Tony Brewer

I am really hoping that America (and the rest of the world for that matter) will really learn that adjustable rate mortgages are dangerous for many homeowners. I had thought that is was common wisdom that getting an ARM was not the best idea if avoidable, but it seems there are many people today who are suffering because they did not follow this wisdom. Sure there are other factors too, including declining housing markets and such, but if any good is going to come of this situation, it should be a giant learning experience for the masses. I haven’t really seen much in the way of stories focused on this, and perhaps my hopes will fall short, but we’ll see.

It would be nice to have a broad paradigm shift int he common sense in this country (on this issue and many others of course).

It amazes me how many people I have met at nice hotels around the world. Often times when I make it into a new city focused on the seminars and training, I do not even think about the things I am going to learn just from meeting and talking to people from other parts of the world.

When I venture down to the hotel bar, and even just waiting for a cab I tend to learn all kinds of interesting things about the world when striking up conversations with strangers. I have had many good times sharing experiences with people met at hotels from around the globe. It makes me want to have a hotel weekend at home with friends, so we could all forget about the mundane issues at home and just talk and share.

Why can’t we schedule some of the conventions at the smaller beaches? It seems that ever time I have the opportunity to attend a convention at one of the beaches it is always Miami - maybe Fort Lauderdale on occasion, but why not some of the smaller beach resort towns?

I would love to travel to cocoa beach, palm beach, even the Florida Keys, but all the conventions end up at the bigger cities. I wonder if it just easier to book events at these locations, or if there is some kind of discount or financial incentive, or do the organizers just assume that we all want the glitz and glam of the larger venues and associates hotels and nightlife? I’d like to know, and cast my vote for some smaller more intimate beach destinations for next years beach travels.

There is much to be said about business 2.0 - but I am just going to point out to my fellow bloggers that business 2.0 has seriously evolved lately. It amazes me how quick and easy it is to get a few people in a chat room and on web cam in an impromptu meeting. Business is definitely moving faster today than it was just 5 years ago.

I have found that using collaboration tools like google docs and skype, we have saved a ton of time and a bunch of money that would have been spent on traveling and xeroxing. I can’t wait to get holographic meetings like you see in star wars, supposedly this is kind of what second life is like - with 3d avatars instead of holographic images.

I remember some of my techy-er friends talking about some of the social networking sites back in the day, about how they could keep up with friends and network quickly at the speed of broadband, but recently it seems that social networks have really become a tool of not just tech geeks, but many of my business associates and not just my friends, but their kids seem to be on mypsace, facebook, and even using social news sites like digg one a regular basis.

I have to admit this is one of those tech ideas that I though would never catch on with mainstream America, but it seems that it has taken over quickly as a must have communication tool. Very cool.