent, Speaker

                   Linda Kay Porlier

I first met Linda Kay Porlier a little over three years ago at a Breakfast meeting at the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce.  Since then we have done several projects together and become great friends.  Linda Kay is one of the most inspiring and kind people I have met.  She always goes out of her way to help others.  She is an author, a very sought after speaker, and now she is going into the Voice Over business.  We helped produce her audio book last year, so we know that she has a soothing, very unique voice.    Today Linda Kay came to our Inventive Productions studios to do her interview for her video biography.   It was a great experience to hear her life story in her own words.   To learn more about Linda Kay, go to http://www.followyourheartproductions.com  

Kathryn Flynn - Cooking for Fertility DVD interview

                 Kathryn Flynn

Kathryn Flynn, the dynamic author of a new cookbook

about cooking for fertility, came over to Inventive Productions

studios to do some insert shots for her new Cooking for Fertility

DVD, which we are making for her and co-expert Tiffany Pollard.

Kathryn brought in several samples of her interesting and

cheerful teas.  We are in the final post-productions tasks for

the DVD project.  Kathryn did a super job today with the interviews

and insert shots and explaining the benefits of her teas.

Christian Chabot - "CEOs of Seattle" interview

    Christian Chabot

I was extremely impressed and energized by my interview Christian Chabot.  Christian was here to be interviewed for our "CEOs of Seattle" documentary.  He is the CEO and co-founder of Tableau Software.  Christian was educated in England, and then earned an MBA at Stanford University.  He is a pubished-author of a business bestseller, a very  sought-after keynote speaker,  and a true inspiration to me.  He has been involved with startups and venture capital companies and several high tech companies.  I think Christian gave one of the best interviews for our documentary so far.  Thank you Christian for all your help.

Chris Pappas Interview

                    Chris Pappas

We are finishing up the video biography of Bob and Jackie

Pappas and felt it would be very important to include their

children in the movie.  We got interviews with the other

two children a while back, but this past week  we finally

got our interview with Chris Pappas, and it was a great

experience.  You could tell that Chris was very proud of 

his parents and proud to be a Pappas.  I was extremely

impressed with all the kids of Bob and Jackie.  They are

such a positive, enthusiastic, and can-do attitude family.

Barbara and Bob Balkema Video Biography

        Bob and Barbara Balkema

We are proud to be producing the Video Biography of 

Bob and Barbara Balkema.  This is a the very inspiring

story of two people who really care for each other.

Bob and Barbara might seem young to make their video

biography, but in actuality they are the perfect age.

They can tell their story while they can remember it,

while they are still living it.  They plan to update their 

video biography every five years or so.

Rick Peterson Interview

                      Rick Peterson

We are making a video biography of the Life and Times of Michael O'Brien of Everett.  Not too long ago Michael O'Brien was the proprietor of one of the longest lasting Ford dealerships in the Northwest, in Downtown Seattle.  Commissed by his son Scott O'Brien, we did a great interview with Mike.  Now we are interviewing some of his long time friends and family.  Rick is Mike's good friend and brother-in-law.  Thanks Rick for letting us interview you for Mike's video biography.

Eastside Heritage Center shoot

                 Heather Trescases

Eastside Heritage Center - interview shoot

Intern Bond Debol met me over at Ross McIvor's office so we could shoot several interviews for the fundraising video for the Eastside Heritage Center.  I first met Ross over three years ago at one of our Inventive Productions open house parties.  Ross had told me all about his passion, the Eastside Heritage Center.  This is very interesting to me because the EHC is really a museum without a museum.  The EHC was formed upon the merger of the Bellevue Historical Society and the Marymoor Museum of Eastside History.  Due to budget cuts the Marymoor Museum was forced to leave its home at the Clise Mansion at Marymoor.  The big problem with this is that they have a collection of over 30,000 artifacts that had to find a home.  Today these artifacts are stuck in some storage facility until they can find a new museum location.  This breaks my heart to think of great artifacts locked up somewhere  where kids  and patrons cannot see them, where they could be getting hurt by the lack of proper storage.  We decided to create a fundraising video for their upcoming dinner this March.  I have been extremely impressed with the passion and dedication of the EHC team.  This includeds Ross who is the President of the Board of Trustees, and Heather Trescases, the Director of the EHC.  To learn more about the Eastside Heritage Center, go to www.eastsideheritagecenter.org 

Stan Selden - "CEOs of Seattle" documentary interview

                               Stan Selden

I first met Stan Selden over the telephone last fall.   I had read an article that said his family business Selden Furniture in Fife had been in business over 50 years, so I wrote Stan a letter to see if he would be interested in getting a video history made about his company.  Stan responded to my letter, saying that in fact he was working on a book about the history of his family business.

Last week we called Stan to see if he would let us interview him for the documentary "CEOs of Seattle" and he said "Sure!"

Stan is a great guy with tremendous vitality for life.  We talked about the secrets to his success, his mentors over the years, and his advice for young people.  Thanks, Stan, for taking the time to visit our Inventive Productions studios and to let me interview you for our documentary.

Interview with Eric Overton - "CEOs of Seattle" documentary

Eric Overton - "CEOs of Seattle" documentary project.

Feb 3, 2009--Interview with Eric Overton.

Eric is a great guy.  He is so enthusiastic.  His company, Sparling, is the nation's largest specialty engineering firm.  Eric was gracious to come over to our Redmond studios to be interviewed about his secrets to success.  Eric talked about his emphasis on values and culture and growing good people.   It was very inspiring to hear how much integrity and character are integral to success in today's business world.

Memories of Eileen Mintz

I first met Eileen Mintz last summer. I was making a documentary film about the Chefs of Seattle and Joe Kennedy said, "You have to interview Eileen for your movie!" So I gave Eileen a call and she was so nice to agree to be interviewed. Eileen came over to my video studio in Bellevue one afternoon. She was so beautiful and enthusiastic and instantly special to me. The best way to describe the moment is do you know how if you are at a party and someone really special like a Brad Pitt or Clark Gable or John Wayne or Marilyn Monroe enters the room? Well that is how this experience was for me. Eileen lit up the room. She was a celebrity to me. She had a glow about her. We went into the studio and started our interview. We talked about her career and how she became a food critic. She talked about the good old days and how she just loved chefs. She talked about how she tried so hard to help the Chefs of Seattle become the Rock Stars of today. Eileen had such a remarkable enthusiasm for life that it made me look at my own enthusiasm scale. On a scale of one to ten she was definitely a ten. I learned that day about the days when Eileen worked in the hotel industry and how she got into the PR business and also how much she loved chefs. I learned so much about the history of the Seattle area that day, too. Over the course of time, Eileen and I talked a little about her bout with Cancer, but you really had to pull it out of her. She loved life so much. She told me how much she loved her family, and how blessed she felt, that she had led a "wonderful" life. We kept in touch via email over the next few months. As we completed the documentary "Chefs of Seattle" I sent her a DVD for her review. She said she liked it a lot. I can tell you that she was a huge part of the positive feelings from the movie. Last fall Eileen invited me to a dinner opening event down in Tacoma. I had to bow out at the last minute because one of my clients had passed away and I needed to make a video for their family. Eileen emailed me back that she really, uniquely, understood. The other day I received an email from a friend that Eileen had gone, and it really made me sad and mad. I didn't hear about it until her memorial had already happened. I wished I could have honored her. The past few days I have told myself that I wished I had an opportunity to know Eileen better. But I feel grateful that I had a chance to spend one afternoon, one on one with her, listening to her laugh and the joy of her stories talking about the good old days in Seattle when chefs weren't rock stars yet, where a young woman named Eileen helped make a difference in so many lives. This morning I watched her video interview once again and I laughed and felt great to have been blessed to have met, even for just a moment, Eileen Mintz.

RJ's Birthday Party - Super Bowl Party

RJ's Birthday Party at Paul Ortega's Super Bowl Party

Feb 1, 2009--RJ's Birthday Party at Paula Ortega's Super Bowl party

It was looking like it would be the worst birthday of all time.

No phone calls.

No cards.

No presents.

No cake.

No hugs.

Then I got a call from Paula.  She said "Where are you, RJ?"

Now I knew there were lots of reasons for the situation.  Kids out of town.  Kids working.  Once you hit fifty things are different.  

"Birthdays are for kids"  I told myself.

Well I decided to go to the Super Bowl party over at Paula's house.

It turned out to be a really fun, cool day.   Paula and Gracie and Kim and everyone over there were very generous, kind, and hospitable to me.  

I really had a good time.  Then Pittsburgh won the game.

Relay for Life - Bellevue - Kickoff Party - Lincoln Square Cinemas

Jan 31, 2009--Relay for Life Kickoff Party--Lincoln Square Cinemas

I was invited to the kickoff party by the most enthusiastic person I have ever met, Mary Martin from the American Cancer Society.   Our Inventive Productions team had created a short fundraising video for the event and I wanted to see how it looked on the big screens of the beautiful Lincoln Square Cinemas in Bellevue, WA.  

I showed up a little early on Saturday morning and was totally impressed by the incredible warm hospitality and generosity of everyone I met at the event.  There were lots of young people and a few old people, but everyone had the same reason for being there.  We all want to try to help stop cancer.  I cannot stress how remarkable these people at this event were.  These kids were so fun and happy and inspiring because they all were there for no reason but to try to help others.   

Because of technical problems with the video projector, they couldn't get our video up on the bigscreen but I did not care, because I ran into Linda Linderman, a long time friend.  

Linda is a remarkable person.  She the wife of one of the most important person I have ever met in my life.  I first met Rob Linderman in 2001 when I took the job as Project Director at the Resort at Seaside located in Seaside, Oregon.  Rob was the Resort Manager.  I had never met Rob before, but everyone told me that he was the greatest resort manager in the world.  It didn't take me long to find this out.  Rob Linderman was this giant, tall man, who went out of his way every day to go around and try to make you smile and give you a bear hug.  How many people do you know whose total mission is to make you smile and give you a bear hug?  There is only one Rob Linderman.  Unfortunately we lost Rob to cancer and I miss those smiles and bear hugs every day.  I wish I could remember to emulate Rob every day.  I wish everyone could emulate Rob every day.  The world would be a better place I know.   

It was great talking with Linda Linderman at this event.  She is such a beautiful, fantastic person.  Linda has been a true inspiration to so many people.  Last year she led a team at the Relay for Life that raised the most money for cancer for the Bellevue event.   Linda is always so kind and happy and helpful to others.  Linda told me how excited she was about the possibility of becoming a grandparent any day now.  She was so energized by the possibility, the unbelievable miracle of becoming a grandparent, she had a glow about her.   

I guess the emotion grabbed me that day, because before I knew it I had volunteered to start an Inventive Productions team for this year's Relay for Life, and I volunteered to be the team captain, and I pledged that our team would raise $10,000 during this Relay.

I thought of my Dad who had died of cancer back almost twenty years ago.  I remember when he went from a big guy like me down to 67 pounds, where I drove three hours each week to visit him during his fight.   I thought of my Mom in Oregon who had fought and beat lung cancer only two years ago.  I thought of my uncle Doug who is fighting and beating cancer down in San Diego.  I thought of my good friend Dave Divelbiss who had lost his bout with cancer last year.  I thought of my good friend Darrell Cross who had lost his bout with cancer five years ago.  I thought of my friend Del Broome who was fighting cancer down in Bend, Oregon right now.  I thought of my friend Connie Peare who had fought and lost her bout with Cancer three years ago.  I also thought of my hero John Wayne and how he fought cancer for over ten year when I was a kid.

As you can tell, I guess I am passionate about this cancer thing and I hope that someday they will find a cure.  I am totally impressed by the Relay for Life concept.  People walking and running around a track overnight, experiencing a group effort to raise money to kill this disease.  

I recommend you think about joining our Relay for Life team this year.  We are scheduled to do the relay this June in Bellevue.  Let me know if you would like to join the team.   If you can't make it, please do not hesitate to donate some money or to sponsor some funds for our team.  You can donate a flat amount, or per lap or whatever way you feel most comfortable.

Call me if you have any questions  425-284-1900.  Thanks.....RJ.

An Interview with Angie Lepley - Tangerine Travel

Angie Lepley - Tangerine Travel

Jan 30, 2009--"CEO's of Seattle Documentary" Interview

I really was impressed with the incredible interview with Angie Lepley from Tangerine Travel.  Angie was kind enough to allow us to interview her for our new documentary "CEO's of Seattle."  Angie is super enthusiastic and a great optimist about her company and the future of travel.  Her company has had tremendous success because of her talented team and the leadership of Angie.  Angie has been in the travel business for a long time, and she has learned the importance of creating an awesome experience for her clients.  She really inspired me with her honest talk about integrity and the importance of treating people right.  Angie and her Tangerine Travel has been chosen as one of only a handful of official representatives for Richard Branson's Virgin Gallactica, where you can actually buy a ticket to go on a space ship.    I plan to start using Angie and her team for all our travel needs in the future.  She talked about the great new offices her company has, with a spa atmosphere.  I can't wait to see it in person.