My Letter to Glasgow....

Dear Friends in Glasgow,

Words can hardly express how wonderful my time was in Glasgow a handful of months ago. I enjoyed seeing this wonderful city but even more importantly I loved meeting such amazing people. I enjoyed getting to chat with many of you and have enjoyed continued "chats" over Twitter etc. I love to see the excitement and passion so many of your bring to your respective fields.

I write this blog "to you" from my personal blog (as opposed to my ISSET blog) because I want you to know that this is personal to me not just business. I write this letter because I need your help. I really really really want to bring Mission Discovery to Glasgow for your students. What I LOVE about Mission Discovery is that it's inclusive not elitist like some other programs. It's the kind of program that encourages all kids to come and participate. (We do target high school and University age but have taken younger students and adults as students.) It's the kind of program that students have literally said has changed their lives. I want the youngsters of Glasgow to have an opportunity to partake in such an incredible event. (One I might mention that I sure wish existed when I was their age!) But I can't do this without your help....

If you aren't sure exactly what Mission Discovery is check out this website...
http://isset.org/mission_discovery.html
It truly is an incredibly unique event given the range of topics we cover including team building, leadership, various science, communication skills and of course space! Plus where else do you know that students can have an astronaut available for mentorship for an entire week? (Most people are happy to get to spend 1 hour listening to an astronaut and maybe get 1 question asked - attendees of Mission Discovery have access to an astronaut - and other great mentors! - for the entire program!) The program culminates with a team project where they design an experiment within given parameters which could fly into space. (And with the proper support/funding it will! Can you imagine having YOUR work sent into space?!)

I'll be honest most of the work falls to us to make it happen but the very basics I need help with right away. What are the basics? So glad you asked.... We need a place to hold Mission Discovery. Details for that....

• Ideally a University (Frankly it's a great thing for the University overall!)
• Certainly it is preferred that they donate the space but we can work on an agreement on that or some amount of payment if necessary
• Options other than a University could certainly work as well... would need to evaluate 
• We need an auditorium that could hold at least 200 students (that's the number we would target)
• Need classrooms or other space close to the auditorium that we can use for "break-out" sessions for the students to work
• We would need these spaces for a week during the summer (Monday-Friday 9-5)

Truly I can't even begin to make a Mission Discovery happen without a location (for obvious reasons!) but once I have a location I can promise you that I will work like crazy to make sure it is the most amazing Mission Discovery to date!!

Once we get a venue selected there is more you can do to help... help spread the word, sponsorship at various levels.... but for now... Please help me find a venue :)

Here's to making Mission Discovery Glasgow happen in 2013! Happy New Year everyone!!

Full circle with Cisco

On Tuesday I mentioned that I traded in my usual "work clothes" of yoga pants and a comfy top for real work clothes. (For those of you who don't know - I work for myself so many days I work at home spending all day on the computer and phone thus no reason to wear anything but comfy clothes!) 

Gillian, from 29 Studios who I became friends with on our Gobi Adventure, introduced me to a great gal named Julie who asked me to be part of a Female Business Leaders Event over Telepresence. Cisco Telepresence is a video conferencing system that is absolutely incredible. The video & call quality is so good that it's like you are in the room with the people on the other end of the call. 

I was honored to be a "guest speaker" of sorts at this event and I was humbled to be in the presence (or shall I say telepresence) of so many incredible women who have accomplished so much in their lives. It was fantastic to be able to have discussions with women in Glasgow and London about topics that are so pertinent to all of us. I think these kinds of events are key to growing as an individual in business because one should never stop learning.

Why do I say full circle with Cisco? Well when I was working as an instructor at NASA one of the things I had to train the astronauts on was the Cisco IP Softphone application which is how they could "phone home" from space! (Every time I say phone home I can't help but this of ET! ET Phone Home...) So it was especially interesting to be on one end of the triad of this Cisco Telepresence call as I have branched out into the world of business on my own!

Here's to some amazing ladies! I really hope our paths cross again in the future wether it be in person or via Telepresence.

Hmmmmm.... perhaps these ladies want to help me bring a Mission Discovery to Glasgow and they could be guest speakers at that event....

chelle on Scotland Tonight

In case you wanted to check and see if I made a total fool of myself on Scottish National TV - here's a link to the interview :)

By the way - have I mentioned anyone how painful it is for me to watch myself on video?!?!

In case you missed it be sure to also check out the link to the 29 Studios Event video!!

An Out of This World Evening Event Page