Following is an update of the 2012 self-assessment of my skills and lifepath which,
though never used for the Interfaith Network,
came in awfully handy later as the Tourguide
who earned all those humbling reviews.
—–2012 update—–
Below is an Overview
of a rather unique Lifepath and Set of Skills
which I can bring to making what’s here happen.
…
—My Skills—
…
Public Speaking – a veteran of over 800 presentations, most to New York inner-city high schools, senior centers, & civic organizations, I am very, very, very good in front of an audience of any age or makeup. My Tourguide Reviews seem to say I might just have been the best guide in the whole world. I offer them as an in-writing hint at just how I relate to and impact an audience. I spent February planning the Speaking Tour tabbed above. Then Covid hit. Plans change…
Writing – I have written two editorially-formatted books about the differences between the FDR left-of-center times I grew up in and the Reagan right-of-center times we find ourselves in today, emphasizing very specific things we can do to come together as a people and re-connect with the values we have lost. I have also written a novel and am more than proficient at writing ad copy, business plans, technical manuals, and business correspondence. (see Congress Has No Clothes, Peace on Earth, & The Deacon.)
Graphic Design – I have designed dozens of company logos, a hundred brochures across a wide range of industries, formatted an educational magazine, and ushered through the printing process close to a million pieces of business collateral. I made every keystroke and click that went into the design and production of this website.
Sales – As owner of my own ad agency for a decade, I know how to cold call a list of targeted businessmen, set up face-to-face meetings, and come away with a check.
Fundraising – My first job out of college was helping to manage the fundraising campaigns of then San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi’s Supervisor brother Ron, USF, St. Ignatius High School, and Big Brothers of San Francisco. I graduated from the Fundraising School out of San Rafael, CA in 1980.
Leadership – From Director of a Graphic Design School to owner of my own business, I know how to unite others in common cause, then motivate them to achieve well-defined goals.
—My Experience—
Union Roots – I grew up the son of a Pittsburgh steelworker father and a mother who manned picket lines and served as an officer while unionizing two factories she worked at. I paid my way through college by working summers as the semi-famous ‘college-kid craneman’ at J & L’s Aliquippa steelworks.
University of Chicago – My ‘Reaganomics’ economics degree shackles me with the terrifying burden of actually understanding things like derivatives, credit default swaps, and the other “baffle them with bullshit” excesses committed by Washington and Wall Street.
Politically Aware Ambivalence – raised an FDR union Democrat, I embraced the Reagan Revolution at a time when we needed to re-find our strength, and have evolved into believing that neither party has done anything for ‘We, the People’ in a long, long time. I am a history nut and a news junkie which enables me to see current events from a big picture perspective.
Multi-Cultural Lifepath – I have had African-American friends in my life since they were Negroes, spent a year embedded in the politics of Brooklyn’s Haitian community, dated an Asian girl for two years, and have had many Hispanic, Jewish, Gay, Senior Citizen, and Native American friends and roommates over the years, immersing myself in their worlds, not just inviting them as ‘tokens’ into mine.
From Sea to Shining Sea – Raised in Western Pennsylvania, down the street from ‘Leave it to Beaver’, schooled at Syracuse and Chicago, I flew to San Francisco the day after graduation. From my first day here, nowhere else ever felt like home, but family & business kept dragging me back east: New York, Nashville, Phoenix, Myrtle Beach, Maine, Boston, and Texas. I have had an incredible life journey that makes it easy to relate to almost anyone. Made for a great Tourguide.
Lifespring – I attended numerous multi-day awareness trainings from this ‘kinder-gentler’ offshoot of EST, the basic tenets of which I assume are similar to those of the Gamaliel trainings. (This was central to PIIN conducted by the Chicago parent organization.) Lifespring was a major life-transforming experience for me.
Faith Without Affiliation – My faith is strong, deep, and hard-won. I see God’s fingerprints everywhere I turn, finding Him or Her just as readily in Church, Mosque, or Temple, woods, seashore, or mountaintop. Mine has been a uniquely personal spiritual journey that forms the very foundation of who I am today. I am humbly in awe of this Miracle of Life with which I have been gifted. I live it as if it is the entrance exam into the next world. When St. Peter looks me in the eye and asks “Do you deserve to get in?”, I plan to be able to answer instantaneously and emphatically: “Yes!” On the other hand, if this is all just a game, what would winning look like: “Peace on Earth”
Seems obvious…
Until then…
Sincerely yours,
Bob Smith
p.s.-Facts of my journey aside, I like to think I am loyal, trustworthy, honest, and dependable. I am an effective communicator, write well, speak articulately, listen even better. I can be extremely persuasive when necessary. I have a sunny outlook on life, like to think I am fun to be around and work with, and tend to keep those around me thinking and laughing. I am in my sixties, look like I am in my forties, relate well with those in their thirties and twenties, and am healthy enough to have spent less than a thousand dollars on non-dental healthcare in my entire adult life. I don’t smoke or drink. I have no debts, nor any ex-wives and kids in the background. I stand on my own two feet and attack every day with the passion of a small child.