For the first three years, I was little more than an idle observer of our FedCloud initiative; but, for the past 16 months, I have been working directly with Tom and John to bring our FedCloud adventure to fruition.  It was a high risk venture [certainly higher than we ever anticipated], and it was wrought with tension throughout the journey [somewhere between white water rafting and waterboarding].  Fortunately, this past Thursday, we were able to complete the sale of Autonomic Resources [after nearly three months of a roller coaster ride of negotiations and due diligence].

Although the sale of Autonomic Resources’ remarkable FedRAMP ATO’s might put our FedDROP start-up in limbo, I couldn’t be happier for the entire Autonomic Resources family, especially the crew at our headquarters in North Carolina.  And I am particularly proud to have been in the trenches with Tom and John seeing this thing through to such a successful conclusion.

A special round of thanks needs to go out to Butch, Kerry, Mike, Lynn, Geno, and the Pfalzgraf team for bringing this one home.  And an ever bigger thanks to Joe Kreuz, who got all these partnerships started over 20 years ago.

When I look at our lineup of IT partnerships today, especially Capax Global, Sceven, ABX, and AP Phoenix [which just had it biggest month ever in January], I can’t help but be excited about what the future has in store.

My family is healthy and happy, I have the best partners in the world, the sun is shining, and the sale of Autonomic Resources has provided us with the resources to expand exponentially.  If I could drop a dozen pounds, I’d have it made.

PS  Tom and Anthony are both in Naples today, and we will be over at the Shoppes at Vanderbilt checking out a potential location for our warm weather ABX [along with a new TW&Co].  I’ll keep you posted.

Before I go any further with my blog postings, I need to offer up fair warning that the stories I tell are simply the stories I remember.  That caveat should protect me from the need to redress my many omissions and errors.  The people, places, moments, circumstances, outcomes, and just about all of the recollections of my past have a way of fitting the narrative – if not always fitting the facts.  So it goes.

Another year has rushed to conclusion, and although they get shorter as I grow older, I haven’t had a year with so much going on since 1997.  The big difference between 1997 and 2014, however, is that 2014 was all good.  But I won’t bother kicking 1997 around [because without it and all the chaos it caused, I definitely wouldn’t have the friends, businesses, or opportunities that I enjoy today].

But I don’t want to dwell on all the good fortune that 2014 brought us, I just want to take this opportunity to aggravate all the people that have given me a hard time over the years.  Let’s start with the biggest jerk I’ve ever had to deal with …

Aw, come on, you didn’t really think I would go there, did you?  We all have our list of betes noires [and I know I’m on my fair share of them], but they’re best forgotten – because nothing annoys them more than being irrelevant.  Maybe when I’m 100, we’ll see what I remember.  Until then, I’ll just let an incredible 2014 bother them [on the outside chance that they even notice or care].

Enjoying your life is the only revenge that actually feels good [so I don’t bother serving up anything else].

I was always looking forward to Fr. Sturm’s 100th birthday because he promised to ‘tell all’ [or at least all I wanted to know about his women over the years and Jesuit mysticism].  Right now, he’s probably shaking his head, troubled by how he is ever going to get me into heaven.  I wonder if getting me in is going to be as hard as it was for Fr. Nagle to get me into BC?  But never sell the Jesuits short.  I’m still counting on John, just in case there really is a heaven.

While I was up north for Christmas, I ran into a few people that I told the most well-intentioned but absurd stories to.  Realizing that I jumbled the names and events of most of my tales, I feel the need to tell everyone I talked to while I was home to forget everything I told them.  I’d be better off telling stories like my brother-in-law Bob.  He’d just make up the most ridiculous shit and then sell it with a straight face.  When he was building his REIT and getting ready to take it public, he’d tell people he was retiring to a pig farm he bought in Alden.  And then there were his Hollywood starlet stories … I miss Bob.  I miss the people that made me laugh the most – and Bob definitely made me laugh.

I had a chance to go down memory lane at Giancarlo’s with a couple of alumnae of Nottingham High School.  Nottingham was an all-girls high school, and it was in a class by itself.  My date for both my junior and senior year proms was the lovely ballerina, Nancy Galeota, but I don’t think I’ve talked to her since her senior prom.  I was a freshman in college, and although I came home for her big night [she was class president], I wouldn’t go to the after-prom party.  I’m pretty sure she did ok at the party without me but then again, my recollections betray me.  Anyway, I got to telling stories about hanging out at Cole’s back in the day, and I’m certain that it was a mangled remembrance at best.  Forgive me.  But it did jog my memory enough to recall that I was briefly and hopelessly in love with Molly O’Connell, the most beautiful girl that ever walked the halls of Nottingham, maybe.

For the past few days, Amanda and I have been spending time with some new friends from Buffalo.  Once again, I am sitting here thinking of the narrative I offered up over a couple of really enjoyable dinners, and I am hoping I was both accurate and kind.  At least when I write something, I have the opportunity to look it over [several times], but when I’m rolling along about the past, it’s just a stream of consciousness that Wittgenstein might be proud of, but with little merit beyond its possible thought-provoking value.  And while I can live with my inaccuracies, my real disappointment comes with being inadvertently spiteful or bitter in any of my remembrances.  I just don’t see the past that way [but there is this one asshole who wrote a book …].

As for 2014, what I remember most is that I worked really hard, Skyped for hours a day, got really fat, and was of value to my partners in a variety of endeavors [especially the FedCloud Ecosystem].  So, accordingly, my next post about 2015 will include not working as much, getting fit, and building on the value and opportunities we created in 2014.

…  and if you really want to see my list, you’ll need the password.

http://theadvantagecatalog.com/2015/

We’ve been putting together our annual catalog for 20 years now, and this year’s edition is one of my favorites; it is also our biggest ever – coming in at 360 pages.  Jamie Welsted has been the Art Director for all 20 editions, and this year’s catalog was developed by our Catalog Publisher, Joe Kontrabecki [who just happened to be providing the same magic for the very first catalog 20 years ago].  They were joined by Emily Donnelly, our Catalog Director, and Frank Gaglione, our Chief Photographer [who once again flew in from San Francisco for a couple of weeks to shoot some amazing photos].  But putting a catalog like this together calls on more than just a few dedicated designers, and we had a whole host of talented and tireless contributors this year [you will recognize them throughout the catalog].

What makes our catalog special, as always, is the people – and everyone you see in the catalog is part of the Advantage Experience.  Our customers, staff, partners, affiliates, and suppliers all contribute.  The photo sessions are more fun than you can imagine, and our newest photographer, Brianna DeJoy, picked up quite a bit working with Frank.

Although this year’s catalog is a little bit less provocative than last year’s, we always get a kick out of the outrage some of the photos of our staff and customers engenders.  We’ve already had the cover called ‘shameful,’ so if you take exception to it, you’ll have to get  your thesaurus out to come up with something a little more original.

Doing anything well for 20 years feels good, and the catalog always makes me feel good.  Actually, there was one that didn’t really … but let’s not go there.

Check it out and let me know what you think:
http://theadvantagecatalog.com/2015/

I was up at 4AM this morning.  Yesterday was a rough day, and I didn’t sleep well.  That’s unusual for me, because I generally sleep like a baby.  But I was confronted by an unusual amount of angst yesterday, and I am having trouble putting it into perspective.  I just don’t get why so many people are miserable.  I am running into fewer and fewer people who really enjoy what they are doing.  It’s more than a shame, it’s a waste [and waste is the original sin].

As Fr. John Sturm always beat into my head, you only get one shot at life – so you better enjoy it.  I’ll always remember how much he enjoyed [and believed in] the title of the book we created from his weekly homilies “Life is a Dance, Not a Dress Rehearsal.”

You don’t need anything but an appreciation for the gift of life to make every day the best day of your life.  We are all going to be dead for a very very very long time, so let’s make certain we are enjoying the brief time we’ve been given [by either some incredible cosmic fluke or by your own version of god].

In the big picture, life is incredible.  What a time to be born?  And what a place to be born in?  When we look back 12,000 years ago, the world population was only an estimated 15 million people, and since then there have been 100 billion of us who have taken a shot at life on Earth [93 billion of whom have passed on after living to varying degrees of happiness].  In the Bronze Age, the average life expectancy was only 26 years, while today it has climbed to almost 70 [with life expectancy in Japan leading the way at 84+ years].  Not surprisingly, women are now outliving men by an average of 5 years.

Seventy plus years is a long time to go without enjoying it all.

Currently, there are 7 billion of us still navigating the adventure of life with an average age of 30 [which puts me at double the average age].  So, when you look at the predicament that most of the 100 billion people have been born into over the course of time, being born in the United States during the middle of the 20th century was an incredible stroke of good fortune.  I try to never lose sight of that fact.  And, although we can always make life better, it’s important to appreciate just how lucky we are.

This morning I am refocusing on making life better.  It starts with my personal health and well-being, and from there I need to focus on my family, work, friendships, and community.

About a decade ago, I created a chart for a young woman who was working with me to chronicle her progress as she navigated life.  Years later, while at the Cleveland Clinic for my bi-annual check up, the ‘Life Coach’ there suggested a similar chart.  I’ve decided to break out my original chart for a monthly review of my own progress [or lack of].  It is based on 1-10, with 10 being the best it could be.  Your original numbers are nothing more than a baseline, what counts is the delta in your numbers from month to month, year to year.

This morning, I broke the 170 pound barrier.  I am just 2.5 pounds from my all-time fat.  What’s distressing is that just a few years ago, I was down to a very healthy 154 pounds.  And, although I feel great, I know I am putting myself at risk for a variety of ailments, especially diabetes.  It’s time to get serious.  I don’t need to go on a diet, I simply need to eat better and exercise more.

I’ll update this post every month.  We’ll see how I do.

May 8, 2020 Update:  This morning I was 153.8 pounds.  I’m 66 and feeling great.

This is what I came up with yesterday.

ABX Managing Partner:  Joseph Robert Kreuz

Work begins Monday on the new Advantage Business Exchange [ABX] headquartered at the front of the Walker Center.  We will initially be focusing on eleven key resources for presentation and sale locally and globally.  From there, ABX will build out the presentation of additional Advantage Co resources and outsourced resources.

These are the initial resources that are being discussed and vetted.  We want to start out by offering our 10 most advantageous resources for both our clients and ABX’s sales force.

1. The c1 Group.  Although c1 provides a wide array of IT services, we will be focusing our ABX sales activity on three key components:
   1. c1 Services
   2. c1 Search
   3. c1 Secure
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2. FedCloud Resources.  Autonomic Resources’ FedRAMP ATO has allowed us to develop several new offerings for both the Federal and commercial markets.  The key to all of our offerings is that we have implemented the most advanced FedRAMP and DISA certified security boundaries for cloud compute.
   1. FedDROP
   2. ARC Secure Data Centers
   3. FedDataCrunch
   4. FedCloud Express
   5. FedCloud Secure
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3. EAS.  Enterprise Archive Solution [EAS] is a highly scalable and flexible consolidated archiving solution that captures and preserves email messages, files, documents and other content in a way that both optimizes long-term storage and allows immediate access for Mailbox Management, Compliance, and Legal Purposes.  Engineered for easy deployment, EAS is essentially invisible to end users, who continue to use their existing and familiar processes and clients without the need for training.
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4. Grivani Corporate Sales.  Our troika of offerings for local corporate clients will be focused on corporate catering, corporate gift-giving, and corporate advertising in our annual Advantage catalog.  Our new line of upscale product, Grivani, will provide our clients with a premium resource for corporate gift-giving.
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5. Giancarlo’s Corporate Catering & Events.  We have been building an excellent reputation for our corporate event and boutique wedding catering, along with raising the bar on daily breakfast and lunch deliveries.
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6. Advantage Catalog Advertising.  Our catalog has become the benchmark for all of Western New York’s elite businesses and services.  We have been adding services and benefits to their participation, and we are looking to build it out for year long participation with all of our clients.
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7. iWorldFundraising.  Effective fundraising activity is key to every successful business’s community engagement.  iWorldFundraising will offer both online and event fundraising resources for our ABX clients.
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8. The College Rep Program [Jumpsite].  One of our first college reps from back in 80’s is now the Secretary of Labor for the United States.  Back in the 70’s, as a college rep for FAD Co. in New Jersey, I was able to sell Technics and Pioneer product, and it is what led to the Stereo Advantage’s early success.  Today, we have the product that will allow us to launch the premier online experience for college reps worldwide.
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9. Advantage Brands [Brand Online Partnership].  Our ever growing list of brands is remarkable.  Starting with our most successful brand launch ever, Aussie T Co, we now have several brands that have the potential to explode worldwide: Bogavia [which now sold in Whole Foods], Piece Apparel, Modern Luxuri, Pure+Fresh, Grivani, RiOT, Chuggs, …
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10. White Box Service [iphones, ipads, computers].  Our Lifetime Service Centers in Williamsville and California are the industry leaders in tech product service.  Lifetime Service’s WhiteBox Service specializes in the rapid repair of tech products that are no longer covered by a manufacturer or extended warranty.  Apple® products, video game consoles, HDTVs, laptops, smart phones, tablets, etc. can all be repaired for a fraction of the price it costs to replace the device.  Regardless of the geographic region, WhiteBox Service can facilitate the repair.  With proprietary UPS and FedEx approved containers, we can safely coordinate the shipping logistics of up to a 42” LCD HDTV.

I spent some of the past 10 days of my Naples respite thinking about Fr. Sturm.  On one of my playlists, I have his favorite song, A Slow Boat to China.  It’s funny how a tough guy like Johnny Sturm could love such a sweet song.  It always makes me laugh.  From there, thinking of Fr. John usually gets me thinking about accountability and happiness.  For him that was the alpha and omega of life.  It’s hard to argue how right he was.  It certainly has resonated true with me.  I like to think I have been accountable and happy [and very fortunate], and I like to think I have done him proud.  Maybe I’ll find out for sure one day if his version of heaven and hell actually turns out to be true.  Wouldn’t that be wild?

To say we disagreed would be an understatement, but we certainly shared the unwavering belief that life was a gift from god and we better enjoy it.  He always emphasized ‘enjoy it’ over the more prosaic parental admonishment of ‘don’t waste it.’   It was more than a nuance to him.  If you get that, you are a step ahead.

He pounded into me that life is inherently positive with boundless potential, while the negative comes from the dark side, and it can suck the life out of you if you fall prey to its constant bombardment [which comes disguised as popular culture].  He’d never allow for the darkness to suck the life out of him.  I watched life kick him in the teeth a few times, and each time his disappointment would give way to his inevitable enthusiasm.  He understood that grief was a natural part of life [and love], but he never gave it prominence.  There was a time and place for all emotions, but never could they, or should they, replace the vigor we have reserved for the gift of life.  He always energetically chose life.

In the end, his harsh lessons provided comfort to those who could meet the challenge of living an accountable and happy life.  But for those who needed excuses, he was just a prick.  So it goes.

I live with a firm belief that an appreciation for life is a choice, a choice that fewer and fewer seem to be making.  And while fate will visit us all with an undeserved cruelty from time to time, I always know that in the end I am accountable for my happiness – and fate will just have to move on when it’s done with me.

But for those of you who need an excuse, you can always fall back on the sure-fire winner ‘it’s not my fault.’  It can deceptively preclude just about any accountability – while still punctuating your undeserved misfortune [giving credence and value to your unhappiness].

This has been a message from the Church of the Good.

Ariana reminded me of this one tonight.  It is certainly my favorite of all time.  If there is one thought that we should have with us at every moment, this is it.

http://churchofthegood.wordpress.com/