Women Power Wednesday in Montreal

Good morning Sally,

I had a fascinating day in Montreal yesterday, my first day inside of an Autodesk facility. Read a little about the city at the link provided and you will see that it is a wonderful and vibrant city. French is the native language and some people joke that Montreal is more French than France. I am staying in a place called The St. Paul in Downtown (Old Montreal) - beautiful archetecture and walking distance to shops and trade that you (and your mom and sisters) would love. I just wish I would have paid more attention in my French classes back in my sophomore of college year at Chapel Hill. (That was the year I was setting myself up to work in the peanut mill, instead of a little 'parle-vous francais'.)



The area where my hotel is located

 Our offices (Autodesk Media and Entertainment HQ) are located in a really unique facililty that used to be a ship manufacturing building. So it is right on the water, as they would build the ships and then roll them out into the St. Lawrence Seaway when complete. Here is a great view of the city, to give you a sense of how pretty it is. 

The Autodesk facility has what I call a 'Google' or 'Apple' like feel to it, meaning that it seems to be a very cool place to work. The people all seem happy, relatively young in spirit (if not age), and really smart. There are video game consoles set up throughout the lobby, with large screens where you can play games manufactured by companies who use our software!

Tomorrow, I will share a little more about the people with whom I will be working. Our team is led by a unique and talented woman, Dianna Colella. The company is putting a lot of money behind this effort to launch my new product, which is called Smoke for Mac.

Women power,

Dad

Make it a great Monday

Big day here buddy. One off to Senior Year, Westlake High School. One off to Hill Country Middle School. Our girls are all growing so fast. We had the Anderson's for dinner last night and the twins start high school today. So we had two new middle school girls (Lucy and a friend), two new high school girls (Kate and Carlie), two new Seniors (Emily and Paige), and two away at UGA! Here are a couple of thoughts for the day: (1) Wear a smile, be a friend (love that Aunt Dianne) and (2) Let the game come to you.

I am off to Montreal for the week for continued orientation to Autodesk. Back to Austin on Thursday night and then Junior Club Championship this weekend and Lake Travis vs. Westlake at UT Stadium on Saturday. Make it a great Monday and a great week!

Fit as a Fiddle Friday

Hey Sally,

I am sure your week has been full of excitement, as has my week. I am overloaded with product training, technology set-up, and organizational logistics. I will be in Montreal next Monday through Thursday, spending time at the Media & Entertainment Division Headquarters and getting to the know the group with whom I will be working.

I saw your electrical outlet sketch and thought it was great!

Stay fit,

Dad

Who's playing the drums in your shop?

Hey Sally,

I thought this was thought-provoking from Seth Godin's blog today:

"Keith Richards tells a great story about Charlie Watts, legendary drummer for the Stones. After a night of drinking, Mick saw Charlie asleep and yelled, "Is that my drummer? Why don't you get your arse down here?" Richards continues, "Charlie got dressed in a Savile Row suit, tie, shoes, shaved, came down, grabbed him and went boom! Don't ever call me "your drummer" again. You're my ... singer."

No drums, no Stones. Who's playing the drums in your shop?"

It's kind of like saying, 'who's got your back?' and never forget how important that person is to you or to your organization.

http://bit.ly/pFl9go

Love,

Dad 

Women Power Wednesday

Sally,

I am off and running at Autodesk today and just a short note to say good morning and that I love you very much. I just learned that our corporate vision is stated as follows: "Helping people imagine, design and create a better world." I thought you would like that.

Women power,

Dad

Stay whole Tuesday

Hey Sally,

I hope your day is going well. Lucy is a bit under the weather here, but otherwise everybody doing fine. Mom at second day of school orientation. Emily has a golf lesson at 3:30 P.M. I am sorting through some employee orientation paperwork for Autodesk. You might send Goose a quick text to check on her. She is hoping to bounce back in time for Hill Country Hello tomorrow. Do you remember Hill Country Hello?

Stay whole,

Dad

Make it a great Monday

Good Morning Sophomore Sally Singletary. 

I hope your classes go well today. It was great to hear you felt rush was a big success. I am looking forward to my first day at Autodesk on Wednesday. I am sure I will have a lot to learn, so I am attempting to keep myself healthy and to clear my plate of anything that might distract from the initial task of getting off to a good start with my new company. Here is a link to read a little about my company and the division where I will be working.

http://bit.ly/oidAwo

Mom starts back at her school job today.

Make it a great Monday!

Dad