I am always amazed at the remarkable life and business lessons I learn when hanging around my two year old granddaughter. Let me share some with you:

• Tenacity to get what she wants. A “no” is simply a slight delay in her strategy. She would then resort to plan B. There is no such thing as rejection in her vocabulary.
• Tremendous self esteem and confidence.
• Zest for life. Every moments counts and is an intense quality interaction.
• Intense desire to learn new things and an astonishing curiosity.
• When bored, find another point of interest and quickly.
• Fearless about trying new things.
• Loves the exploration, fun and discovery of new things.
• Life is about having fun and a lot of it.
• Remarkable memory and focus.
• Creativity level that would have made Edison wish he had started innovating much earlier.
• Trusting relationships with individuals unless proven otherwise.
• Great love for nature and animals.
• Love of hearing  great stories even if read each night.
• Mickey Mouse and her grandfather are very cool.
• Life is great and I am blessed and fortunate!

How about you? What are some of the lessons you have learned from your kids and grand kids? Please share.

Each year, our Million Dollar club, arranged and facilitated by my friend, mentor and client Alan Weiss, heads out to an exotic place somewhere on this planet to engage in stimulating discussions about our businesses. We then get to tough it out and have an amazing time together discussing life balance and the future of civilization over great wine and outstanding dining experiences.

This year we have selected the Four Seasons resort in Bora Bora which was just spectacular.

So allow me please to share with you this experience, through these amazing moments captured in these photos. What a great way to also look back at this year and say THANK YOU to all of you.

Happy New Year!

Chad

Here is the story told through photos, text and captions below:

After almost 24 hours since leaving home, getting ready to board our last segment on Air Tahiti to Bora Bora

The Four Seasons resort (bottom left in this photo) and our amazing suite awaits our arrival

The only way to get to the hotel from the airport is by using this water taxi, well swimming was out of the question at this point.

Checking into the Four Seasons resort

The gorgeous view and the resort reception area

This is home for the next week. The amazing view and the soothing sound of the water in the lagoon. This is my kind of "survivor" week! I am going to learn to tough this out

The astonishing view from our deck at sunset

This was our private island which was the standard view from the pool. Well the latter part of the sentence is accurate.

A night time view of the over water bungalow suites

There is a positive side to waking up at 4AM and being jet-lagged. You get some amazing photos before sun sunrise.

While anxiously waiting for the sunrise, I’ve noticed this bird at the corner of my deck, starring at the water. All of the sudden, it took off, dove into the water and was fortunate to get his meal.

Innocent fish gazing or getting ready for breakfast?

Breakfast it is!

And finally capturing the sunrise at the one end of my suite

Probably the water taxi transporting the amazing help staff at the resort

The sun is finally shining

Just another typical day

This is the view outside our bedroom door that we awoke to each day. How could you ever have a bad day?

It's time to check out the pool and our private island - The Mrs. and I.

One of the dedicated waitresses at the resort. I am told she won the local beauty contest.

My favorite exotic morning fruit.

Each day our group (Alan Weiss, Suzanne Bates, Chad Barr, Andrew Sobel, Rob Nixon, Michael Sheargold, Shane McLucas and the spouses) got together for our exhilarating brainstorming sessions. We explored and shared innovative ideas, existing and new intellectual property, future trends as well as discussed our evolving business models and how to dramatically improve what we do for our clients. What I’ve noticed is that after three years of being together, our group has reached a maturity level that allowed and enabled us to be direct with each other and “push” ourselves.

After our morning sessions, we spent our time bathing in the sun, more intellectual discussions in the pool or the beach, explored the amazing property or took the boat to the island across the lagoon for dinners:

Evening activities. Boat ride across the lagoon for dinners and discussions:

Alan and Maria Weiss

Chad and Laurel Barr

Suzanne and Drew Bates

Michael Sheargold and Shane McLucas

Andrew and Mary Jane Sobel

Rob Nixon, Michael Sheargold and Andrew Sobel

Our waitresses, or were they helping with the food preparation?

Just wanted to whet your appetite or perhaps mine

Local art at one of the restaurants

After dinner, on one of the return evening trips to the resort, I see Alan Weiss at the helm navigating our boat. It's good that we all had a bit of wine!

The reaction on my wife's face when she found out that Alan Weiss is in charge of navigating the boat at night

All things must come to an end to let in the greater things. It is departure time from this paradise on earth.

Catching the boat ride back to the airport

Spending the night in Papeete, Tahiti and one more sunset to capture before the night show and the flights back home

An amazing Polynesian show at the hotel the night before our departure

It is a beautiful morning here in Newport, Rhode Island, as I just arrived for the Thrive! experience with a very special group of people. I’ve decided to get here a bit early so I may slow down the wheels of life a bit, sit and watch the water scenes, listen to the beautiful sounds around me (water, wind, boats, birds, the flag) and read a great book.

And yes, Chadology is by my side to capture and enhance these special moments.

Over and out!

Got on the Continental Saturday morning early flight from Cleveland to Newark and then continuing to London.  The comfortable Business First accommodation allowed me to relax, listen to my favorite iPhone music (about 8000 selections to choose from), catch up on my reading and continue my preparation for the New Product Experience I am conducting with Alan Weiss next week in Rhode Island. This week in London is going to be an outstanding week as five of my very close colleagues and clients: Dr. Guido Quelle from Germany, Libby Wagner from Seattle, Washington, Phil Symchych from Canada and Stuart Cross from the UK are meeting here with Dr. Alan Weiss to finish our certifications as Master Mentors, a new service we are going to offer to our clients.

During my first day (Monday) in London, my friend Libby Wagner and I, got a chance to visit Windsor Castle, the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms and Buckingham Palace. Amazing and fascinating places and history.

Here are some of Churchill’s wit that resonated with me:

“When I get to heaven I mean to spend a considerable portion of my first million years in painting”

“I have a tendency against which I should perhaps, be on my guard, to swim against the stream:

In 1933, as Hitler’s Nazi part came to power in Germany, Churchill asked: “Where shall we be in 1940?”

And here is another of his quote that I believe represents what true leaders are made of:
“I felt as if I were walking with destiny and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial … I was sure I should not fail”

Windsor castle commentary by Libby Wagner. For a moment I thought the guards were going to escort her away:

St. George Chapel and view of Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

Amazing art inside Windsor Castle

State dining room at Windsor Castle:

Guard by St. George Chapel

What a Royal Mail box looks like

Houses of Parliament from St. James’s Park

The gates of Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

May this next year be the best of many to come. Wishing you health, peace and happiness. Chad and Laurel.

Images I captured during my recent Israel trip:

Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Sea of Galilee

Jaffa

Jaffa

(click on images to enlarge)

It all started with a dream six years ago. Here is the brief conversation I had with Alan Weiss:

Chad: “I have this amazing idea of creating an online community that enables us (24×7) to communicate with you and each other.”

Alan: “This sounds quite interesting and appealing to me. Let me talk to Maria (my wife) about it.”

Chad: “I just realized that I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

Alan: “What’s that?”

Chad: “I’ve come to realize that I am not talking to the economic buyer!”

A few hours later, an email received from Alan saying: “Let’s Rock!” So Alan and I put our heads together, discussed it strategically and tactically and 45 days later the dream has become a reality and with it, an amazing transformation of my life and business.

So a huge thank you to you Alan and this amazing community of colleagues, clients and wonderful friends, for making this a remarkable, uplifting and inspirational journey.

And of course a huge thank you to my wife, Laurel, and my awesome family.

Chad

p.s. and finally, for my outstanding business team.

Below are three videos that will give you a sense of the amazing time I spent in St. Lucia with members of Alan Weiss’s Million Dollar Club. In the mornings, we discussed our businesses, how to reach the next level, we shared our intellectual property with each other as well as shared our interpretation of what the future looks like in our areas of expertise. In the afternoons and evenings we relaxed and enjoyed a great time with our spouse while continuing our fabulous discussions.

Listen to what participants had to say about this amazing experience:

Our MDC friend, Michael Sheargold, discusses letting go at the peak of the Piton Mountain in St. Lucia and at the peak of Alan Weiss’s Million Dollar Club. Prior to playing the video and by looking at the picture below, can you tell who is the member of the million dollar club and who does not care if he is?

Reflecting on the Jewish new year I have to admit that this year has been absolutely amazing. Just over 6 months ago I was blessed with the birth of my beautiful granddaughter, Dafna. My daughter Sharon was ordained as a Rabbi. My son Yoni is maturing and becoming a handsome young man. My son-in-law Hillel, still in school and whose main mission in life is to take care of my daughter and his and who has been doing an awesome job at that. And of course my beautiful wife, Laurel, who what can I say, is just amazing.

Happy new year to all. May this year bring health, happiness, prosperity and peace to us all.

Dafna and me

More of Dafna

And more Dafna

Handsome Yoni

Dafna and my daughter Sharon

Dafna, my wife Laurel and me

Sharon, Hillel and Dafna

On a recent vacation trip to Israel I realized prior to boarding the plane, and to my horror, that I forgot the power cord for my MacBookPro laptop. You all know how ornery I get if I don’t get my daily access to my Mac. I quickly used my iPhone to email my friend Dov Gordon in Jerusalem asking him to make the connections necessary to see where I may get such cord. Upon landing eleven hours later, fully rested in first class, and greeted by the beautiful Israeli afternoon, my iPhone email inbox and text messages quickly notified me that I might be in luck. Dov, with the help of technology and probably the Israeli secret service, informed me that the only place in Israel that may have my desired cord is the Mall of Ramat-Aviv, located in an affluent suburb outside Tel-Aviv. So we (my wife and I) picked up the Hertz rental car, turned on the GPS and on our way we were to the mall.

Less than thirty minutes later I parked the car, turned off the engine, smiled and said to my wife: “We’ve made it. Let’s get the cord and start our great vacation.” She smiled and said: “And what a better place to start than this great mall.”  As I opened the car door and stepped out of the car, my keys dropped out of my hands. In a split second, and to my true horror this time, I realized that they fell into a grate and from the sound of it I could tell that it was quite deep. “Oh shoot,” I yelled. (Well it kind of sounded like that.) “What happened?” asked my wife. “I dropped the darn keys in this hole in the ground,” Frustrated I explained. For a moment she thought I was kidding but she quickly learned I was not.

Looking for a quick solution or perhaps a miracle such as parting of the red sea since I was in the holy land after all, I noticed the security booth around the corner. I quickly ran there and explained my situation to the friendly guys. “Not to worry,” said one of them. They quickly grabbed the ladder, gathered the troops, well three does make a troop right? They rolled my car off the grate, lifted the grate and explained to their buddy that they won’t need the ladder while grabbing his legs and dropping him into the hole in the ground. He was mumbling something while going down and seconds later, my keys are flying in the air and land in my hands while the guy is pulled out of the dungeon. I thanked them profusely and rewarded them with American dollars as a sign of my gratitude.

“The cord you are looking for is on back order,” said the clerk at the store. My life flashed before my eyes. Well, not quite but you get the point and the seriousness of my situation right? Yet, I was determined that there is no possible way I am walking out of that store without a cord. After much schmoozing, we find out that this guy helping us at the store, traveled the US quite a few times, he has a family in Cleveland which my wife happens to know quite well and he admits that someone just turned in their laptop for repair with the cord attached. It took all of my positive influence, talent and mastery of the language (begging probably had a lot to do with it) to finally convince him to sell me the cord for a full price. It was double the price I would pay in the US but who cared at that point. I was able to convince him to take the back order cord when it comes in and attach it to the item being repaired. We paid, thanked him and ran out of the store before he changed his mind.

Luckily the stores and coffee shops were still open so it turned out to be a fabulous evening as we gladly invested in the local economy. See pictures below as proof. On the way back to the car I held the keys tighter than ever before yet realizing that in the midst of all this excitement I forgot to take some pictures or videos that would have made my story believable. Well, it truly did happen, really, I mean it!

Chad drinking as known in Israel “upside down coffee” or simply  latté in the US.

Laurel after another successful shopping day

© Chad Barr 2009. All rights reserved.

Reflecting on this day:
I am proud to have served in the Israeli military service.
I am proud to have become a US citizen.
I am fortunate to have an amazing family and friends.
And my utmost respect and gratitude for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and have given their lives so we may enjoy our freedom.
God bless.

http://tinyurl.com/qkcgd7

Click on arrows below for music selections to start

1086-Veal Kulam.MP3 (2:29)

1087-SimShalom.MP3 (3:17)

1091-ShemaKoleinu.MP3 (5:00)

1092-KiAnuAmecha.MP3 (1:14)

Total (12:00)

Click on arrows below for music selections to start

1074-YomHadin.MP3 (0:02:59)

1081-EtGezar.MP3 (0:04:03)

1083-Nekadesh.mp3 (0:01:51)

1084-AtaBechartanu.mp3 (0:00:53)

1085-Retse.MP3 (0:02:15)

Total (0:12:01)

Click on arrows below for music selections to start

1040-RuachElohim.MP3 (0:01:34)

1054-Kol Nidrei.mp3 (0:10:37)

1062-Modim.MP3 (0:01:41)

1063-ShalomRav.MP3 (0:01:34)

1064-Eeuleratson.MP3 (0:01:09)

Total (0:16:35)

I love the time of year of the Jewish High Holidays. I find it to be a remarkable close time with family, a time to reflect, for inspirational search, remembering loved ones and committing to renewed excellence and to making this a better place.

Many of you know that I love to brag about my wife who has a remarkable voice and is the cantor at Temple Emanu El in Orange Village, Ohio. I have decide to share with you some of my favorite music selections from the most recent services of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Hope you find this to be as moving spiritually as I do.

Click on arrows below for music selections to start

1004-Shehecheyanu.MP3 (0:02:32)

1010-Hashkiveinu.MP3 (0:03:08)

1016-ShalomRav1.MP3 (0:02:51)

1017-OseShalom.MP3 (0:01:43)

1034-BeroshHashana.MP3 (0:04:18)

Total (0:14:32)

When browsing recently through my digital pictures album I came across some pictures I took while visiting San Francisco when speaking at the Odd Couple marketing for speakers workshop. It reminded me not only of the fabulous time I had with my friends Alan Weiss and Patricia Fripp but it also reminded me of how much I enjoy mixing work and pleasure to the point that I often can’t tell one from the other.

Below are pictures I took from my beautiful Hyatt room and another of Alan and Patricia during a rare odd couple contrarian disagreement that needed a resolution once and for all.

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”
Anne Dudley Bradstreet

It is that exciting time of year again. The trees are changing, there is an amazing fragrance in the air, the birds are back and their vocal chords are louder then ever, my convertible top is already down, my dog is in a better mood and so are my wife, neighbors and even clients. In my front yard, the beautiful white weeping cherry reminds me of the latest snowstorm already long time forgotten, while my gorgeous sour crab apple trees scream: “spring is here.”

I love each season with the changes it brings. Some anticipated and planned while others a surprise or a new challenge. Life is great and especially the journey.

(Click on images to enlarge):

My weeping cherry tree

My crab apple trees

My dog, Noodles

My wife Laurel who is a Cantor at Temple Emanuel in Cleveland, Ohio, put together an amazing concert back on November 10, 2007. You should have been there as it was an amazing night. It is with tremendous pride and love that I have for her, and with the hope that you too may enjoy this concert, that I would like to share it with you. I uploaded the concert in segments to Youtube (this is the way they allow it.) The segments are organized in chronological order (top to bottom) from beginning to end. Enjoy:

Broadway Baby:

Nothing:

I’m The Greatest Star:

It’s a Hard Knock Life:

Little Girls:

Something Wonderful:

Stepping Out:

Sara Lee:

Seasons of Love:

The Wizard and I:

You There In The Back Row:

We said goodbye to the kids and are looking forward to their safe return home in June. Our driver is waiting to take us to the airport and luckily we do not need to mount the suitcase on the roof of the car again. On the way to the airport, I chat with him about life in Israel. He tells me that two of his kids serve in the Israeli army and he knows that there will not be peace in his lifetime.

Final Reflection:

1. Time with family is precious.

2. Life is too short. Try enjoying each every moment.

3. Engage in conversations with people. You will discover some amazing wisdom.

4. Take time to observe and reflect. That’s when most of the learning and appreciation may take place.

5. Education is key to our future and probably the key to reducing hatred among nations.

6. Technology knows no borders, helps create and establish communities, makes staying in touch seamless and if used well can greatly increase efficiency and effectiveness.

7. We often take things for granted. Gas prices, Choices, Life style, discretionary time, freedom, relationships, peace and health to name a few.

8. Wars are asinine.

9. Life is great.

Signing off,

Chad

Today is our last day in Israel and we started by visiting the gorgeous Yemin Moshe neighborhood overlooking the old city of Jerusalem. It is one of my favorite places to visit in Jerusalem. Located next to an artists colony hosting some of Israel’s best and most creative artists I find there is something serene almost magical about this place. I can’t help but take many pictures and videos of this place:

And the birthday girl again, my daughter Sharon:

I couldn’t help but also post this next picture depicting a rainy day in Jerusalem (the only one we had this week) with a creative blue umbrella (plastic bag) covering this guy’s hat.

We had dinner with the kids at the fabulous Moroccan Darna Restaurant which was a great way to wrap up this marvelous week.

After a relaxing Friday with my family in Jerusalem, I drove today to Haifa to see one of my closest and best friends that I grew up with in Israel. I spent the day with Eitan, his amazing family and several friends he invited. We greatly enjoyed our time together and the great authentic food that his wife Ronit prepared. We all got to share some old stories and even some new ones.

As we started to reminisce about the time we were playing together in a band (over 30 years ago) Eitan said: “why won’t we go downstairs and have a little jam session?” His son built a beautiful recording studio in his house where we all escaped to for the next several hours and really brought out some great memories.

The fingers did not move as fast, but we still sounded pretty good. That’s me on guitar and my friend Eitan on the drums:

As I noted in my previous post, here is the video I shot with my new Flip Video gadget of the singer / seller I met at the Jerusalem open market. What a great guy, great soul and great voice:

And just some additional sounds and smells from around the market:

Thursday turned out to be another great day. I first got together for breakfast with my good friend Dov Gordon from The Gordon Group whom I met online several years ago when implementing Alan’s Forums, the great online community we’ve created for International consultant writer and speaker, Alan Weiss. Dov and I discussed business ideas in general and strategy in particular. Dov has this unique and very smart ability to analyze and dissect a topic and turn it into a great and practical learning experience. What also fascinates me about him is his courage to have moved to Israel and conduct most of his business in English.

I then met my family at the Jerusalem open market (Mahane Yehuda) to do some shopping. It is an amazing place bustling with interesting people. The great smell of the fresh food and its sight is just amazing and tempting. I found myself having this immense craving to taste most of it:

We came across this amazing Halvah (Sesame Candy) store with every possible flavor available. It was just too hard to resist the aroma and temptation created, especially when we were offered to taste it. We purchased several kilos to take back to the US with us:

This next store had amazing spices and tea of all kind. I thought I already figured out their tricks and was prepared to say no. “Here try some”, said the nice man at the store. Who am I to argue? I found myself purchasing another $200 worth of stuff I probably did not need, but I couldn’t say no:

Although the fruit was quite appealing, watching the seller stand there with a cigarette and ashes dropping was not:

The cakes at this store were to die for. I watched my daughter buying there and what struck me was the fact that the seller has his hand covered with protective plastic yet he never took it off when picking up the cakes and exchanging the money. Oh well, it tasted too good to worry about it:

Perhaps not the most sophisticated method of transportation but it was quite effective to transfer the bread on the cart to the stores:

The open market was a place where several suicide bombers previously attacked and killed many shoppers. You would not know or feel that, walking the streets of the market today. But suddenly, at one place of the market, we see a huge crowd of people gathering watching something with great interest while taking pictures with their cell phones. When i asked one of them what is going on, he tells me that they found a suspicious suitcase. I don’t get it. What is it that intrigues people to put themselves in harms way for a quick thrill? Luckily it turned out to be nothing and we returned to our shopping spot.

I observed so many interesting people doing their business:

Among them was even this Jerusalem beauty selling at her clothing store:

And of course my own family beauty, my wife, daughter and son-in-law:

I met this awesome guy and started a great conversation with him. He immediately cut up some fruit for us to taste:

He then told me that he loves to sing so I put him to the test. I took out my new Flip Video gadget and started to record. (See my next post to view it)
He did not believe me that this amazing gadget is a video camera, so I let him watch his own recording and promised him that I will upload it onto YouTube:

We had to say goodbye to this marvelous place and as we were walking out of the market we saw this young kid selling Israeli jelly donuts. Ok, so I had to get just one.

The best part of the day is the fact that it is my daughter’s birthday today. Her neighbor from across the hallway, stopped by with a sign she prepared saying Mazel Tov and welcome Mom and Dad. She was so sweet and also brought with her some flowers and balloons to hang on the door. You guessed right, she made us all take part in helping her hang up the sign on the door and decorate it.

We had a great time and after a terrific dinner we went out to an amazing dessert place to further celebrate. We had everyone sing Happy Birthday in Hebrew and English and as you can see, my daughter is enjoying watching her husband singing. Happy birthday Sharon:

Just before crossing the streets from the newer parts of Jerusalem towards the old city, we stopped at a toy store where we bought the games Monopoly and Taboo in Hebrew. As I was talking with the store owner, he wanted me to take a look at an error of advertising in one of the magazines he gets. How did he even know that I am interested in such things for my blog? Notice the correct date for the trade show on the front cover of the magazine while on the back cover it is off by a year. I guess that 50% accuracy is not that bad, but than again, paying your marketing department 50% what they deserve, is not that bad either.

(Click on images to enlarge)

(Front cover)

(Back cover)

The young lady who was helping us pick out the games, decided to give us a discount since she seemed to like us. She was probably in her twenties and to my amazement she then took out a calculator and while struggling to figure something out, looked at the storeowner and asked frustrated: “how much is 10% of 157?” This actually happened on two different occasions at two different stores. Although the majority of Israeli citizens believe in great education, this proved to me the importance of a good education.

Many thousands of years of history are contained within the walls of this fascinating city. We walked towards Jaffa gate in the old city staring at the ancient walls, various religious places and the tower of David

(Ancient walls)

(Religious places)

(Tower of David)

We entered the colorful Arab market where storeowners hustle to negotiate their deals. “Make me a great offer,” said one, while another yelled: “How much do you want to pay for this?” It is common and almost expected to hear the seller name a price and the “negotiation game” begins.

(My daughter Sharon engaged in tough negotiation)

(My daughter and wife with Adnan, the store owner, displaying the new wall hanging addition for the Barr family)

We then took a sharp right turn and entered the area of Roman ruins called the Cardo followed by some great Israeli shops.

(The Cardo)

I went to visit one of the friendly storeowners I met last year who greatly impressed me. A devoted Orthodox Jew, (pious), who has great love and passion for his religious studies, life and people. Since it was my daughter’s friend who originally sent me there, I walked into the store hoping to be recognized for the connection and said:
“Do you know who sent me?”
“God of course” he said.
We chatted for a couple of minutes when I asked: “So how is business?”
Unexpectedly he replied: “It depends”
“Depends on what?” I said.
“On the person of course” he answered.
Curiously I asked him to articulate further.
“Look it” he said, “God may grant you success and at times even put you to the test. It all depends what you decide to do with that wealth, how you use it and how much you share and give to others that makes the difference.”
I delightfully purchased something at his store, listened to his wisdom while he was talking with several other visitors and thanked him for the meaningful few moments together.

We then entered the Jewish section of the old city, walking towards the holiest site of the Jewish people, The Western Wall.

(Old city streets)

(Dome of the rock and the western wall)

(The western wall)

On our way out, this sign caught my attention. It lets people know this week’s biblical portion, when exactly the Sabbath begins, when to light the candles and when the Sabbath ends. It also lets people know that any question they may have about Jewish laws, there are Rabbis standing by to answer those questions. Just make sure you don’t call these numbers during the Sabbath.

(Sabbath sign)

It’s amazing how busy the restaurants are during the day as well as quite late at night. A common site in the majority of restaurants is a security guard standing at the entrance and checking for weapons. I am not sure what kind of a deterrent this is to a terrorist, but it seems to make the visitors and perhaps the restaurant owners feel better. This country loves to party and I was glad to take a part in it and get my tasty Israeli Latte having my choice between the hopping coffee shops of Café Hillel and Café Aroma. Interestingly, all restaurants charge a small fee on their bill (2 Shekel = 50 cents per person) for their security guard.

I decided to take some night shots of Jerusalem before calling it a day. Actually an outstanding day!

(Old city at night)

(Old city at night)

Today we decided to drive to Tel-Aviv where each Tuesday there is an amazing art show at the center of the city in a neighborhood called Nachclat Benyamin.

Since you probably already know my love for playing the guitar, I could not resist this great piece of “a guitarist” artwork, made out of forks and spoons, of which I became the proud owner:

(Guitar player)

I struck up a great conversation with this retired teacher who left his teaching position of 30 years to start carving wood faces. We discussed the challenges of making ends meet as a teacher in Israel, and his love and passion for his new profession while being able to live quite well now. It was interesting to hear him quote some of my favorite Mark Twain quotes in Hebrew. This time nothing was lost in the translation:

(Teacher becomes a wood carver)

(Wood carving work)

We walked around, engaging in some great conversations with the artists while investing in the local economy. We then sat down for a tasty lunch of Israeli sandwiches, salads and coffee. Did I mention yet that Israel probably has the best coffee I have ever tasted? Perhaps a close second may be the one I had in Italy several years ago:

(Hafuch Chazak or Strong upside down coffee or simply a latte)

I then ran into an Arab woman who was baking Pita bread. It looked and smelled so awesome, but I just had my lunch. When she noticed me taking her pictures she demanded I buy some of her bread as well:

(Arab woman baking Pita)

(Arab Woman demanding I buy the Pita)

When it comes to clowns, they seem to be able to speak a universal language. This clown was walking around mesmerizing the kids with his stories and making balloon animals:

(Clown)

I met Iris, an artist, who makes beautiful stained glass. The Chanukah dreidels caught my attention among the coasters and lamps she makes. It was a good financial day for Iris and I have a lot to carry back now to the U.S.

(Stained Glass)

(Dreidels)

We rose early in the morning to rent our car and began our journey north to Haifa (the city where I grew up in). It is Hanukah this week, and we saw many cars with a Menorah, (candelabra) mounted on their roof, broadcasting the holiday message.

(Menorah on a moving car)

It only took me several minutes to adjust to the Israeli driving style. It is road rage on steroids here. If you are familiar with the chicken game, it is naturally played here by the majority of drivers. When drivers put on their left turn signals, for example, it is their way of saying “watch it buddy, I am pulling to the left lane whether you like it or not.” I guess I felt back at home thanks to my early driving training when growing up in Israel, which also helped make the drive to Haifa take less than two hours.

(Haifa Bay)

We first visited one of my wife and daughter’s favorite clothing stores – Flowers, located at the top of the Carmel mountain.

(My daughter, Sharon, trying on an outfit at Flowers)

We then continued to visit my father who is at an independent living facility in the city of Naharia, located by the Mediterranean Sea and 40 minutes north of Haifa. It is a beautiful and growing city which unfortunately was in the news last year when it was bombed quite heavily with Haifa during the war with Lebanon. As we were entering the city, I noticed the welcome sign. In Hebrew it said: “The city for those who love life” yet in English it was translated to say: “The city for fun lovers.” Since I moved to the U.S. 29 years ago, and in my quest to constantly improve my language, I am always fascinated with colloquialism. I got to reflect on some of the “cute” language mistakes I make at times and forgave the one who wrote the sign.

Great visit with my Dad and we even got to entertain him and his friends, the wiser generation, singing some songs of Chanukah. We immediately gained new friends and fans, as I realized how easy it is to impress the older generation when you simply give them love combined with music.

(Me, my Dad and my wife)

I am always amazed with the aviation technology of planes in general and especially the Boeing 777, lifting 283 passengers, the crew and luggage while traveling at an average speed of 550 mph from one side of the world to another.

After 9.5 hours in the air, we touched down at the Tel-Aviv airport and were greeted by my daughter and son-in-law who are studying this year in Jerusalem. They arranged for a private taxi driver to take us to Jerusalem. Since one of our suitcases was too large to fit in the trunk, the driver started to mount it on the roof of his newly purchased Mercedes. “Here, catch the rope on the other side” he yelled. I immediately realized, that I was just volunteered to help and suddenly recognized the great responsibility placed on me to correctly secure my own suitcase. What if it flew off the roof? What would I be able to even say to him? I believe my rope tying technique sucked out all the remaining oxygen from that poor suitcase. It was a beautiful day in Israel, great scenery and we were finally on our way. “Do you like my new car?” asked the driver. “It’s great” I replied, while my hand is reaching out of the window to check that the luggage is still perched securely on the roof of the car.

We made it safely to my kids’ apartment in the beautiful Rechavia neighborhood of Jerusalem. After a brief siesta we were on our way, the four of us, to explore the streets of this beautiful city, the work of great artists while experiencing the savory, culinary delights.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Homes in Rechavia neighborhood

Homes in Rechavia neighborhood

Jerusalem homes overlooking the old city

Jerusalem homes overlooking the old city

Jerusalem across from the old city

Artist work on Ben Yehuda Street

It is 3PM on Saturday, December 8, and my wife and I are getting ready to board the plane from Newark to Tel-Aviv to take us to our vacation. Standing right next to me is Walt Mossberg, the great technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal and his wife. I introduced myself, told him I am a big fan and we started to chat for about 15 minutes.

Walt tells me that he is on his way to deliver a speech in Tel-Aviv. I ask him about his interview of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, what must it have been like and how he was able to get the two of them in the same room and so well behaved? He talked about that special moment and said that the excitement in the room was unbelievable that many of the people in the audience had tears in their eyes.

I gave him some pointers about traveling in Israel, the four of us started to board business first while Walt and I are now discussing the iPhone. My wife (jokingly) asks us if we wish to sit together? I was just about getting ready to answer as both wives look at each other, smiled and got to override our decision.

Be back soon reporting from Israel,

Chad

p.s. the entire interview of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs is available on iTune

It has been 29 years since I moved to the U.S. and made it my home and the journey has been simply unbelievable. I’ve been fortunate to create and live a great life and as this Thanksgiving holiday weekend comes to a close, I wish to thank you all:
My dear wife Laurel, daughter Sharon, son Yoni, son-in-law Hillel and my entire family. My dear mentors, friends, colleagues, clients and of course YOU, the reader of this blog.

I would not be the person I am without all your great support.

Click here for a special holiday message from us (may take a couple of minutes to load)

Thank You!

I just spent an awesome weekend with my son traveling the Bryce Canyon area. Great bonding experience, terrific conversations, learned some new rap music and beautiful surrounding nature. Life is good!

Below are some pictures I took (click on images to enlarge):

At Snow Canyon St. George

Snow Canyon – St. George

Sunset – St. George

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon

Sunset – Bryce Canyon

In a recent article in the wsj by Benjamin Netanyahoo, previous Prime Minister of Israel and currently the leader for the Opposition in the Knesset, he wrote about the potential of peace and the importance of prosperity based on the current successes in Dubai and the gulf states:

“With the right incentives and economic freedoms, you see this explosive growth that I frankly admire … We always said that if we have peace, then we’ll have prosperity. It may be the other way around.”

Well, I slightly changed the words of the song just to make my point. It is history, this record had an immense influence on Rock & Roll and since you asked, I was 11 years old back then and I love this album. I guess time does fly when you are having fun.

As another Memorial Day comes to a close, my thoughts and prayers are with all the families whose loved ones are serving for peace and freedom and for making this world a better and safer place. And for all the brave souls who gave their lives so we may live a better one, I salute you.

While in Naples, Florida last week, I took some pictures of the beautiful sunset. Click on each picture to enlarge:

While attending the Million Dollar Consulting™ Graduate School we learned and discussed many topics. One of my favorites was best practices of how to work smarter not harder. Click on  the link below to read the full article.

Key Elements to Success. How to Work Smarter not Harder.

Several years ago I came up with the idea to implement and launch www.AlansForums.com which is an online community attracting great business minds from all over the world and is branded around international consultant, speaker and author Alan Weiss.
This month this great community came together and together collaborated and developed this great article called “Travel Tips from Alan’s Forums.” Click on this hyperlink, learn and explore what great minds are able to develop in an online team work effort.

I just got back from a great getaway in NYC where I celebrated 101 birthday years with my wife.

Great:
R&R time at the Peninsula Hotel
Sunset pictures from the top of the Rockefeller Center
Shows: AvenueQ – terrific, Tarzan – ok, Spring Awakening – terrific.
Restaurants
Visit to my new favorite camera gear place – B&H Photo
Visit to the awesome apple store on Fifth Ave
And much more

Priceless:
Precious time with my wife Laurel, daughter Sharon and son-in-law Hillel.
and unbelievable view of the world (gift from our kids)

Now back to work.

Pictures taken from the top of the Rockefeller Center with my new gear. (Click on any of the images below to enlarge):

All pictures taken by Chad Barr

I just returned from a great vacation in Cancun, Mexico, where I was able to reenergize myself and capture these great sunrise and sunset pictures with my camera. So as the sun is getting ready to set on 2006, my wishes to you and your family are for a healthy, successful and prosperous new year.

Best Wishes,

Chad

Sunrise from right outside my hotel balcony

Sunset from my hotel

Several weeks ago I drove down to Cincinnati to attend a workshop by Edward Tufte. During the four hour drive I managed to:
Conduct productive prospect and client conferences, listen to one of my business learning CDs, and enjoy my satellite radio with Jazz, classical, news and other selections.

Next day, Friday evening, driving back to Cleveland and about 20 minutes south of Columbus I felt ready for a great meal. “Dial AmEX” I said. “Dialing” answered my Bluetooth wireless phone connected into my sound system in my 645 BMW. Within seconds I had the friendly American Express concierge service operator on the call with me, looking up great restaurants in Columbus by interstate I71.

“We were expecting you Mr. Barr” said the manager at the great Lindey’s restaurant as she was showing me to my table.

Great meal, great life, great technology and even the business learning CDs sounded better.

“What a fabulous country” I said to myself as I continued my drive home.

It is great to be alive!