Tag Archives: Austin

Salt & Pepper, Time & Temp

3 Nov

There’s an awarding winning barbecue joint here in Austin. It started out as a trailer and soon graduated into its own building.  The barbecue is so good that you have to line up at 10:30 in the morning, wait an hour until they open the doors at 11:30, and when the meat is gone…they close.  I’m not kidding.

This past summer Bon Appétit magazine called it the Best Barbecue in America.

Aaron Franklin was asked by our local news what his secret was, I’m paraphrasing, but this was his response:

We get the best meat from Montana, and then it’s about salt and pepper, time and temp. That’s it.

Really? No secret sauce? He’s not blending 200 spices together, or using his great grand daddy’s recipe?

How many times have we messed something up, failed at making something better, because we kept piling on all of our little tricks.

How many times have we rushed to decisions, because we didn’t have the patience to just let it be and see it through?

The recipe for success here can easily be translated to your life and your work.  Don’t over season, make sure the basics are being executed, and above all…be patient.

Thanks and Goodbye

12 Oct

I’m out. I’ve written this column/blog for the last 2 years and it’s time to stop. I don’t know why, it just is.  The last few things I’ve written have felt forced. That’s not good.

I’ve enjoyed the time, the sharing, the ideas, and the inspiration. The truth is I’m on to what’s next. There are new responsibilities, new things to do, and my attention is elsewhere.

I’m always here to kick around ideas, and my blog will certainly stay up, but the weekly column is done.

Thanks again for reading; it was appreciated more than you’ll ever know.

Everything is On Fire!

7 Sep

You’d think I’d be talking about how busy I am or how urgent everything on the “to do” list is, but I literally mean everything is on fire.  It’s been a horrible 3 weeks for this country and after an earthquake and a hurricane, I guess it’s no big deal that we have an outbreak of wildfires here in Texas.

We’ve been in a drought for quite some time, and this past weekend the Austin area lit up like an old Christmas tree.  Suburban neighborhoods evacuated, homes destroyed, deaths, one fire has burned over 35,000 acres.

Times like these are when we stop. We have to. The stuff we’ve been working on takes a back seat to the stuff that matters. Our family and friends, our communities, they need us, and we want to be there.

There’s another interesting thing that happens, I’m sure it happened with you in the last 3 weeks; we start wanting to do something to help. Anything.  We’ll give money, donate stuff, volunteer or pray. Something inside us says “go”.  I wish it didn’t take events like this for the “do” switch to be turned on, but sometimes it does.

What I learned at SXSW

19 Mar

This past week my city was under siege by the spectacle that is SXSW.  A Film, Music, and Interactive festival like none other.  The music portion alone had over 2,000 bands on 80 stages.  Austin literally shuts down.  A mix of rock stars, film buffs, and tech geeks, all “cooler” than you, running around town with badges attending panels, concerts, screenings and parties.  Everybody looks like “somebody” and most people think they are.  

What does it take to be a “somebody”? I think right now there are more famous people than ever before.  You can broadcast yourself on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and if you have a blog, you’re famous too (if it’s read).  Forget that Val Kilmer and half the crew from SNL was on 6th street attending the premiere of McGrubber or that McConaughy was running around town all week, the real stars (some in their own mind, some legit) are the regular people sharing regular things. 

My favorite take away was early on in the convention.  I can’t recall what company was using this term internally but I thought it made sense for radio too.

The URL acronym defines an address to a particular website but for some it’s become something else.

Utility first, Revenue Later  

You can’t make money on the web until you have visitors and to do that you need a reason for people to visit it.  You can’t make money on your radio station until you have great talent or desirable format. 

What you do online is no different from what you do on the air.  If you don’t have compelling content, whatever it is, you don’t have squat.  People follow Kevin Smith because he’s interesting; people follow shitmydadsays because it’s funny.  The guy that created it didn’t start out trying to make a TV show…yet here it comes with William Shatner taking the lead.

Before you make money make connections, create content do something remarkable… the revenue will come later.

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