Category Archives: Personal

Truck Day

Today was Truck Day.  I rooted through my closet this morning and carefully chose what to wear.  The Red Sox red socks that Aunt Ellen gave me were guaranteed.  First try was the 2004 long-sleeve shirt with my Youk game jersey over it.  Turned out the jersey had some beer stains (how did those get there, I wonder).  Round 2 was a Soxaholix shirt under the 2004, with a blue Sox pullover and the new red warmup jacket with zippered sleeves.  Top it off with the cleanest of my Red Sox caps, and that’s 7 different items of clothing with a Red Sox logo.  I was ready for the 12 degree February morning, with the entire 2009 season stretching in front of me.

I was not the only Truck Day celebrant.  Respect the Tek woke from a blogging slumber (read the archives – there’s some quality writing there).  Boston.com got the photographers in full swing.  And of course Soxaholix was the place to read the commentary.

It turns out that most people at work don’t know what truck day even is.  When I explained it, they still didn’t get it, until I said it like this: We know it’s not Opening Day yet.  It’s not the first game of exhibition season.  It’s not the first day of spring training.  It’s not even the day that pitchers and catchers report.  It’s the day that the equipment truck drives from Boston to Florida in anticipation of . . . all of that.  

Truck Day is sort of like seeing the first robin of spring, but who cares about some stupid worm-eating bird?  Truck Day is the first whiff of beer and popcorn, the leading whisper of the roar of the crowd, the almost-there pop of the bat,  and the start up the hill of the roller coaster.  You’re not moving fast yet, but oh, the anticipation.

Truth in Advertising


Found via Jay and idly.

I actually drive an American car, so I don’t think they’re all shitty.  But the point stands.  When I work for a company that can’t sell enough product to stay alive, I expect the company to go bankrupt and I expect to lose my job.  Seems straightforward enough to me.

Tweeting the Governor

I got an email Friday that Governor Deval Patrick was going to visit the CIC (a bit more on the CIC).  I knew the governor was on Twitter (I was one of the first 25 people to follow him @massgovernor).  So, I sent him a tweet and asked him to stop by! 

my tweet to the gov

I wasn’t the only HubSpotter with this brilliant idea. See the tweets here, here, and here.  When you worship at the altar of inbound marketing like we do at HubSpot, it’s natural to engage with opinion influencers.

And it worked!  A little after 2 a bunch of us were in the board room listening to a presentation when the Governor walked in!  We all shook his hand, and he spent a few minutes meeting with our founders, Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah.

We all formed up for a picture outside, and as he was leaving, we sat him down for a group picture.

gov patrick group photo

You can see me in the back row.  I snapped a few pictures as well as I could. . . but you can see there were issues. 

decent Patrick picture

Afterwards we chatted with some of the governor’s posse.  We confirmed that the tweets were the reason the Governor came – his new media people saw the chatter and figured that it was a good place to visit.  The visit got written up in a couple places, including Universal Hub.  It’s a social media success story – Twitter made it all happen.

Changing Years

I like the celebration of the new year as a point of reflection.  It’s a milestone, like a birthday, but one that we all share.  It’s a time to consider what has past.  So, reflect I will.  2008 was a busy year.

  • I went to Tokyo.
  • I became an uncle.
  • I quit my old job, and started a new one.
  • I managed to visit a number of friends that I hadn’t seen in ages, Doug, Darienne, Amy, and Glen to name a few.
  • I bought a house.

There were also a couple of changes in my personal life.  I’m not quite ready to make them a part of my blog, but feel free to ask, and I’ll tell you. 

I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions.  If there’s something in my life that needs changing, the time to start is when I’m ready (the sooner the better).  Waiting for a new year seems silly.  I don’t like the idea that a new year means a new outlook on life.  My outlook is always as up-to-date as I can make it, thank you very much.

I  have one thought for 2009 that comes perilously close to a resolution.  I lost 15 pounds in 2006, ending the year at 249.  2007 and 2008 both ended with the same number (thanks only to a 5 pound loss in December!).  I’d like to make some more progress in 2009 – let’s call it another 15 pounds.

Happy New Year!