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Just like the rest of Florida, people flock to Tampa for the year round pleasant weather… among many other things. This makes it more of a tourist destination than many other cities, which can be annoying to the residents, but great for businesses. Especially those in the hospitality industry!

Several major developments like the Disney monorail, Trump Hotel and Golf Resort, and Rays Stadium are all part of a unique development for downtown Tampa. This is set to spawn many new opportunities for new business entrepreneurs of all types and from all sectors of business.

Even with all of the help for small business entrepreneurs in Tampa, there is no doubt the real estate bubble’s impact on new construction has affected the region’s overall economy – in fact, all over the world.  Read more...

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Even music soloists know that great music is about collaboration – whether it is with a song, singer, or other accompaniment. One of the defining essentials of jazz music is improvisation. Musicians who compose on the fly have an instinctual ability their peers both idolize and envy.

For instance, a Miles Davis trumpet solo is a feat in and of itself – but also blends well into group settings. The only way to learn how to improvise is by doing it repeatedly. Playing intuitively takes practice.  Read more...

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Canada has become a hub for a lot of businesses from the U.S. because of its lower business operating costs. In the film business, Toronto is a favorite of directors because it is far more budget friendly on a lot of levels.

Many TV productions in particular choose to shoot in Toronto. In fact, filming there has become so common that the region is referred to as Hollywood North. It is a great substitute for more expensive cities like Chicago and New York City. The main difference is that Toronto’s streets are much cleaner and crime is almost non-existent, compared to many U.S. cities. There are also lots of people available for technical crews and extra work for all the productions.  Read more...

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The Hill – as Washington D.C. is affectionately called – or not, depending upon who you are, seems like a sort of Hollywood. It’s amazing how much politicians resemble actors. In fact, when I used to work at a law firm, the lawyers would joke that they were all just frustrated actors. Given the high level of filibustering, that really makes sense. And imagine, they usually don’t even have a script! That’s really quite a talent, when you think about it.

It may sound as though I’m not fond of D.C. – but that’s not really true. In fact, I find the vibe to be exciting when I have the energy to deal with it. But I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t get tiresome. Especially traipsing around town from client to client.  Read more...

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In this day and age, collaboration is imperative to have any kind of success. Whether it is a career or personal goal, no man is an island. In business, working well together is what will make the difference between actually reaching goals or not. Below are some tips to help understand how to develop collaboration skills.

1. Forget about grandstanding or being a part of a clique. That’s not collaboration. It’s not a popularity contest. Sure, you need to get along with people. But too much of that will create a bunch of people pleasers rather than teams. The first thing everyone needs to do is check the ego at the door and put all baggage aside. Then you can bring out your best self to focus on common goals.  Read more...

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Surprisingly, Dallas is considered as one of the top three popular destinations for business travelers. The reason I say surprisingly is that I would have put my money on a place like California. Why? Well, just because. But I would be wrong about that, apparently.

Perhaps Dallas comes in as a top dog locale because its Convention Center is one of the biggest and therefore, busiest venues in the country. That could be just one reason. Theoretically, more space equals more opportunity.

During the 1980s, Dallas was a hotbed of real estate activity. People were relocating there in droves, which created a demand for more housing and office space. So prices went sky high. And people paid them. But what goes up, must come down as the saying goes. As Blood Sweat and Tears sang, spinning wheel got to go round. And as the spinning wheel spun, it came back around.  Read more...

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Many people think the entirety of Canada is just plain cold. But I found Vancouver to be the warmest of the Canadian cities. In fact, its climate is mild comparably speaking – and actually classified much like the Marine and Oceanic west coast! Just like Seattle, it does rain a lot. But you can get used to that easily, especially given all the area has to offer.

Vancouver’s gorgeous cityscape includes Edwardian buildings in the old downtown district. They were at one time the tallest in the British Empire. This has made the city a great double for filming stories that take place in urban areas like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.  Read more...

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Minnesota’s largest city, Minneapolis is a lovely town. Originally a farming region, the city has reached a level of sophistication that is still surprising to quite a few of its long-time residents. The high quality of life there attracts many people for both business and personal opportunities.

Minneapolis is also a great place for business start-ups. It is far less costly to do business there than other major cities like Los Angeles and New York. Plus, its proximity to Chicago makes it really great for networking and doing business there.

In Minneapolis, there are many organizations that offer all kinds of cool programs for entrepreneurs. For instance, groups like the Chamber of Commerce and the University’s Small Business Development Center assist with creating resources of all kinds, from leasing space to organizing and developing the workforce.  Read more...

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Meeting and collaborating has gotten easier than ever, thanks to so many of the techno applications available. Instead of circulating memos, our groups meet with our laptops to share documents, images, and links. We can flash them up on a lit screen if we need to – since the meeting rooms we use come with them. Below are some of our favorite collaboration-centric apps.

1. DimDim’s white board feature is handy because we can do screen shots to share with everyone at the meeting. Even those who can’t make it in for some reason can join in the fun. The annotation tools are really cool so I don’t have to get writer’s cramp taking notes – plus, all the info I need is included when I don’t have to rely upon my sketchy memory.  Read more...

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Anyone who has had to organize an event of any type knows how challenging it can be. And that’s putting it mildly. Even a routine meeting can become a nightmare as you try to juggle schedules and find a time everyone can agree with. I usually wind up with a mile long to-do list that gives me shivers just thinking about it. Below are just a few ingredients of my secret sauce for organizing conferences.

Preliminary Organizing

I like to write out goals for the conference with an active agenda. Event Apps help me design objectives and makes it easier for quasi-professionals like myself. I can use it to increase engaging attendees, build our brand, and other cool stuff. MobileEvent is great for those tasks and I can also continue to dialogue after the conference.  Read more...