A large part of marketing is taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. We've all heard the saying "at the right place, at the right time." Unfortunately, most people seem to think that they are never the person at the right place, at the right time. They think some other person is always the lucky one.

That's not the case. Opportunities are all around us. They present themselves to us every day. It's not a question of whether you have opportunities, but rather whether you can recognize them and take advantage of them.

Recognizing Opportunities
It's about mindset. They're out there, but if you're not looking for them then it's the proverbial tree falling in a forest. Do you have a book coming out? Do you know anyone with a podcast or a blog? Opportunity. Does your mother's best friend mention her company needs a better website? Do you know any programmers? Opportunity. Are you a song writer? Happen to meet a record producer? Opportunity.

Taking Advantage of Opportunities
Part of taking advantage of opportunity is biting the bullet. Get rid of your fear and jump in. Don't worry about being perfect. Half the battle is showing up. Sure, your execution has to be worthy of praise, once you get the job... but get the job first. You won't get anything if you don't stand up.

For me, most of my problem comes from not having enough time to capitalize on opportunities. I'm so strung out with little projects that have little upside I oft times can't capitalize on a juicy tibdit. Focus. Focus on completing something wholly and completely. Don't get sidetracked with a chaotic mess of activities so that you can't think about anything, much less do anything new. Keep your options open.

What's the point? There are a lot of people out there that are looking for someone with your talents. Forget your fear. Become a recovering coward and take advantage of those opportunities.

Rone Barton and Lou Agresta, two friends of mine, contributed to the Great City Campaign Setting from 0one Games. If you want to know more about TGCCS, check out Atomic Array 008.

Following up on TGC's success, 0one commissioned a series of adventures from the authors. Rone penned the second adventure, The Bloody Fix.

Go grab a copy, play it, and let him know what you think. If you want, drop my the new 0one message boards.

Dear technology developers,

I love my digital calendars. The app I use most on my iPhone is the calendar.

However, surfing a browser window or palming my phone can be tedious when I'm in the middle of a project. What I'd like is a wall-mounted screen that displays my calendar.

It'd have to be big enough to display a decent amount of information while being readable from a few feet away. I'm thinking... at least 18 inches. I'd also like navigation so that I can switch between month, week and day views.

Ality has a wireless picture frame that does some of this, but it's too small and the functionality doesn't seem focused enough for what I want.

So.... sleek, wireless, wall mounted, iCal / Google Calendar.

WANT.

I graduated from the University at Albany in 1992 with a BS (I thought those two letters were always quite telling) in Accounting. Degree in hand, and job offers on the table, I set off into corporate America to start my life as a professional auditor.

Right after I left SUNYA, the rules for certification as a CPA changed. The old rules were that you had to have a Bachelor degree and three years experience (in addition to passing the CPA exam) in order to become certified. After the rule change, you needed what amounted to a Masters degree, and only one year of professional experience.

The change made no sense to me. Book learnin’ is no match for real experience. Thinking about solving problems is no match for actually solving them. The changes were just dumb.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that many professions should stop requiring higher degrees and switch to apprenticeship programs. Or rather, they should switch back to them – because that is the way things used to be. You wanted to be an accountant? You didn’t go to college, you went to work for an accounting firm.

I’ve been saying this for years. Apparently, I’m not the only one that thinks actions speak louder than pieces of paper on a wall…

Seth Godin posted an interesting proposition on Squidoo today. The crib notes version: If you want to work with one of the greatest marketing minds of our time in a dynamic and challenging team environment, Seth is offering to mentor you.

The catch? Other than having to move to New York? Well, while the program doesn’t cost anything, it also doesn’t pay anything either.

But… so what? The knowledge and experience participants will accrue far surpass, in my opinion, any financial compensation.

This is an opportunity for the hungry. It’s a chance for you to learn and learn quick. Forget about grad school and classrooms and student loans. If you have the ‘intestinal fortitude’ to gamble for greatness, this could be a life-changing experience for you.

UKG Publishing is 5 years old. They're celebrating by discounting all their products 40%.

I haven't looked at all their stuff, but the Year of the Zombie products are decent. In particular, I'd check out Year of the Zombie: Dead Future Rebooted.

Ryan Dancey and I sat on a panel at GenCon this year. Entitled "Virtual Worlds: Making Imagination Come Alive," we discussed virtual worlds, from Second Life to MMORPGs like EVE Online. It was a great talk, during which we explored how these platforms can build community, provide unique services, and facilitate commerce.

Click here to listen now.

Last weekend, I was at the Emerald City Gamefest. Dan, from Fear the Boot, was in town. After the show we recorded an episode of FTB, which just popped a couple minutes ago. We rapped about Kobold Quarterly, game days and conventions, game reviews, etc.

Click here to listen now.

To those with whom I served. Thank You.

To those we left behind. Thank You.

To those who protect me still. Thank You.

I just got invited to Spacefest.

Where: San Diego
When: 19-22 FEB 2009

Has anyone been to this event before?

I will be at the Emerald City Gamefest next weekend. If you're in Seattle, and free, drop by.

ECG Homepage: http://www.emeraldcitygamefest.org/
Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=32491269635
RPG Bomb link: http://rpgbomb.com/event/view/id_86/title_emerald-city-gamefest/

Wolfgang Baur (the_monkey_king), publisher of Kobold Quarterly, will be running a game.

Dan from Fear the Boot will be there. He and I plan to record "something"...

I'm not sure if he'll be there this year, but last year author Erik Scott de Bie (eriksdb) was also running a game.

You learn new things about the people around you every day. I was surfing YouTube tonight, checking out footbag videos, and ran across this one:


That's Yax, from Dungeon Mastering.com

Who would a thunk...